Week 6

Greetings Students and Parents!

Wow! Lots of learning this past week.

In social studies, our learning activities have focused around the constitution, the bill of rights, structure of state and federal government, how a bill is passed and more! We have been writing several short essays as a way to help students process, apply, and demonstrate their learning. We have started using some online educational games (quizlet.com) as a way to study and interact with learning objectives.

Last week’s quizzes were generally lower than I was hoping, so I gave students an opportunity to complete a Reflection and Correction Activity in order to improve on their quiz score. Students found out what they got wrong, researched to find the right answer, reflected on why they thought they missed it, and then wrote 50-75 word short essay on that topic. Most students found this activity to be educationally fruitful and a helpful grade boost.

In language arts, we are finishing our unit on journalism and narrative writing with our constitutional issue paper. This is a cross over assignment and will be graded in both social studies and language arts using two different rubrics. Students are writing about a contemporary, constitutional issue than deals with both individuals’ rights versus the common good. During this writing process, students are sharpening their researching and formatting skills, going even more in-depth in their journalistic approach, and are working toward building logical, elaborate, and stylistic essays that not only inform the reader, but enlighten!

During week 7, we will be finishing this writing unit with our constituti0onal issue essay and then a narrative free write. Then, starting in week 8, we will be moving to persuasive writing, wherein we will be learning the art of writing thematic, literary essays.

Week 5

Greetings parents and students! We had a wonderful field trip to Royal Ridges last week. I especially enjoyed the team building aspect.

This week, we have started our Content Based Assessment paper, which we are calling Article #4. The paper will address a constitutional issue. I have provided students a list of topics. Students will research, interview, and think critically about a human rights issue. I am asking students to have an adult review their work to make editing suggestions. I am trying to break this paper down into a number of smaller tasks, so your student should be paying close attention to the deadlines and tasks in Google Classroom.

Thanks for all your support!

Week 3

Greetings parents and students. Wow! Another great week here at CAM academy. I hope your student is starting to get the rhythm of the classes. Here’s a breakdown of what a normal week looks like:

Language Arts

• Writing an Article from: Brainstorming, gathering information, rough draft, collaborating, editing, publishing. Final Draft is due Thursday night (11:59 p.m.) in Google Classroom. 
• Wordly Wise: One lesson a week. I will collect every other week and quiz every other week.
• Reading from our novel. Half of my students are reading Roll of Thunder and the other half, Johnny Tremain. We prepare for our literature circles by reading a chapter before each class day.
• Writing Journal and Reading & Skills Journal: These journals are a collection of things we do in class: notes, discussions, lessons. I will collect them every other week on Tuesdays.

Social Studies

• Quizzes are usually on Fridays, every other week.
• Social Studies notebooks are collected every other week on Tuesday.
• Work that students don’t finish in class becomes homework.
• About once a week, I will assign an activity in Google Classroom as homework.

Also, your students can look on Google Classroom for all my slides, assignments, due dates, videos, etc. Thanks for your help. I am really looking forward to next week’s Retreat at Royal Ridges. This is going to be a great time of community and character building. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Week 1

Greetings Parents and Students! This first week is a short one but very important. We will be establishing rules, procedures. We will be getting to know each other and we will be setting the tone for this year’s learning.

In our Language Arts class, we will be writing letters and starting our first writing workshop writing piece. Remember to bring in your 3 items on Friday that you think represent you.

In Social Studies, we will starting our exploration of US history with two lessons in US geography. We will be creating regional maps and working in groups to plan a hypothetical road trip across America.

Hello Students and Parents

Greetings Parents and Students! I am so excited to be teaching in the CAM family this year. We have so much to learn and do. I look forward to growing with you this year. This Site will be used for general information, but we will be using the Google Classroom for more specific weekly assignments, announcements, due dates, etc. Welcome!