Latest IB Study Results

"...findings suggest that IB MYP schools are making concerted efforts to build the empathy, global self-concept, peer relationships, school relationships, self-reflections, resilience, and the confidence of IB MYP students."

From the report: IB MYP: Student Social-Emotional Well-being & School Success Strategies

http://www.ibo.org/research/policy/programmevalidation/myp/documents/SocialemotionalFinalReport.pdf

Summer Fun...

Saw this video and thought of all my Language & Literature peeps.  Enjoy!

School's Out for Summer

It has been my absolute pleasure being your teacher this year! I wish all my Bantaland Peeps the best as you venture off to the world of high school. Anne Frank wrote in her diary, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Your day has come to spread your wings and fly off. Take what you've learned at HMS and soar. I know that you'll continue to strive to be an IB Learner, embodying all the Learner Profile traits...can you name them all (and can you do the actions)? I know that above all you will try to be caring and by just doing that, you will have a positive impact on the lives of others. At the beginning of the year, I asked you to consider the questions: Who are you? Who will you become? Well, you are all future thinkers, leaders, and community activists. Remember that wherever your journey takes you, you will always be Harvest Hawks at heart. We love you all! Keep in touch!

Congrats to Sam, Zack G., Edith & Dineen for earning the Language Arts Award!

Yay! Caitlin, Charlotte, Isabella & Katie are so deserving of the Principal's Awards!

Way to go Mr. Castro! I'm very proud of your accomplishments!

Love you Malia Blackmon! You survived middle school...now become the ultimate Survivor!!

One of the best moments ever...ultimate payback! :)

Chaperoning the 8th grade dinner/dance...so much fun!

Can you guess who the 8th grade photo bomber is???

Spread the word to future HMS 6-8th graders!

End of the Year Reminders

Greetings, Bantaland Peeps!  We're really getting down to the final stretch in this class...be sure you are all caught up with everything you are responsible for this trimester. Time management is everything!  Hope you didn't let yourself get behind because if so, you'll be busy this weekend.

AR GOALS and final ANNE FRANK WEBQUEST and 7 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL entries are due by Tuesday/Wednesday May 28/29...this is the drop, dead date.  No exceptions.  Grades are due.

Email or leave a comment if you have questions or concerns.  May the odds be in your favor!!

-Mrs. Banta

AR Night Thursday!

What WWII related book are you reading?

Comment below with the title of the book you are reading (besides the Diary of Anne Frank).  Share your thoughts and and questions that you have from reading the book so far.

Thanks for sharing!

Anne Frank Unit Webquest Link

Statement of Inquiry:  Historical contexts and author's perspective affects readers' interpretations of the concept of truth.

As we begin our IB unit on Anne Frank's Impact on Today's World, many of you have questions related to World War II, the Holocaust and Anne Frank's life.  To discover some of those answers, and to come up with even more questions, you will be completing a webquest with 5 tasks.  See the link below for access to the site.  The project requires you complete the research packet and journal responses.

Hopefully this research and reflection will bring you closer to understanding the haunting "truth" of this time period.

https://sites.google.com/a/nvusd.org/anne-frank-2014/

Bradbury Project Feedback Link

Each group will be assigned a number for classmates to give them feedback on their project and presentation. Wait until you have the presentation number to proceed.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3K7J2TQ

Be principled while giving feedback (be honest, fair, and respectful).

Thanks!

Upcoming State Testing Info...

Here is the link to try the practice tests online.  Check it out!

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/practice-test/

Bradbury Project Idea Starters

Students have been asking for sample projects to see what they might do for the "pink sheet" project.  Well, they don't necessarily exist because this is the first time we've ever done this project at HMS! :)
What I can tell you is that your project (however you plan on delivering it--poster, power point, video, skit, song, comic, etc.) you need to reference and include the following: figurative language, author's theme, and author's style.

Comment below if you still have questions after reading this post and looking at the samples.

Here are various Bradbury-esque projects that other people have done to get you inspired:

 

Bradbury over Break

Over spring break, get to know another story by Ray Bradbury...any one you'd like!  I''ve included two of my favorites below.

Be sure to comment on what story you read (or watched) and share something that stood out to you related to the theme, author's style or figurative language.  Enjoy!

Link to "The Veldt" (story version)

"The Veldt" read by Stephen Colbert (audio version)

Film version from Ray Bradbury Theater television show

Link to "All Summer in the Day" (story version)

Film version from Ray Bradbury Theater television show

Bringing the World to HMS...

Through our IB Magnet Grant we have money set aside to purchase a certain number of world flags to be displayed around Evan's Hall.

We will DEFINITELY purchase the following flags:

-United States to represent our home
-Mexico and Canada to represent our neighbors
-Spain to represent the ISA program
-Argentina, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to represent the IB Headquarters around the world

Please visit the link below to vote on the other flags that should be included. Choose 5 more flags that you feel best represent the cultural heritage of students and staff at HMS (past and present). Anyone may vote between now and April 4th!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2G89NBW

Way to go, writers!

Students did an amazing job preparing for the District Writing Assessment.  I was so impressed with students working together to figure out their stances and arguments.  They rose to the occasion and made me very proud!  They were clearly working super hard having collegial collaborative conversations as evidenced below by the DWA photo bombers (I also loved Diego's fashion statement...).

Technology & Society

We are beginning a unit of study related to author Ray Bradbury and his style as a writer.  Below is a link to a television show called "Ray Bradbury Theater: The Murderer" that we watched in class.  It will provide some insight into our theme related to technology and its effects on society.  Great food for thought...comment below with whether you believe technology helps or hinders our society.

We heARt reading!

AR Night on February 13th was a huge success!  Thank you to all Bantaland Peeps who came out to join in the reading fun.  Keep an eye out for a 3rd trimester AR Night in the works.  Remember 2nd Trimester AR Goals are due by February 28th, so make sure you read to succeed!

DWA is on the WAY

The District Writing Assessment is set to take place the week of February 20th.  This test is an argumentative essay which is slightly different than a persuasive essay that students have written in the past.  Students must present a balanced, logical argument which presents strongest reasons and refutes the strongest counter-arguements.  Currently, we are working on a class essay related to abolishing the penny.  Students know that they will need to read a few source materials on Day 1 of the DWA, decide on their stances, create a pro/con chart and begin organizing the outline of their essays.  On Day 2, students will have 55 minutes to write and revise their essays.  The DWA is used to place students in classes next year, and it is one of the key measures in placing Honors students.  Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the preparation for the upcoming exam.

See the links below for additional support in planning an argumentative essay.  Good luck!

This site gives an overview and more specific definition of an argumentative essay: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/

This video is relatively entertaining and gives a simple overview of arguementative essays:

Be sure to leave a comment below about something you learned while researching these sites.  Also if you find any examples of argumentative writing, please share!!

Thanks!

Mrs. Banta