Hi parents and teachers,
In case you’re wondering, here is the required supply list for next school year.
Here is a wish list of other not required items.
I hope you guys have a great summer, and I’ll see you in August.
Ms. Shilo
I’ve talked a lot in class about why we start each day with silent reading time, but I haven’t shared the philosophy behind this ritual with many of our parents. Since it’s an important part of our ELA program, and I’m incredibly passionate about literacy, I want to explain it further in this blog post. (As you read through this post, please remember that data to support my thoughts can be found in the sources listed at the end.)
Studies consistently show that teenagers are reading less and less each year, and overall rates of reading comprehension are declining because of it. With so many competing interests- social media, video games, Youtube, afterschool activities, etc.- this isn’t a surprise, but it is a big problem. Reading correlates with countless positive life outcomes, including the ability to be a better speaker, writer, employee and global citizen.
Here are some specific details to further explain these claims, taken from the sobering report found below:
I can personally attest to the correlation between literacy and employability. Before becoming a teacher, I worked in Human Resources as a hiring manager and recruiter. Many of the open jobs I worked to fill brought in a hundred or more applicants and resumes. The first and fastest way to sort through the countless applicants for each job was to notice grammar, spelling and punctuation errors as I read the resumes. If a job applicant couldn’t use correct grammar and spelling, what assumptions could I make of them as a potential employee?
But the good news is that reading more frequently (and for pleasure) correlates with academic and career achievement.
Specifically:
The “for pleasure” qualifier above is an important distinction. If students are forced to read only academic texts throughout their schooling or must always take a quiz or write a report when they read a novel, they’ll graduate without experiencing the pleasure and enjoyment that can be found in reading. Afterall, as an adult reader, I know I’d lose my love of reading pretty quickly if I had to do a report or write a paper after every novel or book I read. What fun is that?
Looking at these facts, it’s easy to see that our students need to be reading enjoyable books and articles far more often than they do in a traditional one-book-for-the-whole-class literacy program.
But even if teachers let students select their own reading materials, there’s usually little to no quiet reading time outside of school. This isn’t a criticism of parenting, but rather an acknowledgment that we are all so busy. With after-school activities, sports, family and church events, and homework, there is very little free, quiet time for our adolescents to read for fun.
Therefore, we made the decision to give up some direct instructional class time in sake of quiet reading time each class (silent reading is usually 15 minutes a day). This silent reading time comes with the ability for students to select their own reading material. To support this, we’ve also worked hard to build a Junior High specific library with interesting and current books and magazines (thank you for all your book donations).
Our library and some of our librarians
So far, the results of our silent reading time and free choice reading have been positive. Most students report reading three to four times the number of books this school year compared to previous years, and there are countless students who never loved reading before but are now hooked. In other words, we’ve introduced some students to the love of reading, and we couldn’t be happier. And remember, this does NOT come at the expense of weakened writing skills. Good readers ARE good writers, thinkers, and speakers.
Is this program perfect? The answer is no. We need to continue building the Junior High library so we can find and offer the perfect book to excite those students who still don’t love reading. (I get it! I used to cry out of frustration when doing math homework. We can’t all love the same things.) I also have goals for my summer professional development so I can be an even teacher better for our students next year. But our goal is to help our students be successful in life, and this correlates directly with reading ability, so I’ll keep working to share books with our students.
Some ways in which we get students excited about reading, besides giving them the time to read and a JrH specific library is by doing book talks, hosting two different book clubs, and sharing student written book reviews on this blog. In addition, we always have lots of great books on display in our classroom, and each day countless students grab new books or pass books they’re excited about over to their friends. We even have a waiting list for some of our most popular new release books.
Our “book talk” display- it changes daily because we keep finding open spots where books have been checked out.
If you’re a parent reading this, you might wonder what you can do to support your student’s literacy success and our overall ELA program. If that’s the case, I have three suggestions:
If you would like to read more about the points presented in this blog post, check out the resource list below. If you have questions or want to talk about our literacy program, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email (SLucyk@mariamontessoriacademy.org) or drop by to visit after school. I’m always happy to discuss our literacy program and additional resources and scholarly articles not included at the end of this post.
Ms. Shilo
Some of our students read as class ends (standing up with their backpack on!).
Some of them read outside on the boardwalk between classes.
Some of our students even read (6 books) during lunch.
Or they read with a smile.
Or they read in deep concentration.
But no matter how they do it, all of our students read!
Sources:
“To Read or Not To Read. A Question of National Consequence.”
Gallahger, Kelly. Readicide. How Schools Are Killing the Love of Reading and What You Can Do About it.
Kittle, Penny. Book Love. Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers.
Miller, Donnalyn. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child.
If you want a yearbook to commemorate this school year, your last day to buy one is TOMORROW!!
See Ms. Leigh if you have questions or want to buy a yearbook.
Ms. Shilo
Making Bombs for Hitler, By: Marsha Skrypuch
To start off, I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a very heart-wrenching story that will really punch you right in the feel goods in certain parts. To me, the theme of this book Is that friendship is very powerful. The book is about a very young little girl who was put in a Nazi labor camp during World War II. The book follows her and her barracks in the camp, consisting a few other girls. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who really likes historical fiction. I enjoyed the way that the book developed the character too, it did a very good job explaining the backstory of all of the characters. The book’s one downside however, is the fact that there are almost too many characters to keep up with, and there is a lot of death and relocation of the kids. I give it an 11/10.
~ Evin Smith
Hi everyone,
I’m excited to announce that we’ll be starting up our after-school book club again on Thursday, April 12th. The club meetings will run from 3:15 to 4:00 (or sometimes 4:15) each Thursday.
If you’re interested in joining the group, please let me know so I can add you to the list. Since this is an after school event, you will need to get your own copy of the book, The Book Thief. If you order now you should have time to pick up a used copy from Amazon.
Happy Reading!
Ms. Shilo
Hi everyone,
This week we introduced a Team Challange to celebrate all the ELA specific connections we can make with the things we’ve learned. Today and tomorrow (Tuesday), you will select your teams and start the challenge. We’ll continue this challenge into the month of April, with final points and team winners announced April 17th and 18th.
If you’re absent during this competition, please ask your team members about the work you missed. You can find copies of all handouts in the “While Your Were Absent” basket on the back bookshelf in the classroom. If absent, you need to get the work, complete it, and turn it in on your own. Your team’s in-class contribution will not be used for your assessment scores in Mastery Connect.
And speaking of Mastery Connect, please be sure you can log in and see your assessments. If you’re having trouble doing that, ask me or your Advisor for help. You use your MMA Lions email address as your username.
Here’s your new checklist: (This will also be posted under the checklist tab at the top)
ELA 9 Checklist Connections Team Challenge
ELA 7- 8 Checklist Connections Team Challenge
Have an amazing week!
Ms. Shilo
In Ms.Shilo’s class, we are holding another seminar. The title of the seminar piece we will use is “Some Suffer In Silence.” This piece is a memoir, and the author is an MMA JrH student.
To prepare for this seminar, read your seminar piece and annotate it. Then create three open-ended questions to share during the seminar. Please also think about connections with the piece. For example, you could say “I relate to the passage because I have also been bullied”(I have never actually been bullied). But that’s an example of the type of connection you could make to the piece.
The seminar is happening later in the week, on the 22nd and the 23rd in class. You have to have at least three deep open-ended questions related to the passage when you come to the seminar. If you don’t prepare yourself enough in class, then it is homework. I repeat it is HOMEWORK. That means you have to actually put some effort into making time to do your homework. That means no video games, comic books, or playing with your friends until you have it done. Ms.Shilo will hand out a rubric before the seminar giving you information on the standards she will use to do assessments, but she used the same rubric last time we did a seminar. So it should be familiar. You can also find a copy of it below. If you have any further questions, thoughts, or comments that you would like to share just go to Ms.Shilo’s blog page at www.mariamontessoriacademy.org.
If you are absent, please print the seminar reading, do the work, and come to class prepared.
Seminar Piece: memoir
Seminar Rubric: Socratic Seminar Preparation & Participation Rubric
Blog Manager & Editor
Garret Aust
Did you know our Galas in the past have raised money so the school could purchase computers, a bike rack, P.E. equipment, crosswalk flashing lights, and more?
This year our school is in need of a new playground, and we are hoping to raise enough money to make a big difference in the playground bill. All this fundraising comes the via the annual GALA. Our ticket sales for this year’s Gala are looking a little sad so far. Therefore we are asking MMA parents to step up and come support our school.
If you can’t come to the Gala but would still like to contribute to the school, the following web address has some donation choices:
https://squareup.com/store/mapa-9
OR we will be at the Northeast Corner of the North Shore parking lot taking donations and selling Gala tickets this Wednesday and Thursday from 3-4 (drive-thru style)!! Hope to see you there!
In addition to writing memoirs, we also had a few students write fictional stories. Check them out below:
Here are some more of our ebooks. If you’d like to share yours and I haven’t posted it yet, please just let me know. I’m trying to honor everyone’s privacy, so I’m not posting memoirs without consent.
