Monday, April 25th, 2011

Language Arts Quick Hits

* Research Paper Rough Drafts - DUE TODAY 4/25 - Students research paper rough drafts were due today. I tried to take a moment and meet with each student individually to look over their rough draft and make comments. Students were then given time to make corrects and edits in class.

Students seem to be struggling most with introductions and conclusions as well transition sentences - logically transitioning from one paragraph to the next. Some
students are also struggling with how to best organize and group their information, which may be a product of weak or poorly crafted outlines. Have your student read
their paper out loud to you, making corrections as they read.

Students who had their rough drafts completed received full credit for their work, which has been updated in the online gradebook (please note that I was unable to get
through every rough draft today and will complete this process tomorrow.) Students who did not have their rough draft, or had incomplete rough drafts were docked
benchmark points.

* Research Paper Final Draft DUE: FRIDAY 4/29 - With rough drafts being completed and students making final edits, papers should be completed and turned in on time. If your student is unable meet this deadline, please contact me before Friday.

* Week 20 Vocabulary - Students were given time in class to complete the vocabulary which I have listed below in this email and will also post on my blog. I will be checking definitions tomorrow and we will have a quiz on Friday.

* Reading Responses - Reading Responses were collected today and new ones passed out. Remember, Reading Responses are a daily responsibility and missing responses are detrimental to a students overall grade. Students can always get an extra Reading Response from my classroom or download one from my blog.

* MAP TESTING - our next round of MAP testing will be next Monday and Tuesday and will take up the entire block on both days.

Vocabulary – Week 20

ingenious


decibel


syndicate

blanch


farce


novelty

captivate


brackish


patron

exalt(ed)


martyr


catty

deprecate


perennial


proliferate

improvise


epitome


depreciate

credulous


orient


grapple