Ladies and Gentlemen… we are in the home stretch!
Only about 6 more weeks left in the school year. How can that possibly be? What a fast year!
My kids are all finished with testing season… PARCC is over (aside from a few make-ups here and there for some kids) and our 7th grade ELA cumulative exam is done (and the SGO calculations complete!). So, we are now free to move into what I like to call the “Ahhh”-season. It’s during this time that I really try to make sure that the ARTS in ELA is emphasized.
So… here is what I’ve got on tap for the next 6 weeks:
Reading:
We are going to read and analyze four myths from our Holt Literature series and then do a little myth writing ourselves with some help from:
Then, we are going to read a few excepts from Holt’s Unit 7: Biographies and Autobiographies. After we do some reading, I’m thinking a little research project, maybe using this:
This project can be used in reading or writing, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll fit it into my writing time.
Once that is finished, I think I’m going to break out this product again:
But this time, rather than just writing snapshots, I’m going to let them write a short story. I’m not a huge fan of short story writing, mostly because it’s impossibly difficult for a 7th grader to tell a complete story, but they’ve been BEGGING to write some fiction, so now is a good time.
And finally, I think that I’m going to close out the last week with this:
Again, this can easily be stretched out until the very last day of school, and that is most certainly a plus!
Math:
Now, I don’t teach math anymore, but I did for years! In those days, I always ended the year with this:
Holy moses – I am planning on our last few weeks (today was 19 days!) for my 7th graders to write their own myths because they love writing fiction, but I wasn't entirely sure how to prep them before we begin writing. That product you listed is THE ANSWER! Couldn't have been better timed.
Thank you as always for your amazing content and blog.