For the week of Jan 12-16

Back in the swing of things....

This week Ms. Komar took over language arts. Here's what she has to share with you:

Language Arts

This week we will be beginning a new book called Chain of Fire by Beverely Naidoo. The book is set in South Africa during apartheid, so it goes well with what we have been learning in Social Studies! To enhance the students comprehension of the book, they will be participating in literature circles. Literature circles are basically student led book clubs. Students will have a job to complete each week and must be prepared to share their work with their literature circle group. Groups will be comprised of 5 or 6 students and will meet on a weekly basis, during class time, to discuss the book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I am very excited to share it with the students!

Monday: Reading Chain of Fire
Tuesday: Reading a short story and having the students create their own endings to the story,
Reading Chain of Fire
Wednesday: Preparing for literature circles, Reading Chain of Fire
Thursday: Literature circles
Friday: Chain of Fire chapter quiz (chapters 1-5)

Social Studies (still with Mrs. Caruso)

Maps of Europe were assigned today and are due Thursday. Students have two class periods to work on them at school; the rest should be done at home. We'll also do a couple short worksheets this week focused on the geography of Europe, reinforcing map skills from earlier in the year.

Current Event #3 is due this Friday (Jan. 16).