Narrative Projects

In English class, all classes have been working on narrative writing.  They have also learned the basics of MLA format, which is the standard format for English and literature classes.  The tenth graders are presenting their "I Remember" poems this week.  Parents, you should have received and email with times for each class.  Feel free to bring grandparents or other family members who are available at that time. Please come and listen to these wonderful narrative poems.  The tenth graders had a review on sentence fragments and run on sentences have some IXL work to do this week.  After presentations, the tenth graders will begin learning about the Heroic Journey and how it is expressed in literature, both ancient and modern.

The ninth graders are finishing their Introduce Yourself narrative project.  They have worked hard to write five essays about themselves, some on assigned topics and some self-selected topics.  They will make a cover in class on Thursday.  They may want to bring in a pciture of something from home for this task.  They will have an oral presentation to deliver to their classmates that they will prepare after Labor Day.  Soon we will start reading a biography of a founding father.

We are accomplishing many goals in all classes.  I appreciate the students' hard work and cooperation in class each day!  Have a great week!

Foundational Writing Skills

The second week of school is off to a busy start.  The signed syllabus slips were due today for all students.  If your student forgot, they have one more day to get it in, for a 25% reduction in their grade.  Also, parents, thank you for those who signed the reading logs.  Those should be signed each weekend.

This week we are focusing on foundational skills in both grade levels.  In ninth grade, we learned the basics of MLA format.  This is the format they will use for all their English writing, so it's good to learn it early on.  We are applying this with our Introduce Yourself Narrative essays.  Students should have their first three reflective essays done by the end of this week.  We are spending time in class working on these essays, but many students will want to perfect their essays, which will require more time outside the classroom.  This project is due Tuesday, September 6, including the biography which is about your student, written by someone else.

Tenth graders are writing poetry, which is challening them to use precise word choice.  They are focuing on the small moment and choosing words to accurately descirbe their memory.  This week, tenth graders will apply the skill of selecting strong verbs in their writing.  They will also review MLA formatting basics.  Their "I Remember" poem is due this week, Thursday, August 25.  They have class time Monday and Tuesday, after that, they are on their own to complete their poem.  They have a rubric to guide them as they write revise.

It was a pleasure to meet so many parents at Back to School Night last week.  Thank you for attending and for supporting your student's education!

First Day of School

We survived the first day of school!  Actually, it was a great day in the English classroom.  All students read their course syllabus and have the assignment to explain it to their parents and get it signed.  This will be their first quiz grade, due back next Monday.  All students need to have their 100 page spiral notebook in class on Wednesday.  We will start putting tabs on them to make our resource journals. All students should start their home reading logs tonight.  This assignment is to read a minimum of 20 minutes (distraction-free!) each school night.  The first book report is September 29, so they should choose a book and get it read before that date.  Even when they finish their book, they still have the assignment to read each night.  This is a proven correlating factor in students who perform well on college entrance exams, so it is worth the effort.  

This week we will begin narrative writing in both ninth and tenth grades.  We will also try to get everyone matched up with a book they enjoy and get the resource notebooks made.  We are really getting the school and class procedures down this week and hope to be in full swing very shortly.  I enjoyed every class today!  It was good to see the familiar faces of the returning students and we have some delightful new students as well.  I even have some former fifth grade students, something I love!  If you have any questions, please email me.  Have those students get some rest, if they are anything like me, they will be tired tonight!

OACP Supply List, 2016-2017

Oasis Academy College Prep

Student Supply List, 9th - 10th Grades

2016-2017

1 Binder with student information provided by Oasis

Individual Supplies:  These will be used by you, so choose what you like to work with.

• 2 additional 3-ring binders with divider tabs, used only for math and science
• Loose leaf college-rule paper for all binders
• Graph paper for math binder
• 1  spiral-bound college-rule notebook (not a composition book), with at least 100 pages and a pocket folder.  Can be one or three subject, used only for English
• 1 Composition book, used only for Science
• Pencils, standard or mechanical with extra lead and erasers
• 4-6 Pens, blue or black ink

• 1 set 8-12 colored pencils
• 1 set of 4 multi-colored highlighters

• Metric ruler, scissors, compass, and protractor
• 1 scientific calculator (examples are TI 30 or Casio fx-260, must have trig functions, logs, and fractions)
• Apron or lab jacket (recommended for Science)

Shared Supplies:  These items will be turned in on the first day of school and stored at school for use throughout the year.

• Standard pencils - 1 package of 20-24
• Glue sticks - one package of 3 large
• Kleenex - 3 boxes
• Toilet paper - 1 package
• Cleaning wipes - 1 package
• Paper towels - 1 package
• Disposable surgical gloves - 1 box
• Last name A - M:   1 container of Hand sanitizer.
• Last Name N - Z:  1 box of zip top bags, any size.

Feel free to email if you have questions.  jstockard@oasisacademyfallon.us

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!