Course Syllabus

You may access the English 1 course syllabus through the following link:

https://docs.google.com/a/nrschools.org/document/d/1Z9OQfxKk0OxcJ6yFZU4JQoz3NEnOZ7L81fbz55zjKEo/edit?usp=sharing

English 1 Summer Reading

A Lesson Before Dying

By Ernest Gaines

English I

Ms. Pride/Ms. Senter

New Richmond High School

Summer Assignment

Dear Students and Parents:

Summer reading is a requirement for all English courses at New Richmond High School. Therefore, you will need the following paperback book: A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines so that you may complete the reading and journal assignment prior to the first day of school for the 2015-2016 school year. We will have copies of the novel available at the high school if you would like to get one.  Someone will be here on Monday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00 and Wednesday mornings from 9 - 11 during the month of June.  Should you lose this copy of the summer reading assignment, please visit Ms. Pride’s blog http://prideeng1.blogspot.com/  or Ms. Senter’s blog http://mssenterenglish1.blogspot.com for an additional copy.

FAQs:

1. How should I hand in my assignment?

     *You will hand this assignment in the first day of school, Thursday, August 20th.

2. How should I format my friendly letter?

     *We have provided a sample of a properly formatted friendly letter. Please use this as a

reference.  

*If you choose to type the assignment, the letter should be typed in

       Times New Roman, 12 point font, and must be single-spaced.  Please print your letter

       prior to class.

3. What if I have questions on the assignment over the summer?

      *Do your best to rely on yourself and to trust your own thinking. Try to think

        about what is being asked of you and think about the novel from another

        perspective. Think about why you are working on this assignment, and what

        might be the best way to proceed. Then just go for it! It is unacceptable to make

        no attempt.

Assignment:

You are asked to write a letter trying to lift Jefferson’s spirits and heal his pain because of his recent death sentence. Please reference 3 incidents from the story and tell Jefferson what you thought his biggest regret might be and what you feel was the most valuable life lesson he learned. Go beyond the obvious. Please don’t include his presence in the liquor store and being at the wrong place at the wrong time as his biggest regret.  You should carefully consider his relationships with other key characters in the novel.

NAME_____________________________

A Lesson Before Dying Letter and Care Package Rubric

Grade	Details	Commentary	Connection	Appearance
A 45 to 50 points	Writes 3 detailed, meaningful incidents and life lesson learned	Includes thoughtful interpretation and critical thinking	Makes insightful connections from the story	Is neat, organized, and professional looking; correctly formatted
B 40 to 44 points	Is less detailed, but contains 3 meaningful incidents and life lesson learned	Includes some thoughtful interpretation and critical thinking	Includes some connections from the story	Is neat and readable; correctly formatted
C 35 to 39 points	Is less detailed, and  contains 2 meaningful incidents and life lesson learned	Interpretation and critical thinking is vague and/or unsupported	Limited connections from the story	Is relatively neat; partially correctly formatted
D/F 30 to 34 OR 29 or less	Is less detailed, and  contains 1 or less meaningful incidents and life lesson learned	Interpretation and critical thinking is not provided and unsupportive.	No connections from the story	Is sloppy and unorganized and not properly formatted

Final Grade : ___________________________

Comments: ________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

 

 1131 Bethel-New Richmond Road

New Richmond, OH 45157

 August 20, 2015

Dear Jefferson,

This is a body paragraph to uplift Jefferson’s spirits and help ease his pain with his recent death sentence. Please reference an incident from the story as evidence! Please be as detailed as possible in recalling the incident.

This is a body paragraph to update Jefferson regarding what is taking place in the community while he is incarcerated.  You might consider telling him about specific people and their reactions to his incarceration in addition to updating him on what is occurring throughout the community. Please reference specific incidents and characters from the novel as evidence! Please be as detailed as possible in recalling the incident.

This is a body paragraph to uplift Jefferson’s spirits and help ease his pain with his recent death sentence. Please reference an incident from the story as evidence! Please be as detailed as possible in recalling the incident.

This is a body paragraph to tell Jefferson what you thought his biggest regret might be and what you feel was the most valuable life lesson he learned. Go beyond the obvious. Please don’t include his presence in the liquor store and being at the wrong place at the wrong time as his greatest regret.

Your friend,

 Signature

P.S. Tante Lou says hi.