Welcome to 7th Grade
English Language Arts
and Reading!
Week 12 Update:
The Giver vocab Chapters 14-16 due tomorrow! Chapters 14-16 should be read and students should be ready for discussion groups. The next reading and vocab quiz will be on Tuesday next week.
Grammar worksheets were sent home on clauses. Students should be completing 19 even, 20 odd, 21 & 22 even. The next grammar quiz will be a "retake" of our earlier grammar quiz and will be averaged with the first score. It will be on Friday of next week - a send off to Thanksgiving break!
Week 12 (November 9-13)
The Giver Chapters 8-13 vocabulary due Monday / Quiz on discussion questions and vocab on Tuesday. Worksheets will be graded in class and sent home to study.
The grammar unit will continue this week with clauses. The next grammar quiz will be quiz will be the Wednesday before our Thanksgiving break. The students should be taking notes on our lessons!
Personal narratives are at the first draft phase. We will review final draft requirements this week and set a due date for next week.
Don't forget that the book orders are due by the 20th for A Christmas Carol.
November 3, 2009
The Giver reading schedule is as follows:
Chapters 8-10 due Thursday - students have been given discussion questions and that need to be worked on for group discussions on Thursday. Vocabulary for 8-10 will be handed out Thursday. Students have the words in a packet to define in advance if they would like to.
Chapters 11-13 due Monday, November 9 - students will be given discussion questions on Thursday and vocabulary on Monday.
QUIZ Chapters 8-13 on Tuesday, November 10.
Grammar - we are working on adverbs, clauses, and infinitives over the next few weeks. I will post a quiz date when we are close to finishing the unit.
BookTalks - all students have selected their independent reading novel for 2nd quarter. They will come home with a BookTalk Assignment sheet tomorrow. Please use this as a guide for due dates, but check with your student on changes made to the due dates as we progress through the work.
**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT**
Our 7th graders will be reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens as our next class novel in December. The school does not provide copies of this book, but they are available through Scholastic during the month of November for $1. Please follow the link below to order your student a copy. Any purchases on this website will allow our class to receive a FREE book for our class library.
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class User Name: mrsking7th
Password: ClassLibrary
10/ 26/2009
I apologize for the lapse in updating TeacherWeb! I have had quite the week. We finished up the 1st 9 weeks and began our unit on The Giver today. We will be approaching this text in a slightly different manner than we did The Outsiders. We will have discussion questions and vocabulary exercises for each reading assignment. Students will be put into small discussion groups for this novel. These groups will meet weekly to discuss their readings and engage in extension activities. This week's reading assignments are below.
READING SCHEDULE
Chapters 1-2 due Tuesday, October 27
Chapters 3-5 due Thursday, October 29
Chapters 6-7 due Monday, November 2 (plan for a quiz here on ch. 1-8)
WRITING
The first draft of the personal narrative is due this Wednesday, October 28. This draft should be typed, double-spaced, and include an intro, at least 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Students will pair up, do a focused peer edit (looking for 3 types of errors that we have been working on), and then make the needed corrections before next Wednesday, November 4.
10/8/2009
I have added sample BookTalks to the Downloads page for 7th grade. The kids have been told that they can choose their own method of completing this assignment (PowerPoint, Publisher, Word, or any other format that can show all of the requirements). I will be available tomorrow after school from 3:15-4:30 to help students who are still needing help.
Week 7 -
READING
We will be focusing our attention on our BookTalks this week. Please make sure that your student is bringing their independent reading text to class with them each day. Our classtime will be dedicated to reading and working on these projects that are due next Monday, October 12th.
WRITING
All of the students have received their first drafts of their personal narrative essay paragraphs back as of today (barring those who are absent). The suggestions/corrections need to be incorporated into double-spaced, typed versions of their work this week. They should bring what they have done to class by Wednesday. In addition to working on the BookTalks, we will be conferencing about narratives all week long. REMEMBER, the narratives will not be due until 2nd quarter.
One more change ... September 29
We will have to postpone our exam one more day! I was out today and will be out again tomorrow. I'll be back on Thursday barring any complications. We will do a comprehensive review Thursday and take the test on Friday. Students should have PLENTY of time to complete their discussion questions. I have left an answer packet with the substitute so that she can answer questions that might come up on it but I also wrote my email address on the board for the kids so that they can email me directly if they have any questions. Please encourage them to do that in lieu of not understanding something.
The activities should have been turned in today. Students may turn in their Reading Logs to me on Thursday when I return.
Personal Narratives are home with me! So, they students can't very well turn them in tomorrow. We are just working at our own pace on those so it is fine to push back the deadline for the second paragraphs. I will return 1st paragraphs Thursday and those corrections and their 2nd paragraphs will be due next Wednesday.
** DON'T forget that the catchy quotes for their independent reading books are due Friday. **
Thanks for your understanding on these changes. I'm rarely sick ... make sure your kids are washing their hands often at school!
Downloads Update - September 28
BookTalk (Independent Reading) Handout has been updated to reflect the new due dates. Please make sure your student had made the changes on their copy of the handout. We will have two days in class (Oct. 6 and 8) to work on these before the final due date.
Week Six - September 27
Due dates this week:
Tuesday, September 28 - Activities on The Outsiders
Wednesday, September 30 - 2nd paragraph of personal narratives, typed & double spaced.
Thursday, October 1 - Exam on The Outsiders; Discussion Questions for Extra Credit (not required but a great way to review for the exam)
Friday, October 2 - Catchy Quote for BookTalk (Independent Reading)
It's a busy week! We will be slowing down next week and dedicating both Tuesday and Thursday, October 6 and 8, to working on our Booktalks. Then we're off to Outdoor Ed!
UPDATE (September 22)
Due to being slightly behind this week, our exam on The Outsiders will be postponed until Thursday, October 1st. I want to have adequate time for review since this is our first exam, so Tuesday will be used as an additional day for this. PLEASE NOTE: The activities for this novel are STILL due on Tuesday, September 29th.
Due Dates next week:
READING
This week has taken us to a great part in the novel! Some of the students are not where they should be in their reading and it is evident from the discussions in class. I encouraged them to "catch up" this weekend and come to class Tuesday ready. See the above due dates for more details.
WRITING
All of the students have arrived at a plan for their writing this week - some with some gentle nudging :). They should be finishing up this plan and beginning writing. We are taking it slow! They will be writing one paragraph at a time. Those who are ready to progress can (and should) but they will just have more time to edit and rewrite. The personnal narrative will NOT be due until 2nd qtr - after Outdoor Ed. week. See the due dates above for more specific information.
Week Three (Sept 7-11)
Due Dates next week:
*Vocab #1 due Tuesday
*The Outsiders p. 100-130 due Tuesday
*1 activity from The Outsiders selected for in-class work due Tuesday (NOT DUE but selected)
READING
This week has been very productive. I am confident that most of the students have a good understanding of the reading logs - YEA! I have handed out additional examples for them to follow as guides as they are working on these at home.
I highly suggest that parents read over the assignment sheets for The Outsiders and for their BookTalk. The handouts are very detailed and informative and we've spent time in class going over them in detail as well. The BookTalk selections for their independent reading this 9-weeks is DUE tomorrow, Friday, September 11th!!! They must show me a copy of the book they plan on reading for this project.
The due date for The Outsiders activities is September 29th.
The due date for the BookTalk is October 9th.
WRITING
I have postponed our first writing assignment until the 2nd 9-weeks. This will give us more opportunities to work through some of our writing needs. As of today (Wednesday, September 10), we have all come up with a topic for our personal narative / story. We will begin organizing our topic into main topics and subtopics next Wednesday.
Week Two (Aug 31 - Sept 4)
Students are getting started on all 3 major grades for this 9-weeks!
First, they received handouts on the 6 Trait Writing Method today, Wednesday, in class. This packet will be a very important resource for them throughout the year. Their first assignment for the essay is to come to class next Wednesday (September 9th) with at least one idea upon which to build. Next week, they will create a blueprint for the remaining components of this first essay.
Secondly, they will receive a handout on the first BookTalk tomorrow (Thursday). Remember that this first BookTalk will be a learning experience (and flexible) in an effort to just their feet on the ground with the format. Many of the students have already shown me a book that they would like to do. If your student hasn't, they must on or before the end of Week 3 (Friday, September 11). The remaining deadlines are included on the handout.
Finally, The Outsiders will be coming home this Thursday. Students will get a handout on assignments for this novel on the same day. Most of our work with this novel will be done in-class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students should be reading and working on their BookTalks at home. Of course, this largely depends on how well they work during their classtime!
The Outsiders is a great read and I would like to encourage parents to read along with us ... if you have the spare time. The evaluation for this novel will be a compilation of several activities adding up to 50 points. Please review the handout for more details.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
HANDOUTS MENTIONED ABOVE ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON
THE DOWNLOADS PAGE FOR 7th GRADE.
Week One (Aug 26-28)
Or ELAR for short. I hope that your child has at least mentioned our class at home this week. If they are talking at home about what we are talking about here in class, then we're definitely off to a good start. Our classes this week have been focused on introducing our classroom routines and expectations to the students. We have discussed how important reading and writing are to this class as well as to our other classes. The students have had the opportunity to write for 10 minutes both Thursday and Friday - some thought it was great and others thought it was the longest 10 minutes of their life :)!
I have placed the Introduction to ELAR that your student received this week on the downloads page of the 7th Grade Teacher Web page. Please print off an additional copy for your student if they need it. Also, please review our weekly schedule and let me know if you have any questions.
Lastly, thank you for returning the Contact Information sheets so promptly. It is extremely important for me to get to know the kids - their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses. If there is anything that you'd like to discuss with me further, please feel free to send me a quick email and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
This week has been a GREAT start to our school year!
