Middle School: January 26 - 30, 2026
Hello, Middle School Families,
This week, the class focused on the final aspects of short stories, analyzing the strategies that an author uses to create the setting, tone, and theme. They explored how various word choices evoke different connotations, and thus can change the mood of an entire passage. They had lots of fun rewriting paragraphs using various tones, such as playful, ominous, or frustrated.
Students have selected one of the stories written during this block to revise and expand on. Each day, the writing and revision focused on a specific area. For example, plotting their story with Freytag’s Pyramid, identifying and solidifying tone, incorporating descriptive language for the setting (using all 5 senses), and dialogue. In particular, the class worked on incorporating dialogue, and had fun writing mini skits using only dialogue and stage directions to illustrate how effectively dialogue can help us learn about the characters, move the action along, and add depth to stories.
Work with grammar concepts continues as well, in particular, punctuation for dialogue, phrases vs. clauses, and replacing the verb to be with something more specific and bold. Each student has really worked hard to develop their story and refine it for clarity. They are all becoming more confident in their writing skills!
Announcements & Reminders:
The Auction is arriving, and as mentioned in the parent chat, it is time to compile ideas for the Middle School Auction project! If you have an idea, please email me. From here, a list of all ideas will be created for parents to vote on. We also need a parent to lead/assist with the auction project for our class. Please let me know if you are interested.
January 31: Community Work Day
February 7: Early Childhood & Grade Curriculum meeting at 11 am & All School Meeting (Spring) at 12:30 pm
February 12: Lunar New Year Performance 2:30 pm (all families welcome)
February 16-20: Mid Winter Break (No School)
February 23: Teacher in Service (No School)
Thank you for the honor of teaching your children,
Ki Lesley
