It has been a long time since my last update and for that I completely apologize. I hope that all has been going well since my last post. Honestly, I thought I updated after the last unit and just realized yesterday that I did not. It’s the last day before a long break. I hope that you are as excited as I am about the big move! The new building has me buzzing with anticipation. It’s great to have such a beautiful, technologically advanced building. Should you have any questions, comments, concerns, or praises, please email me. I am constantly reminded how fortunate I am that I have such amazing support from parents. Thank you for all that you do to help ensure student success.
All Students: Spring Break Work
Students need to watch several TED talk videos to have an understanding of how to do their own TED Talk for their Valiant Venture. Students also need to begin on their Google Presentation. It is also recommended that student continue to read, write, and speak in English every day.
All
Students have finished two units since my last post. I will discuss those individually under each grade. Today is also the last day in class that students can work on their Valiant Venture. They may continue over the spring break if needed, but no other class time will be given to work on this. Students will be presenting their TED Talk within a few weeks of returning. We would love to have you be present and support what they have accomplished. More details will follow via email once we return from spring break and I have an exact date and location.
7th
Students completed a unit on lessons they can learn from the text. They examined and analyzed how authors use connections to give readers a lesson on life. They read many short stories, songs lyrics, as well as inspirational speeches. Today students finished a short unit on poetry. Students wrote many types of poems over the course of the last several weeks. For their summative, they wrote a poem using the poetic devices they learned describing their culture and analyzed two poems about different cultures.
8th
Students finished a unit on bias. They examined different forms of bias that can be found throughout the media. The media they viewed consisted of news, songs, advertisements, commercials, TV, and movies. It was a great eye opening experience for them even though it was quite challenging. Students finished a short unit on poetry with an emphasis on performing. During their long block this week they performed two poems: inspirational and hope/dream. This was part of their summative as well as analyzing three poems that are meant to inspire or empower.