It was so wonderful to see each of you at open house. These first few weeks have went by and students are doing amazing! I know that we can continue to have a great year and keep the communication open. As always, please email me with any questions, comments, concerns, or praise. I hope that you have a great week.
All Classes
Students have homework nightly and weekly. Their nightly homework consists of reading for a minimum of 30 minutes. Research shows that students who read for at least 30 minutes a day have an improved vocabulary. It will help improve their written and spoken language as well. Students also have weekly writing homework. Blogs are due every Friday before students come to class. Students also have a written assignment for their reading but that is not due every week. In order to become better readers, writers, speakers, and listeners, students must practice often and daily.
“I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” ~ Will Smith
“My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more.” ~ Pete Rose
“Practice is the best of all instructors.” ~ Publilius Syrus
Students are also doing DGP (Daily Grammar Practice) and DRP (Daily Reading Practice) every day in class. It is important that they know the vocabulary for each of these. Students should spend about 10 minutes a day looking over their DGP & DRP notes. The more familiar students are with the notes, the better they will perform in class.
Students are finishing their learning biography. For this assignment, they had to write about their earliest memories as a learner up to their current grade.
7th Grade
Students read “7th Grade” by Gary Soto. They worked on annotating their reading assignments and writing in perspective of one of the characters from the story.
8th Grade
Students read “Checkouts” by Cynthia Rylant. They annotated their reading assignment and charted the two main characters’ actions, thoughts, feelings, and motivation.
