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“The irony is that people think that because they went to school and watched their teachers, that they know what it takes to teach. Well, I’ve seen my doctor, do I hold a medical license? I buy clothing…can I design and market it? Just because we experience things in our lives, doesn’t make us experts in those experiences. It takes a lot more to teach than anyone who has never taught a day in their life will ever know.”
-Washington Post
Upcoming 7th graders will read:
Truesight by David Stahler Jr.
Upcoming 8th graders will read:
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
See more info here:
Summer Reading
Wildcats, get your official North Ridge school video this week for only $10–including the Family Celebration Night video, special 8th grade video, & almost 2 hours of bonus footage. Pre-order Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday in the cafeteria or all month (April) in Mrs. Oak’s room, room D-13.
Just a reminder for students:
Top 10 due in PAP Rdg & GT on 3/25
Vocab 2 quiz in PAP Rdg on 3/25
Memory assignment due in PAP Rdg on 4/3
Memory assignment due in GT Rdg on 4/10
Speeches due in PAP Eng on 3/25
Tonight is Family Celebration Night from 6 pm until 7:30. In the cafeteria will be the FCN video (1 of 2 large videos I make for the school). Come check it out! It will be for sale later this month along with the 8th grade day video and over an hour of bonus footage. Also in the D-Hall tonight, you can see a video about just the 7th grade ELA classes, with lots of 7th grade student footage. Hope to see everyone there.
If students go to my blog, they can see my top 10 list for the top 10 assignment, along with links to more info on the books and authors.
Grades are in the gradebook for these and were by progress report. Students were given 2 full weeks in class to work on the assignment, as well as 4 weeks outside of class (not including the winter break). Students were reminded often that they would need to work on these outside of class as well. Work checks were taken several times throughout the assignment. While Pre-AP does not mean more work, it does mean in depth work. Students had the option to chose which portions to complete and for how many points. All of the portions covered a variety of topics relating to the works and times of Charles Dickens to show depth of thought and creativity. If you have questions about the grades, please contact me via email.
Because the new six weeks is here, the downloads for Dickens are no longer available. If you are working on your portfolio at the last minute and didn’t get the downloads earlier as requested, you can find them here:
life of Dickens
info hunt
Desc. Poster
Xmas Card
Portfolio
Book of Symbols
P. M. Protagonist
Vocab
Semester review sheets for semester exams are now available on the DOWNLOADS page at the bottom. Reviews are up for On-Level English, Pre-AP English, Pre-AP Reading, and GT Reading. If you download it, please be sure to grab the correct one.
Students and parents were told at the beginning of the year that they would need to purchase Witness and Fahrenheit 451 for this school year. Students will need Witness beginning Tuesday, January 22 (just after exams), and will need Fahrenheit 451 shortly after that. Students are encouraged to purchase these books now, as most schools in BISD (and surrounding districts) read these books and bookstores often need to order more. This takes time and if delayed, students might not get their books on time. Please purchase these books now.
Just a reminder that this portfolio, while much smaller than the Shakespeare one, is due January 22. Students will have about 2 weeks in class to work on it but are encouraged to begin work on it NOW. This is not intended to be a homework assignment over the break, but students should work on it for homework this week when they have time to get a thorough head start. Students will want to use some class time prior to 1/22 to study for exams, which could take away some class portfolio time.
After the break, Pre-AP and GT students have some major deadlines:
Portfolio performances on Monday, 11/26
Portfolio due on Tuesday, 11/27
Shakespeare Massive Test on Friday, 11/30
Students have had more than 4 weeks to work on these, 2-3 of those weeks were in class “work days,” so no one should be just starting it. Every student should be almost done. Parents–ask to see where your child is in this process.
On another note, Happy Thanksgiving.
The phrases notes from today’s Pre-AP English classes is online now under DOWNLOADS.
In the coming weeks, Pre-AP students will have several due dates coming up for their reading and English classes. The Shakespeare portfolio, which covers grades in BOTH classes, is meant to be a 90% in class assignment. It is a rather large assignment with multiple pieces and is quite in depth. It is truly a Pre-AP level piece of work. Please encourage your child to attend tutorials if they are not understanding any portion of the assignment. I can’t help if I don’t know there is a problem.
On personal news, my pipes in my kitchen are shot. More on that in my blog here: http://www.oaksclass.com/blog/
