Mrs. Koczot's ELA Blog

We have officially made it through half of our 7th grade year!!!  Congratulations….

Report Cards go home January 31st!!  Bulldog grades are updated to final averages!

Cores 1-2:  We have spent the past two weeks studying O. Henry!  This week and next we will be “mocking” his clever narrative style! 

Cores 3-4:  We started a new novel; The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins!  All chapter summaries can be found under the Hunger Games link on this blog.  We will have vocabulary pulled from our story, assessing will be done on how well the words are understood!

AR is officially no longer available at BCMS, we will have projects required for each book read.  Those requirements will be written in the Reading/Learning Log.  Each student is required to read 5 books this quarter, thus completing 5 projects!  This will count for a 100 point grade (20 points each book) at the end of the quarter.

“When one loves one’s Art no service seems too hard.”   -O.Henry (William Sydney Porter)

Important Dates:  AR DUE DECEMBER 2nd and DECEMBER 16th!!

All cores are finishing up novels and essays and we are ALL going to read:

Charles Dickens’ A Chrstmas Carol; the story will be in drama form, so it will be fun for us to read as a class…yeahhhh! 

Vocabulary Due Friday Core 1 & 3 (20 point in class grade:  test to be announced!!)

What makes a classic a classic?  Here is your chance to blog about what classic you love…tell me all about it!!

1st &3rd Cores:  We have finished The Girl Who Could Fly!  What an adventure!  We have begun writing our essays this week and will continue to do the same next week.  Our published essay will be DUE NOVEMBER 23rd!!!

2nd Core:  We are continuing the reading of Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.  We will finish this week and test by Friday, hopefully!  We will begin an essay on the book next week and will finish it after Thanksgiving Break! 

4th Core:  We are enjoying The Outsiders!  We have quizzed every other chapter and will try to finish the book before Thanksgiving Break! 

Important Dates:

November 10th, November 22nd, December 2nd, and December 16t AR TESTS are due!!!

No School: November 24th & 25th….A time to be Thankful!!

Quiz ANNOUNCEMENT:  Vocabulary Quiz Friday, 21st for CORES 1, 2, 3

Check out the Vocabulary Page on my blog to study!

Core 1 & Core 3:  The Girl Who Could Fly characters will be part of Friday’s quiz…study your notes!

Core 2:  We started Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451…it’s going very well.  We are using our literary terms to discuss the beginning of the book.  Remember you also have SAT vocabulary on Friday’s quiz as well. 

Remember Patriot’s Pen is due October 25th…it is a required assignment!

Core 4:  We finished up Where the Red Fern Grows and will begin a writing assignment this week!  Get ready to choose your favorite dog and tell me why!

IMPORTANT DATES:

AR Due (4th book):  October 26th ALL CORES!!!

End of 1st Quarter:  October 28th!!

Today…October 10th

ALL CORES started a new Reading program called Acheive 3000 or TEEN BIZ!  The new program focuses on Non Fiction text and has various activities for kids to work on, including writing.  Students started with a leveling assessment, which is similar to AR and the SRI.  We will be working in the lab this week to continue the program. 

BLOG about it…what do you think so far?

Happy Reading,

Mrs. K

AR BOOK DUE OCTOBER 3rd!!!!

Core #1/Core#3:

We started reading The Girl Who Could Fly!!!  We are using our new vocabulary words to discuss the story.  Check out the Vocabulary page on my blog for a list of words.  HEY, what do you think of the book so far?  Blog me and let me know?

Core #2:

We have started our SAT vocabulary list…this is to prepare those who will be taking the test this year!  We also have Literature Terms vocabulary as well.  We are studying  these vocabulary words through an author study of Ray Bradbury…he’s like the Stephen King of kids literature!  What do you think of Mr. Bradbury, my 8th graders didn’t like to read him, why do you think that?

Core #4:

This core has been reading a favorite of mine…Where the Red Fern Grows!  We will finish this book this week, sad for sure.  Quizzes were given for past chapters, those grades are in Bulldog grades.  We are going to have a final book test and begin writing a paper to persuade someone to read the book!

Please study the Vocabulary page on this blog for your test next Tuesday!  Be sure you understand how these words apply to All Summer in a Day, by Ray Bradbury!

Bulldog grades have been updated to reflect our S.S. Essays, Poems, and quizzes.  Please check it out!

Next AR book due:  October 3rd

Happy Reading!

Please study the Writing Process Page for what will be on the quiz tomorrow!  Good Luck!

Don’t forget 3 poems are due tomorrow AND S.S. Essay!!  It will be a Bulldog grade for my ELA class and Mr. Garman’s class as well!

We are finally on a roll!  You should have your STAR level by now, YEAHHHH!  Remember to read for 30 minutes EACH AND EVERY night for ELA Homework!

IMPORTANT DATES:

Sept. 16th:  Writing Process Quiz (See page on blog for notes); 3 poems DUE and SS Essay

Sept. 22nd:  1st AR book Due

October 3rd:  2nd AR book Due

October 14th:  3rd AR book Due

October 26th:  4th AR book Due

Happy Reading….Peace,

Mrs. K

Happy Back to School Days….

Welcome to my English Language Arts Blog!  This blog will be updated weekly to keep you informed about assignments, tests, and other important information and dates. 

In the meantime, please feel free to post a message to me so I can get to know you…

I am so looking forward to our journey together…won’t you come read with me?

Much Peace,

Mrs. Koczot