Week's homework

Sorry, folks!  I dropped the ball on posting homework the past few days.  If you checked and saw nothing, and assumed that meant no homework, I apologize and will extend assignment due dates for individual children if I get a phone call or email when you check tonight.  I will try to keep that from happening again.

 

Monday’s homework was for SOME students to do their missed sentences 5 x each.  They only needed to do this if they did not get a 100% on the second set of No Excuses words.  ALL students should be continuing to work on their Nonfiction project.

 

Tuesday’s homework was for ALL students to continue working on their Nonfiction project and to begin studying for their Word Whiz Vocabulary Test on Friday. 

 

Wednesday’s homework was to create 10 flashcards for language arts terms and 10 flashcards for word parts to facilitate studying.  There was also an extra credit option offered, that is due on Friday.

 

Thursday’s homework will be the extra credit and studying for the test on Friday.   

Long Weekend Work

I did not plan to give students any specific homework for the long weekend.  We ALL need a break!  however, some students are clearly behind where they should be in their nonfiction project (see post on October 8 for details), and should do LOTS OF READING, NOTE TAKING, AND GLOSSARY WORK during the long weekend. 

Homework 10/18

Tomorrow I will be checking students’ progress on their NOTES and GLOSSARY for the nonfiction project.  See earlier posting for details.  By “progress”, I mean that I should see that students have identified at least 5 words they did not know for their glossary, identified the page number, copied the relevant sentence, and defined the word as it was used in their book. I should also see that at least one “main idea” has been identified so far, with accompanying supporting details from the reading.

 

Also, students have now taken the exact same “No Excuses” assessment twice, with intervening interventions, and only a few have achieved the required 100%.  Those who earned less than 100% have an additional homework assignment:  copy the lines from the assessment ten times each (correctly), to be ready for the third time around.  Remember that these are “No Excuses” words…  ie: they are words that no seventh grader should EVER use incorrectly.  There is no excuse!

Homework Blocks 2 and 3 ONLY

Blocks two and three have a second nonfiction article to read tonight.  They must also answer the questions that go with the article.   

Independent Reading Project for Marking Period Two

Today, students were given the following information regarding our new independent reading project:

 

Independent Reading Project -- Non-fiction / Informational Text

 

While reading, stop 6 times to record MAIN IDEAS and SUPPORTING DETAILS.  You could do this at the end of a chapter or major section of your book.  A handout will be provided for you to use for this purpose.

 

Also, while reading, build a glossary by identifying 20 words that are new to you as you read, AND are key to understanding the topic your book is focused on.  Give the page number the word is found on, copy the sentence it is used in, and define it as it is used in the book. 

 

After reading, choose and complete one project from the following list:

1. Illustrate a timeline of major events in your book.  The timeline should be at least three feet long, and include a minimum of 10 major events, illustrated and explained in words.  The timeline will be judged for informational accuracy, GUM and spelling, artistic quality, neatness, and depth of information.
2. Create and share with the class a PowerPoint or Google Presentation of a minimum of 10 slides (not including title slide) exploring the main ideas you found as you read. The PowerPoint / Google Presentation will be judged for informational accuracy, GUM and spelling, class presentation, artistic quality, and depth of information.
3. Design and “publish” an ABC book of terms, key ideas, and information related to your non-fiction book.  For example, and ABC of oceans might have “W is for Whale,” and “P is for Plankton.”  The book will be judged for informational accuracy, GUM and spelling, artistic quality, neatness, and depth of information.
4. Prepare and present a three minute speech giving key information / main ideas about your topic.  This could be pre-recorded in the form of a podcast or other electronic means.  The speech / podcast will be judged for informational accuracy, vocal quality (inflection, tone, delivery), and depth of information.

 

And, using Google Forms, create a short “quiz” for your classmates to take after viewing / hearing your project.  This will serve as an assessment of your presentation, because if your “students” do well, your “teaching” was good!  The first question must ask students to “grade” your presentation.  The second question must ask students to explain why they gave you that grade.  The third question must give students an opportunity to comment in the form of a praise, a question, or a suggestion.  The 4^th – 7^th questions must be based on the content you have presented, and can be multiple choice, true/false, or some other form.  The 8^th question must ask for the name of the student taking the quiz.

The quiz will need to be clearly labeled and emailed to your classmates prior to your presentation.

 

Key dates to keep in mind and even post on your refrigerator:

 

Book chosen by:  10/12

 

First check of progress on notes and glossary: 10/19

 

Second check of progress on notes and glossary: 11/3

 

Project 1, 2, 3, or 4 progress check (1/2 done): 11/10

 

Projects due / presented to class and quizzes taken: 11/17 – 11/19

 

homework this week

Homework for the rest of the week is to prep Book Talk, which is due on Thursday.  A Book Talk is a one to two minute oral presentation (notes or notecards okay) with a visual component.  The presentation is on the book students read for their independent reading project.  The Book Talk must cover the following aspects of the book:

• Title and author
• Setting
• Basic Plot (beginning, middle, end)
• Theme
• Conflict
• Characters

 

Letter #3 DUE tomorrow!

Letter #3 is due tomorrow.  Book Talks will be on Thursday.

 

Optional assignment was to re-write the constructed response we worked on in blocks 2 and 3 (poetry topic).

 

The marking period ends on Friday, so any past due work will become a zero in the grade book at 3 PM Friday.  Please respond accordingly.  There are still 3 or 4 students who have yet to turn in Letter #2!

 

Great work was done by all on the NECAP today.  I saw lots of kids using the prewriting strategies I taught in September, and supporting their writing with details and elaboration.  Go team!  1 down and 2 more Reading tests to go, then 3 Math tests.  We can do it!