What's Happening? |
A weekly update about what happened last week, what's happening this week, and what we have to look forward to in the future!
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You will be presenting your identity squares in class tomorrow. I wanted to let you know so you could prepare yourself in whatever way you need. If you're not nervous about speaking in front of your peers, awesome! The tips below will still help you give a good presentation! If you would rather be chased by rabid dogs than speak in front of your peers, I get it. But, you still have to do it, and these tips will help you even more!
1) Practice what you will say. Your presentations are short so you need only point and tell us what your symbol/picture is and what it stands for about your identity. 2) Practice what you will say. Yeah, it's that helpful! 3) Know that you must stand, but you may stand as close to your desk as you choose as long as your back is not to any of your classmates or teacher. 4) Remember, people don't want you to fail :) We are all a family of learners, and we want each other to do well. 5) Speak loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear you. This is hard, especially if you are a shy person. However, part of public speaking is learning to project your voice. Do the best you can but know that I might ask you to repeat things or ask you to speak up. You've got this. Ms. L
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Hello and welcome back! We are off to a great start with two weeks already behind us!
Don't forget to remind your child to charge their laptop overnight. :) This week students will continue working in our Identity Unit. Monday, students will present their personal identity squares which will then be hung on the bulletin board to make a 8th grade community quilt. Tuesday starts part two of our Identity Unit. Our guiding questions for this unit are: 1) What characteristics make up a person’s identity? 2) How does a person’s experiences shape his/her identity? Student will be reading the story "The Treasure of Lemon Brown" by Walter Dean Myers. They will complete a number of tasks during reading and re-reading designed to better skills in the following: 1) Recognizing how an author creates suspense or humor in a story 2) Reading closely and analyzing texts 3) Writing using credible evidence to support claims 5) Providing objective summaries 6) Analyzing what the author uses to move plot forward, reveal characters, or provoke decisions 7) Recognizing how differing points of view between characters and readers create dramatic irony or suspense. Students will continue working on defining vocabulary in context, captioning pictures, learning synonyms and antonyms, and solving Rebus Puzzles. Last week, students had their first homework assignments of Quizlet vocabulary and completing 120 minutes of reading outside of school for their reading log. Students participated in their first book chat last Friday. Student's book chats are worth 80 points of the reading log assignment. Please encourage your child to read as much as possible! If you or your child have any computer/internet access issues at home, please let me know so that I can create appropriate assignments on paper. Please check in with your child about their homework assignments: Quizlet Vocabulary and Reading Logs given on Monday and due on Friday. For more information on either of these assignments, simply click the appropriate tab above. I'm looking forward to another fantastic week! Hello and welcome back! Our year is off to a great start!
**If you haven't completed the "Million Words of Less" form that I sent home for parents, please complete that and send it back to me as soon as possible. It is an invaluable tool for a great year! Click here for the form. Feel free to email it if you would like!! I don't care how I get it, as long as I get it :). Last week, we spent time getting to know each other, doing a scavenger hunt for rules and policies in class (you can find those in the class handouts section), and learning how to do Bellwork. Students received their laptops for the year. Please help your child remember to charge their laptop! It doesn't help to have them if we can't use them in class ;). Homework begins this week. Vocabulary will be web based, and Reading Logs will be paper based (homework) and web based (in class). If for some reason, a student cannot access the vocabulary homework online, I will provide a paper based assignment. At the end of the last week, classes delved into identity: What is Identity? Where does it come from? Is it important? They started a symbolism project around identity in which they will complete a paper "quilt square" that will symbolize their idea of their identity. To see the assignment, click here. This week, students will do bellwork each day. Bellwork will focus on get library bar codes on , vocabulary in context, captioning, and word puzzles. On Tuesday, students will receive library bar codes. EVERY student must come to class with reading materials every day. We practice the art of silent, sustained reading in our class. This reading is self selected by the student. It is imperative that students learn to read for sustained periods of time, learn that reading is/can be a pleasurable and fun experience, and understand that reading is what makes us better readers!! Please encourage your child to bring a book to read everyday! Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent finishing identity squares and starting presentations. Part of the 8th grade curriculum standards is speaking and listening. Giving presentations, speaking in class, public speaking, taking part in discussions, and actively listening are integral parts of our class! Please encourage your child to learn these important skills of communication by participating in these types of class activities! Almost no one like public speaking, and many of us are terrified of it. But, this doesn't mean we don't try or don't do it! Growth mindset says we can and will get better at what we are afraid of trying IF we will try! Thursday students will take the 8th grade diagnostic test. This test shows teachers what skills your child has, how strong those skills are, what skills are lacking, and gives us an idea of which direction to go in order to meet the needs of your child. Please encourage your child to do their best on this (and all assessments) so that we can be sure to approach our year with exactly what is needed! On Friday, students will make sure they have done their vocabulary work for the week and have achieved at lest an 85 on their online vocabulary quiz. Please see the Quizlet tab for more information. They will take part in a fun vocabulary competition on Quizlet Live and then complete the Book Chat (See Book chat and Weekly Reading tab) that finishes their reading log assignments. SSR (silent sustained reading/self selected reading), I hope, will be able to happen everyday. The 15 minutes at the end of each class will be dedicated to SSR for all students in class. Please contact me with any questions or concerns!! August 28-September 1 Hello! I hope everyone is ready to get back to school! This blog will be updated every Sunday (mostly). It's a great place to find out what's going on in class and what deadlines your child has. This week, we will be diving right into learning! We will spend some time getting to know each other and our classroom, policies, and our expectations for each other. We will be working on bettering our skills in the following this week:
We work hard this year to stick to a growth mindset in our classroom and in life. At the very basic level, a growth mindset means we don't give up on learning just because we haven't gotten it yet....THE KEY WORD IS YET! A growth mindset in a students helps them to see themselves as learners in life. Please click on the link below to find out more about a growth mindset. This attitude is not just for school, but for life! Students will usually have the following two homework assignments:
There is a contact tab on this website. Please feel free to use it at any time with any questions or concerns you may have! I'm so excited to be on this awesome journey with all of you!! Ms. L |
Ms. Krista Langlois Imagine the craziest roller coaster ride you've ever been on...Now add super hormones, social angst, mother bears (and daddy bears), a big dash of "Dumb and Dumber" humor, ego, legislative red tape, gracious humility and humanity when least expected, tears, heartbreaks, hugs, high fives, knuckle bumps, amazing moments of learning, and a huge love for what you do...multiply that by about 200...shake it all up together and label it a calling...It's the greatest job in the world (even when it isn't)! There is nothing else I could imagine doing.
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