Sunday, August 26, 2018

Week 8/27-8/31

Last week, students had their first 5-day week! It was a long one, but they were troopers. For most of the week, students learned how to be good digital citizens in today's tech-focused world. They learned about leaving a positive digital footprint (they were shocked to see how much information is on the internet--I am sure you heard about this). 

Students also took the MAP assessment to assess their reading comprehension skills at the end of the week. This district assessment is given three times per year (fall, winter, and spring) in the hopes to show growth. When students are at or above the 8th-grade level according to RIT scores, typically one point of growth is all that one will see (click here to see score norms). For students that completed the test, their scores are recorded in Parent Portal. The mean scores for my classes are as follows: Period 2 RIT 234.2, Period 3 RIT 236.2, and Period 4 RIT 233.0, and students across all classes have a RIT range from 217-258 (last year the RIT score was used to place 8th-grade students into 9th-grade honors--students needed to have a 227+). 

This week, students will finish learning about being a good digital citizen through lessons that discuss fair use, copyright, and cyberbullying. We will also start our ELA Reference Notebooks (this is what the composition notebook is for). While they take a little while to set up, the notebooks pay off because it becomes a reference that they can use throughout the year in all of their classes and even beyond middle school (some of my former students are still using them in high school).
Monday
Digital Citizenship HyperDoc: Rework, Reuse, and Remix Due
Digital Citizenship HyperDoc: Cyberbullying
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Tuesday
Digital Citizenship HyperDoc: Cyberbullying Due
ELA Reference Notebook--Goals and General Information
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Wednesday
ELA Reference Notebook--Writing Section
Back to School Night--I am so excited to meet all of you!
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Thursday
ELA Reference Notebook--Writing Section
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Friday
ELA Reference Notebook--Writing Section
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
AR Log Check (Log/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 30 points at every checkpoint (10/16, 12/11, 03/19, and 05/28). Please see the Accelerated Reader Roadmap for more information. 

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Week 8/20-8/24

Last week, we were really busy! The first day of school was filled with fun introductions through an adaptation of musical chairs and completing an about me survey page (it was on the opposite side of the information that I asked you to fill out). After the fun, students buckled down, read an article, took notes, and answered two short response questions. This will give me an idea of their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to note-taking and constructed responses. 

This week, students start the week off with a diagnostic essay. The information will let me know how much structural writing we will need to review, prior to moving on to more analytical writing. We will also take the MAP assessment to assess their reading comprehension skills at the end of the week. This district assessment is given three times per year (fall, winter, and spring) in the hopes to show growth. When students are at or above the 8th grade level according to RIT scores, typically one point of growth is all that one will see (click here to see score norms). For the non-assessment day, we will work on digital citizenship (they should have fun with this). In today's society, this is a very important skill for students to understand and apply to their daily lives. 
Monday
Writing Diagnostic Essay (On Demand)
Tuesday
Digital Citizenship HyperDoc: Digital Footprint 
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Wednesday
Digital Citizenship HyperDoc: Rework, Reuse, and Remix
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Thursday
MAP Assessment
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
Friday
MAP Assessment
*Chromebook needs to be brought to school and fully charged!
AR Log Check (Log/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 30 points at every checkpoint (10/16, 12/11, 03/19, and 05/28). Please see the Accelerated Reader Roadmap for more information. 

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Week 8/13-8/17

Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to Honors/GATE English 8! Once again, it is time for the start of a new school year. This year holds the promise of new ideas yet to be discovered, creative outlets yet to be explored, and untapped talents yet to be developed. Much of our learning will be project and discussion based, as it is my goal to give you opportunities for discovery, exploration, and development throughout our course of study.  Critical thinking (especially while reading and writing), questioning, peer interaction, and self-evaluation/reflection skills will be consistently practiced and developed every day.
  Accelerated Reader (AR) has changed a little bit this year. Please see the Accelerated Reader Roadmap for more information. Students need to read an AR book that has a reading level of 3.5+ for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 30 points at every checkpoint (the first checkpoint is 10/16) and AR logs will be checked weekly on Friday (the first log check is 8/24).
   I am so excited to get to know every single one of my students and I know that we will have a successful year!
Monday
Teacher Planning Day
Tuesday
Teacher Planning Day
Wednesday
Musical Chairs Introductions
Syllabus/Parent Inventory/Chromebook Contract (Due Thursday)
About Me (Due Friday)
Thursday
Chromebook/SpringBoard Textbook Checkout
About Me (Due Friday)
Friday
Writing Diagnostic Article/Notes 
About Me Due Today