Literature

This week all students are working on completing our books to line up with our testing and finals.  Tenth graders are reading Animal Farm, with plans to finish by the end of the week.  This book has prompted some great discussions during class time.  Tenth graders are also having a vocabulary quiz, possibly the last one of the quarter.  As students know, only a quiz can raise a low quiz average in the quarter, so hopefully all students will be prepared to do well on this quiz.
Ninth graders are presenting their group research about one aspect of the 1920s in class, then beginning The Great Gatsby.  It is a fun book to read, but it can be a difficult read.  I recommend that students read the assigned chapters in class and plan to reread at home.  They can count that for their reading log time, but it will help anyone who may be confused about what is happening in the book. Ninth graders also have some IXL standards due this week.
All students will take the ACT Aspire test next week, which will modify our normal class schedule.  
All in all, we are off to a strong start this week!

Reading Literature

We are well into the fourth quarter now and all classes are in full swing.  Tenth graders are reading Animal Farm by George Orwell.  The connections they are making during class and group discussions are really meaningful.  They are almost half way through the book.  We are working on IXL to improve sentence structure and we will have some formal writing assignments as we continue with the book, along with vocabulary quizzes, usually on Tuesdays.  

Ninth graders finished presenting their Life Lessons projects.  I heard a lot of positive feedback and we are really appreciative of all the parents and family members that were able to attend.  Each of the presentation times had special guests present, which made the experience better for the students. Ninth graders just started a writing assignment to inform and explain about advantages they have had in their life.  This ties in with the first sentence of The Great Gatsby, which we will start reading soon.

Have a great week!

Projects and New Books

It's a new week, a big week of presentations in ninth grade.  After reading The Last Lecture, interviewing a graduating senior and reflecting on our own important lessons, the students are ready to present.  They will present this week on Wednesday or Thursday, during their class time (9 Blue - 810 - 9:20, 9 White - 1:10 - 2:20) in the Hangout room.  Your student knows which day he or she will present, so check to make sure you arrive on the right day for your child.  Please join us and bring any family members who might like to see these presentations.  Each one contains brilliance and I have loved watching them develop from an idea from a book into their presentations.

Tenth graders completed their revolution project, and after some discussion on elements of a revolution and some literary terms, they are ready to start reading Animal Farm this week.  This is a quick read and we will pair it with some other texts before we finish this reading unit.  Tenth graders will have a vocabulary quiz on Tuesday and should read so that they are ready for a comprehension quiz on any day.  They also have four IXL standards that are due next Monday.  No late work is accepted on IXL.

Thank you 10th grade parents for coming to conferences last week.  Your involvement is influential for your student.  It was a pleasure meeting with you and sharing what your child has been doing this quarter. Have a great week!

Starting off the Quarter

Welcome back from Spring Break! The fourth quarter started today and with all classes, we got a little jump on our work before the break, so we came back to projects already in progress.  Tenth graders are working on a Revolution project to prepare them for reading Animal Farm.  Each group has chosen a revolution that occurred outside the US from 1750-1950.  We brainstormed for questions and each group is researching for information about their revolution.  We will see after we present if we can make some generalizations about revolutions from this and if what we learn holds true as we read the book.  Tenth graders have a book report in class on Wednesday and then will present their findings to their classmates on Thursday.

Ninth graders are working on their Life Lessons project, where they read a book, interviewed someone (many of them chose a graduating senior), and then are adding their own life experiences to share what they've learned as high schoolers.  They will share these with the middle school students next week, and we are also doing a parent presentation next week and hope you can join us. It will be Wednesday, April 5, during normal class times.  Once we have our rough draft presentations, we may need to go to extend this into Thursday to get everyone's project shared.  The life lessons they are sharing is really impressive, so hopefully you can attend to see the projects first hand.

Have a great week!

Final Week of the Quarter

The final week of the quarter is always a busy time.  In tenth grade students turned in their research papers and spent class time today "drawing" both sides of their bill to present to the class and then called for a vote.  Hopefully we can follow these bills as they progress through the legislature this session.  The research papers were a great learning experience and hopefully all students improved throughout this process.   This week tenth graders will start researching a revolution that has taken place somewhere in the world between 1750-1950.  We will try to learn common features of these revolutions before reading Animal Farm, by George Orwell.  This is a short book and will be read mostly independently.  Students should be able to monitor their own comprehension and should be prepared for quizzed each day that reading is assigned.

Ninth graders read a whole book lst week, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.  After reading The Red Badge of Courage, it was time to shift gears to something more readable and relatable.  We are using this as one element of a  Life Lessons project.  The date and time are not set yet, but please join us in the week of April 3 for a presentation.  Specifics to be announced as it gets closer.  This week, ninth graders are working on their project.  They will interview a graduating senior and have written interview questions to ask to draw out some deep conversation.  We will also try video recording the interviews, so possibly we can embed a clip of the file in the presentation.  It will be a good technology lesson for all of us!  The book, the Last Lecture, is a quick and inspiring read.  If you want to borrow a copy, your student can check out a book over Spring break for you to read.  Please consider reading it with us!

Have a great week!

Third Quarter Projects

We are nearing the end of the third quarter, which means important learning and assignments are taking place in all classes.  Ninth graders have finished The Red Badge of Courage and Civil War literature unit.  They presented their symbolism dioramas last week which will be on display in the waiting area of the school until Spring Break.  Ninth graders are starting a "Life Lessons" project where they will read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, then think and write about their own lessons learned, especially this year as a high school student.  They will then interview a graduating senior to ask about what he or she has learned in four years of high school.  The ninth graders will compile all of this and prepare to share it with middle school students after spring break.  It is a lot of ground to cover, so we are reading the entire book this week.  The book is a quick read, well worth the time and it might bring up some deep conversations in your home, so I recommend parents read this one as well.  

Tenth graders are in the final revision stages of their research paper.  They have worked hard and learned about the state legislative process as well as how to find quality, non-biased sources.  They will spend significant time revising their papers this week, along with completing a few peer critiques, which helps the writer, but it really helps the student critiquing the work.  These papers will be turned in for two classes and assess on different aspects of their writing.  It will be a third quarter grade, so time spent on revising this writing assignment is a good investment.

Projects!

This is a busy week!  With tenth graders taking the PSAT on Tuesday, ninth graders will get extra time to complete their English projects and will get to combine to present them to both classes.  Both ninth grade classes will meet to share playlists, cover art, and dioramas showing symbolism from The Red Badge of Courage.  All of this will help students prepare for their end of the book test on Thursday.  Students may use their notes but no book on the test.  

Tenth graders are working on a research paper in Government about a bill that is being introduced in this legislative session.  This assignment is helping students research a current topic and find quality sources.  Mr. Martin has helped students understand the issues addressed in their bill and we spend time in English reading and synthesizing that information.  We have spent time preparing for this major assignment by using IXL to learn important research writing skills.  Students should be applying these skills currently in their writing.  If you have not asked your tenth grader about his or her bill, you definitely should!