First Week Observations and Updates

I am feeling very positive after meeting all of you this first week of school.
We have discussed this year's theme of Defining Yourself and you turned in your assignment for that. We also began learning about the Native Americans and their storytelling traditions.

**Don't forget that next week I will begin collecting the weekly SAT Question of the Day. Remember you can print it out, write out the question with your answer and whether you got it right or wrong, or email it to me.

School Pictures will be taken on August 30th and 31st through English class. Make sure you bring your money if you want to purchase your pictures. You must take the picture in order to get your school id.

Summer Reading Projects:
For those of you who want to get a jump start on your projects here is the website that contains the list of books and creative projects that you can pick from:

readingheadquartersathghs.blogspot.com

You need to go down and find where it says Creative Book Report Ideas and go to the second slide on the Summer Reading Slide show to find the list of books.

Remember they are due by September 30th and will be worth a total of 20 points.


Coming up this week--

1. We will start our SAT Vocabulary practice.
2. I will be issuing each of you a literature book to take home and keep at home.
3. There will be a Native American quiz coming soon. Make sure you are reviewing your notes.
4. Family Tree project will be issued.

Defining who we are

Part of defining who we are is knowing what our learning style and psychological personality is.

Visit the following websites and complete the tests to discover what your learning style and personality are. There are no right or wrong answers (it is not that type of test).

Gregoric test-- www.thelearningweb.net/personalthink.html

Myers/Briggs test-- www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

Bring in your results next class so we can share in class.

Novel Choices

Here are a list of novels that I would like you to consider for this school year. You will select as a class which 3-4 we will read during the course of this year. I would suggest you look up a brief summary of the novels so you make an informed decision before making your choices.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Play choices: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Please feel free to make a suggestion if you have one. We will be voting on Wednesday and Thursday in class.

Welcome class of 2012

I am looking forward to meeting and teaching all of you this 2010-2011 school year.

If there is one thing I want you to focus on this year it is to DEFINE who you are. I will be preparing you to take the next step in your lives, which for most of you should be college and others the working world. For most of you the shadow of the FCAT has passed and now the challenge of the SAT and ACT are in front of you. I will be here to prepare you for those exams as well.
I want everyone in my class to succeed, but the only way that can happen is with your effort. This class will be challenging at times, but it is through challenges that we learn who we truly are.