UPDATE 6/9
Hello 9th Grade Families!
Today was our final day working on our To Kill a Mockingbird essay in class. It is due tonight at 11:59 PM. All of the information needed for the essay is available on the To Kill a Mockingbird page of our website (www.missaubrey.weebly.com). It is located on the bottom of the page. There is also a full version of the text at the top of the page, if your students are using it for their hook.
All late work is due by Monday. After that, we cannot accept any work, as it needs to be graded and before the end of the year. There is a final review packet and quizlet to study on the front page of the website.
It has been a great year! Thank you for all of your support. Please let us know if there is anything we can do as we wrap everything up!
Today was our final day working on our To Kill a Mockingbird essay in class. It is due tonight at 11:59 PM. All of the information needed for the essay is available on the To Kill a Mockingbird page of our website (www.missaubrey.weebly.com). It is located on the bottom of the page. There is also a full version of the text at the top of the page, if your students are using it for their hook.
All late work is due by Monday. After that, we cannot accept any work, as it needs to be graded and before the end of the year. There is a final review packet and quizlet to study on the front page of the website.
It has been a great year! Thank you for all of your support. Please let us know if there is anything we can do as we wrap everything up!
UPDATE 4/21
Hello Parents!
We hope you are enjoying the warmer weather! Next week we will wrap up our study of the Mystery Genre! Students should be reading their independent books at home and should finish their book by Tuesday 4/25 so they can complete our final constructed response next week. Please check in with your student to be sure they are reading.
At the end of next week we will begin our Mystery Creative Writing assignment. Your student should be working on ideas about the characters and setting of their own mystery story. This week we will work on the plot. We will type up the essay and it will be due on May 5th, after revising in class. If you are interested, the rubric is at the back of the mystery packet.
Just a reminder to check in on Home Access -- grades that are marked as a "T" are turned in; if their assignment is not turned in, it will be a zero.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
We hope you are enjoying the warmer weather! Next week we will wrap up our study of the Mystery Genre! Students should be reading their independent books at home and should finish their book by Tuesday 4/25 so they can complete our final constructed response next week. Please check in with your student to be sure they are reading.
At the end of next week we will begin our Mystery Creative Writing assignment. Your student should be working on ideas about the characters and setting of their own mystery story. This week we will work on the plot. We will type up the essay and it will be due on May 5th, after revising in class. If you are interested, the rubric is at the back of the mystery packet.
Just a reminder to check in on Home Access -- grades that are marked as a "T" are turned in; if their assignment is not turned in, it will be a zero.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Update 2/10
We hope everybody enjoyed their snow day! We are wrapping up our study of Realistic Contemporary Fiction with our Comparative Literary Analysis paper. In this paper, students are comparing our core text, Romiette and Julio, to one of their independent Realistic Contemporary Fiction novels. We have been in the library all week typing our outlines -- due to the snow, the due date of the completed rough draft (five paragraphs and a Works Cited page in MLA format) is now Sunday, February 12th at 11:59 PM. Monday, in class, we will be peer editing, and Tuesday, students will have the opportunity to make final revisions and submit their paper. The final copy is due Tuesday, February 14th at 11:59 PM to turnitin.com.
After our writing, we will start our next genre study: Mystery! Students will be getting mystery novels at their independent level and starting next Thursday, they should be reading this novel for AT LEAST 20 minutes each night.
P.S. Reminder: A "T" in turnitin.com means your student turned in the assignment -- if it is not a t "T", it is either a "0" (did not turn in) or a grade! If students made revisions, the original grade will be in the comments section and their new grade will appear in the score column.
After our writing, we will start our next genre study: Mystery! Students will be getting mystery novels at their independent level and starting next Thursday, they should be reading this novel for AT LEAST 20 minutes each night.
P.S. Reminder: A "T" in turnitin.com means your student turned in the assignment -- if it is not a t "T", it is either a "0" (did not turn in) or a grade! If students made revisions, the original grade will be in the comments section and their new grade will appear in the score column.
UPDATE 1/27
Today marks the end of the 2nd Marking Period! Your child is halfway through their freshman year of high school! Although the marking period came to a close today, they still have the opportunity to turn in revisions to Constructed Response 3. They have until Tuesday at 11:59 PM to turn these in to turnitin.com (they must highlight the changes that they make).
We are working on our fourth constructed response for Realistic Contemporary Fiction on Monday and Tuesday in the library. In order to facilitate this, we provided an outline that must be completed by the start of class on Monday. This will the first grade of the third marking period, so it is essential to ensure students get started on the right foot! Your student should also be studying their vocabulary words for unit 4 for their vocabulary quiz on Monday.
Please let us know if you have any questions! Happy 3rd Marking Period!
We are working on our fourth constructed response for Realistic Contemporary Fiction on Monday and Tuesday in the library. In order to facilitate this, we provided an outline that must be completed by the start of class on Monday. This will the first grade of the third marking period, so it is essential to ensure students get started on the right foot! Your student should also be studying their vocabulary words for unit 4 for their vocabulary quiz on Monday.
Please let us know if you have any questions! Happy 3rd Marking Period!
Update 1/3
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season! Today was a great day back at it in English class. We just started our third unit in our Realistic Contemporary Fiction genre study. We read from Romiette and Julio and discussed physical setting. We will study physical setting, social setting in regard to culture, and social setting in regard to power through the next week and a half. This will conclude in our third constructed response: What is a theme in Romiette and Julio? How does Sharon Draper use setting to develop this theme? Use at least two examples from the text.
There are two assignments to look out for. Before break, students received a grade sheet with their mid-marking period grades. Please sign this paper and give to your student to return tomorrow. They also can make revisions to their first major writing assignment: What makes or breaks a relationship? Students need to highlight the changes they make on their google document and then they will resubmit to turnitin.com under What Makes or Breaks a Relationship - Revision 2. This is due on Monday, 1/9. There is before school help Monday - Friday from 6:45 - 7:10 and there is after school help in the library from 2:30 - 4:00 Monday through Thursday. We are also available after school for help! Please let us know if there are any questions. Again, revisions will not count if they are not highlighted.
Finally, please check in with your student and make sure they are reading their independent book. They should be starting their third Realistic Contemporary Fiction book at this point. They should read 20 minutes each night trying to figure out the theme.
There are two assignments to look out for. Before break, students received a grade sheet with their mid-marking period grades. Please sign this paper and give to your student to return tomorrow. They also can make revisions to their first major writing assignment: What makes or breaks a relationship? Students need to highlight the changes they make on their google document and then they will resubmit to turnitin.com under What Makes or Breaks a Relationship - Revision 2. This is due on Monday, 1/9. There is before school help Monday - Friday from 6:45 - 7:10 and there is after school help in the library from 2:30 - 4:00 Monday through Thursday. We are also available after school for help! Please let us know if there are any questions. Again, revisions will not count if they are not highlighted.
Finally, please check in with your student and make sure they are reading their independent book. They should be starting their third Realistic Contemporary Fiction book at this point. They should read 20 minutes each night trying to figure out the theme.
Update 11/22
I know all of our students are looking forward to the Thanksgiving Break! Over their time off, they can read from the independent book that they just chose for our genre study of Realistic Contemporary Fiction. Students should be reading at least 20 minutes per night. Since there is no written homework, a lot of times this gets put on the "back burner", but reading independently is essential for student success in the genre lab! We expect that their first independent books be finished around Monday, December 5th. Students should also be studying for their vocabulary quiz for unit one -- this will take place on 12/5. There is a quizlet on our website for students to study!
Please let us know if you need anything! Thanks for your support.
Please let us know if you need anything! Thanks for your support.
UPDATE 11/10
Hello! We have made it to the end of the 1st Marking Period. We have rounded out the MP with some writing (which will be finished on Monday and Tuesday of next week). All of the pre-writing for our Romeo and Juliet What Makes or Breaks a Relationship Essay will be on MP1; however, the final grade for the essay will be on MP2. Students have been working on drafting their essay since 11/4 and the rough draft is due tomorrow by 11:59 PM on turnitin.com. Please check in with your student to make sure they completed their rough draft and have turned it in!
The writing is very impressive -- all students have been expected to write a five paragraph essay where they compare what makes and breaks relationships in Romeo and Juliet to what makes or breaks relationships in the independent book they have read at home throughout the unit. They need to have direct evidence from both texts. Many students were able to finish this in class today. Monday we will peer-edit on turnitin.com and Tuesday final revisions will be made. Final copies are due by Tuesday 11/15 at 11:59 PM.
After that, we move into our Genre Study of Realistic Contemporary Fiction and we will read Romiette and Julio, a more contemporary take on Shakespeare. Again, students will be picking books -- this time, of the Realistic Contemporary Fiction Genre. Please look for these at home at the end of next week!
Thank you for your continued support this year. Let us know if you have any questions!
The writing is very impressive -- all students have been expected to write a five paragraph essay where they compare what makes and breaks relationships in Romeo and Juliet to what makes or breaks relationships in the independent book they have read at home throughout the unit. They need to have direct evidence from both texts. Many students were able to finish this in class today. Monday we will peer-edit on turnitin.com and Tuesday final revisions will be made. Final copies are due by Tuesday 11/15 at 11:59 PM.
After that, we move into our Genre Study of Realistic Contemporary Fiction and we will read Romiette and Julio, a more contemporary take on Shakespeare. Again, students will be picking books -- this time, of the Realistic Contemporary Fiction Genre. Please look for these at home at the end of next week!
Thank you for your continued support this year. Let us know if you have any questions!
UPDATE - 10/21
We are almost done reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare! We will read Act 5, Scene 3 on Monday and that will finish it up! There will be a quiz on Acts 3-5 on Wednesday, October 26th.
On October 5th, students took independent books out from the library to read at home while we read Romeo and Juliet in class. Today we met with students today about their independent reading books and conferenced about the prompt they will answer at the end of the unit. Over the course of reading Romeo and Juliet the only English homework has been to read 20 minutes a night from their independent book. The original due date was this Monday (10/24) but since we are not done the play, they will not need to have their book finished until next Friday October 28th. This is when we will start writing our essay on What Makes or Breaks a Relationship.
Please be sure that your student is reading every night so they can finish their book by next Friday. Also, please check e-school and our class website to ensure your student is up to date on all that they need!
On October 5th, students took independent books out from the library to read at home while we read Romeo and Juliet in class. Today we met with students today about their independent reading books and conferenced about the prompt they will answer at the end of the unit. Over the course of reading Romeo and Juliet the only English homework has been to read 20 minutes a night from their independent book. The original due date was this Monday (10/24) but since we are not done the play, they will not need to have their book finished until next Friday October 28th. This is when we will start writing our essay on What Makes or Breaks a Relationship.
Please be sure that your student is reading every night so they can finish their book by next Friday. Also, please check e-school and our class website to ensure your student is up to date on all that they need!
Update 9/23
Happy Fall! This week we took our Summer Reading assessments. Students were asked to write on the THEME of their self-selected reading book. This went very well and the grades will be in e-school shortly.
Today, we began our study of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Our essential question throughout the text will be "What makes or breaks a relationship?". We will use the text in class, along with a self selected novel and our own life experiences, to answer this question at the end of the unit. Today's introduction to the text included a conversation about relationships, love, parental communication, etc. It was nice to see students make connections to a text that was written in the 1590s (even if they don't yet know they were doing that!).
For homework this weekend, we are asking for your help! On Tuesday, we will have a discussion about parental expectations in a relationship. We sent home a paper called "Perfect Mate Activity". It is two questions we would like you to answer -- students will be given the other half of the activity on Tuesday. If your student did not bring this home, there is a copy under the Romeo and Juliet tab.
Please let us know if you have any questions; we look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night.
Today, we began our study of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Our essential question throughout the text will be "What makes or breaks a relationship?". We will use the text in class, along with a self selected novel and our own life experiences, to answer this question at the end of the unit. Today's introduction to the text included a conversation about relationships, love, parental communication, etc. It was nice to see students make connections to a text that was written in the 1590s (even if they don't yet know they were doing that!).
For homework this weekend, we are asking for your help! On Tuesday, we will have a discussion about parental expectations in a relationship. We sent home a paper called "Perfect Mate Activity". It is two questions we would like you to answer -- students will be given the other half of the activity on Tuesday. If your student did not bring this home, there is a copy under the Romeo and Juliet tab.
Please let us know if you have any questions; we look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night.
Update 9/16
Hello English 9 Families!
We made it through our first full week of school! This week we focused on our first two short stories of the year: "The Necklace" by Guy deMaupassant and "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. Next week will we study theme and review how to write a constructed response in preparation for our Summer Reading assessment. If your student has it, they can bring in the book that they read over the summer. We will walk them through a graphic organizer that should help them find the theme of their novel.
Next week we will also take the STAR assessment to find lexile (reading levels) levels for each student. This will be imperative as we move toward our Genre Study of Realistic Fiction in Marking Period 2. We will read a grade level text as a class, but each student will be expected to read books at their own independent level at home/in class on independent reading days.
The end of next week will be the start of our first full text of the year: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We will be using a parallel text (one side is Shakespeare, one side is modern language) to facilitate understanding. We will begin the unit with a discussion about Parent/Guardian's thoughts about relationship, so look out for that!
Please check Home Access to make sure your student is up to date on all assignments. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy your weekend!
We made it through our first full week of school! This week we focused on our first two short stories of the year: "The Necklace" by Guy deMaupassant and "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. Next week will we study theme and review how to write a constructed response in preparation for our Summer Reading assessment. If your student has it, they can bring in the book that they read over the summer. We will walk them through a graphic organizer that should help them find the theme of their novel.
Next week we will also take the STAR assessment to find lexile (reading levels) levels for each student. This will be imperative as we move toward our Genre Study of Realistic Fiction in Marking Period 2. We will read a grade level text as a class, but each student will be expected to read books at their own independent level at home/in class on independent reading days.
The end of next week will be the start of our first full text of the year: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We will be using a parallel text (one side is Shakespeare, one side is modern language) to facilitate understanding. We will begin the unit with a discussion about Parent/Guardian's thoughts about relationship, so look out for that!
Please check Home Access to make sure your student is up to date on all assignments. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy your weekend!
UPdate - 9/9
Hello 9th Grade English Families!
We hope that by this point, your student is getting used to the high school routine! English class has been going very well. Today, we took a small break to get our pictures taken and then we continued reading the short story "The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassant. On Monday students will be quizzed on their vocabulary words -- there is a quizlet to study on our website (www.missaubrey.weebly.com it can be found under the short story tab). When we are finished with "The Necklace", students will begin "The Most Dangerous Game". Our focus will be discovering the THEME and then we will review requirements for a constructed response.
Our Summer Reading Assessment will begin on September 20th. If students have a copy of their self-selected book, they can bring it in at this time. They will be able to use it for the assessment if it is accessible, but it is not a necessity.
If you would like to receive reminders about Homework, Quizzes, Due Dates, etc., please join Remind101. You can do so by texting the class code to 81010 (be sure to include the @ sign).
Pd 1 - @aubchow1 Pd 2 - @aubchow2 Pd 5- @aubchow5 Pd 6 - @aubchow6
There are a few grades in Home Access at this point, please check frequently as we are starting to really get into the swing of things!
Let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to better help your child!
We hope that by this point, your student is getting used to the high school routine! English class has been going very well. Today, we took a small break to get our pictures taken and then we continued reading the short story "The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassant. On Monday students will be quizzed on their vocabulary words -- there is a quizlet to study on our website (www.missaubrey.weebly.com it can be found under the short story tab). When we are finished with "The Necklace", students will begin "The Most Dangerous Game". Our focus will be discovering the THEME and then we will review requirements for a constructed response.
Our Summer Reading Assessment will begin on September 20th. If students have a copy of their self-selected book, they can bring it in at this time. They will be able to use it for the assessment if it is accessible, but it is not a necessity.
If you would like to receive reminders about Homework, Quizzes, Due Dates, etc., please join Remind101. You can do so by texting the class code to 81010 (be sure to include the @ sign).
Pd 1 - @aubchow1 Pd 2 - @aubchow2 Pd 5- @aubchow5 Pd 6 - @aubchow6
There are a few grades in Home Access at this point, please check frequently as we are starting to really get into the swing of things!
Let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to better help your child!
Welcome Back!! - 8/31
Dear English 9 Families,
Hello! My name is Kimberly Aubrey and I, along with my co-teacher, Rakhi Chowdhury, had a wonderful first day with your student today! We hope that they came home feeling comfortable and ready for a successful year. Today your students received a syllabus for the course, a plagiarism and academic dishonesty contract, and an agenda for the next two weeks. We ask that both you and your student sign the plagiarism contract and the last page of the syllabus and return them to us by Friday, September 2nd. There is also information about how to get organized for English this year.
We will spend the rest of the week getting to know each other and getting ready for the year ahead! On Friday we will take an English 9 Pre-test to see what knowledge students are bringing with them. This will count for a participation grade. The students will be given the same test at the end of the year to measure growth.
English 9 is an exciting year; over the past few years we have revamped the curriculum to include more opportunity for student choice. Students will be able to choose many of the books they use for class. We also will read classics, such as Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and there is a large focus on writing.
If you need any information about the course or to find out the homework for the day, extra copies of handouts, etc., you can visit our website: www.missaubrey.weebly.com
Hopefully your student had a great first day! We look forward to working with you throughout the 2016-2017 school year!
Please let us know if you need anything at all.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Aubrey and Rakhi Chowdhury
Hello! My name is Kimberly Aubrey and I, along with my co-teacher, Rakhi Chowdhury, had a wonderful first day with your student today! We hope that they came home feeling comfortable and ready for a successful year. Today your students received a syllabus for the course, a plagiarism and academic dishonesty contract, and an agenda for the next two weeks. We ask that both you and your student sign the plagiarism contract and the last page of the syllabus and return them to us by Friday, September 2nd. There is also information about how to get organized for English this year.
We will spend the rest of the week getting to know each other and getting ready for the year ahead! On Friday we will take an English 9 Pre-test to see what knowledge students are bringing with them. This will count for a participation grade. The students will be given the same test at the end of the year to measure growth.
English 9 is an exciting year; over the past few years we have revamped the curriculum to include more opportunity for student choice. Students will be able to choose many of the books they use for class. We also will read classics, such as Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and there is a large focus on writing.
If you need any information about the course or to find out the homework for the day, extra copies of handouts, etc., you can visit our website: www.missaubrey.weebly.com
Hopefully your student had a great first day! We look forward to working with you throughout the 2016-2017 school year!
Please let us know if you need anything at all.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Aubrey and Rakhi Chowdhury