Vocabulary Study

We have begun our first root/prefix/suffix study, looking up and determining the meanings of -anti - audi - bio - enni/anni - and -capit/capt. We determined these meanings by doing an investigation.

1. brainstorming words with those roots
2. looking up definitions
3. finding similarities
4. inferring the meaning.

The meaning was reinforced using a Frayer model:

A completed example may look like this:

From time to time throughout the year, students will be asked to complete these investigations. I hope that we will learn some 50+ roots in this way.

Four Square Planning

In class last week we reviewed our first timed writing results and practiced scoring using the FCAT writing rubric. Students learned an effective strategy for planning writing, and then began to revise their essay by rewriting their plan. The Four Square Writing method is an effective way to plan because it helps students to remember the organization, detail, and elaboration needed in strong writing.

The revised plan will be due in class on Wednesday 9/29  (A day students) or Thursday 9/30 (B day students).

Research Class Vocabulary Test - Thursday September 30

We have been practicing our proofreading using the "Caught Ya'" daily exercises. Next Thursday we will have a quiz on the following words that we have discussed, defined, and "acted out," in class (ask your child to show you the actions).

1. Tragedy
2. Lugubrious
3. Exultant 
4. Encountered 
5. Meager 
6. Plethora 
7. Misers 
8. Dispersed 
9. Noisome 
10. Exuberant
11. Trekked 
12. Perky

For definitions visit Dictionary.Comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/.

Failure to plan means you are planning to fail

This week we will begin a writers' workshop where we will study the FCAT Writing Rubric. We will look at anchor papers that were used to score the prompt we did a few weeks ago. Students will then try to determine their own score based on the rubric.

Later this week we will learn a powerful pre-writing planning tool to help our students to succeed in the timed writing situation: The Four Square Writing Method. Students will learn the importance of planning before writing and will then develop a plan based on the same prompt. The plan will be scored using this rubric.

7th Grade Language Arts - Homework

In class we read and discussed Names and Nombres,  an essay in the literature book. We wrote about and discussed our own names. Now we are using those discussions and the text to write a response connecting the two.
These are the instructions for the connection:
1. Start with sentence “I am making a connection between _____ and _______.”

2. Tell about “Names and Nombres” – the character or event you are connecting to. (2-3 sentences)
3. Tell about the connection (what the story reminded you of). (2-3 sentences)
4. Describe the similarities and differences between the essay and your own life. (1-2 sentences)

This handout was taped into the students' sourcebook in class.

The Scoring Rubric for this Assignment

The assignment will be due on 9/22 for A days and 9/23 for B days.

Access Your Textbook from Home!!!

Our book weighs 16 pounds, so it's great for an upper-body workout. If you're not in the mood to lift weights, you can access the book from home! For directions follow this link:  ONLINE BOOK

Enjoy your virtual textbook!

Names, Nombres and Making Connections

How many different names do you have? At home? At school?

We are off and running! After this week's benchmark testing is completed we will resume the regular class schedule. We will be reading Names and Nombres in our literature book and using this to build comprehension by making text-to-self connections as we read.

To enhance our conversation, help your student find out all they can about their name, as we will look at how our name can shape our identy.


Literature books ARE NEEDED in class for all of next week (9/13- 9/17).

Ready, Set, Go!

Begining with Thursday's class we will begin with our 25 book initiative (937 pages per quarter) . To help our students meet this goal, 7th grade teachers are granting 20 minutes of Sustained Silent Reading in class. Students MUST have their self-selected novels in class.


Thursday and Friday we will be reviewing genres of reading material, followed by a review of acting reading strategies. A great year is underway!