Looking Ahead

Next week in English I, we will continue reading Lord of the Flies. Students will be finishing chapters 4 and 5, examining the author's use of characterization in the novel, discussing mood and tone, and reviewing the impact of author's choice. We'll also be working on our vocabulary terms from the novel. I'm looking forward to another great week!

Lord of the Flies

This week in English I, students have started their study of William Golding's Lord of the Flies novel.  This classic text focuses on a group of young teen boys who find themselves stranded on an island and forced to fend for themselves. Most of our reading will occur in class, using a class set of novels. On occasion, your student might be assigned to complete a short amount of independent reading for homework. Because the novels are going to remain in the classroom, students have two options. If your student has internet access at home, he or she can log into Edmodo and access a full-text version of the novel. Students may also stop into my room from 7:30 on (or as soon as their bus arrives) and use the early morning and activity period time to complete their reading.

Note: Ms. Bianca Gerardi is a student teacher from ISU who is currently teaching English I to the students in 2nd Hour. She is doing a fantastic job thus far. If your student is in 2nd hour, you may notice a few slight differences in assignments or other expectations posted here. If you have any questions about whether a particular assignment applies to your student, please be sure to let me know!

Common Core Informational Meeting

WLHS will be hosting a informational meeting for parents to discuss the district's implementation of Common Core on Thursday, September 12, at 7:00 in the Cafetorium. I will be presenting the language arts portion of program, and I would love to have the chance to talk to you about our curriculum and the new standards. Hope to see you there!

Click here to read more from Supt. Kendrick about the event.

Parent Survey

FYI - The following message is posted on the district website. The District Improvement Team is looking for your input on important issues that pertain to your student. Please consider taking the survey at the link below:

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The District Improvement Team would like to know the perceptions that stakeholders have of our schools. Your thoughts regarding the education provided by Warrensburg-Latham CUSD #11 are important to us. 

Please answer the following questions in order to give us some necessary feedback on our programs. This survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your time and your participation. Click here to take the survey: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RT7TZY2

Teens & Social Media

We began our year discussing the way that social media has influenced your student's generation in terms of communication styles. The students had some fantastic discussions about the role of social media, its best uses, and its impact on their lives. One of the documents that we examined was a 2013 Pew Report focused on Teens, Social Media and Privacy. It is a fascinating look at how today's teens are using social media. I highly encourage you to take a look at the report and use it as a starting point for discussion with your student. Interestingly, during our class discussions most students shared that they thought that it was important for parents to be aware of what their teens were posting online.  Click here to see the full report.

Summer Reading

Thanks again for encouraging your student to complete his or her summer reading project! The last of the project grades will be entered today. I was really impressed with the passion that so many students had for their book and the delightful conversations we had about their reading. The projects themselves were extremely creative and very well done.