| Tuesday, December 2nd -
Yesterday we began our weeklong Revolutionary War stations lesson. Students
will rotate through six stations, learning about various aspects of the
Revolutionary War. Once we have completed the stations, we will have a
review and a unit test next Thursday. I also gave out vocabulary words taken
from our Rev War unit on which I will give a quiz on Friday. Vocab homework
is due Thursday.
Today we did our 2nd lesson in our novel unit packet. Completed packets for
the 2nd week are due on Thursday. On Thursday, I will introduce our new
writing assignment for this marking period.
Monday, November 24th -
Happy Monday! Just two days of school this week, unless it snows tonight!
Report cards went home today. If you have any questions regarding grades,
please feel free to contact me for a detailed list of grades. Today we
conducted our colonial debates -- the Indians won in both classes!!
Homework tonight was to finish the follow-up sheet on the debate. Tomorrow
we will be watching the Disney movie "Squanto" during class. I think it is
a very interesting version of the Indian who is credited with helping the
Pilgrims through their first year at Plymouth. Although historical fiction,
there are also quite a few facts thrown in. After Thanksgiving break, we
will begin our Revolutionary War stations as we begin to learn about the
conflict that led to the creation of our country.
I hope you and your family have a safe and enjoyable holiday break!!
Thursday, November 19th -
Wow - what a busy week!!
It's been a bit crazy for me - I traveled up to NJ last Friday to see my mom
who had knee replacement surgery. She's had some complications, but
fortunately she seems to be improving. With the end of the grading period
on Monday, it's been busy - but I now see the light at the end of the
tunnel!! Enjoyed reading students short stories on my trip -- what creative
minds! We've been sharing in class so everyone can enjoy their teammates
creativity. FYI - Report cards will be coming home on Monday, 11/24.
In Social Studies we began our Revolutionary War unit with a lesson on the
pre-war acts that caused friction between the colonies and Britain.
Tomorrow we will begin our colonial debate and finish up on Monday. Next
Tuesday we will watch Squanto, a Disney movie about...Squanto.
In Language Arts, we are working on our new novel unit packet on the
Revolutionary War. Students seem to be enjoying their novels - they are
some of my favorites!! Homework will be limited over the next week until we
return from Thanksgiving Break. That's it for now!!
Tuesday, November 11th
We've got a very busy week ahead of us. Friday is our Colonies Test and
Social Studies binders will be handed in for evaluation. In addition, final
manuscripts of short story writing assignment are due. Also, don't forget
to make sure your writing journal is up-to-date.
Tomorrow we will spend the period reviewing for our test Friday. On
Thursday, we will receive our novels for our new Revolutionary War novel
unit.
The 2nd grading period ends on Monday, 11/17, and we will begin our new
Social Studies unit, the American Revolution, next week.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 min.; I Am Poem due tomorrow; Short Story due Friday;
Colonies Test and Notebook Evaluation Friday
Monday, November 3rd - DON'T FORGET TO EXCERCISE YOUR RIGHT AS A US CITIZEN -
VOTE!!!!
Today we presented our early colonies skits. For homework, students are to
complete their Colonies foldable. On Wednesday, we will begin learning
about the Colonial regions and on Friday, Colonial life from several
different perspectives. Because of Election Day on Tuesday and our science
class trip on Thursday, we will not have Language Arts this week. Next week
we will begin choosing books for our Revolutionary War Novel Unit.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 min.; 1st Revision of writing assignment should be
completed; Colonies foldable due Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 29th -
Today we began work on our Early Colonies skits, which we will present on
Friday and Monday. Spelling Homework is due on Thursday and a Spelling Quiz
is on Friday. Also, students should be prepared to present their Bookshares
beginning tomorrow. See Monday below for other important dates.
Monday, October 27th -
Social Studies midterms went home today. Please make sure to sign them and
return to me as soon as possible. I'm glad we took extra time on the unit
because most students did terrific on the test. I'm very proud of them -
it's a tough unit!!
Today was a very busy day. New Spelling lists were handed out and we began
our Colonies unit in Social Studies. Spelling homework is due Thursday and
a quiz is on Friday. In Social Studies, students are working on their
Colonial Postcards for homework. On Wednesday and Friday, we will be doing
our Colonial Skits to learn about the early colonies.
We will work on our bookshares in class tomorrow and students will begin
presenting on Thursday. Also, students should be finishing up the second
draft of their short story so they can conference with me.
So you can see we have a busy week ahead of us!!
HOMEWORK THIS WEEK:
--Colonial postcards due Wednesday
--Finish 2nd draft of short story and yellow process sheet up to Conference -
you must conference with Mrs. Kass by 11/6
--Bookshares due Thursday.
--Spelling homework due Thursday.
--Spelling quiz Friday.
Wednesday, October 22nd
today we reviewed for our Explorer Unit Test, which is tomorrow. I will
also be collecting notebooks for evaluation. Students should be working on
the second draft of their short story and signing up to conference with me.
In addition, students are working on their bookshares as the final part of
their American Indian Novel Unit.
Friday, October 17th
Today we presented our explorer powerpoints - and did a great job. We will
finish up our explorer unit on Monday, have a review on Wednesday and a test
the following Monday. We also finished our novel unit lessons and will
begin bookshares next week. Everyone should be working on the first draft
of their short stories. Don't forget to finish your weekly reading logs and
get them signed this weekend. And Columbian Exchange Menus are due on
Monday!! Have a great weekend.
Wednesday, October 15th
Today we learned about the Columbian Exchange between early explorers and
the American Indians. Friday we will be presenting the powerpoints students
prepared on their explorer. We will be finishing our explorers unit next
week, with a unit test and notebook check on Wednesday. In Language Arts,
we are finishing our novels this week and will begin working on our
Bookshares. We also did a story map for our new writing assignment, a short
story. First drafts should be completed by next Tuesday. Tomorrow is
Diversity Day and Early Release.
Wednesday, October 8th -
Wow - I don't know where this week has gone - I've been in a grading
frenzy!!! Report cards go home tomorrow.
We began our Explorers unit this week, learning about the early Portuguese
explorers and the West African empires. Next week, we will be working on
our Explorers project and culminate the unit with a debate between the
Explorers and the Indians, as we look at the conflict vs. cooperation
between the two.
In Language Arts, we are on the third letter of our novel unit, which is due
tomorrow. Students are to finish reading their novels by next Tuesday.
Tomorrow I will introduce our new writing assignment--short stories. We
also have a spelling quiz tomorrow on "ie" words.
HOMEWORK: Novel unit packet due tomorrow; spelling quiz tomorrow.
Thursday, October 2nd -
Today we handed in our Novel unit Packets and began our first Spelling
List.
We will be doing spelling for the 2nd grading period - tests and new lists
will be on Thursdays. We also had fun playing vocabulary charades with
words
from our novel unit packets.
I handed out permission slips for our next class trip to Wolf Creek Indian
Village. Be sure to bring signed permission slips and $5 back to Mrs. Kass
as soon as possible.
HOMEWORK: LANG. ARTS: Read 30 min., finish 3rd quarter of novel by
Tuesday;
SOC. STUDIES: None
Tuesday, September 30th -
Today we worked on Lesson 2 of our Novel Unit packet and handed in our
writing assignments - I'm looking forward to some great reading over the
next
few days! Yesterday we reviewed for our Social Studies test which is
tomorrow. Notebook evaluations are also due tomorrow.
Don't forget about tomorrow's potluck at 6 p.m.!!!!
Thursday, September 25th -
Yesterday we finished our mosaic presentations and began working on our
Indian foldables as a review of the unit. Completed foldables are due on
Monday. We will be having our Unit Test on American Indians on Wed. 10/1.
We
will also be handing in our notebooks for evaluation on that day.
Today we listened and watched two American Indian folktales and split out
into discussion groups. We also handed in our Novel Unit packets for
grading.
HOMEWORK: Lang. Arts - Read 30 min., finish 2nd quarter of novel by
Tuesday; Soc. Studies - Complete foldable by Monday, American Indian Unit
Test and Notebook Evaluation on Wed. 10/1.
Tuesday, September 23rd -
Today we had our first American Indian Novel Unit lesson. Letters in Novel
Unit packet are to be completed by Thursday. You can begin reading the 2nd
quarter of your novel. Tomorrow we will finish our mosaic presentations.
HOMEWORK: Read 30 min., complete p. 6 - 9 in Novel Unit packet; writing
assignments due 9/30.
Monday, September 22nd -
Today we began our Indian Culture Region presentations. I can tell many
students worked hard over the weekend on their mosaics. We will finish
these
presentations on Wednesday. Students should finish reading the first
quarter
of their new novels by tomorrow. We will have our first lesson in our new
American Indian novel unit tomorrow. Students should be working on the 3rd
draft of their writing assignments. Final manuscripts are due Tuesday,
Sept.
30th.
Friday, September 12th -
I forgot to mention in yesterday's posting that students received their
notebook evaluations and graded Geography tests. They are to get a parent
signature on their notebook. Parents, please look for that.
Today we finished discussing the Bering Land Bridge and Migration Theory.
On
Monday, we will begin working on American Indian tribes and cultures. I
reminded students that they need to finish their second draft (revision #1)
as soon as possible so that they can conference with me by the end of next
week.
HOMEWORK: Weekly reading log due Monday; second draft of personal narrative
essay; finish migration theory picture; get parent signature on Social
Studies binder.
Thursday, September 11th -
Today we discussed the revision process for our personal narrative essay.
Student are have their writing process sheet completed through the Revision
#1 section, completed the second draft of their essay (Revision #1) and
conferenced with me by Sept. 19th (Friday). It is important that their
essay show significant revision from their first draft.
Tomorrow we will finish up on our discussion of the Bering Land Bridge
before beginning learning about early American Indian culture.
Wednesday, September 10th -
I am very sorry for not updating the page this week - I will try to be more
punctual.
Today we took our first unit test in Social Studies on Geography and handed
our notebooks in for evaluation. Once notebooks are returned, I will be
sending them home for parent signature.
First draft of writing assignments are due tomorrow. Students are to have
the first two sections of their writing process sheet completed (if you lost
your process sheet, you can go to the document sections and print one out),
their first drafts, and their 5 paragraph essay graphic organizer. We will
be using our drafts in class to begin working on revisions, focusing on
writing in good paragraph format.
Friday we will continue our discussion of early american migration theory
before beginning our studies on early American Indians.
Friday, September 5th -
Yesterday we had Writers' workshop and began working on our Personal
Narrative essay. Students will be writing at least five paragraphs about an
important or meaningful event in their lives. We used a graphic organizer
to help put our thoughts together and discussed the Writing process sheet
they will use for each writing assignment. On Friday, we finished our
Geography unit by doing puzzles of the U.S. Geographic regions. On Monday,
we will be playing review games to prepare us for Wednesday's unit test.
HOMEWORK: First draft of essay and completion of the first two sections of
the writing process sheet are due Thursday 9/11. Begin studying for
Geography test on Wednesday 9/10. Soc. Studies binders will be handed in
for evaluation on 9/10.
Wednesday, September 3rd
Yesterday we had Readers' Workshop and worked on our reading strategies.
The
room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop as the students read silently,
then wrote responses to their reading. We also welcomed Ms. McClendon, a VT
intern, to our class. She will be here on Tuesdays and Thursdays through
November.
Today we finished our Physiographic maps and began learning about the US
geographic regions. We will be finishing our Geography unit tomorrow,
review
on Monday and have a unit test on Wed. 9/10. Notebooks will also be graded
on that day.
Tomorrow we will be Writers' Workshop and we will focus on paragraph writing
and beginning the 1st drafts of our personal narratives.
Friday, August 29th
Today we worked hard on our U.S. Physiographic Maps and will review them
next
Wednesday. On Tuesday, we will have Readers Workshop -- don't forget to
bring a book to read if you have one! Signed reading logs are due on
Tuesday - if you need another copy, you can print one of the documents page.
Also due Tuesday are timelines & 5W's lists.
Have a great loooong weekend!!! Go BHS and Go Hokies!!
Thursday, August 28th
Today we began working on our first writing assignment. Students are to
complete a timeline of important events/incidents in their life that they
could possibly write about. Once they choose one, they are to answer the
5W's to get them thinking about what to include in their essay. this is due
on Tuesday, 9/2
Tomorrow we will finish working on our U.S. Physiographic Maps. There will
be no homework in Soc. Studies over the weekend.
Monday, August 25th
We started our Geography unit in Social Studies today. Finish coloring the
World map by Wednesday. Also, a Social Studies Grading Framework sheet was
sent home today. Parents are to sign and return for homework credit.
Tomorrow we will be visiting the Media Center (Library) for orientation.
Homework: Read 30 min.; finish coloring map and get grading framework
signed for Wednesday.
| |
