Week 9/25-9/29

Last week, students finished their first argumentative essay of 8th grade! I have assessed all of them and scores are in Parent Portal. I want to remind you that a "C" is an average grade and anything above a "C" exceeds the grade level writing standard and anything less than a "C" is below the grade level writing standard. I wrote extensive feedback in Google Classroom for "next steps" and I also commented on the essay leaving suggestions for future essays. Please go over the next steps and comments with your child to help them improve their essay writing (the ultimate goal is about writing improvement--not the grade). You can also look at essays that exceeded the standard by clicking here! Students also added their pre-writing and essays to the blogs and reflected on their writing--you can check them out here! 

In addition to the essay, students also took the district MAP assessment (a computer adaptive test) that provides students with a RIT score (this corresponds to their instructional level--where they score about 50% correct). In Parent Portal, I have included the RIT score for your child. The mean score for GATE/Honors Grade 8 is 233.5 (with a range from 214-259--meaning the instructional range for my classes is from Grade 5 to college level). Students will take this assessment two more times this year and one point of growth (if they are at grade level) is the goal! Please refer to the following documents for more information about MAP: Comparative Data (Reading), RIT to Smarter Balanced, Target Scores, and Reference Brochure (pp. 3-8).

This week, students are going to begin their multimedia campaign that addresses the issue of dress codes in order to persuade and challenge the reader to make a change. They have the option to work in groups (no more than three students per group). As of right now, the due date is next Monday; however, they may finish sooner or they may finish later.

Monday
Multimedia Campaign: Dress Codes
Tuesday
Multimedia Campaign: Dress Codes
Wednesday
Multimedia Campaign: Dress Codes
Thursday
Multimedia Campaign: Dress Codes
Friday
Multimedia Campaign: Dress Codes
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (10/11, 12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!

Week 9/18-9/22

Last week, students wrote their very first argumentative essay in 8th-grade, woohoo! While it was a challenge, they really persevered and felt successful in the end. They have realized that structuring an essay is easy in comparison to analyzing information (we will work on analysis this entire year). Next week, I will be able to share some of the essays with you!

This week, students will peer edit and then submit their essay by 11:59 p.m. on Monday night. We will take a break from writing for a couple of days while the students take the district MAP assessment to assess their reading levels. From here, we will take it easy (they deserve it!) and work on our reference notebooks (learning to write in the active voice, author's purpose, and non-fiction text features).

Monday
Argumentative Essay (Peer Edit) 
Essay Due by 11:59 p.m. to Google Classroom
Tuesday
MAP Assessment
Wednesday
MAP Assessment
Thursday
ELA Reference Notebook: Active/Passive Voice
Friday
Progress Reports Due
ELA Reference Notebook: Author's Purpose/Non-Fiction Text Structure
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (10/11, 12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!

Week 9/11-9/15

Last week, students started outlining their argumentative essays on dress codes. While most students want the dress code to become more lenient, many found that the evidence from the six different articles actually supported making the dress code stricter (we are talking uniforms). It is an important lesson for students to learn that they need to argue the side that has the strongest and most convincing evidence even if they don't personally agree. Students also started their weekly narrative warm-ups that they write as a group. I am including the best groups stories--Period 5, Group 3 (Sajda, Severiana, Isaac, Mark, Julianna, and Max) were the best this week!

This week, students will use their outlines to write their six-paragraph argumentative essay. While they will technically complete their essay this week, students will not peer edit and self-score until Monday of next week (which means the essay will be due next Monday by 11:59 p.m. to Google Classroom). This will give them time over the weekend, if they need it, to catch up and maybe even have you look over their essay.

Monday
Argumentative Essay (Introduction)
Tuesday
Argumentative Essay (Body Paragraphs-3)
Wednesday
Argumentative Essay (Body Paragraphs-3)
Thursday
Argumentative Essay (Counterargument)
Friday
Argumenative Essay (Conclusion)
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (10/11, 12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!

Week 9/4-9/8

It was awesome to see so many of you at Back to School Night. I swear that it is the most stressful night and my anxiety increases tenfold, but you made it pretty easy. It is nice to see where these awesome kiddos come from and now I know that I not only have the best kiddos, but I have the best parents! If you missed it, click here to see part of what you missed: Message to Our Parents FlipGrid Videos, Picture Slideshow (below), Back to School Night Handout, and Books for Middle Schoolers. I also want to thank everyone for all the donations to my tax-deductible Donors Choose projects (you really make a difference!) and all of the supply donations (glue, paper, cardstock, young adult novels, Crayola markers and colored pencils, and Expo thin markers)! YOU ARE AMAZING AND THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Last week, students completed their blogs and Twitter accounts for this class. We haven't done much with them yet, but it will be a place for you to follow their learning. Please click here to get the links to their blogs and Twitter accounts! 

This week, students will continue to work on their ELA Reference Notebooks. These notebooks are setting them up for their first argumentative process essay on dress codes! This will be a lengthy process, but it will definitely be worth it because students will gain the confidence of how to be successful writers at the 8th-grade level. I am very passionate about both reading and writing--if students can do these well, they will be successful for the rest of their lives!

Monday
Labor Day Observed
Tuesday
ELA Reference Notebook
Wednesday
Argumentative Article Jigsaw
Thursday
Argumentative Outline
Friday
Argumentative Outline/Introduction
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
*Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points by every checkpoint (10/11, 12/13, 03/14, and 05/30). Please see the AR Log for more information. GOOD NEWS: Students only need to complete the front side to take an AR quiz!