The Room 9 reading and English classes have been tracking our travels around the world via literature. Through our books we've explored the Galapagos, Australia, Hawaii, Zambia, Russia, and other exciting locations around the world.
Take a look at the map at the back of the room to get ideas for your next book. You might just find a great beach book or camping book for your summer reading!
We are almost to the quarter 4 interims! Students have been working hard on our current units. Here's what we have planned for the rest of the year:
Grade 7--students are working on Immortality Research assignments right now. Next week we'll start reading and discussing Tuck Everlasting. This unit will take us almost to the end of the year, with just a little time left to write some advice for next year's 7th graders and do a few last end-of-year activities.
Grade 8--Right now we're reading The Giver, and students are finding a lot of differences between our society and this dystopia. When this unit ends we'll move on to the Holocaust unit. The English classes will soon be working on a research project that goes along with the Holocaust passages we'll be reading in class.
Grade 9--We're wrapping up punctuation and will soon move on to our Mass Media unit, in which we'll write articles and talk about fake news, editorials, ads, and straight news. We'll end out the year with the Language Olympics, a tradition Mrs. Sandrock and I have enjoyed with students for the past several years. This is a review of all the content we've covered this year.
Summer reading assignments will be passed out to each grade in a couple weeks. Students can start reading for this soon but cannot take their summer reading AR tests until summer break is officially here.
There are no final exams for my classes, so keep that in mind when calculating what you think your final grade will be for the year.
As always, bonus is listed on the class website and I'm here to help if you need me.
Thinking of taking the new Young Adult Literature and Creative Writing elective in the fall? Check out my tentative syllabus to see if you're interested. Feel free to give me feedback if there's something you'd like to see me add. I'm excited to be starting this new class and I hope to see you there!
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Starting when we return from Easter break, I will only accept AR tests for books students have signed up for ahead of time with me. They must sign up for their book on my Google Doc, then show me the book so I can count the number of pages, see the AR level, etc. Any books not preapproved and signed up for ahead of time will not be accepted for full credit.
Also, we now have a classroom computer that students can use for AR tests during class time. Just head over, take your test, print it to the library printer, and go grab it! You can do this during any individual work/reading time, but not while I'm at the front of the room instructing you and not during group work.
Quarter 3 is drawing to a close. It's hard to believe we're almost into the last quarter of the school year!
Now is a good time to take a close look at your grades and decide what you need to do in order to reach your goals for this year. Do you need to study more? See me for extra help organizing your notebook? See Miss Kapp for tutoring? Do you need to start carrying an assignment planner, or do some bonus?
There is not a final exam in any of my classes, but skills do build and assignments are therefore becoming more and more challenging. Your root word lists and prefix charts are growing, too. Make sure you are studying and staying organized as we close out this quarter and start our last one of the year.
Grades 7 and 8 are wrapping up their nonfiction units and starting to focus on PSSA skill review. The PSSA will take place during the week of April 9. Study all of your notes and keep a positive attitude!
9th grade is finishing up the TIME 100 research paper. We'll then take the CDT, a benchmark test that lets next year's teacher know what skills students need to work on for the Keystone exam. When we return from break we'll work on grammar skills and then start our Media unit.
It's been a great quarter and I've enjoyed seeing students develop as readers and writers. I look forward to what quarter 4 will bring.
The update below is contributed by Katie Bauer. This is a 7th grade reading class update.
NEWS UPDATE
In Mrs. Post 4th period class, we have been working on non-fiction passages. We have gone on a journey to Mars, learned about the Black Plague, and explored many other topics. When we read these passages, we look for tone, persuasive strategies, and the author’s purpose. Recently, we have been working on a TDA about the nurses during the Civil War.
On February 14 we will be celebrating our love of books. 7th and 8th grade students are encouraged to bring their favorite book, or at least a book that they enjoy. There will be pictures for a library bulletin board, time for sharing, and of course time for reading. Please be thinking about which books you want to share with us. Children's books are permitted.
Quarter 3 is approaching fast! Please make sure you've read your AR book and turned in your printed test by January 16. Don't wait until the last minute--you know winter weather makes life too unpredictable for that!
We've been wrapping up some units and are entering into some new ones. For the next few weeks, our class focuses are as follows:
Grade 7: poetry and prefixes
Grade 8: nonfiction (especially biographies/autobiographies/memoirs) and roots
Grade 9: sentence structure
Please do not hesitate to email or call me if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to working with you during quarter 3.
The 7th and 8th grade students had some optional holiday book projects. Most of the 7th grade ornaments and 8th grade book page crafts are decorating the library, giving their peers ideas of books they may want to read next. Some of the 8th graders, however, volunteered to send their book crafts to the Snyder Memorial Nursing Home in Marienville.
A few students have relatives who live or work at the nursing home, so I made sure to put their work at the top of the stack and include a note asking that those residents/employees be shown the crafts we sent.
It is our hope that these crafts will spread holiday cheer to the residents and employees of the nursing home and that they will rekindle a love of reading. The crafts that remain at North Clarion can encourage students and staff.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Quarter 1 is drawing to a close, and with it the units we've been focused on. Here's an overview of what we've been doing in grades 7-9.
Grade 7: We've focused on note taking skills, basic fiction/plot concepts, and character, as well as on prefixes and writing skills. We'll continue working on prefixes and writing, and will start looking at theme, mood, and poetry.
Grade 8: We covered our excellence unit first. Then we focused on a review of fiction concepts, writing skills, and root words. We'll continue working on roots and prefixes, but will start focusing more on poetry, drama, and then nonfiction skills.
Grade 9: We've covered parts of speech, speaking skills, and a review of basic fiction skills. We've also been looking at vivid word choice and writing. This quarter we'll do our The Count of Monte Cristo unit, which includes fiction skills, figurative language, and writing.
Please email or call me if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to working with students in quarter 2 and hope to see some parents at the Nov. 6 parent night.
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