Welcome to Sinagua Middle School. I am Cheri Lewis, your child's 7th or eighth grade special education English teacher. I work in room 510 at SMS, in room 501 for eighth grade cotaught English with Ms. Kelly Zimmer, and in room 505 for seventh grade cotaught classes with Ms. Taylor DeVries and in room 508 with Mr. Steve Rhode.  I have taught sixth grade for ten years, special education for thirteen years, and reading for eight years. I am looking forward to working with both students and parents to make this a successful year for everyone. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to check ParentVue or StudentVue on a weekly basis to see assignments, grades, and attendance. Contact the registrar for your parent password. If your child is absent, please encourage him /her to take the initiative to find out what work has been missed.

    Thank you for all the hard work you do in raising your child and supporting education. As parents or guardians you have one of the hardest jobs in the world, and I thank you for entrusting your child to me. Please contact me by email, clewis1@fusd1.org, or phone, 928-527-5500 ext.6826 if you have any concerns or questions. Here are some helpful things to know for the class.

 

 

Assignments

   There will be at least one homework assignment packet each week. The assignment will be individualized and based on a standardized reading comprehension test. The packet consists of 3 articles of increasing text complexity to build reading fluency and comprehension. The assignments will also build critical thinking skills. The student will be asked to read the first page out loud to someone 5 times and answer the 5 multiple choice questions by underlining the answers in the text before choosing the correct answer. The process will be repeated for the next 2 pages. A parent or adult signature will verify that your child read aloud.

 

   If your child needs help, he/she needs to ask. Mrs. Lewis is available during first and second lunch to help students. I am always willing to help at lunch and after school on days where I am not scheduled for a meeting. Ms. DeVries in room 505 will do English tutoring on Thursdays and also uses the same homework packets. If your child is not able to do the work at home, this would be a great opportunity to complete the assignment.

 

    We will work to improve your student's reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students will read short stories, plays, poems, nonfiction articles, and a required novel Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games for seventh grade and The Outsiders plus The Diary of Anne Frank for eighth graders. Students will work on writing sentences, paragraphs, arguments, informative texts or essays, and narratives. Speaking and listening will be developed through class discussions.

  

  Click here to see resources for reading, writing, listening and speaking. https://www.fusd1.org/Page/8731

 

 Class schedule:

1st period             7th grade resource English in 510

2nd period            7th grade co-taught English with Ms. DeVries in 505

3rd period            8th grade co-taught English with Ms. Zimmer in 501

4th                       Academic Pathway      

5th/6th7th period  prep and lunch

8th period            7th grade cotaught English with Mr. Rhode in 508

9th period            7th and 8th grade resource English in 510