Accountable Talk Statements to Enhance Class and Group Discussions!

This week we worked on our accountable talk statements. Accountable talk statements help students extend, deepen, and enhance their discussion skills in order to make class and group discussions more effective. For example, instead of saying "the same as what Sally said", a student would be expected to say "I head that Sally said the theme of the story is family is important. I agree because .....". We practiced by answering some questions in small group and even had a competition to see how many accountable talk statements we could use! Next week, we will practice again using the topics from our reading group articles.

Harvest Food Drive

Take a Peek at Our Week!

We had our second social emotional lesson with faculty from Villa of Hope this week. During our post-lesson reflection, we discussed what "stuck" with us from the lesson and what strategies would help us in the classroom. The students identified that transitioning from recess to our afternoon academic block can be tough and focus can be an issue. We decided as a class that we would try using the meditation strategies learned this week to help us calm down and refocus prior to starting our afternoon lessons. What a reflective and introspective group!!! We will keep you posted how it is helping us! 

In Individuals & Society, students are conducting research on their expert civilization choice (Maya, Inca, or Aztec). This week, we used the jigsaw strategy to come together and share our research thus far and identified similarities/differences between the three civilizations. This was also a perfect opportunity to practice accountable talk strategies to make our discussions more focused and effective! 

In Lang & Lit, we worked on summarizing articles on famous individuals who suffered adversity and caused positive change as a result. We used Flip Grid to record our summaries and give peers feedback on the skill!

In writing, students worked on researching their three categories of interest on Titanic for our first informational essays.

Weekly News for October 12th!

School Pictures Reminder

We will be taking our school pictures Thursday, October 11th....bring those smiles!!!

Take a Peek at Our Week!

Anchoring into our first Lang & Lit planner by exploring the connections between personal challenges and our identity!

Reading about famous individuals who suffered adversity and discussing how those challenges impacted their actions. 

Researching the foods of our expert civilizations in Individuals & Society! Putting our research strategies to work! 

Unpacking our informational writing rubric and setting goals for the genre!

Open House Reminder and Conference Sign Up

Open House is Wednesday, October 3rd! In order to keep the crowds down in our classrooms, please use the schedule below:

6:00-6:30:  Visit your child's homeroom teacher
6:30-7:00:  Visit your child's second teacher

A link was posted in Classroom Dojo today to sign up for November conferences. I have included the links below as well. Please make sure you sign up for a conference with your child's homeroom teacher.

Mrs. Carr's Homeroom Conferences

Mrs. Ottman's Homeroom Conferences