Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A Pile of Books




Great news! The latest tally revealed today that our grade 7 students have eclipsed the 1000 books read mark for the school year. We began keeping track in September and as of June 14, the total is 1005 books completed! This averages out to 16.5 books per student. The top readers in each class have read 63, 66, and 60 books respectivley.


I truly hope that everyone will keep up with their reading this summer. Here are some links that be helpful:


"Story Snoops" is a blog with summer reading lists by interest.

Scholastic has a summer reading challenge on their site. Here's a book list in pdf for young adult readers.

The NYS Senate is sponsoring a summer reading program. Particpants can earn a certificate from State Senator Betty Little.


Encourage reading over the summer, and help beat "summer slide!"

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Final Exam Review

The final exam for ELA 7 will cover material from our last 10 weeks of study. The exam will be June 21, 9:30-10:50.

The exam will consist of short answer questions about Mark Twain, the Edgar Allan Poe poems "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee," and the Robert Frost poems "Once by the Pacific" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." In addition, there will be reading passages and multiple choice questions, as well as an extended response based on independent reading that the students completed this past year.

Here is some material to assist students in their exam preparation:


"Mark Twain Author Study Unit"


  1. Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens (his real name)in 1835.


  2. Twain wrote, among many other things, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).


  3. Among Mark Twain's well known characters are: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Injun Joe. You can find a summary of the characters from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer here.


  4. Mark Twain grew up in Hanibal, MO, along the Mississippi River.


  5. Mark Twain first became well known as a writer when his story "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published in a newspaper. You can find a summary of the story here.


  6. Mark Twain had a mansion built for his family in Hartford, CT. It is now a museum and some say it is haunted!


  7. Mark Twain's daughter, Susy, wrote a biography of her father when she was a teenager.


  8. Mark Twain vacationed in the summer of 1901 at a camp on Lower Saranac Lake.

"Poetry Unit"


1. Here is a summary of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."


2. Here is a summary of Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee"


3. Please be familar with the following poems by Robert Frost:


"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"


"Once by the Pacific"


Friday, June 3, 2011

Most Circulated Books at SLMS Library

Thanks to Mrs. Kennedy for compiling this year end list of the most frequently circulated books during this past school. According to her, these twelve books really "flew off the shelves":
12. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson
11. Reality Check by Peter Abrahams
10. Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
9. Bone: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
7. The Titans Curse by Rick Riordan
6. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
5. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Suzanne Collins