December 17-21

Hard to believe, but vacation is right around the corner. Encourage your kids to just hold on for five more days.

Things to be aware of for the week:
1. Progress Reports
2. Winter celebration party (Friday-students will be allowed to bring a snacks to share with the class)


Literature classes will be taking a quiz on Monday over main idea and supporting details. This will help them with their homework over the holiday break. Yes, homework! We will also be going over the expectations for our next book review presentation that is due January 15th. Students will be needing a tri-board for this assignment and you can find them at any office supply store. They range in price from $4-7.99, but can be reused.

Writing classes will be taking their final over Expository Writing and working on letters of inquiry.

Study Skills will be finishing their last week of leadership/citizenship.

Congratulations to Jennifer Nelson who went 16/16 in the Bowman NFL Picks.

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas Vacation.
Mrs. Bowman

December 10-14

Two weeks to go! Lets work hard and celebrate our success.

7th Grade Literature will start reading plans and continue with compare and contrast.

8th Grade Literature will also start reading plans, cover main idea and determining importance.

8th Grade Writing will continue with expository text.

Study Skills will be finishing leadership/citizenship and taking a quiz on Friday.

Congratulations to Robert Gonzales for winning BOWMAN'S NFL PREDICTIONS last week. He went 14/16 and won a case of Mountain Dew and a 1/2 pound of chocolate. Everything he needs for watching Sunday football. We have over 80 students participating and each one took a pledge in order to play. If I happen to win, they all promised to do 30 minutes of fitness before school. I had only two students who felt that was too much to lose.

Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Bowman

December 3-7

New semester, new beginning! For some, the opportunity for a fresh start only comes along once a year, this is the time. All students start with an A, it's their choice if you choose to keep it.

Things to be aware of this week;

1. final semester grades will be coming home
2. we will be cleaning out binders and choosing several pieces for the end of the year portfolio
3. we will also be doing personal reflections and goal setting for this next semester
4. (2nd period writing) will be bringing home a behavior contract that must be signed by
parent/guardian

7th Grade Literature will be focusing on "compare and contrast" and taking a quiz on Friday.
8th Grade Literature will be finishing up "theme" and taking a quiz on Friday.
8th Grade Writing will be going over WASL prompt and expository text.
Study Skills is a new group of students that will be focusing on leadership/citizenship.

For fun, several students participated in Bowman's NFL pick this week, an opportunity to win a prize for the best record.

Have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Bowman

November 26-29

Full, well rested and ready to go! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Just a few
announcements for the week.

All school writing WASL practice, Thursday
End of the semester, Thursday
No school on Friday

I will be sending home progress reports on Monday, but if you want to check to see what you child's final semester grade is you can log onto skyward Friday after 1:00. Students will have until THURSDAY to turn in any missing assignments for partial credit. Please take a look at these reports and encourage your child to get in as many as they can.

7th grade literature will be focusing on dictionary and resource skills.
8th grade literature will be focusing on theme this week.
ALSO, THE DECEMBER NON-FICTION BOOK REVIEW TRI-BOARD WILL BE DUE JANUARY 15TH RATHER THAN DECEMEBER 15TH. This was due to the extended schedule for November's presentations.

Writing classes will be making corrections on their persuasive final and reviewing four square in regard to expository text.

Study Skills will be finishing with several leadership activities and a potential field trip to Mcdonalds or Subway for eighth graders who are interested in getting a job.

Have a wonderful week.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Steelers (Monday night football against Miami)

Mrs. Bowman

November 19-20

Careful . . . if you blink you may miss this week! Even though we only have two days, don't underestimate their importance.

Literature classes will be finishing up book review presentations. I will also be collecting journals, since the last two weeks have been combined.

Writing classes will be typing up their final persuasive paper in the lab.

Study skills classes will be continuing with leadership/citizenship activities.

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday!
Mrs. Bowman

November 13-16

Another short week! As you can tell by the academic calendar, the end of the semester is just around the corner. It's important that your child turns in all of these last assignments. For some students one assignment can make or break their grade. This is also a huge week for my Literature Classes. Book reviews start on Thursday and students will be randomly drawn to determine the order in which they will be presenting. ALL STUDENTS WILL BE PRESENTING THEIR INFORMATION.

In writing, students will be continuing working on their persuasive papers. As well as taking a quiz on Thursday over vocabulary in persuasive writing.

Literature Classes will be finishing up their last details for their presentations that start on Thursday.

Study Skills will be working on various leadership and citizenship activities.

Have a wonderful week! (Don't forget the Hawks on Monday night football!)

November 5-9

Wow, how about last week! Crazy, no power Monday, Mrs. Bowman out with a sick kid on Tuesday, and Halloween on Wednesday, it was rough.

Monday the entire school will be going to the Capitol Theatre. We are scheduled to leave around 9 am and return at 12:30 pm. We will be eating lunch when we return and then the students will be either attending the dance or other activity in the afternoon.

Also, due to the power outage, progress reports were delayed a week. You should see those on Tuesday. Remember, please sign and get those in Wednesday. These grades are up to date and pay attention to your child's book review grade. They have their second book review due November 15th. The assignment is worth 20% of student's overall grade and I have several students who chose not to do them.

In literature this week, we will be continuing with Point of View and working on book review presentations(due the 15th).

In writing, we will be continuing persuasive writing with emphasis on vocabulary.

Study Skills-will be looking at the Pearls Project and coming up with a plan implementation.

Have a wonderful week
Mrs. Bowman-----GO STEELERS (Monday night football)

P.S. Thanks Jennifer for my first comment, I loved it!

October 29-November 2

Halloween WEEK! Upcoming events that you should be aware of ...
Monday October 29, 7-8th grade dance 5-7pm
Wednesday October 31, Halloween PLEASE NO COSTUMES
November 6th, Capital Theatre field trip (all students)

In literature, we will be covering inference and point of view. Wednesday we will be sharing Halloween stories and students will be able to bring in treats for the class. If your child wants to bring something in, please make sure there is enough for the entire class.
1st period 17 students
4th period 20 students
6th period 25 students

In writing, we will be comparing expository and persuasive writing.
Have a great week!
Mary

Study skills will be going through the Pearls Project expectations for High School.

Week of October 22-26

We're getting it done! I want to thank those parents who came in for conferences. I felt it was a huge success.. If you were unable to come in, please contact me and we can arrange a time to meet. I also hope you enjoyed your weekend assignment.

This week in literature, we will continue covering dealing with difficulty strategies, grade and charting our second WASL prompt.

In writing, we will finish where we left off in our debate discussion with emphasis on persuasion.

Study skills have just completed their mock interviews. We will be doing some follow up activities as well as an interview assessment toward the end of the week.

Have a wonderful week.
Remember it's SPIRIT WEEK!

Mrs. Bowman

October 15-17

Another short week! I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you and sharing your child's success this week. I will be sending home your child's notebook and a parent assignment sheet on Wednesday. Please spend some time with your child so they can go through the notebook with you. They have been working very hard.

In literature class we will be taking our second WASL Prompt assessment and grading it.

Writing class will be continuing debate with focus on persuasive writing.

Study Skills will be finishing their mock interviews.

I will be out of the building on Tuesday, attending the 8th grade college field trip.
Have a wonderful short week.
Mary

October 8-11

We are all in this together! It takes a whole team to win the game (like the Steeler win over the Hawks this weekend). I appreciate all of the parent communication over the last several weeks regarding your child's academic progress.

Literature this week will be focusing on strategies for dealing with difficulty.

Writing classes will continue with grammar practice with an emphasis on subject/predicate and the introduction persuasive writing.

Study skills classes will continue with mock interviews throughout the week.

Have a wonderful short week. NO SCHOOL on FRIDAY!
Gooooooooooooooooo Steelers!
Mrs. Bowman

October 2-5

Reach for Success! It is hard to believe, but we made it through our first month and conferences are just around the corner. If you haven't had the opportunity to return your conference information please get those in as soon as possible. If you would like to schedule a time to meet with me outside of conference time please let me know.

Literature classes will be covering book reviews and continue with story elements. The first book review will be due no later than October 17th.

Writing classes will continue to focus on grammar.

The study skills class will be going through their first round of mock interviews.

Just a reminder: progress reports will be coming home on Tuesday. Please sign and return them.

Also FRIDAY IS SEAHAWK/STEELERS DAY for our class. Encourage your child to participate in the fun.

Have a Great Week.
Mrs. Bowman

Week of September 24-29

Engage! We continue pushing on.

This is a week of harsh reality. Many of the students have found themselves on academic probation for lack of not turning in their work. My turn-in policy is simple, assignments are due the next day with the exception of my writing classes this week. We had trouble printing in the lab, therefore assignments will be due Monday. All journals and notebooks are due on Fridays, so I can grade them over the weekend. I will restate this policy again this week.


Please also remember, I only send hard copy grades every other Monday and students are expected to be signed and returned. I had several students who chose not to return them. I do count those as a grade so get them back to me as soon as you can. You can access your child's grades on Skyward anytime and I would encourage you to do so. I tend to do most of my grading over the weekend, so Mondays are a good day to check.

Literature this week will continue to cover story elements with emphasize on conflict.

Writing classes will be peer editing their narrative stories and moving on to review of grammar.

Study Skills class have been completing local job applications. We will be continuing this progress this week. Friday, seventh period is our first pep assembly.

Congratulations to those kids participating in football, cross country, and volleyball. I was so proud of how well everyone played.

Have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Bowman

Week of September 17-21

Up and Onward! My students are soaring upward and we are moving onward through the curriculum.

Please look for progress reports on Monday; they should be signed and returned by Tuesday. Also, remember you can login in and check your student's grades through skyward.

Something you may have noticed when I post curriculum assignments is that I post the Sunday before. It seems I over-plan because we haven't made it through a complete week yet, but I would rather have your child be over-prepared then under. Please continue to follow the assignments posted.

Literature this week will be covering story elements with emphasis on setting, plot, character development, and conflict. I will continue to meet with students and share their assessment results and monitor fluency and comprehension.

Writing classes have been working on personal narratives (true stories about themselves). My objective was creative writing with focus on introduction and organization. Students will be finishing their rough drafts and completing a published piece by the end of the week.

Study Skills will be going through the application process and continuing to prepare for job interviews.

Have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Bowman

Week of September 10-15

We are off and running. I'm hoping your kids are coming home excited about school (hopefully not too sore) and sharing their planners with you.

I'm sure some of you may be wondering why I choose to do 3-5 minutes of fitness everyday in my core classes. This is something I have done for years, not only is it highly motivating, it relieves stress/anxiety as well as gives me an opportunity to emphasize that importance of goals and we are all striving to be better. Unfortunately, some of your children may have me for more than one period and they may get a little sore. Believe or not in three minutes you can get an effective workout, especially if your body isn't accustomed to it. Encourage them to continue to stretch at home. I always promote safety in class, but often it the soreness doesn't come until the next day. I will be sending home a list of stretches that can be done home this week.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE- We can finally access our class blog from school, but we are still experiencing some difficulty linking our class grades to it. I will keep you posted of any changes. Remember, this blog is constantly evolving, so please be patient.

In Literature this week, we will be covering story elements. Also, I will be introducing read- alouds (I read a variety of literature to the class) and the students will be expected to use HOT (Hierarchy of Talk) as a way to clarify the reading. In addition, students need to have a library book everyday. They will be independently reading (IR) on a regular basis while I conference with every student once a week. This is an opportunity for me to assess their fluency, readability level, and their reading strategies they rely on.

Writing classes will continue to work on strong opening paragraphs, with emphasize on their first sentence.

The Study Skills class will finish their resumes and look at preparing for an interview. I have several eigth grade students who are interested in getting a job so I will be bringing in actual applications from local businesses who are hiring.

Have a wonderful week and thank you to those parents who introduced themselves to me via email. I would love to hear from all of you.

Week of September 4-7

YAH, week number one is finished and we are all alive. I have to say Friday came quicker than I had hoped. I guess time flies when you have such great kids.

We are continuing to have some technical difficulties with linking our blog to the school. At this point we are unable to even view or have any association of the blog at school. I have spoken to tech support and they have reassured me that things will be up and running by the end of the week.

Also this week we will be starting where we left off. Many of the kids needed two days to finish their assessments. So, this week we will be correcting and charting, then creating personal goal plans based on those scores.

In addition, literature classes will be taking their first trip to the library and will be checking out two books one for my class and one for home. I know schedules are busy, but if time permits encourage your child to read at home. Remember it doesn't matter what your child is reading as long as they are reading. At this stage in the game, a child who reads what they want will have a better chance of developing an intrinsic love for books.

Writing classes will be exploring expository text and rediscovering the importance of classroom resources.

The study skills class has taken a different direction than what was originally developed due to the number of 7th graders who are now enrolled. It was largely intended to prepare students for the Pearls Project. I have decided to move more towards a citizenship and career applications class. The theme of the course will be "The Choices We Choose to Make Today, Can and Will Effect our Future". Students will be exploring their future based on if they graduate from a university or for some the harsh reality of not even graduating from high school. Unfortunately, their educational future is determined by the roll of a dice. From here we will talk about available careers, creating resumes, interviewing, the importance of being a respected citizen/leader no matter what type of education you have chosen. Then finally tying in Pearls Project and what we can do now.

If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me.
Have a safe and wonderful week.

Week of August 28-31

WE MADE IT! For some parents, the idea of summer finally coming to an end was just a far off dream. Well, that dream has now become a reality.
This first week my goal will be to establish relationships. If I can create a positive risk-taking environment where all kids can learn, then I have mastered one of three essential components of teaching. I will also be giving a baseline (starting point) assessment in all of my Literature and Writing classes. This assessment will allow us to identify your child's strengths and areas that need improvement. From there, we will be able to chart the results and establish goals for the future.
These first couple of weeks will definitely be a time of transition and change. I would like to help any way I can. So please feel free to be in touch.

Also just a few things you should expect to see from your child;
1. Student, Parent, and Teacher Compact (please sign and return by Friday)
2. Class binders are due Friday (the sooner the better)
If a binder can't be provided, please let me know and one will be provided for you.

Welcome Back

Another year is about to begin and I'm so exited to get started. For some, the idea of making to middle school is an accomplishment with in its self. For others, it's just one step closer to independence. For me, its a beginning . . . new school and an opportunity to teach five miles from home.

I look forward to meeting all of you soon.
Mrs. Bowman