A Spooky Good Time In LA Class!
October 2018 Newsletter
Time Flies when you are having fun...and are CRAZY busy!
I know I am technically a day late, but I hope you and your family had a wonderful October. I can not believe that the first two full months of school have come and gone! This is your second Language Arts update, and we have been very busy this year already! Students have learned all the parts of the story arc, metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, idioms, and they have learned how to annotate their books--although they may call it "Sticky-ing" up their books! They have been hard at work! Give them a good pat on the back when you can!
I have also included some Team 7-1 news in here, too! So, please read and enjoy! As always, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the team with questions or concerns.
Have fun!
Sincerely,
Michelle Wolfrum
7th Grade Language Arts
Team 7-1
Halloween in Language Arts Class!
Spooky, Scary, Skull?
Suspense!!
Too much fun!
Important Dates
November 6th-Election Day! Go Vote!
November 6th- No School for Students
November 8th-Evening Conferences (By appointment only)
November 12th-Veteran's Day! Thank a Veteran for their service!
November 12th-No School
November 15th- Evening Conferences (By appointment only)
November 20th-Movie Night with Team 7-1
November 21st-Early Dismissal
November 22nd-23rd- No School Happy Turkey Day!!
November 28th-First Trimester Ends
Come Watch a Movie with Your Favorite Team 7-1 Teachers!
We will send more information home to students, so be on the lookout for this!
*Please note, this is NOT a school field trip, and parents will need to accompany their students to the movies! We want to meet you, too, so please join us! It's always a fun night out!
Field Trips! Coming up!
We just LOVE popcorn! At the end of our Science Fiction Unit, in December, we plan on celebrating by heading to the movies to get our Science Fiction fix in! One of the movies is PG-13, so if students choose to watch this movie, we will need parent's initials. Keep an eye out for this permission slip in December.
More information about our Museum of Natural History trip that will take place in March will be coming soon! This one is very fun!
They say "I have no homework!" We say "That's not true!"
And "No homework" is certainly something they may never hear in Language Arts class.
Students should be reading every single night. They should be taking their book club novels home with them. If they forget them at school, they should be coming right back to get them OR they can check it out through Moran's library website. They can also complete a simple search in YouTube to find an audio version of their book to help them for that night.
The only way students become better readers is to read. They need to understand and comprehend texts on a 7th-grade level, so they should be working with these texts in some way every day!
Race to the Finish!
Andy Y, Maddie B, Genesis M, Rhiannon R, Wilson M organize metaphors into their proper categories.
Be the winner!
Yes, we watch lots of videos!
Sticky it up!
I provide students with sticky notes, but they can also use a piece of paper, a Google Document, their planner--anything really, to label and mark their information as they read.
The purpose of sticky notes is to help students stop and think about their reading. Sometimes, we read so quickly we miss important information that could help us comprehend the story better, and this information is what I am trying to get students to find and focus on.
What Can you do to help?
There is a lot you can do to assist your students at home if they are struggling! The biggest, most awesome thing you can do is to just point them in the right direction of resources they can use!
Language Arts Resources
1. GOOGLE CLASSROOM- if your student is struggling to remember what was taught in class or what they have to do for homework (or if they are telling you they have no homework), remind them to log on to Google Classroom. Here, I post review lessons, notes, and homework, almost every day! This is a great place and habit to get into, especially because Language Arts is not the ONLY class that uses this awesome resource.
2. THEIR PLANNER- Often the first thing we do in class is write down our homework in our planner. Now, your student's planner COULD be a piece of paper or their hand, but I REALLY try to get them into the habit of writing down their homework. Check inside their planner to see what they are writing. If it is not detailed or not legible, remind them to slow down and get all the information they need down even if takes a second.
3. THEIR EMAIL- remind them to contact me if they have questions. They can start becoming more independent this way by advocating for themselves. I have my email connected to my phone, so I answer student emails pretty quickly.
4. THEIR NOTES- students are reminded to bring their notes with them if I feel like it might help them with their homework, BUT if they don't have them with them, point them to Google Classroom!
A lot of these resources can be applied to any of your student's core classes. Please keep these in mind as the year continues to help the Team 7-1 teachers continue to foster student independence in and out of the classroom.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King
Hola, Clase de Español!
Spanish II students have been studying the house. They soon will be working on a sales ad to sell a home. Sorry, no commission will be earned!
Team 7-1 Ghoulishly Good Students!
Liam Kelley
Liam has been focused and hardworking from the first day of school. He asks good questions in class to make sure he is successful in everything he does. He is prepared for each day and always gives his best effort. He is prepared for each day and always gives his best effort. He is extremely helpful to his classmates and teachers. He is also very friendly and a great model to his peers this year. Keep up the great work, Liam!
Gianfranco Fernando
Gianfranco has started off the year as a great team player by helping many of his classmates, especially our new student. He is diligent and thoughtful, which reflects in his classwork. He is also dedicated and focused. Great Work, Gianfranco!
Thank you for Reading!!
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Email: mwolfrum@wallingfordschools.org
Website: www.wallingford.k12.ct.us
Location: 141 Hope Hill Road, Wallingford, CT, USA
Phone: (203) 741-2900
Twitter: @MsWolfrum201