Week of October 30th

This week in our Facing History, Facing Ourselves Unit of Inquiry we'll be exploring the ideals and actions of southern gentlemen and belles as presented in To Kill A Mockingbird, historical accounts, and reflective writings.


Homework 
Vocabulary - due Friday
Read for 30 minutes DAILY
TKAM ch. 6-7 annotations (students had two days last week to work on this in class) - due Friday

Comments about recent formative assessments

Grammar Quiz:  Students who missed three or more questions should make sure that they complete their daily language review completely.  They should ask questions if they need assistance, and they need to make sure they write down the correct answers.  Students who make these efforts should see their writing improve and they should preform well on future assessments.

AR Book Goal:  Many students didn't meet their AR point goal, which is surprising because the vast majority of students have been taking AR tests for years and I see students reading books of their choice.  For homework, students should read their personal books for 30 minutes daily at least 5 days a week. 

TKAM Quiz:  Students should make sure they use class time wisely to finish their reading and complete the classwork.  When students don't finish tasks in class, they are to complete  them as homework.

Week of October 23rd

We are continuing our Unit of Inquiry:  Facing History, Facing Ourselves.  We will continue our analysis of To Kill A Mockingbird by reading and discussing chapters 5, 6, and 7.  Additionally, we will read a 1912 excerpt in the Independent about early twentieth-century African American maids and nannies.  We will use that autobiographical account as a contrast to how Calpurnia is portrayed in the novel. 

Upcoming Assessments
10/25 - To Kill A Mockingbird quiz
10/27 - Grammar quiz; AR point goal due date 

Homework
-Vocabulary - Due Friday
-Study for the grammar quiz
-Read for 30 minutes daily

Students inquired into the impact of stereotypes and made connections back to how certain people/groups are portrayed in To Kill A Mockingbird

Monday, October 16th

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  This week we are beginning our new unit and starting our novel study of To Kill A Mockingbird.  Students are reading in class and annotating chapters 1-5.  There will be a reading comprehension quiz next week.  

Homework

1.  Read your personal book for 30 minutes daily -- the deadline to meet your AR goal is October 27th

2.  Study the Unit 1 Vocabulary - there will be a quiz on Friday

3.  Read To Kill A Mockingbird and complete the annotations IF you didn't finish those tasks in class
---To Kill A Mockingbird pdf
---To Kill A Mockingbird, Part One audio book

Midweek Update

Greetings!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.  Students are delivering their literary device presentations this week and they're doing a wonderful job.  Some students didn't meet the assignment criteria, so students can revise their presentations and resubmit them for a higher grade.  

Next week we will begin our critical analysis of To Kill A Mockingbird.  I have a class set of the books, and I'll have the audio and PDF versions posted on Classroom.  If you would like for your child to have their own copy of the book, please feel free to purchase one.

Ms. Carroll facilitates our daily language review in 3rd and 6th periods.  Students have learned quite a bit about academic grammar rules and I've seen their writing improve as a result.  Ask your child to tell you EVERYTHING they know about verbals!  They'll LOVE that!

Week of October 2nd

Greetings!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

I'm looking forward to hearing all of the This I Believe speeches this week! I encourage you to ask your child to read his or her paper at home to you.  They worked incredibly hard on this assignment.   Today we will hear volunteers and then we will start from the end of the alphabet tomorrow and Wednesday.

I am also giving the students the directions for next summative today.  Students will be expected to complete this as homework.  This task sets up our next unit on To Kill a Mockingbird.  We will begin reading the book next week, so If you want your child to have his or her own copy of the book, make sure to order it now. We have the full audio book available as well that I will post to Google Classroom next week.

Literary Device Summative

The next summative is due THIS Thursday (10/5).  I've assigned it as homework, so you should expect to see your child working on it this evening.  Each student is assigned a literary device to teach to the class in a brief presentation. Students should turn in their slideshow before class Thursday. They will present these on Thursday (10/5) and Friday (10/6).

Order Yearbooks NOW!