We have so much going on in 8th grade right now!!!!
First of all, permission slips went home yesterday (9/24) for Artrageous! This is a program offered through the Centre for Performing Arts for students in Coweta County. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. Please return forms by this Friday (9/28). Next week is the end of the first nine weeks. We will have ELA exams on Wednesday. I will be posting more information on the Google Classroom. Don't forget that Friday, October 5, is a teacher work day and there is no school on Monday, October 8. We are wrapping up our unit on The Hobbit, and then we will be exploring informational texts and writing essays. Following that, we will begin reading A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Lesson plans are posted weekly, but they are always subject to change due to the needs of the class, so if you have any questions, email me [email protected].
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Welcome to 8th Grade!! I am so excited to have everyone here. This year is going to be a great year, and I can't wait to get going.
Paperwork that was sent home is due back on Monday, August 6 for a 100% HW grade and a HW pass. Please remember that all papers must be returned. Every student must have transportation and bus forms on file in order to participate in field trips. Also, every student should fill out the free and reduced lunch form even if you know you do not qualify. This is how we get our count for Title 1 funds, and it is very important to have them on file for every student. This year, I will be utilizing ClassTag for communication. This is very similar to Remind, but it has a few extra features. If you get a text or email from them asking you to join, please do so. I will be able to communicate with you as a group, or one on one, so it will be very helpful to have every parent signed up. Please feel free to email me at any time with questions or concerns. I am looking forward to a fabulous year!! This year is flying by, and we still have a LOT of work to do. Milestones will be upon us before we know it, and 8th grade is working hard to master standards prior to the test taking week.
I know that flu season is awful, and that many other things are spreading as well, but please remember that attendance is very important from now through testing. If your scholar is absent, check Google Classroom daily for assignments that they can work on from home. Odyssey's high school transition night is tomorrow, Tuesday Feb 6th in the cafegymatorium at 6pm. We will have a representative from West Ga Tech here to answer questions about the dual enrollment programs. East Coweta High School will host their incoming freshman information meetings on February 12th at 6pm. Northgate High School will host their incoming freshmen information meeting on February 12th at 6:30pm. Newnan High School will host their incoming freshmen information meeting on February 15th at 6pm. I hope everyone is refreshed from the holiday break and from our bonus long weekend this last weekend.
While we are all struggling a bit to get back into our routines, please remember that Daily Sheet homework sheets are due on Friday, and we go over them first thing, so if help is needed do not wait until Friday!!!!(Unless, of course, your student has been absent on days leading up to Friday:) Also, 8th grade is now on their own with their DGP with the exception of Friday diagrams. At this point, as 8th graders, they should know their parts of speech and how to find phrases, clauses, etc. If your scholar is still struggling with those concepts PLEASE work at home to build up their skills. ***New this 9 weeks*** ALL students in 8th grade ELA are required to complete a book review over a book that fits in their AR (Lexile) range. We took our STAR evaluation on Friday 1/5, so all students will be aware of what that range is, and I will be sending a letter home as well. Instructions for the book review are on the Google Classroom. We have six weeks until our mid-winter break, and we have a LOT to do, so attendance is very important. Please make sure that if your scholar is sick and has to miss, that they ensure that all make up work is acquired and completed on time. My lesson plans are posted on this website, and most of our assignments are posted on Google Classroom. In the event that nothing is on the classroom, it is the student's responsibility to ask me for make up work. We are working this week and into next week to complete our Wonder unit. Students have really enjoyed this book, and I think we have all learned a lot about kindness.
If you have not already, please turn in permission slips ASAP for the movie on Friday, November 17. There is no cost for this trip unless you want your scholar to purchase a snack, so please return forms to me right away! Essay assignments went home last week, I hope everyone has been working on them! They are due this Friday. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. This week, we will be taking a break from reading to dig deeper into the language and the "issues" that we are encountering while reading Wonder.
Students will be reading an informational article titled "Why Do People Follow the Crowd." I encourage you to follow this link https://www.commonlit.org/texts/why-do-people-follow-the-crowd/parent-guide and read and discuss with your scholar. This is a great way for you to participate in what we are discussing in the classroom. In addition, we will be exploring the figurative language that is found in Wonder and how it affects the reader's understanding and enjoyment of literature. As many of you may have heard, we will be reading the book Wonder beginning this week. This is something that Odyssey has decided to do schoolwide this year. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical at first, because this is not a book I would have chosen for 8th grade, but then I began researching and reading about the book and all of the standards that can be taught through 8th grade level.
If you are curious, I have posted a button to a link with a great breakdown of why teaching this book is so beneficial both academically and socially. In addition to the typical reading standards, one of our standards is to compare a book to a film. In November, the Wonder movie hits the theaters! We will be taking the students to the movies! Yes, there will be an assignment that goes along with this; however, the students will thoroughly enjoy a field trip to the theater. I will be assigning books to students, so each student may have their own copy to bring home as needed for both at home reading as well as assignments they may need to complete or study from for quizzes and discussions. Please help me ensure that these books are well taken care of, and that they are brought back to school each day, as I do NOT have extra copies here in the classroom. I am very excited about exploring this book with students this year. As always, please contact me if you have any questions. We have a lot going on in 8th grade right now. Picture day is coming up this Thursday, 9/21, so make sure your student is dressed appropriately!
We have a test on Wednesday this week (9/20) that will cover argument essays, run-on sentences and fragments, and reading comprehension. Students have their material to study. There will NOT be an additional study guide. Narrative essays have been returned, and revisions are due on Friday 9/22. We will not have class time to spend on these, so make sure students are working on these at home! Argument essays are in full swing, and we will spend our entire week working on those in class. If students are on task and working, there should be no reason for them to need to bring anything home. They will be due at the end of class on Friday. Don't forget that permission slips and money for the GA Aquarium trip are due on Friday, September 29. 8th grade is working hard this year! I have been very proud of their work ethic so far, and I hope to inspire them to keep up the good work.
This week, we will work on poetry forms while continuing our unit on The Value of Work. We will also write a narrative essay at the end of the week. Students will have class time to complete the essays. Next week, after Labor Day, we will complete our unit. Our next test will be on Wednesday, September 13. Now that we are in the full swing of things, students should be checking their Google classrooms regularly. Often, assignments will be posted there along with necessary links to complete them. This helps in those times when we "forget" or don't seem to make it home with the necessary information to complete our work. Don't forget to send in Aquarium Trip Forms!! Also, our Middle School Savannah Trip deposit is due on September 1st. Remember to go online to pay SET. Do NOT send money to school. We have no way to access your student's account information to apply payments. Have a wonderful week, and a fabulous Labor Day weekend!!! |
Mrs. Smith's 8th Grade ELA8th Grade is going to be an exciting year. This year in ELA, we will learn the skills necessary to communicate effectively, form logical, fact based arguments, and analyze higher level reading content. Archives
September 2018
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