Marcum's Message

Students are working very diligently and meeting the expectations put before them. I cannot continue to stress how much your support means to the students and myself. I greatly appreciate the involvement. As always, please email me with any questions, comments, concerns, or praises. I welcome your communication.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

• There will be sign up sheet located on the door for you to select the time that would work best for you.
• Conferences are scheduled for 10 minutes. Please be advised, if needed, another conference may be required to discuss major concerns.
• Conference times are from 8:00-11:30 and 12:30-4:00.

I will update the blog and resend an email should there be any changes. I look forward to seeing everyone on Friday. Have an amazing week!

The first quarter is over and I am beyond impressed with the dedication of students and parents. Students have been working very diligently and parents have been super supportive. It has been a great first quarter.

Reminders

Students should be reading every night. They will not improve their reading if they are not practicing. My only requirements are the book is AR, it is not too difficult or too easy, and the student enjoys it.

I do not accept late work. I understand absences and emergencies, but not negligence. I work very hard to give students ample time to complete their assignments outside of class. I expect them to be responsible and turn it in with the time frame provided.

If a student has turned in an assignment incorrectly, I will post a comment on Edmodo asking them to fix it. If they do not fix it in a timely manner because they are not reading my comments, I will not change their grade.  Again, it goes back to be responsible and owning their education.

I always tell my students that I expect their best. Therefore, I do not allow extra credit work. If a student completes all their assignments and puts 100% of their effort into it while following the directions and criteria, their grade will reflect that accomplishment.

My last reminder is concerning students getting help from others or tutors. I am all for students improving their work. However, pleas help me to ensure that the work is from the students and not from someone who is helping them.

All 

Students updated their vocabulary presentations in Google Drive. They are added the new vocabulary we are discussing and finding examples to support the definitions. We continued our focus on reading non-fiction using the THIEVES strategy. It allows them to gather the information from a non-fiction text before, during, and after reading. It is a strategy that works well with other school subjects especially Science and History. The students continue to improve their writing with practice and increased vocabulary.

Royal Readers

7A-Angela 103, Rita 34

7G- Estella 71, Jenny 62

8B-William 49, Amelia 46

8E-Daniel 90, William 61

8F-Kevin 34, Kelly 31

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. I am not sure if there is a difference, but I have seen the festival referred to using both.

Your support and communication ensures that the students are successful. Please email me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Seventh Grade:

We focused on writing this week. Specifically, we worked on improving our sentences and persuasive essay writing. Students created notes from a persuasive writing powerpoint and some writing requirements that I expect from the. Then, they began their writing prompt concerning backpacks in the classroom. We will be continuing the writing focus as the students work on finishing their first persuasive essay and begin another essay for their assessment.

Eighth Grade:

We examined the differences between reading fiction and non-fiction. Students created a foldable for the strategy THIEVES. Part of reading non-fiction is gathering information. The THIEVES strategy is not just for English class. It works really well for Science and Social Studies classes as the majority of their text are non-fiction. Students are continuing their work for their Figurative Language project. I am really excited to see what they will produce.

I cannot believe that we have been in school for over six weeks. Time is really moving fast this year. Your support helps me to ensure student success. I am appreciative of all the emails and communication that has occurred. Please, continue to ask questions, send comments or concerns, and keep the lines of communication open.

We have an online textbook for the literature book we use in class. Students will utilize this tool throughout the year.

Seventh Grade

We have continued our study of figurative language, annotation, and summarizing. This week, students read the short story “Amigo Brothers”. They completed summaries, say something, and searching for a variety of figurative language used in the story. Students have created a presentation in Google Drive to keep track of their English vocabulary.

Eighth Grade

We continued adding to our English vocabulary presentation we created in Google Drive. We examined how to make “super sentences” in order to improve our writing. We started out figurative language video project. I am so excited to see how amazing they will turn out. The students read the short story “The Bet” to continue the practice of annotation and summarizing.

 

 

Thank you for your continued support! I appreciate all the emails and communication that has occurred. Please, continue to ask questions, send comments or concerns, and keep the lines of communication open.

I am sharing a few links from Edmodo to help ensure that you can access this website easily. I hope that this information will be beneficial for you.

How To For Parents and Parent Accounts

Middle School English

My lesson started out about figurative language. Students often struggle when authors use words different than literal meaning. I realized during the figurative language song that many students were embarrassed to participate. Naturally, our lesson turned into one about taking risks and facing the fears of being embarrassed. As I stated at Open House, I want students to be well rounded as well as literate in the English language. The students have a link to the song and the lyrics. Ask them to perform it for you.

Students had their second DGP quiz this past week as well as their third quote analysis. I feel that everything is moving at the just the right pace. I am very proud that students are becoming more comfortable with my expectations and meeting them.

 

Thank you to all the parents who have signed up for Edmodo. It will be the major line of communicating assignments and class information. As always, email me any questions, comments, concerns, or praises. I want to have an open line of communication while working toward the common goal of supporting the students.

Also, it was brought to my attention the requirements for the 1 to 1 environment for middle school. I am attaching the link below. I want to make sure that all parents are aware of the expectations.

KAS 1 to 1 Environment FAQs

Have an amazing weekend.

Seventh Grade

Students put their summarization skills into action this week using the short story Crush. While reading the story together, the used their annotation strategy to help them explore deeper into the text. Then, they used their Someone Wanted But So Then summarization strategy. This directly correlates with the plot that we reviewed last week. Students then completed the 200NT summary. The students continue to use technology through Edmodo and the Google Applications. In the area of writing, students are analyzing a quote each week and posting it to a blog.

 

Eighth Grade

Students read the short story Born Worker. Our skill focus this week was summarization. Students need to harness their ability to condense information and focus solely on the main points in a text. For a fiction strategy, we used Someone Wanted But So Then. This follows the plot of a story that was our focus last week. The 200NT summary challenges students to summarize the text using no more than 20 words. It is very important that students can synthesize information without retelling or paraphrasing. The students and I continue to expand our knowledge of using the 1 to 1 in the classroom. Every week I feel that we are become more and more competent in this area. For our writing focus, students are evaluating a quote and posting it to their blog. The quote assignment allows students to practice analysis with a short text. This will prepare for them for analyzing a much longer text.

I feel like time is moving along at a steady pace. The students and I seem to be settling into a great routine. Thank you to all the parents that were able to make it to open house. It was such a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with all parents to ensure that the students are successful and productive. Please, continue to email me with any questions or concerns. Also, if you have some praise, send those as well. I hope that you have signed up for the parent aspect of Edmodo. Again, I would appreciate any feedback since I am not sure what the parent page looks like.

Recap of Open House

1. Late work will not be accepted due to negligence. Absence and emergencies are the exception. Please, work with the students on time management. It is a skill that will follow them throughout their life no matter their career choice.
2. If you see a 50% on an assignment in Edmodo or Powerschool, this means that the student did not complete and/or turn in the assignment.
3. AR goals will be individual after this quarter. My expectation is that students are reading every night for 30 minutes. My requirements are that the books are AR, not too easy or difficult, and that they enjoy reading it. While it is for a grade, I do not want the students obsessed with the goal. The important part is for them to practice their reading. Also, I want them to develop a love of reading.
4. Students should be writing their homework down in their agenda daily. It serves as a reminder of what they need to accomplish. They can no longer say “I forgot” if it is written daily. Thank you for your help in this. It is another skill that will help them.
5. I offer extra help on Thursday mornings at 7:30. AM. I am offering this only if students are struggling in class or with a specific concept. Students must email me by Wednesday if they wish to be meet with me. The first 7-10 students to email me will be able to come at 7:30 on Thursday. I cut off the amount of students so that they can get an individualized or small group time with me. Any more students it would be too much like a class and I want to be able to speak with every student that shows up.

Seventh Grade

We are improving our grammar through our DGP. The students have a quiz this Friday on Days 1 and 2. We finished our review of plot with the story 7th Grade by Gary Soto. We learned two new summarization strategies. Someone Wanted But So Then is used mainly for fiction texts since it follows the plot of a story. 200NT Summary forces the student to summarize the text in 20 words or less. This helps the students to only get the main points of the story and ensures they are not retelling or paraphrasing the story. We will be finishing the summarizing strategies this week. Students began using a blog this week to respond to a quote selected by me. My goal is to have students improve their analyzing skills as well as their writing.

 

 Eighth Grade

Students are making great strives in the grammar using the DGP. Their first quiz on Days 1 and 2 will be this Friday. We finished our review of plot with the story Raymond’s Run by Tony Cade Bambara. We learned two new summarization strategies. Someone Wanted But So Then is used mainly for fiction texts since it follows the plot of a story. 200NT Summary forces the student to summarize the text in 20 words or less. We learned that retelling and paraphrasing is not the same thing as summarization. While they have similarities,  summarization only gives the main points or ideas. We will be finishing summarization this week. We began analyzing and evaluating quotes last week. Students will give an in-depth look into the quote and work on their writing skills.

Middle School English

I want to take this opportunity and revisit my classroom expectations.

1. Be Responsible:  This means that you are in your seat when the bell rings with everything that you need to begin working.  You must participate in class.
2. Be Respectful:  This means you are not talking while the teacher or other peers are talking, being polite, there will be no put downs or teasing, but lots of praise.
3. Mistakes:  It is OK to make mistakes as long as you are doing your best.
4. Listen:  Listen to instructions the first time they are given.  If you do not understand something ask questions.
5. Best:  Always do your best on everything.  The only choice you do not have in this class is to do nothing.

This year, I will be using the Edmodo sight to keep students and parents up to date with class information and assignments. I will have codes available at Back to School night for all parents.

We also started using DGP. DGP stands for Daily Grammar Practice. The students have a sentence that they use all week. Every day, the students have a different concept that they accomplish with the sentence. They really take these sentences apart and understand every aspect of them.

We began using an annotation strategy called Say Something. Students use this strategy have a deeper understanding of the story and what the author is trying to get the reader to understand. We will continue to use this strategy  throughout the year as a way to have more depth in our reading.

7th Grade

The students read the story “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto. The focus of this story is characterization and plot. We will finish the activities that demonstrate the use of plot and characterization in the story.

8th Grade

The students read the story “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara. We are focusing on plot and characterization. We will finish the activities that indicate that students can identify the reason that authors use them in a shorty story.