Language Arts NewsLetter 
Week of October 24th 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Welcome Back!  

New instructional cycle begins today.

Cycle 2A focus:

6th-grade focus standards:

6.RL.2.3

6.RL.3.1

6.RL.2.1


The Big Ideas: 

Plot

Story Development

Inference


7th-grade focus standards:

7.RL.3.1

7.RL.3.2


The Big Ideas:

Plot

Character’s Perspective


8th-grade focus standards:

8.RL.2.2

8.W.1


The Big Ideas:

Setting
Plot

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Don’t forget to check the Instructional Calendar for information on standards, “I can statements", and resources. It's just one click away.

Click here to be on your merry way to our ELA Portal! 
 
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
   — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.


Reminders:

  1. I will be out of the building until Friday. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me. I will respond as soon as possible. 

2. Our State On-Site Monitoring visit will take place this Friday.  

 
Be a proton and stay
positive! ;-) 
 
 
“You cannot be a master teacher until you are a master learner."
 

6th Grade: 


We will cover Cycle 1C Mini-Assessement data analysis using our "Diving Deep into the Data and Coming Up with a Few Pearls” form. Please bring your devices. 


7th/8th Grades: 


We will be analyzing Cycle 1C Mini-Assessement data using our "Diving Deep into the Data…" forms. Please bring your devices. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  • Cycle 2B Mini-assessments are ready to be reviewed. Please email me withany feedback or concerns you may have.  
  • ISTEP is still embargoed. 

  • Here are ISTEP support videos and presentations:


    §Item Sampler Video 3-8

    § Item Sampler PPT 3-8


    They include a great overview of the materials available, interpretation of the guidance documents and suggestions for using the Samplers. The Item Sampler Videos run about 12 minutes while the Guidance Videos are about 3 minutes. All the resources listed in the videos can be found on  IDOE Office of Student Assessment site.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Touchpad gestures: Accessing previous/next web pages in the browser
 
 


Chromebooks have good trackpads and they have multi-touch gestures that make it easy to do certain functions. 

Simply swipe left or right with two fingers to go to the previous or next web page on the active tab. It works smoothly and keeps your hand on the trackpad. I use this method more often than hitting the left or right arrow keys. 
 
Let your fingers do the work! 
 
 

 
 
What is a booktalk?
 
A book talk is like a movie trailer. The purpose of a booktalk is to "sell" the book. You want to give enough of the plot to interest the students, but you are not giving a summary of the book. You don't want to give away the important parts of the book, and you certainly never want to give away the ending. You want to highlight the interesting points. You may want to read certain passages to your students. The primary purpose of a booktalk is to grab the audience's interest and make them want to read the book. It's always a good idea to end the booktalk with a cliffhanger. It is also good idea to have the book as a visual prop. 
(From Nancy Keane’s Children’s Literature website )
 
 
 
 
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