Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Heat by Mike Lupica – A complaint has been filed by the coaches of the other Little League teams because Michael is too good and they want proof of his age.  The league had accepted his baptismal record (a common practice with immigrants) because his birth certificate could not be found.  Michael has been suspended from playing until it can be produced … meanwhile his team has won the division and will be going to play-offs.  A beautiful, mysterious girl, also talented at baseball, has been appearing at the park.  She and Michael have developed a friendship, but it is complicated when Michael discovers that she is actually the daughter of his hero, Yankee pitcher “El Grande” Gonzales.  Meanwhile one of the Little League commissioners has been coming around and asking questions about Michael’s absent father and is convinced that he has “left”.

Reading Journals – The journal is not chapter specific this week and may be turned in when ever it is finished.  It is due by Friday.

Class Emphasis – Our worksheets continue to focus on using context clues to determine the meaning of words.

Daily Grammar Practice – Our DGP has been concerned with recognition of homophones.

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.

 

Only 12 days of school left!

Let’s keep our focus!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Heat by Mike Lupica – We started our new novel on Monday.  We will be doing a little more reading per day in class than is our usual custom in order to get through with it before the end of school.  Only 18 more days (including today)!

 The “hero” of Heat, is Michael (Miguel Arroyo), a twelve year old boy from the Bronx living in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.  He is an All-Star pitcher whose dream is to play in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  He lives with his older brother, Carlos, and a big secret … his father has died and, in order to avoid being separated and sent to foster homes, his brother is working two jobs and trying to support them.  Michael and Carlos escaped from Cuba with their father two years earlier by sailing across the Straight of Florida to the keys.  Because Michael is an exceptional pitcher and he is tall for his age, he is being challenged to produce a birth certificate to prove that he is not too old to compete in the LLWS.  The scrutiny may “blow the cover” of the two brothers.

Reading Journals – The journal will be collected on Thursday this week because of “Georgia Day” on Friday.

Class Emphasis – Our worksheets this week are focused on using context clues to determine the meaning of words.

Daily Grammar Practice – Our DGP has been a review of grammar rules.

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.

 

Only 18 days of school left!

Let’s keep our focus!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Reading Journals – There is no journal this week since we have finished Under a War-Torn Sky and will not start a new book until Monday.  Our new novel will be Heat by Mike Lupica.

Class Emphasis – Classes have been relaxed this week during testing.  We have been reading independently and playing Scrabble.  We will be back to work on Friday. 

Daily Grammar Practice – Our DGP has been a review of grammar rules.

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.  

4 ½ Week Grade Reports – This grading period will end tomorrow, April 24.

  

Progress reports will be issued on April 28.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Under a War-Torn Sky – by L. M. Elliott – We will be finishing the novel this week.  The students have learned a lot about WWII through our reading of this engaging book.   Topics discussed during our reading include:  the bravery of the French people in standing up to Hitler and his invading forces, the generosity of the  French people to Americans and those pursued by the Nazis, and the difference that can be made by individuals when they will stand up for a cause.

 

Reading Journals – The journal for Chapters 22-26 of Under a War-Torn Sky is due on Friday.   

 

Class Emphasis – Our efforts this week have been in preparation for the CRCT in Reading.

 

Daily Grammar Practice – Our DGP has examined proper designations for titles and whether to underline or enclose in quotation marks.

 

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.

 

4 ½ Week Grade Reports – This grading period will end on April 24; progress reports will be coming home on April 28.

 

Remember CRCT - April 17-24!

It is important for students to be well-rested and alert during the testing period.  Please make extra effort to enforce healthy choices during this critical time.

 

Amazing!  Only 27 days of this school year remain after today!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Under a War-Torn Sky – by L. M. Elliott – Henry has been hiding with a French farm family for about a month now.  He goes with the boy into the forest to check rabbit tracks where, by chance, they meet the boy’s uncle and members of the maquis, French Resistance fighters.  They are told that there will be much activity in the forest on that night and they need to hurry on home.  The next night, the farm is raided by the Vichy (the French police) with the Nazis who shoot and kill the grandfather and take the mother for interrogation.  Henry and the boy are able to hide and avoid detection. 

Reading Journals – The journal for Chapters 13-16 of Under a War-Torn Sky is due on Friday.   The journal of Chapters 17-21 will be due on Friday, April 4. 

Class Emphasis – We ended last week with a vocabulary worksheet on words with multiple meanings and a CRCT practice worksheet.  This week we have been practicing for a sentence diagramming quiz which will be given in two parts on Thursday and Friday.  The students will be able to use their corrected worksheet as a guide when they take their quiz.  Diagramming is an excellent way to demonstrate understanding of parts of speech, word function and sentence construction.  Hopefully, this will help our students to become better writers!  Next week we will practice for the CRCT which is coming up in April 16-24, the week following Spring Break. 

Daily Grammar Practice – This week we have continued working with proper punctuation, specifically colons. 

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.  

Spring Holiday – Due to the Spring Break, the next Update will be published April 16. 

Have a Wonderful and Safe Spring Break! 

Remember CRCT coming up April 16-24!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Under a War-Torn Sky – by L. M. Elliott – Henry was in the hospital in Bern for four weeks while his ankle healed.  At the end of that time, he was put on a train to Adelboden, the Swiss internment camp for American and British flyers.  He was enabled to escape from the train with help from characters he met on the train and in a café.  The complicated plan disguised him as a dishwasher until the train to his next destination was ready to depart.  He was met in Montreux by a woman posing as his aunt and was smuggled out of Switzerland back into France the next day posing as her chauffeur.  After four weeks at her estate, he was put on a train to Grenoble where he was met by members of the maquis (the French Resistance) and directed to a farm where he will be hidden for a time. 

Reading Journals – The journal of our reading of Chapters 10-12 of Under a War-Torn Sky is due on Friday.  

Class Emphasis – We had a quiz on Monday to evaluate our understanding of last week’s worksheets concerning “Fact vs. Inference”.  Yesterday the classes visited the book fair in the Media Center; the book fair will run through 1 PM on Friday. 

Daily Grammar Practice – This week we have continued working with proper punctuation, specifically commas. Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.   

Next Wednesday, March 26, is an Early Release Day!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Under a War-Torn Sky – by L. M. Elliott – Henry’s leg was broken when his parachute came down in Alsace, an area of France; the country is under German control.  He is helped by an old school teacher who makes arrangements and takes him with a barge load of cabbages by canal across the border into Switzerland to get him to a hospital.  They have to sneak by the Swiss border guards who would have turned him over to the Nazis.  “Uncle Sam” Watson, an assistant to the US ambassador in Bern, suggests to him that, because there is fear that Germany may invade Switzerland, he would be better off making an escape and walking across France and Spain to get a boat in Portugal back to England rather than allowing himself to be interned at Adelboden, the comfortable Swiss camp for holding Americans.  Today we read the story of his escape from the train in transit to the camp. 

Reading Journals – The journal of our reading of Under a War-Torn Sky is due on Thursday.  

Class Emphasis – We are currently working on identifying the difference between information that is presented in a reading passage which is true or factual as opposed to information that is implied and must be inferred. 

Daily Grammar Practice – This week we have been working with proper punctuation. 

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.   

Progress Reports – Today is the end of the 3^rd nine-week grading period!  This is so amazing!  Where has this year gone!  Progress Reports will be issued to students on Monday, March 17.  Please remember to ask your student for their progress report on Monday. 

No School on Friday – Teacher Workday!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

AUTHOR VISIT – Jacques Couvillon, the author of a new novel for young people, The Chicken Dance, came to speak to our classes on Friday, February 22.   The visit was informative and fun.  Jacques gave some excellent examples of how the students could change their approach to writing.  He allowed the students to ask questions and gave them very thoughtful, reveling answers. 

Under a War-Torn Sky – by L. M. Elliott – We will begin our new novel on Thursday.  This is a story about an American bomber pilot flying for the Royal Air Force who is shot down behind enemy lines and has to make his way across Nazi occupied France.  He is helped by the resistance fighters in his attempt to escape back to England.   

Class Emphasis – On Thursday and Friday we will be reading from the Georgia Voyager about African America Rights and Segregation.  On Monday and Tuesday we will be reading articles from the Georgia Voyager Magazine about the court system in Georgia. 

Daily Grammar Practice – We will be doubling up on our DGPs in order to keep the numbers current with the days of the school year.  The up-coming lessons are concerned with capitalization. 

Reading Journals – The reading journal this week will cover the first two chapters of our new novel.  The reading journal is due on Friday.  

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.   

Due to the South Georgia Trip, the next Reading Update will be issued on Wednesday, March 12

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

WE ARE SO EXCITED! – Jacques Couvillon, the author of a new novel for young people, The Chicken Dance, is coming to speak to our classes on Friday, February 22!   We will read the first two chapters on Thursday in preparation for the event.  Since he will be visiting in the afternoon, it will be a “field trip” for our second and third periods (with the permission of their 7^th and 8^th period teachers) to participate in the event.  Copies of the book will be available for sale (and autographing) for $18.

Peter and the Starcatchers – by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson – We finished this novel on Thursday last week.  Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we watched/are watching the video of Peter Pan to tie the two stories together.  We hope that some of the students will be stimulated to read the two sequels:  Peter and the Shadow Thieves and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. 

Reading Journals – There will be no reading journal this week.  

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.  Last week, due to our “push,” more students turned in a reading log.  This week the number has fallen off already; this is very disappointing.  Turning in the reading log on a regular basis is a very good (and very easy) way to keep their average as high as possible.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A Wonderful Opportunity! – Mrs. Barrett has made all the arrangements!  We will have Jacques Couvillon, the author of a new novel for young people, The Chicken Dance, come to speak to our classes on Friday, February 22!   We will read the first few chapters to the classes in preparation for the event.  Since he will be visiting in the afternoon, it will be a “field trip” for our second and third periods (with the permission of their 7^th and 8^th period teachers) to participate in the event.  

Peter and the Starcatchers – by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson – We will finish this book on Thursday.  It has been an exciting adventure; we hope that it has stimulated some of the students to read the two sequels:  Peter and the Shadow Thieves and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. 

Reading Journals – Journals will be due this week on the day we finish the novel.  

Class Emphasis – This week we have been previewing the Reconstruction period in Georgia’s history. 

Independent Reading Logs are due each Monday.  We are pleased that more students have chosen to turn in their reading log.  This is a very good (and very easy) way to keep their average as high as possible. 

Daily Grammar Practice – This week has been a review of the preceding units. 

Tissues – Please help!  We are out of tissues.  This is a very high use time!  We got no response to our plea last week.   

4 ½ Week Grade Reports – The first report of the second semester was sent home on Tuesday, February 12.  We highly encourage all parents to keep current with grading issues by signing up for Parent Connect; this may be accomplished by talking to the front office personnel.  Your inquiries to us are always welcome.