Yesterday we began reading the novel Egghead. It is imperative that students bring their novels to class each and everyday. We will spend time in class working individually to identify various characteristics of the new characters that have been introduced. Students will be asked to answer questions from their packet for homework. I will be encouraging each student to use their book as a reference when attempting to answer the comprehension questions.

The link below can be used to access the Google Slides Presentation that we will be using in class to take notes/participate in activities. Students should feel free to bookmark this page on their device. Please note that this document is a living tool, which will be changed and updated regularly.

Egghead Presentation

Today students will be receiving a paper copy of the following resources:

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Last week at this time we were all packing for the OJCS Middle School Retreat. The students and staff had a fantastic time filled with ruach, learning, and team building activities.

The Grade 8 class started a new tradition this year! They
“owned their own learning” and created an incredible Amazing Race challenge for the entire middle school. Each year the Grade 8 class will be responsible for planning a team building activity for their peers. Check out the video below to see some of the activities they planned.

Today students were asked to complete a Bullying Awareness Survey. This anonymous survey provided students with a series of questions relating to their own personal experiences with bullying. We will analyze this data as a class in preparation for our first novel study. Tomorrow our class will discuss the results of this survey and create connections to our North Stars and Seven Habits.

Each student was given a copy of the novel Egghead by Caroline Pignat. Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to begin the novel in class. Throughout this novel study, students will be asked to read both in class and at home. There will be corresponding activities for each chapter throughout the novel.

Please respond to the following task below via a comment to this post:

Students are asked to comment a prediction about the novel Egghead based solely off of the front cover of the book. Support your prediction by referencing specific details from the cover. (Think about the following question: Why could making predictions be an important reading skill?)

Bullying Awareness Survey

In class yesterday the students participated in a Kahoot activity to learn a little bit more about my personal story. The first assignment for the Grade 6 class is for each student to create their own River of Life.

The River of Life is a visual narrative that helps people tell the stories of the past, present, and future. Students may use pictures, words, and phrases to indicate key moments/changes throughout the course of their life

River of Life must include:

• Visuals depicting various moments in your life

• A written description of 3-5 sentences for each stage explaining a key event from each of the following: The past, present, and future

I can’t wait to hear all about your narrative. Check out my example below!

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I hope everyone had a fantastic summer! I am looking forward to teaching, challenging, and encouraging our middle school students this year in Language Arts. Yesterday we reviewed the Seven Habits, North Stars, behavior expectations, homework policy, and uniform policy. Our goal is for each student and parent to clearly understand these policies. There are a lot of exciting upcoming events in the middle school!

If you have not turned in the retreat and JCC permission slips, please do so by tomorrow.

Please feel free to check out and review the presentation that we shared with the students yesterday. Additionally, you will find a link to my own classroom policies for the year.

Mr. Washerstein’s Classroom Policies

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Question: Why do we need to make connections while reading?

Student challenge: As you complete your creating connections activity with your literature circle groups today, discuss the question above. Reply to this blog post with your group’s thoughts and feelings about this topic.

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We are reading various Holocaust themed novels for our Grade 6 literature circles. We will be unpacking the experiences that are described in each novel and developing our own personal connections. Students are expected to be reading each night to ensure that they have completed their predetermined page numbers/chapters by Friday of each week. On Fridays, groups will be discussing their reading and participating in various reading strategy skill building activities.

Please see the Google Docs for each group below to access the link to the audiobook, weekly reading breakdown, along with access to the One-Pager Final Project.

Number the Stars Group Google Doc

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Group Google Doc

The Sky is Falling Group Google Doc

Note: The One-Pager Final Project is due on Wednesday, June 12th. You will need to work on this project at home over the course of the next three weeks to ensure that you have adequate time to complete the assignment. 

One-Pager Final Project Instructions

Middle school students presented their speeches today at the Public Speaking Finals! Judges, parents, teachers, and peers were all thoroughly impressed. The judges had a very difficult decision to make. Thank you to all who participated in the finals. Each speech was delivered with a unique style and passion. I look forward to seeing what is in store for next year’s public speaking competition.

2019 Public Speaking Finals Results:

Gold- Jessica Ages

Silver- Talia Cherun

Bronze- Yamaya Newman