As I enter my sixth year teaching, I have to say that I don't think I ever been more excited for a school year than I am for this one! We have some big changes coming in the middle school, and I am super pumped about them! I am also super pumped to officially meet the incoming fifth graders-- they were little, tiny kindergarteners when I first started teaching at OES and now they are middle schoolers coming to my language arts class!
As we start the year, here's what we will be working on: 5th grade: We will begin the year taking charge of our reading lives as we learn to write about reading and rediscover our passions for reading. We will also be moving into book groups and delve into Wonder by RJ Palacio before the movie comes out in November! (Field Trip???) 6th grade: I have completely redesigned the sixth grade curriculum to spend the whole year investigating topics and issues revolving around social justice. We will start the year thinking about identity as we learn how to appropriately and respectfully discuss tough topics. We will then move into our first big unit, which will be about gender. 7th & 8th grades: For the first time, ALL of the seventh and eighth grader will join together for one giant humanities class that I will co-teach with Mr. Chadburn! Our theme for the year will be "culture," and we are both excited about all the opportunity for creativity and collaboration this new format will allow for students (and teachers!). The fun starts day one--you won't want to miss it!
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Make a Difference night was a success! After three and a half months on hard work, sixth graders were finally able to show off all they have learned about their organization. After presenting to their fellow students for two hours Wednesday afternoon, sixth graders then presented for an hour to the community that night. Many who stopped by mentioned they were impressed by the students' composure, confidence, and knowledge! This was also a time for students to share their extension projects, which is a project of their choosing that they have been working on with a mentor from the school or community. This year extension projects ranged from creating videos to starting an after school program to designing a fundraiser. We have not finished counting all the money students raised (it is still coming in!), but we know we are already over the $200 mark! Check out photos from the day/evening as well as the Chronicle article that featured many of our students and their Make a Difference projects in the photos section of this site. Yesterday was a great day in the language arts room! After much anticipation and at least 6 months of planning, the 7th and 8th graders officially started a gamification unit! This means that we have taken language arts class and turned it into a video game! Instead of working on assignments and earning grades, students will work on quests and earning enough XP (Experience Points) to level up! Students are also earning AP (Achievement Points) for accomplishing various achievements. AP can be spent in the class item shop to purchase anything from a pencil to music pass to lunch date with Miss G! Students will be using this system as we spend the rest of the year exploring issues of race, covering everything from the Emancipation Proclamation to the March to Montgomery to the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. If you are interested in learning more about gamification or following our gamification journey, please check out our gamification website or follow us on Twitter with the hashtag #oesgamification. In addition to 7th and 8th grade starting something new, 5th and 6th finished the first round of the Banangrams Challenge! We had a rematch of last year's championship game with Ashlyn and Logan competing to be the school's Top Banana! In a very close, fast-paced match, Logan avenged his loss in last year's championship match and claimed the title! Logan will now compete against the Top Bananas from other New England school in an online round. If he makes the Top 12, he will be invited to Rhode Island to complete in the national championship. Good luck, Logan! For more pictures from our Banagrams Challenge, check out the Photo Gallery. |
Miss G
I am a 2011 graduate of St. Michael's College where I studied English and Secondary Education. I love teaching, learning, soccer, and buying more books than I could ever possibly read. This is my sixth year teaching at OES. Archives
August 2017
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