Hello parents!
So, there has been a slight change to this week's work. We didn't finish what I had intended to get done yesterday, so we spent some more time today looking at 5 paragraph essays. We didn't get to the sensory details assignment, so they shouldn't have any homework tonight, other than finishing their reading logs and studying for tomorrow's test/retest. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 26-30
Hello, parents!
I can't believe we are this far into the school year already! Hopefully, your students have already learned a lot in this class and will continue to do so throughout the year. This week, we are progressing through the writing unit that we started last week, as well as trying to finish up the short story unit that we had been on previously.
Here is a brief run-down of everything we are doing in class this week:
Monday- short story test review
Tuesday- short story test
Wednesday- learning about narrative, expository, and persuasive essays
Thursday- working on sensory details
Friday- reading logs are due/ vocabulary quiz/ reading day
Today in class (Monday), we are reviewing for tomorrow's short story test by playing Jeopardy. The questions that your student sees on this Jeopardy board will be a good indicator of what they need to know for tomorrow's test. We took extensive notes on the elements of a short story earlier this year, and we read a few short stories during this unit as well. Tomorrow's test will cover these short story element notes, as well as a few questions about the short stories that we read. I am telling the kids today in class that they are welcome to write down the questions to take home and study if they want, but they do not have to do that. Basically, they should just study their notes and look back over the two short stories we read. Tomorrow, we will take the test.
Wednesday, we are going to continue with the essay writing unit by discussing the three main types of essays and talking about how they differ. I taught the kids a formula last week for writing good body paragraphs, and we assigned colors to each thing that should be included. I am going to review this with them tomorrow. We will probably write an essay together using these three colors. If we have time at the end, we will look at a few essays from the released items from past Oklahoma EOI tests and talk about how we can make these essays better.
Thursday, we will be discussing sensory details. I am going to give them a writing assignment in which they need to plan to use sensory details. I had intended the writing assignment to be about Halloween; however, I realize that some people do not choose to celebrate Halloween. In this case, the kids can choose their favorite holiday to write about. Friday, the students will be turning in their reading logs and having a free reading day. They have free reading days every time that they turn in their reading logs. They will also have a chance to go to the library and return/check out a book on Friday if they need to do so.
Here are some things that they will be turning in and will probably be doing for homework:
Thursday- sensory details writing assignment (due Monday)
Friday- vocabulary quiz and reading logs are due
If you have any questions about anything that is going on in this class, please feel free to contact me. You can blog on here, or you are also more than welcome to call the school or email me. Have a great week!
I can't believe we are this far into the school year already! Hopefully, your students have already learned a lot in this class and will continue to do so throughout the year. This week, we are progressing through the writing unit that we started last week, as well as trying to finish up the short story unit that we had been on previously.
Here is a brief run-down of everything we are doing in class this week:
Monday- short story test review
Tuesday- short story test
Wednesday- learning about narrative, expository, and persuasive essays
Thursday- working on sensory details
Friday- reading logs are due/ vocabulary quiz/ reading day
Today in class (Monday), we are reviewing for tomorrow's short story test by playing Jeopardy. The questions that your student sees on this Jeopardy board will be a good indicator of what they need to know for tomorrow's test. We took extensive notes on the elements of a short story earlier this year, and we read a few short stories during this unit as well. Tomorrow's test will cover these short story element notes, as well as a few questions about the short stories that we read. I am telling the kids today in class that they are welcome to write down the questions to take home and study if they want, but they do not have to do that. Basically, they should just study their notes and look back over the two short stories we read. Tomorrow, we will take the test.
Wednesday, we are going to continue with the essay writing unit by discussing the three main types of essays and talking about how they differ. I taught the kids a formula last week for writing good body paragraphs, and we assigned colors to each thing that should be included. I am going to review this with them tomorrow. We will probably write an essay together using these three colors. If we have time at the end, we will look at a few essays from the released items from past Oklahoma EOI tests and talk about how we can make these essays better.
Thursday, we will be discussing sensory details. I am going to give them a writing assignment in which they need to plan to use sensory details. I had intended the writing assignment to be about Halloween; however, I realize that some people do not choose to celebrate Halloween. In this case, the kids can choose their favorite holiday to write about. Friday, the students will be turning in their reading logs and having a free reading day. They have free reading days every time that they turn in their reading logs. They will also have a chance to go to the library and return/check out a book on Friday if they need to do so.
Here are some things that they will be turning in and will probably be doing for homework:
Thursday- sensory details writing assignment (due Monday)
Friday- vocabulary quiz and reading logs are due
If you have any questions about anything that is going on in this class, please feel free to contact me. You can blog on here, or you are also more than welcome to call the school or email me. Have a great week!
Monday, October 19, 2009
October 19-23
Good morning parents!
It's Monday morning, and I just thought I would give you an update on what we are doing in class this week (October 19-23). This week in class, we are beginning a new unit on writing. Here is a brief run-down of what this week looks like in class:
Monday: Learning new vocabulary words to add to our collection
Tuesday: Re-electing class officers for the new nine weeks
Wednesday: Taking the writing unit pretest, which includes writing an essay
Thursday: Briefly revisiting the writing process, which includes a writing assignment
Friday: Taking a vocabulary quiz over this week's words and beginning essay writing
The kids don't have any homework in here today or tomorrow, but they might have homework Wednesday and Thursday. If they do not finish their five paragraph essays from the pretest, those essays will be homework to turn in on Thursday. Not doing well on the pretest will not affect their grades in my class; however, I will give 5 completion points to all students who finish the test and try their best. I just want to learn what they know about writing so that I can have an idea of their strengths and weaknesses in this area.
Also, they might have homework on Thursday, because they have a writing assignment to complete using the writing process. Thursday in class, we are doing a writing assignment called "Are you more like..." in which they get to write about themselves. If they don't get this completed in class, which is a good possibility since it explores the entire writing process, they can turn it in on Friday or Monday.
The only homework that they might have on Friday would be to complete the writing assignment form Thursday and to study for the short story test next Tuesday. We recently finished a short story unit, and they will be taking a test over that information on Tuesday. We will review for that test by playing Jeopardy in class on Monday, but it might be a good idea for you to encourage your child to study the information before Monday. When we play Jeopardy in class, the winning team gets 5 bonus points on the test the next day. Your child has the opportunity to win those points if he/she studies and can help his/her tema answer the questions on Monday!
Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at kwalls@byngschools.com or between 10:25-11:10 at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!
It's Monday morning, and I just thought I would give you an update on what we are doing in class this week (October 19-23). This week in class, we are beginning a new unit on writing. Here is a brief run-down of what this week looks like in class:
Monday: Learning new vocabulary words to add to our collection
Tuesday: Re-electing class officers for the new nine weeks
Wednesday: Taking the writing unit pretest, which includes writing an essay
Thursday: Briefly revisiting the writing process, which includes a writing assignment
Friday: Taking a vocabulary quiz over this week's words and beginning essay writing
The kids don't have any homework in here today or tomorrow, but they might have homework Wednesday and Thursday. If they do not finish their five paragraph essays from the pretest, those essays will be homework to turn in on Thursday. Not doing well on the pretest will not affect their grades in my class; however, I will give 5 completion points to all students who finish the test and try their best. I just want to learn what they know about writing so that I can have an idea of their strengths and weaknesses in this area.
Also, they might have homework on Thursday, because they have a writing assignment to complete using the writing process. Thursday in class, we are doing a writing assignment called "Are you more like..." in which they get to write about themselves. If they don't get this completed in class, which is a good possibility since it explores the entire writing process, they can turn it in on Friday or Monday.
The only homework that they might have on Friday would be to complete the writing assignment form Thursday and to study for the short story test next Tuesday. We recently finished a short story unit, and they will be taking a test over that information on Tuesday. We will review for that test by playing Jeopardy in class on Monday, but it might be a good idea for you to encourage your child to study the information before Monday. When we play Jeopardy in class, the winning team gets 5 bonus points on the test the next day. Your child has the opportunity to win those points if he/she studies and can help his/her tema answer the questions on Monday!
Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at kwalls@byngschools.com or between 10:25-11:10 at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Hello, parents, and welcome to the new blog!
My name is Katy Walls, and I am your child's English teacher this year. I know that all of you are concerned with your child's grades in his/her classes, and I thought that this would be a good way to help me keep in touch with you about what is going on in class. On this blog, I plan to give you information about what we are doing in class so that you can help me help your student be the best that he/she can be!
As of right now, the major thing that we have done in class is a short story unit. We have learned about the elements of a short story, and we have had the opportunity to read some short stories and discuss them. When we get back from fall break, we will be starting a writing unit. Today in class (October 13th), the kids turned in their fourth reading logs, and Monday in class, they have an assignment due about applying the elements of a short story to the movie of their choice. Your child should already know which movie that he/she is doing, but he/she won't need to turn it in until Monday.
If you have any questions about this blog or anything that we are doing in class, feel free to contact me. My email address is kwalls@byngschools.com, and my planning period is third hour, 10:25-11:10. If you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with me, you may call the school at 580-310-6744. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that we can begin communicating soon!
My name is Katy Walls, and I am your child's English teacher this year. I know that all of you are concerned with your child's grades in his/her classes, and I thought that this would be a good way to help me keep in touch with you about what is going on in class. On this blog, I plan to give you information about what we are doing in class so that you can help me help your student be the best that he/she can be!
As of right now, the major thing that we have done in class is a short story unit. We have learned about the elements of a short story, and we have had the opportunity to read some short stories and discuss them. When we get back from fall break, we will be starting a writing unit. Today in class (October 13th), the kids turned in their fourth reading logs, and Monday in class, they have an assignment due about applying the elements of a short story to the movie of their choice. Your child should already know which movie that he/she is doing, but he/she won't need to turn it in until Monday.
If you have any questions about this blog or anything that we are doing in class, feel free to contact me. My email address is kwalls@byngschools.com, and my planning period is third hour, 10:25-11:10. If you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with me, you may call the school at 580-310-6744. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that we can begin communicating soon!
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