Unit 2 is Coming to a Close!

Our Unit 2 Assessment is tomorrow. I have informed students that if they have turned in a completed study guide and genuinely put their greatest effort on the exam and still do not hit their mark, they may stay after school any day this week to take an alternative version of the exam. I will have the assessments all graded tomorrow evening so students will know their grades on Tuesday. However, if a student has left blanks on the test or has not turned in a completed study guide, then he or she will not have the opportunity to take a make-up exam.

In other news, starting Tuesday we will be really getting down to work on our narratives. Students are writing their own stories about a memorable event in their lives. Students have already chosen what they will be writing about and have done several other prewriting activities. Tuesday we will begin really writing. The narratives are due on November 4. Students are not required to type their narratives, but may do so if they wish.

Throughout this time, reading homework responses will be summaries.

November 5 will mark the beginning of Unit 3: Author Study. We will be studying the works of Virginia Hamilton.

BIG NEWS: Report card grades are being entered and published on October 30. Please feel free to call the school and schedule a conference with the teacher team! That's part of what we're here for.

I'm Still Here

Hello, families! I apologize for not posting last week, things have been slightly hectic and busy! Here are a couple points of interest:

• Unit 2 has begun. Last week we studied plot and point of view. This week we are studying characterization. Students have also begun brainstorming for the stories that they will be writing.
• We began a new vocabulary procedure last week. Students are given a list of vocabulary words at the beginning of the week. They are responsible for completing the exercises on the vocabulary worksheet and turning it in on Friday before our quiz. The words will be a part of the quiz, including spelling. Based on last week's quiz results (TBA on schoolmax soon), I can tell that students did not take this seriously. Please encourage them to do so.
• When there is a substitute in the room, students tend to be a little looser than when their normal teacher is there. Yesterday I was proctoring individual reading tests all day and so there was a substitute in the room. Although I was in the building, there were still students that acted up. The Yellow class and the Blue class were particularly troubling to the substitute and she had to send some students to me and some to the office. Some students feel like they can mouth off to a substitute, please support me by telling them that is never acceptable. Of course I try to never be out of the building, but it does happen from time to time and I want to ensure that no substitute teacher feels disrespected.
• Unit 1 Tests are being returned today. Here are the class averages:
• Red Class 79%
• Orange Class 74%
• Yellow Class 58%
• Blue Class 78%
• Most students did very well and three of these averages are just a hair short of our 80% goal. The Yellow class average is much lower because there were several students that simply stopped working and answering questions. If those students at least attempted responses, they likely would have gotten some credit. Be sure to ask your student his or her score today. Students will be completing a reflection exercise in which they note the sections they did well and the sections they need to improve upon.

Homework this week:

Monday: Write a one paragraph summary of what you read.

Tuesday: Write one paragraph describing one of the characters in your book. What are some character traits for that character? How do you know?

Wednesday: Write one paragraph explaining whether your character is a static character or a dynamic character.

Thursday: Choose an example of dialogue from your book. Explain what that piece of dialogue says about your character.

Friday: Choose a character from your book. If you were a director and you were turning your book into a movie, what actor or actress would play your character and why?

Please be sure to remind students that vocabulary homework must be completed throughout the week.