Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Summer Opportunity!

Hey there, students and parents!

I wanted to make y'all aware of a summer learning opportunity available through Collingswood School District.  Here are the details, and here's a link to the program brochure.

I'd love to see some of my students participate this summer!
Much love,
Miss Whitman

Bringing Science Fiction to Life Using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Dates: June 29 & 30. July 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9
Time: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Collingswood Middle School
Instructors: Mrs. Stellar (Language Arts teacher at Oaklyn School) and Miss Whitman (me!)
Grades: 6-8
Description:  In this program, students will explore tech-savvy methods of storytelling, as well as explore the genre of the science fiction short story. We will be reading two short stories, and students will be challenged to creatively communicate the plot and deeper meaning of each story using a combination of music, video, and sound.
Program Fee: $75

Homework

Hey y'all!

Tonight's homework is to finish your argument essays up to paragraph THREE (that means your opening and two of your body paragraphs).  In order to receive credit for this homework, you MUST share your work with me on Google Docs.  To share your work, you must click the "Share" button on the top right corner of your Google Docs screen, and then enter my e-mail address, swhitman@collsk12.org.  Please be sure to give me the right to COMMENT (not just view).

Thank you for caring about your academic success and doing your best work!

Much love,
Miss Whitman

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Poem Recordings

Hi there, lovely students!  Below, I've provided some links to recordings of the poems you're memorizing.  There is a recording of me reciting each poem, and then recordings by other readers for "Invictus" and "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time."  Unfortunately, I couldn't locate a link to someone reading "The Ballad of the Oyster."

Try using these to aid in your memorization process!

Also, if you need it, here is a link to the poetry memorization assignment.

Have a great day!
Miss Whitman

"Invictus"
Read by Miss Whitman here
Read by someone else here

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"
Read by Miss Whitman here
Read by someone else here

"The Ballad of the Oyster"
Read by Miss Whitman here

Monday, April 20, 2015

Late SRCs - BE AWARE

Hi students and parents,

Just a reminder that late SRCs will lose 10 points per day of lateness.  All SRCs that I've received have now been entered in Genesis.  Please make a point of checking your/your child's grade to make sure that he/she has turned in this assignment.  Missing SRCs can quickly lower a class grade, so please stay on top of them!

Please be in touch if you have questions!
Miss Whitman

Sunday, April 19, 2015

HOMEWORK FOR 4/20/15

Greetings, beautiful students!

Below is the link to the 13-minute video that you are to watch for homework.  Once you've watched the video, please return to this page and complete the Google form (also linked below) to show me that you watched and paid attention.

The video - https://youtu.be/pa5tJvjQ49A
The Google Form - to submit AFTER you've watched the video! http://goo.gl/forms/xay2kB8GTC

Looking forward to seeing your perfectly-formatted Works Cited pages on WEDNESDAY!

Much love,
Miss Whitman

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

If you lost your argumentative issue packet...

...here's the link to all of them.  You can print it out as many times as you lose it.  I am not willing to print additional packets because it is YOUR responsibility to take care of your school materials.  Also, the Lorax will be angry if I kill any more trees.  Thank you for taking responsibility for your academic success!

Much love,
Miss Whitman

Argumentative Issue Packets

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Spring Break - Things to Be Doing

Hey there, wonderful students and parents!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring Break, Happy Passover, and Happy Sunshine--spring finally seems to have arrived!  I spent most of today shoveling mulch into my garden, and I hope that you've all been able to get outside and enjoy the warmth as well! I know that many of you have been receiving my Remind texts over the break, and hopefully you students have been working on the items that will be due soon after you return from the break.  In case you're missing any of the information you need to get this work done, here are the items of importance..

1. READING!!!  Spring break is a GREAT time to catch up on reading so that you're not stressed about SRCs for the fourth marking period.  Remember, this marking period there will be no online quizzes accepted, so you must submit an alternate assessment from the list you have in your language arts binder.  That list is also available here.

2. Your Civil Rights Movement (CRM) papers.  I've taken far too long to comment on these for you, but I will comment on all of the papers that have been submitted to me on Google docs by tomorrow (Friday) so that you have the weekend to review my comments and begin making changes.  Those papers will have a final due date of late next week or early the following week.  Remember to use the rubric I gave you, as it's the SAME RUBRIC I'LL BE USING TO GRADE YOU!  I cannot emphasize this enough!!!

3. Be thinking about, and hopefully starting to work on, your final projects for The Watsons Go To Birmingham (which I'll call "The Byron Project" for short).  The requirements for that project, as well as the assessment rubric, are here.  I realize that you don't have your own copies of the book to find the page numbers for your chosen quotes, but you can use the free ebook (available here) and then use the "find in page" tool to find the quotes you picked.

Enjoy the remaining days off, and I'll see you all on Monday, bright eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to learn!

Much love,
Miss Whitman