Ms. Larkin

Welcome

Welcome to Mrs. Schaefer Larkin's Blog

AR Books are due in 8 days = on Sept. 30th

Tuesday, September 30th, is the deadline for this month's AR books.  On that date, students will also turn in an(experimental) Just the Facts, a book card, and take the AR test.  On Wednesday, 10/1, students will present a 3-5 minute book talk and present their book to the class.  Information on the book talk and a form for the book card will be discussed in class and sent home tomorrow.

Book orders for Scholastic Books will be sent out on September 30th.

Literary Terms Vocabulary begins this week.  In general, students will study 10 words  per week and the quiz will be on Friday.  Because this is new for some students, and the AR books are due, students will have more than one week to study for the first test on Friday, October 3rd.

Students are expected to have their new October AR book chosen by Thursday, October 2nd.

Current Events Due Tomorrow

Hi!  Just a reminder that

1.current events are due tomorrow                                                                                                       2. get your  green progress report SIGNED                                                                                            3.  you have 13 days to finish your AR book  (due Sept 30)                                                                   4.  the   Just the Facts  sheet that you started in class today is not due until Tuesday, September  30th (we are experimenting to see if doing JTF BEFORE taking the AR test improves overall AR scores- as the average is well below 70%)                                        

Welcome to the 2008-2009 School Year!

Welcome to the new 6th graders and welcome back to the returning 7th and 8th graders. This is going to be a GREAT year!

Expectations for this year are similar to last years'; 

1. All students are to be reading 30 minutes per evening and recording it on their reading logs.

2.  Beginning in September, students will take AR tests at the end of each month (this should be the same book as listed for that month on their reading log)= 100pts  * Students not making 70% or better, will fill out a "Just the Facts" sheet and keep a chapter summary sheet for the next book read.

3.  Students will also complete a end of book activity on the monthly book,(ie. book card, book report, book talk, project ) due at the end of each month. = 100pts

4. Current events are due every Thursday. (first independent current event due Sept. 4th) Students are to answer WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY/HOW and write a 4-5 sentence summary for the article.  Information should be para-phrased and not taken word for word from the article.= 20pts

5. Reading log and agenda are to be signed Thursday evening= 20 points on Friday.

All Reading students are currently reading a novel aloud in class with Ms. Larkin           6th = Pinballs , 7th Things Not Seen, 8th Flipped                                            

In addition to practicing current events in class, students are working on  'Timed Reading' to improve basic comprehension of short passages, and reviewing skills learned and reinforcing weak areas through the A+ computer program.

We will begin vocabulary practice in a few weeks. Weekly quizzes will be on Fridays.= 50pts.

CRCT Review

It is that time again!  CRCT!!!  Students have been given packets to complete, also.....

Students can earn  5 bonus points by logging in to this website :

www.georgiaoas.org   (in class I mistakenly wrote gaoas instead of georgiaoas)

Use the student number I wrote in your agenda

password:  education

Make a 70% or better on the test and earn 5 points for each test taken. (remember, if you don't pass... you can retake the test as many times as needed to make a 70%)

Come to class with a list of strategies we've discussed (written down), and you can earn 5 MORE points!

Things to Remember : deep breaths, use your strategies, read questions first, then the passage, then go back and re-read the questions.  On vocabulary, read your answer choice back into the question to make sure it makes sense.

March AR books due in one week!

Students have one week left to complete their AR book for March.  On Friday Feb. 28th students need to take an AR test, turn in chapter summaries (if Feb.'s AR test score was below 70%) and a rough ddraft for the book card.  Students are asked to review the book card information sheet to make sure they are including all of the necessary information.

Literary Term and vocabulary tests will continue to be given every Friday to prepare for the CRCT tests.  Students are encouraged to go online and practice for the CRCT- I also have hard copies of past tests that we are working on in class.

Biographies for February

Each student has chosen a biography for February.  These are to be completed by Friday, February 15th.

Students will be composing (in class) and presenting a short power point presentation on the subject of their biography.  This in class project will take 5 days and is worth 200 points.

CRCT Review

In preparation for the vocabulary section on the CRCT, the students are taking vocabulary tests each Friday.  The words are introduced on Monday and they are reviewed each day.  Please be sure you are working to prepare for these tests!

On-going assignments

Students are to be reading 30 minutes each day (total 210 min. per week)and recording it on their reading logs.  Students scoring below 80% on AR tests are to be keeping a chapter summary sheet to help with comprehension.  Reading logs and chapter summary sheets will continue to be checked each Friday.

Current events are due each Thursday.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008!  I know everyone has come back - ready to work to improve reading skills! :) I hope your break was fun.

AR tests for December books must be taken by Friday.  *Rough drafts for book cards are also due this Friday 1-11.* no final copy/book cards are due for December.

Students should have chosen their book for January by Wednesday 1/9.  10 word vocabulary tests will be given every Friday for the next couple months.  We're starting with Literay Terms (a review for 7th & 8th) These words will help students on the CRCT tests in April.

We're doing biographies for our February Book.  We'll start talking about the  (power point) project for these books in two weeks.

Since this is the week of Child Book Projects and Country Fact Reports, there will be no current event due this week. 

As always, students should be reading each evening for 30 minutes and recording it on their reading log.  I'll check reading logs on Thursday this week due to Holiday Celebrations on Friday. 

There is no reading card due this month, but students are expected to take an AR test for a book read in December when they return from break. (take it before break if you can!)

Have a wonderful and relaxing holiday and READ!