"Wrapping" Up CRT's & English Goals

All of the students focused on accomplishing as many learning objectives as possible before leaving for the holiday break. Each student put forth a great amount of effort and responsibility.

The 7th graders have been working with writing narrative stories. The use of dialogue and creating conflict within a story has been their goal. The 8th graders focused on character traits and supporting their paragraphs through the use of examples. They will continue after the break with elaborating on their character stories. The 9th graders began working with research strategies. They explored customs through the use of internet research. All of the students shared their work in front of their peers after discussing the importance of speaking in front of others. Each student completed a presentation and enjoyed sharing the joy of learning!

Another Lesson Learned

Last week, we finished our personal narrative stories. We focused on the following paragraphs: introductory, body, and a conclusion. Everyone had to finish their stories before they could get their nachos. It was a delicious writing activity.

We were all thankful for a harvest of interesting stories and cheesy nachos!


Book Review by Mary Hobs

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Author: Jeff Kinney

This is a realistic fiction book which is the diary of Gregory Heffley. The entries are done on a daily basis, and they are very hilarious. Gregory tells about his life at home and at school. It makes you laugh from page to page. This book is a New York Times bestseller.

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Clickers and Huskers

Wow! It has been exciting around BSP lately! We were able to use clickers in the classroom. A clicker is a small electronic device much like a television remote. You can enter answers by clicking a button and transmitting a signal to the teacher's computer. In English we did a fun activity where we had to guess the name of an individual by reading clues from a projected set of questions. It was exciting to try and figure out the identity of people through the clues and the pictures. Something that is even more exciting about the clickers is that it can be used to review, pre-test, and post-test classroom material. It offers everyone in the classroom a chance to engage in learning.

On November 19th Huskers came to BSP to share life experiences and link learning to making "good choices." They spoke on the importance of studying and staying in school. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to ask questions and connect with a vision for the future!

क्लिच्केर्स एंड Huskers

Week of Oct. 19th

Last week, we celebrated level 3 behaviors with a cookie decorating activity. The students thought it was a delicious assignment!
Character traits have been our main focus in English. We have been discussing vocabulary terms which describe characters in stories and people that we know. Each day we continue to discuss the terms associated with elements of fiction. The words will be used for preparing students for the LPS tests and state standards. The students write daily and work on expanding their knowledge with new vocabulary words.

Beginning this week a book review will be included at various times throughout the year. We have a book review reporter, and she will be sharing with us various stories that she has read. Her comments will offer a wonderful guide for choosing special books to read.

Book: My Face To The Wind
Author: Jim Murphy
Rating: * * * * Four Stars out of Five
Summary: When her father dies, Sara Jane Price, decides to teach school in Broken Bow, Nebraska. She wants to live near her father's grave, but then she has an exciting experience
that causes her school house to collapse.

Review by: Marie Hobs

October 7th, 2009

In our English classroom this week we have been focusing on character analysis charts and reviewing the elements of fiction vocabulary. The students have done a wonderful job of linking the terms to the stories and identifying the meaning of each term from various classroom activities. We started the year with a pretest to find out what terms the students knew. Now they are beginning to show growth through formative learning experiences.
A great deal of time is devoted to learning how how to manage laptops and use them as a communication tool for English. We continue to address proper handling procedures and responsible behaviors. Responsibility is a key factor which needs to be demonstrated in order to process information with the laptops on a daily basis.
I enjoy finding out each day how talented the students truly are from the discussions we have and the work they produce. On Fridays, if the students have all of their weekly tasks accomplished, then a free time is earned and learning programs are explored through the use of technology.

Many thanks for your continued support!

Many thanks to all of you for attending the conferences! The entire staff enjoyed meeting and discussing your child. It is extremely important that we continue to communicate and focus on your child's goals.

In English this week we will be reading stories from our anthology and discussing elements of fiction. Your child will be challenged to begin thinking about how important it is to understand all aspects of a story and the importance of comprehending the theme of a story.

We will be exploring various leads in writing. Our focus will be on promoting "hooks" that really make the reader want to continue reading. The students will be asked to write a personal narrative story which could include humor, trips, or activities. The more time we can experience writing together as a group then the better we will become at achieving our goals.

Enter and Win at the BSP Open House!

Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
4-7 p.m. at BSP North 56th


Come join us for a Nebraska Tailgate style dinner and find out how your student is progressing this year!

English Class Activities
The students have been intergrating the laptops into English writing activities. The laptops are being used as a tool to create stories, research words and subjects, and motivate students to become active learners in the classroom!

Week of September 14th

The 7th, 8th, and 9th graders have been practicing writing skills which include the elements of fiction vocabulary. Each day the students warm up with a journal write, and this week they will be focusing on descriptive paragraphs, informational collages, and an experience with writing imperative and declarative sentences.

Progress reports will be going out soon which will identify the current level of classroom performance. If you have any questions about the classroom assignments, please feel free to contact me. It is important that your child knows that we are all communicating and working together to strengthen their educational goals.

Welcome to an exciting year of learning at BSP. I will be supplying communication associated with our learning experiences in the English classroom. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our learning journey. Your child's education is the most important factor and all of the teachers, administrators, and support staff will join together to help create an educational environment best suited for your child's needs!

Weekly English Stories

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