It was so good to see so many parents show up for Parent Night! If you couldn't make it, or would like to contact any of the teachers for any reason, please just send an email our way.
The past two weeks, we have read 5 picture books aloud, shared a gazillion (well, maybe 25 or so) book talks, written about poems "Marginalia" and "The Names" (both by Billy Collins), a narrative titled "The View from a Bridge," and written about a challenging moment we've had in our lives. We've focused on how / when to annotate, how to share, how to give feedback to each other and also how to reflect on our own work. We've introduced (and practiced using) rubrics to look at samples and our own writing. Students have also reflected on how the weeks have gone so far, while generating goals for the next week. A big thing about this past week - students have taken on many responsibilities for the classroom! Check out our notes from the past two weeks here, and enjoy the fact that students will be owning even more of their own learning! You'll see some evidence of this in our photos - which were taken by our student photographers this week! Students shared more books as well this week! (See them here!)
You may notice that we have only one grade in the online gradebook right now. This may be a 1, which equals "beginning," or it may be a 4, which equals "mastery." Please keep in mind that this is for ONE SKILL only, and that we will have some time in class to revise. Students can ALWAYS revise their writing prompts this year in ELA, and are encouraged to do so at home for independent practice, for sure. This ONE grade will not be counted towards receiving a midterm report home next week. Students' effort is included in this decision. At any rate, if your child receives a "beginning" grade (1), he or she will be required to revise and try again on his or her own, and/or I am available to meet during lunch and after school, as well.
Want to come in to the middle school classroom? Sign up here to give a booktalk or to read a picture book! Also, pencil in Thursday, October 8th to come see our Cardboard Challenge in the LMC!
Side note not related to ELA: The Delta team is having a "Pajama Day" on Wednesday next week. Please make sure the PJs won't set off any dress code alarms. Thank you! :D
The past two weeks, we have read 5 picture books aloud, shared a gazillion (well, maybe 25 or so) book talks, written about poems "Marginalia" and "The Names" (both by Billy Collins), a narrative titled "The View from a Bridge," and written about a challenging moment we've had in our lives. We've focused on how / when to annotate, how to share, how to give feedback to each other and also how to reflect on our own work. We've introduced (and practiced using) rubrics to look at samples and our own writing. Students have also reflected on how the weeks have gone so far, while generating goals for the next week. A big thing about this past week - students have taken on many responsibilities for the classroom! Check out our notes from the past two weeks here, and enjoy the fact that students will be owning even more of their own learning! You'll see some evidence of this in our photos - which were taken by our student photographers this week! Students shared more books as well this week! (See them here!)
You may notice that we have only one grade in the online gradebook right now. This may be a 1, which equals "beginning," or it may be a 4, which equals "mastery." Please keep in mind that this is for ONE SKILL only, and that we will have some time in class to revise. Students can ALWAYS revise their writing prompts this year in ELA, and are encouraged to do so at home for independent practice, for sure. This ONE grade will not be counted towards receiving a midterm report home next week. Students' effort is included in this decision. At any rate, if your child receives a "beginning" grade (1), he or she will be required to revise and try again on his or her own, and/or I am available to meet during lunch and after school, as well.
Want to come in to the middle school classroom? Sign up here to give a booktalk or to read a picture book! Also, pencil in Thursday, October 8th to come see our Cardboard Challenge in the LMC!
Side note not related to ELA: The Delta team is having a "Pajama Day" on Wednesday next week. Please make sure the PJs won't set off any dress code alarms. Thank you! :D