It's hard to believe we are so far into the school year! The students are working hard and doing great. Here's what we're working on right now.
Grade 7: Informative reading skills with a focus on overcoming adversity
Grade 8: Wrapping up poetry, and starting a skill review with Holocaust-based passages
Creative Writing: analyzing and writing poetry
Debate: Source reliability and cross-examination skills
Christmas break is on its way!
The 7th grade students are learning about theme, mood, and format. We'll soon be starting our reading and performance of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.
8th graders will start their persuasion unit soon and will have a few Christmas activities added in along the way, including a persuasive analysis involving The Grinch.
Creative Writing students are reading short stories and writing their own and have a food-related project coming up.
Debate students are working on our organization skills as well as supporting our arguments with relevant evidence, and we've also been working on speaking skills. Soon it will be time to prepare for the next big debate.
As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns: kpost@nccsd.org.
We're over halfway through the first quarter already and the year is flying by because my students are all so awesome!
The Debate class is currently working on their first formal debate. They're using research and communication skills and are practicing preparing not only their own arguments, but anticipating those of the other team.
The Creative Writing class is working on our Veteran's Day poems as well as starting our Halloween content.
Grade 8 has finished our excellence unit and is currently working on biographies and autobiographies. Students have biography projects due on October 17 and AR due Oct. 27.
Grade 7 is wrapping up the unit on plot and conflict (Weaving a Story) and will soon be working on their first TDA of the year. AR is due Oct. 27.
Keep up the great work everyone! It's a pleasure working with you.
It's the start of a new school year and I'm so excited to work with all of you!
Students will be given paper copies of the class syllabus during the first week of class. They can also find virtual copies in Google Classroom and here on the class website (See the Syllabus section).
Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns at kpost@nccsd.org and I will do my best to respond within 1 school day (unless I'm out sick or something along those lines). You can also call me during school hours at 814-744-8544.
Have a great day!
Students going into grades 8 and 9 in the 2022-2023 school year will each need to read an AR book prior to the start of school. More information will be posted in May, but for now keep in mind that you'll need to pick a book that's at least 100 pages and at least a 3.5 reading level that has an available Accelerated Reader test. To see if a book meets requirements go to arbookfind.com before reading. You are welcome to take any practice quizzes available online before taking your AR test. Test results do not have to be printed but you must email me when you've taken a test so I can look up your points. Summer reading tests cannot be taken until the end of the 2021-2022 school year. You may want to consider a Newberry Medal winner or Reading Competition team book as your selection. See your local library for books or information on libby, overdrive, or other possible ebook systems available. If you struggle with reading you may want to consider listening to an audiobook while following along in the text. See me if you need a reminder of your STAR reading level.
As the school year winds down each class is getting into their final unit.
Grade 7 will soon be starting Tuck Everlasting. Books will be provided soon and there will be regular reading assignments as well as a vocabulary list to study. I love this book and hope the students will too! AR is due May 9.
Grade 8 will start our unit on The Giver tomorrow. We've got unit vocabulary, as well as an exploration of dystopian and science fiction literature, and will start our regular reading assignments when books are distributed on Friday. AR is due May 3.
Grade 9 has already started the unit on The Odyssey. We've been looking at The Hero's Journey and the questions What Can We Learn From a Journey and When Is the Journey More Important Than The Destination? There is vocabulary to study and we're working on our research assignment; soon we'll start our regular reading of the passage. We also have weekly Membean practice. AR is due May 20.
Information on summer reading will be posted part way through the month of May. Grade 9 students have already had a message in the Google Classroom stream about summer reading. The honors English list will be developed by the whole English department at the end of May.
As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. My email is kpost@nccsd.org.
If you're looking for some adventure books to try, check out Roland Smith's website: https://www.rolandsmith.com/books/novels/
From the Goodreads.com YA Newsletter
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If you're looking for a new book or two to check out for your winter break, consider the ones the 8th and 9th graders have promoted in our classroom Book Trees and on the ornaments on the tree in the library cafe.
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You may also want to try one of the trending YA Lit books recommended by Goodreads in this month's newsletter:
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The students are doing really well.
7th graders are wrapping up our Weaving a Story unit. We have a small quiz next week.
Grade 8 is working on biography projects as well as general nonfiction reading skills.
9th grade is wrapping up our American Voices unit and finishing up our North Clarion Activity articles.
The biggest need is for students to make up work when absent and turn in work while here. They also need to listen to directions and follow along with Google Classroom.
Have a great day!
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