Week of November 16-20

Students began their first research projects. They got to choose their own topic and had to find both written and internet sources for their projects.  I introduced Works Cited to my classes as well.  Many of them are very engaged in their research.  We will continue researching over the next couple of weeks.  Some of our research time is limited to when computer labs are availabe, so we have to be flexible with our scheduling.  Our next writing test involves research and the use of works cited, so I want my students to practice this type of writing.

We began our first novel last week, Freak the Mighty.  I believe students will enjoy reading this book.  It is one that is on the Battle of the Books list this year.  Students will be working in daily booklets for this novel. By reading a novel together and applying reading strategies and answering different types of questions, students should build not only their reading skills but also their comprehension skills. We will continue to read our novel this week, play a comprehension game based on our readings, learn to do character analyses, and continue work in our booklets.  Please ask your children questions about what we are reading.

We are working on applying higher order thinking skills to our classroom work.  The goal for myself and for North Rowan Middle School is to challenge our children to be actively engaged in their learning and to be able to use higher order thinking skills.  We want our students to be prepared for high school and for competitively entering the workforce after graduation.  Having students use knowledge that they have gained in class to create and produce their own work is an example of how students can successfully apply higher order thinking skills.

Homework for this week is light for those students who have completed all class work.  If students have not finished their work in class, they need to do this at home in order to earn high grades.

Reading homework for the week:  read one hour and choose a character from your book.  Complete a SADDR character analysis.  Speak--How does your character speak?  Actions--How does your character act?  Description--Describe your character.  Draw-Draw your character.  Reactions of others--How do other characters react to the character you chose?  

Tuesday: Finish today's classwork if necessary--SADDR character analysis of Kevin or Max.

Wednesday: Finish your Freak the Mighty booklet if necessary--Due tomorrow!

Thursday: Finish SADDR reading HW. Finish research if necessary.

Friday:  No homework.

If anyone would like to make classroom donations, we could use clipboards, pencils, and magic markers.  Thank you.

Also, I will be helping this year with the Battle of the Books Team.  I will start having meetings this Friday from 3:30 till 4:30 each week.  I gave permission slips to those students who are interested earlier this week.  Even if they cannot make the meetings, they may still participate in Battle of the Books.  These meetings are just an opportunity for extra reading and practice.  Any students who have questions or are interested in trying out for this team, please see me.

Congratulations to Joshua Redmon, Marrio Feamster, Tameyia Nock, Mariana Camacho, and Kenny Rios who had creative works of art on display at the Trash to Treasure Art Show.

Congratulations to Jayla Krider, Chandler Dickson, and Shakila Brown for making All-County Chorus.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 Related Language Arts links:

Language Arts Games: http://www.quia.com/pages/havefun.html

Writing games:  http://www.eduplace.com/tales

flashcards:  Battle of the Books