Welcome to English II! I am so happy to have your child in my class!
I just set up the Remind app. My handle is @mrovera. I will share with the class. Please donate to www.donorschoose.org/mroveracker. All of the money goes to our classroom library and class sets of novels!
Each day, students will receive an Exit Slip. As class goes by, they must write 2 questions, 1 concern, and 1 comment (or 5 questions, whatever--as long as the space for that day is full of his writing). The Exit Slip is collected Wednesdays and Fridays so I can comment back. This is a perfect way to assess if students are understanding the material in class and truly an asset for students that do not want to ask questions in class. The Exit Slip is a perfect self-regulation tool and instills metacognition (both skills needed on the EOC at the end of the year. Students also receive 50 points in participation points every week. If students complete their work, don't slack, follow class routines and regulations, and do the work, they receives 50 points each week (another freebie grade).
Grammar Guidebook: Grammar and Writing Handbook.docx
For the week of October 20-December 26, 2014
Look at the UNIT 2: THE NOVEL TAB to the right
For the week of September 8-October 12, 2014
Look at the UNIT 1: SHORT STORIES TAB to the right
For the week of September 1-5:
This week, students will continue presenting in front of the class with Mrs. Riley while I differentiate for the cold read assessment Thursday. We had to move the test since we had STAR testing Wednesday, homecoming speeches Thursday, and I was absent Friday due to an emergency. We will be practicing ACTIVE strategies and AAing using art, a short nonfiction passage, a political cartoon, and poems. I will hand out literary analysis cumulating writing assignment handouts and Performance Task project handouts with examples later this week. These assignments are due at the end of the 1st 9-weeks.
| Skills being assessed | Activities to learn skill | Assessment (test) |
| ACTIVE reading strategies | Practice using poems, nonfiction passage, art, and political cartoon | cold read |
| AAing (annotating and analyzing) | ACTIVE and AA presentations | literary analysis paper |
| Homework AAing using ACTIVE on functional texts | poster and presentation |
For the week of August 25-29:
This week, students will be presenting in front of the class on the SMARTBOARD. We learned ACTIVE reading strategies and how to AA (analyze and annotate) last week. Ask students what all acronyms mean (ACTIVE and AA stand for skills and strategies) as a way to test them. If they don't know what they mean, then they are behind. I attached the handout they was given last week on the Remind app. Here it is as well: ACTIVE reading strategy.docx Students will be graded on presentation (eye contact, voice level, stance) and content knowledge (knowing and applying ACTIVE reading strategies and AAing text). They already have the text (a handout of lyrics from an engaging rap song). Therefore, they have had ample time to prep for his presentation. We will begin AAing a short story ("Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor) after presentations. While others are presenting, the audience must listen actively with their ears and eyes since I call on students at random to chime in. This Wednesday, he will take a STAR reading assessment to gauge where students are in their reading Lexile level. This Friday, students will take a cold read test. I will give students a text they have never viewed and they must use ACTIVE reading strategies and AA. I am using Backwards Design (the student knows before the lesson is presented what skill (ACTIVE reading strategies and AA) are being tested, why they are being tested (for prep for EOC and using strategies with EVERY text they read this year), and how the skill is being tested (cold read this Friday). This design is also on the dry erase board in class so that students know how straightforward this important class will run.
Here is the table I will use every week from now on to let you know what students are completing in class:
| Skill being assessed | Activities to learn skill | Assessment (test) |
| ACTIVE reading strategies | Practice using variety of texts | Cold read assessments (every 2 weeks) |
| AA (analyze and annotate) | ACTIVE and AA presentations | Literary analysis cumulating writing task (due at the end of 1st 9-weeks |
| Performance task: project AAing three texts using ACTIVE strategies |
I will be sending out a permission letter this week so I can have parental permission to give students texts to read that are relatable and engaging, yet contain material that is explicit and mature (some material deals with suicide, violence, sex, rape, and language). I hope you trust in me that this material will not be too mature for your student and that they must begin to develop a vocabulary for talking and writing about controversial topics. We will be using SpringBoard, a pre-AP style work text, this year. Our class motto is: We are striving for Excellence--EXCELSIOR! I have very high expectations for ALL students (even ones with IEPs) and those expectations will not wane! With high expectations comes intensive supports for students so that they can reach my expectations. I provide the ladders for success and students must work to step up that ladder to reach excellence (especially on the English II EOC in May).
Next week, students will be given their first project (Performance Task) to complete. Students pull at random and they receive either A, C, T, I, V, or E and they make a poster board all about that one strategy and apply in to three different texts of their choosing (so students could print off a screen of a video game and use the strategy to AA it). I'm working with multiple intelligences this year and differentiating lessons that way.
I hope this isn't information overload and, of course, this isn't how I introduce my lessons to the teens in my class--their heads would explode! Lol! Email me whenever ([email protected] or [email protected]) or call me at Wossman (387-2932 ext. 1461)! Talk with ya soon!
For August 18-22:
Students will be learning procedures of the classroom and how to communicate using Seating Challenges. Students will learn ACTIVE Reading strategies and how to AA (annotate and analyze) texts.
Syllabus.doc ENGL II Syllabus (tentative)
English II Course Objectives.docx Main ENGL II objectives
I am very happy to have your child in my class! Our motto is EXCELLENCE--EXCELSIOR! And I want every student to earn high marks on the End-of-Course Exam in May! Let's change lives!