May 5th

This is MAP testing week!
Next week, we will begin a project that will need to be finished by the end of the year.
Watch for project information coming home with your student.

April 21

English this week:
We will continue our unit of study on taking the MAP
Students will have assignments done in class and finished as homework for MAP practice
This week we will focus on using context clues, inference, authors purpose, and poetry analysis
MAP testing will be May 5th, 6th, and 7th
We will have a book discussion on Thursday for book talk over Chpts. 7,8,& 9

Reading this week:
We will continue with The Outsiders

April 14

This week:
 We will take our reading performance test in the computer lab
We will begin Testing Review Unit for MAP
Students will do a pre-MAP checklist to see how ready they are for MAP
We will address the weak areas in the next few weeks
MAP will be May 4th,5th, and 6th
Students are responsible to read through chpt. 6 in book talk book by Friday

Reading
We will continue to practice reading strategies with The Outsiders 

March 31

This week:
We have been finishing up our storytelling unit
Students studied drama characteristics
Students had the option of performing a short fractured fairy tale (funny! : )
We will begin techniques of propaganda

Due this week:
Perform a play with a group or a plot line of a play
Nursery Rhyme assignment was due Monday


Reading:
Beginning The Outsiders
Strategies : Summary and Connections

Last Week of the Quarter

This week is the last week of the quarter! (Finally : )
At this point, I have talked with each of my students about the grade they will be have.
If there was work missing, I have made them aware of what it is.
We are having a study hall for kids who need to work Wednesday and Thursday 7th hour.

Congratulations to Erin Frazier on her third place win in LAD Fair!

This week in English:

• We have started a new unit of study on storytelling
• Students are typing the Iron Will Argument paper and sending it on Google
• We have discussed and explored the following types of stories:
• Fairy Tales, Fables, Tall Tales, and Nursery Rhymes

Due Friday:
Iron Will paper typed and sent on Google
Fairy Tale typed and sent on Google
Fable chart
Tall Tale Chart

Feb. 24

This week we are starting our Iditarod Unit : )
In this unit we will:     English objectives underlined

• Continue our practice of analyzing non-fiction informational text
• Use on-line texts and videos to learn information about the Iditarod
• Analyze biographical sketches about mushers and choose one we think will win
• Watch the movie Iron Will and take double column notes about how Will shows his willfulness
• Next week, students will be writing an argument paper about how they think Will was willful
• We will be exploring vocabulary that is used in the Iditarod setting

Due Friday:
List of possible musher winners in notebook
Notes on in class videos about the trail
Notes on the Iron Will movie
Four square about care of the dogs (done in class Friday)

Reading
Continue with The Outsiders

Feb. 10, 2014

This week in English:

• We will finish research on our chosen topics
• We will write a one shot essay on Wednesday using our research
• *The one shot essay means one class period only to practice the writing we will do for MAP
• We will do some strategic reading using Olympic texts
• We will have book talk on Wednesday

Due this week:  
Notes on three sources for research (In Notebook)
Essay done in class on Wednesday
Book Talk Book by Wednesday

Reading:
This week we will take a break from The Outsiders to do a team unit on the Olympics
We will be reading texts about Ancient and Modern day Olympics
We will be using Note taking strategies as we read to compare and contrast the Olympics then and now.