Happy Friday!

After a much too long absence, students went to the IMC today. Since One Book One School is over, it is time for new books! Students also did a Text Feature Scavenger Hunt to review informational features of texts for ISTEP review.

For ISTEP, please remember to bring to your p.1 class Monday:

• calculator
• two #2 pencils

ISTEP testing will be Tues., Wed., Thurs. of next week. Please remember to:

• eat a healthy, protein-filled breakfast
• get a good night's sleep
• turn off cell phones and keep them in your locker or at home. You run the risk of an invalidated test if you have a cell phone. Even the teachers have to turn their phones into the office or leave them at home! Don't risk it!

Have a wonderful weekend! You worked very hard this week. Thanks.

Hello!

This week I have ticket sales for wrestling, bus duty, and checking in ISTEP booklets after school, so my blog entries are brief!

Students are working so very hard with ISTEP practice. I know they feel confident and ready. It's like when you practice for a play...you finally NEED that audience. ISTEP will be on Tues. and Wed. for LA and Math and Science is Thurs.

A few ISTEP reminders for Monday- bring to period 1:

• Bring two #2 pencils
• calculator
• Get a restful sleep the previous night (and weekend)
• Eat healthy breakfasts with protein

TOMORROW IS $5.00 FRIDAY for WATER for SUDAN!

H/W: Elearning Day #4 due tomorrow! I will not chase after you if you are late on your elearning; it is up to you to tell me how to solve the problem of having a zero. I am so fortunate I have very few students who make this choice. 

Thanks! See you tomorrow! Bring your Archer Cards. :)

Hello!

We continued with ISTEP practice today, using the practice booklet from the state. This is a great opportunity because ISTEP is going to not only look different, but the expectations and skill focus has also changed. I have a whole list of changes that I will share with students later this week.

$5.00 Friday!! Please try to bring $5.00 to donate to Water for Sudan this Friday! If you don't have $5.00, any amount of money will be appreciated!

H/W:
Elearning Day 3 due Thurs.
Elearning Day 4 due Friday

Thank you!

Welcome back!

I hope you enjoyed your unexpected time off! I know you had elearning, and thanks to all of you who have passed it in. It is nice to finish it so you don't have to worry about it this week! Your elearning is looking more polished and professional...thank you!

Elearning Due Dates: Day #3 due this Thurs., Feb. 26

                                      Day #4 due this Fri., Feb. 27

A note of thanks to all of you, students and parents, who have donated to the Iron Giraffe: Water for Sudan fundraiser. Even though it was developed by my period 3 class, I am so thankful to all of you outside (and inside) the class who have donated. It is very heartwarming to see students donate birthday money, Christmas money, allowance, and know that the only thing they will get in return is helping those in need. Thank you, and let the fundraising continue!

All classes continued with ISTEP writing and reading reponse practice today. The practice materials we used can be found on the Indiana DOE website. Tomorrow we will move into the official practice books from the state.

Stay focused and work hard this week! It is an important week which leads us up to ISTEP!

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

Friday, Feb. 20, is elearning day 4! I would love it if you did the assignment on google drive and then shared it with me by email. It would allow me to get a head start on grading the assignments right away. Please make sure you share with me by email!

Stay warm, everyone! Did you hear the state shortened the ISTEP test?  I am relieved for you!

I will see you on Monday. Miss you guys!

Snowy Wednesday!

*** If there is a snow day tomorrow, please do eLearning day #3. I spoke to all  my classes today about getting the work done on the snow day; it is too hard for students to try to mange eLearning for for all their classes when they have school and homework.

All classes: We continued with ISTEP practice today. Students were given a reading response with depth of knowledge questions that were at the highest levels, and I believe this is what they can expect to see on the new test. But, it is the type of writing we have been doing this year, and they need to take a deep breath and say, "I got this." Students also practiced timed pre-writes. If they can complete a prewite in less than 12 minutes, all their hard work is done.

Period 3 Fundraiser "Water for Sudan" started today! We had a beautifully executed video and presentation on WDMS. Students have started collecting money at lunch. We are off to a FANTASTIC start! What a great learning experience...and they only thing they will get in return is the overwhelming feeling of what it is to truly "give." Perfect.

Have a cozy evening!

Tuesday - hope you are staying warm!

Progress Reports should be coming home today! Please take a moment to check your child's progress. I had many students with late/missing assignments. When I made them aware of their current grade, the assignments magically appeared :) These were not graded in time for progress reports, but they are on HAC, so ask your child to pull up HAC to view their current grade.

P. 1, 5 Today we continued with Prompt Attack! Now that students can create their prewrite outline in 10 seconds, we are using practice prompts to fill in the prewrite in less than 10 minutes. I tell students this is their lifeline to a successful writing prompt!

H/W: Finish the PREWRITE ONLY for the "Lottery" prompt. Here is the scenario:

The evening news just ended. Your hands are shaking. You heard the numbers, and you have douvble and triple checked. You have the winning lottery ticket! You have just won a million dollars! How do you feel? What will you do with all the money? How will this change your life and your plans for the future?

Remember: borrow words for intro and conclusion!

P. 3: Students wrapped up their plans for the fundraiser Water for South Sudan. They will be appearing on WDMS, giving speeches in classrooms in all graders, and speaking in the cafeteria. This is so exciting, and it is also very heartwarming to see students give their own money. So sweet.

H/W: Remember to tell adults that checks for South Sudan should be made out to DMS.

P. 2,6: Students continued today with Socratic Seminar: Part II. I could tell students felt more relaxed, but they were still professional. Thank you for inviting those to speak who had difficulty allowing their voices to be heard on Friday. I love this opportunity for students to freely discuss and analyze.

H/W: Read!

Thank you so much!

Woo hoo! Friday!

Ok..let's get serious. Almost all of you are dedicated students who care about your learning...fantastic! For some others, your hearts are going to drop when you see your Progress Report. It is your responsibility to look at HAC and see what you need to do to feel successful. For almost all of you who have low grades, it is because you did not do the quizzes on noredink.com. So, what can you do? Isn't a late grade better than a zero? Your call. Why do I care more than you do?
If you do decide to complete your noredink, please email me once are done. It is your job to follow through with me. 

P. 1, 3, 5: Today we learned, practiced and drilled Prompt Attack! for ISTEP writing. I spend quite a bit of time on this because it helps students to feel confident and know exactly how to get started. We also watched a video about Brandon Sanderson, author of Steelheart, who will be visiting our school Feb. 25! Students wrote questions to ask him.

P. 2,6: Socratic Seminar was amazing!! Deep discussions and thoughtful questions. And, what a kind group of individuals. I really enjoyed watching you monitir to make sure all were included. Obviously, we will have to carry this over to Tues. Bring all your Socratic materials on Tues.!

Have a super weekend! Thank you for a fun week!

It was a Thoughtful Thursday kind of day...

Students today did quite a bit of reflection and analysis; all classes were involved in analytic or reflective activities:

P. 1,5: Students took a good look at their final drafts before posting them to Canvas. They checked for common theme between two texts and transitions that cue the reader to the development of the theme in their stories. This takes some careful reflection! After that, as a class, we analyzed the low scoring areas of their Acuity #2 assessment. These are aligned to ISTEP, so it is worthwhile to do this activity.

H/W: Check HAC before progress reports go out tomorrow. Do you have a zero? What are you going to do about that?

P. 3: What a busy and exciting class! I don't think students realize that what there doing for the Water for Sudan project is problem based learning! They split into groups and made videos for WDMS with Mrs. Saoud, wrote scripts for WDMS, made posters for advertising (with pathos!), and cut out water drops for students to sign and hang when they donate money. They will go on WDMS Tues. and officially start the fundraising! Please remember checks are to be made out to DMS.

H/W: Compare/Contrast due tomorrow. We will post it to Canvas together.

P. 2, 6: After posting compare/contrast to Canvas, we reviewed specific universal guidelines for Socratic Seminar to prepare for tomorrow. After that, students focused on finishing their research. Some students visited the IMC. I am very excited for tomorrow!

H/W: Socratic tomorrow! Your notes and research are your ticket to participate!

Thank you for a wonderful day!

Wednesday!

What a great start to today! Students (thank you Wyatt and Marley!) from period 3 spoke to parents and student at the 4.0 Breakfast about their class effort to raise money for Water for Sudan - Iron Giraffe project. With just that small gesture, they we able to raise over $400.00!! And, this is just the beginning! We are so excited about moving forward with this project.

I reviewed eLearning expectations with all classes. Presentation and pride in work counts..

P. 1,5: This was the last day for Compare and Contrast writing. Students worked hard peer editing and getting their final drafts wrapped up!
H/W: Final draft of Compare and Contrast should be in you turn-in folder for class tomorrow.

P. 2,6: We reviewed the guideline for Socratic Seminar on Friday. I handed out the evaluation criteria and rubric, and then students researched their chosen essential question. My job is to guide and support, but it is not to feed you information or tell you if a response is "good enough." The idea is for you to struggle a bit and decide what is necessary information. When you struggle, you learn. Dig in and figure out how best to approach the question. It is up to you!
H/W: Final draft of Compare and Contrast should be in you turn-in folder for class tomorrow.
          Socratic Seminar Friday! Fill in your "notes" page for admission!

P. 3 Students made posters and stated putting pictures and video clips together for Water for Sudan. They are getting ready to go on WDMS and visit classrooms next week.
H/W: Final draft of Compare and Contrast should be in you turn-in folder for class Friday.
          ** Donations from friends and relatives for Water for Sudan will be accepted and appreciated!

Thank you!

Hello!

Today was more compare and contrast typing and peer editing of the final draft. In most classes, we began ISTEP practice by reviewing the commonly missed questions on the Acuity assessment. We will continue to go through the assessment and complete the ISTEP practice activities from the IDOE website.

**Period 3: Today students volunteered to speak at the 4.0 breakfast tomorrow about our upcoming fundraiser for Water for Sudan. Students also volunteered to hold buckets for donations as parents exit the cafeteria. The next step is to work on the WDMS news stories for the fundraiser.

H/W:

For all classes:

•  The Compare and Contrast typed final draft is due on Thurs. Please make sure it is in your Turn In Folder on google drive. We will post it to Canvas together on Thurs.
• NoRedInk redo for Tricky Nouns and Indefinite Nouns is due tomorrow.

P. 2, 6:

• Start your research for Socratic Seminar, which will be on Friday. Remember, the note page n on the back of the instruction sheet is your ticket to participate.

Have a good evening!

Happy Monday!

In all classes today, students did peer editing and revisions for their compare and contrast papers. After that, they typed their final drafts. With the exemplars and prewrite, students should have great final products! We used an unusual type of format, but I believe it is one that covers all the bases for compare and contrast. Students have many types of writing possibilities to keep in their heads for ISTEP!

Period 3: I will update you tomorrow on my meeting with Mrs. Harper about the fundraiser. An idea she had was for someone to talk to parents and students at the 4.0 Breakfast this Wednesday! We could give a short "speech" and pass the "well" to collect money. Students will also be asked to be on WDMS and go to classroom to collect money.

Period 2, 6: We reviewed the guidelines of Socratic Seminar for RC. This will be fun! You will be participating in Socratic this Friday.

Homework:

ALL CLASSES: NoRedInk redos are due Wednesday!

P. 1,5: You will start typing your final draft tomorrow. Make sure your written rough draft has been peer revised and edited before you start typing, so please finish your written rough draft tonight.

P. 3: You will have about 20-25 minutes of class time to finish your final compare/contrast tomorrow. We will be working on the fundraiser and making public service announcements.

P. 2,6: You will have about 20-25 minutes of class time to finish your final compare/contrast tomorrow. If you can't finish it in that amount of time, you may need to work on it tonight.

See you tomorrow! Thank you!

Friday!!  :)

We had a great day of learning and thinking today. Students did a peer edit and revision with specific guidelines for compare/contrast writing. Some started to type their final drafts. As of now, I want this writing to be done in class, so please don't type at home. I want to be able to confer with you as you type.

Period 3 only: Students in this class are creating a fundraising effort to raise money for water wells to be drilled in Sudan. This is based upon the class book we read, Long Walk to Water. Students are raising money for "Water for South Sudan," a nonprofit organization developed by the main character in the book. As soon as our fundraiser is approved, we will get the fundraising off the ground! Very exciting to see the students' passion.

Several of you emailed me about glitches with noredink. I am not sure what is going on with that; I take the quizzes many times before assigning it, and I did not run into a problem at all with these quizzes. Because of this, I have created assignment and quiz for Tricky Nouns and Indefinite pronouns. A student today mentioned how much better he understood the "rules" when he put them in his own words, and that is exactly what note-taking should be! Thank you for that strategy suggestion, Logan!

H/W: Read carefully!

P. 5: Come to class Monday with paragraphs 1 and 2 of your rough draft completed.

ELearning due Monday- no late work will be accepted. It will not take long to do, and a zero hurts (you and me).

NoRedInk:

• Tricky Nouns Assignment and Quiz should have been completed in class yesterday.
• Indefinite Pronouns Assignment and Quiz due Monday.
• Redos for Tricky Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns Assignment and Quiz due Wed.

Have a nice weekend!

Hello!

I had a guest teacher today for an language arts meeting, and it sounds like all went well. Thank you for your respectful behavior!

Today students worked on two assignments on NoRedInk.com. The first is Tricky Nouns - assignment and quiz. This was to be finished in class. The second was Indefinite Pronouns - assignment and quiz. When students finished, they looked in their compare/contrast writing.

H/W:
Same as yesterday for all classes, but I am adding:

"Tricky Nouns" and "Indefinite Pronouns" NoRedInk assignments and quizzes due Monday for all classes.

See you tomorrow!

Quick blog today!

We reviewed the Summary assessment today and continued with compare and contrast writing, with the focus being on how to construct a conclusion.

Elearning due Monday...no late work accepted! No kidding!

H/W:

Elearning due Monday...no late work accepted! No kidding! Completer sentences for full credit, please.

P. 1, 5: Finish the prewrite for your compare and contrast paper. Remember to use the exemplar text to guide you. This is due Friday.

P. 2, 3, 6: Wrtie the rough draft for your compare/contrast. This should be done in your composition book. This is due Friday.

Thank you!

I'ts Already Tuesday!


Students' brains were jump started today with a quick white board activity assessing their knowledge of figurative language. After that, the focus was on the pre-write for their compare and contrast writing. This isn't a simple writing piece comparing two novels; it's comparing the way a common theme is developed in two pieces of literature. So, the focus is more on the author style rather than the stories. An exemplar text was annotated and analyzed for reference.

Homework:

eLearning is due on Monday! Remember this: complete sentences and all parts of the questions have to be answered for full credit. The assignment should be written on lined paper or typed (please print to pass in). No work after Monday will be accepted. No kidding.

P. 1, 5: Finish Paragraph 1 of compare/contrast prewrite
P. 2, 6: Finish Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 of prewrite
P. 3: Finish Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 prewrite

Thank you for your attention and participation today!

Snow Day today (Monday, Feb. 2)...that means it is eLearning Day 2!

• Go to the PHM website to access the assignment. Today's assignment is a nonfiction piece about Abraham Lincoln, and I think it is interesting; it makes me wish I could meet him. 
• Answer the assigned questions, being very careful to answer EACH PART of the question.
• All responses should be on lined paper or typed. If you type, please print it.
•  Responses should be in complete sentences. 
• Ignore all the standards that are listed- those are listed for the state. You do not respond to those.

The assignment will be due next Monday, and if that changes I will let you know. No late assignments will be accepted. Seriously.

Try to find time to enjoy the snow! It is beautiful!