Language Arts Newsletter 
Week of December 19th 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Last week of our first 
semester - Let's finish strong! 

Cycle 2C Instruction:

6th-grade focus standards:

6.RV.3.1

6.RV.2.1


The Big Ideas: 

* Figurative Language

* Context Clues

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7th-grade focus standards:

7.RL.2.2

7.W.6.2b


The Big Ideas:

*Punctuation - commas

*Theme

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8th-grade focus standards:

8.RL.2.2

8.W.6.2b


The Big Ideas:

*Theme

*Punctuation



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"Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve." - Roger Lewin

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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!
 

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

   - Derek Bok
 
 
 
 
 Let's RAP School Wide! 
 

6th Grade: 

 

1. This week we will focus on the RAP strategy to improve constructed-responses for all our students, from high-ability to at-risk. Consistency is key! 


2. Looking ahead to instructional Cycle 3A 


7th/8th Grades: 


1. This week we will focus on the RAP strategy to improve constructed-responses for all our students, from high-ability to at-risk. Consistency is key!


2. Looking ahead to instructional Cycle 3A
 
 
 
 
 
 

  • Cycle 2C mini-assessments are on Canvas and ready for you. The code is   santa (all lowercase). 
  • Please complete your SRI assessments this week. Thank you :-) 
 
 
 
 Teaching is a wonderful way to learn. – Carol Dweck
 
 
 
 
If our students can't make inferences, then they also can’t draw conclusions nor make predictions.   To pass ISTEP+ or to make meaningful progress on NWEA, 
students must become experts at making inferences.
 
Inference can be a tricky reading strategy to teach, which is a bit ironic since most of us are always inferring things about the world around us.

1. Be sure our students know what inference is and what it isn’t.  Inference is using facts, observations, and logic or reasoning to come to an assumption or conclusion. It is not stating the obvious.

2. Let students know they are already experts and find ways to show how they infer things all the time. Here is a fun suggestion for demonstrating this idea. Come to school in a T-shirt from an event such as a charity run, concert, or theater performance. Ask the students what they can infer from your clothing choice.

3. Use pictures. Books with many images are a wonderful source for pictures that are useful for making inferences. They are a great tool for kids to learn about inferences by making the bridge from pictures to text.

4. Ask questions. Ask inference questions while reading aloud from both literature and nonfiction selections across the curriculum. Teach students to use inference questions when reading independently. What can I infer from these clues? What information did I use to make the inference? How good was my thinking? Do I need to change my thinking? Make it a challenge.
 
 
 
 
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