Week of September 1-5

 Week of September 1-5

*This week I will NOT be sending out reminders for students who did not complete their Quill assignments.  It is now left up to the student and their parents to traverse PowerSchool to check for grades & assignments that need completion. 

I spent most of last Sunday going through emails updating assignments, and this should be the student’s responsibility. I hope you understand.  Students need to take ownership of their work and advocate for themselves as this year progresses. They are young men and women, and will learn responsibility through this trend.

Upcoming, we will be reading a short story entitled “The Landlady.” There is a tea party in the story, and generally, I share graham crackers with students as we read the story to mimic a tea party. I need your help in making this successful. 

Donations of graham crackers and mini water bottles would be appreciated.  I have 142 students currently in classes.

Monday-Labor Day Holiday-No School

Tuesday-A Monster Calls, Daily Writing, MUGshot

Wednesday-Performance Matters Mid-Test (no studying), Complete Project on Short Story

Thursday-Library/Essay Writing

Friday-Essay Writing/Editing

IMPORTANT: Essay #1 is due September 19th. It is to be done in class.

Book Report #1 is due September 22nd. This will also be done in class.

Students should be reading 15-20 minutes per night on the book of their choice.

QUILL is due Friday of every week.

Have a great weekend!

-Mrs. Matejka

Week of August 25-29

 Dear families,

This week in English 7:

Monday-Complete an activity on citing textual evidence.  Based upon the RACER paragraph this past week, we need to work on this skillset. We will begin our daily writing activity as well as continue reading A Monster Calls.

Tuesday-GATES testing-Comprehension

Wednesday-GATES testing-Vocabulary

-Read Short Story and analyze

-Vocabulary

Thursday-MUGshot #3 (Mechanics, Usage, Grammar), Daily Writing, Read A Monster Calls, Work on Vocabulary

Friday-Work on Essay #1 which is due September 19th

QUILL this week consists of three (3) activities on commonly confused words. DUE FRIDAY by noon. 

Students are more than welcome to come up during lunch on Friday to work on QUILL or any make-up work.

Please check your student’s grade on PowerSchool for any missing assignments.

-Mrs. Matejka

Week of August 18-22

 Good Sunday afternoon, I wanted to give you an update for the week and what we will be doing. 

MOST IMPORTANT: Students will have their first THREE QUILL assignments this week. They are due by noon FRIDAY, no exceptions. 

Students will have time in class to work on them, however, it is their responsibility to finish them. 

Monday: Quill pre-test (this is a grammar tool to measure what we need to work on in writing). 

Tuesday: Begin short story review/unit. We will make a very brief visit to the library to check out books. 

Wednesday: I will be absent, but my husband will be their substitute. They will have a reading/writing assignment. I have high expectations for good behavior from students. 

Thursday: Writing and short story continue, as well as vocabulary. 

Friday: Reading Day-free test grade. 

Have a great week. 

-Mrs. Cindy Matejka 

Please find attached the reason for the pictures for the bulletin board!

Week 1: August 11-15

 Welcome back.

The next two weeks, there will be some testing (GATES, RACER) to help teachers to know where our students are weak or strong in an English area.  I will update dates as needed.  

I enjoyed meeting all of you Thursday night. It is mandatory students have a notebook by this coming Wednesday as I will begin the teaching process in our Vocabulary Units.

Monday-getting to know you activity

Tuesday-continue activity

Wednesday-set up Quill & Common Lit Account

Thursday, August 14th-Performance Matters Pre-Test 

(no need to study)

Friday-Introduce We Will Write program (so fun!)

Have a beautiful weekend!

Mrs. Matejka

Email: Welcome Back

Welcome back to school! Summer flew by rather quickly. I hope all of you had quality time with your families during the break.

-Back to School night is August 7 (tomorrow) from 6-8 pm. Visits to seventh grade will be at 7 pm. I look forward to seeing you in Room 603.

-The first two weeks of school are dedicated to getting to know my students, as well as some in-class testing to see where they are and what their struggles may be for the school year. Weekly updates can be found here:  https://matejkasliteraryagents.blogspot.com/

Please bookmark the website. 

I will update on Friday for next week.

-I am a fun and engaging teacher, but I do run a strict classroom with high expectations for ALL students.  

-Assignments are due on time, including Quill (weekly) grammar practice (due every Friday by noon).

-Students' first essay assignment is due by September 19th. We will work on this in class.

I look forward to working with you throughout the school year.

-I am originally from Virginia. I love to do photography. I volunteer with the Salvation Army and with BAM (Because Animals Matter), photographing the dogs for their social media pages. I am also a National Parks "junkie." We love the West and EVERYTHING about the community.

If you want to donate to my classroom, my wish list can be found here:  https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/Wio3_u40SUTyZhg9WwFJj8WPgGAgR1lO3WQjjvsLDTK9GBwcQFCHzXaDV3pgFL28nDsFDdv8RJE-z8HkuMEbo03L9Cu9HCrYGwld0q8?ref_=wl_share

Sincerely,

Cindy Matejka

ELA 7