April Showers, Bring May Flowers!
End of April, Beginning of May ELA Newsletter
IT'S FINALLY SPRING!
I hope you are excited as I am for warmer weather! We really are in the home stretch now! We only have about 8 more weeks of school, and I believe your students have really earned a nice summer vacation. From Science Fiction stories to argumentative writing, your students have really covered a lot of ground in Language Arts! They should be very prepared for their 8th-grade year.
Since I've been a bit late with our newsletters, this covers all of April AND what is coming in May. You'll have just one more newsletter after this, so let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Michelle Wolfrum
7th Grade Language Arts
Team 7-1
Important Upcoming Dates
May 10th- 7th Grade SBAC testing (Math PT)
May 11th- Lake Compounce Field Trip Form due
May 15th- Early Release for students
May 21st- Moran's spring concert
May 25th- Pajama Day
May 28th- Memorial Day No School!
Student Achievement Recognized!
Congrats to our Spring Risers!
Please join us in congratulating the following students:
Avery S, Jenna K, Alondra L, Jacob S, Jeiel G, and Matt L
These students have shown excellent growth and achievement in all their core classes. They are great self-advocates, helpers, and role models for their peers! Thanks for the hard work!
Supplies Reminder!
What happened in LA in April?
Since April was interrupted by our long spring break, students really just scraped the surface of our Survival Unit. We just started to get to know Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Johnny from The Outsiders.
Students also started to practice and understand argumentative writing by participating in a debate on a non-fiction text. To participate in this debate students read an article about a hiker named Aron Ralston who survived for 5 1/2 days after being pinned to a canyon wall by a boulder. Students were required to gather textual evidence to debate whether intrinsic traits or extrinsic resources were the most important to his survival. It was heated and tough to determine a winner in each class, but Mrs. Rosenberry, Ms. Kukta, and I all judged, and we were all EXTREMELY impressed with how the students proved their points! Check out the article students read and the video students watched to learn more about Aron Ralston. Check out the pictures below to see your students in action!
Debate time!
Sharing Opinions and Text Evidence
Still Debating...
Quick Spanish Update!
Hola! Here's what is going on in Ms. Varrone-Lederle's class:
Spanish II students are working on a Community Service Unit.
Spanish I students continue their work on Food, Glorious Food!
Don't forget--www.quizlet.com is an AWESOME resource to help students practice their Spanish vocabulary!
What's happening NOW in LA?
Getting back into the swing of things after spring break was tough, but Team 7-1 rocked the transition back!
First, we finished off the end of the month by catching up in reading The Outsiders. This book, once again, proves to be the favorite amongst students. Students are required to annotate, define vocabulary words in context, and answer questions as we read the novel out loud together. Students will eventually use these notes for their performance task. We should be finishing up this novel next week, and watching the movie! If you've seen the movie or read the book, don't spoil it! Our students are really invested in The Greaser's lives!
We have also started preparing for our final book club question of the unit. Week 4 book club, unlike any other, is going to be based on a discussion and will be completed in class. Students will be debating that their character can survive a particular survival situation better or more accurately than another person's character. After their debate, they will then need to complete a formatted graphic organize to practice how to present their arguments and prove their points. The graded debate will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Check out the pictures below to see yesterday's practice debate in action. Also, check out the formatted graphic organizer students receive, along with the preparation page students should have added to every day.
I present my claims!
Focused Attention!
Caught in the act
7th grade is heading to Lake Compounce!
Yearbook!
If you'd like to purchase a yearbook for your student visit: http://www.jostens.com/
This is the last chance to get your student a yearbook ahead of time. After this, students will only be able to purchase books during their lunch waves, and there will only be a limited amount available!
Thanks for Reading!!
Email: mwolfrum@wallingfordschools.org
Website: www.wallingford.k12.ct.us
Location: 141 Hope Hill Road, Wallingford, CT, USA
Phone: (203) 741-2900
Twitter: @MsWolfrum201