Open House

As many of you know, I have not been feeling well this week (I even lost my voice) so I will be unable to attend Open House tonight. Sorry. Here, however, is some of the information I would have shared with all of you!

CONGRATULATIONS:

Open House this year is "A Celebration of Learning" and there are so many of you who have done great work so far! In particular, I would like to congratulate our Star Writers who all got a 4 (this is nearly a perfect score) on our practice CAHSEE essay:

Period 1:

Kelly B.

Mia C.

Period 2:

Jingyi H.

Marcel K.

Period 3:

Sara S-A.

Kitty S.

Period 4:

Simon Z.

Period 5:

Steven T.

Almost everyone's grade on the essay improved from last time, so great work!

WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW:

We just finished reading Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451. We will have a test and an essay in two weeks. Students should have the book with them at home and should be bringing it with them to class every day.

WHAT'S COMING UP:

The English Benchmark, a school-wide test on grammar and writing skills, is Thursday, April 26th. We will spend next week reviewing the grammar we learned last semester. This will also be a good refresher for 11th grade and for the CST!

After the CSTs (which begin May 1st) we will read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. We will do most of the reading in class, but students will have homework including an extra-credit opportunity!

CONTACT INFO.

Any parent or guardian who has further questions for me is encouraged to contact me via email (this is the quickest way!) at naylor_lori@ausd.us . As always, information about grades and attendance can be found at family.ausd.us . Finally, specific information about my class can be found at this website!

Thank you, and here's looking forward to the rest of a great year!

Lori Naylor

Vocabulary Practice

Friday (4/20/12) is a minimum day - it is also the day of our test for Vocab. Lesson 10. Here is a website that has flashcards and games to help you study! Enjoy!

Quizlet Flash Cards

Registration

On Thursday, March 23rd we went to a presentation by the counselors who had some exciting news. We now have an on-line class registration system. You can log on to the portal and register for next year's classes starting Friday, February 24th until Friday, March 2nd.

If you were absent the day of the presentation or if you still have some questions, here are a few helpful links. Of course, visiting the guidance office to see your counselor if you have any questions is always a good idea.

You can register at the family portal here: family.ausd.us (you will need your password. The passwords were passed out again at the presentation, but if you have forgotten it, you can get it from the Guidance office).

You can view our course catalog via our school website which is www.ahsmoors.org the catalog is available for download here.

Good luck!

CAHSEE

The California High School Exit Exam will take place on March 13th and 14th. Tuesday is the English test and Wednesday is math. The tests mostly cover what you learned in 9th and 10th grade, so you know most of it already - that doesn't mean, however, that you can't study.

Here are two links to handy on-line CAHSEE study guides. Many teachers also have paper copies of these guides available if you ask.

English/Language Arts Study Guide

Math Study Guide

We will also be reviewing/preparing for the English test in class. Good luck!

Lord of the Flies

Semester 2 is here at last! This gives us all a chance to start over - new grades, new study units, and for some students even a new class or two. We even have a few new students in Ms. Naylor's class (welcome)!

For our class, semester 2 starts with two things: CAHSEE preparation and our first novel: William Golding's Lord of the Flies. We will get the book from the book room on Thursday. March 2nd, but if you want to buy your own copy you can check out nearby bookstores or try Amazon.com here:

Amazon.com: Lord of the Flies

In case you misplaced your calendar, here is our reading schedule. You will be asked to read one chapter a night Monday-Thursday until you finish the book.

Monday, March 6th: Chapter 1

Tuesday, March 7th: Chapter 2

Wednesday, March 8th: Chapter 3

Thursday, March 9th: Chapter 4

Tuesday, March 14th: Chapter 5

Wednesday, March 15th: Chapter 6

Thursday, March 16th: (Test on Chapters 1-6) Chapter 7

Tuesday, March 21st: Chapter 8

Wednesday, March 22nd: Chapter 9

Thursday, March 23rd: Chapter 10

Monday, March 27th: Chapter 11

Tuesday, March 28th: Chapter 12

Monday, April 2nd: Test on Chapters 7-12

Tuesday, April 3rd: Essay

Of course, you can read ahead if you like, but try not to fall behind - we will have several reading quizzes!

I know you'll enjoy this book. The boys in it are from England so they might use some language you are not familiar with (they call glasses "specs" which is short for spectacles, for example) but there is a lot of violence and excitement. The book also features some of the most famous examples of symbolism in literature.

Happy reading!

Poetry OUT LOUD!

Winter Break is over and it is time to prepare for finals. For the last few weeks of school, we will be studying poetry. The final exam will be a test on poetry terms, but it will also include something else - a poetry reading BY YOU!

Each student will choose a poem from the Poetry Out Loud website to memorize and perform for the class. You can see the list of poems here:

POETRY OUT LOUD

There are MANY poems to choose from - some of them have only 25 lines of fewer. Look around and read some poems until you find one you like - or you can hit the "random poem" link and see what you get.

While we do not have any homework over the break, you can still take this time to choose and practice your poem.

Enjoy your break!

Found Poems

The week before Winter Break we spent one class period making Found Poem posters to hang on the wall. The classroom looks very colorful!

Below are a few selected poems "written" by students in our class. Enjoy!

        "Someone Was Watching"

        They ran past their food.

        "If this is some kind of joke - "

        The room blurred and faded out.

        Piggy banks were opened.

        Maybe you think I was supposed to read your mind.

                                        - Kevin. W (per. 2)

     
        "The Moon's Full Silver"

        Outside, the rain dripped

        Shizuko wondered.

        In fact, the truth surpasses imagination

        but the sense of evil lingered.

        You shall be the wolf.

                                        - Andrea Z. (per. 1)

     
        "Virtue, Knowledge, and Ignorance"

        I am the wing.

        The delicious cool saved us from the heat above

        black as Black Beard's beard.

        Very, very ugly.

        They are awful berries.

                                       - Raymond T. (per. 1)

     
        "By the Midnight"

        Three years ago on a spring evening

        Seething, but not wanting to make a scene

        I put the sunglasses on.

        The window itself was different.

        Of all the bouncing balls, the football is the most predictable.

                                      - Patrick L. (per. 3)