principal's newsletter november 2011 - Komarek School District 94

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Toilet paper rolls Paper towel rolls Straws Plastic Coffee Lids Sandwich bags Plastic water bottles Thank you in advance for your donations! Ms. Vesecky JUNIOR HIGH READING The sixth graders are currently reading a novel entitled Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The story takes place in Denmark during World War II. Annemarie, the protagonist in the story, sacrifices her own safety to help save her friend Ellen, who is in danger of being removed from her town by the Nazis. Our discussions have focused on the themes of the story- self-sacrifice, friendship, and the virtue of decency. The Cay by Theodore Taylor is the novel we have been reading in seventh grade. The main character, Philip, is a young boy living on the Caribbean island of Curacao. His father must stay behind for his job, while Philip and his mother board a ship back to the United States. It is during this trip that tragedy strikes. Philip is separated from his mother and must learn to survive the dangerous conditions of ocean life with only the help of an Islander named Timothy. The story's themes focus on unconditional friendship, trust, and survival. PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2011 The eighth graders have been reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. In this novel, Jonas lives in a world of strict rules, where everyone is treated the same. Every aspect of each individual's life is regulated- from the clothing you are permitted to wear to the job you will take on as an adult. Jonas soon learns that he possesses a very special gift. This gift means knowing the truth about all things previously kept from the community. Jonas must decide how to handle this new responsibility. Our discussions have centered on the ideas of individuality, making choices, and the significance of memory. Mrs. Lovera READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS The sixth graders are reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This novel, set in Denmark during the Holocaust, has long been a favorite of Komarek students. It focuses on the Danish Resistance, and asks the question of how far one would go to save the life of their friend. The students will be working on reading fluency, comprehension, and making historical observations with this novel. The seventh graders are reading Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff. This novel focuses on the themes of friendship, family, and belonging. We learn about the life of Hollis Woods, a girl who uses art to deal with a difficult life. This book was made into a Hallmark movie, so the students will be comparing the movie with the book after reading.
In eighth grade, the students are reading The Giver, another Lois Lowry award winning novel. This novel follows the life of Jonas, a boy living in what seems like a perfect world. The students will be in shock and awe as they read this book, and will find themselves wanting to read more and more. Each year, I look forward to the excitement for reading that this novel brings to my students; they truly love reading this book! All three grades recently finished a large grammar unit focusing on subjects, predicates, fragments and runons. It is now time for more intense writing! The 6 th graders will work on creating effective introductions for expository writing, while the 7 th grade centers their work on transitions and elaboration. The 8 th grade will be working on persuasive writing. Ms. Schmit SPANISH NEWS Spanish - 6 th grade The 6 th graders have been working very hard this quarter, and I am happy to see how excited they are about learning Spanish. The students have learned basic Spanish vocabulary and phrases, including greetings, goodbyes and asking how a person feels. I am amazed at how fast they are catching on to some difficult verbs and other grammatical points. I decided to try something different this year and thought the students would like my idea. They were PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2011 all given a vocabulary list and the script for the play, “Caperucita Roja” (Little Red Riding Hood). They were all assigned groups and given parts by their group leader. They have been practicing very hard and will be performing the play in class. Their pronunciation has been excellent. It has been a wonderful experience! Spanish - 7 th grade We have been reviewing basic vocabulary and important verbs (ser, estar, gustar and “ar” verbs and their conjugations. I am happy the students remember a lot of the grammar from last year. They are able to form longer and more complex sentences. We have been working on dialogues, incorporating vocabulary pertaining to sports and activities they like to do. They all did a great job acting these out in class. Our cultural focus with be Mexico and the beautiful sites in that country. They will be learning food vocabulary and things in a restaurant, which will be learned to perform a restaurant scene dialogue. We have had a productive quarter in Spanish! Spanish - 8 th grade We have been reviewing regular and irregular (stem changing) verbs. The students have been participating very well. Their pronunciation is also very good. The vocabulary included words used in a clothing store. They all did dialogues, playing the roles of the sales clerk and the customer. They were required to use a lot of descriptive adjectives. The dialogues went great! I am trying to teach and review as many grammatical concepts as possible, so the students have a good background in
Page 1 and 2: KOMAREK SCHOOL DISTRICT 94 8940 W.
Page 3 and 4: • Registration for Classes at RB
Page 5 and 6: Red Ribbon Week was kicked off on M
Page 7 and 8: PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2
Page 9 and 10: The books are beautiful and include
Page 11: that will hopefully lead to a bette
Page 15 and 16: seeds from snack were saved and use
Page 17 and 18: 4 TH GRADE NEWS As our 2nd quarter
Page 19 and 20: games involving throwing and rollin
Page 21 and 22: GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Volleyball News It
Page 23 and 24: POWERSCHOOL Komarek School has impl
Page 25: If you have any questions concernin

principal's newsletter november 2011 - Komarek School District 94

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