... and away we go!

Day 1 is in the books, and it was a great one.
I shared with the students some of the books in my TBR pile, and asked if they thought they could infer anything about me based on the books I plan to read: Boy Nobody and The Enemy.
Independent reading is a big part of what we do in seventh grade ELA. You can read about the benefits of independent reading (often called sustained silent reading) here.
For those visiting this blog for the first time, I try to update as frequently as possible during the school year to provide you a chance to learn more about the things that are happening in ELA class. Comments are welcomed!

Final Exam Info

The final exam for ELA 7 will be on Tuesday, June 18, and will include content from our last unit of study (it will not be a comprehensive exam with matierial from the entire year).
To prepare, students should familarize themselves with the following readings which were given to them in class: "Stage Fright" by Mark Twain, "My Papa, Mark Twain" by Susy Clemens, "Bart Simpson and Tom Sawyer: Then and Now."
Additionally, students will read a short excerpt from a biography of Mark Twain, a timeline of Twain's life, and the following article which appeared in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise ("Playing Twain").
The exam will consist of twenty short answer and multiple choice questions and one essay (the draft of which the students began to write in class).

Summer Reading

Here a two titles that I shared in class. They are on my "to be read" list as I plan my summer reading.
Rotters by Daniel Kraus; you can watch a book trailer here.
Pretty Girl 13 by Liz Coley; here is a trailer.

A student shared her summer reading list yesterday with me yesterday:

Seekers
Artemis Fowl
Mary Bird
Little Women
Misty
Charlotte's Web
Shimmer
Inside Out and Back Again
Crazy Horse
Clementine: Friend of the Week

What's on your summer reading list? Send me some suggestions in the comments section.

Poetry Recitation

I've asked the students to memorize a poem and recite it to the class (due Thursday, May 16). There are many benefits for students to memorizing poems.
To give students an example of what a recitation looks like, we watched this video together.
I also challenged the students, as an option, to create videos similar to those done for My Favorite Poem Project.
We viewed this video about Theodore Roethke's "The Sloth" together in class.

Poetry Month Assignment #2

Technically it's no longer National Poetry Month, but we're not quite done with the genre yet.
Today we'll begin an assignment that involves choosing a poem to memorize and recite to the class.
Students will make their selections from this website.
More details to follow!

Poetry Month Continues

We've been reading and discussing poetry this month, and you might be interested in knowing some of the poems we've covered together in class:
"High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee
"Filling Station" by Elizabeth Bishop
" Deserted Barn" by Larry Woiwode
"The Women's 400 Meters" by Lillian Morrison
"Tennis in the City" by Frank Higgins
We studied personification and onomatopoeia (and sang along to this catchy song!)

Standardized Tests Begin Next Week

The NYS ELA assessment will be administered next week (April 16-18).
If you'd like to see sample of what the questions on the grade 7 assessment might look like, you can find it here.
The Commissioner of Education, John King, recorded a video message for parents about the tests.
Some students report feeling increased levels of anxiety around state test time. On the Team Whiteface homework page, you can find a PDF document with tips for helping kids cope with test based stress.
Finally, if you believe like I do that New York State has put too much emphasis on standardized testing, you can sign this petition and let them know that learning is more than a test score.