January 30th-February 3rd and February 6th-10th

We've had a fantastic week! We started out strong with learning about elaborating in explanatory essays--this is a great skill to master that will transfer to many different areas in many ways for students. Most students completed the Elaboration exercise to increase their score. Friday was awesome! Students who still struggled with essays were able to attend a focused re-teach. Students who have demonstrated understanding attended a Korean culture event with our Korean interns. Students had the unique opportunity to learn about specifics of Korean culture (birth age, time, calendar dates), Korean New Year and Korean food. Our interns did a fantastic job sharing  their culture and comparing/contrasting to ours.

Next week will be a fun hands-on activity all about Figurative Language. Students will work in groups to research a specific type of figurative language. They will make a Google Slide presentation to teach figurative language to the rest of the class. We will then do a SAGE based benchmark to see what students are understanding when it comes to comprehending literature. This is really important because it will guide my instruction for the rest of the year, in particular, to see what I can cover within the context of the next novel we cover.

Couple reminders...
Gecko Cards! These awesome $10 cards are for sale until February 2nd. Each student is encouraged to sell as many as they can (at least one!) because the proceeds directly benefit our school by providing everything from Scope magazines to calculators and beyond! Prizes are given for individual and class high sales. Get your Gecko card today!

Gold Gecko Day! Gold Gecko Day is coming up. This is an amazing activity to reward all students who have NO missing assignments, NO NP's and NO U's. Qualifying date is Feb. 8th. Please get your work in to join in this fun activity.

January 30-February 3

Monday, January 30th

Bell Work

Free Reading

Discuss Figurative Language

Tuesday, January 31st

Bell Work

Free Reading

Begin Figuring Out Figurative Language Activity

Wednesday, February 1st

Bell Work

Free Reading

Create Figurative Language Presentations

Thursday, February 2nd

Bell Work

Free Reading

Figurative Language Presentations

Friday, February 3rd

Bell Work

Free Reading

Figurative Language Presentations

                                                    February 6th-10th

Monday February 6th 

Literature Elements/Editing Benchmark

Tuesday, February 7th

Literature Elements/Editing Benchmark

Wednesday February 8th 

Finish Benchmarks

Scope
Gecko Gold Day

Thursday, February 9th

Library Day

Book #9 Due

Friday, February 10th

Presentation/Lesson by Korean Intern 

Write Explanatory paragraph about the differences between Korean and American schools

January 23rd-27th

January 23-January 27

Monday, January 23rd

Context Clues
Review/Quiz

Tuesday, January 24th

Elaboration Review

Wednesday, January 25th

Elaboration Review

Thursday, January 26th

Library

Roller Coaster Revision

Friday, January 27th

Gecko Day

January 16th -January 20th

This past week we focused heavily on writing and analyzing Explanatory Essays. I was super happy with how hard each of my classes worked on understanding this concept. We are covering so much material in class it is super important to be here every day!

I changed our schedule from last week a bit to allow for more instruction and review before giving the assessment on Explanatory Essays. There is no school on Monday, and we will spend Tuesday and Wednesday taking an assessment to see how well students can compose an Explanatory Essay on their own. Then we will move into learning about Context Clues, which will be fun for students!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please email me at jandi.gubler@washk12.org or call during school hours 652-4742.

January 16-January 20

Monday, January 16th

No School

Martin Luther King Day

Tuesday, January 17th

Explanatory Essay: Roller coasters

Wednesday, January 18th

Explanatory Essay: Roller coasters

Thursday, January 19th

Free Reading

Context Clues Notes

Context Clues Activities

Friday, January 20th

Free Reading
Context Clues Practice/Activities
Book #7 DUE

January 9th-January 13th

Happy New Year! It has been a great two days back at school! Thank you so much for the sweet gifts before the break. I had fun opening each one and definitely felt spoiled. I hope each of you had a wonderful break from school and enjoyed plenty of family time. It is hard to believe that we are already half way through the school year! 

This next week we will be working on writing full-length essays. We will be working on constructing explanatory essays, one piece at a time. This week is crucial as students will be writing these essays on the SAGE test and throughout the rest of their time in school. Friday will be an assessment where students will demonstrate their proficiency in writing explanatory essays. 

Please continue to find time to read 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week!   

January 5th-6th

THURSDAY January 5th
Welcome Back!
Grade check
New Year's Writing 

FRIDAY January 6th
Book #5 DUE
Free Reading
Thesis/Claim mini lesson
Thesis/Claim class practice

January 9th-13th

​
MONDAY January 9th
Free Reading
Introduction/Conclusion Glue-In (Explanatory Essays)
Explanatory Essay Practice (model for class)-
Stuttering Essay

TUESDAY January 10th
Free Reading
Explanatory Essay (practice with table)-
Future Essay
WEDNESDAY January 11th
Free Reading
Explanatory Essay (practice with partner)-
Hearing Essay

THURSDAY January 12th
LIBRARY DAY

FRIDAY January 13th
Book #6 DUE
CFA #3:
Independent Explanatory Essay
Is There a Crisis in Youth Sports?
Free Reading if finish early