Interim Week

Students in both classes have been working hard learning new standards! This week we will take our interim assessments to show what we know!

5th and 6th Grade: Have been working on Literary Nonfiction. We have talked about text structure, comparing and contrasting two works of literature as well as central idea.

7th and 8th Grade: Have been working with persuasive texts. Using persuasive techniques and opposing claims, the middle schoolers tried to persuade the class to eat bugs. It's amazing how nutritious bugs can be! We also dove into scientific texts. This allowed us to focus on text structure and domain specific vocabulary.

  Have a GREAT winter break!

Speech Writing!

Please use the following information to help you write your speech:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/speech/index.htm

The Week in Review

7th/8th Grade: This week we finished reading The Boy Who Dared. We spent time discussing author's craft in particular how an author can create emotion or suspense in their writing. In grammar we continued our study of verbs using direct and indirect objects. This should be a review for all students! In spelling the Latin Roots (MAN, SCRIB/SCRIPT, CRED AND FAC) were our focus. Students should focus on the meanings of words as well as the spelling of words

5th/6th Grade: This week we continued reading Flora and Ulysses. It is wonderful to see students laughing and begging to read more each class. This is a wonderful book and I strongly encourage you to ask your child about the book! We began working with idioms this week. Students are creating a book of idioms where they illustrate the literal and figurative meanings of idioms. On Monday, we will be taking a test on idioms.

This week in MUR we continued our novel studies! Our skill focus for 7th and 8th grade is identifying the three types of irony and in 5th and 6th grade we are working are working on idioms. Students are becoming familiar with commonly used idioms.

In lit circles students continue to have high level discussions with one another by creating their own inferential questions! It is great to see them in action!

Another Great Week

5th and 6th Grade MUR: This week we began our new book Flora and Ulysses by Newberry award winner Kate DiCamillo. Students are enjoying this unique story and looking for examples of author perspective as well as figurative language. In lit circles, we continue to read our books and practice our habits of discussion.

7th and 8th Grade MUR: This week in A Boy who Dared, students continued to look at theme and find evidence to support the various themes in the book. We're also taking a closer look at setting and how it effects the mood of a story. In spelling we are focusing on Latin Roots. In grammar students worked with verbs.

Week 2

This was an exciting week for our students! This week we took our interim assessment pretest. With the increased rigor of our new tests it was fun to see how much we will be learning this year!

7th and 8th Grade MUR: Students in MUR began reading The Boy who Dared. We spent a lot of time talking about compassion and the traits involved in being a compassionate person. We looked at an overview of WW2 and began relating events to our book.

5th and 6th Grade MUR: Students finished up their interim assessments as well as our unit of reading fictional stories. We began our literature circle books and had an intro lesson on our first anchor book Flora and Ulysses.

Welcome Back!

Here are some important policies regarding MUR!

Chromebooks: Students will be working with Chromebooks during class. Each student will be given an account and password to use while at school. Please make sure you have filled out your technology release form that was sent home in the back to school paperwork.

Homework:  Weekly spelling homework is given throughout the year.  Homework packets are given out on Mondays with a portion due Wednesdays and the rest due Fridays. ***Other homework assignments will be given as necessary.

·        Wednesday homework will be checked by me at the beginning of class.

·        On Fridays all homework should be turned into the bin for grading.

Planners: Students are required to bring their planner to every class. Assignments and due dates are posted on the board. It is the responsibility of the student to copy these into their planner.

Reading Rodeo: All MUR students will participate in the Reading Rodeo program.  This year students will be given a calendar to record their minutes as well as write a very brief book report to share with the class. (This form will be on the back side of the calendar.)

·        Reading Rodeos are due the last day of each month.

Class Premise: My goal is to create a high level academic learning environment where all students feel challenged. Students in advanced language arts are working toward college readiness. There is strong emphasis placed on critical thinking and higher level learning techniques.

Independent Study: Independent study is a wonderful time for students to take charge of their learning.  During each unit, students will have the opportunity to engage in an independent study and present their findings to the class. This will take many different forms. Rubrics will be handed out before each study begins.

Curriculum:  We have an exciting year planned. Students in 5th and 6th grade will be reading Flora and Ulysses, The Mixed-up Files, Hamlet and various Core Knowledge poems and short stories. While students in 7th and 8th grade will read The boy who dared, Chasing Lincoln's killer, As you Lie it as well as various Core Knowledge poems and short stories. Students will also participate in an independent study.

Assignments: Please check the board for all due dates of assignments, it is the responsibility of the student to keep track of assignments and due dates.

Classroom updates:  Keep abreast on all the happenings in our classroom please check the teacher portal or Mrs.Gordon’s MUR blog at  http://mrsgordonsmur.blogspot.com/

   This website contains a list of resources for gifted students as well as extension activities for many of our units!

Grading: All grading will be on Infinite Campus.  The breakdown of MUR grades will be as follows:

·        Homework = 10%

·        Discussion participation = 5%

·        Packets and class work = 25%

·        Projects and Tests = 50%

Interim Assessment:  This year we will be taking an interim assessment pretest.  The test will be given the first week of school and subsequent interim assessments will be given each quarter.

MUR Supplies: We have provided MUR folders for each student.  Packets and class work should be kept in this folder at all times.  ***All books should be kept in the classroom at all times.  Students may check out books with permission.

Learning Objectives: Student learning objectives are placed on the board each day.  Students should read over and understand each objective and ask questions before the lesson begins.

Uniforms: Students are expected to be in uniform every day. Uniform violations will be given out to those students who do not comply with the dress code.

ZAP/Detention: Students who have not completed assigned work will be given a ZAP (zero’s are not permitted) ticket and pulled from lunch to finish their work. Work coming from ZAP will receive a 10% reduced grade.

    Students will three behavior checks in their planners will be given detention.

Spirit Week

The last week of school is Spirit Week: Monday, June 2:  Pajama/Crazy Hair Day * Tuesday, June 3:  60's, 70's, 80's Day Wednesday, June 4:  Mismatched Clothing Day Thursday, June 5:  Wear Your Favorite Color Day * Please note:  If Track & Field is rained out on May 30, then Monday, June 2 is the make up Track and Field Day.   If this happens, students should wear active wear and tennis shoes rather than pajamas.  .

Upcoming Dates:

May 29 College T-shirt Day May 29 OSA 2:50 May 30 Track and Field Day May 31 Spring Fling!!! June 4 8th Grade Graduation 7 pm June 5 Last Day of School  .

MCA Testing and Information!

MCAs are here!

Please make sure you know when your child is testing, that they get good nights of sleep, healthy meals and a good breakfast before their testing day!

Monday, April 14^th and Tuesday April 15^th Letson’s and Degen’s math

Wednesday, April 16^th and Thursday, April 17^th Friedrich’s and Oman’s math

Monday, April 21^st and Tuesday, April 22^nd Johnson’s and Roth’s math

Wednesday, April 23^rd- Friday, April 25^th 3^rd-8^th grade reading tests

Monday, April 28^th and Tuesday, April 29^th Rohman’s and Slavik’s math; 8^th grade science test

Wednesday, April 30^th and Thursday, April 1^st Rohman’s math, 5^th grade science tests

Please contact your homeroom teacher or Mrs. McInnis if you know your child will be absent on a testing day so that we can make sure they test before the deadline.

Spring!

Hopefully, spring is finally here!

MUR 5th and 6th: This week we continue to work on our independent study. We discussed visual aids and students began creating sketches for their visuals. We will not be having spelling tests for the next two weeks to give students ample time to work on their project at home!

MUR 7th and 8th: This week we began our nonfiction unit. We are reading Kennedy's Last Days and discussing the life of JFK. Throughout this unit we will be focusing on fact vs. opinion, tone, author purpose and traits of JFK.
  Packets from David Copperfield are due this week!

March 3-7

5th and 6th Grade MUR: This week students began work on their independent projects! We have some very interesting topics and I'm so excited to see how the projects turn out. On Monday, we began our journey into writing research questions. After a short prezi students began writing questions and conferencing with teachers. On Wednesday, we picked new books for our literature discussion groups. 

7th and 8th Grade MUR: This week we continued our study of David Copperfield. Students were introduced to allusion and are working to find elements of allusion within Dickens's work. This is giving the students a more in-depth understanding of the novel. On Wednesday, we watched parts 10 and 11 of the BBC movie David Copperfield. Students made comparisons between the novel and digital version of the story. 

This has been a great week for our middle school students!

5th and 6th Grade: This week we finished reading Walk Two Moons!  The students loved the story and learned a lot about character traits, figurative language and genre. In spelling we continue to work in Wordly Wise.

7th and 8th Grade: Our middle school students are working hard on finishing up Charles Dickens David Copperfield. We have spent a lot of time working on theme, irony and allusion. In literature circles students continue to develop their own inferential questions and lead discussions without the help of the teachers. They are working to understand authors craft and symbolism.

Please check out our middle school Blog for more information:http://www.cologneacademymiddleschool.blogspot.com/

A New Year!

It's hard to believe the new year is upon us again. Each year seems to go by faster than the last. As I look forward in planning here are few things to note:

  MUR 5th and 6th -  We will be switching to Wordly Wise for our spelling. Students will be working in their Wordly Wise books each week and will have fifteen words for spelling instead of thirteen. There will be no challenge words. Students can study for their tests or get word lists by going to: www.wordlywise3000.com. 

  We will also be starting a new book this month. Students will be reading Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Please note students doing Prezi's on Sharon should have them completed before the end of the month.

MUR 7th and 8th: We will continue to read David Copperfield as we study Charles Dickens. Students will focus on theme, conflict and answering evidence based questions. In literature groups students are reading contemporary fiction and having "book group" discussions. 

  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!