Week of December 10

Period one: One group is continuing to do research. They are working on developing and answering research questions. All students continue to work on reading comprehension.

Period three: This class is still getting tested so that I can create a profile of each student. We will hit full speed after Christmas.

English 10: We should finish reading Romeo and Juliet this week. We will watch the movie and take the test before Christmas.

Week of 12-3

Periods one and two are working on something new. One group is still reading, but the other is learning research skills. The current focus is on 1960's America.

Period three embarked on a new adventure today. It looks like we will have five students doing individual English with a focus on reading.

English 10 should be going full speed on Romeo and Juliet.

December already!

First of all, I apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. We have finished quarter one, conferences are over, and we are moving forward. The students in literacy development are continuing to spend first hour reading each day. One group just finished the third book in James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. These are substantial books, and they should be proud. The other group just finished The Outsiders and is starting the book "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town." Make sure that you ask them questions about their reading. In second hour, this class is working on vocabulary and reading skills.

Students in English 10 are reading Romeo and Juliet. Several members of each class have offered to serve as leaders as the students do background research and prepare for reading the play aloud. I am optimistic that they will do a great job. Work with vocabulary also continues.

End of week two

By Monday morning, English 10 students should have accurate grades. I grade on a 4-point scale that corresponds with the traditional A-F rating. I also use 90, 75,50, and 25% as my grade cutoffs. In order to receive credit, students must submit assignments that fit all of the criteria. For example, if they do the first step of a poetry analysis and skip the second, they will not be graded.

Week 2, September 10

Well, we have completed our first Monday. In English 10, you should be wrapping up the final version of your work with the Robert Frost poem. By Friday, you should have a more complete idea of what your grade is. Those of you working with the reading remediation program should be busy annotating text and sending it to me. Watch for a vocabulary assignment in the near future. Have a great week!!!
MrD

Welcome to English 10

Hello!
This is my first year teaching English 10, and I am very excited. I will use this blog frequently to communicate with you. We will also be communicating in other ways as the year goes on. I don't really have anything else to say.

HAVE A GREAT YEAR!!!

MrD

Getting Started : Reading Remediation

All of the instruction for reading remediation will be handled through Google docs. This should be simple because the district has set up accounts for you which are easy to access from the labs and library. You should be able to just click on Google docs and then enter the same user name and password that you use to  log on. Once you do that, you need to send me a message at mattd@montevideoschools.org (This link may not work. You might need to copy and paste it into your gmail. Please make sure that you are using your montevideoschools account! Once you have sent me a message, I will be able to create a group for communications purposes. I will also set up a way for you to submit your work.

Welcome!

This message is intended for students in need of practice for the reading test. The main thing that I need you to do is... READ. There is a tab at the top of this page labeled "websites with articles." You will be annotating the articles and sharing them with me. We will meet during the first week of school to begin setting things up.
MrD