Aug 24-28

Monday:  Students first did a reading/listening/speaking game called "Blow the Roof Off."  Then we got into smaller groups of 4 and 5 and did an introduction/team building activity.  Each student had to trace their own hand and write five things about themself.  These were then shared orally in the small groups. 

 

Tuesday:  Reviewed classroom rules and procedures.  Showed format for student notebooks (modified Cornell notes).  Discussed learning styles.  Students individually completed a self-assessment on learning styles.

 

Wednesday:   Students wrote a reflective piece on the self-assessment of learning styles discussion and questionnaire. 

 

Thursday: We completed the learning styles discussion and Cornell notes questioning section.  Then we did a geography scavenger hunt in groups of 3.  Students had to locate the countries of Africa, India, and China.  Working with partners or independently, students then read 3 fables - one from each of those countries.

   

 Friday:  Students wrote out answers to five questions from the first fable,  "The Tiger and the Big Wind."  The focus was on putting the question back into the answer and using complete sentences.

 

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Aug 31-Sep 4

 

Monday:  Updated Wasatch planners with upcoming assignments/events. We read "The Tiger and the Big Wind" aloud together as a group and reviewed the comprehension questions.  We also read aloud "The Rabbit That Ran Away."  Students completed five comprehension questions in their notebooks. 

 

Tuesday:  We read aloud "The Crow and The Peacock" as a group.  Students completed the 5 comprehension questions independently in their notebooks.  The remaining 15 minutes was used for homework help.

 

Wednesday:  compare/contrast-Venn diagrams-T squares- Using the first two fables "The Tiger and the Big Wind" and "The Rabbit That Ran Away," students completed a minimum of three similarities and three differences on their choice of compare/contrast graphic organizer (Venn Diagram or T-Square). 15 minutes for homework help.

 

Thursday:  Class council/discussion group- biggest struggle/biggest fear with school right now, how to speak to teachers, individual work/partner work/group work

 

Friday:  Students followed along with a printed copy as I read an excerpt from Word Smart Jr. .  They then had to write the three boldfaced words: concealed, sophisticated, and gruff in their daily action logs and give me their definition/understanding of the word based on context clues.

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Monday:  No School

 

Tuesday: Using context clues to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words.  Review assignment from Friday.

 

Wednesday:  We talked about the format for a five paragraph essay and what each of the paragraphs should include. Students took notes in their daily action logs.  Oral language game: "What kind of...?"

 

Thursday:  Review of context clues and introduced "clunks and clues graphic organizer."  (discusssion of "clunk" "clunker" "cash for clunkers") We pre read non-fiction article and scanned for unfamiliar words.  We read the four strategies for understanding unfamiliar words from the clunks and clues graphic organizer.  In the daily action logs, students took notes on common prefixes, their meanings and an example word for each.

 

Friday:  Homework help- 5 paragraph essays and current event graphic organizers.

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Sep 14-18

 

Monday:  Imagine learning and homework help--lots of tests and projects with mid-terms approaching.

 

Tuesday:  We completed the clunks and clues graphic organizer with four unknown words from our non-fiction article.  Students had to identify the unfamiliar word, which of the four fix-it strategies they used, and tell what they thought the word meant.  As a final step, we used dictionaries to check for understanding.

 

Wednesday:  Imagine learning and homework help (geography and science)

 

Thursday: Imagine learning and homework help (geography and math)

 

Friday:  discussion group:  Should students be paid for good grades?

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 Sep 21-25

Monday:  We talked about fact vs. opinion.  Students then took an article on the topic of being paid for good grades and skimmed and scanned for facts and figures.  We continued our group discussion.

 

Tuesday:  9th graders- study group/review for geography test.  7th graders- Imagine Learning

 

Wednesday:  9th graders- study group.review for science quiz on earthquakes. 7th graders- Imagine Learning and individual assistance with 5 paragraph essays.

 

Thursday:  7th graders- indiviudal review vocab for Utah Studies test and assistance with 5 paragraph essays.  9th graders- Imagine Learning and math homework.

 

Friday:  No School

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Sep 28-Oct 2

 

Monday: 7th graders- individual review for Utah Studies test and assistance with 5 paragraph essays.  9th graders- Imagine Learning and math homework.

 

Tuesday:  1:1 homework assistance 7th and 9th graders.  9th graders-geography corrections.

 

Wednesday:

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Oct. 5-9

 

Monday:  No School

 

Tuesday:  Updated Wasatch planners with upcoming assignments/events.  1:1 homework assistance.  Played oral language/vocabulary game "Apples to Apples" last ten minutes of class.

 

Wednesday:  Each student was given their updated grade report and assignment sheets.  Based on this information and the upcoming test/project schedule given yesterday, students wrote out a "game plan"  for improving their academic performance by the end of the term.  They had to be clear and specific including things such as specific teachers they need to ask questions of, turn papers in to, materials they need to take home, time frames for completing tasks, etc. 

 

Thursday:  Boys- Imagine Learning  Girls- 1:1 homework assistance.

 

Friday:  Group discussion for journalism class request--holidays in other countries.  We played rhyming BINGO the last fifteen minutes of class.

 

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Oct. 12-16

 

Monday:  Weekly overview- tests and assignments. 7th graders- review of 2 types of cells, different types of transport- active and passive, different types of passive transport

 

Tuesday:  1:1 homework assistance and review of "game plan"

 

Wednesday: 1:1 homework assistance and review of "game plan"

 

Thursday: Prefix review and using background knowledge to decode meanings.  Math critical thinking game: "pentominoes" with partners. 

 

Friday:  We continued with the pentominoes game and students began taking notes.

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Oct. 19-23

Monday:  Weekly overview- tests and assignments. 9th graders on science field trip.  7th graders Imagine Learning, book projects, and IPT testing

 

Tuesday: Today we had a math tutor to assist with one group while I worked on geography and English with another.  Our group lesson was focused on area and perimeter and students took notes in their action logs. 

 

Wednesday:  1:1 homework assistance

 

Thursday:  math tutoring and Imagine Learning

 

Friday:

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Monday: Weekly overview- tests and assignments. Pentominoes- finding area and perimeter

 

Tuesday: mathematics terminology- flips, turns, and slides; math tutor for 1:1 homework assistance

 

Wednesday:  We welcomed a new student : )  Imagine Learning and 1:1 homework assistance

 

Thursday:  math tutoring and 1:1 homework assistance.  We reviewed Venn Diagrams and T Square graphic organizers for comparing and contrasting.  Students were given an informational article on the differences between frogs and toads.  They were also provided writing frames for compare/contrast paragraphs.  We started writing a contrast paragraph on the differences between frogs and toads.

 

Friday: 

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November 2-5

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November 9-13

 

Monday:  Weekly overview- tests and assignments.  We talked about long term assignments and started project outlines for completion.

 

Tuesday:  Math tutoring and 1:1 homework assistance.  During the last 20 minutes we went to the media center to locate materials for the long term projects. 

 

Wednesday: 

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November 16-20

 

Monday:  Weekly overview of tests and assignments.

 

Tuesday:  9th graders Imagine Learning. 7th graders 1:1 homework assistance.

 

Wednesday:  Shortened period due to assembly schedule,  Direct instruction on parts of speech and how the same word can function as multiple parts of speech.  (i.e.  Please stand over there.  That is the best taco stand in town.) 1:1 homework assistance.

 

Thursday: 

 

Friday: NO SCHOOL

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November 23-27

Monday:  Weekly overview of tests and assignments.  Math tutoring and 1:1 homework assistance.  Group lesson was on idioms.  Students were given a short passage in which they were to identify 5 idioms.

Tuesday:  Review of idiom exercise.  We brainstormed idioms and took notes.

Wednesday:  NO SCHOOL

Thursday:  NO SCHOOL

Friday:  NO SCHOOL
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November 29-Dec. 4

Monday:  Weekly overview of tests and assignments.  Math tutoring and 1:1 homework assistance. 9th graders- Imagine Learning.

Tuesday:  Group lesson was on homonyms--students used word attack skills and background knowledge to figure out the meaning of "homonym."  Students wrote a definition in their daily action logs, along with a few common examples.  I then passed out a copy of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which had 24 homonyms that needed to be corrected.  9th graders- Imagine Learning.

Wednesday:  7th graders- Imagine Learning, 9th graders 1:1 homework assistance.

Thursday