December Update

9th and 10th grades are finishing up a unit called “Is Conflict Necessary?” We have been reading short stories that involve different types of conflict and we have had many discussions about what the best way to solve conflict is. We have also analyzed many current events focusing on the conflicts that are all around us everyday.

November Update

8th Grade: We are beginning a unit focusing on The Hunger Games (Collins). This is a novel set in a dystopian society, where the populace are kept in submission by being forced to observe an annual competition that forces chosen representatives (all adolescents) to fight to the death. We will use this text to illustrate important literary elements and devices, as well as serving as the source of the vocabulary we will be studying. Each Friday, students will be responding to mini-writing assignments and taking a short vocabulary quiz over the words from this week. *As homework, students should be studying their vocabulary words. They should also be reading a book of their own choosing: their second quarter reading tests will be given as soon as they let us know that they have completed them.

Composition: This quarter we will be working in small groups to delve into grammar and writing issues in a more personal setting. Students will need to complete the Persuasive, Compare/Contract and Short Research Essays, as specified in the handout all students received last quarter. Although I will accept these papers in any order students wish to submit them, I recommend that they work next on the Short Research Essay, as that will be the focus of instruction.

10th: We are finishing our final projects for Tuesdays With Morrie by 11/11. Before Thanksgiving break we will be focusing on some short stories with an emphasis on symbolism.
9th & 9th/10th: We are finishing our final projects for The Five People You Meet in Heaven by 11/11. The next lesson will be “Is conflict necessary?” We will examine short stories and poems, as well as current events. This will involve a lot of personal reflection and evaluation.

October Update

10th grade English students are currently reading Tuesdays With Morrie. We are about halfway through and are filling out a reading guide as we go. Students will be allowed to use the reading guides on their test. There will be a project that follows the completion of the book. This will be assigned in class this week.

9th grade English students are currently reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven. We are about halfway through and are filling out a reading guide as we go. Students will be allowed to use the reading guides on their test. There will be a project that follows the completion of the book. This will be assigned in class this week.

8th Grade English:
Classes are preparing plays and skits for the day of the Halloween Dance based on Edgar Allan Poe stories. We are preparing our own scripts, choosing actors and directors, and planning costuming and props.

Composition:
Students have four types of essays due by the end of the first semester (in mid-January). These include an expository essay, a persuasive paper, a comparison and a short research paper. Each assignment needs to be in the form of a five-paragraph essay, as a way of practicing an essay format that will reappear on up-coming standardized tests. Students may choose the order in which they write these essays; they have been provided the rubrics for each of them. If parents wish to have copies of these rubrics, please email your request to Mrs. MacFarland, and I will forward them.

September Update

8th grade: The study of Anne Frank is almost finished, which will lead into a writing assignment that asks each student to describe an experience from their life. Many students have enjoyed learning about the Frank family and their experience of World War II.

Composition: Students have written two papers to date: one that deals with a personal experience, and a second that works to persuade. As work to revise students’ persuasive papers continues, groups will work on strengthening arguments. If all goes well, the student body will become even more effective at convincing us that they’re right!

D MacFarland