• Mr. Sandrue's Class

     If you need to contact me, email is best.

    dsandrue@netcongschool.org

    my phone extension is 290

     
     

    HAVE A GREAT SUMMER 

    GOOGLE CLASSROOM LINKS

    If you were with me in 6th or 7th grade during the 2020-2021 school year, your SUMMER READING assignment will be found in your Google Classroom that you used last year. 

    6A: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUyMTE1Nzc0MDQ0

    6B: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUyNTA5Mzg4MTM2 

    7: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTI5OTU5MjgwNzUy

    8A: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUyNTA5Mzg3ODkx

    8B: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUyNTA5Mzg3OTM0

     Hi all!

    Hope you and yours are doing well this summer. 

     

    For next year, students will need the following items for ELA:

    • 3x3 post its

    • 2 spiral notebooks 70 to 100 pages each

    • A 2 pocket folder for handouts 

    • EARBUDS

    There is also an optional summer reading assignment. Completion of this assignment will replace the lowest test grade of the first marking period.  The specifics for this assignment is located on the assignment itself, which is located in Google Classroom. 

     

    Please pick a novel of your choice. 

    For 6th grade, the book should be a 150 page minimum.  

    For 7th and 8th grade, the book should be a 200 page minimum.

     

    If you have Google Classroom with me, you will find this assignment at the top of your stream and the only assignment in the left column of the stream.  If you don’t have internet access or are new to the district, there are paper copies of the assignment available at the school. Please let the front office know copies of my summer reading assignment are in my mailbox. 

    Break up your novel into “thirds” based on the amount of chapters. You are doing this to easily find the beginning (exposition), middle (rising action) and ending (climax, falling action, and resolution) easily as you work on your assignment. Post-its make great bookmarks! 

    Please complete as many slides as you can once you have completed each third of the novel. If you wait to fill in the slides at the end of the book, you may be doing some rereading you don’t want to do. 

    This should be turned in no later than the last day of summer break. If you are turning in a paper copy, it is due the first day of school. 

     

    Take care,

    Mr. Sandrue











     

    4

    3

    2

    1

    Exposition


    slides 2-10

    ALL slides are thoroughly completed with necessary details descriptions for every slide

    MOST slides are thoroughly completed with necessary details descriptions for every slide

    MOST slides are adequately completed with necessary details descriptions for every slide

    MOST slides are not adequately completed with necessary details descriptions for every slide

    Plot


    Slides 11-15

    Conflict, rising action, and climax/falling action/resolution is clearly and accurately stated

    Conflict, rising action, and climax/falling action/resolution is mostly clearly and accurately stated

    Conflict, rising action, and climax/falling action/resolution is somewhat clearly and accurately stated

    Conflict, rising action, and climax/falling action/resolution is not clearly and accurately stated

    Theme


    Slides 16-18

    Slides reflect a clearly stated and understood message presented in the novel. 

    Slides reflect a stated and understood message presented in the novel. 

    Slides reflect a somewhat clearly stated and/or understood message presented in the novel. 

    Slides did not  reflect a clearly stated and understood message presented in the novel. 

    Text connections 


    Slides 19-21

    Connections to self and/or other texts and experiences is clearly stated. 

    Connections to self and/or other texts and experiences is stated. 

    Connections to self and/or other texts and experiences is somewhat stated. 

    Connections to self and/or other texts and experiences is not clearly stated. 

     

     

     And a few words about homework...
     

    WHO gets homework?

    Students get homework!- It’s part of school, especially ELA & Math, and it only grows in amount as you go through middle school, high school, and beyond. Homework will also increase in the areas of Science and Social Studies as you move further on in your education.


    Parents get homework. Yes, it’s true. Your work applies to the other W’s below.


    Teachers get homework, I promise! Planning and preparing for tomorrow’s  lessons, next week’s unit, grading work, updating Genesis, updating Google Classroom, SGO’s, PDP’s…

    WHAT is homework?

    This simple answer is “work you do at home,” but this isn’t the whole truth. Homework  is work that is assigned to be completed outside the classroom and brought back at a later date. Homework is often completing work not done in class, so  if you want less homework, get more done during class! Homework can be studying vocabulary for an upcoming quiz, completing reading checklist activities, workbook pages, writing assignments, benchmark practice activities,  MobyMax ELA/Math/SS/Science practice, ALEKS, Spanish conjugations, Lab reports, Math problems and the list goes on… so checking Google Classroom and Genesis is where to find what the homework is if you didn’t write it down during class. If you still aren’t sure, phone or text a friend!


    PARENTS- homework is  work students do at home. It’s their work. If they are having difficulty with homework, have them review the work completed in class that day. If that doesn’t help, phone or text a classmate. If that doesn’t help, I’ll be in my room by 7:55 ready to help students.

    WHERE is homework?

    Homework isn’t something that has to  be completed at home. We have homework assistance offered Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays every week for all grade levels, and we have Study Hall during lunch period Monday through Friday. I am not a fan of homework, so I do as much of my work in school before I leave each day. Most of the homework I complete at home is on the weekend. Yes, we even have homework on the weekend.


    PARENTS- This is part of your homework. Knowing where your child is doing their homework. If they say they are doing it at school, ask to see it, especially in the first month or so. Kids are kids, and some kids are more cooperative and compliant with homework than others. I’ve been the parent of both. My less compliant child needed to do his homework in plain sight at the kitchen table until he was in high school. I needed to see what his  homework was and needed to see him do it or show me it completed. Most days it took more time “discussing” doing the homework than it would have taken for him to do  the work. It wasn’t easy, but it was my homework to give my child a place to do his homework, and for him it had to be a very public setting.

    WHEN is homework?

    The answer to the question “when is my homework due?”  will always be found in Google Classroom and Genesis. You also have an agenda/planner, and you should be writing it down there too, especially a parent wants you to and checks to see that you do. Some assignments are due the next day, larger assignments will be given further  due dates. If you check your Google Calendar for your school gmail account, you will see your due dates from your teachers if they are using Google Classroom.


    PARENTS- Yes, this is your work too. For my “challenging” child, he needed homework to be done right after school because if he took a break it was way more difficult to bring him back to the table to work. My other child was the complete opposite; she needed to decompress after school and on most nights didn’t start her homework until after dinner and actually liked waking up early to complete homework. It worked for her.  What best works for students is when they consistently do their homework at the same place and time. Homework is a routine and should be treated as such. It’s great to get the rare night off, but homework should be viewed as a daily event during the school  year.


    For some students, weekly schedules can be busy to say the least, so the scenario  described above may not apply daily. Try to create routines that fit the weekly schedule. Completing as much work over the weekend can be a good option for those long-range assignments.

    WHY homework?

    School is serious work, we are trying to prepare you for high school, and high school will be preparing you for the adult version of you! That is serious stuff, even though it may not seem so right now.


    The New Jersey Student Learning Standards are challenging, and no school  day gives us enough time to cover everything that needs to be covered and mastered in just our daily class periods. The NJSLS are designed to be competitive. Students who routinely do their work achieve better results than those who do not. We want you to do your best, and we promise we have done our best work to prepare you to do your best work. In preparation, we need you to do the homework  for you to achieve your best results. We also promise you we NEVER give homework without a real reason. It’s an essential practice that  helps you achieve mastery, and without it, you haven’t given yourself enough practice to do your best work. And while you may not be doing your homework, many of your classmates are, and remember when I said that the NJSLS are designed to be competitive? To do your best, you have to do your best!

    If you give homework its needed time, you will be just fine!