Monday, September 28, 2015

Reading Projects

Welcome to another week in English class!  In both classes, we are starting reading projects.  We will spend several weeks on these projects, with more of an emphasis on reading for comprehension and writing to analyze the texts.

More specifically, in ninth grade, we started reading The Great Little Madison, a biography of James Madison.  In conjunction with this book, we will have vocabulary words and quizzes.  Students will have a study guide with 11 words at a time, then have a quiz after completing the reading for the chapters.  The reading for this will all be done in class, with a written summary after reading.  We have class discussion questions every day, and each of these questions is a possible test question for the end of the unit test.  The purpose of this is to prepare students for that test, a little bit each day.

In tenth grade, we have learned about a pattern in literature called the monomyth, or the 12 stages of the hero's journey.  We compiled an extensive list of books and movies that follow this pattern, and the students are ready to get into book clubs to read with the purpose of identifying and analyzing this pattern in their book.  They will work in small groups, 3-4 students, and present their findings at the end.  This is a four week project and the reading will mostly be done in the classroom.

During these times, attendance in extra important.  Thank you for helping your child be in class every day they are able.

Have a great week and read, read, read!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Biographies and Book Clubs

This week we are off to a great start.  Both ninth grade classes got vocabulary words for a biography they wills tart this week called The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz.  This is the biography of James Madison.  The ninth graders got a list of 11 words and made a study guide for a quiz coming up next week.  The words will be introduced in the first three chapters of the book.  They will get more words as we move through the book.  I am looking forward to reading this book with them, learning more about James Madison, one of our founding fathers and US presidents.

In tenth grade, students turned in their restaurant reviews.  They used mentor texts and peer review to improve their work.  They have all come a long way from their first drafts!  Later this week, we will learn about patterns in literature.  Students will be in book clubs to find these patterns and then present to the class.  It should be a fun project and help the as a reader by becoming aware of the patterns they may encounter.

As always, please encourage your student in his or her home reading.  Reading is important in building a mature vocabulary, which is essential for academic success!  Keep reading!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Project Sharing

We have three classes sharing writing projects this week.
2nd block, 10B is sharing their "I Remember" poems in a poetry workshop in the English classroom.  They will share with two fifth grade classes and provide a writing tip to help the fifth graders improve their own writing.  That will be Tuesday, 9/15, with one class coming at 10:00 and the second class coming at 10:25.

3rd block, 10A will also share their "I Remember" poems in the same format.  Their class will be in both the English classroom and the hangout room, with the fourth grade classes coming to be the audience.

Of course, parents are always invited and welcome!

4th block, 9B will share their "Introduce Yourself" narrative in an oral presentation to the class starting on Tuesday, 9/15.  It may take three days to get through all the students.  Any parent who wants to attend is welcome, but if you let me know, I can give you a ball park idea as to when your child will be presenting.  This will be in the English classroom.

Speaking and Listening are important parts of English, so they are included in our program of study.  Each student has an oral presentation rubric to guide their delivery.

Please remind your students how important it is to read at home, not just to meet the 20 minutes a night standard, but to exceed it when time allows.  Have a great week!

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Project Sharing

Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day holiday.  It sure shortens up the school week!  Here's what's going on in the English classroom.  

The 9A class presented their Introduce Yourself Narratives today.  They shared a writing tip with a few lower grade classes and told about themselves, sharing artifacts.  I appreciate the parents who came, it makes our presentations so authentic to have parents listening.   Coming up this week, we will be reflecting on this experience and we will prepare to read a biography of one of the country's founding fathers.  We will also start on some vocabulary instruction.  

In both 10th grade classes we are starting to write a restaurant review.  The first draft is due, printed out by Wednesday.  We will then read some mentor text examples from newspapers.  We will examine how they write and we will see how we can apply their strategies to our reviews.  We will have time to revise and improve ours.  We plan to send some in to the local newspaper, in case they are in need of some reviews in the future.  

The 10th grade classes will be sharing their "I Remember" poems in a poetry reading with the 4th and 5th graders.  10B (2nd Block) will share with 5th graders on Tuesday, 9/15 and 10A (3rd block) will share with 4th graders on Wednesday, 9/16.  As always, parents are welcome to join for that poetry reading and writing instruction.   

The 9B class turned in their Introduce Yourself Narrative projects today.  They were really proud of them as they should have been.  Some of the covers were true works of art!  They expressed their personality and experiences.  We will write our speeches this week and practice.  We will be ready to deliver the speeches on Tuesday, 9/15.  This will be in a one at a time format, with our class as the audience.  Any parents who want to attend, please email me and I can give you a more specific time frame for when your child will be speaking.  

As always, please encourage your student to read, read, read!  Ask your student the best way to learn new vocabulary words!