Reading Literature

Tenth graders finished their College Prep unit by making a Testive.com account so they can practice for the ACT or SAT at home.  This site will give them targeted practice with clear explanations for concepts they don't understand.  We watched a TED talk by Malcolm Gladwell about preferences in food variety and applied that to our writing and to people in general.  Tenth graders will be starting on a brief unit on the short stories of Russian writer Anton Chekhov.  We will focus on his endings and how he changed the traditional ending.  These are pretty quick reads and found online, I recommend reading The Bet if you are interested in Chekhov's writing.

Ninth graders will continue reading The Red Badge of Courage this week.  They took a vocabulary quiz today and began a character analysis of the protagonist in the form of a Bio Poem.  These are due Thursday.  Because of the writing style, this book at times requires students to back up and reread the text to really discover what is happening.  Students should take advantage of the group reading process to discuss and clarify what is happening as they read.

All students will take their first book report of the second semester on Wednesday.  Most students have finished their books so they should be planning for the next one, which will be in March 9.  We are half way through the quarter.  Students are having graded assignments regularly.  Please encourage your student to keep up on all assignments.

Graded Work

Since coming back from break, we have been learning a lot of new material and practicing that in class, resulting in not as much homework.  However, this week students will have additional homework and more graded assignments.  Please check the homework tab if you wnat to follow up on student assignments.  All students will have a book report in class on Wednesday, Feb. 1, so books should be complete by that date.

Ninth graders are starting to read The Red Badge of Courage thihs week.  They made a vocab organizer with 12 new words from chapters 1-5.  All students should finish organizers Monday and study thi sweek to be prepared for the quiz on Monday Jan. 20.  They should also be prepared for possible comprehension quizzes each day after reading. Ninth graers will have IXL standards on figurative language assigned this week and due in a week.

Tenth graders are completing a college prep unit.  They are working on writing to respond to typical college essay prompts with word limits.  A word limit enhances different limitations on a writer, so this experience is beneficial for them to try out before they are filling out college applicaitons.  They will also gain experience with challenging reading passages as they will find on college entrance exams.  They are practicing annotating those and reading for comprehension and accuracy.  Tenth graders have IXL standards due this week and will have more assigned.

Have a great week!

Poetry and College Prep

Where did this week go?  With that Monday holiday, this was a very short week; nevertheless, we accomplished quite a bit in all classes.  In ninth grade, we read Walt Whitman poetry.  We focused on Whitman's Drum-Taps poems, a collection written about the Civil War.  This will tie into our next book, The Red Badge of Courage, which we will start next week.  During class we focused on annotating with a broad to narrow approach, determining the overall tone and message before we look for specific literary devices like metaphors or alliteration. We will be ready to learn some new vocabulary and start reading the book next week. It will be very valuable learning experience to draw comparisons between Whitman's poetry and The Red Badge of Courage.

Tenth graders are in a College Prep unit.  In a college experience, sometimes students have to write without much time (not for assigned homework, of course, but for timed testing situations). We spent time learning how to plan and write and essay response quickly.  We also learned how to write when you are limited on words, like for a college application or scholarship essay with a word limit.  Both present challenges to students that can be improved with practice.  We also learned some strategies for attacking ACT reading passages.

It was only three days but we accomplished quite a bit, with bigger plans for next week.  I appreciate the effort of all of these students!

Welcome Back!

It's the first day of the third quarter and the second semester.  We started the quarter off with new reading logs and a reminder of our next book report, coming up Thursday, Feb. 2.  All students should select their book by this Wednesday, Jan. 11.  The tenth graders started today with learning about the research of Carol Dweck, Ph.D, on Fixed and Growth mindsets.  We learned about this before getting semester finals back, and wanted to view them with the idea of growth, not frustration. Having a growth mindset is critical to learning, so it is worth the time we will spend in the next few days on it.   We will use this for a springboard for a College Prep unit of study we are starting, where we will have some training on reading and writing to succeed on college entrance exams and college applications.  It may be a while before students are actually doing these, but preparation is a key to success.
Ninth graders learned about setting SMART goals and set two goals, one academic and one non-academic.  They will do some writing to inform and explain about these goals and their plan to achieve them.  Ninth graders will also start reading some Walt Whitman poetry this week, as a companion text to The Red Badge of Courage, a classic by Steven Crane set during the Civil War.  Students will have opportunities to read and also to write about courage and challenges and how we and changed by them.  It's an exciting topic to read about and I look forward to exploring these themes with the ninth graders. So far, 2017 is off to a strong start in the English classroom.  Have a great week!

Finals Week

This is a big week at OACP.  English finals for all stduetns are on Wednesday, December 21 during class time.  We are on a normal schedule all week.  Students in all grades had a review day last week.  They are allowed to use notebooks on the final, but will be expected to complete their final within the class time.  All students hav ea review document on their Google Classroom account to refer to if needed.

On Thursday, the 9th and 10th graders will walk to the Fallon Theater for a private showing of the new Star Wars movie.  Parents, please turn in your child's permission slip this week.  Also, we could use about 5 boxes of candycanes.  If you are able to send some in with your student, we would appreciate it!

Finals Prep

We are in the last two weeks of the quarter and the semester, a time when every grade counts.  If your student is missing any grades, please have him or her come talk to me.  It is not too late today to correct it, but it will become too late very shortly.  I want to see all students getting good grades, so don't let your student end the semester with missing work.

This week the ninth graders are presenting their plot diagram posters from their American Romantic short story.  We are learning a lot and the discussions about the interpretation of the literature have been very impressive.  Tenth graders are continuing reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  We are doing all reading in class and will finish next week, just in time for our final.

The English final for all grades is on Wednesday, December 21.  This is a one day final that will be part multiple choice, including vocabulary and grammar, part reading comprehension, and part essay and written response.  I will go into more specifics with all students in class this week so they have time to prepare for next week.  To encourage thorough note-taking all year, students are allowed to use their notes on all tests and on the final.

For all students, there are still grades to be earned, like the book report on Wednesday, December 14.  Please encourage your student to work hard and finish strong.  Have a great week!

Reading Projects

Ninth graders are working on their American Romanticism Short Story Project.  All groups are reading their story in class, but students can do their vocabulary at home.  Students will have until the end of class Wednesday to complete their story.  They will complete vocab, a character map, and an attribute web independently, and a summary and a plot diagram storyboard as a group.

Tenth graders are starting to read the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  They have vocabulary words and should expect unannounced comprehension quizzes. Vocabulary quizzes will be announced.  No notes are allowed on quizzes, so being prepared is important.  Because we will finish this reading very close to our final, the content of this book will be covered on the final.  

All students have a book report on December 14 and should be completing books this week to be ready for that in-class assignment.  Have a great week!