First, here's the good news. I'd like to congratulate the students in every class that currently have an average of 90 or above.
383: Dunessa, Andrew, Aharon
361: Keisha, Cordero, Coty, Octavia
Keep up the good work, kids!
Other students are close to achieving the 90% mark. Here are the students that currently have an average of 80 or higher.
382: Jugens, Jennifer, Rene, Matthew, Shawn
383: Regina, Natasha
361: Nijiko, Charisma, Teliyah
Another group of students is improving after the most recent progress report. Here are the students that currently have an average of 70 or higher.
382: Alester, Ruth, Jeff, Diamond
383: Kevin, Allison
361: Mosiah, Ayianna, Victoria
Unfortunately, with the good news comes some bad news.
If you do not see your name on one of these lists, it means you have a 65 average and are barely passing, or it means you are currently failing the first quarter.
Do your homework. You may also see me about work that you can make up.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Reading log
I had this reading log assignment written on the chalkboard all week. I'm posting it here as well in case someone missed the homework.
Every night:
Read for 30 minutes
Date:
Title:
Author:
Pages Read:
MONDAY - COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Using a T-chart or a Venn Diagram, compare and contrast two characters or events in the book you're reading.
TUESDAY - MAKING PREDICTIONS
Write a 2-sentence summary of what you read. Then write 2-3 sentences about what you think will happen next.
WEDNESDAY - VISUALIZING
Draw a picture of a scene that you read. Explain why you chose this scene to draw.
THURSDAY - VOCABULARY
Write 5 words you don't know OR 5 words that are important in the book.
This is due on Friday for all classes.
Every night:
Read for 30 minutes
Date:
Title:
Author:
Pages Read:
MONDAY - COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Using a T-chart or a Venn Diagram, compare and contrast two characters or events in the book you're reading.
TUESDAY - MAKING PREDICTIONS
Write a 2-sentence summary of what you read. Then write 2-3 sentences about what you think will happen next.
WEDNESDAY - VISUALIZING
Draw a picture of a scene that you read. Explain why you chose this scene to draw.
THURSDAY - VOCABULARY
Write 5 words you don't know OR 5 words that are important in the book.
This is due on Friday for all classes.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Students of the Month
Congratulations to September's Students of the Month!
382 - Shawn
383 - Dunessa
361 - Keisha
These students have a 100% homework turn-in rate and have demonstrated a positive attidude, a good work ethic, and respect for themselves, other students, and their teacher.
Shout-outs to other students with a 100% homework turn-in rate. I have my eye on you for Students of the Month in October!
382 - Matthew, Rene
383 - Regina, Aharon, Andrew
361 - Octavia, Coty
Thanks to all my students and colleagues who wished me a happy birthday today.
ETA: I picked a pretty template for my blog and all I see on the school computer is a boring gray background! How did that happen?
382 - Shawn
383 - Dunessa
361 - Keisha
These students have a 100% homework turn-in rate and have demonstrated a positive attidude, a good work ethic, and respect for themselves, other students, and their teacher.
Shout-outs to other students with a 100% homework turn-in rate. I have my eye on you for Students of the Month in October!
382 - Matthew, Rene
383 - Regina, Aharon, Andrew
361 - Octavia, Coty
Thanks to all my students and colleagues who wished me a happy birthday today.
ETA: I picked a pretty template for my blog and all I see on the school computer is a boring gray background! How did that happen?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Great book talks
I've graded your book talks - those of you who have turned them in - and I want to congratulate certain students on their excellent work. These students all received a high 3 or a 4 on their book talks.
382:
Tommoi
Shannon
383:
Regina
Dunessa
Tiona
Aharon
361:
Stephan
Keisha (perfect score!)
Octavia
The rest of you are on your way to achieving high 3s. This is only Book Talk #1; you still have plenty of time to improve throughout the year.
Most of you still have yet to turn in a book talk. Remember -
- You should be finishing an independent reading book and writing a book talk every two weeks.
- The book talk and the Sourcebook are worth 40% of your grade.
- If you are reading a book that is very challenging, or a book that is very long, you may write two or more book talks on the same book. For example, you would write one book talk on Chapters 1-18 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and another book talk on Chapters 19-36. See me ahead of time if you think you need to do two book talks on the same book.
382:
Tommoi
Shannon
383:
Regina
Dunessa
Tiona
Aharon
361:
Stephan
Keisha (perfect score!)
Octavia
The rest of you are on your way to achieving high 3s. This is only Book Talk #1; you still have plenty of time to improve throughout the year.
Most of you still have yet to turn in a book talk. Remember -
- You should be finishing an independent reading book and writing a book talk every two weeks.
- The book talk and the Sourcebook are worth 40% of your grade.
- If you are reading a book that is very challenging, or a book that is very long, you may write two or more book talks on the same book. For example, you would write one book talk on Chapters 1-18 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and another book talk on Chapters 19-36. See me ahead of time if you think you need to do two book talks on the same book.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Mistake
I edited my last entry about grading guidelines and checklists. This is why I'm not a math teacher.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Book Talk example
In my last post, I reminded all of you of the importance of turning in your book talks. I also published a grading checklist to guide you in your reading your writing. The following is an example of a book talk that would earn the full 40 points in this class:
Title: Reluctantly Alice
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Information about the author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor experienced several embarrassing moments in seventh grade. Alice’s adventures in this book are based on some of the author’s experiences.
Summary: Alice McKinley has one goal for her seventh grade year: she wants everyone to like her. Unfortunately, she runs into several problems that make this goal difficult to achieve. Her main conflict has to do with Denise Whitlock, a big, ugly eighth grader who’s always bullying Alice. Denise teases Alice for having a dead mother and laughs if Alice falls down in gym class. One day, Denise and her friends corner Alice and try to make her sing the school song. Alice doesn’t want to because she has a terrible voice, and the eighth graders threaten to dunk her head in a stopped-up toilet. Alice’s brother Lester stops by the school and rescues her just in time, but after that, Denise’s bullying gets even worse. Eventually, Alice figures out how to solve the problem. For an English class project, Alice picks Denise to be her partner, knowing that Denise will have to be nice to her in order to get a good grade. At first, Denise ignores Alice and refuses to answer her questions. After the girls meet a couple of times, Denise starts to be nicer to Alice, and they finish their project and get a good grade on it. They even find out they have something in common: neither one feels completely comfortable within her family. Alice loves her father and brother but misses her mother, and Denise is the youngest of six kids and feels unwanted and unloved by her parents. Alice and Denise solve their conflict and act nice to each other from now on.
This is the main conflict of the book, but Alice experiences other problems as well. She and her ex-boyfriend Patrick accidentally embarrass their history teacher and work on a special project for class to make it up to him. The school newspaper prints an interview with Alice, and she gets into a fight with both of her best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, after they feel jealous of the attention Alice is getting. She arranges a date between her father and her pretty English teacher, Miss Summers, without telling either adult what’s going on. They wind up liking each other, but Alice’s father tells her not to interfere with his love life anymore. Alice also tries to help her brother decide which of his two girlfriends he likes best; this conflict remains unsolved, and it looks like Lester will have to juggle between Marilyn and Crystal for several Alice books to come.
Connections: I made a text-to-self connection when Alice and her friends found out that the seventh graders would have to sing the school song on Seventh Grade Sing Day. Alice and Elizabeth were horrified by the idea, but Pamela thought it would be nice to sing in front of a crowd because she has a good voice. If that happened to me today, I would probably react the same way that Pamela did.
Recommendations: I recommend this book to girls between ten and thirteen; the subplot about Lester and his girlfriends is inappropriate for anyone younger than ten, and girls older than thirteen would find it babyish. I think some boys might enjoy the book too; they might think Lester and Patrick are funny. This book is the third in the Alice series, so if people want to read it, they should read the first two books beforehand: The Agony of Alice and Alice in Rapture, Sort Of.
Title: Reluctantly Alice
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Information about the author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor experienced several embarrassing moments in seventh grade. Alice’s adventures in this book are based on some of the author’s experiences.
Summary: Alice McKinley has one goal for her seventh grade year: she wants everyone to like her. Unfortunately, she runs into several problems that make this goal difficult to achieve. Her main conflict has to do with Denise Whitlock, a big, ugly eighth grader who’s always bullying Alice. Denise teases Alice for having a dead mother and laughs if Alice falls down in gym class. One day, Denise and her friends corner Alice and try to make her sing the school song. Alice doesn’t want to because she has a terrible voice, and the eighth graders threaten to dunk her head in a stopped-up toilet. Alice’s brother Lester stops by the school and rescues her just in time, but after that, Denise’s bullying gets even worse. Eventually, Alice figures out how to solve the problem. For an English class project, Alice picks Denise to be her partner, knowing that Denise will have to be nice to her in order to get a good grade. At first, Denise ignores Alice and refuses to answer her questions. After the girls meet a couple of times, Denise starts to be nicer to Alice, and they finish their project and get a good grade on it. They even find out they have something in common: neither one feels completely comfortable within her family. Alice loves her father and brother but misses her mother, and Denise is the youngest of six kids and feels unwanted and unloved by her parents. Alice and Denise solve their conflict and act nice to each other from now on.
This is the main conflict of the book, but Alice experiences other problems as well. She and her ex-boyfriend Patrick accidentally embarrass their history teacher and work on a special project for class to make it up to him. The school newspaper prints an interview with Alice, and she gets into a fight with both of her best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, after they feel jealous of the attention Alice is getting. She arranges a date between her father and her pretty English teacher, Miss Summers, without telling either adult what’s going on. They wind up liking each other, but Alice’s father tells her not to interfere with his love life anymore. Alice also tries to help her brother decide which of his two girlfriends he likes best; this conflict remains unsolved, and it looks like Lester will have to juggle between Marilyn and Crystal for several Alice books to come.
Connections: I made a text-to-self connection when Alice and her friends found out that the seventh graders would have to sing the school song on Seventh Grade Sing Day. Alice and Elizabeth were horrified by the idea, but Pamela thought it would be nice to sing in front of a crowd because she has a good voice. If that happened to me today, I would probably react the same way that Pamela did.
Recommendations: I recommend this book to girls between ten and thirteen; the subplot about Lester and his girlfriends is inappropriate for anyone younger than ten, and girls older than thirteen would find it babyish. I think some boys might enjoy the book too; they might think Lester and Patrick are funny. This book is the third in the Alice series, so if people want to read it, they should read the first two books beforehand: The Agony of Alice and Alice in Rapture, Sort Of.
Sourcebooks and Book Talks
Just a quick reminder that Book Talk #1 for eighth graders are due tomorrow and Sourcebook checks begin tomorrow for ALL students. If you do not have a Sourcebook by the time I collect them to grade, you will receive a 0 on the assignment. Please take this very seriously, as Sourcebooks and Book Talks are 40% of the grade in this class.
To put it another way, if you have a 0 average for Sourcebook checks and Book Talks, the highest grade you can achieve in my class is a 60. A passing grade is a 65. You will not pass this class without working in your Sourcebook or turning in Book Talks.
Here is the grading checklist I use for book talks:
The title and author are included - 5 points
The information about the author explains how the author’s life influences the text - 5 points
The summary covers the beginning, middle, and end of the book, discusses the main conflict and how it’s resolved, and briefly describes any subplots.
(In the case of non-fiction, the summary should mention the most important things the reader learned from the book). - 10 points
There is a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection to a specific incident in the book using details from the book - 1o points
There is an explanation of whether or not the book should be recommended to other readers. The recommendation focuses on a particular audience of readers. - 1o points
This is how the Sourcebook will be graded:
The Table of Contents is accurate and up-to-date
- 5 points
Every entry is clearly marked with a title and page number
- 5 points
Every entry begins on a new page
- 5 points
Every entry has complete, original work from the student
- 25 points
Good luck!
To put it another way, if you have a 0 average for Sourcebook checks and Book Talks, the highest grade you can achieve in my class is a 60. A passing grade is a 65. You will not pass this class without working in your Sourcebook or turning in Book Talks.
Here is the grading checklist I use for book talks:
The title and author are included - 5 points
The information about the author explains how the author’s life influences the text - 5 points
The summary covers the beginning, middle, and end of the book, discusses the main conflict and how it’s resolved, and briefly describes any subplots.
(In the case of non-fiction, the summary should mention the most important things the reader learned from the book). - 10 points
There is a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection to a specific incident in the book using details from the book - 1o points
There is an explanation of whether or not the book should be recommended to other readers. The recommendation focuses on a particular audience of readers. - 1o points
This is how the Sourcebook will be graded:
The Table of Contents is accurate and up-to-date
- 5 points
Every entry is clearly marked with a title and page number
- 5 points
Every entry begins on a new page
- 5 points
Every entry has complete, original work from the student
- 25 points
Good luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)