6th Grade ELA - Mrs. Andres & Miss Packer
The students have welcomed the winter months by working diligently on their reading and writing skills during these cold days. The 3rd quarter is a wonderful time to buckle in and move through some tough learning objectives. For example, the students have been working on mastering some Greek and Latin roots found in our language, expanding their sentence knowledge and adding to their writing compound-complex sentences, writing informatively using in-text citations and works cited and finally, reading a novel about the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s--1960s.
The general ELA classes are reading Freedom Walkers, an informative book about the journey of Rosa Parks and the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Whereas the Advanced ELA classes are reading The Port Chicago 50, a novel depicting the tragedy at the naval base, Port Chicago, in San Francisco, CA. Both novels reiterate the importance of the Civil Rights movement in our country and in our military.
Your continued support in your child's education is much appreciated by both Miss Packer and Mrs. Andres.
6th Grade Reading - Mrs. Stroh
It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up the third quarter!!! We are applying all of the Quarter 3 standards to the story “Holes.” Students are really enjoying this book and using “text evidence” to “infer” how everything is tied to together. The “theme” of this novel will be determined, as well. We will continue to apply new skills while finishing this book.
We have begun the majority of our classes reading our “Article A Day” and discussing important details from each article. There has been a great deal of improvement in how the students are able to read the article and pull out important information from the article. This just shows how important it is to read a variety of things to continually improve comprehension skills.
Enjoy your Spring Break with your family and friends!!! I am looking forward to Quarter 4 with this great group of students!
7th Grade ELA—Miss Rogers and Mrs. Sohns
We’ve just finished reading Refugee by Alan Gratz. The kids really enjoyed following the journeys of Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud as they faced the many challenges of fleeing their homes in search of safety and security with their families. We were able to take an AR test over the book, and everyone should be 10 points closer to reaching their AR goals! Now that we’ve finished the novel, we’ll be working on a project this week that will allow students to show what they took from the stories of the refugees we’ve read about.
We have finished up the unit on capitalization and are almost done learning how to use commas correctly. Our vocabulary lists over the past few weeks have been focused on vocabulary from the novel, but we’ll be focusing on learning more Greek and Latin roots now.
7th Grade Honors/Advanced
Students have finished reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. We learned about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, one of the world’s biggest maritime disasters, as we followed the stories of several people fleeing Eastern Europe during WWII. Students were also able to take an AR test over the novel that counts toward their 3rd quarter AR goal. Now that we’ve finished the book, we’ll be working on a project this week that will allow students to show what they took from the novel in a creative way. They’ve been considering the themes that the author presented and have had a great time coming up with songs that discuss the same themes.
We have finished up the unit on capitalization and are almost done learning how to use commas correctly. Our vocabulary lists over the past few weeks have been focused on vocabulary from the novel, but we’ll be focusing on learning more Greek and Latin roots again.
7th Grade Reading - Mrs. Mersmann
We’ve been exploring reading skills together, and I’m pleased with the progress the students are making. Students are sharpening their reading skills with central idea, text evidence, inference, and theme. Students read such classics as “The Lady, or the Tiger?” and “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” Theme is one of the most challenging skills which involves utilizing all of the skills we’ve covered so far. I remind the students often that no one is ever going to stop them on the street and ask them to tell them the theme of something; rather, learning these skills is important because it creates new pathways in the brain. So, keep encouraging your students to read, to discover new stories, to sharpen their minds and unlock new worlds through the power of reading. Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication of your child’s literacy development. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me remersmann@sunmandearborn.k12.in.us
8th Grade ELA - Mrs. Bevis and Mr. Wagner
Students may rest assured that we will finish reading White Fang by Jack London before the end of the quarter. While we still have many action-filled pages to read, we are on track to finish the novel with a little time to spare. As we continue to read and make text-supported inferences, we will also be exploring the possible themes presented in the novel. In addition to the novel, students are continuing to build their vocabulary and grammar skills. Accelerated Reader goals are due March 8th.
8th Grade Advanced ELA - Mr. Wagner
Ask any of the students in Advanced ELA, and they will probably tell you they are utterly confused as to who murdered Mr. Ratchett aboard the Orient Express. Luckily, Miss Agatha Christie will make everything quite clear in the last few chapters with the help of her all-seeing detective, Hercule Poirot. Currently, students are using their deductive reasoning skills, inference-making abilities, and deep reading prowess to figure out “whodunnit” before the big reveal. We will also carve out a few days to watch the movie adaptation and compare the two mediums and their interpretation of the story as a whole. Students should also be reading their independent AR books to meet their goal by March 8th.
8th Grade Honors ELA - Mr. Wagner
We are a mere seven chapters away from finishing October Sky by Homer Hickam, Jr. in Honors ELA. As we finish this memoir, we will look at how characters have internally changed from the exposition of the plot to the denouement. We will also carve out a few days to watch the movie adaptation and compare the two mediums and their interpretation of the story as a whole. Students should be diligently working on their Quarter 3 creative writing assignment and be waist-deep in a marvelous book for AR. Both are due March 8th. Happy reading!
