March/April Happenings

ELA

March Madness: We came back from Easter ready to complete our March Madness unit. Choosing from the Elite 8, students read a second novel, took a comprehension test, and created a one-pager to show comprehension and analysis. We were then ready for the next votes: Final Four, Semi Final, and the winning 2024 Book of the Year. For the second year in a row, Fort won! It was a close win as 49% of the students wanted A Night Divided, but Fort edged it out. Even though March Madness has ended, kids continue to borrow the novels in the lineup to read for pleasure … success!

Poetry: Poetic devices and figurative language were taught simultaneously, and we enjoyed analyzing a mix of poems, including ones by Shel Silverstein and Edgar Allen Poe (quite a juxtaposition!), along with Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, and Alfred Noyes. Using these poems as inspiration, students wrote their own and turned something ordinary into the extraordinary, incorporating figurative language as well! I loved reading the poems. The unit ended with a test in which students read three new poems and analyzed meaning as well as the figurative language.

Time Person of the Year: Students partnered up for this project and took on the role of being a Time magazine feature reporter. They worked to learn why their partner is named Time Person of the Year, but the year is 2050. Each student prepared for the interviews by creatively deciding how they will use their gifts to do something wonderful to change the world. Other information included family life and education (both current and in the future) and an obstacle they overcome which leads to the desire to help others. Additional lessons with this project include applying sentence variety and vocabulary from the list of top 75 seventh grade words.  I can’t wait to see everyone’s articles!

Grammar and Vocabulary: We just completed studying subject-verb agreement and good vs. well usage. Both of these skills help make writing stronger, and I also timed the units towards the end of the school year so the material is fresh for any students taking a high school entrance exam. For vocabulary we completed our last chapter from our book this week, and now we are moving on to top 75 words from 7th grade. This list will be the basis of our vocabulary final, and it also is the list students will pull from for adding vocabulary to projects. 

Religion

Congratulations and blessings to all the students who made their Confirmation! It was an honor to help prepare the students for this very special sacrament.

These past weeks we have studied the Paschal Mystery in preparation for the Easter season, and students created a triptych art project to show their understanding of Jesus' suffering/dying, resurrection, and ascension. Following this, we began to study the teachings of Matthew, chapters 5-7 in the Bible. It began with the Beatitudes and continued with students working collaboratively to teach one of the other lessons in Matthew's Gospel. Using slides to explain the teaching, students then wrote and performed a skit! They had to memorize lines and use props to show a modern day scenario incorporating the Gospel teaching. This year's class LOVES skits, so I have worked to incorporate them into religion class more often. They are also great for showing how to live our faith! 

Coming Next: A short story unit in ELA and Jesus' miracles in religion!

Similarly in ELA, we found quiet time on another beautiful day to begin writing our poems.