Daily Bell Ringer Schedule

Students are expected to spend the first 3-5 minutes of class completing the daily bell ringer.  A bell ringer is an activity or brief assignment for a student to complete as soon as he or she arrives to class and is seated.  All students are expected to be engaged in the daily bell ringer prompt by the time the bell rings signifying the start of class.

I will give students an opportunity to share their responses on occasion.  I will also circulate around the classroom to ensure that students are actively engaged in the bell ringer assignment.  Students may earn a weekly bell ringer grade for sharing a bell ringer response as well as completing all 5 bell ringer prompts for the week.

Students who talk while someone is sharing their written response, work on other assignments, interrupt or disrupt while others are sharing, or refuse to write quietly for the 3-5 minute period are subject to losing some or all bell ringer points for the week.

Below is the link to our weekly bell ringer schedule:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dFVNLomjjQw4nqqfHgG54DJ8A4XGb1AX8Ss9duZkcmo/edit?usp=sharing

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.

Text Message Reminders for Homework, Tests, and Quizzes

Students and Parents,

Please feel free to subscribe to my Remind text messages.  Remind is a safe one-way communication tool that allows teachers to send text message reminders for homework assignments, quizzes, and tests.  I will not have access to anyone's cell phone number.  This is a great resource for students and parents, and it's very easy to sign up!  For more information, go to www.remind.com or check out the free Remind app on your phone.  I will provide copies of instructions for using Remind text messages at 9th grade orientation.

Text @k2gfa to 81010 to start receiving Remind text messages.

Thank you!

Class Supplies

Class Supplies

Students will need the following supplies for English class:

• blue or black pens 
• #2 pencils
• college ruled notebook paper
• a folder for keeping all handouts and assignments
• 1 writer's notebook (spiral notebook, composition notebook…whatever works for you!  One -subject spiral notebooks are usually less expensive)
• your school-issued student agenda
• helpful, but not mandatory:  index cards, highlighters, post-it notes 

Note:  I will ask you to decorate your writer's notebook during class time the first full week of school. Be creative and have fun!  Feel free to use cut-outs from magazines (pictures, words, phrases), song lyrics, photos, stickers, postcards, duct tape, art work, recycled greeting and birthday cards, print-outs from the internet, etc.  This is your writer's notebook, and you will be using it often, so have fun decorating it!

Summer Reading for Incoming Advanced English 2 Students 2015-2016

Summer Reading 2015 - Advanced English 2

Any student registered for Advanced English 2 is required to complete a summer reading assignment. The literary analysis over Anthem by Ayn Rand is due by midnight on Wednesday, July 8, 2015. While there is not a required written assignment for Night by Elie Wiesel, the book must be completed by the first day of school.  Night will be the focus of class for the first 2 or 3 weeks of class.

Failure to complete the summer reading assignments will result in a significant negative impact on your 1st quarter grade.  If you choose to transfer to English 2, the grades you earned 1st quarter will transfer with you.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  I usually check my email several times a week.  My email address is senter_m@nrschools.org.  This is the same email you will use to share your summer reading assignment as a Google Doc.  You will need to make sure I have permission to view and edit your document.

Summer Reading:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oUKvI8JxW40ig1BLw5yx1stb3Gs1puN6MLYbGNKMos4/edit?usp=sharing

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Reading Schedule

The following link will take you to the tentative five-week reading schedule for To Kill A Mockingbird.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LuggcZcIJNHTx4Pc_HNyjrVKBl6QQ6lHr1M1lnJmlhQ/edit?usp=sharing

Want to follow along with the audiobook?  Here's how:

The following links will give you access to the audiobook.  Please follow along in your book while listening to the audio.

http://arc.rcboe.org/res_view_folder.aspx?id=ed68298c-7c70-4dbe-8b61-03418ce77a88&userGroupId=b1c0fb7d-9fd1-4701-ba6e-3d73d32fbc2e&userGroupType=C

http://johnsontwality.weebly.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird-audio.html

NOTE:  If you can not access the audio version of the text at either of the above links, you can likely find a working version via YouTube through a web search.

Of Mice and Men

Students and parents can access study guides, reading schedules, and other important information related to Of Mice and Men on this page.

Link to chapters 1-6 study guide:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TValBPr3yKe1OIROPtm2I0YVl4NACkTElcQf8EBAwqI/edit?usp=sharing

Planning Schedule:

Chapter one reading will be assigned on Monday, September 22, along with the study guide.  Any reading not completed in class on this date should be completed as homework.  There will be a reading quiz on Tuesday, September 23.

There will be a chapter 2 reading quiz on Thursday, September 25.

I will assign chapter 3 for reading homework over the weekend; however, feel free to complete the reading and study guide ahead of time so as to avoid homework over Homecoming weekend.  There will be a chapter 3 reading quiz on Monday, September 29.

We will complete the study guide for chapter 3 on Monday after the reading quiz.  Whatever is not finished in class, should be completed as homework.  I will not assign reading homework Monday night.

We will spend part of the class period on Tuesday, September 30, reading chapter 4 and responding to the chapter 4 study guide questions.  Chapter 4 reading should be finished as homework on Tuesday night.  There will be a chapter 4 reading quiz on Wednesday, October 1, at the start of class, and class time will be given to complete the remainder of the chapter 4 study guide.

We will read chapter 5 and respond to the study guide on Thursday, October 2.  The remainder of chapter 5 reading should be completed as homework, and we will complete the remainder of the chapter 5 study guide on Friday if necessary.  Students should expect a reading quiz on Friday, October 3.

Students are expected to complete chapter 6 reading over the weekend of October 4, and then be prepared for their final reading quiz on Monday, October 6.  We will have a final class discussion over the last chapter of the book, and then we will take our final test over the novella on Tuesday, October 7.  We will watch the movie on Wednesday, October 8 - Thursday, October 9.

Rambling Autobiography

The rambling autobiography will be the first major writing assignment this year.  We will read through the following examples of rambling autobiographies and discuss what we notice about these writing pieces.


http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/personal_experience/article/234070/Rambling-Autobiography/

http://misterstephenson.blogspot.com/2011/02/rambling-autobiography.html

http://www.fmschools.org/files/3329/Rambling%20autobiography.pdf

https://sites.google.com/site/laclassedemmelaberge/anglais-1/rambling-autobiography


I love it when students share their writing, so I am always happy to have volunteers who are willing to read their work aloud.  If you want to share your own rambling autobiography with the class, you are welcome to do so.  Keep in mind, you may not necessarily want to write about your deepest and darkest secrets for the entire class to hear, though!  Have fun writing!

What's next after summer reading?

After wrapping up A Lesson Before Dying this Tuesday (9/2/14), we will begin our first formal writing piece of the quarter - a personal narrative.  We will spend about a week or so reading sample narratives, discussing and writing about what we notice in these sample narratives and what this means for us as writers, and then we will be ready to write our own personal narratives.  Students will be expected to type final drafts using Google Docs; therefore, all students must know their NREVSD gmail account information before we start writing.  If you have forgotten it or are new to the district, please see Mrs. Montgomery in the media center, and she will be happy to help you.  Please take care of this right away!

After we have completed the personal narrative, we will begin reading John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men.  It is a very brief book, and we typically do not spend much more than a week reading it.  I will expect students to read outside of class on their own and to be prepared for frequent quizzes, class discussions, and other activities based on assigned readings.

I am making everyone aware of my expectations now so that you can plan accordingly.  As I mentioned in the syllabus, there will be  an increased amount of homework when studying major literary works.  It won't be an unreasonable amount of work; however, students will need to take into consideration the homework assigned in other classes along with any other commitments outside of school.  If it takes you a long time to complete a reading assignment, you should probably consider seeing me right away for a copy of the book so that you won't get behind...the sooner the better!

After-school tutoring should be starting soon and will take place Monday-Thursday from 2:30-3:30 in the high school media center.  Feel free to attend after-school tutoring to work on any of these assignments.

As always, see me if you have questions or need help!

Just for Fun!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Pre-reading video/historical context of the novel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgC09oMIwLc

Video Sparknotes to be used as a study tool after reading the novel:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqkohqLvClI

Short Story Test Review

The following links may be helpful resources as you prepare for your final short story test.

The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant
http://quizlet.com/17504702/the-necklace-by-guy-de-maupassant-story-element-questions-flash-cards/

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
http://moronepedia.wikispaces.com/Most+Dangerous+Game+Questions+and+Answers!

Marigolds by Eugenia Collier
http://english54321.tripod.com/id5.html

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst
http://www.enotes.com/topics/scarlet-ibis/quiz

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
http://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/9555-the-cask-of-amontillado

It is important to know the following literary elements:

• exposition - background material about the characters, setting, and dramatic situation in which the author introduces the essentials of the story to the reader.
• rising action - the part of the story in which the tension rises. occurs after the exposition and  leads to the story's climax.
• climax - the moment when the action comes to its highest point of dramatic conflict or the moment when the main character comes to a realization or learns a lesson.
• falling action - the part of the story following the climax and leading to the resolution in which there is a sharp decline in dramatic tension.
• resolution - the conclusion of the story
• conflict - the central source of tension and drama in the story; the problem the main character is facing. internal conflict - character vs. some feeling or emotion.  external conflict - character vs. an outside force (another character, nature, society, etc.)
• irony - a situation that seems odd or out of place.  the opposite of what one expects to happen actually happens.
• mood - the over-all feeling of a work created by the author's choice of words
• narrator - the speaker who tells the story.  May be a character in the story or may be someone outside the story.
• point of view - the perspective from which a story is told.  omniscient - author is involved in the story and presents the thoughts of all the characters involved.  limited - story is told from the viewpoint of one character who only sees part of the story.
• protagonist - the central character of the story
• antagonist - the character who works against the protagonist
• suspense - techniques used by the author to keep readers interested in the plot and wondering what will happen next
• symbol - an image, object, character, or action that stands for something else beyond its literal meaning
• theme - a story's main idea; the message that the author intends to communicate

Edgar Allan Poe

To learn more about Edgar Allan Poe, check out his biography provided by A&E.

http://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160/videos/edgar-allan-poe-full-episode-2104513528

For a few laughs, check out the following parody of Poe's famous poem, The Raven.  If you're a fan of The Simpsons, you will enjoy it!

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=251203

The following link will take you to a brief animation of The Tell-Tale Heart, another of Poe's well-known works.

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=251203

Interested in listening to a couple of Poe's finest works?  Listen and follow along to The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado.

http://www.loudlit.org/works/heart.htm

http://www.loudlit.org/works/cask.htm

Of Mice and Men

The following links will take you to helpful sites in preparation for the test on Of Mice and Men:

http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/micemen

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/

http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/characters.html

http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/mice/

26 Reasons to Read!

"I hate reading!"  "Reading is so boring!"  "Ugh, why do we have to read so much?" "There are too many other things I would rather do besides read a book!"

Sound familiar?  Then read on to find out why reading is such an important life-long skill and to learn about some startling statistics and facts about reading!

I've also included several links to popular books for teens/young adults!

http://www.brevardcounty.us/docs/Files/26reasontoread.pdf

http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/creating-readers/creating-reading-culture/engaging-teens-reading

http://www.scholastic.com/readeveryday/facts.htm

http://raisingbookworms.com/resources/reading-and-literacy-statistics/

http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/teenagers-and-reading.htm

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/157795366/your-favorites-100-best-ever-teen-novels

http://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/teen

Vocabulary

The vocabulary text for the class is Vocabulary for Success (Sadlier).  There are 7 units of study in the book, and each unit contains 3 lessons.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of the online resources at www.vocabularyforsuccess.com.  In order to access the site, students should enter the following Student Access Code:  VFS13SGDVXTF.

www.vocabularyforsuccess.com

Helpful Resources

Writing

I will often reference the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).  This is a fantastic resource that offers 200+ free resources.  You can find help for research, writing, grammar, style guides, and professional writing.  Excellent examples are also provided.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu


Oral Presentations

There will be several instances throughout the school year in which students will be expected to give presentations, both informal and formal.  I often hear students say, "I don't 'do' presentations!"  Here's my response:  Do you walk into math class and say, "I don't 'do' fractions!"  Do you walk into science class and say, "I don't 'do' lab experiments!"  Do you walk into foreign language class and say, "I don't 'do' verb conjugations!"?  Of course, you don't!  Instead of thinking and saying, "I don't 'do' presentations!" how about saying, "I CAN do this presentation!"?

I can empathize with students and their fear of public speaking.  I, too, used to become anxious when knowing I had to speak in front of an audience, but by making the effort to at least try, you are already taking your first step in decreasing your fear of public speaking.  It does get better each time you do it.

Practicing in front of family and friends is one way to feel better prepared for your presentation.  I am always available to work with students one-on-one before or after school or during my lunch time in order to help a student overcome their anxiety.

Knowing how to speak effectively is not just an "English class" thing; it is a life-long skill you will need in order to be successful in your college and career goals!

I have included some links that students may find helpful when preparing for a presentation and/or wanting to reduce their anxiety of public speaking:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~incso/PDFs/publicspeakinganxietypamphlet.pdf

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/hub/blog/extension-blog/3-tips-overcoming-fear-public-speaking

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Oralcomm/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20OvercomingSpeechAnxiety.pdf

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fear-of-public-speaking/AN01979

Literature

The following link will take you to a glossary of literary elements and their definitions.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm