What an exciting month this has been. For the last two weeks students have been presenting their Propaganda Power Point Projects. WOW! I am continually blown away by what the students are able to create and their creative ideas. We have some budding sales people in our classroom as well. My favorite projects were one's where students made their own video commercials. What a creative use of technology incorporated into the power points.
This week we finished up our reading on Animal Farm and learned that some political ideals start off with good intentions, but end in exploitation and disaster. Many times our conversations diverged to our own society and events occurring today. It was wonderful to see student's making connections and their horizons broadened!
We also spent this week taking our fourth and final interim assessment. For more information regarding your child's progress or if you have any questions about the final interim assessment, please feel free to contact me at jgordon@cologneacademy.org.
Good Luck to all next week on your reading MCA test!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Down on the Farm
Reading: This week we began reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Student's took an in-depth look at The Beasts of England, the animal's new anthem. Many students were able to make connections with our own National Anthem and the pride in which a song can instill. We continued our study by looking at the "ten commandments" Major brought to the animals and how this might propagate a rebellion among the farm animals.
G and T Writing: The research period has drawn to a close and students are working in their packets to organize their information. I will be meeting with students over the next two weeks to conference on topic sentences, paragraph organization and incorporating research into their essays.
Advanced MUR Writing: We are have finished our stories and students are currently typing. We will be meeting over the next two weeks to begin the editing process and then typing our final drafts.
Spelling: G & T MUR is working on less 32 in Red Hot Root Words and Advanced MUR is continuing their study in Wordly Wise.
Elements of Style: We continue to explore the 8 rules of commas with rules 3-6 this week. We will be completing this unit next week. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the 8 rules in their essays and story projects.
G and T Writing: The research period has drawn to a close and students are working in their packets to organize their information. I will be meeting with students over the next two weeks to conference on topic sentences, paragraph organization and incorporating research into their essays.
Advanced MUR Writing: We are have finished our stories and students are currently typing. We will be meeting over the next two weeks to begin the editing process and then typing our final drafts.
Spelling: G & T MUR is working on less 32 in Red Hot Root Words and Advanced MUR is continuing their study in Wordly Wise.
Elements of Style: We continue to explore the 8 rules of commas with rules 3-6 this week. We will be completing this unit next week. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the 8 rules in their essays and story projects.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Short Stories!
G & T MUR
This week we finished reading Dragonwings the play and continued on with the Junior Great Books series. We had excellent discussion groups and were able to talk in depth about how characters change over time.I am continually amazed at how the students are able to have such high level discussions with their peers. It is wonderful to witness this academic independence.
In spelling, we are working in Red Hot Root Words. Students are working in stations to develop new words with their roots, create stories with our spelling words and test our peers.
On Friday, I introduced our independent writing project for the trimester. We worked in the computer lab doing research on our chosen topics and will slowly work through the essay writing process.
Advanced MUR
This week we read two short stories about the adolecencent problems bullying and sibling arguments. Students were able to give numerous personal examples on the topics, and we worked to get to the root of these overwhelming problems. On Wednesday, we had a seminar and students were able to share ideas with each other.
In spelling we continue our study in Wordly Wise. Students are working with high level vocabulary in a meaningful way.
We began typing our fictional stories as we delve deeper into our independent writing project. We finished up our study of our main characters and will move next week onto our supporting characters. Students completed the introduction and problem of their stories. We now begin the long journey toward the climax. I also spent time conferencing with each student this week, helping them edit and add to their work.
This week we finished reading Dragonwings the play and continued on with the Junior Great Books series. We had excellent discussion groups and were able to talk in depth about how characters change over time.I am continually amazed at how the students are able to have such high level discussions with their peers. It is wonderful to witness this academic independence.
In spelling, we are working in Red Hot Root Words. Students are working in stations to develop new words with their roots, create stories with our spelling words and test our peers.
On Friday, I introduced our independent writing project for the trimester. We worked in the computer lab doing research on our chosen topics and will slowly work through the essay writing process.
Advanced MUR
This week we read two short stories about the adolecencent problems bullying and sibling arguments. Students were able to give numerous personal examples on the topics, and we worked to get to the root of these overwhelming problems. On Wednesday, we had a seminar and students were able to share ideas with each other.
In spelling we continue our study in Wordly Wise. Students are working with high level vocabulary in a meaningful way.
We began typing our fictional stories as we delve deeper into our independent writing project. We finished up our study of our main characters and will move next week onto our supporting characters. Students completed the introduction and problem of their stories. We now begin the long journey toward the climax. I also spent time conferencing with each student this week, helping them edit and add to their work.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Enjoy your Spring Break!
G & T MUR: This week we began the story Dragon Wings we are reading the story in play form. We began by sharing our knowledge of Chinese culture and have moved into lessons on American History and how people from other lands view us as Americans.
For this unit we will be focusing on character traits. Students are developing charts in the classroom on each character and keeping track of how a character changes over time. We are learning that characters as well as people are multifaceted.
In writing we continue to work on Elements of Styles. Our focus is a review on possessives!
Advanced MUR: This week we are learning about Elizabeth and Robert Browning in a unit entitled "Literature's True Love Story." We began by reading Sonnet 43. Students were able to share their thoughts and ideas as well as pose questions about the text. This stirred some great thoughts in our middle schoolers. We briefly touched on the differences between English and Italian sonnets as well as the background of both authors. We finished out the week by reading A Woman's Last Word by Robert Browning and discussing his perspective of women.
Interim Assessment: This week we took our third interim assessment of the year. Students are making tremendous progress. I have noticed a particular improvement in the area of writing. We are becoming more proficient at communicating our ideas in written form.
***If you would like more information regarding your child's progress please feel free to email @ jgordon @cologneacademy.org
For this unit we will be focusing on character traits. Students are developing charts in the classroom on each character and keeping track of how a character changes over time. We are learning that characters as well as people are multifaceted.
In writing we continue to work on Elements of Styles. Our focus is a review on possessives!
Advanced MUR: This week we are learning about Elizabeth and Robert Browning in a unit entitled "Literature's True Love Story." We began by reading Sonnet 43. Students were able to share their thoughts and ideas as well as pose questions about the text. This stirred some great thoughts in our middle schoolers. We briefly touched on the differences between English and Italian sonnets as well as the background of both authors. We finished out the week by reading A Woman's Last Word by Robert Browning and discussing his perspective of women.
Interim Assessment: This week we took our third interim assessment of the year. Students are making tremendous progress. I have noticed a particular improvement in the area of writing. We are becoming more proficient at communicating our ideas in written form.
***If you would like more information regarding your child's progress please feel free to email @ jgordon @cologneacademy.org
Friday, March 2, 2012
Wrap Up!
Josephine and Aunt Edith "Caught" in Crime!
This week we finished our mystery unit. It was exciting to see the student's reactions as they uncovered the final scenes in the book. Many students yelled out "NO WAY!" as they came to the ending. It was difficult to keep everyone quiet until all had a chance to finish the book. Unfortunately, our snow day interrupted our final discussion. I am anxious to read the student's final exam essays and read their thoughts and ideas on the story.
Thursday and Friday we took our final exam and are ready to move on to our next unit!
Advanced MUR Writing Project:
This week we spent time getting to know our main characters. Each student gave a short presentation on their main character, describing the character's personality traits, and sharing a hidden talent of their character. It is exciting to see middle school students so excited about a project. We are all looking forward to next week when we will be sharing our stories with a partner.
***Reminder: Next week is our 3rd Interim Assessment.
Next week we will be working with short stories so we have ample time to review and prepare for our Interim Assessment. This trimester we will be giving differentiated assessments to better suit the needs of students in the class.
This week we finished our mystery unit. It was exciting to see the student's reactions as they uncovered the final scenes in the book. Many students yelled out "NO WAY!" as they came to the ending. It was difficult to keep everyone quiet until all had a chance to finish the book. Unfortunately, our snow day interrupted our final discussion. I am anxious to read the student's final exam essays and read their thoughts and ideas on the story.
Thursday and Friday we took our final exam and are ready to move on to our next unit!
Advanced MUR Writing Project:
This week we spent time getting to know our main characters. Each student gave a short presentation on their main character, describing the character's personality traits, and sharing a hidden talent of their character. It is exciting to see middle school students so excited about a project. We are all looking forward to next week when we will be sharing our stories with a partner.
***Reminder: Next week is our 3rd Interim Assessment.
Next week we will be working with short stories so we have ample time to review and prepare for our Interim Assessment. This trimester we will be giving differentiated assessments to better suit the needs of students in the class.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Classroom Slueths Solve the Case!
The Crooked House:
This was an exciting week for our junior detectives. We began the week with a lesson on formal letter writing and then transferred this skill to our classroom project. Using their detective skills, students wrote letters to Inspector Taverner revealing the killer and giving him evidence. It was wonderful to see the student's creative minds at work. Many of the letters are on display in our classroom!
We will be finishing our mystery unit on February 28th and moving into our final exam. Our exam will be long answer and contain critical thinking and interpretive questions. Students will be given the questions prior to the exam to give them time to prepare their answers. Please look for the rubric and questions on Wednesday.
Discussion Groups:
After four weeks of discussion groups the kids are pros! It is amazing to listen to their talks and watch different students take on leadership roles within the group. I have heard some incredible ideas come from these groups as students dissect the novel bouncing ideas off of one another. We have really come together as a group!
Station Work:
We continue to delve into our station work as student learn more about spelling and vocabulary.
Advanced MUR writing project:
All of the students have completed their pre-writing packet and have begun the introduction of their story. It is exciting to see their stories come to life. Next week we will be focusing on the main character of a story. We will be conducting writing activities with our main characters, getting to know them better and adding this knowledge into our stories.
This was an exciting week for our junior detectives. We began the week with a lesson on formal letter writing and then transferred this skill to our classroom project. Using their detective skills, students wrote letters to Inspector Taverner revealing the killer and giving him evidence. It was wonderful to see the student's creative minds at work. Many of the letters are on display in our classroom!
We will be finishing our mystery unit on February 28th and moving into our final exam. Our exam will be long answer and contain critical thinking and interpretive questions. Students will be given the questions prior to the exam to give them time to prepare their answers. Please look for the rubric and questions on Wednesday.
Discussion Groups:
After four weeks of discussion groups the kids are pros! It is amazing to listen to their talks and watch different students take on leadership roles within the group. I have heard some incredible ideas come from these groups as students dissect the novel bouncing ideas off of one another. We have really come together as a group!
Station Work:
We continue to delve into our station work as student learn more about spelling and vocabulary.
Advanced MUR writing project:
All of the students have completed their pre-writing packet and have begun the introduction of their story. It is exciting to see their stories come to life. Next week we will be focusing on the main character of a story. We will be conducting writing activities with our main characters, getting to know them better and adding this knowledge into our stories.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Classroom Sleuths Track a Killer
Our mystery unit continues as our classroom sleuths carefully track clues left by the killer in their detective notebooks. Agatha Christie's Crooked House has proven to be an exciting unit for our students. With red-herrings everywhere, we are scrutinizing each character and their motive. In the near future, we will begin writing letters to Chief Inspector Tavener revealing our predictions regarding the killer!
Discussion Groups:
The mystery unit has allowed me to institute an exciting new initiative through discussion groups. This discussion format allows students to create independence in their learning, develop interpersonal skills and maximize individual learning time. Each day students are given a reading assignment as well as two open ended interpretive or speculative questions to answer. Students work at their own pace to complete the assignment. Later in class students meet in small groups of 3 to 5 children and initiate a meaningful conversation. Through observational assessment I am able to guide groups as well as individual students through the discussion process. I am amazed at the high level of thought and analysis the students have been able to achieve as independent learners!
Station Work:
Our Gifted and Talented students are also embarking on station work. During this time we are learning to write analogies, create posters for our spelling words, use context clues to determine the meaning of complex vocabulary words and practice writing great opening ended high level questions.
Independent Writing Project:
The Advanced Middle School group is immersed in an independent writing project. Students are able to chose between a fictional story or nonfiction essay. Through a series of graphic organizers and student/teacher conferencing, the middle schoolers are off to a great start. Please ask your child to share their writing with you. Our goal for this 8 to 10 week writing project is to select two student stories to submit to various writing contests!
As always, please feel free to contact me at any time at jgordon@cologneacademy.org
Sincerely,
Mrs. Gordon
Discussion Groups:
The mystery unit has allowed me to institute an exciting new initiative through discussion groups. This discussion format allows students to create independence in their learning, develop interpersonal skills and maximize individual learning time. Each day students are given a reading assignment as well as two open ended interpretive or speculative questions to answer. Students work at their own pace to complete the assignment. Later in class students meet in small groups of 3 to 5 children and initiate a meaningful conversation. Through observational assessment I am able to guide groups as well as individual students through the discussion process. I am amazed at the high level of thought and analysis the students have been able to achieve as independent learners!
Station Work:
Our Gifted and Talented students are also embarking on station work. During this time we are learning to write analogies, create posters for our spelling words, use context clues to determine the meaning of complex vocabulary words and practice writing great opening ended high level questions.
Independent Writing Project:
The Advanced Middle School group is immersed in an independent writing project. Students are able to chose between a fictional story or nonfiction essay. Through a series of graphic organizers and student/teacher conferencing, the middle schoolers are off to a great start. Please ask your child to share their writing with you. Our goal for this 8 to 10 week writing project is to select two student stories to submit to various writing contests!
As always, please feel free to contact me at any time at jgordon@cologneacademy.org
Sincerely,
Mrs. Gordon
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