first blog while it's snowing :) or :( depending on how long it lasts --- ok - just a heads up in case you have a student that wonders why they have a zero for their ch. 4 quiz --- for some reason, a few kids did not turn their quizzes in to the person who alphabetized them and gave them to me. therefore, they have no score --- they need to give me their quiz on monday and we'll chat about the confusion. also, i decided to lower the value of the quiz to 28 from 30 - after looking more carefully at our book and one of the questions, i decided the book didn't cover York in enough depth to fairly hold students accountable for the question about how he was treated by the Mandans. We'll talk about it next week. Also, next week will be filled with sharing the completed diaries which are due on Monday - they have had nearly a month to work on these so i am looking forward to seeing quality projects. we will also continue lit circles - these are in class so don't expect to see books at home unless your student needs to catch up. we will also be watching smokesignals or starting the video series frontier house - which should be fun going into thanksgiving vacation. happy 1st snow :) kw

a couple of due dates - Block 1 should be through ch. 3 in Al Capone Does My Shirts by tomorrow 11/6 ---- Blocks 2 and 3 should have ch. 4 in the WSH book read and the questions at the end of the chapter done by Thursday. ---- Also, blocks 2 and 3 should spend 10 minutes or so tonight looking at www.pbs.org/weta/thewest they then need to search under "people" and read about Chief Joseph and the Whitmans. If you don't have access at home they may use the 2 computers in my room or in the library in the AM.

11/2 - 11/6

we're back at if full days after conferences last week - i was out with a sick child on monday, but the classes went well with mr. trendall --- i will also be subbing for mr. grow next week, so the classes will enjoy jerry harms for a day as well. in class we are continuing our study of native americans in the pacific northwest and how their lives changed as settlers from the east came into the west. the kids have a diary/journal assignment that they should be working on outside of class - it is due on november 16th. i will be asking for evidence of preliminary research this friday. also in class we are beginning our disabilities literature circle. they are doing a read-around where they sample a few pages of each book. i give a "blurb" on each as well and explain the lexile for each book - they will be making their selections in class today - some will get their 1st choice, but others will get their 2nd - a few sometimes have to settle for choice #3, but i try to avoid that. most of the reading will be done in class, but occasionally they will need to bring a book home in order to keep up with their group. if your student selects the book, "the curious incident of the dog in the night time" i will need you to write a brief note giving them permission to read this book. it is a very good book with a narrator who is autistic and trying to solve a murder mystery involving his neighbor's dog - there is however some profanity sprinkled throughout the book and i think it's only fair that you have the opportunity to say yes or no to this book. enjoy the beautiful fall weather :) kw

Greetings on this gloriously gloomy Monday --- i gave quite a bit of info about this week in last week's blog - but just a reminder, there is a wsh quiz over chapter 3 on Wednesday and your student should also be researching PNW native tribes in order to pick a tribe for their diary/journal assignment. They have the info on this assignment if you would like to know the details - the due date will likely be November 13th - I know this a long period of time to work on this project, but the 1/2 days this week slow our progress.

10/19 - 10/23 --- Grades for 1st quarter went in on Wednesday - you should get a paper copy sometime soon (probably Friday) - This week we have continued reading short stories in class from our literature book - we have been doing short assignments from the book, in class and taking small quizzes at the end of each story. Next week we will spend most of our time for English looking at Edgar Allen Poe, which will culminate with "Poe Fest" on Thursday and Friday --- in Wa. St. History - we are reading ch. 3 in the book and the students with odd class numbers are doing the odd questions at the end of the chapter and vice versa for the evens - these are due tomorrow. We will continue with our study of Native Americans in the PNW for the next couple of weeks and will revisit this topic in Civics as well - including a look at a new video called "Shadow of the Salmon" and a fun Chinook Jargon activity. I'm looking forward to seeing folks at conferences - kw

Sorry this post is so late in the week - the good news is that there have not been any big tests or projects due this week. For the most part we are working in class out of the literature book (this is why you don't see assigned reading at home) although during times like this, the students should continue to do choice reading outside of class. We are working on the Big Question from Unit One of the lit book - "Is truth the same for everyone" - we are also looking at elements of plot (ask them to show you the hand motions for Conflict, Complications, etc...) --- Today we also jumped over to Civics to look briefly at juveniles in the justice system - we looked at the sad case of the boy who was set on fire by classmates in Florida yesterday and we read in our Civics text about legal policies regarding juvenile offenders. I asked them to talk with adults at home regarding their opinions on juvenile justice. They were very engaged and I'm sure have many more questions and ideas. We will occasionally make these jumps in curriculum when a current event fits with something we will cover later in the year - it keeps it so much more "real" for the kids rather than just listening to me drone or doing assigned text book reading. early best wishes for a good weekend :) kw

Happiest of Mondays to you all --- this a short week for the students - they earned it after working so hard on their writing last Thursday and Friday --- most students used both periods on prewriting, drafting, and final drafts --- many took at least 15 - 30 minutes more! I hope we get good feedback from the state so I can share the details with the students but I don't know the timeline for that return at this point.
Block 1 - this week we are working on test taking strategies for map tests - watching a video on mud slides in the Pacific NW -- finishing up a short novel in class and starting on a new unit in the Reader's Journey
Blocks 2 and 3 - we will review for tommorow's map test by going outside and locating map items on an oversized chalk outline of the region. tommorow is the test (54 points!) --- we will also be watching a video, finishing the scoring of their group maps, and working on the first unit in the new literature book -- other than preparing for tomorrow's test, not a lot of homework this week :) Oh, we will also do a group sharing of their book projects that were turned in last week.