Putting the finishing touches on our MCAS preparation...

During the week of 3/23 - 3/27 students were busy wrapping up their preparation for the upcoming English MCAS.

Over the course of the week the students - 

• evaluated concluding paragraphs of their peers
• located areas in their essays where they could add descriptive language in order to create images
• turned in their completed essays after comparing it against an essay rubric
• practiced creating a prewriting web for a past MCAS Long Composition prompt
• read examples of scored MCAS essays and determined their strengths and weaknesses
• determined the characteristics that all strong essays share
• took a short quiz on the structure of a 5-paragraph essay

The English MCAS begins on Tuesday!

Returned Assignments

There were no graded assignments returned this week.

Lather, rinse, repeat...

You know the directions you can find on shampoo bottles that explain to consumers how to most effectively utilize the product? Well, instead of "lather, rinse, repeat", the mantra of English class this week could have been "write, revise, repeat". 

During the week of 3/16 - 3/20, students wrote and revised all three body paragraphs of their Qualities of a Hero 5-paragraph essay and began work on crafting the conclusion. Along the way, students took part in many peer editing sessions in order to help each other create clear and descriptive paragraphs.

Students will have the rough draft of their 5-paragraph essay complete on Monday, and they will hand in the final draft on Wednesday.

Returned Assignments

There were no graded assignments returned this week.

Announcing Independent Reading Project #3...

This is a quick post to update you on a long-term reading assignment your child will be working on over the next coulple of weeks. Students visited the library today to search for a realistic fiction novel to read for the third independent reading project of the school year.

Here are some of characteristics of realistic fiction books that we brainstormed in class -

• a plot that includes events that could really happen
  
• a setting that takes place in modern times
• characters that are true-to-life

After I told students about five realistic fictions novels I thought they might enjoy, students used the rest of the period to browse the bookshelves for a novel that interested them. Students should select a novel by Friday, March 20th.

(By the way, all of the titles I described in class today are located on the right side of this blog in a virtual bookcase. If the virtual bookcase does not appear because your web browswer doesn't recognize it, you may access the bookcase by clicking on the following link - http://www.shelfari.com/nilesenglish/shelf)

Students must finish the novel they selected by Monday, April 6th. In addition to reading the novel, students should also fill out the Realistic Fiction Novel Graphic Organizer they received in class today. Students will use the information they record in the graphic organizer to complete a writing assignment that they will learn more about later.

As I mentioned when students began the last independent reading project back in January, I encourage you to check in with your child to see what novel he or she is reading. Some realistic fiction novels are light and humerous, and others deal with mature themes. You and your child are the best judge about what novels are appropriate for him or her.

As always, please email me if you have any questions!

Heroes, color-coded maps, and grabbing your audience's attention...

During the week of 3/9 - 3/13 students continued their preparation for the Long Composition portion of the upcoming English MCAS by studying the structure of a multi-paragraph essay and beginning to write their own essay about the qualities heroes possess.

Students began the week by labeling specific parts of a multi-paragraph essay and color-coding them in order to internalize the structure of a multi-paragraph essay. Following our study of an essay's structure, students began the process of writing their own essay by deciding on a subject for their "Qualities of a Hero" essay. Check in with your child to see who the subject of his or her essay is.  

All students created an essay web as part of their prewriting brainstorming. Following their prewriting, students focused on writing clear, effective thesis statements and engaging hooks for the introductory paragraph of their essays. We looked at a variety of introductory paragraphs and analyzed how different writers grabbed our attention by crafting creative hooks. We noticed that some writers caught our attention because they incorporated voice into their introductory paragraphs, so students looked for ways to write hooks that showcased their unique voices.

Next week, students will be drafting the body paragraphs of their essay.

Returned Assignments

One graded assignment was returned this week. Students received the script they wrote that was based on a science fiction or fantasy novel (a 25-point writing assignment).

Highlights from the week...

Literature Circle Wrap-Up

During the week of 3/2 - 3/6 we put the finishing touches on our literature circle unit. Following Monday's snow day, students revisited a question they had answered before they began reading the novel to see if their feelings changed after reading the novel. They also individually evaluated their reading, writing, listening, and speaking performance when working in literature circles.

At the end of Tuesday's period, students began working on Open Response #3,  the culminating activity for their literature circle unit. For OR #3, students had to choose a character from the novel they read and explain what two character traits of this character helped determine the outcome of the novel. This assignment is due on Monday, March 9th.

It's that time of year again...

It's March, so that means the English/Language Arts MCAS is approaching. Students in Grade 7 will be tested on their reading comprehension and writing ability over the course of 4 testing days. Below is the testing schedule:

Day 1 - Tuesday, March 31st (Long Composition)

Day 2 - Wednesday, April 1st (Reading Comprehension)

Day 3 - Thursday, April 2nd (Reading Comprehension)

Day 4 - Friday, April 3rd (Reading Comprehension)

During Day 1 of testing, students will answer a prompt by writing a multi-paragraph essay. Preparation for the multi-paragraph essay will be the focus of our MCAS study over the next three weeks because this is the section of the test that is most unfamiliar for Grade 7 English/Language Arts students. Because students will be brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and turning in a final draft of their essay all in one testing session, this day is also the most rigorous.

During Days 2-4 of testing, students will read short passages of fiction or nonfiction literature and then answer a combination of multiple choice questions and questions that require students to answer in paragraph form. Preparation for this section of the MCAS has occurred throughout the year.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding the upcoming English/Language Arts MCAS.

Preparing to write

On Wednesday, students began preparing to work on their own multi-paragraph essay. Students will be answering a prompt in which they identify qualities or traits heroes possess, explain why these qualities are important, and provide examples of these qualities.

In order to get students thinking about individuals who are considered by others to be heroes, we read short articles on Jackie Robinson and Captain Chesley Sullenberger. Students brainstormed a list of qualities possessed by Robinson, Sullenberger, and other individuals that students deemed heroic.

Over the next two days, students focused on the structure of an essay. They compared and contrasted the structure of a paragraph to the structure of an essay on Thursday, and they began analyzing the structure of the essay on Friday.

Essay preparation continues next week.

Returned Assignments

There were no graded assignments returned this week.