Hello visitors and families! It's a new school year, which means the first week is filled with forms and things to return to the school. This year there will be two extra permission forms for our classroom. One is a technology use form, as Waterloo Region District School Board requires parent permission for third party apps. This year, we will be using Weebly again to create student blogs. We will also be using PearDeck in class which is an app that I LOVE and wholeheartedly stand behind. It makes Google Slides interactive, and I have found that it really encouraged student participation. Especially in those first few weeks of school when students are more shy than usual, PearDeck allows opportunities for students to silently share their opinions. For me as a teacher, I can also see what they think without having to point someone out, and I find that students are more prepared to share their answers once they've written them out beforehand. Another reason I love it is because you can quickly check to see student understanding and use the data as a formative assessment. If you want to know more about it, please see the video below and if you are a parent in my classroom, please contact me with any questions!
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Last year, I started a new "end of the year" project with my grade sevens. It was a simple one: out of all the books you read this year, which one had the biggest impact on you? Which was your favourite? There was a lot of discussion, but many students were able to land on a novel right away. This made my heart so happy, as I really didn't have ANY student in my class that said they couldn't think of a novel. Some even struggled to choose between a couple they really loved. Students filled out the following template about their books, feel free to use it in your own classrooms if you are a teacher visiting this page. As with the majority of assignments I assign, I provided students with an example of a book talk where I wrote about a book I love. We also used a few book talks as a mentor text to look for features that made them persuasive and encouraged us to want to pick up and read! With it being the end of the year, I was worried about the groans of, "ugh, another project?" but I didn't seem to get a lot of negative feedback. I was so excited to preview some of their recommendations. Many of their choices came from our book clubs we did this year, which is awesome! It means the texts we have chosen for these kits are engaging, and I hope they continue to peak student interest as the years go on. Others were novels from my personal classroom library that I recommended for students, and some were novels from home. It was exciting to read the book talks about novels I don't own or have never read - I quickly added them to my own 'wish list' and purchased some for the library this year. As we are gearing up for back to school, I made a reading bulletin board outside of my room so that my new grade 7 students can see how last year's class connected to novels, and can immediately get an insight into the books that students loved this year! In addition, each recommendation is going to be compiled into a book that will sit in our classroom library this year. I hope to continue to recommend novels for students, as this is one of my favourite parts of my job, but also to send students to this resource for them to find their next favourite book! Hello everyone! My goal this summer was to blog a bunch about teaching! I had a personal goal to do one thing a week that pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and in the pursuit of my new ambition I attended a bootcamp fitness class downtown. Unfortunately, it resulted in a broken wrist! Therefore, my blogging adventures had to take a brief hiatus while I healed enough to type. This post is overdue but earlier this year I had a goal of reading 25 books in the school year. I started in January, and in the process rediscovered my love of reading. Naturally, I have always loved reading but I became so excited about my goal that I discovered a bunch of new titles that I likely wouldn't have tried had I not challenged myself. I accomplished my 25 title goal, and would love to share the novels with you and a the top 5 favourites that I read. I've read quite a few this year including many young adult novels included in my library so that I can provide recommendations for young readers! There are more novels which are not included on this list, but eventually I stopped counting. Below is the list of some of the novels I have read this year... Some highlights...There really isn't a title on this list that I wouldn't recommend for one reason or another. Some require more maturity than others, and there are a few that are intended for adults only. Namely, Then She Was Gone, Educated, The Home for Unwanted Girls, and Born a Crime. The remaining books on this list are recommended for young adult readers, and some I would continue to recommend for more mature readers. This year, there will be a reading permission form sent home for parents to allow for their children to read a small selection of great teenage books which contain some language or themes more suitable for "mature readers" aged 13+. However, many times these novels contain brilliant narration and excellent commentary on the world today. I would never have a novel in my library that I do not fully support. Onto the Top Five...#5: The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani Sometimes a novel comes along that teaches you about a time you knew nothing about. This was the case for me with The Night Diary. The novel follows Nisha, a young Hindu/Muslim woman who navigates her life as a refugee once India separates into two nations in the 1940s. She approaches her harrowing journey with such courage and optimism, and all the while continues to make references to her admiration for Gandhi and his peaceful ways. This novel taught me about a time in history I knew nothing about, and led me to researching this time and the difficulty that so many people faced due to a simple border line being drawn. It allowed me to make connections to our world today, and how unfortunately history continues to repeat itself. #4: The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey I read this novel in preparation for our HERO/GEM book club this year. Honestly, it was hard to just pick one of those novels to include in the Top 5 as I also LOVED Ghost by Jason Reynolds. However, The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey was a favourite of mine. The novel follows Shane, a boy just trying to live as his authentic self. He had an opportunity to live as his true self without anyone knowing his past when he moved away with his mom. He lives a normal life - yet, suddenly, his secret starts to unravel. His life and his friendships change - some even for the better. This novel led to incredible discussions between my students and I, and my students amongst themselves. It led to new learning, understanding, and empathy. For these reasons, I have to include it in my top 5 this year. #3: Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich I finished this book near the end of the school year after hearing so much about the play. This novel had me gripped from the start. I loved this story for so many reasons, but the main reason is because I felt it truly showed that the smallest things can unite us together. There is potential for friendship between us all, and Evan Hansen discovers a whole new life once he finds one thread to hold onto. This narrative is really unique in that the storyline was different than the other novels I read this year. I felt this story in my bones, as I was able to put myself in the shoes of many different characters while I was reading. Evan's loneliness is the ultimate reason why he makes the poor choices that he does. This got me thinking about how ultimately, a lot of the choices we make are encouraged by impulsive emotions. This would be a great novel to encourage students to make connections to, as there are so many ways to put yourself in the character's shoes. #2: Dear Martin by Nic Stone Dear Martin was very similar yet different than The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, one of my favourite novels of all time. The novel follows Justyce, a bright young man preparing to enter Ivy League universities. During an unsolicited traffic stop, he begins to contemplate his life as a young black man in America, and what challenges he faces because of the colour of his skin. He narrates the novel through his own point of view, but also through writing letters to Martin Luther King Jr. This novel allowed me to make so many connections to the world today, and allowed for me to compare current events to those of the past. #1: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes This novel had me so gripped from the start. I could not put it down. 12-year-old Jerome is shot by a policeman in the opening pages while he plays with a toy gun. He proceeds to navigate the lives of his loved ones whom are coping with his death and begins looking for an explanation as to what happened to him. The only living person he can communicate with is the daughter of the cop who shot him, Sara. This novel explores very tough issues with sensitivity, but it doesn't sugar coat tough issues either. This novel led me to have some great discussions with students who described themselves as "non-readers" so I am thankful for this novel for these reasons alone. It just so happens to be incredible, thought-provoking and real. Despite its mature content, it's appropriate for grade seven students because it is told from the perspective of an innocent boy. Books like this make change, and change is what the world needs. |
AuthorHi! I'm Mrs. MP and I teach grade seven English! I'm so excited for you to learn along with me Archives
January 2022
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