Thursday, March 13, 2008

Weekly 9th Grade Schedule for March 17th

MARCH 17TH WEEKLY SCHEDULE
FOR
9TH GRADE ENGLISH

Monday, March 17th:

1st and 5th Periods:

Greetings, scholars!
Today we are going to the library to have our reading level tested. So please meet in room #508 first and then we will make our way to the library for the computer generated test. It should take about fifteen minutes and then we’ll go back to our room for more fun stuff.

1st and 2nd Periods:

Today your final draft of your literary analysis will be due.

Your beloved and much cherished vocabulary and grammar books will be assigned to you today.

VOCABULARY FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, pages 31 - 39; exercise 21,22,23,24 and 26, 27, 28, and 29. This assignment will be due on Friday, March 21st.

Today, if we have time - and we never do - we will start ROMEO and JULIET. We’ll yell and scream and call each other insulting Shakespearean epithets, and we will learn some very interesting factoids about William Shakespeare.

5th Period:

Today we will continue reading the excerpt from Isabel Allende’s novel. When we finish we will write journal entries about our own memories. From the journals we will write an essay about an important memory we have.



Tuesday, March 18th:

1st Period:

Please bring your ENGLISH WORKSHOP today;”Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases”; pages 151 and 152; exercises 3 and 4 will be assigned. This will be due on Thursday, March 20th.

2nd Period:

Today an assignment will be given to you out of your ENGLISH WORKSHOP; “Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases”; pages 143 and 144; exercises 1 and 2. This will be due on Thursday, March 20th.

5th Period:

Please bring your ENGLISH WORKSHOP today; pages 141 - 142; exercises 1 and 2; “Prepositional Phrases”. This will be due on Thursday, March 20th.
1st and 2nd Periods:

Watch the first scene in the 1969 and the 1990’s ROMEO and JULIET films.

5th Period:

Your “Memory Essay” will be due today.

We will go over some interesting “factoids” about Shakespeare.


Wednesday, March 19th:

Warm-ups:

Write five sentences using five of your vocabulary words with either an adverb or adjective phrase.

Begin reading Act 1, Scene 1 of ROMEO and JULIET and acting out the scene.

We will also keep a reading log which is a summary of what we’ve read plus our reaction to it. We will also record examples of the figurative language we encounter in our reading.


Thursday, March 20th:

Your ENGLISH WORKSHOP grammar homework is due today.

Warm-ups:

Write five more sentences using five of your vocabulary words with either an adverb or adjective phrase.

Continue reading and acting out Act One and writing our reading logs.


Friday, March 21st:

Warm-ups:

You know the routine: write five more sentences using five of your vocabulary words with either an adverb or adjective phrase.

Your vocabulary homework is due today.

Continue swashbuckling our way through Act One in ROMEO and JULIET. And of course, don’t forget to swashbuckle our way through the reading logs.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

SPRING SEMESTER SYLLABUS

NINTH GRADE CLASS REQUIREMENTS
SPRING SEMESTER

TEXTBOOKS: ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
VOCABULARY FOR HIGH SCHOOL

ENGLISH WORKSHOP

During the course of this semester, we will read short stories, poetry, novels, THE ODYSSEY, and ROMEO AND JULIET. As part of the requirements of this class the student will be required to do the following:

1. The student will take a district required assessment covering literary analysis. The district mandated test will assess the student's understanding of literary themes, univeral themes and themes across literary genres. The student will be asked to develop concepts and ideas from the text, and show how these concepts are related to the text. The student will be assessed according to how well s/he can analyze and synthesize these concepts in a well organized and well written essay.


2. The student will also be required to keep a separate notebook for English. (Be sure to get a small, light weight notebook - your notebook is going to get heavy!) Most importantly: KEEP ALL HANDOUTS AND RETURNED WORK, CLASSWORK, HOMEWORK AND TESTS IN THIS NOTEBOOK! At the end of the semester, the notebook will be checked for organization and completeness and creativity. This is a major grade. I really appreciate creativity so feel free to put your drawings, your poetry in your notebook. Let it express who you are.


3. The student is expected to check the weblog on Sunday night for the week's assignment for this class. The address is hollywoodhighschool.net; click on blogs, click on jbridges and then click on 9th Grade English. The student should either print out that week's assignment or copy it down and carry it in his/her notebook. The print out of the week's agenda will be posted on the bulletin board by the door.

4. The upcoming tests, assignments, and due dates will be projected onto the screen and posted on the blog.

5. The handouts for the day's class will be placed in the wire basket on the table by the door. A student returning from an absence should check the blog, and check the wire basket on the table for work that has been passed out during the student's absence.

6. Homework will be assigned Monday - Thursday. No homework will be given on Friday.

7. Tests will be given about every two weeks and ample warning will be given for each test. Notification of the test will be on the weblog and projected on the screen.

8. Students are responsible for make-up work. No make-up work will be given for truancies. The student will be allowed one day after her/his return from a non-truant absence to turn in the late work. The prior day’s assignments will be posted in the classroom and it is the student’s responsibility to keep track of the work and to turn it in the day after her/his return.

9. If a student is not happy with a grade s/he received on a test or an essay, s/he may rewrite the essay incorporating the corrections that I have made on the essay, or if it is a test, then s/he may rewrite and correct the missed answers from the test on a separate sheet of paper. The student must then staple the revised essay or test to the original and turn it in. The corrections must be sufficient to show the student has learned the material. The student's grade on the assignment will be raised one
letter grade; for example, if the student made a b/c on an essay, then after the revisions, the grade will be raised to an a/b.


10. Fifteen absences per semester may result in an “F” in the class, or may lower the grade and/or result in less than adequate marks in cooperation and work habits.


Tests are worth approximately 20%
Classwork is worth approximately 20%
The literary analysis is worth about 20%
The notebook is worth about 15%
Journals are worth about 15%
Participation is worth about 10%


90% -100% = A
80% - 89% = B
70% - 79% = C
60% - 69% = D
Below 60% = FAIL

As part of the ongoing effort to increase reading comprehension and to promote a love for reading, students may read a book of their own choosing for the ACCELERATED READING program. This is for extra credit and each AR test and each reading log is worth 100 points. The student will select a book from the Accelerated reading list, which will have an AR designated sticker on the binding and can be checked out from the school library. The AR assignment includes a reading log, and passing the AR test, which can be taken in the library before school, during nutrition, lunch, and after school. The first due date for the book, the reading log, and the AR test is Friday, February 9th.  The second date for the book, the reading log, and the AR test will be Friday, April 13th. The third date for the book, the reading log, and the AR test will be Friday, May 4th.


Extra points will be given for creativity. Class participation is a must and will be factored into the grading. Being alert and participating in class could be the deciding factor in determining a borderline grade.


There are a few rules that are necessary to ensure a safe, clean, comfortable, educational, and creative environment: No eating in the classroom - we do not have custodial services in 503.  No phones, unless it is being used for educational purposes such as research, educational games, or note taking and the teacher specifically gives permission.  No private conversations unless it is during "pair and share".  No talking when others are speaking. No roaming, running, or playing around during class.

If there are any questions please feel free to call me at 323-993-1700, or better yet, e-mail me at jkatbridge@aol.com. You may also keep track of agendas by going to hollywoodhighschool.net and clicking on “weblogs”, "teachers”, “J. Bridges” and that will direct you to my class weblog.

Sincerely,

Judith “Kate” Bridges



I HAVE READ THIS WITH MY CHILD,  AND I UNDERSTAND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS CLASS:

PARENTS’ SIGNATURE:______________________________
STUDENT’S SIGNATURE:_____________________________