Monday, December 14, 2015

Almost to the Break

We are almost there!  We have finals this week and Spirit week at OACP.  English finals are Monday and Tuesday.  Students are allowed to use their notes on this final, but a time limit of the class period is enforced.  Students should be really familiar with what notes they have so they can work quickly enough to get the test completed in the allotted time.  I will try to get them graded as soon as possible and get grades updated.

Reading log homework is still assigned this week, but independent reading is totally optional over the break.  We will start up again in January.

This is a fun week and an important week.  Let's finish the semester strong!  Have a great week and enjoy your winter break.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Finals and Spirit Week and Christmas, Oh my!

Welcome to a very busy week at OACP!  We are preparing for finals, we have Winter Spirit Week next week, and then Christmas break.  There is a lot of excitement about the upcoming events (maybe not so much about the finals...).  English finals for all classes take place next week, December 14 and 15 during normal class times.

In ninth grade we are reading The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry.  We are focusing on irony as well as finding the theme and other literary elements.  We are also using active reading strategies by annotating the text as we read.  The 9A class is writing a research paper on the college of their choice.  The conversations that are happening in that class are really exciting!  This is getting them thinking and learning and planning for the future.  Hopefully they are learning valuable information as they complete this project.

The tenth graders are finishing up reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  Most students are familiar with the story line of this classic, but the students are now discovering the descriptive writing style of Dickens as well.  They also wrote a response paper to a research article entitled "Are Experiences More Valuable Than Possessions?"  To prepare to read this book, each student researched one aspect of background information about the author, his works, this book and its impact.  This information was presented to the class before Thanksgiving.  This book will be covered on the final exam next week as well.

It is a busy time for students for sure!  Encourage home reading (many students are letting this slide) and be prepared for the remaining assignments.  Keep working hard - a break is right around the corner!