9-23

Students started vocabulary 2 today.  Students are to write up some insights for some terms from The Veldt for next class.  Students need to be doing some reading at home as many are behind in reading goals.

9-19

Students started reviewing types of nouns.  Students also completed an AoW today.  That will be added to their grades for posting on Monday. 

9-18

Students finished the short story "The Veldt" today.  Students received a HOMEWORK assignment that included them adding some notes to some terms about the story.  Those should be done Friday and Monday.  Students wrote about a theme in their books that they are currently reading too. 

9-17-13

Students read part of the short story "The Veldt" today.  We discussed remediating work and how to email me and what information to put in the email.  Students learned how to write a thesis statement and tried it today. 

9-13-13

Students were made very aware of expectations for work and how to make up work and how to communicate with me.  Students also took a vocabulary quiz.  Students did some discussion about technology and reprimanding.  We started the short story "The Veldt."  Great classes today!

Syllabus

ENGLISH 9

Mr. Annen

See all that is happening in my class at the following web address:

www.mrannensenglishclasses.blogspot.com

I want my students to learn to write better, read better, and think better! Included in that will be lessons on writing, reading, grammar, vocabulary, and other subjects within the English classroom.

I really enjoy the employment of technology in my classroom and will be using new tablets this year as well as the laptops daily that the students receive.

This is what your student will be doing in English class this year:

Writing once a week, starting with a thesis and ending with full five paragraph essays.

Reading a book once a month is a goal of mine for my students-- This is MY goal for my students. (We’ll need to work on this together--parent,student,me.)

Learning grammar and usage so as to use it in writing and speaking.

This is how your student will be doing the previous things in my class this year:

Watching short videos on a topic and then working and talking about it in class.

Using Moodle to complete quizzes and other online evaluations as well as participating in forum discussions.

Using a tablet that will stay in my classroom to read and to learn grammar and writing via the apps on it.

Grading

Grading will be based on how your student performs and improves in writing, how well your student completes his/her reading, how your student performs on various project based learning activities, and how your student performs on various quizzes, tests, and exams.

Note: My grades are updated every time we have seminar. Please check Infinite Campus for grades. Please be sure and ask your student what he/she is doing at school. Please don’t wait four weeks to see how your student is doing in class. Please expect me to email you if your student isn’t doing work or is a problem in class (as long as your email is correct in Infinite Campus).

Class Rules

Students will follow all rules that are put in place by the student hand book and our administration.

We will also be developing a classroom social contract in our second class of the year so that students know exactly what to expect.

9-11-13

Today students practiced using their new vocabulary words and were instructed on what the quiz would look like.  We reviewed articles of the week and discussed how to remediate scores. Students must email me with what was fixed in their assignment in order for me to change their score.  We set reading goals for the year today.  Finally, students did a free write on technology and their relationships with parents.  Quiz next class.

9-10-13

Students worked on their first vocabulary assignment today.  They were given 5 words to find prefixes and suffixes for as well as a few other things.  We discussed the words, students wrote down the definitions, and they will be quizzes at the end of the week.  Students are also encouraged to find a book that they will read and enjoy. 

9-6 and 9-9

Today I taught students how to do a close reading for an article of the week.  Once a week students will read an article and highlight interesting information, comment on the article, and write a short response based on a question and use a quote as instructed in class.  Missing work should always be made up and students need to find a book for my class ASAP.

9-5-13

Today students wrote an essay to show what they know about writing.  This will help me determine what is necessary for their writing needs and better prepare them for next year.  It will also be a way for me to see what kind of progress they are making throughout the year.  Students learned how to use Google Drive and Remind 101 today too.  I am asking students to try and find a book for my class by Friday (9-6-13).  Please help your students find a book if they are struggling.

BOOK LOVE 2013-2014

Hello parents of Writing students,

A central goal of Writing is to establish a reading habit in the busy lives of
seniors in high school. I am hoping we can work together to recapture the pleasure
and passion of readers. This letter is long, but the assumptions it rests upon are too
important to be treated in a superficial manner. Please take the time to read this.

The best books challenge our beliefs by helping us see through different eyes
—to live a different life. For example, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was wildly
popular last year, but it is about a school shooting and I think we’d all rather believe
that couldn’t happen here and don’t want to live the details. Yet reading allows us to
confront our worst fears and live through them. Students love this book and I
recommend it to them.

I won’t know the details of every book students read and refer to this
semester, and I won’t remember the details of all the books I recommend to
students. What I seek for all of my students is a compulsion to read—for pleasure—
for knowledge—for a passion for story or information that will keep them into the
pages of a book past our assigned time for reading—past our goal of eight books
read this semester to 25 or 40 books in 18 weeks, as many of my former students
have.

This has tremendous benefits. Here are a few:
• Reading relieves stress. School is stressful. Reading takes you
out of the present and into another place and time; it is a perfect
escape.
• Reading builds stamina to prepare students for college. Reading for
an hour or two in one sitting is a basic expectation in college. In this
class we will exercise muscles soon to be strained in the coming years.
Reading for fluency and stamina has been proven to improve the
reading rate for students. Fast reading develops confidence and an
appetite for books as well as teaching vocabulary in context, which
improves writing, but it only happens when students find books they
want to read. But the truth is, some of those books might make you
uncomfortable.
• There is a lot of talk in the media that ‘students today won’t read,’ but I
believe students substitute all of those other distractions (the internet,
TV, etc.) if they feel no passion for the book assigned to them. In my
experience, students who haven’t been readers since elementary
school will suddenly become quite passionate about reading with the
right book in their hands. But those books might challenge your
values. Is that okay with you? Can your child choose to read Crank by
Ellen Hopkins, which delves into a teenager’s drug addiction?
I believe we have to trust these young adults more. We have to trust that books
won’t corrupt them anymore than the movies The Dark Knight or Jackass might.It is more important that they’re reading! So you may pick up a book left behind
on a nightstand and open to a passage with the details of a group of child
soldiers in Sudan mercilessly slaughtering an entire village (A Long Way Gone:
Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah) and wonder why reading it is a
homework assignment, and I will answer, “Your son or daughter chose it.” I might
have recommended it because I read it and loved it, or the book may be
unfamiliar to me because your child borrowed it from another student. The
bottom line: I will not place a tight filter on what is read in this class and I’m
asking for your support in this. I hope you will talk to your child about what he/she
is reading this semester.

I suggest you get a copy of a book and read it if you’re concerned about the
content.  If you want to know more about a book your child is reading, please try the
School Library Journal web site, the American Library Association web site, or
even Amazon.com.

Because I respect your role as parents and the traditions you hold sacred, if
you want me to more closely monitor your child’s choices this semester, by all
means, call me and we’ll work out a plan that we can both contribute to.
If you read this, it means you understand books won’t be banned in
my classroom and your child will be allowed to choose what he/she
reads.

Thanks for your support,
Mr. Annen


P.S. Our classroom benefits every year from cast offs. Please send books you
no longer need to our library, especially ones you’ve loved, if you can bear to part
with them.. Share your passion for reading.

(This is borrowed from Penny Kittle, author of Book Love)