Major Writing Assignment and Open House

Hello All

First of all I want to make sure you're aware of Open House next Thursday at 6:30.  I offer extra credit for students who either bring you to Open House (I like to meet you face to face) or for parents who reach out to me about their students' progress next week.

I hope to see or hear from you!

Secondly, yesterday students had their first major writing assignment.  They were to use the GradeMark function on Turnitin.com to revise and edit their The Road Constructed Response.  Many students at least started this assignment in class yesterday.  However, several students had yet to turn in their The Road Constructed Response in the first place.  Of course, they cannot revise something they haven't written.  Most of those students worked to complete this in class, but several didn't finish.

The Revision of their The Road will be their first Summative Writing Grade.  It is due on Turnitin.com before 11:59pm on Sunday.  I want to make sure they have the whole weekend (as well as last night) to work on this, even if they don't have the internet at their house.  That gives them time to go to the public library, to a coffee shop with wifi, to a friend/family memeber's house.

We also, specifically, had the students type this up on their Google Drive accounts and turn it in to turnitin.com because both function well on cell phones (if they need to finish typing on their pocket-sized computers).  To access Google Drive, you do have to download both the Google Drive and the Google Docs apps.  They work on both Android and Apple products.  The turnitin.com mobile website also works well.  Make sure that you UPLOAD your assignment from Google Drive, not copy and paste it.

Happy Early Release and I hope you stay safe and warm this weekend!

Please check your grades 9th Lit

Good evening,

I've just updated your child's grades with most of what they've turned in.  Yes, we've had 16 assignments in 9 days.  This give me an idea of how much effort they are putting into the class, as well as their knowledge and concept obtainment thus far.  So far the only assignments I haven't graded are the Question of the Day daily test skills practice (not busy work because we are practicing those test taking skills for the EOC), the Anthem Theme and Author's Purpose Organizer (only for 3rd), and the Road Constructed Response.  

However, for that CR, I did put in a 0 if your child has not yet turned it in.  If they did submit it, you should see "Not Yet Graded" next to the assignment.

I've spoken with the students about this already, but I want to reinforce it again.  Zeros kill student grades.  Zeros are the reason students fail English classes.

If they do all of their work, and try their best on that work, follow all of the directions and prompts, and turn in everything, then they get the practice and reinforcement needed to do well on the major grades.  On the essays, the projects, and the tests.

When they don't do their work, their grade goes down and they do not get the practice and reinforcement they need to do well on those major assignments that add up to 80% of their total grade.

Our first major assignment is our test on Wednesday.  On Tuesday, we'll be collecting, grading, and returning the students' Annotations for each chapter of Anthem.  The students who have completed this assignment, in detail, step by step, are more likely to earn that A on this test.  Students who haven't completed this assignment are more likely to fail.

Please work with your students over this long weekend to complete the Annotations.  If they have a zero for the Student Survey, the Parent/Guardian Survey, the Sign up for Electronic Accounts, or The Road Constructed Response, please have them complete these assignments over the weekend.  These are baseline assignments that we will use for the rest of the year.  

Students also will have USATestPrep.com assignments due every Wednesday and Vocabulary Unit Quizzes every other Friday.  These are on-going assignments designed to boost your students ability and performance, both in this class and on the test, but also in analyzing text and raising their vocabulary level.

I know every student in our class is capable of handling this workload--we do a lot of the work in class, but do require that they reinforce the concepts at home every night.  Please make sure that they are doing their homework and can tell you what we learned in class each day.  It really does help them maintain long-term retention of knowledge.

Thank you for your support.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Anthem Test Next Week -- 9th lit

Hello All!

In looking at the schedule next week (with that test on Wednesday) as well as the results of today's quiz (some people did awesomely, some ... need to make sure they study over the weekend), I think some specific studying might be helpful to students over the weekend.

Their Annotation Guides will be due on Tuesday to make sure they are prepared for the test on Wednesday in class.  What I need for them to do is to make sure their guides are complete, that they can summarize each chapter of the book, that they understand the analysis we have discussed in class.  I also need them to ask questions during the discussion on Tuesday--meaning they should write down any questions they have that they specifically want us to discuss on Tuesday.

Since we finished the book in class today, a strategy I would use is to listen to the book this weekend (so that you're reading it again) while you go through your notes (there are many copies available on youtube, just search "anthem audiobook").  As you listen to the book, edit your notes.  Answer questions you had on your first read-through.  Ask new questions about what is confusing and bring those questions to class on Tuesday.

We also had our first big writing assignment due on turnitin.com yesterday.  Some students turned it in, some did not.  Some completed their "Sign up for Electronic Accounts you need for this class," some did not.  Please use this weekend to make sure you've completed both assignments.  Both can be found in the "Sign up for Electronic..." link on the resources page.

Have a great three day weekend!

Week 1 Down and a Test Coming Up Already

Hello all!

We've had a great first week, and I think a lot of the students understand now what level of effort I expect in the class.  We've had one quiz, and we'll have another one on Friday (through Ch 10 of Anthem).  Our first test is planned for Tuesday, right after MLK Day.  It will be over the skills and concepts we've covered while reading through Anthem, including (but not limited to as this is an English class): tone, mood, characters, setting, conflict, figurative language, imagery, author's purpose, diction, and events and analysis of Anthem.  In addition to this list, students  have been creating Annotations of every chapter.  While these are called "notes" they really are the classwork and homework expected of each student.  These "notes," as well as the skills listed above, becomes their study guides.

As a head's up, on Thursday, we will be in the lab to create our electronic accounts the students need for this class.  You can see the assignment on the Resources page of the blog if you'd like to preview it.  As such, they will be creating professional gmail accounts in class (unless they already have one that meets the requirements).  A lot of times, gmail will ask for a phone number in order to confirm that the account is being created by a person and not a bot.  If they have a cell phone of their own, please allow them to bring it to class on Thursday to facilitate this.  A backup plan is to put in your cell phone number, and then have them call you from a friend's phone so they can get the code.  If they cannot create their accounts during class, they will not be able to finish the assignment (as you need a professional gmail account to sign up for the other accounts).

If you feel like this will be a problem, you can go ahead and help them sign up for a professional gmail account before Thursday morning.  Please use the guidelines on the Electronic Accounts Assignment.

Thank you and have a great week!

Welcome to my class!

Hello All!

I'm very excited to have you in my class.

First up, let's discuss how you use this blog.

This tab is Weekly Updates.  It will just give you an overview of what we have planned in class this week.  It is used for a quick update.

The Resources tab for your class is the most important tab you will use.  It is where I will upload EVERYTHING for this class, including (but not limited to) important links, copies of assignments, copies of handouts, powerpoints, videos, anything we use in class.  If there is a digital version (and I do try to work in digital versions whenever possible) it will be linked on the Resources Tab.

The Calendar tab for your class is the 2nd most important tab for this class.  I use my calendar as my lesson plans.  It will show you all of the activities we do through out the day.  This is important because it not only shows you what is upcoming in our schedule, but is also where you will get the information you missed when you are absent.  If you have any questions about what you missed, you can email me at kimberly [do] bundschu [at] cobbk12 [dot] org or discuss it with me before or after class (not during) when you come back, however, I will expect that you first checked the calendar.  I put a lot of time into getting that information to you and appreciate it when you use it.

The names of activities should be the same on both the calendar and the resources page to make it easy for you.


Next up, let's talk about your first assignments.  All of these assignments will be linked on the Resources page by the first week of school.

9th Lit

1. You will get a grade when you complete the Student Survey.
2. You first major assignments will be a novel study of Anthem by Ann Rand (as a part of the Summer Reading Assignment), we will have free copies for students to borrow, but you may choose to obtain your own copy.
3. You will get your errand passes for your parents/guardians completing the Parent/Guardian Survey AND you complete the Student Survey.  These function as your bathroom/I need to go somewhere passes as well as turn into extra credit at the end of the semester if you don't use them.  It is very important you get your Parents/Guardians to fill out this survey.  Both of these are found on the Resources tab.

Yearbook

1. You will get a grade when you complete the Student Survey.
2. You will get your media pass when your parents/guardians complete the Parent/Guardian Survey AND you complete the Student Survey.

I'm looking forward to meeting you on January 5th or at Open House on January 28th.

--Mrs. Bundschu