District 97's Ethnic Festival essay contest winners

Congratulations to the following winners of the District 97's Ethnic Festival essay and poetry contest. These students are invited to attend the opening ceremonies of the Ethnic Festival next Saturday, May 7th at 11:00 AM in the Julian auditorium. At that time they will be called to the stage to be recognized and to receive a certificate. According to Ms. Lynn Allen, "They show a lot of insight about bullying and their perceptions of our schools' climate."


Brooks Middle School - 7th grade winners

1st Place - (3 way tie)
Elise S., Sophia P. and Sophia C.

2nd Place -
Helen B.

3rd Place (3 way tie) -
Judd B., Olivia V., and Griffin K.

Thank you to everyone for your participation.

A copy of the Reflection on The Wiz activity is under handouts to the right.

Week of April 25

This week in Language Arts students have the opportunity to revise, edit and type pieces for the final Memoir Project. (Specific directions for the project are listed under "handouts" to the right of this blog.) Netbook computers will only be available this week in the class room, and flashdrives are required each day in class. Students need to finish the project on their own time using computers at home, the local libraries, or at school during lunch or before school.

Please double check that your student has turned in all class novels. Many students think they have turned them in, however they may not have turned in the copy that they were assigned. Students may replace the missing novel with a new one or pay for the loss. This money will go to the library to replace the novels.

On Thursday afternoon, our team will attend a performance of The Wiz.

Next week students will take the final MAP tests in reading and math for this year.

Overdue Language Arts Novels

Please return the following book(s) to Ms. Pearson ASAP, if you have not already. If you cannot find your book, you may provide a NEW copy OR pay for it. Thanks for helping support our literacy mandate by returning your novels. Textbooks will need to be returned in the middle of May.

___ Monster ($9)
___ The Looking Glass War ($9)
___ The Beekeeper’s Apprentice ($14)
___ Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment ($8)
___ Freak the Mighty ($6)
___ The Order of Odd Fish ($8)

Thanks.

LA this week AND District 97 Writing Celebration Results

This week in Language Arts we are continuing to work on short poems, writing personal memoirs (over the long weekend), and reviewing basic literary terms, grammar and reading skills.

Next week students will use the computer netbooks in class to revise and type pieces of their work for the Memoir Project. (Information about that project is under handouts to the right of this blog.)

PLEASE review the online grades with your student. The essay and class project should be graded shortly, however other activities have been entered.

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Congratulations to the following students!!! Each piece that earned an Award for Excellence will be published soon in District 97’s Writing Celebration Booklet for 2011.


Olivia V., Poetry – Award for Excellence

Emma S., Poetry, Award for Excellence

Brianna S., Poetry, Award for Excellence

Abraham S., Poetry, Award for Excellence

Rosie S., Prose, Award for Excellence

Hannah E., Prose, Award for Excellence

Jonah H., Prose, Award for Excellence

Charlotte J., Prose, Award for Excellence

Progress Reports sent home this week

I have entered all the scores for LA assignments from this week and during my absence. Please look over your student's progress with your child and sign the progress report before sending it back to me. You are also welcome to print it directly from Powerschool if it did not make it home to you.

Please remember that if there is a ___ (blank space), it means the activity was not graded or due yet. If there is a "0", I have not received it. Regarding the essays that were due on March 24: there was an issue with my substitute not keeping a copy for me to grade. If your student does NOT have a check in that box for "turned in", please have them print it again and give it to me tomorrow. My apologies for this confusion.....

Also, there continues to be an outbreak of tardiness on our team. Please check for tardies on the online gradebook, and please speak to your child about how tardiness disrupts everyone in the class. Students are also tardy if they don't have their materials for class and leave to get them.

Thanks, as always, for your support. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

This week

Welcome back from Spring Break.

Thank you for your thoughts while I was out of town. I will catch up on grading as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

This week students are exploring personal stories and reading short stories in the textbook.