Monday 9/30

Today we read for 10 minutes.  We then talked about post its and began practicing with them in Nightjohn.  The homework is to finish ch 1 of Nightjohn, read independently and collect 25 words by Thursday.

Friday 9/27

Today in class I collected reading logs, we read for 10 minutes then talked about first impressions.  We talked also about the many ways authors drop us hints to guide the way we think about characters, plot, setting etc.. I introduced the idea of post its and reminded students that by next Thursday they have to have collected at least 25 words in their notebooks.  Reading logs for the week of 9/27 to 10/4 willbe collected on Friday 10/4.

Thursday 9/26

Today we read for 10 minutes. Shared our vocabulary words stressing that we want to add words we have heard before. We then talked about books that are just right and what good readers do to grow theories about books before they read them.  We watched the book trailer for the book we are about to begin reading as a class. I will collect logs in class tomorrow. Do not forget to total time and pages BEFORE class.  150 minutes due.

Wednesday 9/25

Today we read for 10 minutes, logged that time then used the old logs that I returned to figure out how many pages per minute we were reading.  We reflected on that in the ME section of our reading notebooks by noting how many pages we read per minute and looking for where we read more efficiently.  We talked for a bit about vocabulary and the procedures we will use to grow our own vocabularies.  You will need to read for homework tonight and record 2 words in the vocab sections of your notebooks. This means you have to pay attention to the words that surround you!

Tuesday 9/24

We finished up presentations in class.  Check your grades as they are posted for both of our classes.  Your homework for tonight is to check your grades in powerschool and print them out. I want you to print it not just your grades of all your classes but rather your English grade with all of the assignments listed.

Monday 9/23

Nice job with presentations today.  If you did not present today, expect to do so tomorrow. You will need to be sure to keep reading in your IR books. There is a Social Studies homework assignment as well.

Friday 9/20

Today we finished up mini presentations and students prepared for and practiced their 3 minute presentations for the class on Monday. Please see the video below to see what it should look like.  Reminder-PRACTICE makes all the difference!  I also collected reading logs so if you were absent, please see me on Monday to turn yours in.  The new log should be the week of 9/20-9/27.

Thursday 9/18

Today many students presented to the teachers on their topic.  If you did not present today you will do so on Friday.  Homework is to prepare for your classroom presentation AND IR Logs will be collected tomorrow.  Below is an index card example.  When students present on Monday they will be able to use an index card with the following guidelines:

1. Only use front side
2. Can only have 13 TOTAL bullets
3. Can only have 5 bullets per in any one category (BI/TOP/IM)
4. Only 5 words per bullet are allowed

The index card will be collected after the presentation for a grade.

Wednesday

Today we continued the process of researching and preparing for our short presentations.

DUE TOMORROW:

1. Be ready to present to teachers (a grade)

2. Notes should be completed (a grade)

3. Article should be underlined, annotated, and then highlighted with three colors. (a grade)

In addition Reading logs will be collected Friday

Tuesday

Block 2/3 met today and were able to finish text research and start reading the historical article they found.  Homework for this block is to have their articles ready to go at the beginning of Wednesday's class.  They need to also have their historical photo attached to their assignment.

Block 8/9 Make sure you have article for class. 

Also Reading logs will be collected on Friday

Monday 9/16

We kicked off Clarklisto Project #1 today.  The assignment is detailed through this link. When in my folder, click on Image Project to download the assignment.  We also watched the Space Shuttle Challenger video to model our expectations for the assignment. Students filled out the worksheet detailing their topic choice and theme.  We modeled note-taking strategies and students were given time to research their topics in the text book.  When we meet again, students should have the following complete:

• Topic chosen and fine-tuned
• Text book research complete and notes filled out
• one more source located and printed out so as to be prepared to annotate and take notes in class. (See links to the side for assistance)

Additionally, students are reminded that I will collect logs on Friday, the expectation is that they will have logged 150 minutes reading in their IR books.

Image project information--use links to the right

Please see the box to the right for links to help you research the image you have chosen for the project and really for the year.
If you go to the library homepage and click on the Search for Success link, you should be able to find our online encyclopedia resources quickly. (America the Beautiful, Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, World Book Encyclopedia) I will give the login info in class and ask you to write it down in your planner so if you follow directions, you should have it at your fingertips!

Friday 9/13

Today we got more systems in place by setting up the in class folders for reading logs and we covered what to do when we finish an IR book.  Please see me to set up your folder if you were absent today.  We will be blocking on Monday.

Thursday 9/12

I was out with sick children today. In class you read your independent reading books and completed a worksheet based on that reading. If you were absent, please see me to get that worksheet.  Reminder: Reading logs are due tomorrow with 50 minutes being the target.

Wednesday 9/11/13

We had a fabulous day at the Horse show grounds today. Thanks for playing, for laughing and for being awesome!

Tuesday 9/10

Today we took the STAR reading test and then read in IR books or found them.  In order to be prepared for class tomorrow please be sure to have your IR book with you.
Also be ready for the field trip. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Monday 9/9

Today in class we further prepared our notebooks and selves for a successful year of reading.  We pasted 3 glue ins into our notebooks in the tips section and in the ALL ABOUT ME section we wrote about the following topics:

• A time when reading was the pits--describe it and try to figure out what was yucky about it
• A time when reading was awesome.--Again describe it and try to figure out.

Finally: Create a list of what you need in order to make reading the best it can be.

Friday 9/6

Today in class we set up the reader's notebook.  HW for the weekend is to make the tabs permanent in the readers notebook by using sturdy paper like index cards and taping those to the outside of the page.  You are also required to begin your To Read list by adding five titles (and author, genre, how you heard about it etc..) to the first page of your notebooks.

Thursday 9/5/13

What a fantastic day and a fun class.  We had shortened periods after the welcome back and spent time writing about superpowers we coveted.  Some great imaginations lead to some great discussions.  Tomorrow we will set up readers notebooks and talk books.  Be sure to be thinking about what book you might like to read next.