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April 18, 2008
Dear Parents,
All students received a Book Choice sheet today outlining all the available choices for our next
round of Book Groups, which will start May 2nd. These papers are pink and have a section on the
back page for students to fill in their top three book choices, obtain a parent signature, and
then return to me by Monday. The students were able to preview all 12 of the books
available to them so they could make an informed decision. Please discuss this with your child
and help them choose the best three books, sign the form, and help ensure that it is returned by
Monday. I hope to announce the groups on Tuesday (Wednesday at the latest), and then students
will be responsible for obtaining their own copy of their assigned book. The library has
multiple copies of each book, and the Lakeline Barnes and Noble knows which books we have
selected and intends to have multiple copies available for purchase.
Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the books on the list or about the
book selection process. It is my goal that each student is in a group reading a book they WANT
to read, and this is their opportunity to choose a book that suits them. Thanks!
December 12, 2007
Dear GMS Parents,
Thank you so much for all of the supplies you have generously donated to our Project Linus
Service Learning Project! The students are hard at work designing their quilt squares in
Advisory class, and will be ready to start putting the quilts together when we return in
January. Now that we have the materials we need, we need a little extra help with the fabric -
we have 140 yards of muslin that needs to be washed and cut into 10" x 10" squares - that's a
lot of fabric! Please contact Julie Gobert (428-2721 or Julie_Gobert@roundrockisd.org) if you
are able to assist with this, and include how many yards you are willing to take on! The
squares need to be cut and returned to GMS by January 15. Your help with this is greatly
appreciated, and remember that if students help out it counts towards community service hours.
October 19, 2007
Reminders:
*Our Outsiders Exam will be on Wednesday, October 24. All students received a study guide on
the 19th. The study guide can also be found on the Hand Outs page. Students who complete the
study guide can earn 5 extra points on the test.
*All students were notified of their Book Group assignment this week. Students are responsible
for obtaining their book by November 2! Books can be purchased at any store or checked
out from the library.
*Outsiders Activities (from the grid sheet) are due on Tuesday, October 23. These will count as
a major portion of the grades for this grading period.
October 11, 2007
Welcome to the second grading period! During this period, we will continue our study of S.E.
Hinton’s The Outsiders, take a Writing Benchmark exam, and start a unit of Literature Circles.
Some reminders:
*New Reading Logs will be distributed the week of October 8. They will be due (with a parent
signature!) on or before November 5. This time the students will be looking at pages rather
than minutes. There are three different grading scales for the students to choose from, and I
encourage them to choose a scale that is both challenging yet reasonable. The grading scales
are:
Scale #1: Scale #2 Scale #3
100= 200 pages 100=700 pages 100=1400 pages
90= 175 pages 90=600 pages 90=1300 pages
80 =125 pages 80=500 pages 80=1200 pages
70=100 pages 70=400 pages 70=1100 pages
*On October 9, students were given an Outsiders Activity Sheet. This sheet outlines the 16
possible projects they can complete related to our reading of The Outsiders. These activities
are due on October 23 and will have a strong impact on the grades for this marking period. The
sheet can be downloaded on the Hand Outs page. Note: If you are doing a Power Point activity,
please either email it to me OR print it out using the Handouts format so that it will print 6
slides to a page. Save a tree! Don’t print out one slide per page.
*On Friday, October 12 students will be bringing home a book group choice sheet (also available
to be downloaded on the Hand Outs page). Students need to review the sheet and select their
top three reading choices for the next unit. This sheet needs to be signed and returned by
Monday, October 15. On the 17th, students will find out what group they have been assigned to,
and all students are responsible for having a copy of their book group book in class by November
2.
*I strongly encourage all students and parents to check my site frequently for information about
homework, extra credit, and to update your ISN. Use the Table of Contents page to ensure that
your ISN is up to date. If you are missing any pages, please download and print them from my
site, or come see me for help.
*We need your help with Project Linus! All 7th grade students will be participating in a service
learning project through Advisory classes. We will be making blankets and quilts to donate to
Project Linus, an international organization that gives handmade blankets to comfort children in
need. We would absolutely love any donations of
-cotton or fleece fabric in kid friendly prints/patterns
-cotton quilt batting
-white thread
-yarn – any color
-fabric scissors
-Sharpies or fabric markers
And we would especially love parent volunteers! We will need some help sewing the quilts
together, and also with supervision during the creation of the quilts. Please let me know if
you interested in volunteering – we will most likely be putting the quilts together in the
middle of the Spring semester.
September 18, 2007
Dear Parents,
Welcome to 7th Grade Language Arts! The first few weeks are behind us and we are all starting
to settle in to our routines. I have really enjoyed getting to know my new students; I almost
know all of their names! We are off to a great start and I am looking forward to a wonderful
year.
I hope that you will find my website a useful tool and that you will visit it often!
*On the Homework page, you will see the weekly planner that shows what we are doing in class
each day as well as any assignments. I update this page weekly.
*Another very useful page is the Hand Outs page – this is where I upload things that I hand out
in class. You can use this page to print out an extra copy or just to look at what we are
working on.
* To help your child stay organized, please visit the ISN Table of Contents page. Your child’s
ISN should be organized and up to date with all of the documents in the list. If you find that
one or more is missing, many of them can be printed right off the Hand Outs page.
*Visit the Calendar page to see upcoming important events.
*The Links page is a page I often use in class. For example, right now in class we are working
on the “What’s in a Name?” assignment. In class tomorrow I will direct the students to my links
page where they can scroll to the bottom and clink on links that will give them information
about names. This page also contains interesting and informational links that parents may be
interested in.
*The Extra Credit, FAQ, Teacher, and Wish List pages speak for themselves, but please don’t
hesitate to email me with any questions about any of the pages.
*Finally, the Newsflash page is the page you are currently reading. Periodically I will update
this page and you will receive an email directing you here, where you can read the latest
Language Arts information. If you know any parents who were unable to attend Open House and
may not be on this email list (and want to be on it!) please let them know that they can sign up
through my website.
Class News and Reminders:
We are all set to begin our first class novel, The Outsiders. I encourage you to discuss the
novel with your child and even read along with us as we read through it in class.
Reading Logs are due on October 1! It’ll be here before we know it. Each student has a blue
reading log and should be recording their daily reading on it. The log does require a parent
signature. I have encouraged students to keep the log on the fridge, desk, bedside table, etc.
If you haven’t seen your child’s reading log, now is a great time to ask about it!
Again, please feel free to email or call me with any questions you may have about class, my
website, Snoopy, life…I will get back to you promptly!
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