Middle School Literacy-Fofana Week of December 10th

Important Updates:

• All scholars must log on to Compass Learning daily to work on folders. Compass learning grades will be recorded every Monday for the previous week's activities.
• All Study Island assignments must be completed by due dates in order to receive credit. All grades for Study Island assignments will be recorded on Mondays.
• BAS testing has began. Any scholar who is not yet at a level "Z" will be tested during the BAS testing window.
• December 21, 2012: End of 2nd Quarter
• January 11, 2013: Report Card Pick-Up

Objectives: SWBAT

6th Grade

Monday: Define and analyze character motivation within a story

Tuesday: Analyze plot development (e.g., conflict, rising action, falling action, resolution) to determine    whether and how conflicts are resolved.

Wednesday: Identify and explain different types of conflict in a text

Thursday: Identify the climax of a story and defend their choice by analyzing the overall structure of the plot.

Friday: Complete reading and vocabulary assessment

Word Study: Connotations

7th Grade

Monday: 

Tuesday: 

Wednesday: 

Thursday: 

Friday: 

Word Study: Connotations

6th and 8th grade writing (Scott) for the week of 12.3.12

OVERVIEW: We will continue to work on developing a thesis for our Literary Essays.  Students will then begin pulling details from The Marble Champ to support his or her thesis.  Thursday and Friday we will begin review of Extended Response questions (part of the ISAT reading test).  We will look at the types of questions they may see on the ISAT and start "unpacking the prompt."

HOMEWORK: Students will be pulling details and begin writing their essays.  Thursday there will be an "unpacking the prompt" worksheet.

QUIZ/TEST: Writing a Thesis quiz, Unpacking the Prompt quiz

6th and 8th grade social studies for the week of 12.3.12

OVERVIEW: We will continue reading and taking notes out of History and Geography textbook.  This week we will be concentrating on section 2: Starting Over.  Students will practice our note-taking strategy and continue to identify and use text features.

HOMEWORK: Students will be taking notes on pages 247-250.  There will be a primary source worksheet as well.  Students should review their notes each night, this is a good scholarly habit.

QUIZ/TEST: note-taking quiz, section 1: A Nation of Immigrants quiz (students will be able to use notes they took on this section)

6th and 8th grade social studies for the week of 11.26.12

OVERVIEW: We are continuing our Immigration Unit, concentrating on European immigration at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.  We are reading from the textbook History and Geography.  Students will be reading, identifying text features, and note-taking.

Strategy to take notes (one sentence per paragraph):

Questions to ask yourself:

1.       What one idea are all the sentences in this paragraph about?

2.       How does that idea fit in with what I know about this topic?

3.       What sentence adds information to the most important idea?

Be sure to include bold words.

HOMEWORK: Students will need to take notes on section 1 "A Nation of Immigrants," p. 242-246.

QUIZ/TEST: Students will have a quiz on note-taking at the end of the week.

6th and 8th grade writing (Scott) for the week of 11.26.12

OVERVIEW: We have started a new unit this week putting together two skills we have been working on in both social studies and writing: creating a thesis or topic sentence and supporting with details.  The new literary essay unit will be concentrating on reading a story, creating a thesis and then pulling details to support our thesis.

HOMEWORK: Students will read and take notes on The Marble Champ.  Students will also need to correct Conventions Tests 1 and 2 to earn extra points and improve test scores.

QUIZ/TEST: see homework

5th Grade word study words for week of 11/12

VOCABULARY WORDS WITH THE suffix “ation”

 which means action, or process

1.     violation

2.     education

3.     dedication

4.     limitation

5.     exploration

6.     graduation

7.     conversation

8.     nomination

9.     inspiration

10.  evaporation

11.  cancellation

12.  demonstration

13.  consideration

14.  anticipation

15.  communication

Write down 3 bonus words with the suffix “ation”.

1._________________________2._______________________3.________________________

Monday:  Copy definition of each word and make flash cards of the vocabulary words.

Tuesday:  Continue to write down definitions and finish flash cards.  Write a story using at least 5 of the vocabulary words.

Wednesday:  Write down a synonym for each word using the Thesaurus.

Thursday:  Practice learning the definitions with the Bingo board.  Study with flash cards.

Friday:  Review definitions and spelling/Vocabulary test Friday.

5th Grade Upcoming Events and News Week of 11/12/12

Important News and Dates:

• Scholars in 5A now have Technology on Mondays. These scholars will not have Gym this quarter, so they should not wear their gym uniform on Monday's. 
• All scholars must log on to Compass Learning daily to work on folders and passing the quizzes at a 70% or higher. Scholars also have one day a week in the classroom to log into Compass Learning and must bring headphones on their assigned day. 
• November 20th, 2012: Progress Reports go home with scholars.
• November 20th, 2012-Holiday assembly
• November 21-23: Thanksgiving Break

Reading Objectives:

• Learning how nonfiction readers ask questions before, during, and after reading 
• Learning the difference between fact and opinion 

Writing Objectives: 

• Finalize informational essay thesis statements
• Draft introduction of essay and first paragraph

Great websites for ISAT/MAP practice

Dear Parents/Guardians,                                   

Here is a list of websites to prepare your scholar for the ISAT and MAP test.

Please let us know if you have any questions or would like any other resources.

      List of Websites

•  http://www.merriam-webster.com (great for vocabulary practice)
• ISBE.net (you can find practice ISAT tests from previous years. Click on Assessment, then Assessment Sample. You can time your scholar; 60 minutes per session)
• http://www.sheppardsoftware.com
• http://www.coolmath-games.com
• www.funbrain.com
• http://www.quia.com
•  http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/elagrade4.cfm
• http://www.playkidsgames.com/
• http://www.gamequarium.com
• http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/ (choose your MAP range) 
•  http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/reading.htm  (choose your MAP range)

Middle School Literacy-Fofana Week of November 12th

Important Updates:

• Scholars in 6A now have gym on Mondays. Please ensure that scholars are coming to school on Monday's in gym uniforms.
• All scholars must log on to Compass Learning daily to work on folders. Compass learning grades will be recorded every Monday for the previous week's activities.
• November 20, 2012: Progress Reports go home with scholars.
• November 21-23: Thanksgiving Break

Objectives: SWBAT

6th Grade

Monday: Identify details about setting and about the main character

Tuesday: Evaluate how the setting contributes to the conflict.

Wednesday: Identify the effects of setting on a character’s actions

Thursday: Evaluate the effects of setting on conflict resolution

Friday: Read and analyze a magazine article and its features

Word Study: Syllables

7th Grade

Monday: Complete a chronological order assessment

Tuesday: Identify the central conflict of a given text

Wednesday: Evaluate how cause-and-effect affects events in the plot of a given text

Thursday: Identify the effects of point of view on the theme of a story

Friday: Identify the climax of a given text.

Word Study: Multiple meaning words

November 5th-9th

This week both the 7th and 8th graders will be focusing on the following:

Understanding and Identifying Chronological Order using several pieces of text.

Analyzing and defining the word parts Chron-/Chrono- and Log-

Vocabulary for the week:
chronological
chronic
chronometer
chronology
logic
monologue

* Notes
Picture day is Tuesday, November 6th

Permission Slips and payments for the 6th,7th,and 8th grade field trip are due on or before November 7th.

Have an amazing week and don't forget to get out and vote! 

Ms. Blanchard

Middle School Literacy-Fofana Week of October 29

Important Updates:

• Scholars in 6A now have gym on Mondays. Please ensure that scholars are coming to school on Monday's in gym uniforms.
• November 2, 2012: Professional Development Day (non attendance day for scholars)
• November 20, 2012: Progress Reports go home with scholars.
• November 21-23: Thanksgiving Break

Objectives: SWBAT

6th Grade

Monday: Complete a main idea assessment

Tuesday:Review Text Features

Wednesday: Identify words that imply order

Thursday: Identify the chronological order of events within a given text.
Word Study: Synonyms

7th Grade

Tuesday: Evaluate claims and assertions using a different text

Wednesday: Identify and evaluate evidence that supports the claims using a different text

Thursday: Evaluate accuracy of evidence using a different text
Word Study: Synonyms

Middle School Literacy-Fofana Week of October 23rd

Important Updates:

• Scholars in 6A now have gym on Mondays. Please ensure that scholars are coming to school on Monday's in gym uniforms.
• November 2, 2012: Professional Development Day (non attendance day for scholars)
• November 20, 2012: Progress Reports go home with scholars.
• November 21-23: Thanksgiving Break

Objectives: SWBAT

6th Grade:

Monday: Identify  the main idea of a given passage

Tuesday: Determine the main idea in a topic sentence

Wednesday: Identify the implied main idea of a text

Thursday: Summarize a text using main idea

Friday: Choose the best summary for a nonfiction text

Word Study: 

• Recognize that some words are spelled alike but have different meanings 
• Use context clues to determine the meaning of a multiple-meaning word

7th Grade:

Monday: Identify the characteristics of a biography

Tuesday: Evaluate claims and assertions

Wednesday: Identify and evaluate evidence that supports the claims

Thursday: Evaluate accuracy of evidence

Friday: Evaluate claims and assertions using a different text.

Word Study: Use context clues that restate meaning to determine the meaning of a word.

Handouts
7th Grade Exit Tickets
6th Grade Exit Tickets
Best Summary Worksheet
Main Idea-Thursday

Welcome Back!!!

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Fall Break.
This week both the 7th and 8th graders will be focusing on Non Fiction. As a class we will discuss and identify the following:

• Non Fiction Subgenres
• Features of Non Fiction Text
• Organization of  Non Fiction Text

I will also be introducing "On the Record" this week in class. "On the Record" is a program created by Scholastic that focuses on enhancing students' understanding of Non Fiction text. 

Also, this Friday is Report Card Pickup. Students are not in attendance on Friday.

Have a great week,

Ms. Blanchard 
  

Ms. Zwolinski 5th Grade Reading 10/15

October 15th, 2012

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful fall break! The end of the quarter is here and all grades will be entered on Tuesday. Parent-teacher conferences will be on Friday, October 19th. They will be held in the gym and they are first come, first serve. 

Students also received several pieces of their graded work today. Please check in with your scholar to see their grades. You can also check parent portal to see the most recent grades. 

News and Upcoming Events

• Please make sure that all scholars are coming to school in uniform. This includes tie, button down blue shirt, and dress shoes. Demerits will be given for Dress Code Violations.
• Word study quiz on Thursday due to no school on Friday
• Parent-Teacher conferences on Friday, October 19th. No school for students. Their reading log will be due on Monday for two days worth of reading.

Reading

• We are continuing with the Character unit. We will be starting a new novel entitled Holes by Louis Sachar. 
• We will be sharing out projects on Forged by Fire and going over the MAP break packets in small groups during class. 

Word Study Words 

VOCABULARY WORDS WITH THE PRE-FIX “anti” Which means against, opposite, opposed to (an action, attitude or policy, counteracting.

1.  antiviolence
2.   antibiotic
3.   antidote
4.   antitheft
5.  antigravity
6. antisocial
7. antifreeze
8.  anticruelty
9.  antibacteria
10.  anti democracy
11.  anti-terrorism
12.  anti-trust
13. antipollution
14. antifungal
15.  antiseptic

Writing

• In writing, we are going to take break from starting a new unit and review how to write an extended response in our weekly scholar letters. These letters will be due once a week and should incorporate the extended response skills that we are learning. 

Homework

• The reading log is due Monday, Wednesday and next Monday. 
• Word study-definitions, ABC order, sentences, and study for quiz on Thursday
• Study for word study quiz on Friday

Please let me know if you have any questions! Have a wonderful week. 

Ms.Zwolinski

Ms. Blanchard Literacy Class 10/1-5

Ms. Blanchard's Literacy Class

7th Grade
Greek and Latin Word Parts:
Cred- believe, trust
Short Story: Zebra
Focus: Main Character, Cause-and-Effect, Character Motivation and Reaction

8th Grade
Greek and Latin Word Parts:
Dem/Demo-People
Short Story: Stop the Sun
Focus: Main and Minor Characters, Cause-and-Effect, Plot, and Theme

Fall Break Homework Packets
Students will have homework over the Fall Break. The completed packet is due on Monday, October15, 2012

Middle School Literacy-Fofana Week of October 1

Important Updates:

• Middle Discipline Plan Letter
• First Quarter Ends: October 5, 2012
• Fall Break: October 8-12
• Report Card Pick-Up: October 19, 2012
• Compass Learning is up and running. Please sign on to complete all your assignments.

Objectives: SWBAT

6th Grade

• Identify and define theme
• Identify the theme of a short story
• Analyze the theme of a short story
• Analyze cause and effect relationship in a fiction

7th Grade

• Identify character traits and motives
• Analyze character traits and motives
• Identify the setting of a short story
• Identify and analyze the theme a short story

Hand Outs:

6th Grade

• Exit Tickets
• Character Development
• Cause and Effect
• Discussion Questions

7th Grade

• Character Comparison
• Character Traits and Motives
• Exit Tickets

Small Groups:
Reading Strategies and Comprehension

• 6th Grade: Cause and Effect/Author’s Purpose
• 7th Grade: Cause and Effect/Summarizing