Middle School English – Page 2

Third Unit:Focus Poetry Analyzing and Writing 3-21-16

I am always in awe at how fast each year goes by as the third quarter is almost over. Spring break is approaching soon. I hope that all students and their families enjoy it and that they come back rested and ready to learn.

Few reminders:

Students are expected to complete all work. If students are falling behind, it is expected that they make up that work during lunch. After 3 times during lunch, the next expectation is after school from 3:00 to 4:30 to make up this work. Students should be staying as many days as possible until work is made up for any and all classes.

Also, students should be reading every day. It is a very important part of their role in my class. The book will be independently chosen unless given a specific book for the class.

Parental Leave

ALL

We finished up our poetry unit with great results! Students learned a variety of poetic devices, how to read and analyze a poem, as well as how to recite/perform poetry. They are officially poets! We continued our focus on annotation as this is a viable skill that will students may use across every subject area. It isn’t just for English class. It requires students to slow down when reading and really notice/interact with the text. On their blogs you can find some of their poetry reading, writing, and their summative. Check out all their hard work!

Grade 7 Blogs

Grade 8 Blogs

7th

In 7th grade students focused on learning many poetic devices and writing more formulaic types of poems. They wrote a total of 21 poems over the course of the unit. Finishing their final poem for their summative on their passion(s) as well as completing TIEAs on 2 different poems.

8th

During the 8th grade unit, students focused on writing poetry using works that were already created. This is what we call remixing. Students wrote about 18 poems for this unit and also looked at how poetic devices are used in songs. They finished their poetry summative by writing a poem to inspire others as well as completing TIEAs on 3 different poems. .

Second Unit: Focus on Annotation & Analyzing 12-17-15

Wow! The first semester has officially come to an end. It’s hard to believe that the school year is halfway over. It has been a great journey of learning throughout this semester. Students have worked really hard to accomplish their goals. While the break is welcome, I will miss all the students over the holiday. I hope that you enjoy this time with family/friends, and I wish it to be full of laughter and love. May this break allow the students to be rejuvenated and refreshed for the next semester. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or praise, please email me.

Reminder: If students are missing any work, please know that tomorrow grades will be finalized.

Students should be reading 20 minutes everyday including the weekend.

7th:

Photo Credit: carloszardoya via Compfight cc

The students just completed a unit called Lessons From Text. In this unit we examined a variety of short stories, speeches, and songs. We evaluated them for connections the author would use and found the implied theme(s) of the text. Students were able to see how connections are used by the author to get a specific message across to reader. Students used a specific analyzing strategy called TIEA. Please ask them what those letters stand for. They picked up the format quickly. For their summative, they wrote two different TIEA paragraphs. Then they moved on to the creative part. They had to write and perform as song or speech that would inspire others. I was very impressed with their topics and their performances. Check them out on their blogs!

Grade 7 Blogs

8th:

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Students recently finished a unit on cultural stories. Throughout this unit, students examined folklores, fairytales, proverbs, and myths from around the world. Their goal was to determine the value, purpose, and importance that cultural stories have in society. After analyzing these types of stories, students wrote two TIEAs for part 1 of their summative. Please ask them what those letters stand for. For many, this was a review of TIEA and for others it was a completely new way to analyze a text. Once they finished that, they got very creative. They had the choice of writing a folklore, fairytale, myth, or urban legend. They designed a poster and then did an audio recording to focus on how cultural stories were told orally. Check out their awesome stories on their blogs!

Grade 8 Blogs

All:

In both 7th & 8th grade units, students had a strong focus on annotation. The purpose of annotation is get students to read the text closely while looking for certain elements. We will continue to work on that throughout the year. As a way of reflecting on the semester, students created a screencast where they analyzed and evaluated what they had learnt throughout the semester. You can also check those out on their blogs!

First Unit: Realistic Fiction 10-13-15

Our first unit is finished! The students were excited about completing their story. We have parent-teacher conferences soon, and I hope to see you there. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or praise, please email me.

All:

Students should be reading 20 minutes a day 7 days a week. After reading, they complete a short entry into their reading journal. Most of the time, this is their only homework. Occasionally, they will need to finish something at home from class. Students choose their own books unless there is assigned reading from class.

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Parents are often asking about SAT prep. Here is a free resource I found at Freetech4teachers. If you click on this link, there will be others resources, but this one is free.

PrepFactory is a free service for high school students to prepare for the SAT and or ACT. PrepFactory offers students a series of tutorial videos and written tips to help them prepare for both tests. After completing a tutorial students can test themselves in a series of practice questions. Each question set is timed and and limited to chunks of ten questions at a time. Students can earn badges for completing tutorials or question sets. Click here for video of PrepFactory in action.

7th:

Students read and discussed Startgirl.

8th:

Students chose a realistic fiction book that had a normal, everyday person who was heroic in some way.

Both:

Students are finished their realistic fiction stories. We followed the Writing Workshop model for completing this story. 7th grade had to focus their story on identity and positive relationships. 8th grade had to focus their story on the main character becoming a here in some way. Students were expected to choose issues that middle schoolers typically have and then create a story to help resolve those conflicts. I am very proud of their hard work and dedication to these stories.

New School Year 8-19-15

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I am always excited to begin a new school year with returning students as well as all the new students! I am looking forward to working with you and your child(ren). In order to help the school year progress nicely, I do have a few expectations. They can be found on the classroom expectations page. One of the major skills that middle school students need to cultivate is time management. Assignments are not always due the next day. Therefore students need to prioritize their time to ensure that work is turned in on time. If you are curious to know more about me, it can be found on Ms. Marum’s Mind page on my blog.

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Last week we worked on building a class community as well as ensuring the school year will go smoothly. We are continuing that this week while also gearing up to be active learners who are also self reflective. We will continually refer to digital citizenship, academic honesty (citing sources), as well focusing on Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Presenting.

http://schenkgr4.blogspot.tw/2013/04/why-read-20-minutes-pinterest-inspired.html

In order for students to be successful in my class, they need to read a minimum of 20 minutes (in English) everyday including the weekend. I do not dictate what they read, unless it is a class novel, except that it has to be in English. Please encourage your child(ren) to choose something that they enjoy to read.

Thank you in advance for all that you to help your child(ren) be successful. This year will be wonderful as you, myself, and the student work together.

6-10-15

One more day left of school! Wow!! I am still amazed at how I know it is coming and yet I never feel ready. I feel that the school year was really successful and that students have gained knowledge that exceeds beyond the four walls of the classroom.

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Without the support, trust, and encouragement from parents, this would have been next to impossible. Words are not enough to express my gratitude. Nonetheless, I am extremely appreciative that I got to work you all.

All

Students finished their Valiant Ventures for the year and gave an amazing TED Talk to showcase their process and learning. I am always amazing at what students accomplish and feel a huge sense of pride for the risks that many of them took. For their final, students are creating a screencrast to showcase and demonstrate all of the learning that they have done over the past year. I am really excited to see what create.

Photo Credit: christarampi via Compfight cc

If you wish to see their work throughout the year, just visit their blogs.

7th Grade Blogs

8th Grade Blogs

7th

Students finished reading and discussing The Giver. They completed analysis on the book and created their own utopian society for their assessment. Throughout this time, students have also been working on a piece of informational writing. They have went through the process of free-writing, drafting, revising and editing, and then publishing.

8th

Students finished reading The Chocolate War. They completed analysis on the book and then had to try to disturb the universe by doing something positive and self-less for 7 days. Students also created an infograph on to bring awareness on various social issues.

3-27-15

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.

12-19-14

It’s the last day of school. While the break is welcome, I will miss all the students over the holiday. I hope that you enjoy this time with family/friends, and I wish it to be full of laughter and love. May this break allow the students to be rejuvenated and refreshed for the next semester. Please email me with any questions, comments, concerns, or praises.

All:

Students do have winter homework for me. They have a magazine to read and complete all the writing requirements for it. Also, they should continue their independent reading.

7th:

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The 7th graders played detective as they attempted to research and “solve” an unsolved mystery. I am truly amazed at the products they accomplished. They completed research, learned how to cite within text, keep track of a bibliography, draw conclusions and create their own theory, and then wrote a fiction story about their unsolved mysteries.

Their work is published on their blogs. Please take a look and a leave a comment or four on a few students’ work.

7th Grade Blogs

Please find your child’s name and check out his/her work.

8th:

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The 8th graders finished a unit on cultural stories. They examined urban legends, mythology, original fairytales, and proverbs from around the world. Each student tended to have a favorite genre that they felt a connection. After researching and reading a variety of texts from around the world, student had the freedom to choose which type of cultural story he/she wanted to create.

Some of their urban legends were super creepy.

Check out their proverbs too! Such wisdom for life was written by them.

8th Grade Blogs

Please find your child’s name and check out his/her work.

Thank you for all that you do to support your child and the learning that takes place in my classroom. That support helps out in ways that I cannot find enough words to express my gratitude.

7th Grade Values Video (10-21-14)

For one of my final projects in my Coetail course, I created my first ever iMovie. I used the happy art project that students completed and pulled their belief/value from their identity essay.

10-13-14

As I mentioned during Open House, you will receive an email from me after every unit. I must state that I am very pleased with how this first quarter has gone. I am beyond grateful at the amount of support that students receive. Thank you for all that you do. Please email me with any questions, comments, concerns, or praises.

I will be using ClassDojo as a way to help students become aware of their behaviors. I will pass out parent codes during parent-teacher conferences. Some of you may have already received an email because I asked the students to put in your email address. I explained to them that this is my way of taking notes on them.

ALL

Please help me to encourage students in their reading and writing. It is expected that students are reading 30 minutes a day everyday. They should be logging their minutes at Reading Rewards. In order to become better readers, they need to read often. The same is true for writing as well.

7th

The seventh graders just finished their unit on identity. We read Stargirl and had several class discussion regarding the book. The students completed an happy art project where they wrote down all the things that make them happy and presented to the class. Students had to perform a random act of kindness and compare themselves to Stargirl. Students debated whether someone should change for others. Students then reflected on what makes them unique. The final summative assessment was an identity essay where students should have described themselves through memories, traits, personal preferences, and how all those aspects shape what they believe and value about life.

8th

The eighth graders just finished their lesson on conflict and resolution. We read The Outsiders and had several class discussion regarding the book. Students examined the characters from the book and created a biopoem for the main characters. The students created a news article based on an event that happened in the story. Students debated whether violence and murder are justifiable. The final summative assessment was a contingency plan to prevent and also resolve conflicts with family, friends, school, and social media. Students then presented their plans to the class.

Overall

I am very pleased with how the students have grown in the area of discussion. We will continue to work on this throughout the year as well as reading, writing, and presenting. Please help students to be prepared and ready for school by encouraging 8 hours of sleep, nutritious food, and exercise.

8-15-14

Words cannot express how excited I am for this new year! I can’t wait to work with you and your child(ren). In order to make a successful year, I do have a few expectations. The most important ones can be found on my class expectations page. It is really important that students have time management skills. As assignments are not always, or even usually due the next day, students need to ensure they are turning work in on time.

Throughout this week, we have been working on the basics for doing well in English class and getting the year set up so that the transition is smooth. Next week we will continue working on how to turn in assignments, what blogs and vlogs should look like, citing and digital citizenship as well as reminding them of my expectations.

And if you want to a little more about me, just click here.

In order for students to be successful in my class, they need to read a minimum of 30 minutes (in English) everyday including the weekend. I do not dictate what they read except that it has to be in English. Please encourage your child(ren) to choose something that they enjoy to read. They can choose a magazine, novel, comic, or nonfiction. As long as they are reading, I am not particular about what they choose.

Thank you in advance for all that you to help your child(ren) be successful. This year will be wonderful as you, myself, and the student work together.