Week of 1/24 - 1/28
This week we did activities based around getting to know each other and about English I. This upcoming week, we will take a literature diagnostic assessment and complete a writing diagnostic assessment for us to see where each student is in his/her/their journey in English. Then we will also begin our first unit, Home and Family. Students will be studying the themes of home and family, exploring the ways an author uses language, details, and context clues to create the story. Topics discussed in this text include segregation and loneliness, disabilities, and gender inequality. The anchor text is Of Mice and Men.
Standards include:
- RL.9-10.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- RL.9-10.2 - Determine a theme of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- RL.9-10.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
- W.9-10.2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Here is information on the Pilot Program. Please let me know if you have questions.
Week of 1/31 - 2/4
Next Thursday (February 3) is Meet the Teacher Night and I am excited to get a chance to meet all of you and personally introduce myself to you. The school should be sending out information about that, but I also wanted to include my link to the google meet for this class. Please join me during your scheduled time at this google meet link.
We began Unit 1 this past week, which focuses on the topics of home and family. Our focus is to encourage students to expand their thinking about these concepts, by analyzing different examples of how home and family can be expressed and experienced. Students had a paragraph writing assignment where we worked on techniques to cite and explain details from a source text. We also explored the historical context of migrant farm workers in the 1930s, so that students would have a basis to understand the novel we will be reading: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
We will start off next week by beginning this novel. Students will be given a link to access a digital version of the text through a program called MackinVIA. On Google Classroom there is a pdf version of the text as well as audio versions of Chapters 2-6.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions!
Week of 2/7 - 2/11
I hope this finds you all well!
This week we dived in Of Mice and Men. We looked at the establish of mood through language (like imagery and idioms). I hope the students are enjoying it as much as I do. We also received the first big project. Students will be investigating what home and family means to them. The details for the project can be found on Canvas. But please feel free to reach out to me if you would like a copy.
This upcoming week, we will have a quiz over Chapters 1-3 on Monday. Then we will continue reading the anchor text and investigate more tone and mood in other chapters, as well as how we see racism, agism, genderism, ableism affects characters in the novel.
As always, please let me know what questions you have!
Week of 2/14 - 2/18
Happy Friday! I hope this finds each of you well. Another school week has passed! This week we really dived into Of Mice and Men, reading all but one chapter (we are saving the BEST chapter for Monday. remember if you know what happens...shhhhhhhh). We focused on how the author uses diction in Chapter 5 to create a certain tone. Based on that tone, then, a mood is created.
For next week, we will finish up reading the novel and discuss the themes we see in this literature. Then we will discuss how and why this book is in a unit on Home and Family. Students need to be completing the project that is due on Wednesday (2/16) for our first major assessment. The assignment can be found here. We will also have our final unit major assessment on Thursday, 2/17.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions!
Week of 2/21 - 2/25
I hope this find you all well. We spent last week finishing up our first unit. This week we will begin Unit 2: Identity and Culture. The standards for this unit are:
READING
RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
RL.9-10.6: Analyze a particular perspective or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
RL.9-10.7: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
WRITING
W.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
SPEAKING & LISTENING
SL.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
SL.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Students will focus on how characters develop and interact in literature. They will also be reflecting on the ways authors use characters and their experiences to reveal particular cultural perspectives within their works. Engagement around these particular standards will be deepened by looking at how different mediums show similar and/or differing accounts & perspectives. Our anchor text is The Odyssey.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Week of 2/28 - 3/4
I hope this finds you all well! As of 1:20pm today, all assessments and assignments have been graded and updated to PowerSchool (including late work). Parents and guardians, if you could check PowerSchool and help me encourage students to turn in missing work. Students remember that you have until the last week of the quarter to turn in any missing work. That is only two weeks away!
We started our Unit 2: Identity and Culture unit. We discuss what culture and identity means to us and read the short story "Fish Cheeks". Then we did a webquest on The Odyssey.
This upcoming week, we will dive into the reading and start exploring the standard of character development. We will also get our next major assessment, which is the personal narrative. The standard to this assignment is Standard W 9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
If you have any questions, please let me know!
Week 3/7 - 3/11
I hope update finds you all well and you were able to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. We had a great time in English I this week (okay maybe the students wouldn't completely agree with this statement). But we read my favorite part of The Odyssey "The Cyclops". We spent time looking at paintings representing the Cyclops and watched that scene in the movie.
This upcoming week, we will continue with the standard of RL.9-10.7: (Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment. And analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.) by discussing how this standard is seen in the movie, print story, and a poem.
We will also focus on RL.9-10.3: (Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.) by continuing our reading of The Odyssey.
Some dates to keep in mind as we wrap up Quarter 3:
Unit 2 Mid-unit major assessment: Personal Narrative is due by the time class starts on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
We will have a Quiz over Part 1 of The Odyssey on Monday, March 14, 2022.
All missing assignments for Quarter 3 are due by 2:18 (EST) on Friday, March 18, 2022 (NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!) This is a teacher workday so students, maybe tell yourself the due date is the 17th. We will still be doing work until the end of the quarter as well.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Week of 3/14 - 3/18
We finished Part I of The Odyssey this past week. We experienced looking at different mediums that also had the Odyssey as a subject, such as the movie, painting, and a poem. We also submitted a personal narrative.
For this upcoming week, we will have a quiz over Part I of The Odyssey on Monday (3/21) and then begin reading Part II. The counselors will be coming to class on Tuesday, 3/15, to register the students for classes next school year.
I also make to make sure that all students and parents/guardians are aware that all missing and late work MUST be submitted to Canvas by 2:18pm (EST) on this Friday, March 18, 2022.
Week of 3/21 - 3/25
Happy beginning of Spring everyone! I hope this finds you all well. This past week we registered for classes for next year, finish Part I of The Odyssey and began Part II.
For this upcoming week, it is going to be busy! We will finish reading The Odyssey on Monday and Tuesday. I am moving the Part II quiz to Wednesday, March 23rd (to ensure I can answer any questions if needed). We will have some class time on Tuesday to work on the Personal Narrative that is due on Wednesday, March 23rd. Then on Thursday and Friday, March 24th and 25th, we will be completing the Unit 2 Final Major Assessment in class (and watching the rest of the movie!).
The Personal Narrative and Unit 2 Final Major Assessment will go on Quarter 4 grades. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Week of 3/28 - 4/1
Happy beginning of Quarter 4! I can't believe that our time is halfway over (students you can stop cheering now...).
This upcoming Thursday is Parent/Teacher Conference Night (March 31st). I am attaching the document that school is sending out. If you interested in having a conference with me, please email me at jjschneider@wcpss.net with your top three choices for times. Please also let me know if this conference will be in-person or via google meet. I will send you an email confirming the time.
We ended our Unit 2 with a writing task and watching the movie The Odyssey. This week we will begin Unit 3: Rebellion and Conformity. We will be using Shakespeare's Macbeth as our anchor text. Do not worry, I will also we using "Don't Fear Shakespeare" as a resources as well.
Here are the objectives and focus standards for the unit:
In this unit of study, students will focus on how authors structure their works and how they adopt or adapt sources for their work. Students will be looking at how authors structure both fiction and non-fiction and delve into choices authors make to support a claim or to impact the reader. Through explorations in this unit, students will gain an understanding of how our culture and creativity are largely shaped by envisioning and revisioning other sources.
Over the course of the unit, students will build knowledge around:
Elements of Tragedy as Structure
Social Issues that are relevant in the play such as the impacts of choices, power, and consequences
Ways that writers make choices in their craft
Broad understanding of how writers and other creative people adapt or adopt source material
Contemporary connections to Shakespeare and cultural exposure to classical literature
Exploration of modern political landscapes and how leaders lead
As always, please let me know if you have any questions!
Week of 4/4 - 4/8
Happy last week until Spring Break!
We had a great first week of reading MacBeth. We read Act I scene 1 and analyzed how film directors chose to portray this scene in three film adaptations. We followed up with reading Act I scene 2.
This week, we will continue reading and watching the 2010 film version and finish Act I and begin Act II. As always, please let me know if you have questions.
Week of 4/18 - 4/22
This week we will wrap up Act II and complete a learning experience. Then we will move on to Act III and Act IV. We will be reading some scenes and watching others.
Like always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Week of 4/25 - 4/29
I cannot believe that this is the last week of April. This will also be our last week of Macbeth. We will finish reading Act V and have a quiz over the entire play on Wednesday and then our final Unit 3 major assessment (which will be a seminar).
As always, please let me know if you have questions!