Middle School

Today was primarily a work day. We did word study first, and then had the rest of the time to work on portfolios and portfolio essays. Word study sheet: word study fract Homework: Vocab quiz Friday Final portfolio due Friday

Today we had a vocab quiz, and then had time to read and catch up on work. Happy Friday! Homework: Portfolios due May 25

We started class today with a poem. We read “The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm” by Wallace Stevens. We talked about how he could be a rather unlikely author of such a poem, given that he worked for an insurance company in Hartford, Connecticut. We also talked about that feeling of being [...]

We started class today with finishing up book talks for the mystery fiction novels. Look for their graphic organizers at curriculum celebration. Then we had word study. This week’s root word is “pos.” You can find the sheet here:word study pos Finally, we spent the rest of class working on portfolio essays. I had the [...]

We started class with book group discussions. Our last discussions to wrap up the books are Monday/ Tuesday. Next, we had a poem “Evening on the Lawn” by Gary Soto. We discussed the disconnection of adults and how they “just don’t get it.” We also debated the inevitability of losing that “child like” sense of [...]

We started class today with book talks. There is a lot of speculation going on regarding the mystery books, and we will be wrapping up the reading and discussion of these books next week. Then, we had word study. This week’s root words are “dict” and “rupt.” The word study sheet is here: dict: rupt [...]

We had a word study quiz today on “capt” and “tact” and then spent the rest of the class period either reading or working on moodle questions. Reading logs due Monday/ Tuesday Moodle questions due Monday/ Tuesday Same sticky note and reading assignment as yesterday.

We started class today with book talks and continued working on the mystery story maps. We also talked about the term “Red Herring” and identified some of them in the stories that they are reading. Next, we read the poem “Fifteen” by William Stafford and discussed the tricky in-between-ness of being an adolescent. Students were [...]

We started class today with book group discussions, and then each group started making a visual representation (chart or web) of the characters and clues in their novel. They will continue this throughout the process of reading the novel in order to help make sense of the information. Next, we had weekly word study. This [...]

We started class today with the first round of book talks about the mystery books. Sticky notes were checked in, and I heard many students speculate about what might happen next in their novels. Next, we read a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye called “You Know Who You Are.” We talked about the power of [...]