Reading Contract

Your child will bring home the reading contract for you to read and sign. Please be sure to send the contract back next week. They receive points for promptness! Also a daily record of lesson plans and assignments are posted on the PHMS website under my name. Click on 7th grade daily reading assignments.

The beginning of the End!

This year's theme for 7th grade is "Who Am I?" I'm excited to find out who they are too! The first unit of the year correlates with Social Studies studies of countries around the world. Reading began with a unit on Immigration and heritage - an America to be proud of! They are finishing a symbolism cube project this week in the Big Huge Labs website. We will watch the PBS special on the Dust Bowl days on Friday and Monday. Starbooks Cafe will be open this Friday!

Spring has Sprung!

It's spring fever - March Madness - almost Spring Break Time! We just finished the reading state assessment - whew! I'M SO PROUD OF MY STUDENTS! Starting next week we will officially begin the last theme of the year - mythology. We will read the young adult version of The Odyssey titled "The Adventures of Ulysses". Please keep your child reading the required 20 minutes daily to achieve their 15 pages daily. The auction bucks are rising and it's going to be a great reading auction on Friday, April 26th. If you would like to donate an item for the auction or to the store please let me know. I appreciate your participation and donations.

We just completed a problem and solution theme utilizing the ever clever Sherlock Holmes murder mystery "The Dying Detective." My students played detective and honed their skills last week playing Clue! Board games are still as much fun as they've always been! If you are looking for something fun for the family over the holidays, then invest in a family board game! Monday, we will begin Readers Theater dramatic reading of "A Christmas Carol." The next three weeks my students will review figurative language, plot line, context clues, vocabulary enrichment, text structure and compare and contrast the video of 'A Christmas Carol." My students love to come in each day and check out what part they are reading. We will conclude with a test and theme conclusion to hopefully get our heads and hearts into a real Christmas spirit! Have a delightful December and keep your child reading at least 20 minutes daily!

WOW! What a great couple of weeks. We are currently working on connotation and denotation and symbolism using the SIFT method. My students are studying their roots and affixes as well. Everyone received a study guide Monday, Oct. 29th to use at home. They also have their current quiz they could correct and use as a study guide. Their list and definitions are in their handbooks as well that they can use. The next quiz will be next week. If they receive a 100% they will not take another test until January or February to review for state assessments. If not they will continue to test bi-weekly during TA or seminar until they have 100% mastery of the roots and affixes for 7th grade! Keep studying with them! The unit we are working on right now is "symbolism." My students are working on a technology presentation and project. I am so excited for their presentations and to see their symbolic cubes they create from Big Huge Labs website!

Just finished our 1st Common Assessment this week. Yea! The first grade posted for 2nd quarter is the 1st quarter reading record. Keep your kiddos reading 20 minutes per day to stay on target. Remember that equates to approximately 15 pages per day - 675 pages per 9-weeks. They are so excited about accumulating their auction bucks. I will be taking and posting pictures of their 3-D Folklore projects next week! They were all due today, Friday, October 26th. We will complete examples for roots and affixes next week, as well as focus on connotation and denotation! Happy Halloween!

Fiction/Folklore

We are presently reading and finishing Rikki Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling, and will begin folklore stories from around the world. The focus will be on plot line development and understanding literary terminology. I am infusing many Common Core standards that allow the reading curriculum a more narrow theme but deeper in content and across the curriculum. Currently the seventh graders are studying regions of the world in Social Studies and they are developing their writing skills to include fiction and folklore. The first "Pop Talks" will be October 19th. After completing a questionnaire over their present library book, they will prepare what they will share in round circle on October 19th. They will be allowed to bring a drink of their choice or purchase a soda pop from me for 50 cents. Happy Autumn!