Updated September 27, 2023
Welcome to the 2023-24 English web page!
My job is to help students learn. If you need anything from me during the year, you can email or call me via the contact information listed below.
I will update this page weekly with what we are working on that week and where we are headed in the week(s) ahead. Here are the classes I am teaching Semester 1:
English 9: This course will continue to build on the students’ knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, non-fiction literature, fictional literature, and poetry. A special focus on this class will be academic writing and analyzing current issues through literature. Novels studied include To Kill a Mockingbird and Animal Farm. This week, we completed the essay writing unit with a reflective write and a self evaluation. We also began a short story unit with the study of the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter". The short story unit will continue next week.
Contemporary Literature: This is a course that will focus on the study of literature from the last 25 years. Works may include, but are not limited to: Speak, Feed, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Students will read some of these novels as a large group, and others will be divided as choices for small group "lit circles". This is designed as an alternative to American Literature or British Literature, but could be taken in addition to those courses. Contemporary short stories will also be included. The first week of class will be introducing students to their first novel in the class, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This course is offered 2nd semester only.
English 10: This course will offer a focus on composition and literature, with that focus slanting towards the written word. Both Technical Writing and Creative Writing units will be included in this class. Students will study various literary genres to improve reading rate and comprehension level, and develop skills to determine an author’s intent and theme and recognize the techniques used by an author to deliver his or her message. Of Mice and Men is typically studied as a group, with students also given the opportunity to read an additional novel in small groups. The year will start with a unit on business and technical writing. This week, students began the study of the novel Of Mice and Men. The study of this classic novella will continue next week.
Practical Writing: This is a course designed as a basic writing course covering areas of both academic and "real world" writing, and is also a valuable opportunity for additional skills development for college bound students. It emphasizes English skills essential to the workplace, particularly writing. A research project will also be included. An additional focus on resume writing and job interviewing will accompany this course. This course is offered 1st semester only. This class began a unit on review writing and critique writing. Students wrote reviews of two TED talks and two newspaper articles.
English 11/12 (American Literature): American Literature is a two semester course. In the first semester, our focus is on short stories and poetry covering the years of 1500-1915. Some of the main authors studied include but are not limited to: Jonathan Edwards, Anne Bradstreet, Philip Freneua, Washington Irving,James Fenimore Cooper,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson,Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman,Emily Dickinson,Mark Twain,,and Stephen Crane. The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will also be studied. The second semester will focus primarily on the two contemporary novels Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Unbroken. We will also study the short works from the Modern Temper Period from authors that include but are not limited to: Willa Cather, F . Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Richard Wright, Robert Frost,,and Langston Hughes. This week, we began the study of literature from the time period 1800-1840. Authors from this unit include Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Edgar Allan Poe. This week, we read "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving and "A Rescue" by James Fenimore Cooper. Next week, the unit continues with the study of poems on life and death by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and William Cullen Bryant.
Every Class, Every Day:
Additionally, each day our class period begins with a "bellringer" activity. The students will complete an activity with the primary purpose of relating to informational text.
Please check your child's progress in my class through PowerSchool (Parent Portal Link) or Schoology. I update my grades in Schoology as assignments are turned in. All grades in Schoology are current to the second. I sync my Schoology grades with PowerSchool weekly (usually every Thursday) if not more frequently. This is a great way to see how your child is performing in my classes as well as check if they have any missing work.
If, at any time, you have questions or need assistance, please contact me at the phone number or email below. Email is the preferred method to use during school hours, so as not to interrupt class:
644-3737 x2155
[email protected]