Wednesday, January 22, 2014

2nd Semester and 4th Six Weeks

4th Six Weeks Info      Moving animated pages turning in a book
 
Greetings Newman Parents
We are entering our 2nd semester with new ELAR adventures are ahead of us.
We will begin the new semester by reading non-fiction and informational text.

“Informational text often addresses children’s interests and questions. Regardless of a child’s text preference, when the text’s topic is of particular interest to that child, his or her reading is likely to improve (Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992). Not surprisingly, then, approaches that emphasize reading for the purpose of addressing real questions children have about their world tend to lead to higher achievement and motivation (e.g., Guthrie, Van Meter, McCann, Wigfield, Bennett, Poundstone, et al., 1996). Including more informational text in classrooms may help us address the interests and questions of more of our students.” From “Why informational text in the classroom”  Scholastic

Non-fiction includes memories, biographies, journals and diaries. Informational text are factual text that address topics such as science, research based articles, travel information and maps and other teaching text in which the purpose is to inform the reader.

What will they read?
7th grade will read and discuss non-fiction articles on travel and the importance of homework
8th grade will read and discuss travel articles as well as creative non-ficti0n by author and educator Brian Doyle
10th grade will read and discuss articles addressing education, health and school lunch nutrition

We will focus on non-fiction and information text for the next two weeks. Students will also need to complete two reading logs due on January 31st  and February 17th . Reading logs information must be gathered from online news websites and summarized in 3 sentences. Students must also include the web address and date (news information cannot be more than one year old.)
Finally, the Final Six Weeks Essay will be due February 24th, MLA format ( see OWL online for MLA formatting) typed and emailed or printed and turned in on time.

Rocky the flying squirrel on a reconnaissance mission flying around looking for nutsParent Portal
If you do not have access to Newman Parent Portal please contact the school at 817-459-8555 and request your sign on information. The advantage of parent portal is receiving information and updates regarding assignments for your students. Once set up you can receive grade information directly to your email. You can also check on your student’s progress daily or weekly which ever you prefer. Please take advantage of the parent portal to keep track of your child's academic progress.

Have a wonderful Week!
Ms. Sanders
friendly happy computer moving around and waving



Monday, January 13, 2014

Final Week of 1st Semester

Animated sun breaking out from behind clouds to shineGreetings NIAA parents!

It’s a New Year and a the end of the first semester and the 3rd 6 weeks.
Students are preparing to take semester exams in all courses this week:
Monday:  Review
Tuesday:  History, Math, and Spanish
Wednesday:  Science, English, and Electives
Thursday:  Science, English, and Tech
Friday:  Only 7th, 8th, and 9th graders will be on campus.  Regular schedule, 1st-5th periods.

ELAR
7th, 8th and 10th grade students will have a final essay due by January 17th (which is an early release day)
7th and 8th grade students actually had a head-start in composing their essays after completing daily writing exercises.
10th grade will compose a comparison/contrast essay on characters from two short stories read in and out of class.

REMINDERS:
ü Jan. 13-17: Six Week and Semester Exam Week  
ü Jan. 13: NHS Pizza at 5:30 p.m.;
o   Dad’s Club at 6:15 p.m.; PSC
o   Meeting at 6:45 p.m.
ü Jan. 16: District Basketball
o   Games (Varsity) at Home starting
Moving animated basketball spinningo   at 5:30 p.m.
ü Jan. 17: 10th and 11th Grade Field
Trip to UNT/Early Release at 12:30 p.m.
ü Jan. 20: Martin Luther King Holiday

Miss Sanders
NIAA-ELAR