School's Out!

Summer is here! I wanted to take a moment to thank my students for a great school year. I enjoyed teaching and getting to know each of you in my classroom. To 8th graders (or should I say, freshmen): Congratulations! You all have the potential to do great things in high school and beyond. I feel proud to know you and look forward to hearing about the great things you do with your futures. 7th graders, you will return at the top of the school next year as 8th graders. You made it! Have a safe and restful summer break, I hope to see you in the fall!

Some suggestions for staying sharp this summer:

• Read! Anything and everything! 7th graders, there are two more books in the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. They are excellent, I hope you get the chance to read them!

Other book suggestions can be found here:

Parkway Middle School Reading List

Middle School Summer Reading List

• Keep a summer journal or blog! Continued writing practice this summer will ensure you are at the top of your game when I see you in August. Writing fictional stories, making comic books or simply writing letters to your friends or family members are great ways to practice!

• Enjoy the outdoors! Ride your bike, play catch at the park, shoot hoops with your friends, walk around your neighborhood... You know I love video games myself, but don't stay glued to the tube all summer, OK?

Half Way There!

Dear Students and Parents,

            Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a nice winter break. Now that we have all adjusted to our school routine again, I have a few reminders and requests to help make the rest of the school year a success.

Review of Class Expectations: Students will be expected to (1) come to class on time and prepared, (2) treat all members of the class with respect, (3) follow directions the first time. These have been the expectations since day one. Any student not meeting class expectations will first receive a warning and if behavior continues, lunch detention or a “yellow card” referral will be given. Continuous deviation from class expectations will result in a phone call to the student’s home and administrative action.

Review of Procedures:

• All students are required to keep a journal (8^th grade) or warm-up notebook (7^th grade) and bring it to class daily.
• Students are also expected to be prepared for class by having notebook paper, pencil and blue or black pen. Work that is turned in for a grade must be written in pencil or, if in ink, blue or black only. Final drafts of essays should always be typed or written in blue or black pen.
• Students are given 4 bathroom passes to use during my class for the whole quarter. If a student uses all of the passes or loses them, they aren’t given another set. The purpose of this is to keep students in the classroom and to limit bathroom use to passing period and lunch time.  Students who save all 4 passes will be rewarded at the end of the quarter with a homework pass or prize from my basket.

Supplies: I truly appreciate those students and families who brought in supplies at the start of the school year. I still have plenty of tissues, pencils and Expo markers to use for our class, but I am running very low on many necessary supplies. If you are able and would like to donate supplies to our classroom, it would be very helpful. Our classroom is in need of:

• Loose leaf lined paper
• Construction paper
• Markers
• Colored Pencils
• Tape
• Hand sanitizer

Contact Info: If a student or parent needs to contact me after school hours, I can be reached by email at MsLsparks@gmail.com. Please feel free to email me with any concerns or questions you might have. You can also find my classroom blog at http://lsparkslpa.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on my name under Lakeside Teachers on the school website, www.lpatucson.org. 

Let’s have a great second semester!

J Ms. Sparks

November!

We've gotten through the first half of the second quarter... phew! Four more weeks until winter break and semester grades. If you weren't pleased with your progress report grades, kick it in to high gear for the next few weeks. You cannot make up late work in my class, but if you study for your tests and turn in all of your work for the rest of the quarter, your grade can only improve.

HOMEROOM: Turn in signed progress reports by Tuesday 11/16.

7th Grade Lit. Class, we're nearing the end of London's The Call of the Wild. Be sure you are reading carefully and studying your vocabulary words to do well on our weekly tests. Next week, we will discuss your Call of the Wild projects. We will quiz on chapters 5&6 this Friday. Your vocabulary words are:
repugnance
contagion
salient
superfluous
remonstrance
callowness
feigned
perambulating
adoration
traces

8th Grade Writing: Don't forget, your Friday quiz will be on adjectives/adverbs, use the worksheets from today to study!
Poetry portfolios... Be working on them at home. Remember, 14 total poems are required. You should have one of each of the following styles:
Acrostic
Diamante
Haiku
Cinquain
Who,What,When,Where,Why
Fortunately, Unfortunately
I remember
Limerick
Shape

You will also need to include 5 additional poems in the form of your choice (free verse, narrative, ode are all forms we will discuss and practice in class). Any of the poems we work on in class can be used in the portfolio, which should have a personal theme to it. Give your portfolio a cover page with a personal and appropriate title that goes with your poetry collection. You should also include a table of contents, so your pages will be numbered (We will work on the table of contents next week in class). Your finished portfolio should be something you are proud of, take pride in your work!

A good site for creating diamante, who,what,where,when,why (5W), cinquain, limerick and others. http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm

I'll be adding links to help you with your poetry... stay tuned!

Seventh Grade Literature:

Study for your content quizzes tomorrow! 7th graders had a review in class today for their first "Call of the Wild" quiz, and don't forget about the vocabulary words:

consternation
veranda
primordia
imperiously
toil
hydrophoby
conciliate
courier
treachery
egotistical
calamity
realm


Eighth Grade Writing:
Spelling test tomorrow! Your words:
poetry
alliteration
metaphor
rhyme
rhythm
expression
interpretation
emotion
communicate
sonnet

We will be talking in detail about your poetry book project on Monday.
Be sure you are turning in all homework and in class assignments so I can give you credit for what you do! Progress reports go out Friday, 11/12.

A few more events....
On Tuesday 11/9, from 5:30-7:30 pm  there will be a school-wide fundraiser at Peter Piper Pizza on Broadway (the new HUGE one... haven't been there yet!) Each student will get a free raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes and a class pizza party will be awarded to the class with the most students in attendance. Also, bring friends! Each additional person you bring counts toward your class attendance!

Veterans Day is Thursday 11/11 -- NO SCHOOL! However, Friday 11/12 will be a regular school day, and progress reports will be handed out in 6th period. A nice little break, though!

2nd Quarter

We kicked second quarter off with a great start!
For the past two weeks, students in the 7th grade literature class have been examining tone and mood through readings of spooky stories and a close examination of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." In the 8th grade writing class, students worked in pairs and came up with some very creative spooky stories, great job!

For the next couple of weeks, 7th graders will be reading our first class novel, Jack London's "The Call of the Wild." Students will be assigned two reading deadlines each week and quizzed every Friday on new vocabulary and content. We will begin reading Monday, Nov. 1. Parents are encouraged to read along with students, being able to discuss the novel together can only help when it comes to the quizzes and the analysis students will write at the end of the quarter in their writing class.

The focus in the 8th grade classes will be poetry. Students will be introduced to various forms of poetry and will demonstrate their understanding through a portfolio project. My hope is that the poetry unit will be a fun and fruitful experience for us all. Each student will have an artifact that I hope they will be proud of when the unit is finished... my mom still has my poetry portfolio from when I was in 8th grade :-)

I'm baaaaack!

Miss me? Today was my first day back after my wedding/vacation. Thank you for all of your well wishes before I left and since I've come back. We had a lovely little wedding :-)

My dad walked me down the aisle (left) and my younger sister was my maid of honor (right).

I wish I had enough of the cake to bring you all leftovers... but it was too delicious! (Right, Tony and I cutting our wedding cake... to smash in each other's faces!)


Reminder: All 7th grade book reports are due tomorrow! THURS. 9/30

8th graders, I hope you have been working on your Restaurant Reviews! They are due next Tuesday, October 5 for peer editing.

Also, mark your calendars: Next Thursday, October 7, is the 40th day of school. As many of you know, full attendance is very important that day! Please be at school. Attendance will be counted on the 40th day to determine La Paloma Lakeside's eligibility for academic funds... in other words... money for our school!

This week's news

I will be out of the classroom from Thursday 9/23 until Tuesday 9/28 (I'm getting married!) Please treat the substitute teacher with the same respect that I expect to be treated with. Students can expect the classroom environment to be "busisness as usual" while I am gone. The substitute has detailed plans to keep you moving through the quarter's lessons. Students will be held accountable for the content being taught during my four day absence. This should not be considered a week to slack off.

Students in 8th grade Writing class have been going through a descriptive writing boot camp of sorts in preparation for their newest essay assignment: A restaurant review. Students will act as reporters for the fictional "Sparks Star Newspaper." For the assignment, students can visit any restaurant in town. Report requirements:

Include a topic sentence telling me what you will be writing about, a descriptive body detailing the food, setting, service and cost and a concluding sentence that tells your opinion of the restaurant (did you like it? Would you recommend it to someone else?). Please dine in at the restaurant you choose, so that you can write about the atmosphere of that restaurant. Use sensory details to describe the place. Your report should be presented in a professional way. Give it a catchy title, use blue or black ink only if hand written and use 12 point Times New Roman font if typed. Double space in either case. Don't forget to include the reporter's name, date to be publisehd (due date) and the period number. A well-writeten, detailed report should be about 200 words in length (nearly a page long if typed)? Exceptional restaurant reviews might have the opportunity to be published in the junior high student newspaper, I want to see your best work! Reports are due October 5th (Tuesday, 2 weeks from today). This should give you plenty of  time to visit and review a restaurant. You will have your paper reviewed by one of your peers on Tuesday 10/5. It is not my intention if this assignment is a burden on your family, please come and talk to me if a restaurant visit in the next two weeks is not feasable, we can work something out. Email me with questions.

8th graders, remember your spelling test is Friday, you will be taking it with the substitute. The words are:

Acceptable

Calendar

Delicious

Savory

Atmosphere

Experience

Recommend

Sample

Restaurant

Choice

7th grade students: I have altered your book report due date from Tuesday 9/28 to Thursday 9/30. I will be out of the classroom from Thursday 9/23 until Tuesday 9/28, so please do not bring your report to turn in while I am gone to ensure that I do receieve it. 7th graders will be reading the screenplay of "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," an original Twilight Zone episode. Students will be tested on the text and the vocabulary words on Tuesday 9/28 with the substitute. The vocabulary words are:
Antagonism
Contorted
Defiant
Flustered
Incriminate
Intense
Legitimate
Optimistic
Persistent

Enjoy the play, have fun with it!