Monday, April 24, 2017

Monday, April 24

We have officially began end of the year state testing. Over the next couple of weeks our schedules will be a little mixed up due to ACT and SBAC testing occurring in the mornings. With that being said, please be sure that your kiddo gets plenty of sleep and a healthy breakfast each morning. They are welcome to bring snacks, mints, gum, and water to help keep them going strong.

Much time will be spent in the dungeon this month as we work on WW2 group projects. I am really excited to see what this group comes up with. They have some awesome ideas and game plans on building their 3D artifacts. I also want to take a second to thank everyone for finding, buying, and bringing in materials for this project. Oasis families ROCK!
 
We are continuing with our WW2 Reading Book Clubs this week. The kids have made some great connections to the material we have been learning in Projects. I love listening to them talk about their books using format matters and habits of discussion as well as having meaningful conversations.

In writing this week we will be practicing our sentence diagramming and grammar skills. There will be a little more review this week as we prepare for SBACs.

8th grade reading has been working hard on the memoir, Night. During the next couple of chapters, author Elie Wiesel, uses language related to death, darkness, night, and decay to convey the horrors around him. The class will find and discuss examples of this recurring language the images this language evokes.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Tuesday, April 18

Projects= We have been furiously working through the Holocaust, and this week will touch on important leaders and battles of WWII. So many of the topics we have studied have been intense and wearisome, but this class is relentless. They know how important it is to learn and understand our history. I am so impressed with how mature my kids have been with our discussions and class meetings. This week they were finally able to meet with their groups and will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks as they begin working on their projects. Thank you in advance for helping supply the materials to make their museum artifacts great!

7th Reading= The kids will continue working in their WWII book clubs this week. They have had some wonderful group discussions and responses. I love how well they work together and seem to be enjoying their novels.

8th Reading= 8th grade has started Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night. We will read the first chapters this week to learn the story of Wiesel's experience and survival of a Nazi concentration camp. The class has really been working hard on their format matter and habits of discussion.

Writing= This week we are honing in on our grammar skills and practicing responding to a couple prompts, being sure to use text based evidence and answering to the question completely. Next week we will begin testing. Please be sure to check out the email that was sent out to review testing dates for each grade level.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Tuesday, April 4th

I would first like to thank all of our families that came to parent conferences last week. The kids are super proud of themselves for all of their hard work and we appreciate you taking so much interest in what they have learned and are working on.  I would also like to send a shout out to the kiddos that have been inducted into our National Juniors Honor Society. The induction ceremony is tonight, Tuesday, April 4th @ 7:00 at the Convention Center. I an looking forward to seeing our members representing Oasis NJHS tonight!

On Monday in Projects we had a presenter, Mr. Slonaker, share his knowledge and experiences traveling around Europe studying events and locations dealing with WWII. We will also explore the life and background of Adolf Hitler this week.

We are choosing books this week for our book clubs. The class will read summaries and reviews on The Promise, We Fought Back, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Boy Who Dared, and Number the Stars to help them choose their top three books. Once we have the groups sorted out, the kids will work on Tuesday and Thursdays on their club activities.

In writing we are using two articles, “The President Has Been Killed” & “The Night Before the Invasion” to analyze how they address similar themes. Then we will compare the approaches the authors take.

8th Grade Reading has been full of studying, arranging and formulating discussion points in preparation for our To Kill a Mockingbird Paideia Seminar. I have been conferencing with students over the last couple of days and they have their discussion points ready to go. On Wednesday and Thursday the kids will finally get to their chance to share their skills. I am looking forward to the discussions this group will have!