Updated September 28, 2022

Welcome to the 2022-23 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. 

Once the school year starts, I will update this page weekly with what we are working on that week and where we are headed in the week(s) ahead. Right now, here are the classes I will be 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, students wrote an informative essay. Next week, they will do a reflective write on their essays from this month and then begin our next unit, which is a short story unit.

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 week, students began a unit on critique writing. They critiqued an article and a TED talk. The unit will continue next week as students will critique a movie, a meal, and a teacher.

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. This week, the technical writing unit wrapped up and we began the novel Of Mice and Men. The study of this John Steinbeck classic 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 week, students continued the study of this novel, and also read Kevin Barry's short story "Fjord of Killary". Next week, the study of the novel will continue in addition to the study of the short story "Victory Lap" by George Saunders.

English 11/12 (British Literature):  This course will offer a continued study of literature and its various themes, with a focus on British Literature. A study of the history behind the primary themes in literature of these genres will also be included. We will study the novels Great Expectations and The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Shakespeare's Macbeth as well as other works. This week, students began a unit on Medieval Literature with the study of poetry from that era as well as the study of a King Arthur tale, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." We will also read "Morte d' Arthur" and next week we will begin the study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. We will only be studying excerpts from this British classic.

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]