September 29, 2010

My apologies to parents and students attempting to access my blog. There have been some technical issues which have only recently been resolved. As a result my past postings were lost and I am starting - once again - from scratch.

A quick update:

1.) Yesterday (9/28) our first writing assignment was due: My Dream or Nightmare Vacation.

• Students were tasked to write about a real or imaginary vacation they took. The directions for this assignment, which were handed out and reviewed in class, can be found on my blogs sidebar under 'Assignments.' The purpose of the assignment was three fold - 1.) to get a better understanding of students writing styles/ability 2.) act as a review for nouns 3.) tests students ability to follow directions, stay on task and meet deadlines.
  

• Students were given over two hours of 'class time' to complete a rough draft with my assistance. Please note that this assignment was only four paragraphs (eight sentences per paragraph), expectations were that students would complete their rough drafts in class and perhaps the entire assignment so that it only needed to be typed.

2.) READING RESPONSES - our first official Reading Response was due this past Monday 9/27. As you may recall from curriculum night, Reading Responses are weekly assignments. Students are encouraged to try and read an average of 1/2 hour a night and then provide a written response of what they read in their journal. Parents/guardians are encouraged to review this journal and most sign in for students to receive full credit when they turn it in on Monday - at which time they receive a new journal for that week.

Reading Responses can be typed instead of written in the journal. Reading Response entries can be written about anything the student is reading for pleasure (not coursework reading) - books, magazine/newspaper articles, graphic novels are all acceptable. Additionally, the suggestions on the front of the Reading Response journal are only suggestions for students to get them started. If a student has their own prompt or question that they would like to address, that is fine as long as it is appropriate and challenges the student.

Finally, Reading Response journals can now be found and printed off my blog from the sidebar under 'Assignments.' Lost, incomplete or unsigned journals lose points - please remind students that this is a very easy way to maintain their grade in Language Arts. Additionally, if students encounter one of the above mentioned problems or are unable to complete an entry they most provide a signed note from a parent or guardian explaining the situation to avoid being penalized.

TODAY in class (9/28) we did a review of Possessive and Interrogative Pronouns. Students worked on a worksheet that reviewed both types of pronoun - this assignment should have been completed in class if students used time wisely and stayed on task. However, whatever was not finished in class is homework.

For the second part of class we read the story The Drive-In Movies by Gary Soto - and reviewed the vocabulary for this story which they will be quizzed on at the end of the week.