End of the Year Projects

Now that testing is over with and class finals are complete, we can start some really fun, intense learning with our grade level cross-curricular projects. Each grade has a task and a group.  Each grade level will present their findings and we'd love to have parents attend!  Ninth grade will be Monday, May 16 from 9:30 - 11:00 in the Hangout room.  Tenth grade will be Tuesday, May 17, from 9:30 - 11:00 in the Hangout room.  The ninth graders are doing a presidential project, evaluating modern presidents and looking at different policy decisions and how that impacted our country.  Tenth graders are using their reasoning skills, historical research, and forensic knowledge to evaluate a cold case, looking for leads as to where solving the case went wrong.  These projects are allowing our students to build on concepts they have learned this year and to collaborate with different students.  They have a tight timeline to complete the task, but this is all they are doing in their core classes each day, and they have a team working together.  They will need to stay on task, and ninth graders need some supplies like glue sticks, sharpie markers, and colored pencils to make their display board look really good.  Thank you for your support, we hope to see you at our presentations next week!  

End of Course Exams

It's the first week of May, which brings another round of testing.  This week the 9th and 10th graders have the End of Course Exams in English Language Arts and Math.  They have two sessions of each subject, taken over the course of three days this week.  These tests start at 8:00 am each day, so please be prompt to school this week.  The End of Course exams are given by the State of Nevada and replace the HSPE tests of a few years ago.  They need to be passed during each student's high school years.  This is the first year they are using the full test with the current scoring.  They were given last year, but the scoring was different than it is this year.  I am not sure when the results will be available from the state, but if for some reason your student doesn't pass one o these exams, they will have a chance to take it again next year.

Because of the testing, I will not meet with some students much this week.  All classes will have their April/May book report in class on Thursday, so be prepared for that by completing your book.  The fourth block is working on their biographical narrative about their most important relationship, which is due Wednesday night submitted on Google Classroom.  

A lot of the students are dragging.  Try to get enough sleep and healthy food, especially on testing days.  Keep working hard, students! There aren't many days to go, but each one is important!  Let's make it a great week!

Class Finals

Now that our ACT Aspire testing is done, we have class finals to look forward to this week.  Tuesday is the English final for all classes.  This is an in class final, lasting one class period.  Students are encouraged to use their resource journals and have known this all semester as we take notes.  They have been creating their own resource.  Students also made a review Jeopardy game last week which we played in class today.  The final will cover the books we've read this semester, plus vocabulary, language use skills, and figurative language interpretation.  Students will do well to be very familiar with their journals because time will be the limiting factor on this final.  There is one class period to complete this.

Take time to study and prepare.  Get some rest and be ready to do well on this final this week.  We will continue to learn and work after the final in a cross-curricular project, which will be assessed separately.  Good luck as you prepare this week!

Testing

This week we are taking the ACT Aspire test.  This is a new test fo rour school, taken in grades 3-10.  It will give good data about individual student progress as well as data for our school as it relates to other schools in our state.  This test is taken on the computer, so no bubbles to fill in with number 2 pencils, which is nice.  After a few hangups with the secure login, everyone was able to get on and take the test.  It is timed, which is different than CRT testing, and most students were able to finish without the panic last-minute issues.  Hopefully with it being computer based, the feedback and scores will be back quickly.  Ninth grades will take English Language Arts and Math this week, on Monday and Tuesday, while Tenth graders will also have a paper/pencil Science test, extending their testing week until Wednesday.  Thursday will be make-up testing.

In ninth grade, we are working on essays related to our books this week.  First block is writing what we affectionately call the Happiness Essay, determining factors required to be happy and deciding if their chosen book character achieved happiness in The Great Gatsby.  In fourth block, we are finishing Of Mice and Men and writing a biographical narrative about an important relationship.  We have focused on writing strong theses and I have met with each student about their thesis statement.  So now we are down to the fun part - the writing and revising.  With our reduced class time for testing, some of this work will need to be done at home to meet the deadlines.  Because of their additional testing, tenth graders have reduced class time this week.  We will be discussing The Metamorphosis that we just finished and we have one poem to analyze if we get time.  We will also be reviewing for our final at the end of this week.  

Reading Progress

Today we jumped right into class with reading our books.  Each class is making progress with the reading.  In all classes we have been keeping notes about what happens in the book, but also looking deeper at what inferences can we make about what is happening and how that might help us understand what comes later in the reading.  We are analyzing characters and making predictions based on what we read. a key skill in literary analysis.  In each class we are writing every day, making connections to what we read and making the text come to life for us as readers.  We have had great discussions in each class.
In first block, as we reviewed chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, we discussed and wrote about what forces were accelerating a specific character and what forces were decelerating the character.  We talked about forces like fear, jealousy, money, greed, love, and power.
In second block, with The Metamorphosis, we learned a real life fact about the author Franz Kafka, that as he knew he was dying, he asked a friend to destroy his writing after his death.  The friend decided not to honor Kafka's wish and had the work published, several novels and other publications.  We talked and wrote about if this was an honorable decision or not and gave our reasons.  There is a lot that we don't know about that situation, but we had a lively discussion today.  Second block also took a vocabulary quiz today and has another coming up on Thursday.  The tenth graders have one IXL standard due today as well, G.1, on capitalization.
In fourth block, we talked about a time when someone convinced us to do something and a time we convinced someone else to do something.  We tried to decide if the other person changed our mind or if we just gave in.  Then we read Chapter 3 in Of Mice and Men, where there is some convincing going on.  It gave us a nice connection when we read about Carlson trying to convince Candy to shoot his dog because it is old and smells bad.  Also, a lively, interesting discussion that I wish we'd had more time to pursue!
We have testing coming up next week, so our schedule will vary to accommodate our test taking week. Have a great week!

Reading, Reading, Reading

This week, we are doing some serious reading in all classes.  First block is reading The Great Gatsby.  We are half way though the book and we are finding some serious symbolism and enjoying making the connections to our day.  The class time is too short, if only we had more time to read and discuss together!  We will start a writing task in conjunction with this novel this week.

In second block, the tenth graders are starting The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka this week.  We learned about the author and some good background information today, plus made a study guide with vocabulary words for an upcoming quiz next Monday.  We will learn about existentialism and surrealism in literature (and art) as well.  This novella is an interesting read with many applications to life today.  Hopefully the students will see a new way of looking at life and people through reading this book.

In fourth block we started reading Of Mice and Men today.  We started with the audio version and will move into small group and individual reading later on.  We focused on the characters and setting of the opening scenes of the book.  We are analyzing the character's early actions to see if pattern develop as the book continues.  Fourth Block also has 2 IXL standards due on Tuesday, K.1 and K.2.

In all classes, students will need to be prepared for the April book report at the end of this month.  The books we are reading now will be on the end of the year finals students will take, which seems like a ways off, but it comes up quickly.  Have a great week and make time to read!

Shakespeare, Gatsby, and Background Knowledge

This week in English is the last week before spring Break.  We are completing all kinds of exciting tasks in each class.  The 10th graders and working on a Shakespeare soliloquy project.  They will present a soliloquy of their choice to the class, with the context of the play it comes from.  Students will read the soliloquy and are also finding a video clip of it as performed on stage.  We will enjoy learning more about these famous passages and watching these on Thursday in class.

The first block of 9th graders are reading The Great Gatsby.  We will read through chapter 4 this week and finish when we return from Spring Break.  We are enjoying the story and watching how the characters interact.  It is interesting to watch their actions and their intentions.  The fourth block of 9th graders presented their background information in preparation to read Of Mice and Men.  We will have a writing task this week and start reading the day we return from Spring Break.

On another note, I have several parent teacher conferences scheduled this week and I look forward to meeting with you.  Have a great week!