Great Weekend Opportunity!

Dear Artists and Scholars,

Here is a really, really cool event this weekend happening in Balboa Park. I wanted to share in case you had some time and interest. It's a fair for artists and scientists, robots to cosplay. I highly recommend the inspiration and innovation you'll get if you get to go!!

http://sdmakerfaire.org/

Book Club Focus, September 29-October 2, 2015

Hello again scholars and artists, 

We are in our second week of Book Club at school. I hope you're enjoying the books that were selected at school or brought from home. What's important is that we're practicing reading and beginning to see the ways we connect with the central characters in the text. After next week, we'll be doing an art project to highlight the plot of the book, stay tuned for that! 

Tuesday: Turn in paragraphs for Studio Day. Today we'll be writing a silly story with our friends in class. Keep reading Book Club book at home! 

Wednesday: We'll be learning how to make connections and draw vocabulary out of the text using sticky notes. Each student will be asked to bring a connection and either a new vocabulary word or exciting character description to class on Thursday. 

Thursday: Students create a word wall with vocabulary and descriptive text from their book club book. We will study the types of conflict and write a reflection piece about each student's connection and whether or not they face the same conflict in their life. Students are asked to bring in another vocabulary word, character description, or connection to Book Club discussion on Friday. 

Friday: Book group discussions. Students will be asked to sit with two-three groups during the class period to discuss characters, plot elements, and descriptive language during their group time. 

I'm looking forward to being a part of the different book discussions as well as sharing some of the connections students have made to the reading throughout the week. 

Just a reminder-- if you haven't had a chance to schedule a conference, please email me. This is a no-stress time where students, parents, and I can sit and set goals for the year. The young adults are in the driver's seat of setting and staying on top of their learning goals at our school. It's been wonderful to meet with so many bright and excited students this week! 

See you soon! Mrs. K

Studio Day Assignment, September 28, 2015

Students should be reading their book club book nightly. While I am not mandating a time, at least 20 minutes for an average reader would be the minimum. Some students selected books which had more challenging vocabulary and themes in them, they might read a smaller section longer during their nightly reading.

Book club books should be completely read by October 6. If students finish early, I have already permitted them to start another book in our class time.

This week's studio day assignment focuses on characterization. Students will write a three paragraph reflection of their assigned/selected novel. The reflection page, on loose leaf paper, will feature:

• a descriptive paragraph of one of the characters in the book.
• a paragraph describing how the character is like you. 
• a paragraph describing how the character is unlike you. 

In all papers, I will be looking for thoughtful writing as well as evidence and examples cited from the text. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Mrs. K 

Notes:

Character-- animal or person who is part of the plot and action of the story

Protagonist-- the main character of a story

Narrator-- character who tells the story.

Week of September 22-25.

Good evening artists and scholars!

This week we begin Reader's Workshop. That means we'll be reading and focusing on our comprehension and vocabulary building in our texts. It also means we'll be learning how to select our own texts to learn how to apply these skills in a story we really like. Mrs. K will be going through the appropriate texts, but the spirit of these activities focus on the the connections to the characters we can make. This means students will be able to select their own novels to read as long as their classwork reflects the active reading required in middle school.

We are also continuing our learning plan meetings. Thanks to everyone who came and had such great input into teaching and learning from the children. If you would like to meet, please drop me an email so that I can schedule a time. Please bring your students to this meeting, as they are learning how to be responsible for their own goals.

Lastly, we will have an awards assembly on Wednesday, September 23, at 10am. We will be recognizing students who have worked hard in Language Arts and the lifeskill of Honesty. It just might be the whole middle school!

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to build a bridge to learning with your child. For the latest assignments, please check moodle.

Mrs. K

No Homework This Weekend!!

I guess I got a little ahead of myself. Monday is a non-student day, therefore, we have no homework!

See you Tuesday. We'll be talking about planning our literature projects.
Mrs. K

Studio Day and Modified Work for Peace Week, September 15-21

Happy Wednesday students and parents,

We've had a few changes this week in our schedule, so I'd like to make sure everyone is aware of some of the lessons being moved to honor our need to complete reading tests before parent conferences. Here is a chronological list of activities for the next few days, including our upcoming Studio Day on September 21.

Peace Week:
Wednesday, 9/16, Reading testing. Finish for homework and bring back if incomplete in class.
Thursday and Friday, 9/17-18, Peace Art Projects. Students are asked to create a visual, performing, or literary artwork for presentation on Friday at 2:30. The topic of the artwork must be to teach peacefulness in our school, homes, or community. Students will be graded on creativity, quality of art produced, and thoughtfulness toward the topic of peacefulness.

Monday, 9/21, Reflection paper. Students are asked to read three selections from the Assignments section of this blog and write a one-page reflection about the current state of peace in the world and their role in creating and maintaining peacefulness in our school, home, or community. Students need to cite examples from the selections they have read in their one-page reflection paper. This paper is due on lined paper Tuesday, 9/21.

Again, if you have any questions, please let me know! Mrs. K

Peace Week, September 15-18, 2015

Welcome back, artists and scholars!

This week, we are enthusiastic to learn about the art, artistry, and passions of our peers during our artifact and demonstration projects on Tuesday, September 15. Final drafts of the narrative assignment as well as presentation of some kind of artifact which demonstrates the art will be due at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Directions for these activities can both be found in our newsletter last week.

Starting Wednesday, we will be reading and writing about peacefulness, as the UN declared International Day of Peace is September 21. After reflecting on our roles in peace in our school, our homes, and our community, students will be expected to create an art/fun activity which teaches peacefulness and conflict resolution to their peers or other ORAA students. Points will be awarded during this week's classwork on thoughtful self-reflection, creativity of activity, and efficacy of teaching peace/conflict resolution. Jupiter grades is already being loaded daily, please check there for grades if you have questions.

One small note for Friday is that we'd like all middle school students to wear black tshirts. We are going to make a school-wide peace sign and the littler kids are going to be wearing rainbow colors. Our group will make the actual sign in the middle of the circle and needs to be bold.

Finally, I have stopped posting the lesson plans in the google drive as they are now available by Moodle. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I wish you all a very peaceful week and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs. K

Studio Day Assignment September 14, 2015

Good morning artists and scholars,

The Studio Day activity for September 14 will complete the narrative autobiography which we have been working on for the past two weeks. Besides a completed draft of the autobiography, each student is asked to bring in an artifact or demonstration to accompany their work in writing. This should be creative!

Here are a few ground rules for artifacts and demonstrations:

• Artifacts should be safe and clearly demonstrate the "art" written about in the narrative. 
• Demonstrations should take no longer than three minutes and can only use the equipment in the regular classroom (zip drives are fine, but I don't have a dvd player in my classroom). 
• All artifacts and demonstration pieces should be clearly labeled with the names and grade of the student who brought them in. 

Artifacts will be returned September 18 at the end of school. 

This is an opportunity to be creative and show how passionate students are about their art. 

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Mrs. K 

September 8-11 in English Class

Hello artists and scholars, 

I wish you all an excellent beginning of the week! Last week, we drafted our autobiography of who we are as artists, creating autobiographical accounts of our passions. This week, we will continue writing workshop by editing each account and turning in a final paper next Monday, September 14. 

We will also be using this activity to springboard our own learning using the I CAN folders and practicing creating goals for our Learning Plan Meetings with parents at the end of the month. In middle school, we are not only mastering the I CAN statements at grade level, and perhaps beyond, we are also creating the self-evaluation habits of young adults. 

As middle schoolers at Otay Ranch Academy for the Arts, students are expected to be responsible for their own learning. This includes lots of lessons and practice of using evaluation tools and assessments to self-evaluate progress toward goals each month or so. It also means have conferences with students and parents about how young adults are reaching their goals and which activities might help them move toward their goals in class and beyond. In this model, the teacher helps provide the students activities and resources, while the students are ultimately in control of setting and working toward their own goals and learning. Parents, like the teacher, help facilitate this individual process of responsibility. 

I will be sending home a sign-up for Learning Plan Meetings as well as the artifact/demonstration part of the artist essay assignment later this week. 

If you need anything in the meantime, please don't hesitate to ask! 

Mrs. K

We are working on a narrative autobiography of who we are as an artist.

What we expect from this paper, due Tuesday, September 8, is:
1. A sequential story of how a student learned and developed their art.
2. A rough draft on lined paper, using the attached student-created rubric as a grading guideline.
3. There is no maximum or minimum for paragraphs. I want to see students turn in thorough, thoughtful work.
4. More features of narrative autobiography are located in student notes taken September 2.
5. Students will be bringing in a demonstration of their art after the final draft is complete. (Don't worry about this. Directions for this will follow after the writing is complete.)

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Grammar and Spelling	Correct grammar and spelling	Mostly correct grammar and spelling	Some correct grammar and spelling	Little correct grammar and spelling
Punctuation and Paragraphs	Uses punctuation appropriately. Uses paragraph structure well.	Mostly correct punctuation. Uses paragraphs.	Some correct Punctuation. No paragraphs.	Little correct punctuation. No paragraphs.
Readability	Handwriting in cursive or typewritten. Narrative is enjoyable to read.	Printed neatly or mostly readable cursive. Easy to follow narrative.	Not neat. Content is not readable.	Difficult to read in neatness and content.
Description and Word Choice	Contains lots of descriptive words and vocabulary.	Uses descriptive words and vocabulary.	Few descriptive words and vocabulary.	No descriptive words or sentences.
Topic	Narrator keeps on topic using description and word choice.	Narrator stays on topic.	Narrator is sometimes on topic.	Narrator is frequently off topic.
Hook or cliffhanger	Highly interesting for the reader.	Interesting narrative and details.	Some interesting parts/details.	Text which does not keep the reader\'s interest.