Well, they did it! The students have survived to mid-quarter, and I can honestly say that I am SO proud of the accomplishments that they have made so far. I am extremely excited to watch how hard the students have been working and how they have been keeping up the hard work to maintain their grades, even if it is only mid-quarter. It is my hope that the students continue this dedication towards their grades the rest of the quarter and school year!
Listed below are some important dates to remember for all grades:
Important Dates
Student Council meeting - October 4th @7:05 a.m.
"What It Means to Be an American" Fair - October 5th @ 1:00-2:30 p.m.
LEA Conference - No school - October 13-14th
Book Talks Due - October 17th
Student Council meeting - October 18th @ 7:05 a.m.
Box Top Clipping Party - October 20th @ 2:45-4:00 p.m.
Red Ribbon Week - October 24-28th
End of 1st Quarter - October 28th
Student Council Leaf-Raking - October 28th
Last Week
6th Grade ~ Last week, the 6th graders continued to work hard on their Monday Meditations. I also continue to be amazed at how much dedication they put towards their writing... and how creative they are! Keep up the good work! On Tuesday, the students worked in small groups to finish up the GHGR unit by reading a story called "The Hatmaker and Her Daughter." It has been fun watching the 6th graders work together and see their care for their classmates. On Wednesday, we did a lesson on adverbs and got to enjoy a little bit of School House Rock as a review. The rest of the week, the students and I finished up our GHGR unit with the Unit 2 Write About It (due tomorrow/Monday). I look forward to reading those projects as the conclusion to this unit study.
7th Grade ~ Last week, the 7th graders took a quiz on what they have read so far in Among the Hidden. I was VERY impressed with how well they did and the consistency they have towards getting their work/readings done on time. On Tuesday, I got to introduce the 7th graders to one of my favorite activities all year - to go along with Among the Hidden, I assigned each student a shadow child identity. This identity included the type of house they lived in, the location where they lived, and the family they had. I then had the students locate themselves on a Google Map and write a short blip about their "shadow child identity" that could be seen by all the other 7th grade "shadow children." So, if you hear your child talking about living in Montana in a wooden lodge, now you know why :) We will continue to use these identities throughout the novel study, and will begin our first blog post as "shadow children" on Monday. On a completely different note, in grammar, we did a lesson on adverbs and got to enjoy a little bit of School House Rock as a review.
8th Grade ~ Last week, the 8th graders received another Latin/Greek roots list. They continue to do exceedingly well on their quizzes and study of the roots, making me as their teacher very proud :) On Monday, we also finished up with "The Raven", by listening to a dramatic reading and going through the final interpretations and impressions of the poem. The students then worked on a personal analysis of the poem, to finish up the story. On Wednesday, in grammar, we did a lesson on adverbs and got to enjoy a little bit of School House Rock as a review. On Thursday, we began our next Edgar Allan Poe story, "The Masque of the Red Death," by doing a quick web-quest on the Bubonic Plague and Tuberculosis (both of these diseases were the inspiration for Poe's story). On Friday, we read "The Masque of the Red Death" together as a class, and I left them to think about and ponder all of the different symbolism and meanings behind the story (which made them very frustrated :) ) I look forward to going over the elements of the story with them on Monday.
****Just a heads up for all parents: we will begin our Patriot's Pen essays this month. This year's topic is "The America I Believe In." The students will be doing almost all of the work in class, so please do not be concerned if you do not see the actual essay anytime, haha. I encourage the students to bring them home and show you, but, well, you know middle schoolers... The final drafts will be submitted to the American Legion on November 1st; therefore, I will be making the students' essays due October 25th. Here is a link to the actual website if you have any other further questions: https://www.vfw.org/PatriotsPen/.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
God's blessings!
Grace
