Barnes' Booknotes

Anchor projects for the theme portion of the Think-tac-toe board are currently being graded. If a "blank" apprars on Pinnacle, it does not mean there is a missing assignment. If there is a "Z" grade entered, the student has not yet turned their project in. These were due January 11 and I had graciously given an extention. Now they are late. The last date these can be turned in is February 1.

Discipline Update

In order to provide the best learning environment possible for our students, a few modifications have been made to our school wide discipline plan. These changes were implemented in 8th grade during second quarter and are now in effect for 6th and 7th grades. The most significant change is that infractions earned in all classes are cumulative. Any staff member can assign an infraction if they observe a student not following the rules. After 4 infractions students will serve a silent lunch. After 5, they will be assigned a morning detention, and on the 6th infraction, students will be referred to an administrator. Here is a Power Point presentation that was shown to the students on the first day of 3rd quarter:

Download Schoolwide discipline powerpointb

End of Term Update

Several assignments are still being graded and or posted to Pinnnacle. All grades will be finalized by the end of the day on January 9.

10 students did not turn in the Elements of Plot (Part B) of their Think-Tac-Toe and will receive an Incomplete for their 2nd quarter reading grade.  The work will need to be completed when you return. If you know you are one of these students, you may email your work to me before Dec. 31. Points will be deducted for late work.

The third portion of the Think-Tac-Toe project will be due on January 11. All students should have finished their anchor book by now and should complete the "Theme" portion of their project over break.

All students should read a minimum of 85 pages over the break and document this on their reading log and respond to at least two passages from their reading in their journals. This will be due on Jan. 10.

Think-Tac-Toe Project Resources

This post will be updated when more resources are suggested. Please check back.

Students who chose to do a bio-poem or two voice poem should focus on characterization. What are the characters/subjects of your work like? Look at this list of character traits. Which ones describe your character (or yourself)? Be sure you include evidence that can support your observations. Also, consider how you will provide textual evidence of these factor for your project (required to receive maximum points). What is a bio poem? Check out biopoem sample 1 or biopoem sample 2 or biopoem sample 3.

Progress Reports/Iowa Test Scores

Iowa test scores and progress reports were sent home on Wednesday, November 30. As these reports are very important, we need to confirm that all parents received this information. Students were instructed to bring their parent-signed progress report back to school for confirmation. To date, I have only received this notification from less than 25% of my homeroom students. To avoid consequences for failure to follow directions, all students should bring written confirmation from parents by Monday. Parents may also email me at laura.barnes@cobbk12.org to confirm they received the progress report and Iowa scores. Thank you!

Anchor Project Update

Think-Tac-Toe Assignment for Periods 3 & 5: Download Fictional Reading Think-Tac-Toe OnLev

Think-Tac-Toe Assignment for Periods 6 & 7: Download Fictional Reading Think-Tac-Toe AC

Due dates have been adjusted. By now all students should have turned in their project choice from column 1 (A). Everything turned in before the Thanksgiving holiday has been graded and posted on Pinnacle. Because many students have not completed at least half of their novel, all students have signed a contract for a new due date for their project choice from the second column (B) Download Anchor Book Project Extension Contract Students were instructed to write the new due date for part B in their agenda. They were also to have calculated how many pages they should read each day in order to complete their anchor book by December 20 and write the page # goal for each day in their agenda. If a student falls behind, they should ask me to put a copy of their book on "reserve" in the Simpson media center so they may come in befoe school to catch up on their reading.  Unfortunately, there are not enough copies of the books for the students to take them home. The third project choice will be due after the Winter Break on January 11.

Reading Anchor Project

Students were assigned a project for their classroom anchor book and have been working on it in class. Part 1 is due on November 9 (next Wednesday). We have been working on these in class, but some work may need to be finished at home.

Parents should sign the project sheet to indicate they are aware of the the assignment.

Reading and Thinking

All students are assigned a daily warm-up we call the "RAT" or "Reading and Thinking" It is not a difficult activity and often students tend to rush through it without a lot of thought. The skills reviewed in these seemingly simple activities are, however, right at the heart of basic reading instruction.

Lately, the apathy toward this assignment has grown, with sometimes as many as 75% of the class not preparing adequately for our class discussion. Today, I collected the assignment and did what I call a "spot check". I graded two of today's four questions. They are posted on Pinnacle. The grade, when compared to the other graded work we will be collecting this quarter, is relatively small, but for the next few days may cause some student's averages to look quite dismal.

Parents, if you are concerned with your child's grade, please talk to them about what they can do to improve their preparation for this daily activity.

Conference Schedules

Conference scheduling sheets were sent home today. Please check with your student and return these to your child's teacher as soon as possible. Thank you!

Reading Logs

If you did not give me your reading log status for 1st Quarter today, please see me in the morning before school (3rd, 5th, & 7th period students). If you are in 6th period, please pick up your graded journal before homeroom so you can update your reading log before class in the afternoon.

Once you have submitted your total for 1st Quarter, you should draw a line under your 1st quarter titles and label the next line "2nd Quarter". Re-enter any titles you are continuing to read for 2nd Quarter. The "page started" should be the page your are on today. When you calculate pages read for the next status check, you will need to subtract the page you started on at the beginning of 2nd Quarter from the page where you stopped reading before the status check. There will be no "page rollovers" this year. All students are expected to read a minimum of 17 pages per day in order to meet the 25 book standard.  Reading logs will be checked every 1-2 weeks on Mondays. The final log check for 2nd Quarter will be on December 19, when students should have read 765 pages.