Month of May:
Sophomore Class:
-Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Week #2: Introduction-Raisin in the Sun novel
- Education Inequality
-Paragraph Writing
Week#3: Raisin in the Sun novel
-Good Times Episode
-Paragraph Writing: students will write about common problems families face today
Week #4: Raisin in the Sun novel
-Character project

Freshmen Class:
-Review the Writing Process
-Purple Literature Books

Senior Class:
Week #1: Review the Writing Process
Week #2: Autobiographies
Week #3: Prepare for senior examWeek #4: Senior exam

Sophomore Class:

Week #1: The Bicycle/Ghosts and Shadows (Green Lit Books) pg.169

-Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot

Week #2: Introduction-Raisin in the Sun novel

- Education Inequality

-Paragraph Writing

Week#3: Raisin in the Sun novel

The Month of March

Sophomore Class:
Week #1: The Sheppard Boy and the Wolf/Builders (Green Lit Books) pg.43
-Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Week#2: To Noel/Fear (Green Lit Books) pg.57
- Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Week#3: The Pit & The Pendulum (Green Lit Books) pg.107
-Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Week #4:August Heat (Green Lit Books) pg.151
- Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Freshmen Class:
Week #1: I Dream a World/Reflections (Purple Lit Books) pg.101
-Reading strategy, Brain Racing
Week #2: Appointment in Baghdad (Purple Lit Books) pg.113
- Reading strategy, Brain Racing
Week #3: Appointment at Noon/Incident in a Rose Garden (Purple Lit Books) pg.123
- Reading strategy, Brain Racing
Week #4: Thus I Refute Beelzy (Purple Lit Books) pg.155
- Reading strategy, Brain Racing
Senior Class:
Week #1: Reading Strategy, Brain Racing
Week #2: Reading strategy, X-Marks the Spot
Week #3: From West With the Night (Gold Lit Books) pg.475
- Introduction of Autobiographies
-Amelia Earhart Movie
Week #4: Student Autobiographies

Month of February 2010

Throughout the course of the month, students will be learning and implementing reading strategies. They are as follows:

Sophomore Class: “X” Marks the Spot
-Students will use a symbolic system to help them interact with their reading. This reading strategy will help to eliminate passive reading. The three-part code will help students to identify important information, new information and information that may not be clear.
-Week #1: Teacher will model the reading strategy
-Week #2: With guided practice, the students will label their reading
-Week #3: Students will work together in groups of two
-Week #4: On their own, students will read independently and label their own reading

Freshmen Class: Brain racing
-This reading strategy is in three stages: recall, question and speculate. It allows for students to have a deeper understanding of their reading by raising questions and then finding possible answers for their questions. It is a process of recalling as many facts or ideas about a topic.
-Week #1: Teacher will model the reading strategy
-Week #2: With guided practice, the students will label their reading
-Week #3: Students will work together in groups of two
-Week #4: On their own, students will read independently and label their own reading

Senior Class: Concept Collection
-This strategy allows students to identify concepts and find evidence that supports them. Students must assess prior knowledge and add new concepts to their understanding of the topic.
-Week #1: Teacher will model the reading strategy
-Week #2: With guided practice, the students will label their reading
-Week #3: Students will work together in groups of two
-Week #4: On their own, students will read independently and label their own reading

Week of January 17

This week is the last of the final review!

Monday: We took notes on the writing process and paragraph writing.
Tuesday: We covered paragraph writing and webs. We talked about what makes a good three paragraph paper.
Wednesday: We took the first practice exam. The students were able to work in groups and use their notes.
Thursday: The students take another practice exam on their own. They will be able to compare their scores before the exam to know what they need to focus on when they study.
Friday: The students will do a partner activity with Mrs. Rudolph practicing reading strategies, which they will do on their own for their final.

Good luck on the finals! It's been wonderful working with all of you. :)

Week of January 04, 2010

Welcome back! Hope everybody had a great holiday.

For the next two weeks, we'll be reviewing what we've done this semester in preparation for the final exam.

This week:
Monday: Morpheme Review (group work)
Tuesday: Nouns and Verbs Review
Wednesday: Adjective and Adverb Review
Thursday: Subject and Predicate Review
Friday: Morpheme, part of speech, and sentence games :)

Next Week: Reading Comprehension Strategies, the writing process, and...
Freshmen: PowerPoints and Who Stole My Cheese
Sophomores: Short Story Elements and War of the Worlds
Seniors: Branching outside the classroom and Catcher in the Rye

Week of December 14

It's almost time for Christmas break! Happy holidays!

This week our work again walks us through the writing process, which includes:

Freshmen- Creating and presenting a PowerPoint presentation, including note cards for delivering the presentation about the students' "cheese," or a goal the student has. This is based on the book Who Stole My Cheese? which we read and took notes on last week.

Sophomores- Finish up practicing the elements of a short story, then creating a short story that includes each of the elements: introduction, rise of action, climax, and resolution. We will revisit the ideas in War of the Worlds as a starting point for the students' short stories.

Seniors- Continuing to read Catcher in the Rye and writing a letter to the soldiers in Afghanistan, just in time for Christmas. Writing this letter ties in with the state's goal of having seniors learn to be leaders in the world outside the classroom.

After break, we will be tying up and reviewing what we've learned during the semester. Progress report grades will be sent out this week.

Take care for the next few weeks!