Sunday, August 28, 2016

Week 8/29-9/2

The second week of school started out with the MAP Reading Assessment given by the district. This will occur three times per year: fall, winter, and spring to assess and celebrate growth. This first assessment is the baseline score and it will be used to identify strengths and areas for growth. In Parent Portal, I have included the RIT score, percentile ranking, and the growth target for the year for each student (it is in the comment section). The GATE/Honors students averaged a RIT score of 234.9, percentile of 84%, and growth target of 4.2. Please refer to the following documents for more information: RIT to Smarter Balanced and Target Scores

As the week progressed, we were able to have a little more fun in class learning about digital citizenship (this is very important in our digital age). We learned a lot about digital footprints, copyright and fair use, and cyberbullying. The students should be able to share some of what they learned with you!


Monday

Interactive Notebook Setup
Writing Strategies: MD3P (Summary Expectation)

Tuesday

Writing Strategies: ICE/RACES (Constructed Response with Evidence Expectation)

Wednesday (Back to School Night 5-7 p.m.)

Writing Strategies: TREEAT (Body Paragraph Expectation)
AR Log Check (Log-5 entries/Signature)
  *Students need to be reading an AR book that has a reading level >3.5 for 30 minutes 5 nights per week. Students need to earn 35 points at every quarter checkpoint (10/21, 12/9, 3/10 and 6/2).

Thursday

E-Portfolio Set-Up

Friday

Depth and Complexity Icons
Argumentative Essay Guided Outline

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Week 8/22-8/26

Last week was a whirlwind! It can be difficult getting back into the swing of things, but I think we did a FANTASTIC job. The students were busy this week writing, writing, and more writing (see the picture below of some students working hard on their essay). Ask them about the "wobble cushions" that we have in class-it seems like most students like them.

Back to School Night will be Wednesday, August 31 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. I am really excited to get to know each and every one of you. Please know that my door is always open to both students and parents (so is my e-mail, ha)! Grades have also been updated in Parent Portal. There are very few assignments in the gradebook, so grades can fluctuate a lot the first month.


Don't forget to get a composition book by Friday!
Monday
Reading Level Assessment (District Test)

Tuesday
Continue Reading Level Assessment (District Test)

Wednesday
AR Log Check
Digital Citizenship-Graphic Organizer and Trillion Dollar Footprint
  *Students learn that they have a digital footprint and that this information can be searched, copied and passed on, but that they can take some control based on what they post online.

Thursday
Digital Citizenship-Graphic Organizer and Rework, Reuse, Remix
  *Students expand their understanding of fair use, apply it to case studies, and create an original work of fair use.

Friday
Composition Book Check
Cyberbullying-Graphic Organizer and Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line
  *Students learn to distinguish good-natured teasing from cyberbullying.