Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Mrs. Kennedy: Guest Book Talker, Librarian Extraordinaire

Mrs. Kennedy visited class on Monday to share some books with us. This round of book talks were all related to the theme of "survival." The books she shared included: Bluefish by Pat Schmatz, Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick and Radiance by Alyson Noel.
Other books that Mrs. Kennedy mentioned were The Ghosts of War, An Elephant in the Garden, and Boys Without Names.
Thanks for the great suggestions, Mrs. Kennedy!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Extra Credit (though I'm sure no one needs it!)

It's progress report time. Need some extra credit before those reports go home? If so, read on...

1). As of 12/14, grade 7 students have read 509 books! For extra credit, (20 points will be added to your lowest grade on School Tool) post a comment to this blog in which you tell the title and author of the best book you've read so far this year. Also, tell in three to five sentences why you like it so much.

2). Vote in the Trailee Awards and post a comment in which you tell in three to five sentences which trailer you voted for and why (also worth 20 points).

Monday, December 12, 2011

Concluding A Christmas Carol



We're finishing A Christmas Carol this week, by viewing one of the newest film versions of Dicken's story.
We've gotten a lot of mileage out of this particular text, and have used it as the basis for working on comprehension and collaboration (Common Core State Standard SL.7.1), key ideas and details (Common Core State Standard RL.7.1) and integration of knowledge and ideas (Common Core State Standard RL.7.7)
Additionally, the students have read non-fiction "Achieve" articles which examine themes related to A Christmas Carol ("Can Money Buy Happiness?" and "Rich Man, Poor Country"). Incorporating more informational or non-fiction texts is one of the "instructional shifts" of the Common Core State Standards.