Friday, May 30, 2014

Happy Friday!

Today in class we continued our book talk presentations. The students have come a long way since their first talk in September. It is great to see them honing their presentation skills. 9 book talks so far this year…and I know many students went above and beyond and have read more than the 9 required books. I’m so proud of them!

On Monday we will review for the final exam for Language Arts class. Language Arts is very circular in that we teach the same things over and over from middle school to high school with small changes and more complex texts. I keep stressing to the students that it’s important to get these skills down now, such as how to make inferences, with an easier text before the texts get too complex for them. The final will review the things that we have discussed all year long, such as inferences, figurative language, the meaning of words in context, etc. I anticipate that they will do very well. I will review with them briefly on Monday so that they know what to expect.

Finals begin on Tuesday and end on Wednesday. Classes will be double blocked, so most classes that see students on Tuesday will not be seen again until Thursday (with the exception of 3rd hour).

Here is our finals schedule:

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

9:05-10:55     1st hour exploratories

10:59-12:14   3rd hour & lunch

12:19-2:05     5th hour

2:09-4:10       6th hour

 

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

9:05-10:55     2nd hour

10:59-12:14   3rd hour & lunch

12:19-2:05    4th hour exploratories

2:09-4:10       7th hour

 

Homework:

Please turn in all library books that belong to me as soon as possible! I need to start checking the inventory next week to make sure that they are all getting turned in or else will have to let Ms. Butler know of any “missing/lost” books so she can assign fines.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Today in class we had book talk presentations. We did not finish so we will continue tomorrow.

 

Homework:

Return all books to Mrs. Finley as soon as possible. I need all books turned in by next week or else I will have to let Mrs. Butler know and she will be adding fines.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Today in class I gave the students time to finish up their book talk presentations for tomorrow. I anticipate that all students are now ready since I have given them several days to prepare in class too.

 

Homework:

Practice for the book talk presentation tomorrow.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Friday, May 23, 2014

Today we continued day 3 of KPREP testing. We tested until 12:00 and then began classes. I gave my students a break today in class and let them relax since they have been with testing and working on their book projects.

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29.

Rest up! Tuesday students are taking all 3 parts of the science tests in the morning and some in the afternoon. Make sure to eat breakfast and to get plenty of sleep.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Today we continued KPREP testing in the morning. The students then went to normal classes at 11:50 and followed the same schedule as they did yesterday. They were able to go to all of their classes, but most classes were only 26 minutes long. Language Arts classes silently read to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29. Many students also had class time to work on their book talk presentation.

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29 (1 week from today!).

 

~Mrs. Finley

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Today we started KPREP testing. The students had to take two reading tests this morning. Students were able to attend all 7 classes after testing. Each class was about 26 minutes each.

Language Arts classes reviewed mood and tone. I then gave the students some class time to read their independent books to prepare for the book talk next week.

I highly encouraged them to bring their book to read after they finish KPREP testing. I only had 2 or 3 students bring their books and both finished and were able to read the last 40 minutes. I will also be giving them time every day during our Language Arts class to read so that every student should be able to have their book talk ready for next week. All students should have their book talk presentation turned in on time since they are getting so much class time every day.

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Monday, May 19, 2014

Today in class we reviewed main idea/central idea and test-taking strategies. Today was the last day I will see students until after they test on Wednesday so I wanted to make sure we went over some test-taking strategies to help them do their best!

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Friday, May 16, 2014

Today in class we reviewed context clues and we discussed some reading skills, such as previewing a text, etc. that can help students as they prepare for KPREP.

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29.

 

~Mrs. Finley

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Today we finished up MAP testing in the lab. I had quite a few students who missed MAP testing yesterday due to the WEB event (in fact, 1/2 of my 5th hour was pulled out) so they were able to finish today.

Overall, the students had growth over the school year. I saw some huge gains, even in my students who already had very high scores.

A few of the students who had very high scores only gained a point or two, but it is really hard to maintain that level in middle school. I often have a hard time selecting books for the classroom library due to content. When you start to get into the high school level of reading it is a struggle with appropriate subject matter. Their scores will go up, but they will go up when they are ready to start reading books that deal with more mature subject matter. As long as they are not losing drastic points and they continue to read their score should stay pretty steady.

It was obvious seeing the kids scores that the reading is in fact impacting their reading score in class. I think they are also building the stamina to take these types of tests. Their vocabulary scores were also drastically increasing because they’ve been exposed to so many new words this year. I’ve had students tell me they haven’t read a book since 3rd grade and this year they will have read at least 9 (if they did every book talk)! I had many students that went well above and beyond the required one book a month! They originally thought this was a challenge they could never achieve and now they’re finishing books in days. I am so proud of them!

I encourage them to continue reading this summer, even if it is just one or two books to help maintain their reading stamina and continue to make growth.

 

Homework:

Read at least 20 minutes to prepare for the book talk on Thursday, May 29.

 

~Mrs. Finley