Mr. Goerend's Classroom

If you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t sure how the Spelling Demons activity would go today. It was the first time I’d used that activity. This is the first year we’ve used this “system.”

I’m excited about how it went. You folks seemed genuinely excited about identifying problem words and building a tool to help you get better at spelling those trouble words.

We’re thinking about trying the same thing with editing — punctuation, grammar, etc. Thoughts?

It’s blog time tomorrow!

To be honset, I’m pretty nervous. I’m not sure if you noticed, but rolling out Edmodo was somewhat stressful. Some people had trouble logging in and creating accounts and there were a million questions. Which is great, but it’s still a million questions.

Well, blogs are a bit … more than Edmodo. Let’s just keep in mind our purpose tomorrow while we’re working. You’ll need to be prepared to help each other. And you’ll need to be prepared to be persistant. There will be a lot of time for exploring and figuring out this new tool.

So, everyone be patient tomorrow and once we get going, have fun!

-Mr. G

Dear parents,

I wanted to take a moment to update you on what we’ve been up to these first few weeks.

In Reading, we’ve been focused on genres. As teachers, we’ve highlighted 10 genres/categories that will be important for students during this year: realistic fiction, historical fiction, informational text, biography/auto-biography/memoir, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, mystery, award winners, and classics.

Students now have a section in their English binders with 3 Big Ideas about each genre. This will be useful in both Reading and Writing. As readers, knowing the expectations of a genre can aid in comprehension, as well as help in making realistic predictions before, during, and after reading. As writers, understanding the expectations of a genre help to make the writing of a piece more understandable to the reader, as well as giving writers the opportunities to “bend the rules” of the genre to maintain suspense and anticipation in readers.

Also during Reading, we’ve made it a goal to independently read for at least twenty minutes during class each day. Noted reading researcher Richard Allington suggests that young people need to be reading independently for 90 minutes per day. While students are reading independently, my co-teachers and I have been conferring one-on-one with students to get to know them better as readers. The conferences are based around questions like, “How do you normally pick out books?” and statements such as, “Tell me about yourself as a reader.” We want to get to know each student so we can be sure they are reading books that will help them become better readers. Getting them in the right books is as important as spending time reading.

In Writing, students have put together a writer’s notebook. It consists of sections such as: “What should I write?”; “Spelling demons”; “Craft and Editing Mini-Lesson Notes” and “Writing.” Students are also working through the grammar book Caught Ya! this year. The first few weeks we’ve been “launching the notebook.” We’ve built up a list in the “What should I write?” section with ideas such as: Capturing bits of conversation, Sensory observations, Fierce wonderings, and Reacting to the world.

Grammar and spelling are tricky. Research shows that grammar and spelling taught in isolation are not beneficial. Spelling Demons will be different for each student. Students will build their own list of the words they struggle with so we can target those words. Caught Ya! is a story that students write a sentence (or two) at a time throughout the year on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the story, students get the context that is needed to make grammar learning stick. Along with Caught Ya! we’ll work individually with students on grammar issues that come up in their writing.

Many parents have expressed to me an expectation that they will see “tons of homework” and “tons of ‘stuff’ in PowerSchool.” This is not the case, however. Because the reality of our classroom does not match up with many of the expectations I have had shared with me, I wanted to send this note home to make sure we’re all on the same page. In the next couple of weeks, you will begin to see progress indicators in PowerSchool. Through daily interactions with my students, I have a gauge on where they all are. PowerSchool is the “formal” holding place for those assessments. If I see any reasons for concern, I will not hesitate to contact you personally. I hope you will do the same.

Students are expected to read at home nightly for at least twenty minutes from a book-length work. I’ve given myself the same expectaiton. So far this year, I’ve read three young adult books: Tuck Everlasting, Ruby Holler, and Things Not Seen. If it’s been a while since you’ve read some young adults books, now is your chance! I’d be happy to send home some good ones with your student for you! They are very easy reads for experienced readers and I had forgotten how enjoyable they can be as well.

Coming up, we’ll be starting a short unit on writing a quality book review. We’d like the book review to be a foundational piece of the class with students recommending books to each other – this gets back to the idea that they need to be reading, reading, reading. After that, we’ll move into reading biographies, auto-biographies, and memoirs.

As always, feel free to contact with me with anything you need. I’m happy to talk through concerns. Middle school is an adjustment period for students and parents. We’re here to help.

Sincerely,
Mr. Russ Goerend