Byng 9th Grade English

March 1-5

2010-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready to start another week! We're finishing our research/writing unit this week, so things will be busy in English class.

Here's a brief run-down of everything we'll be doing in English this week:
Monday- work on optional projects/ works cited pages
Tuesday- work on optional projects/ works cited pages
Wednesday- presentations
Thursday- presentations
Friday- free reading day

Monday and Tuesday in class, I've got the library reserved so that everyone can work on their final projects. The final project has several options, and they will be working on this in class this week. Wednesday and Thrusday in class, we will be having presentations over the research. Friday will be a free reading day.

They don't really have a whole lot of homework this week, unless they need to work on their optional projects at home. They have Monday and Tuesday to work in class, so they should be able to finish them and get everything ready for their presentations in those two days. If they don't finish in class, they will need to take that home, but other than that, there isn't really any homework this week. Their grades this week will be based on their presentations and two class participation grades for when we are in the library. Friday is a free reading day, but they don't have another reading log due until next Friday.

If you have any questions about this class, please feel free to contact me. You can call the school at 580-310-6744, or you can email me at kwalls@byngschools.com. Have a great day!

February 22-26

2010-02-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

We're almost finished with the writing unit, and we're doing some pretty cool things this week! I hope your kids are having fun with the unit and learning everything we're doing.

Here's a brief run-down of what we'll be doing in class this week:
Monday- learn about newsaper articles and television interviews
Tuesday- learn about memoirs
Wednesday- write memoirs in class
Thursday- notebook check- free reading day
Friday- reading logs due- free reading day

Monday in class, we're talking about newspaper articles and television interviews, since these are two of the options for the last writing assignment of this unit. We'll discuss audience, purpose, and vivid verbs today in class. Tuesday, we will learn about memoirs in class, particularly how they are a snapshot in time and how memoir writers use lots of sensory details in their writing. Then, Wednesday we will be writing our own memoirs in class. Thursday and Friday will both be reading days, because they have a ntoebook check on Thursday and a reading log due on Friday.

Here is the homework that your student will have in English this week:
Tuesday- friendly letters are due
Thursday- notebooks are due (so if they don't have all of their bellringers, then they will need to
write them)
Friday- reading logs are due

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can email me at kwalls@byngschools.com, or you can call the schoolm at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!

February 16-19

2010-02-16T06:04:00.001-08:00

Hello, parents!

I hope you all had a great three-day weekend with your kids! We're continuing on with our writing unit this week, and I'm still excited about what we've been doing!

Here's a brief run-down of what we're doing in class this week:
Tuesday-learn about feriendly letters
Wednesday- work in the library
Thursday- work in the library
Friday- finish friendly letters in class

Tuesday in class, we will be learning about friendly letters. They will be writing friendly letters from their selected person to someone in that person's life later this week, so we'll learn about those today in class.

Wednesday and Thursday in class, we will be going to the library. This will be their last chance in class to finish their resumes, cover letters, and job applications, so they should get those finished by the end of Thursday.

Friday,we will be working on friendly letters in class.

Here is your child's homework for English this week:
Friday- resumes, cover letters, and job applications are due, so they should be working on those at home if they don't finish in class.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kwalls@byngschools.com or call the school at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!

February 8-12

2010-02-09T05:44:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

We're in the middle of a unit that I'm pretty excited about, and I'm excited about what we're learning right now! We're working on resumes and cover letters this week, and hopefully everyone will leave with at least a little more knowledge of how to get a job when they get a little older.

Here's a brief run-down of what we're doing this week:
Monday- learn about resumes
Tuesday- learn about Microsoft Word's resume wizard and go to the library to begin making resumes
Wednesday- learn about cover letters
Thursday- abstinence in class
Friday- abstinence in class

Monday in class, we are learning about resumes. We will discuss what should be included in a resume, as well as what a resume looks like. Tuesday, we will learn about the resume wizard on Microsoft Word so that they will be able to make their resumes in class, and then we will go to the library to begin writing resumes. Wednesday, we will learn about cover letters, and I will give the classes a handout about what should be included in a cover letter.

Thursday and Friday, we are having abstinence in class.

Here is the homework that your student will have this week in English class:
Monday and Tuesday- work on making the resume for the person that he/she is researching
Friday- reading logs are due

If you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me. You can email me at kwalls@byngschools.com, or you can call the school at 580-310-6744. Have a great day!

February 1-5

2010-02-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

It's a new month, which means a new unit in English class. We're about to start a writing unit, and I'm really excited about what is to come this month! We will be doing several kinds of practical writing this month, including filling out job applications and writing resumes, cover letters, friendly letters, and obituaries. I hope that everyone learns a lot from this unit about some of the things that they will be doing in their futures.

Here is a brief run-down of what we'll be doing this week in class:
Monday: research in the library
Tuesday: research in the library
Wednesday: learn about MLA format
Thursday: make works cited page in class
Friday: learn about resumes, cover letters, and job applications

Monday and Tuesday of this week, we will be going to the library to do research. Then students will be researching the person they have chosen for the research project, including their personal information (date of birth, names of family members, important people in their lives, etc.) as well as information about their awards received, accomplishments, college degrees, high school graduation, and other information that will be useful in making a resume for that person. They will also be looking for a job for that person and printing out a job application to fill out for the person later this week.

Wednesday and Thursday will be focused on MLA format, as well as determining what is a trusted source and what is not a trusted source for information. Wednesday, I will give them handouts about MLA format and creating a works cited page, and I will also show them examples from the Purdue University OWL website. Thursday, they will have time in class to work on their works cited pages. I have the library reserved for that day, but they might not need it.

Friday, we will begin learning about resumes, cover letters, and job applications. I will show them examples of all three of these, and I will also (if time allows) walk them through the steps to make a resume and cover letter and to fill out a job application.

Here are the days that your child might have homework in English:
Wednesday- work on works cited page and have as much as possible done before class Thursday (notecards due Friday)
Friday- begin making a resume for his/her selected person (due next Friday)

I sent out a February calendar to some parents to help them help their students remember when to bring materials to class and when things are due. If you would like a copy of this calender, please feel free to email me at kwalls@byngschools.com. If you have any questions or concerns about this class, you can email or call the school at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!

January 25-29

2010-01-25T08:43:00.001-08:00

Hello, parents!

I apologize for not updating the blog much recently. Lately, I've been kind of making my lessons as we go, so I can gage how well they are learning the material before we move on to something else. This week is planned, though, so I will update you on what's going on.

Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:
Monday- learning about apostrophes, colons, and semicolons
Tuesday- learning abotu quotation marks
Wednesday- reviewing for the grammar test
Thursday- taking the grammar test/ free reading once the test is completed
Friday- reading logs are due/ free reading day

Monday and Tuesday in class, we will be finishing up punctuation with apostrophes, colons, semicolons, and quotoation marks. I have a couple of power point presentations that explain these punctuation marks, and we'll talk about when they are used in sentences. They will have a little homework Tuesday, which will just be to punctuate a few sentences that I have typed out on one sheet of paper. They shouldn't have too much trouble with that assigment.

Wednesday, we are reviewing for the grammar test, which will be on Thursday. We'll be playing a review game, but I haven't yet decided what game we'll be playing. The winning teams from every class will have the opportunity to earn 5 bonus points on the test. Thursday will be the grammar test in class. I am going to let everyone use their notes on the test, so they should make sure they have them and know where to find information in them before the test starts.

Friday, reading logs are due, and they will have a free reading day that day.

Here is a list of what they might/should be working on at home for my class this week:
The stories that were homework from Friday (due tomorrow), Tuesday's homework (due Wednesday), getting notes together/ studying for the test (test is Thursday), and completing the reading log (due Friday).

Also, I made a calendar for the students that shows basically everything that we'll be doing for the month of February in my class. I got it from the print shop this morning during 2nd hour, so most of my students will be receiving that today. The calendar shows due dates for all writing assignments, as well as days that we will be working on assignments in class. I'm giving it to them so that they can be prepared and bring the proper materials to class every day. If you would like a copy of this calendar, I can send one to you. Just email me and let me know! I hope you all have a great week!

January 4-8

2010-01-04T08:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

It's a new semester, and I hope that it will be a good one for everyone! I am pretty excited about what we're doing in class this semester, and I hope your kids like it as well. We're beginning the semester by doing a grammar unit, which begins today.

This week in class, we will be learning about the major parts of speech. We won't be discussing every part of speech, but we will hit the main ones this week. Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:

Monday- power point over nouns and pronouns
Tuesday- power point over verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
Wednesday- short power point over prepositions, then diagramming sentences
Thursday- parts of speech basketball and electing class officers
Friday- sentence smackdown and parts pf speech quiz

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in class will be all about simply learning the parts of speech, as well as where they go, how to find them, when they are used, and some practice finding them in sentences. Thursday, we will elect class officers first and then playing a grammar basketball game for practice. Friday, we will be taking a quiz, playing another grammar game, and then doing some work on paper with parts of speech.

As far as homework goes this week, there isn't a whole lot if it. The students will have a few worksheets later this week with diagramming sentences, and then they will be taking a quiz over parts of speech on Friday. Also, if they have a test to make up from last semester, they will be making those tests up tomorrow (Tuesday) in class.

I hope that this semester goes well for everyone, and I look forward to the things that we will be doing in class this semester. If you have any questions about anything concerning English class, feel free to call the school at 310-580-6744 or email me at kwalls@byngschools.com. Have a great week!

Another slight change of plans

2009-12-11T13:26:00.001-08:00

Ok, so there have been a few slight changes of plans for the week of December 14-18.

Change #1: There is a basketball game on Monday starting 4th hour, so I won't have any of the afternoon (4th-6th) hour classes that day. We won't have a Socratc Circle in those classes. My morning classes (1st and 2nd) will still have the Socratic Circle.

Change #2: Mrs. Johnson will be coming into my room on Tuesday, so I won't be in any of my classes that day. We won't have a Socratic Circle in any of my classes that day.

The only thing that this really should mean to you as parents is that, unless your child is in my first or second hour classes, there will be no grades for Socratic Circles on those days. My first and second hour classes will still have the grade for Monday.

Have a great break!

December 14-18

2009-12-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

It's almost Christmas break, and I'm sure that you are ready to spend some time with your kids. This week in English, we are wrapping everything up and taking the semester test.

Here is a brief run-down of this week in English:

Monday- Socratic Circle
Tuesday- Socratic Circle
Wednesday- Review for semester test (for those who have to take it)
Thursday- Semester test (for those who have to take it)
Friday- Study day for the students who have other semester tests today

Monday and Tuesday in class, we will be reading two short stories and doing Socratic Circles over them. I will give the students a short story on Friday to read for Monday, and then I will give him another one on Monday to read for Tuesday. During class, they will be doing a Socratic Circle discussion over these two short stories.

Wednesday in class, we will be reviewing for the semester test. The students who do not have to take their semester tests will either be able to read or do other homework.

Thursday in class will be the semester test. The students who do not have to take the semester test will be able to read or do homework for other classes.

Friday, many students will be gone from school, and the students who are in school will be taking semester tests in many of their other classes. These students will have a day in English to study for their other semester tests.

The only grades that will be taken for this week are the two participation grades for the Socratic Circles. Monday and Tuesday will each be worth 20 points, and the students will be able to earn these points by participating in the class discussion. Other than that, the only homework that they have for this week will be to study for the semester test on Thursday.

If you have any questions about English class, please feel free to contact me. You can either email me at kwalls@byngschools.com or you can call the school at 580-310-6744. I hope you have a great Christmas with your families!

December 7-11

2009-12-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for your children to come home and spend a few weeks with you! The rest of the time in English class is going to be very busy. We have a lot to get done, and not enough time to do it!

Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:
Monday- read The Odyssey
Tuesday- read The Odyssey
Wednesday- read The Odyssey/ abstinence
Thursday- Mrs. Webb will be speaking to the classes about careers
Friday- reading logs are due/ read The Odyssey

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday in class, we will just continue on with our reading of The Odyssey. I will continue to read it aloud and play it on tape to the students, and then we will stop every once in a while to explain and discuss what is going on in the story.

Wednesday is going to be a somewhat confusing day for the students, because first and second hours will be abstinence training with Mrs. Harris and Coach Capps. For my first and second hour classes, I will send home some copies of The Odyssey for them to read, since that is what they will be missing due to abstinence. They can read these at home, and then we will get caught up on everything on Friday. The rest of my classes will just continue on with The Odyssey as usual.

Thursday in class, Mrs. Webb will be coming into my room all day, along with someone from ECU, to talk about careers with all of my students. I'm not exactly sure about everything that she has planned for the kids, but I know it deals with careers and the job market.

We will be finishing up The Odyssey in class this week, but reading logs are still due on Friday. This is the only real homework that they have in my class this week, and they are allowed to count The Odyssey on this log if they have been following along in class. We will just be finishing up The Odyssey and preparing for semester tests. I still have some thinking/ discussing to do concerning the semester test in this class. I would like to give the test on Thursday so that the kids won't have a test in every single class on Friday, but I'm not sure how that would work out. There are still a lot of factors contributing to whether or not that would work, so I will be posting that information on next week's blog.

Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at any time. I hope you all have a great week!

December 3- Bonus

2009-12-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

I just wanted to let you all know about some bonus opportunities that your students will be having in my classes in the next few days. I realize that some students do not have the grades that they might like to have in English, and I am making these assignments as an opportunity for these students to raise their grades to what they would like them to be.

Overall, there are 6 assignments right now, which total 200 possible bonus points. All of the bonus assignments deal with The Odyssey, and they are all pretty creative ways for students to learn more about what we are reading, as well as raise their grades in English class. Two of the assignments are worth 50 points each, and the rest are worth 25 points each. Students can choose not to do any of the assignments if they are satisfied with their grades, or they may also do all of the assignments if they would like to do so. Earlier this afternoon, I entered these assignments into my gradebook, and I hypothetically put grades in for a few students to see how these assignments would affect their grades in my class. On average, the grade rose about 10 percentage points when I entered perfect grades for all of the assignments. This means that for most students, doing all of these assignments can potentially raise their grade in my class a whole letter grade.

I realize that all of you check Power School, so I know that these assignments will be showing up on my class's gradebook. Again, if your child does not choose to do these assignments, these assignments will not hurt his/her grade. I hope that this can help some students who might be struggling in English.

If you would like me to send yo a copy of those bonus assignments, I would be more than willing to get you one. Just send me an email at kwalls@byngschools.com. Have a great day!

November 30- December 4

2009-11-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and that you are having a great day back at work again. In your child's English class, we are studying The Odyssey, so I hope they are excited to hear what will happen next!

This week in class, as well as next week and probably some of the next, we are spending the majority of our time reading in class. Here is a brief run-down of this week in English class:

Monday: power point presentation about the Trojan War
Tuesday: begin reading The Odyssey
Wednesday: continue reading
Thursday: continue reading
Friday: continue reading

Today (Monday), I am showing the students a power point presentation about the Trojan War so that they have some background about what was happening prior to the beginning of The Odyssey. We do not have any new vocabulary words this week, as we are focusing all of our attention on reading The Odyssey.

Tuesday through Friday in class, I will be reading the poem out loud to the class, and they should be following along in their books. I will stop periodically and explain things from the story that they need to know in order to understand what's going on in the story, and I will also be asking them questions along the way to get a feel for whether or not they are understanding everything.

They don't really have any homework to speak of this week for my class. At the end of each day that we are reading The Odyssey, I will give them something called an exit ticket, which is just a question that they will answer briefly in order to get out of class. This is to make sure that they are paying attention to what is going on, as well as to help me determine the extent of their learning. Each exit ticket will be worth five points, and this will be the main way that they will be able to earn points for this week.

I realize that there are still several students who would like to raise their grades in my class, and I am willing to work with these students as well. If you check Power School in the near future, you will see that there will be assignments in the gradebook that are worth zero points. These will be bonus assignments that I will be giving in order to give students a chance to raise their grades in my class. Don't panic if your child does not turn these assignments in; they are just for bonus, and not turning them in will not hurt their grades at all. I will keep you all informed about these assignments as they come along. Also, reading logs are due next Friday, December 11.

Once again, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about this class. My email address is kwalls@byngschools.com, or you can call the school at 580-310-6744. Have a great day!

November 23-24

2009-11-23T06:06:00.000-08:00

Good morning, parents!

It's a short week, and I know everyone can't wait to get some time off! I don't have a whole lot of information for you this week. We only have two days, and we're doing abstinence both days in class. The only thing that they need to be working on is their reading logs, which are due tomorrow. Other than that, have a great week and a happy Thanksgiving!

A slight change for tomorrow

2009-11-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

So, I was here at the school for a while last night trying to find some cool things to do with The Odyssey, and I came across a really awesome website that I want to share with the kids. I had originally intended to show them a power point presentation tomorrow about Greek mythology, gods, goddesses, etc., but I think they would learn more if they looked the information up on their on on the computers. I reserved the computer lab at the library, and we are going there tomorrow instead of watching the power point. I am going to have some questions that they need to answer about the website, but they should finish it in class. This will be an assignment, but it won't be a very big assignment. Sorry for the late notice, but I thought this would be a pretty cool learning opportunity. Have a great day!

November 16-24

2009-11-16T08:23:00.000-08:00

Hello, parents!

I hope you all had a good weekend and are all going to get some time to spend with your families next week! This week in English is all about finishing up one unit and beginning another. We are bringing our essay unit to a close this week, and then we will be beginning our unit on The Odyssey. Here is a brief run-down of what we will be doing in class this week:

Monday- Vocabulary
Tuesday- Test review
Wednesday- Essay test
Thursday- Begin learning about Homer
Friday- Learning about Greek mythology

Today in class (Monday), we will be getting new vocabulary words and playing a vocabulary game as a review of this week's words and the words of the two previous weeks.

Tuesday and Wednesday in class will be all about the essay test. We will be playing a game of Jeopardy in class tomorrow as a review for the test, and then the essay test will be on Wednesday. the students will be divided into groups for tomorrow's review, and the winning team from each class will receive 5 bonus points on the test. It might be helpful if your child wants to review what we have learned about essays tonight so that he/she can have a better chance of winning the game and receiving bonus points (and Nerds candy, too!). Wednesday will be the test over essays. I had thought about having them do a timed essay in class, but after much thought, I decided to have a test in which they actually answer questions about essays and excerpts from essays.

Thursday, I will be presenting information to the classes about Homer and the time period surrounding The Odyssey. I'll give them some background information before we begin actually reading the story. Friday, I will be doing much of the same thing, except we will be talking about Greek mythology.

Next Monday and Tuesday are almost set in stone, so I thought I would go ahead and explain them as well. I know for certain that we will be doing abstinence training on Monday in class, so they will not be getting any new vocabulary words on that day. Tuesday in class, I'm not sure if we will be doing abstinence or if we will be working on The Odyssey. Either way, their reading logs will be due on Tuesday.

The students don't have much homework this week, since we are beginning a new unit. The main homework that they will have for this week is to study for the test on Wednesday. After that, they should work on their reading logs for next Tuesday.

Thanks again for checking this and staying informed! If you have any questions or concerns about this class, please feel free to let me know! Have a great week and a great Thanksgiving!

November 9-13

2009-11-09T08:25:00.001-08:00

Hello parents!

It's Monday, which means another update on what your child is doing in English class this week! This week, we are having a writing workshop concerning the essays that they have written. The will be looking at their own writing, as well as other students' writing, to try to improve it and make it as good as possible. Here is a brief run-down of this week:

Monday- get new vocabulary words
Tuesday- writing workshop (introductions)
Wednesday- writing workshop (body paragraphs)
Thursday- writing workshop (conclusions)
Friday- reading logs are due and vocabulary quiz

Today (Monday) in class, I will be introducing new vocabulary words for this week, which will be on Friday's quiz. Also, I am explaining to the classes that the vocabulary quizzes are going to be a little bit different starting this week than they have been in the past. From now on, each week's vocabulary will build on other weeks' on the quizzes. Previously, they were only quizzed on that week's vocabulary, but after seeing the scores on the vocabulary quizzes, I have decided to change things. For example, last week's quiz included only last week's words. This week's quiz will include this week's words, as well as last week's words. Next week's will have three weeks of words, and so on.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are all the same. We will be doing our writing workshop over the essays that they have already written. What I am going to do is divide them into groups of four and have them look at each others' writing to try to make it better. They have specific questions to answer about the writing, and they are supposed to give suggestions to try to make that essay better. Tuesday, we will focus on introduction paragraphs. Wednesday, we will focus on body paragraphs, and Thursday, we will focus on conclusion paragraphs. The students will be working together to try to make their essays and the essays of their peers better, and then they will turn in their revised essays on Monday. They will get a 20 point participation grade for each of these days. If they come to class with their essays and participate in the writing workshop, then they will get the points.

Friday is basically a day of turning in lots of things. Last Thursday in class, I went over all of the missing assignments for each student, and then I gave them class time on Friday to work on what they are missing and get help with any work that they might not completely understand. I told them that they had until this Friday to get everything turned in, so if they still have any work missing (and they should know if they do), then this work will all be due this Friday. After this Friday, I will no longer accept the work, and they will get a zero for that assignment. Also, reading logs are due again this Friday and they have a vocab quiz as well.

Next week in class, we will be wrapping up the essay unit with a test and beginning reading The Odyssey.

The only homework thatyour child should have this week is to finish up his/her reading log and study for Friday's vocabulary quiz. He/she will probably have homework this weekend, which will be rewriting their essays using the suggestions that their peers have given them. They will also need to prepare for next week's essay test.

Once again, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions concerning your child's grade or what we are doing in English class. My email address is kwalls@byngschools.com, or you can call the school to set up an appointment at 580-310-6744. I hope you have a great week!

Assignments/ Missing Work

2009-11-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

Hello parents!

I just wanted to let you know that about 99% of my grades are in the computer on Power School. If they have turned work in yesterday or today, it is not graded, but the rest should be in. I've been going through the missing assignment list today with them in class and letting each student know everything that he/she is missing. They should know what they are missing and be making a list of that work today. I have been telling each class that they have until next Friday to get all missing work turned in, and I am giving them class time tomorrow to work on it. Hopefully, everything will get turned in! I hope you have a good day and a great weekend!

Katy Walls

Another side note

2009-11-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Another side note: I realize that your students' grades might not be as up-to-date as you would like them to be. Don't automatically assume that they aren't turning in their assignmets; I am sort of behind on grading right now, and I am doing my best on this "mental health day" to get grades put in! Sorry for the inconvenience!

November 2-6

2009-11-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hello parents!

Sorry that this didn't get updated yesterday. Things are a little bit crazy for me right now! Here is a look at the week ahead:

Monday: New vocabulary a vocabulary quiz (from last week's words)
Tuesday: Essay workbook pages and essay
Wednesday: Look at released items and begin writers' workshop
Thursday: Continue writers' workshop
Friday: Writers' workshop

The plans for this week aren't necessarily set in stone right now. It kind of depends on how long it takes to do this writers' workshop, which we have begun this week. Basically, the kids will be looking at student essays on released items from old EOI tests, as well as other students' essays and their own essays. As a class, we will work on how to make the released item essays better, and then we will break into groups for the other aspects of the workshop. This is the first workshop that I have ever done, so I'm not completely sure how long it will take to get some of this stuff done. This is why I say that the lessons for this week are kind of "up in the air" for right now. The point of this writing workshop is to hopefully make their essay- writing skills better. They will be taking another EOI test at the end of next year, so I'm working on helping them with that. We will be looking at several samples of writing and trying to make it better, and hopefully, they will get some ideas from others on how to make their writing better.

Monday in class, we learned new vocabulary words, and they will have a 10 point quiz over these words on Friday. Today in class, they are doing two workbook pages over writing essays, and I have asked them to choose one of the topics and write a 5 paragraph essay over it. Technically, this essay is due tomorrow, but I understand that, although I wished it would be number one in their hearts, essay writing sometimes takes a backseat to other things in life. I hope that they will have those ready by tomorrow, but they don't actually NEED them in class until Thursday. The essay and workbook pages from today are a 20 point homework assignment.

Thursday and Friday, we will continue with this writers' workshop, and Friday there will be a quiz over the vocabulary words from today. This week, the only homework that they have in my class is tonight's essay and to read for their reading logs, which are due again on November 13.

Have a great week, and I apologize again for the late post!

October 29

2009-10-29T12:42:00.001-07:00

Hello parents!

So, there has been a slight change to this week's work. We didn't finish what I had intended to get done yesterday, so we spent some more time today looking at 5 paragraph essays. We didn't get to the sensory details assignment, so they shouldn't have any homework tonight, other than finishing their reading logs and studying for tomorrow's test/retest. Have a great weekend!

October 26-30

2009-10-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hello, parents!

I can't believe we are this far into the school year already! Hopefully, your students have already learned a lot in this class and will continue to do so throughout the year. This week, we are progressing through the writing unit that we started last week, as well as trying to finish up the short story unit that we had been on previously.

Here is a brief run-down of everything we are doing in class this week:

Monday- short story test review
Tuesday- short story test
Wednesday- learning about narrative, expository, and persuasive essays
Thursday- working on sensory details
Friday- reading logs are due/ vocabulary quiz/ reading day

Today in class (Monday), we are reviewing for tomorrow's short story test by playing Jeopardy. The questions that your student sees on this Jeopardy board will be a good indicator of what they need to know for tomorrow's test. We took extensive notes on the elements of a short story earlier this year, and we read a few short stories during this unit as well. Tomorrow's test will cover these short story element notes, as well as a few questions about the short stories that we read. I am telling the kids today in class that they are welcome to write down the questions to take home and study if they want, but they do not have to do that. Basically, they should just study their notes and look back over the two short stories we read. Tomorrow, we will take the test.

Wednesday, we are going to continue with the essay writing unit by discussing the three main types of essays and talking about how they differ. I taught the kids a formula last week for writing good body paragraphs, and we assigned colors to each thing that should be included. I am going to review this with them tomorrow. We will probably write an essay together using these three colors. If we have time at the end, we will look at a few essays from the released items from past Oklahoma EOI tests and talk about how we can make these essays better.

Thursday, we will be discussing sensory details. I am going to give them a writing assignment in which they need to plan to use sensory details. I had intended the writing assignment to be about Halloween; however, I realize that some people do not choose to celebrate Halloween. In this case, the kids can choose their favorite holiday to write about. Friday, the students will be turning in their reading logs and having a free reading day. They have free reading days every time that they turn in their reading logs. They will also have a chance to go to the library and return/check out a book on Friday if they need to do so.

Here are some things that they will be turning in and will probably be doing for homework:
Thursday- sensory details writing assignment (due Monday)
Friday- vocabulary quiz and reading logs are due

If you have any questions about anything that is going on in this class, please feel free to contact me. You can blog on here, or you are also more than welcome to call the school or email me. Have a great week!

October 19-23

2009-10-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

Good morning parents!
It's Monday morning, and I just thought I would give you an update on what we are doing in class this week (October 19-23). This week in class, we are beginning a new unit on writing. Here is a brief run-down of what this week looks like in class:

Monday: Learning new vocabulary words to add to our collection
Tuesday: Re-electing class officers for the new nine weeks
Wednesday: Taking the writing unit pretest, which includes writing an essay
Thursday: Briefly revisiting the writing process, which includes a writing assignment
Friday: Taking a vocabulary quiz over this week's words and beginning essay writing

The kids don't have any homework in here today or tomorrow, but they might have homework Wednesday and Thursday. If they do not finish their five paragraph essays from the pretest, those essays will be homework to turn in on Thursday. Not doing well on the pretest will not affect their grades in my class; however, I will give 5 completion points to all students who finish the test and try their best. I just want to learn what they know about writing so that I can have an idea of their strengths and weaknesses in this area.

Also, they might have homework on Thursday, because they have a writing assignment to complete using the writing process. Thursday in class, we are doing a writing assignment called "Are you more like..." in which they get to write about themselves. If they don't get this completed in class, which is a good possibility since it explores the entire writing process, they can turn it in on Friday or Monday.

The only homework that they might have on Friday would be to complete the writing assignment form Thursday and to study for the short story test next Tuesday. We recently finished a short story unit, and they will be taking a test over that information on Tuesday. We will review for that test by playing Jeopardy in class on Monday, but it might be a good idea for you to encourage your child to study the information before Monday. When we play Jeopardy in class, the winning team gets 5 bonus points on the test the next day. Your child has the opportunity to win those points if he/she studies and can help his/her tema answer the questions on Monday!

Again, if you have any questions about anything in this class, please feel free to contact me at kwalls@byngschools.com or between 10:25-11:10 at 580-310-6744. Have a great week!

2009-10-13T14:16:00.001-07:00

Hello, parents, and welcome to the new blog!

My name is Katy Walls, and I am your child's English teacher this year. I know that all of you are concerned with your child's grades in his/her classes, and I thought that this would be a good way to help me keep in touch with you about what is going on in class. On this blog, I plan to give you information about what we are doing in class so that you can help me help your student be the best that he/she can be!

As of right now, the major thing that we have done in class is a short story unit. We have learned about the elements of a short story, and we have had the opportunity to read some short stories and discuss them. When we get back from fall break, we will be starting a writing unit. Today in class (October 13th), the kids turned in their fourth reading logs, and Monday in class, they have an assignment due about applying the elements of a short story to the movie of their choice. Your child should already know which movie that he/she is doing, but he/she won't need to turn it in until Monday.

If you have any questions about this blog or anything that we are doing in class, feel free to contact me. My email address is kwalls@byngschools.com, and my planning period is third hour, 10:25-11:10. If you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with me, you may call the school at 580-310-6744. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that we can begin communicating soon!