Good evening!
I hope this blog finds you well on this wonderful Wednesday! Pssssssst! Guess what?? Only 5 more days until Christmas! Boy, has this month flown by (or this whole year so far)! I figured with this being the last week before Christmas break, I'd send out a cumulative ELA blog covering the last 2 weeks. That being said...
Important Events:
December 21st - Compassion donations due!
December 21st - Classroom Christmas parties
December 22nd - January 2nd - Christmas break!
January 3rd - Book trailers due!
January 5th - Winter sports pep-rally @ 1:45 p.m.
January 5th - 7th - Basketball Holiday Tournament
The Last Weeks
6th Grade ~ The last 2 weeks, the students and I have finished reading DGDP. The students handed in their final Reading Strategies packet for the novel, and as a class, we completed the last set of comprehension questions. Journal prompts have been graded as well, meaning the only thing the students have left is their final project. When the 6th graders get back from break, I will be introducing the project, which will require them to select a character from the book, and do a character study on that character via Glogster. The students will most likely have about a week to work on this project (in class), so there will be plenty of time to complete it! In grammar, the students took their Chapter 4 test on pronouns. When we get back, we will begin conjunctions!
7th Grade ~ The last 2 weeks, the students have continued with their poetry unit. Topics would include: onomatopoeia, imagery, similes, metaphors, and personification. Some of the activities we did to accompany these topics were: a comic strip, imagery analysis of multiple short poems, writing similes and metaphors, and analyzing personification. When the students get back from Christmas break, we will be focusing on poetry analysis as a whole (going through poems and picking out all of the elements). If all runs smoothly, the students should be taking their poetry test the week of January 8th. In grammar, the students took their Chapter 4 test on pronouns. When we get back, we will begin conjunctions!
8th Grade ~ The last 2 weeks, the students have continued reading The Book Thief, and I have been thrilled to see the excitement for the novel (it only gets better!)! So far, the students have read Parts 1 & 2, as well as completing accompanying activities such as, 2 comprehensive quizzes, comprehension questions, a journal prompt via Seesaw, and a letter from the point of view of the main character. I have been extremely impressed with the students' drive thus far, and pray it continues throughout the novel. I would agree that the novel can get long at points, but it has so much meaning and purpose! Thank you for allowing your child to read this book; it is truly remarkable! For Latin/Greek roots, the 8th graders have focused on lists 12 and 13. When we get back from Christmas break, we will begin conjunctions in grammar.
ALL ~ Book trailers start immediately when we get back from Christmas break! Please be encouraging your child to be working on that over break (if they have yet to finish it). I cannot wait to see what the students have created!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
God's blessings on your Christmas break!
Grace
