Welcome to Ms. Shen's Website!
As of Friday, 1/27, the 1st Semester and 2nd Quarter are officially over! It's your student's LAST
semester as a CONDOR! How time flies! Here are some of the highlights.
The first half of 2nd Quarter, we were involved with reading novels in Literature Circles, completing
creative activities dealing with the novels, and then presenting for the final in our groups. It went
well, students worked hard, and they seemed to enjoy themselves! Since returning from Winter
Break, we have been preparing for the District Writing Assessment (on 2/8 & 2/9), for which students
will be writing a Persuasive style essay.
With Literature Circle novels added in, the majority of students did very well on completing their
Independent Reading Requirement. Here are the results for 2nd Quarter:
Period 2 - 68% completed all of the required pages.
Period 3 - 80% completed all of the required pages.
Period 5 - 81% completed all of the required pages.
Period 6 - 62% completed all of the required pages.
Of course, there is always room for improvement, so please encourage your student to READ, READ,
READ (22-33 pages/5 nights a week) and get those forms filled out and turned in for 3rd Quarter!
For 3rd Quarter, we will be focusing on the Fabulous and Famous I-SEARCH, a research project that
allows students to choose their own topics while learning and practicing many of the skills necessary
to write a successful research-based paper. We will be spending about 6 weeks on this project,
focusing on researching, note-taking, paraphrasing, avoiding plagiarism, writing a bibliography,
and - finally - tying it all together in a large paper. While there are many small due dates along the
way, the FINAL DUE DATE for the I-SEARCH will be Friday, March 9. Please see the I-Search link or
the Calendar link on my TeacherWeb page for many more important dates.
We will also be reading some short stories during the latter part of 3rd Quarter, and we'll be writing
another Analytical Essay that corresponds. It will definitely be a busy quarter!
Thanks to all for your continued support, and I look forward to another great quarter!
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8th graders and parents/guardians - this website is for you! I am always
looking for suggestions, so if you think I should add something or change
something, please e-mail me (kshen@cv.k12.ca.us) and let me know!
Use this website to look at Classwork & Homework you may have missed or
forgotten, check Bellwork and Appetizer entries, and look at the Calendar to
see upcoming important dates. You can even print out Independent Reading
Forms or find some great links to lists of recommended reading to get your
required pages! My schedule is also available if you need to reach me.
Grades are updated regularly and will be sent to you through email about every
2 weeks. Please contact me if you are interested in receiving these updates.
If you have any questions or problems, please email me at kshen@cv.k12.ca.us.
If you have any great books to add to the Recommended Reading List, please
e-mail me with the title, author, and a 1-sentence summary of the plot. If
you thought a book was great, other people may enjoy reading it too!
I'm looking forward to a great year!
Thanks!
Ms. Shen
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