Rising Juniors—summer reading

New Juniors—welcome!! I hope that you have had a great summer! It’s been a fun and relaxing family time for me, filled with laughs and lots of books.

I wanted to remind you that time is short and you should be finishing up your summer reading.

To remind you:

Eng 11, you should have chosen one of the books on my list (Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Bluest Eye, Everything That Makes You, Solo, Columbine, On Writing, In the Company of Heroes, Dear Martin, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Or Winger) and think about the journey that one of the main characters is on. Think about the lessons that the character learns and what ideas he or she comes away from the experience with. There are specific questions posted on the assignment. You won’t turn these in—you’ll use them as you write about your book when we get back to school.

AP Lang, you should have read the first 14 chapters of Thank You for Arguing. Some of your parents have already commented to me that you’re putting your reading to use, so keep that up! 🤣 With that Reading, you were supposed to mark things you found interesting.

Then you were supposed to pick one of the other books (Outliers, Just Mercy, Nickel and Dimed, Evicted, Hillbilly Elegy, or the Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace) and mark 5 places where you see the author using one of the different appeals that you read about in Thank You for Arguing. Not 5 for each appeal, just 5 places where you see one of the appeals. I want you to start recognizing those as they are used in reading (and all over the place—tv, ads, speeches, etc).

Here is the full assignment page for all of high school summer reading. Juniors are on pages 4 and 5. This has been posted on the school website since May. 😊

https://www.montgomerycatholic.org/cms/lib/AL02224276/Centricity/Domain/119/High%20School%20Summer%20Reading%201819.pdf

Happy reading y’all! Teachers go back to school on Monday to prepare for a great year. We’ll be praying for you!

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Seniors—email Mrs. Moore

For my group from last year: It’s almost the beginning of your Senior year, guys!!

I wanted to remind you to make sure you’re doing your summer reading for Mrs. Moore. Part of her directions for summer reading are to send her an email so that you can get the code to her Google Classroom. You’ll need that to complete your summer reading work. If you haven’t emailed her yet, make sure that you do that!

Enjoy this last week or so of summer! Your teachers will be back at school on Monday preparing for a great year!

Google Classroom and Supply Lists

Hello! Welcome back (almost) to another school year! This is your Junior year and you’ll find that things move incredibly fast. Let’s have a great year!

Go ahead and join the Google Classroom for your class. Go to Classroom.google.com, click the + symbol and Join Class and enter the code below:

• English 11:  c7nrz1
• AP Lang: b8s4sa

These codes are for students. Once I have the students established, I will activate the Guardian/Parent access so that parents can check on assignments as needed.

Since we are approaching tax-free sales weekend, I wanted to share with you my supply lists so that your students can be prepared for English 11 or AP Lang. We’ll hit the ground running from Week 1, so it is important that they are prepared to work.

Supply list for Eng:

• 1.5″ binder
• 5 divider tabs
• bound composition book (100pgs or more…i.e., marbled Mead composition books)
• pen pouch
• pens (blue or black ink) and pencils
• pens in other colors for annotations
• highlighters
• post-its
• box of tissues (for the classroom)

You will also need a copy of They Say, I Say (from the school book list), 2 novels to be announced and chosen Week 2, and Great Gatsby for Semester 1, plus Flannery O’Connor’s Complete Stories and Farewell to Arms for Semester 2.

Supply list for AP Lang:

–2″ binder
–8 divider tabs
–bound composition book (100pgs or more…i.e., marbled Mead composition books)
–pen pouch
–pens (blue or black ink) and pencils
–pens in other colors for annotations
–highlighters
–post-its
–box of tissues (for the classroom)

You will also need a copy of They Say, I Say (from the school book list) and 2 novels to be announced and chosen Week 2 for Semester 1, plus Flannery O’Connor’s Complete Stories and Orthodoxy (also from the school’s textbook list) for Semester 2.

Dream List

All teachers have dream lists. Here’s mine, just in case you’re ever wondering… 😉

• Contemporary books, especially YA fiction and current non-fiction
• Amazon or Wal-Mart gift cards
• Sharpies
• White card stock
• Pentel EnerGel pens (assorted colors but especially green and purple)
• Elmo document camera

We’ll see you soon! Feel free to email me or post a message in Google Classroom if you have any questions or need assistance!

Summer Reading

Happy Summer, y’all! I wanted to touch base with y’all to make sure that you know what you should be working on this summer. First of all, everyone should go ahead and subscribe to my blog. There’s a box on the right of this post where you can subscribe by entering your email. Then you’ll get an email every time I post something new, so you don’t have to remember to come and check. 🙂

AP Lang students:

The first part of your AP Lang summer work is to read the first 14 chapters of the book Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs. There are several editions out there. I have the newest one listed in my syllabus/requirements, but an earlier edition is acceptable, too. Part particular attention to the rhetorical appeals that Heinrichs discusses.

When you finish that, you will choose one of the non-fiction novels below:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs

As you read the novel, you should mark with post-its or flags 5 examples of rhetorical appeals. You may also want to consider the central theme.

ENG 11 students

Read one novel from the list below. You will likely have to order this book from Amazon or another online vendor so make sure you do this early in the summer.

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay
• Solo by Kwame Alexander
• Columbine by Dave Cullen
• On Writing by Stephen King
• In the Company of Heroes by Michael Durant
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself by Frederick Douglass
• Winger by Andrew Smith

As you read, take notes to help you respond to the following questions:

• What journey is your main character taking (this could be an actual journey or a mental or spiritual journey)?
• What is the character’s goal (or quest)?
• Identify the journey with concrete steps (at least 5) towards that character’s goal.
• What does the character learn on this journey? What lessons does he or she take away from this?

Have a great summer! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to shoot me an email!

Rising Seniors—Scholarships for you!

Is it hard to believe that you are seniors? Well, you are! Don’t wait until Fall to start applying for scholarships for school. Check out these scholarships now:

http://www.thescholarshipsystem.com/blog-for-students-families/summer-scholarships-apply-before-end-of-summer/

Happy Summer!

2017-18 Week 38 — May 21-25 — Exam Week!

It’s here! The last week of school! We’re almost there!

You have made it to exam week…only 5 short days between you and summer. Now we’ve just got to get through exams! You can do it!

Monday will be a special schedule because of Senior Day. This is what Monday looks like:

1st period (normal class period)
2nd period (normal class period)
3rd period (27 min)
4th period (27 min)
5th period (27 min)
Lunch–pick up food and go out to concession stand or into the gym if it’s raining
6th period (31 min)
Move to DBC for Senior Day
Senior Day
7th period (30 min)

Exams start Tuesday. Here’s the schedule for that:

• Tuesday: 2nd and 3rd
• Wednesday: 1st and 5th
• Thursday: 6th and 7th
• Friday: 4th

Each day, students are to arrive (IN FULL UNIFORM) at 7:50:

7:50 prayer and pledge in 1st exam period classroom
8-10   first exam period
10-10:25  break
10:30-12:30   second exam period
12:30   prayer, announcement, and dismissal

On Friday, the timing will be slightly different:

7:50   prayer and pledge in 4th period classroom
8-8:30  locker clean out
8:30-10:30  4th period exam
10:30 dismissal

As you are preparing for exams, please look around for any extra books (or any books that may belong to me! 🙂 ) and bring them back to school. If you have books in your locker, you are welcome to put them in my room and I can figure out where they belong.

Let’s talk about your exams for a few minutes. We have discussed them in class, but I wanted to put the info here, too.

English 11:

• Part A: Serial Closing argument (You should have done this in class Thursday and Friday)
• Part B: REHUGO reflection essay (We will start these on Monday, but you may finish them on exam day.)
• Part C: Argument essay (Choose one topic from the list and write a well-developed argument essay.)

AP Lang:

• Part A: AP Review One pager (You should have done this in class Thursday and Friday)
• Part B: REHUGO reflection essay (We will start these on Monday, but you can finish them on exam day)
• Part C: Synthesis Argument activity (individual and group components)

Thank you all for a great year. Let’s finish strong!

2017-18 Week 36 — May 7-11

We’re on the home stretch! Two weeks and then exams! We can do it!

Before we talk about the schedule for the week, I want to remind you that you all need to submit your Cultural or Fine Arts reflections before exams. Don’t forget that you should have 3 hours of Cultural or Fine Arts experience for this semester. There are several ways to document this. You can write a brief reflection for each experience or you can do something artistic. You will turn them in to Google Classroom or to the box for your class in my classroom. If you’re looking for an opportunity to earn some Cultural or Fine Arts hours, there is a Band Concert on Thursday night at 6:30 in the DBC. You can earn 1.5 hours then. If you have any questions, see me before or after school.

Let’s take a look at this week:

• English 11 — Week of May 7-11
  • Monday, May 7
    • Finish REHUGO speeches
  • Tuesday, May 8
    • Episode 5 of Serial podcast
    • Cell Phone Log/Cell Tower map activity
  • Wednesday, May 9
    • Finish Episode 5 discussion
  • Thursday, May 10
    • Episode 6 of Serial
  • Friday, May 11
    • Finish Episode 6 of Serial and complete Exercise 2
    • AotW 21 due
• AP Lang — Week of May 7-11
  • Monday, May 7
    • Finish REHUGO speeches
  • Tuesday, May 8
    • AP Menu Project
    • AP Art History exam
    • AP Physics 1 exam
  • Wednesday, May 9
    • AP Menu Project
  • Thursday, May 10
    • AP Menu Project
  • Friday, May 11
    • AP Menu Project
    • APUSH exam (8am)
    • AP Computer Science Principles exam (noon)

Let’s make sure that we finish strong! Have a great week!

REHUGO Speech Schedules

Students, we’re on the last leg of the REHUGO project! You will present your speeches next week to your class. Remember that your speech should be 5-10 min long and memorized. You will be allowed to have one notecard with a bullet point list (not a card covered in tiny mice type with every word and syllable of your speech!). You have already turned in your Visual Aid, so I will pull that up for you on the Smartboard when you are ready to present. We will also set up a computer to record your speech as you give it. Remember that the speech itself counts as a test grade.

Here are the speech schedules:

• English 11 — 1st period
  • Monday, April 30
    • Luke Voorhies
    • Ben Wilke
    • Tommy Valdez
    • Dalton Shoemaker
  • Tuesday, May 1
    • Epiphany Burris
    • Carson Binns
    • Gus Hodges
    • Gabe McBeal
  • Wednesday, May 2
    • Kendall Couey
    • Chris Waring
    • Sydney Hall
    • Jeremy Ramirez
  • Thursday, May 3
    • Brock Hudson
    • Byron Simmons
    • Clint Williams
    • Kendra Myers
  • Friday, May 4
    • Sami Hodge
    • Victoria Hubbard
  • Monday, May 7
    • Derrick Parker
    • Cam Prince
    • MK Main
    • Kate Koontz
• English 11 — 2nd period
  • Monday, April 30
    • Miah Fenderson
    • Anthony Nguyen
    • Nick Brown
    • Austin Hankins
  • Tuesday, May 1
    • Marie Bristol
    • Leo Smith
    • Trip Carter
    • Ralph Clements
  • Wednesday, May 2
    • Rachel Davis
    • Zach Moore
    • Ricky Treloar
  • Thursday, May 3
    • Cred Thomas
    • Victoria Rodriguez
    • Demetrios Philippou
  • Friday, May 4
    • Erica Blackburn
• AP Lang — 3rd period
  • Monday, April 30
    • Anna Catherine Barranco
    • Maddie Losik
    • Zy’Keria King
    • Cole Faucheux
  • Tuesday, May 1
    • Jonah Gier
    • Mari Caitlin Riggles
    • Zac Kroeger
    • Caroline Justice
  • Wednesday, May 2
    • Hunter Vaccaro
    • Maddie Jarman
    • Claire Mills
    • Johnney Guevara
  • Thursday, May 3
    • Mia Scarpino
    • Isabelle Saliba
    • Mary Katherine Foley
    • Chloe Smith
  • Friday, May 4
    • Hayden Rhodes
    • Sydney Sprowl
• English 11 — 5th period
  • Monday, April 30
    • Nick Bowden
    • Amaris Tyynismaa
    • Thomas McLaughlin
  • Tuesday, May 1
    • Tate Holifield
    • Anthony Jaimes
    • Aaron Hall
  • Wednesday, May 2
    • Maggie Hall
    • Jacob Holston
    • Katie Stembridge
  • Thursday, May 3
    • Drew Smith
    • Rhys Holifield
    • Jevon Murdock
  • Friday, May 4
    • Bethany White
• AP Lang — 7th period
  • Monday, April 30
    • Isabelle Cochran
    • Reagan Herbek
    • Kathleen Madden
    • Emma Gandy
  • Tuesday, May 1
    • Jacob Flowers
    • Manny Caceres
    • Katie Galvin
    • Zoe Rutland
    • Nico Gacha
  • Wednesday, May 2
    • CJ Person
    • Annamary Gilbert
    • Grace Leslie
    • Emily Talbot
    • Grant Walker
  • Thursday, May 3
    • Annie Bach
    • Virginia Speirs
    • Teresa Nguyen
    • Ellie Talbot
    • Zeke Gonzalez
  • Friday, May 4
    • Christian Friday
    • Josie Blanks
  • Monday, May 7
    • Austin Collett
    • Mitch Aaron
    • Burke Rothstein
    • Melody Taylor

Good luck! Make sure that you’re practicing!

2017-18 Week 34— April 23-27

Happy Sunday night!

Don’t forget that the detailed outline of your speech AND your visual aid are due in G00gle Classroom tomorrow (Monday, April 23). These are two major grades (outline=writing grade and visual aid=project grade), so make sure that you meet these deadlines.

Let’s take a look at this week:

English 11 — Week of April 23-27

• Monday, April 23
  • REHUGO detailed outline and visual aid due
  • complete Serial episode 1
• Tuesday, April 24
  • Serial episode 2
• Wednesday, April 25
  • Serial episode 2/Crazy Chart
• Thursday, April 26
  • Serial episode 3
• Friday, April 27
  • AotW 21 due
  • Serial episode 3

AP Lang  — Week of April 23-27

• Monday, April 23
  • detailed outline and visual aid due
  • review student samples from synthesis essays
• Tuesday, April 24
  • student samples
• Wednesday, April 25
  • AP study guide discussion
• Thursday, April 26
  • AP Olympic/MC
• Friday, April 27
  • AP Olympic/MC

Have a great week!

Quick Update–more to follow

Thank you all for a great night at Prom. Your SGA leaders and the Prom committee did a great job with the planning and execution of prom this year, so please thank them and be appreciative of the hard work that they put in so that you could have a great time!

I’m working on lesson plans for the week right now, but I wanted to share a quick reminder to my English 11 folks. Don’t forget that you have an essay test on Farewell to Arms tomorrow. You should have finished it over Easter Break, but I gave you a few extra days to read in case some of you were behind.

After this, we’ll move on to listening to and working with parts of the Serial podcast and we’ll continue working on your REHUGO final speech.

AP folks, make sure that you’re ready to discuss Orthodoxy with Fr. Driscoll. I’m still waiting for confirmation on when he’ll be able to visit with us.

I’ll be back later with more details about the week!