• Students are allowed to use their own "ear buds" instead of the cumbersome headphones CCMS provides, so please pack your ear buds in your backpack now, if you intend to use your own
• language arts testing will cover the next 21/2 weeks
• please have a good night's sleep and eat a protein packed breakfast
• students MUST have a reading book with them each testing day
• April independent book - mythology based novel

• turn into Google Classroom
• Service Animal Argumentative essay
• We have been working on this in class starting several weeks prior to spring break
• Student were given a packet of source material and a rubric
• Students were taught how to construct an introductory paragraph, how to look for and use text evidence to support their claim (thesis, argument) and to start each of the two body paragraphs with a topic sentence
• Finally, students were shown and given examples of a closing or concluding paragraph

• : Due on Thurs. April 13/ Fri. April 14

•  Due  in the beginning of May: exact date to be announced

• *Holes  by Louis Sacher
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
• A Wrinkle in Time  by Madeleine L'Engle ( best for avid readers)
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• Smile by Raina Telgemeier
• Hatchet by Gary Paulson
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell  (good for reluctant readers)

• 1)The Giver - read through the end of chapter 5
  
• use post-it notes to post at least 4 comments relating to the "sign-posts" we learned in class (contrasts & contradictions / memory moments - review notes if you forgot) or just any of your own thoughts or confusions
• 2) Google slides are due for the nine vocabulary words from The Giver - ch. 1-4 ( we will be sharing our slide shows in class, so you do NOT need to send them to me) (see attachments below for vocab & directions)

• The Giver  chapters 1-4 should be read with at least 2 post-it notes referring to one of the sign-posts we learned about in class (Contrasts & Contradictions / Memory Moments) or just your own comments and/or questions
  
• Vocabulary from The Giver should be on Google slides (as time permits we will work on this in class on Thurs./Fri., but students should work on them at home too) We will be looking at the slides in class.**only students on the three day trip can share their slides with me

• DUE on Thurs. Feb. 23 / Fri. Feb.24: (direction, list and example attached below)
  

• Periods 4 and 6: Your "Ta-Na-E-Ka" essay is due by midnight on Friday, Jan. 27
• it must be turned in through google classroom:
• most of you have turned in on google classroom before, but in case you need our class code, here it is:

• all notes about Ta-Na-E-Ka and Mary's character traits must be in class as we will be working on our writing assignment
• Comma worksheet must be completed and in class (attached for thos who are absent)

• CCMS is holding a fund raiser, "Pennies for Patients" for cancer research - sponsored through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• The Period 4 class that raises the most money receives a prize
• Regardless of the prize, most students, teachers and families have been touched by cancer, so we hope students and their families will consider donating (loose pocket change is a good start!)

• January independent novel (free choice) and book log are due on Tues. Jan. 31 / Wed. Feb.1 (no report, just the book info and signatures)
• NO SCHOOL this Mon. and Tues., Jan. 17 & 18
• In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and human rights, I highly recommend my students and their families see "Hidden Figures", an amazing new feature film celebrating women, unsung heroes of civil rights and the space program. An appropriate and important film for middle schoolers (and up) and their families.

        DUE Monday, Nov. 7 / Tuesday, Nov. 8

• Some chapters will be read or started in class, while much of the book will be assigned as homework, chapter by chapter.
• When teaching a class novel we do not go as fast as some students would like. For my avid readers, I encourage them NOT to read ahead, but to have a second book that they can read at their own speed.
• Parents, I encourage you to ask open ended questions about the novel. Both novels are historical fiction.
• Also, I encourage parents to have their children read aloud to them, at times.

• click on Counseling
• in the blue box, on the right side find videos and click
• scroll down to "Panther Achievement Workshops (PAWs) Training video
• click and watch