January-February

January-February Agendas Week 9: 03/02/2015-03/03/2015 Students will continue working on 3-5 paragraph essays. We will finish our focus on thesis from Tuesday.

03/04/2015 Students will receive their Collins formative and Compound Sentence formative back. This will be time to review and ask questions.

03/05/2015 Stations: Compound Sentence Practice Collins Practice Essay writing/practice

03/06/2015 First literature circle meeting will be held today! Please bring your book and notes. All students are responsible for their own notes and discussion. They also need to record their discussion and send it to Mrs. Thompson by the end of class.

Week 8: 02/23/2015 Students will discuss the article they chose to bring in for their homework and finish reviewing possible books for literature circles. In addition, they will review their Collins words in preparation for their next formative.

02/24/205 Students will review their PSSA practice. Then, they will do more research on their chosen nature topic. The hope is to see how we can turn the article into a 3-5 paragraph essay given a prompt. On Monday, we will also review Hero's Return and see how this piece of writing can be turned into a 3-5 paragraph essay.

02/25/2015 Literature Circle Day! Students will be in the library all day, will choose their literature circle book, and begin reading with their group.

02/26/2015 Students will be given their literature circle questions for week 1. They will have time to begin reading their book and answering their questions.

02/27/2015 Compound Sentence Formative

03/02/2015 Students will continue working on 3-5 paragraph essays. We will finish our focus on thesis from Tuesday and move into body paragraphs today.

Week 7: 02/16/2015 No School

02/17/2015-02/18/2015 2hr delay Students will finish analyzing songs and "For Richard Chase" for figurative language. In addition, students will create their own poems about their group. They will use figurative language to show how they are similar to nature.

02/19/2015 Students will take a Collins practice quiz. This is just practice. Afterward, they will have a chance to watch book trailers about their literature circle books, discuss, and individually respond to the books.
 * Click on the link for our literature circle book trailers . **[|http://hmslibrary.wix.com/bythebook#!who-am-i/][|cjg9]**

02/20/2015 No School

-02/24/2015 Students will discuss the article they chose to bring in for their homework. In addition, they will review their PSSA practice. The hope is to see how we can turn the article into a 3-5 paragraph essay given a prompt. On Monday, we will also review Hero's Return and see how this piece of writing can be turned into a 3-5 paragraph essay.

Week 6: 02/09/2015 Students will finish their sensory lab from Friday. Then, we will read "Only a Little Planet" from our new text. Students will discuss the use of line breaks and stanzas, but they will also rewrite the poem to add more description.

02/10/2015-02/12/2015 Students will finish analyzing "Only a Little Planet" for author's purpose and main idea. Then, students will read a new poem, "For Richard Chase" and look for figurative language. Today we will focus on what is figurative language, how do we find it, and what is its purpose?



02/13/2015 Students will play a Kahoot! to test their knowledge of compound sentences. Then, we will have reading time.

Week 5: 2/02/2015 2hr Delay Period 3: Students previewed their PSSA Practice and will complete it tomorrow. Period 4: Students will complete the writing portion of their PSSA Practice. Period 6 and 7:Students will complete the multiple choice portion of a PSSA Practice to help prepare them for the upcoming test in April. In addition, students will be given and discuss strategies to help them on the test. Finally, they will create a compound sentence with their group to keep up on their sentence structure skills, and they will turn in their graphic organizer from their Argument Summative to show their thinking process as they wrote their essay.

02/03/2015 Students will complete the second half of their PSSA Practice. It will be the essay portion based on their reading. These scores do not count for or against their grade. It is just a way for them to have practice and gauge where they are in their understanding of seventh grade reading and writing.

02/04/2015 We are officially starting the Ecology Unit! To help us start, students will share their perspective on nature by writing an "If I were in Charge of the Environment" poem. Students will be asked to provide what they would keep and get rid of in nature. This will allow us to discuss our perceptions of nature, but it will also introduce poetry, figurative language, and sensory language.

02/05/2015-02/06/2015 Students will begin to use their five senses to describe places and what they see. It will all culminate in a sensory language lab. Students will be given different materials and will have to describe them using only their senses. They will need to say things like: This smells sweet, rather than this smells like a clementine. We will focus on figurative language next week.

Week 4: 01/26/2015 No School

01/27/2015-01/28/2015 2hr Delay Students will use today and tomorrow to complete their argument summative. They will answer this prompt: "Should a reader admire Junior's character?" In their argument they will present at least three pieces of evidence defending their perspective and give the opposition and refute it.

FCA 1: Paragraph is clearly organized (topic sentence- follows criteria (3.5 points), specific supporting details (evidence from text) (2pts for each detail x2=4pts), explanation for detail /evidence (4pts for each explanation for details x2=8pts), concluding sentence that follows criteria (2.5 points)= (18pts)

FCA 2: Paragraph acknowledges the opposition, comes back with a refute for the opposition, and is specific. (2pts)

FCA 3: Paragraph is free of run-ons and fragments, and all taught grammar structures are used correctly if utilized (serial comma, coordinate adjective comma).= ____6 pts

Total: ________/26pts

01/29/2015 Students will complete a reflection on the Hero Unit and an anticipation guide for our upcoming Nature Unit.

01/30/2015 Students will participate in a mock PSSA test. It will include a reading passage, multiple choice, and an essay question. This is just to give students the experience and practice. It does not count for or against them.

Week 3: 01/19/2015 No School

01/20/2015 Students will be introduced to compound sentences. They need to know a compound sentence is two independent clauses joined together by a comma and a conjunction. These conjunctions can remembered through FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. In addition, students did their mid-year reflection. Anyone who needed more time can finish the letter for homework. It is due on Thursday.

Letter Criteria: Today you will receive your letter from the first week back! Use this letter as a reflection of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Write a mid-year reflection letter to yourself. In the first paragraph, __ summarize __ how you have changed, what you have learned academically, but also about yourself. In the second paragraph, re-evaluate your goals. What goals have you achieved? What goals are you in the progress of achieving? What goals do you still need to achieve? What are some of your new goals? In your final paragraph, please share anything new about your life, family, or friends. • -If you need more time, please finish your letter at home. It is due by Thursday, January 22, 2015.

01/21/2015 Students will be resuming their work on argument through the story "Hero's Return" in their hero text. They will wrap up their t-chart and begin their graphic organizer.

01/22/2015 Students will have a chance to review their scores from the second marking period. In addition, they will continue their work with argument. *All scores handed back are summative and on the second marking period.

01/23/2015 & 01/26/2015 Students will finalize their work with argument by turning their graphic organizer into a paragraph. This is a summative grade for the third marking period.

Week 2: 01/12/2015 2hr delay Students will take their second Collins formative. If we have time, we will begin pre-reading their next piece, "Hero's Return", which they will analyze for their upcoming summative.

01/13/2015-01/14/2015 Students will read Hero's Return and complete a t-chart analyzing the big brother Junior. Should a reader admire him or not? In the t-chart they must include details directly from the text and character traits to go with each detail. On the 14th, we will also do topic sentence practice in preparation for their quiz on Friday. In addition, they will receive their formative back and review for their summative on Thursday. Hero's Return Reading

01/15/2015 Collins Summative

01/16/2015 Topic Sentence Summative

Week 1: 01/05/2015 Students will be introduced to literature circles. They will see examples and non-examples of a successful literature circle in preparation for their own literature circle. Today they will choose their groups.

01/06/2015 Students will receive their graphic organizers back with feedback. This graphic organizer focused on whether the doctors from "Time for a Hero" were admirable or not admirable. Students will review feedback, edit, finish, and begin writing their formative.

01/07/2015 Students will continue to work on their graphic organizer and turn it into a paragraph, video, or comic strip. It is due Thursday.

01/08/2015 Students will complete a gallery walk. They will walk around the room giving feedback to each other, so they can turn in their best work for their formative.

01/09/2015 Students will receive their coordinate adjective summative back and their Collins formative. We will review their work. Then, students will have the choice between four stations: one station will work on run-ons, one will work on their Collins words, one will work on topic sentences, and the last will work on opposition and refute.