Beginnings and Beyond

Thursday, August 29, 2013

          Thank you to the parents who came to our open house last night. If you weren't here, I scarcely had time to introduce myself and hand out the syllabus before the bell rang and everyone was whisked away to their sixth period class! For those of you who could not attend, I have sent a semester one syllabus home with your child as well as a paper that I’d like you to sign after you read about the content of the course. (If you’re scouring your child’s backpack for these items, the syllabus is on white paper—two sheets, stapled together—and there is also a pink slip that needs to be returned to me ASAP.) My goal is to keep you informed about my expectations as a teacher, what we’re covering in class, and what you can expect as weekly assignments and exams as well as quarterly projects. If you haven’t already read through the syllabus, I encourage you to do so right away. The same course outline is posted here, on the blog, so feel free to read that if you can’t find the hard copy.
          If you want your child to remain in the class, and if you stand by my expectations, please sign the pink slip and have your child return the slip to me right away. If you’re unhappy with your child’s placement in this course, please contact Lonnie Johnson, our Dean of Students, for schedule changes. It’s imperative that you realize the honors class is more demanding than the general language arts course and your child must be ready for the challenge.
          As of this time, our class has completed the first of many mugshots. Several students rushed through their assignment; their papers have been returned and I encourage you to look at your child’s work and, if necessary, advise them to SLOW DOWN and use proper penmanship in the future. I cut them quite a bit of slack on the first mug, but they’ve now had fair warning about what should be common sense: spacing between words, keeping compound words together without a gap, what a capital letter looks like, and how an open “g” can look like a “y” or an “h” without the stem looks like a small “n”. Hopefully we’ll have better scores next week.

WHERE WE’RE AT:

·         Week one mugshot: completed and returned with comments and scores.

·         Proofreaders’ marks: completed a usage guide; applied with mugshots; test over marks is Wednesday, September 4.

·         Spelling: first test (20 words) is tomorrow, August 30.

·         Rhetorical devices: notes with discussion and examples; test is Friday, September 6. Students will apply their knowledge of rhetorical devices in an upcoming project.

·         Free-write: A free-write regarding our Essential Question was posed on Tuesday. I’m still reading through the papers—which are varied and intriguing—while making comments and posing new questions to each student. I’m also gathering some tidbits of individual responses and will share their thoughts, anonymously, for further discussion next week.

·         Tuck Everlasting: We’ve read chapters one through four as a class and students have discussed vocabulary, characters, setting, and used foreshadowing to make conjectures about what they believe is happening and what will happen as the story unfolds.