Midterm Update

It's been a couple weeks since our last update, and it has been a very BUSY couple of weeks!  During the week before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we did a 9-day unit on the September 11th attacks and their lasting effects on different groups of people, including the children on 9/11.  We used the cover story of People magazine from that week, as well as articles from the New York Times and Newsweek for our research.  Several of my students came in to class with information they received from their parents at home as well.  Thank you for being involved in our class discussion at home as well!  It is such an important contribution. 


We ended our study of 9/11 with a student-led classroom discussion.  It was amazing to see all my students delve deep into the topic and ask important, real-world questions.  It was an important practice in a life skill they will use.


After finishing up that unit, we learned literary terms that we will need to know when we begin our first novel next week.  The 7th grade will be starting out with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, one of my all time favorite books.  6th grade is beginning with Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick.  I read this book for the first time over the summer, and I cannot wait to teach it.  It provides so many great lessons on friendship and acceptance.


We have so many great things to look forward to as the fall weather sets in!  Please continue to encourage your student to read.  Book Talks are happening everyday, and they only have four more weeks to finish those up for the quarter!  I hope everyone is enjoying this fall weather as much as me! 

Kinds of Sentences Short Films

We switched gears this week and started working on some grammar review.  Mostly, we talked about types and kinds of sentences.  We have spent the second half of the week writing scripts for our Kinds of Sentences Short Films competition.  I can't wait to see what all of our groups have come up with for their scenes.  After watching the progress this week, I just know they'll be great.  


Another thing that's going well is our Word of the Week program.  Our word this past week was "assertive," and students are doing a great job of implementing that word into their vocabularies (especially since using it in class earns you a piece of candy).  We'll have a new word starting on Tuesday.  If you catch your student using one of our words at home, don't hesitate to ask them what it means.  Now they should know!


I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!  Next week, we'll be studying nonfiction multimedia and newsprint texts related to the ten year anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  This would be a great topic to discuss at home with your student as we are discussing it in class.  Happy Weekend everyone.  Enjoy your free Monday!

The Five Things

During Week Two, we finally got down to business in English class and dove into some reading strategies.  We started the week off by working with the five elements of a short story, and finished up with point of view.  We read two great short stories and learned a rap song about the five elements.  You can watch it here, or by following the link on Edline under assignments.


Next week, we're going to be working with some elements of grammar, including types and kinds of sentences.  We'll be filming skits with the flip cameras at the end of the week.  Should be a lot more fun than taking notes :)

Yay, we did it!

Week One is in the books!  I'm so proud of every one of my students' behavior and participation during the first week.  We are off to a really great start!  Next week, we will start working on reading strategies and parts of the story, and we will start taking trips to the library.  Parents, I hope you find time to talk to your student about what he or she is reading.  I've had a lot of them checking books out of my classroom library already, and that is wonderful!  The most important tool students can develop in middle school is an enjoyment of reading.  I'm reading with the kids this year for my own enjoyment, and it would be great if you could read along as well.  If you have any questions about books, please email me at school.  Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you have a great weekend!

Breakfast helps your Brain!

One of the most important things to guarantee a great day for your student is breakfast.  I found this easy recipe for Jam Muffins, and it sounds like a yummy (and nutritious) way to get your student out the door in the morning.  You could even make them over the weekend and send them on the bus or to the cafeteria.  This recipe actually has you make the dry mix for the muffins, but you could also use the Martha White packaged muffin mix for Honey Bran muffins to make this even faster.  Happy First Week of School!

Jam Muffins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar

Instructions

 

1. Heat the oven to 400° F. Grease the bottoms only of 12 standard muffin cups. Whisk the jam in a small bowl until smooth and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the yogurt, oil, egg, and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients just until the batter is blended.
3. Fill the cups halfway with batter and use a spoon to make a shallow well in the center of each. Fill each well with a rounded teaspoon of jam and then cover the jam with more batter.
4. Bake the muffins for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean (there may be jam on it). Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them. Dust the tops with confectioners' sugar. Makes 1 dozen.

Back to School!

Welcome to Ms. Herring's English Class!  I hope everyone had a great summer and is ready to get started on another year of school.  This is my first year at Benton Middle School, and I am so excited about the year to come.  I am especially excited about the opportunity to integrate more technology into our classroom.  Throughout the year, I will post updates on our class to the blog, Word of the Week information, helpful links, and other materials.  Be sure to ask your student about the Word of the Week and help them increase their vocabulary.  This space will also serve as a "brag board" for outstanding student writing and achievements.  Our school theme this year is "Just Be It,"  so our goal in class is to BE communicators, BE reading and writers, and to BE our best everyday. I know if we all strive to BE these things that it will be a great year for everyone.