Welcome back OJCS Middle School Students! I hope you had an enjoyable winter break. We will begin the new year with a writing activity about the break.
Click the link below to access our assignment:
Helpful writing tools:
Free Verse Poem Graphic Organizer
Paragraph Writing Graphic Organizer
This week we will begin exploring a series of interactive Nearpod lessons that revolve around digital citizenship and media literacy. These interactive experiences were created by our incredible librarian Brigitte! Today we will be focusing on in-text citations and bibliographies. Students can revisit this information at any time independently as well!
The links to these experiences can be found in the Google Slideshow below:
Each middle school class will compete in the 2020-2021 OJCS Reading Challenge. The reading challenge runs from December 8th, 2020 to May 3rd, 2021. Students will choose books that are interesting, grade-level appropriate, and fall within their ZPD. If students need help choosing a “just right” book…just ask Mr. Wash. Audiobooks, graphic novels, and books in other languages will also count for this challenge (please ensure the review is written in English).
Each class will set a reading goal…which they are encouraged to exceed!
How will we know who wins?
After students have completed a novel, they will need to write a review in their reading challenge document. Please follow the format that is provided in the Google Doc below. A book will only count towards our class total after the review has been written!
Must read and create at least three book reviews by Monday, March 2nd, 2021
Click the link below to make a personalized copy of the book review reading challenge log:
Book Review Reading Challenge Log
Ex: Michael’s Reading Log
2. Save the document to the Google Drive Folder that was shared with you yesterday
Gandalf said it best…the time to prepare for our short story unit test is now! Many students have already completed their study packet and have begun preparing for our unit test. We will spend time in class this week reviewing concepts and practicing literary device identification. However, adequate preparation at home will be essential!
Click the link below to access the original review post:
Here are a couple of extra resources that can be used to prepare for this test:
As we prepare for a day of distance learning tomorrow, students will engage in a meaningful letter writing exercise. Students are being tasked with creating holiday letters for soldiers that are deployed overseas. Our goal is to show our appreciation and spread holiday joy. This activity will be explained in person today, but students will work on this at home during class time tomorrow.
This activity embodies our Jewish values (gemilut hasadim) and our North Stars (each person is responsible for the other).
Each letter will include the following information:
Your letter should be at least two paragraphs
Each letter should also include visuals (these could be hand-drawn or computer-generated)
Over the course of the past few weeks, our class has been developing thesis statements. Students are examining the essential components of a thesis statement. Today, students will receive another packet with a variety of practice activities. The purpose of these activities is to foster the creation, analysis, and refinement of various thesis statements. As we look forward to our research writing unit, students will spend a lot of time developing thesis statements.
Loading...
This week our class will finish our short story unit. Today we will read and discuss Names/Nombres by Julia Alvarez. Tomorrow students will spend time answering comprehension questions.
Names/Nombres Comprehension Questions
Loading...
At the end of last week, students received their study package to prepare for their upcoming Short Story Unit Test on Monday, December 14th, 2020. Students are advised to begin studying each night, as this assessment will encompass a variety of literary terms and concepts.
Today students will be receiving a study package that can be used to prepare for their short story unit test. The test will take place on Monday, December 14th, 2020.
The short story unit test will include multiple-choice questions, a definition matching section, short answer questions, along with a short passage analysis.
Click the link below to access the review:
Check out this jeopardy review game: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/short-story-test-review-66
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Our next unit will revolve around analyzing persuasive techniques and improving our presentation skills. Last week we introduced the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos.
We will spend time this week analyzing advertising techniques such as avant garde, weasel words, magic ingredients, patriotism, transfer, plain folks, snob appeal, bribery, and bandwagon.
Click the link below to access our presentation:
(Please note that this is a live document that will be updated regularly)
Loading...
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab