March 30, 2011

Today we finished up vocabulary 18. The students learned the parameters of how to format a formal essay. We did some reading of the Midsummer Night's Dream. The students need to do some thinking on their own with this. It is expected that they will struggle, and that they will spend time looking up information on this without having it spoon fed to them. Spring Break is a good time to spend some time researching the play.

March 29, 2011

Today we finished our SRIs, we read the beginnings of Midsummer Night's Dream, and we started vocab 18.

March 25, 2011

Today is the end of the marking period. Students took vocabulary 17 quiz. We went over commas together for a while. Students showed their conclusions for their essays. And, finally, we talked a bit about Midsummer Night's Dream. Oh, we also will be summarizing our weeks from here to the end of the year.

March 24, 2011

Today we talked about commas and conclusions. The students demonstrated some great understanding of the use of commas and also wrote conclusions for their compare/contrast essays. They have worksheets on moodle to complete, a vocab quiz next class, and a conclusion to finish.

March 21, 2011

Today we started vocabulary 17 and talked about learning targets. The students were given credit if their support paragraphs were written for their comparison contrast essays. We talked a short time about punctuation that we will continue with throughout the end of the year.

March 16, 2011

Today I gave the students the change to remediate the poor test scores as a result of their poor study habits. Students had a big assignment on The Odyssey due today. Students have to write their support paragraphs for their comparison contrast papers. The students took a vocabulary 16 quiz as well.

March 14, 2011

Today we wrote introductions for our comparison contrast papers. Vocabulary exercise 16 was done. The students have a vocabulary quiz on Wednesday and we will start to talk about remediation for the previous test. Students also have a big assignment due Wednesday for the Odyssey.

STUDENT STUDY HABITS AND TESTING

I was pretty upset Friday. I gave a test and took a survey after the test that produced some pretty sad information. Out of 136 tested (or returned surveys), 91 of the kids said that they studied 0-15 minutes for the test (75% of which were 0 minutes studied). This has to change and parents are the biggest influence in this area. I specifically told my students what and how to study and 67% of my students didn't prepare! Please, ask your kids if they have tests and if they have studied and for how long.

March 11, 2011

Today was test day. Students also worked on some assignments that are due next week. I will be posting study numbers because students as a whole did not study for a 75 point test.

March 10, 2011

Today we worked on several things. The students have homework due next week in which they find quotes from The Odyssey for 10 or 11 topics from the poem. They have a large vocabulary assignment that is due early next week, which is located on moodle. The students also wrote thesis statements today for their comparison contrast papers.

March 8, 2011

Today we were very busy! We spent time talking about vocabulary 16 and did word associations. We also talked about how to write a comparison/contrast essay. We spent time reading the conclusion of The Odyssey. The students have a TEST on FRIDAY over prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs. The students know exactly what to do to prepare for this test.

March 4, 2011

IT'S NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY!!!!!!!!!!!
We sent notes to an author today about the good life. We took vocabulary 15 quiz. We did some reading in The Odyssey.

Feb. 28, 2011

Today we started with some time spent on personal editing of essays. Students made big flashcards for upcoming vocab quiz.