Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Homework 1/28/15

Hi there, lovely students and parents!  Just a homework update...

Students in Periods A and E
Writing Workshop Homework - Compose an OPENING PARAGRAPH to an essay arguing for or against competitive sports for kids.  Make sure that you follow the formula that we talked about in class.
Language Arts Homework - Complete the reflection sheet for Chapter One of The Watsons Go To Birmingham
Mid-Year Survey - Please complete the brief survey about your experiences thus far in Language Arts and Writing Workshop 7.  You can find the survey here
SSR - Your first SSR of Marking Period Three is due on February 6th.  That means you have a little over a week, so get reading!  Early submissions get extra credit!

Students in Periods B and F
Writing Workshop Homework - Compose an OPENING PARAGRAPH to an essay arguing for or against competitive sports for kids.  Make sure that you follow the formula that we talked about in class.
Language Arts Homework - Complete the reflection sheet for Chapter One of The Watsons Go To Birmingham
Mid-Year Survey - Please complete the brief survey about your experiences thus far in Language Arts and Writing Workshop 7.  You can find the survey here
SSR - Your first SSR of Marking Period Three is due on February 6th.  That means you have a little over a week, so get reading!  Early submissions get extra credit!

Students in Periods D and G
Mid-Year Survey - Please complete the brief survey about your experiences thus far in Language Arts and Writing Workshop 7.  You can find the survey here
SSR - Your first SSR of Marking Period Three is due on February 6th.  That means you have a little over a week, so get reading!  Early submissions get extra credit!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Potential Snow, Benchmarks, MLK, and Mid-Year Surveys

Hi there, all!  This is going to be a rather random assortment of announcements, so please bear with me!  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  A few items of note...

1. As I'm sure you've all seen, the weather forecast looks ominous, and it's likely that we'll have a snow day this week (though I make no promises!).  If that is the case, you should still be prepared for your benchmark, which you WILL take whenever school is next in session.  Which leads us to...

2. Benchmarks!  The benchmark exam for marking period two takes place tomorrow and Tuesday (depending on whether you have Language Arts on Day Five or Day Six).  Remember, it will be on theme, tone and mood, conflict, and facts and opinion.  The test has been designed (by myself) to resemble the PARCC exam, so be prepared for multiple choice questions that build upon each other (i.e. the answer to question two will depend upon your answer to question one) as we discussed in class.

3. As you learned last week, I'm providing an opportunity for any interested students to replace one of their four required SRCs for the third marking period with a contest entry that relates to our recent lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr.  The contest information is available here: http://www.eduguide.org/challenge/, and entries are due by February 20th.

4. For homework at some point soon, you will be asked to complete a mid-year survey about your experiences in Language Arts and Writing Workshop 7.  The link to the survey is available here.

Don't forget to put your pajamas on inside out and do a snow dance!
Lots of love,
Miss Whitman

Monday, January 19, 2015

Dr. King's Legacy

Hi there students and parents!

Today I am so very proud to be an American as I reflect on the great strides that we've made as a nation.  I know that we have a long way to go before we achieve liberty across all boundaries.  As I contemplate our country's history, and the difficulties once faced by African-Americans, women, minority groups, and immigrants, I see great growth, but also great opportunity to do even more.  I am so thankful and happy to call the USA my home because I know that we won't give up until we have achieved the ideals of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" upon which our country was founded.

Today, we celebrate one of my personal heroes, and one of the greatest American voices to have walked this earth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Martin Luther King inspires me by his eloquence, humility, and nonviolent commitment to social justice.

Tomorrow (Wednesday for my Period D students) we'll be dedicating a class period to studying and reflecting on one of Dr. King's especially powerful speeches, entitled "The Drum Major Instinct."  We'll be watching the final 13 minutes of it together in class, but if you'd like to watch the whole speech, you can do so here.

A site called EduGuide is sponsoring a student video contest for students in grades 6-12 related to Dr. King's "Drum Major Instinct" speech and how we can apply it to our lives.  The grand prize winner will receive a $1000 scholarship, and runners-up will receive $100 gift cards to Amazon.com.  Please check it out here.  Students who enter and provide me with their entry links may choose between receiving extra credit points or counting their entry as one of their four required SRC submissions for MP3.

I hope that you take a few moments today to be thankful for Martin Luther King, Jr., and others like him who fought for civil liberty in the fact of angry, violent opposition.  We must all take a page from Dr. King's book and seek to better our country even when it's scary and difficult.

Looking forward to engaging in insightful discussion on this topic with my wonderful students tomorrow!

Have a great week!
Miss Whitman

Monday, January 12, 2015

Homework for 1/12, Resources, and the Next SRC

Greetings, students and parents!

Happy Monday!  A couple of important items...

Homework for tonight and the next several nights...all students have received (or in the case of Period D, will receive tomorrow) a packet of articles relating to the pros and cons of competitive sports for kids.  We will be spending the next few days fleshing out these articles and finding evidence for both sides of the competitive sports argument.  Students began this process in class today, and have been instructed to continue working on it at home.  I would suggest that they spend about 20-30 minutes on it each night for the next several nights.

In addition to the articles I provided in the packet, there are some video resources that I invite and encourage students to check out.  It would be a good idea to write down some key points as they watch.  The links to the videos are below.

One final item.  The fourth SRC of the marking period is due THIS FRIDAY, 1/16, and any story rewrites/resubmissions are ALSO due FRIDAY.

Have a wonderful day!
Miss Whitman


Katie Couric’s Notebook: Kids and Sports
http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/performance/2012-2013/Fall%202012%20Performance%20Assessment%20Information/8th%20Grade%20Performance%20Assessments//8th%20Grade%20Assessment%20Video%201.mp4

Competitive Sports—News Segment by Adrienne Bankert KCRW.com
http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/performance/2012-2013/Fall%202012%20Performance%20Assessment%20Information/8th%20Grade%20Performance%20Assessments//8th%20Grade%20Assessment%20Video%202.mp4

Monday, January 5, 2015

Happy 2015!

Happy 2015, Chickadees!

It was great to be back at school today with all of you!  I hope that everyone is at least a little bit well rested after the busy holiday season.  I saw a lot of energy in the classroom today, and I'm hoping that we can channel it in a way that gets us off and running toward an awesome second half of the school year!

A couple of important items...

1. TOMORROW is the SRC DUE DATE for ALL language arts classes.  The SRC is due regardless of whether you see me for class tomorrow or not.  If you don't have my class tomorrow, you must find me and submit your SRC assignment to me (or if you're taking the online quiz, you must take it before the end of the day tomorrow).

2. Students in Language Arts Period E - Your homework (a double-sided worksheet on themes) is due at your next language arts class.  Make sure to complete it so that your grade doesn't suffer unnecessarily!

See y'all tomorrow!
Miss Whitman