Week of Dec. 5 – Dec. 9

Welcome to Trimester Two!

     It has been a busy first trimester, but it is done at last! Grades are being calculated and posted by teachers at this very moment, and report cards will go home by the end of the week. Trimester One report cards will include, for Language Arts, persuasive writing, grammar, presentation, and timeliness scores. Before you know it, we will be on vacation again, and then it will be a new year. But that is getting a bit ahead of things, so let's focus on the present.

     This week in Barclay Language Arts, students will take the SRI (Standard Reading Inventory) to check on how their reading comprehension has improved since the start of the year. In the coming trimester, we will be focusing on that exact subject, so this will be a handy score to compare to the end of the trimester. Students will have all class on Monday to complete this, and may finish it on their own time at home. This must be completed by Wednesday so we can compare progress by Friday's in-class student-teacher conference about it.

     On Monday, before taking the SRI, students will get five vocabulary words for the week, which they will be expected to spell and match with a definition and part of speech on Friday.

     On Tuesday, students will dive into scene descriptions, examining one moment from their novels and identifying all the descriptive words from them. Proper reading comprehension means depth of understanding, so recognizing how authors describe a setting is key to success. Students will work on this in groups or individually, and will turn in their work by the end of class.

     On Wednesday, which is a two-hour delay start for students, they will engage in a similar activity regarding a character from their novel; this time, the descriptions may come from anywhere in the text, not just one scene. This is a more student-driven assignment, and so will be done in pairs or individually. Students must be prepared to present their characterizations to the class verbally (without a computer) on Thursday.

     On Thursday, students present their characterization to the class and attend to the characterizations by their peers. Any remaining time will be used to review the concepts of characterization and setting.

     On Friday, students will take a quick vocabulary quiz, write a Week in Review, focusing on how much they understand about setting and characterization, and will be brought up to talk about their reading comprehension one at a time as they write. Any remaining time in the period will be spent reading.

     After school this week, our boys play at home against Lincoln at 4:45 on Monday, and the girls play at home against Windham at the same time on Thursday. The Newspaper Club meets Tuesday afternoon immediately following school, and Chess Club meets on Wednesday.

     Get in touch with any questions or concerns, and welcome to Trimester Two!

Sincerely,
Mr. DeMaris

Week of October 17 – 21

Good afternoon,

     We started this week with a lesson on how to organize a bibliography entry; as students gather sources for their arguments, they can now cite the sources properly to avoid losing credit for plagiarism or an incorrect works cited page. Here is a nifty document we made today to help understand how it will look.

     Tuesday will be a silent reading day in class; students should bring their books and read quietly for the duration of the period. Remember to respect the other students in the room and not distract them from their stories.

     Wednesday will be another day to develop essays; students should continue finding sources and providing evidence to support their claims. By now, every student should have a solid claim, so the evidence is just a matter of sifting through the vast quantities of information on the internet to locate credible sources. Remember — just because it is a .org website does NOT mean it is credible. Consider the content and consider the source.

     Thursday will either be another silent reading day or a chance to reflect on the third Presidential Debate, which will have happened Wednesday evening. Should we go with the debate, students will watch and point out logical fallacies, errors of reasoning, and contradictions. As an audience, they will be assessed on their ability to express themselves clearly and listen attentively.

     Friday will be another day to work on the persuasive project. Students should finish finding their sources and begin wrapping up the organization of their essays. Remember that presentations begin on Thursday, October 27.

     After school, today the boys have a soccer game at home, and they have their last home game on Wednesday afternoon at 4:30. Come out and support them! Our field hockey girls have their last home game tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3:30; this is earlier than their usual time, so don't be late! Newspaper club meets Tuesday right after school, and chess club on Wednesday at the usual time, too.

     We have only two weeks until Halloween, which falls on a Monday this year. If you are wearing a costume to school, remember that it must conform to the dress code despite the festivities.

     That's all! Thank you for reading, and get in touch if you have any questions.

Regards,
Mr. DeMaris

Week of October 10 – 14

Good Evening,

     This week has three major components:  arguments, NWEAs, and reading. On Tuesday, students get introduced to their big persuasive project, which will include written, visual, and presentation components. Students will get rubrics for each section in time to ensure they all have the opportunity to earn a three (3) or four (4) in every aspect of the project. There will be ample class time over the next couple weeks for students to work on this in school and to ask questions so the work they do at home will be successful.

     Remember, as students you are responsible for your own success. You have reached an age where you can ask for help when you need it, and you can recognize when you are struggling. While we, as teachers, check in and offer support, you must take charge of your work and stay focused.

     On Wednesday and Thursday, students will have regular Allied Arts classes followed by NWEAs before lunch. After lunch, they will have their standard afternoon classes for those two days. This way, thanks to the Green / White scheduling, they will have all of their four core classes once each over the two days. Students will read silently in Language Arts on those days, taking a break from the computerized tests and the pressure.

     On Friday, students will have a chance to work on their persuasive projects in class; they should be prepared to get up and announce their topics to the class as a whole by the end of the period.

     After school this week, Yearbook Club meets on Tuesday, and the same afternoon sees our field hockey teams facing Scarborough and girls' soccer teams facing King at home. Wednesday is Chess Club, and 8th grade soccer faces SMC. Thursday we play Gorham in field hockey, and on Friday our girls are home competing against Westbrook in soccer. As always, you should take an afternoon out of your busy schedules and come support your Scots — there is always more room for fans to cheer them on!

     Yearbooks are still for sale, but prices have returned to normal — $25 for hardcover, $20 for soft. Buy them online at jostens.com or in person by bringing cash or check up to Room 83. Make checks to BEMS Yearbook. Students will get yearbooks delivered to their homerooms in the spring upon completion of design by the club and printing and binding by Jostens.

    Thank you for reading, and remember to get in touch if you have any questions!

Kind Regards,
Mr. DeMaris

Week of September 26 – 30

Welcome back!

     This week will be all about developing the practical use of persuasion. That means combining the simple persuasive method with letters and speech. On Monday and Tuesday, students will write a basic persuasive letter about a selected topic, finding evidence from credible sources to support their claims. Wednesday, the late arrival day, will be for silent reading in the classroom. Students must submit their letters by Wednesday evening to be printed for Thursday. Throwback Thursday will be a chance for students to present their claims and a part of their reasoning aloud to the class, and Friday will be a day for review.

     After school this week, Yearbook Club meets on Tuesday and Chess Club meets on Wednesday. On the sports front, there is field hockey Monday at 4:30, a girls' soccer game Wednesday at 4:30, and a boys' soccer game Friday at 4:30; the seventh grade games all happen at 3:30 the same days. If you have the time, come out and support your Scots!

     Remember, Wednesday is a late arrival day for students. That means everything starts two hours later — busses and the school day.

     Finally, the school news website is up and running! bit.ly/BENewsNet is the official site of the Newspaper Club — check it out!

Regards,
Mr. DeMaris

The Week in Preview

Hello Everyone,

     This week in Clan Barclay we have ourselves a busy, busy schedule. Last week, students were introduced to the basic ideas of argument, and this week we will continue on that theme. But first, we need to refocus on our books.

     Monday will be spent in the library, reading quietly or finding new books and then reading. Students must be prepared by the end of September to present their reading book to the teacher and the class, and they will write a review of their books as well. Monday is a step in that process. Remember your book if you have one.

     Tuesday will be a day for argument development. Students will open their first argument assignment and begin to flesh it out, adding evidence and searching for credible sources to support themselves, separating the good from the bad. Remember, if your source is not credible, your evidence is not useful, and your argument is not valid. Do not ruin a good argument with bad evidence! Also, the next Newspaper Club meeting is Tuesday after school.

     Wednesday is our field trip to the Ecology School at Ferry Beach in Saco! Students will attend their first Allied Arts class, then pack into busses and head down for a day of walking and talking and exploring the coast and the woods nearby. Be sure to dress accordingly — check the weather forecast! We are going, rain or shine. Also, the next Chess Club meeting is Wednesday after school.

     Thursday we get right back to arguments, and this time they will be student pairs based on student-selected topics, albeit selected from categories we may discuss ahead of time. Remember, we will not use laptops this day. The key is a clear, cohesive presentation of your ideas, this time in written and spoken word.

     Friday will be a day for building on arguments by developing claims from evidence found in news articles. This day will be less free-form and more structured, so students can better understand how argument should be organized.

     Finally, I found this clever quotation by a modern author, and I appreciate it; share and consider!

Sincerely,
Mr. DeMaris

Our Upcoming Week

Good Evening,

     This is our first full week of school this year, five uninterrupted days at BEMS, and it looks like the weather will be a little cooler by the end of the week, too. Those of us upstairs are thankful for that; any break from the heat will be appreciated. Come December, we will appreciate our warmer spot, but right now it is just uncomfortable.

     On Monday, we in Clan Barclay will be watching the ESPN mini-documentary "The Man in the Red Bandana," a fourteen-minute segment honoring the memory of Welles Crowther, a man who sacrificed his life on September 11, 2001 rescuing others in the South Tower. We will discuss and write about the event as a part of history, a tragedy, and a moment that united the nation; this year's students are the first group where everyone was born after those events took place.

     Tuesday will be a reading day in class; all students should bring their reading books and read silently throughout the class period. Tuesday is also picture day here at Bonny Eagle Middle School! Dress your best, comb your hair, and smile for the camera; even if you do not plan to purchase photos from LifeTouch, you should still look good — these will be the student photos in the yearbook this year. Speaking of yearbook, our first club meeting will be Tuesday after school in my classroom; if you are interested, come join us!

     We begin discussing argument and persuasion on Wednesday; students will learn the basic terminology — claim, counterclaim, evidence, source, rebuttal. Students will memorize the terms and see which team can identify them all clearly first. The first Chess Club meeting is Wednesday after school in Room 98, down the hall. We also have a Cross-Country meet Wednesday afternoon at 4:00; come support your Scots!

     Throwback Thursday will be a discussion day; we will review argument definitions and read quotations on the purpose of democracy and government, and then students will have group discussions and small debates centered on those quotations. Remember, you are not allowed to use your laptop in Language Arts on Thursday, so come with a pencil or pen if you want to jot down notes. Thursday afternoon is the first Newspaper Club meeting; if you are interested in investigating your school, your community, and your world, or you like drawing cartoons, or you are just curious, stop in!

     On Friday, all students will write a "Week in Review" letter, reflecting on their first full week of school and connecting it, if they please, to their weekend or their plans for the future. This is an open opportunity to express themselves clearly and without any criticism of grammar and spelling, as it is only graded on completion. Once they have finished writing, they may free write or read quietly. We also have our first school-wide assembly Friday afternoon, so classes will be shorter than usual — roughly 40 minutes instead of the full hour.

     As usual, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, get in touch by email or phone, or even by commenting here. We are always interested in what you have to say.

Have a good week!

Mr. DeMaris

Chess

Hello Students,

     You should join chess club. We meet after school on Wednesdays (like today!) in Room 98, over in MacCallum clan. All skill levels are welcome, and we'll even teach you a few tricks to beat your friends and family at the game!

     We look forward to seeing you on Wednesdays!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris