1. 8th Grade Reading/ELA Aubry Bend Middle School
Mrs. Ballard
8th Grade Reading/ELA
Aubry Bend Middle School

2. About Me Originally from Leawood, Ks University of Kansas
Graduate of Shawnee
Mission East High School
University of Kansas
BSE - Secondary English Education
MSE - Curriculum and Teaching
Teaching experience:
5th year in Blue Valley
6th, 7th, and 8th grade Reading/ELA
Student taught at the high school level

3. BABY JAY!

5. My Mission: Guiding Principles: Be Kind Be Safe Do your Best Work
To create a dynamic learning classroom that allows each individual student to succeed in a productive, caring, and safe environment.
Guiding Principles:
Be Kind
Be Safe
Do your Best Work

6. Reading Curriculum Novels The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Short Stories – Pearson Literature Book (Common Core Edition)
Poetry Unit – Pearson Literature Book (Common Core Edition)
Independent Reading – Literature Circles – Socratic Seminars – Book Clubs – Informational text
Literary Elements
Characterization Text Features
Figurative Language Text Structure
Story Elements/Plot Line Persuasive Techniques
Theme/Main Ideas Cause/Effect
Inference Summarizing
Context Clues Author’s Purpose

7. Monthly Book Projects
Students will read and complete a book project each month. Goals for independent reading:
Keeps students reading different genres outside of their school day
Keeps students thinking about, writing about, and talking about their reading
Month
Genre
Project
September
Biography
Poster/diorama/Glogster
October
Mystery/Suspense
Summary/Lit Circle Work
Nov/Dec
Fantasy/Sci Fi
PowerPoint/Prezi
January
Historical Fiction
Menu of choices
February
8th Grade Novel List
Goanimate.com
March
Action/Adventure
Scenes from Novel/Diary of Character
April
Book Club
Book Club Jobs/Meetings
May
Free Choice
Book Review

8. ELA Curriculum Pre and Post Writing Assessments Writer’s Workshop
Expository, Narrative, Persuasive, Technical
Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes
Vocabulary – Word of the Day
Writing Process
Pre-writing, Draft, Revise, Edit, Publish
Six Traits of Writing
Ideas, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Organization, Conventions

9. Websites and Contact Information
Some locations may have my old address but they will all filter to my new
Teacher Websites

10. I look forward to a fabulous year with your children
I look forward to a fabulous year with your children! Thank you for coming tonight.