Season's Greetings!

With the winter break approaching, I just wanted to make sure everyone is up to speed with what's going on in Language Arts. 

• We are working hard to finish Chapter 2 before break.  We will have the Chapter 2 Mastery Test next week in class.  Study notes in the orange-ish (goldenrod) packet to be ready for the assessment.
• Try to finish whatever book you're currently reading so that you can take one last AR test before break.  If you finish a book over break, send me an email or write me a half page review of the book.  That way if you don't do so well on the test when you get back in 2013, I'll take that into consideration and give you some bonus points.  We have a two new million word readers Dulce Chocooj and Charlotte Cosca!  Whoooo-hooooo! :)
• Hopefully you turned in your summary essay corrections...they were due this week.  Turning in the corrections will automatically increase your grade!
• There will be a spelling test next week...study your words.  Remember the tips we talked about in class:  have someone quiz you, quiz yourself, copy words correctly 7 times each, or write the word with your finger in the air to the left side of your head. 
• Some students have asked me if there is anything that this class needs for Christmas.  Yes, please!  Every little bit counts.  Please donate what you can!  Thank you in advance! 
• Kleenex boxes
• Giant bottles of handsanitizer
• An electric industrial pencil sharpener
• Hand-held pencil sharpeners
• Packs of colored copy paper
• #2 Pencils
• Binder paper
• Highlighters
• Shel Silverstein poetry books
• Bone series books
• Calvin and Hobbes books
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Holes
• Campfire Weenies books

I appreciate people's generosity!  Thank you for supporting our class in any way you can!

-Mrs. Banta

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can hardly believe that we've made it to Thanksgiving Break.  It seems like yesterday students were piling into class on the first day of school.  We've come a long ways since then!  With the beginning of the 2nd Trimester, students have just recently turned in our Writing Packets with their "Empress Theodora" summary essays.  We also put together our latest Ch. 2 Packet which we'll start working on after we get back from break.  Students received their new point goals for Accelerated Reader last week, so hopefully everyone is keeping up with their 210 minutes of reading each week.  We've got ourselves two Million Word Readers now in Bantaland, Rory O'Toole & Katie O'Donnell.  Yahoo!  The O's are leading the pack!  Keep it up, people!  You want to have at least 500,000 words read by April!

In other school news, we all recently watched a video about stopping bullying.  Bullying is a huge issue at middle school campuses throughout the United States.  HMS students studied a lesson on the power of being a bystander and what a person can do to support a student being bullied.  At Harvest we want to make our school a safe place to learn and grow.  Let's work together in solving the bullying at school.  Remember the Golden Rule? Treat others as YOU want to be treated. 

The End of the 1st Trimester is Near!

Can you believe that we are 1/3 through the year already?  It is incredible!  We are just about finished with our green Introduction to Writing packet and we will soon be moving on to Chapter 2.  To complete the current packet, students will need to write a formal summary essay on the article "Empress Theodora" which is in our textbook.  If you can remember the Handy Dandy Summary Notes (as seen below), you will be just fine.  Please ignore my ginormous pinkie finger! :)

Also, just a reminder, the first trimester is ending soon which means your yellow trimester reading log sheet is due.  Remember, it should have all the titles of the books you've read so far this year and how you did on the quiz.  You can look this up on your AR account under quizzes taken.  Let me know if you have any questions. Keep up the good work!

Extra Credit...

Send Mrs. Banta an email with a 4-6 sentence review of a book that you've read and would recommend to classmates.  Include the title, author, and why you loved the book.  Reviews will be posted to our blog and you'll earn 5 points extra credit! 

Email Mrs. Banta at jbanta@nvusd.org

Kids who read WILL succeed!

LOTS to do in Language Arts

After conferences I thought that life at Harvest would settle down, but we are constantly moving at a quick pace.  We have instituted Weekly Workshops at HMS which is going to be fantastic for students to get support in their classes, as well as extensions in curriculum that interests them.  Remember that Language Arts is a closed priority day on Mondays--students must be stamped to enter.  Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be teaching Novel Mania for students interested in becoming published writers.  Fridays are G-2 open days for students to get assistance on homework, SSR or AR quizzes. 

Currently, students should be busily studying and reading our latest packet for 7th grade Language Arts.  The green packet previews the four types of essays that 7th graders will be learning to write this year.  We will go indepth on each type of essay between now and February.  The first Cornell notes quiz is this week...hope you studied the two types of writing tests and the four types of essays.  See pages 1-3 in your packet for details. 

We've also been discussing MLA format in class this past week.  I've attached the powerpoint that I used in our class lecture.  You should review it prior to the test on MLA formatting facts next Wednesday.  We'll be singing a song about MLA next class...bring your choir voices!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxfH6yRi4pG6VDN2eDFGd045NUk

AR COUNTDOWN!!!  Have you met your goal for the trimester?  Remember, read a book, take a quiz.  Simple.  Right?  It's important to read books within your reading level.  You also must force/push yourself to read 30 minutes each day.  Practice, practice, practice.  Also, make sure you take a quiz within 3 days of reading the book to guarantee yourself a higher score.  Bantaland has secured our first Million Word Reader of the Year...Rory O'Toole!!!  Keep up the great work, readers!

Finally, I showed this video to my Strategic Language Arts class...it is very inspirational for students who might be the first in their families to go to college.  It made me really proud of our AVID classes here at HMS and the students who are pushing the limits on their educational goals!  Keep at it Harvest Hawks!

Student Led Conferences & More...

This week is a big one at HMS.  All students deliver student led conference presentations to their parents and guardians.  It is a wonderful way to take ownership of personal education--and show off how hard you have been working this year!  Good luck!

In Language Arts, we are just about finishing up Chapter 1.  We read "Rikki-tikki-tavi" and discussed the plot of the story in detail.  Plot will be discussed with every story we read this year--it doesn't go away!  You'll need to know about plot from now until you take college English.  Plot exists in every novel you read...so get to know it well. 

Also, be sure you are keeping up with your AR point goal.  Points are due at the end of the trimester which ends November 2nd!  If you are struggling with your goal or you have passed it up--please come talk with me!

Coming soon...our first writing packet.  We will preview the four types of essays that 7th graders need to know how to write:  summary, persuasive, response to literature, and narrative.  Get ready to write!

Check out the two video links below.  One is to the National Geographic's video of a mongoose fighting a cobra.  Rudyard Kipling, the author of "Rikki-tikki-tavi" would be proud.  The other is the first link to the film version of the story.  We'll watch them in class this week.  Enjoy! 

Tumblebooks!

Just for fun...

Go on the Napa County Library and find the link through the kids' section for Tumblebooks.  This is a really cool site with a ton of picture books that you can read (or have read to you) online.  When you are finished listening/reading all the way through, you can take a quiz on the book the next day at school.  They are cute kid picture books, but some of them are at a high reading level.  The AR level will always be listed next to the titles of the books.  Keep track of them on your log sheet.  They count, too!

http://www.countyofnapa.org/Library/Kids/

P.S.  I suggest the story The Paper Bag Princess...it's pretty entertaining.  But, you should look through all of them and see which one calls your name!  Easy points on AR!  Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Parent Visitation Day is Wednesday, 9/19, and Student Led Conferences are right around the corner...before you know it the end of the first trimester will be here--November 2nd.  Take a moment to check in with your teachers to see how you are doing in all of your classes, not just Language Arts.  I want you to be successful all around, so take a moment this week to make sure you have turned in all of your assignments and taken all assessments.

Speaking of checking in...you should have all received your Aeires Parent Portal passwords.  Visit this site regularly to see what grades have been posted.  Believe it or not, teachers make mistakes, so be sure to check in with us to let us know if you find an error...but be nice about it! :) 

Now on to the next hot talk topic, assessments.  We got our first graded quizzes back in Language Arts.  If you scored over 18--yay!  You are proficient or advanced!  Whooo hooo!  If you scored below 18, you need to see me about retaking the quiz until you are proficient.  Re-study those Cornell notes, have a friend quiz you, and prove your knowledge!

Remember there is a spelling quiz this week on Wednesday...so study, study, study.  Copy the most difficult words to spell at least 7 times each until you know them by heart.  These words for the first unit are relatively easy, but there are a few humdingers in there...so be prepared!  Keep up with your Blue Ch. 1 Packets.  The final packet is worth 140 big points--so stick with us!  By Wednesday you should have finished pages 1-2 and 4-10.  Don't let yourself get behind!

If you are beginning to feel overwhelmed at all in any of your classes, especially in Language Arts, that is normal, but feel free to talk to me and I will help you get back on track.  Hang in there, 7th graders (and parents!).

Back to School Night

Hi, everyone!  Tonight is the night where parents and guardians get to flashback to their days in the classroom growing up.  It is pretty weird to sit in desks again and listen to teachers lecturing.  Now your folks remember how difficult, yet exciting, it is being a student in 2012!  I've attached the power point that I go over with students' families.  We've got a lot to cover this year in 7th grade Language Arts!  Students will work harder this year than any other before!

Remember the genre quiz is Wednesday...be sure to study those Cornell Notes.  I've also attached the review power points we went over in class.  Will you "ace" the first assessment of the year?

I really am enjoying all my 7th grade Bantaland students!  You guys are a great group!

Back to School Night
Genres Review

It's starting to feel like school again...

As we move into the 4th week of school, the reality of 7th grade hits--there is an increased work load, the expectations have risen, and summer is really over!  We are in the process of finishing up the opening activities of the year:  the entry level assessment, the self-portraits, the goal statement thought bubbles, and outside reading introductions.  By the end of this week, students will have a better sense of Accelerated Reader (AR) and what they need to do this year to reach the million word mark. 

We also are taking GENRE notes this week--there will be a mini-quiz next week.  Be sure to study your cornell notes (reread, highlight, cover and quiz yourself) and start to think about what genre or category the book you are currently reading fits in.  Is it fiction or non-fiction or poetry?  Is it a poetry anthology, fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction, science fiction, mystery, biography/autobiography, or informational literature?  Remember the challenge is to read 40 books this year in a variety of genres, so get into the reading routine sooner rather than later.  Remember to write down the books you read each trimester on your log sheet.  Read, read, read...did I say read? :)

Week 2--Off to a GREAT Start!

Another week has come and gone!  This week we started working on our self-portrait project which we will complete next week.  Students also got to autograph the class poster if they submitted proof of the following 4 items at the checkpoint:  outside reading book, letter home signed, folder, and composition notebook.  I must say, this year's 7th graders are off to such a great start!  You students are enthusiastic and hard-working.  I can tell this is going to be a fantastic year already!

I mentioned to our classes that the challenge this year is to read, read, read!  Can you aim to read 40 books?  It is a huge number, I know.  Every 200 pages counts as a book, so if you're reading a 400 page book, you'll earn credit for 2 books.  We are definitely shooting for the stars, but I want to make sure students are reaching for that million word mark in 7th grade.  It is a state standard, and it is proven that kids who read are kids who succeed in school and on the important state tests.  All my students who read over 650,000 words last year, scored proficient or above on the CST.  That tells you something...right?  Let me know if you are struggling to find just the right book.  I'm here to help! 

Week 1--We survived!

Whew!  The beginning of the school year is always overwhelming...especially when students enter 7th grade.  In 7th grade, students now have 5-7 teachers to get to know and learn their teachers' systems.  It can be very confusing, but soon students get the hang of it.  Remember if you have any questions you can always check in with me to help ease you into the new school year. 

Home Fun check:  Have you turned in your Autobiographical Questionnaire and After-school Routines Paragraph?  Have you gotten all your school supplies including a composition notebook and folder for our class?  Did you finish your Name Story worksheet?  Do you have an outside reading book in your backpack?  Did you bring home your class letter and get it signed?  It is so important to start off the school year getting your assignments turned in.  First impressions are everything!

Take a look at the amazing members of the 2012-2013 Bantaland Family below!

Welcome to our Room G-2 Blog

I'm so excited to start off the school year!  I'm trying to get with the 21st century and start a blog.  This is all new to me and I'm learning as I go.  Maybe one of my fine students will be technologically savvy enough to help me get this page rolling.  We'll see.  Looking forward to sharing some great books and good reads!  Here's to a wonderful year in Bantaland 2012-2013!