Cornell Notes, CS Lewis, and a podcast...oh my!!!

 Hey, hey, awesome middle school English!

What a wonderful week! Look at all we're learning:

My sixth graders made friends with appositives, even turning them into Narnia-themed sentences.

My eighth graders had fun with count and non-count nouns, and so many vocabulary words became part of their lexicons.

We all learned the life and times of Mr. C.S. Lewis. Sixth graders are in the snowy times of Narnia, which is much preferable to the Narnia my eighth graders occupy (no Aslan; evil things abounding).

Cornell notes! We have moved to a school-wide system of taking notes, which will benefit your children from middle school all the way into college. They're doing great! 

My eighth graders have started listening to a podcast called Six Minutes. It's great to hear them talking about what happens in the story, but what's even more amazing is hearing the higher level thinking questions they ask after listening. For a fun treat, ask your 8th grade to perform the theme song. (Then pretend you are me, and 4 or 5 of them are doing it at the same time! :)

Next week will bring an English test for everyone, and 8th graders will have another 5-word vocab quiz. 

All of our vocabulary is on a website called Quizlet. Please have your child join our class by clicking on this link: https://quizlet.com/join/P7BRFEtkA. 

My eighth graders are learning 5 SAT words per week . SAT quizzes are each Friday. Here is the list of words we are learning: https://www.majortests.com/word-lists/word-list-01.pdf

May God bless you. Please keep our country and our school in your prayers.

Mrs. Desjarlais

Week ONE is DONE!

 

Hi, 6th and 8th grade parents!

I'm loving spending time with your sweet students!!! We've gotten so much done even in this short time together.

Next week we will start reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in the 6th grade, and The Last Battle  in 8th grade. Please be sure your student has these books so we can begin them on Wednesday. Books may be downloaded on a tablet or laptop, or students may use a physical copy of the book. Students may not use cell phones in class, and they may not have phones out in class.

All of our vocabulary is on a website called Quizlet. Please have your child join our class by clicking on this link: https://quizlet.com/join/P7BRFEtkA. 

My eighth graders are learning 5 SAT words per week . SAT quizzes are each Friday. Here is the list of words we are learning: https://www.majortests.com/word-lists/word-list-01.pdf

Due 8/21 in 6th and 8th grades:

1. Signed syllabus (seated students only)

2. Introduction (2 paragraphs for 6th graders, 3 paragraphs for 8th graders)

3. Procedure test

Next Thursday - 8th grade - Last Battle Vocab test

Today we shall begin the Cornell Note journey! This note taking system will make life easier for your students as they proceed through school. 

May God bless you . Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

Blessings, 

Kelley Desjarlais

Woohoo! Back to school!!!

 Welcome back to school!

Well. It's been a while, but here we all go - back to the classroom. I'm so excited to meet all of my new students and to see all of my "old" students again. We shall have an amazing year!

This is my 15th year as a teacher at Lee Christian. I am blessed every day I come to work. I love my students and my co-workers. I get to teach English (my favorite thing) to middle schoolers (my favorite students). I pray for you before I even meet you, and I look forward to praying with you throughout this year. The very best thing about teaching at Lee Christian is that every single day I can tell you all about Jesus and how to know Him better. There is nothing on this earth that is more important than our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

All kinds of things are new this year. COVID procedures, live-streaming, and using a laptop rather than paper may seem strange at first, but we will be experts at it in no time. For some of you, I may be teaching you grammar for the first time. Do not worry. We will get through it together!

The first week of school we will get connected. Communication is the best way for us to have an awesome year together!  You can always email me. We will also use Remind and Google Classroom; we learned last year how these sites are powerful tools for educators, students, and parents. During the first week of school we will also learn classroom procedures to ensure a great learning experience each day.

May God bless you! I can't wait to begin our new adventure together!

Blessings, 

Mrs. Kelley Desjarlais

k.desjarlais@leechristianschool.org