Happy Tuesday!
Sorry this is a day late, but what a crazy Monday I had! Meetings, papers to grade, I'm happy I just made it home by 5 pm. Needless to say, today will be much better :) Welcome to December! :P
And speaking of December, it's only 20 days until Christmas! Yay! You should be hearing from your homeroom teachers shortly, if not already, about upcoming Christmas parties, because believe it or not, they're happening in a few weeks!
Also, this week is Candy Cane Sales!! So make sure that if your child is wanting to buy candy canes, they bring those in this week! Remember that each candy cane is 50 cents. The last day to buy candy canes is Friday.
Okay, enough rambling (my mind is EVERYWHERE today!)...
Important Dates:
December 4-7th - Candy Cane Sales
December 6th - Student Council Target shopping trip after school
December 7th - Mid Quarter!
December 13th - Trip to The Nutcracker in Milwaukee - home before school is over
December 18th - Student Council meeting @ 7:05 a.m.
December 21st - Compassion International Donations due/Christmas parties/bowling @ Circle B
December 22nd - January 2nd - Christmas Break!
Last Week:
6th Grade ~ Last week, the 6th graders did a Monday Meditation where they had to analyze a piece of art. It was cool to see their interpretations! The rest of the week was spent continuing to read DGDP chapters 13 through 17. The students completed their 3rd reading strategies packet and got their 4th one (last one! They're very excited). The 6th graders also completed chapters 10-13 comprehension questions and a journal prompt on the readings. In grammar, the students took their Chapter 7 Test and did very well!
7th Grade ~ Last week, the 7th graders did a Monday Meditation where they had to analyze a piece of art. It was cool to see their interpretations! As a start to our next unit on figurative language, the students took a pre-test to just show me how much they already knew (it was not graded). We then did an activity where the students looked at different poems and had to point out things they noticed that made each poem unique (structure, shape, rhyming, colors, etc.). You can check Seesaw for pictures! As a class, we then started the actual unit, discussing poem structure (line, stanzas, and rhyme scheme) and topic/theme. The students did a few accompanying activities to practice these skills, including reading a poem called "The Mending Wall" by Robert Frost. In Shurley Grammar, the students continued working with helping verbs and inverted vs. natural word order. Note: there will be a Shurley Grammar test on Wednesday. In advanced grammar, the students discussed dependent/independent clauses and complex sentences. Both grammar classes did a worksheet to practice the new skills.
8th Grade ~ Last week, the 8th graders worked with list 12 for Latin/Greek roots and took a quiz on Friday. The rest of the week was spent getting everything ready to go for The Book Thief (TBT): presenting the students' WWII research projects, taking a short figurative language "quiz" as a review from last year, and completing a crossword puzzle about the novel's author. I also explained the quote journal that the students will be completing for the unit. TBT is split into different sections. For each section, the students are required to select at least 2 quotes that stand out to them and then document them in their journal. At the end of the book, the students will then take these quotes and create an artistic quote journal (see example in the students' LA folder). On Friday, I also handed out the 8th graders' graded Exceptionality Research Papers and we went over the rubrics and grades. For those students who got 90% or lower, I did discuss an extra credit option, where they will be making a brochure on how to properly write/format a research paper. The students know who is eligible for this extra credit and that it is due December 14th. Overall, I was EXTREMELY pleased with the paper grades this year; the students spent a lot of time and effort on their papers, and it definitely shows! In grammar, the students discussed adjective phrases and did a worksheet.
Have a great week!
Grace
