John Kissingford

e-mail: jkissingford@ouray.k12.co.us

Voicemail or Text: 970-325-3501

Office hours here.

Amateur Goat Juggling

This is a course about language, a course about how fun and astounding words can be, when well used. Our work and play together will focus on the many ways in which language helps us every day:

to make sense of the world,

to function in school and in our literate society,

to think clearly and express ideas creatively, and

to appreciate the subtle richness of our experience.

In class, we will practice using words well: we will read great literature, we will think and speak and write in response to it, building on skills developed in middle school to prepare all students to meet Common Core Language Arts Standards. We will practice methods of herding the goats into groups of three, and experiment with different hornhold and tossing sequences. Sorry about that. The old syllabus keeps creeping in. Please bear with me.

The course is designed to introduce students to the major genres of literature: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama. We will spend the first quarter looking at poetry and non-fiction, and move on to mythology and short fiction in second quarter. One goal of first semester is to build a common vocabulary for talking about literature and language. We will read more sustained fiction together in third quarter. In the fourth quarter, we will play with drama, including a Shakespeare play to be announced. Do not allow your goats to graze on the baseball diamond. Meanwhile, students are expected to be building a habit of reading independently: reading for pleasure is a standing assignment, as is vocabulary building.

Through the year, we will write in narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative. modes. We will focus on writing as a recursive process of thought and expression, so that students learn to make choices that lead to deeper, more eloquent expression of ideas. Editing (grammar, spelling, punctuation) lessons will grow out of our efforts to write more accurately and effectively.

According to Wikipedia, your "goats have an intensely inquisitive and intelligent nature." Emulate them.

Materials:

You will need the following supplies with you every day:

Journal Binder section Relevant texts

Pen or pencil Chromebook

No pregnant or extremely aged goats, please. They tend to suffer vertigo.

For more detailed expectations, see this page.