Monday, October 28th

ELA - We went over last week's Literary assessment.  I felt that students needed some clarification on theme, inferencing, and summarizing.  Lastly, I let students rewrite their answer to the "what is the theme of The Giver so far..." question based on what we discussed.  Lastly, I began with this term's grammar standards about subject and verb agreement.

Social Studies -- We kicked off this term's Unit of Inquiry, Where We Are in Place and Time by addressing the question, "what motivates people to move?"  I put students into unequal groups based on size, personality, and resources and then after five minutes, I asked, "who would like to move?"  Some students wanted to escape their group mates and others wanted the opportunity to use the resources one table had access to.  Overall, it was an excellent introduction to the motivations behind migration. 

Morning Group

The large group did their best... but it took them more than half of the allotted time for them to even get the first part of the task done.

Fewer Opinions + More Resources = Harmony & Success!

Afternoon Group

One group of students noticed that a smaller group had access to better materials...they were not pleased.

Wednesday, October 23rd

ELA - Ms. Smith read more of The Giver and students practiced analyzing text and making inferences.  She also had the students review their verbs and commas grammar notes.  

Social Studies - Students continued working on their Reconstruction projects. 

We could use some more glue sticks.  Thank you!

The BlackFaddin Safety Squad! 

Tuesday, October 22nd

ELA - Students read several more pages of The Giver and took notes on theme and mood. During the reading, Ms. Smith discussed the text and how it gave us clues as to what the theme of The Giver could be.

Social Studies - Students continued to work on their Reconstruction projects.  I also sent home a study guide and students can use the Reconstruction Quizlet cards.  I also made copies of the Social Studies text that relates directly to the content so students also had the option of taking that home.

Note to Parents:

The following site, Remembering Jim Crow, is an excellent resource presented by American RadioWorks.  If I had another week in this term I would have students examine select excerpts from this site.  This site will help students understand, in more detail, how things were in certain parts of America.  I highly recommend that students NOT be allowed to explore this site alone.  The content isn't explicit; however, it provides an uncensored account of different contemporary perspectives.

This week's assessments & projects

Project
-Reconstruction Era project -- Due Friday, October 25th

Assessments 
-Grammar Assessment -- Friday, October 25th 
-----Commas, Verb Tenses & Sentence Types (starting Tuesday students can bring home their ELA journals to study)

-Literary Assessment -- Friday, October 25th
-----Determining theme, Analyzing quotes, Making inferences

-Reconstruction Assessment -- Thursday, October 24th
-----The project research notes will help students prepare for this assessment.

-IB Summative Assessment -- Wednesday-Thursday
-----Opinion Writing -- Students will have two, 1-hour writing segments to write an opinion essay. 

Ms. Smith will lead review sessions for the Grammar and Literary assessments.  I will make   quizlet cards for the Reconstruction assessment and I'll post them on Tuesday's blog.  Please contact me if you have any questions.  

Monday, October 21st

ELA/SS -- Ms. Smith introduced this week's project.  Students will research different perspectives of different groups of people who lived during the Reconstruction Era.  Students will have class time this week to work on their projects and I recommend that students also work on them at home if they fall behind the suggested schedule:

Monday-Tuesday --> Research, note-taking

Wednesday --> Write the reflection

Thursday-Friday --> Assemble project

Ms. Smith also led a Reconstruction Simulation where students learned about the sharecropping debt cycle.  After the simulation students compared sharecropping to slavery and reflected on the similarities and differences.

We also had our author visit today and it was FABULOUS!

Friday, October 18th

ELA -- Students took their vocabulary tests and finished writing their opinion essays.

Social Studies -- I corrected yesterday's assessments and some students did not perform as well as expected.  Consequently, I am sending the graded assessments home and I want all of them back with a parent signature.  Additionally, students can correct them for a higher grade.  Students who earned 3's are also eligible for a 4 if they correct their assessments and edit/rewrite their short answers.



All assessments must be returned on Monday.

Wednesday, October 16th

ELA -- Students continued working on their Opinion Essays.  The essays are due on Friday.

Social Studies -- We did a review for tomorrow's Civil War assessment.  After discussing the conditions in the North and South we went talked about the Emancipation Proclamation.   

Today was my birthday; thank you so much for the thoughtful gifts.  The students made my day very enjoyable.