Team 7B - ELA - Mr. St. Laurent's Class

Missing Work

2010-05-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

Several students have missing work for this 9 weeks. I would like to extend a chance to make up this work. At this point, unless you were absent, you must come and see me during team time for page numbers, questions, etc... I will not answer questions about missing work during class time. Please observe that not all assignments can be made up at this point. Assignments from the date 5/8/10 and on may be made up for credit. Please do not attempt to turn in any assignments that were due before this date.

Please see OnCourse for dates and assignment titles. Also, an assignment list is posted in class (as always) and your friends are the best resource for this makeup work. I will hand back all graded work on the 4th.

Parents, please note that I am sending progress reports home today and tomorrow. Any grade that is lower than a C must be returned with a parent signature.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and a super 4-day weekend!

Special Note

2010-05-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Updated grades, appearing online, will be delayed until Monday afternoon due to complications with OnCourse. Parents should expect to see a class progress report come home on Tuesday (A-Day classes) and Wednesday (B-Day classes). Those with a C or below will be required to have a parent signature.

Students,

I'm sure you will all do very well on the EOC without my praise, however I must say that this year has been a wonderful example of your dedication to Language Arts. English Literature is forever evolving and changing. I am glad to see that those students who have struggled in the past have, hopefully, found an interest in some form of literary analysis. Remember: Literature is a puzzle that offers unlimited answers. It is a process that, although challenging, will eventually give you the ability to judge and critique film, music, and literature from your individual perspective. We study the foundations of these elements in order to utilize them in our daily lives.

Open your minds... clean out the dust... and take a stand when something is important to you!

The Beginning of the End

2010-05-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

Students and Parents,

As we are heading into the final few days of school, there are a few reminders I would like to post in order to assure that all students earn the grades they deserve!

1. Assignment Log - An assignment log is currently posted in class with updated assignments. Students, if you have a zero on an assignment currently, please check the log in order to finish this. (Full Credit until Friday and Half Credit until the end of final exams). After the end of final exams NO late work will be accepted unless a documented reason is present.

2. Drama Club has ended and will not resume until next year! Thank you all for your continued support!

3. Parents, you will see completed updates on all grades as early as Saturday evening.

4. Finally, I STILL have not had all students turn in the 50 point district writing revision. Parents, please check oncourse to ensure that your student has completed and turned in this assignment. It is our ONLY test grade besides the final exam this quarter! VERY IMPORTANT!

Other than those issues, please feel free to email me if any questions come up! This is open to students and parents! NO question is a stupid question! stlaurep@duvalschools.org

This has been an amazing year and it has been a pleasure having each and every student in my class! You make teaching something to be proud of!

Before Spring-ing into Break...

2010-03-22T04:25:00.000-07:00

-Progress Reports for ELA classes only will be given out Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Parents should be looking for these papers. It is required that parents sign C grades or lower. All reports will be kept on file and any makeup assignments will be given out these days. Students are responsible for completing all makeup work by Monday March 29th. (this is also the final due date for any extra credit) If a student fails to complete any missing work by this date the grade will stand for the report card. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

-The homework assignment for Eleanor Roosevelt is as follows:
Take one article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#ap
and discuss (in one page) how it impacts:

1.you
2.your world (school, family, community)
3.the world at large (US, Europe, etc...)

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Extra Credit

2010-03-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Parents and Students,

The extra credit for our third nine-weeks is a two part assignment. Please be advised that students must see the film in theaters, however there is no difference between the IMAX and Standard versions of this film.

Part 1:

Go see the movie Alice in Wonderland. Save the ticket... you will turn it in.

Part 2:

Type one full page, double spaced, explaining the director's (Tim Burton) use of tone in this film version. What mood is he trying get you to feel? What is his purpose for re-imagining the world of Alice?

The Week Before FCAT

2010-03-01T05:49:00.001-08:00

The time has come! FCAT is only a week away and to kick off the start of this very exciting week our class will be completing two activities that will allow students to know the secrets behind FCAT questions! This will hopefully aid in vocabulary, general test taking skills, AND allow a bit of creativity. Parents should be informed that homework will be reading a current novel and mini-homework assignments will be given to spark the at-home reading assignments. The first one was given Friday and this will extend to today's A-Day classes:

1. Read 20 pages in your novel and write one paragraph outlining the main idea of the passage.

2. The second assignment for Tuesday and Wednesday is to read an additional 20 pages and discuss the Tone of the novel so far. This can be in the form of any note style that is comfortable to them and must quote at least 4 sections of text.

In other news, during FCAT testing students will be assigned no homework for that week, however Compass Odyssey will be required. One hour of new work will be due by Friday of next week. Parents, if your child is still having trouble logging on at home encourage them to stop by Ms. Putnal's computer lab to figure this situation out! No child should be without this very important login!

Extra Credit will be posted on Thursday evening. Students are to view the film Alice in Wonderland (the current production by Tim Burton). Assignment information will be available at the end of this week. This is extra credit only and is not an official requirement.

3rd Nine Weeks

2010-02-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

**NEW Progress Reports will go out Monday and Tuesday with all updated assignments (those who are not currently passing will be required to have reports signed.) If I do not receive these reports back signed I will contact parents**

Dear Parents and Students,

As progress reports are being issues I want to leave some careful reminders here about your grades so far. Please be informed that the Vocabulary quiz and Essay # 3 grades are not on the reports yet. If these two items were completed they should help to bring up some of those missed grades. Also, an assignment log will be present in the classroom today. This log will have ALL assignments posted so far. Assignments that can be made up for half credit are marked and, as always, if you are absent please check the log the next time you are in my class to make up any missed work.

As we struggle through the second half of the year, please be warned that missing work will result in a lower grade. Students who do not complete assignments will not be excused due to simply choosing not to do the assignments. Please be warned that grade recovery is not for students who do nothing in class. We reserve this privilege for those students who are struggling with the material. As always, if you have any questions please email me. I am happy to address any issue.

Students, please do not email me with requests to walk you through assignments that you were here for. This is an insult and such emails will not be answered. Use the assignment log in class and your peers. Of course this does not apply to those who were absent.

This Week in Summary

2010-02-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

Parents and Students,

We are well into the third quarter here at Landon and, as an update, I would like to remind everyone of assignments that will appear on OnCourse soon. I have just about finished all of the essay grading so students will have a chance to see and learn from their results! This is what our classroom schedule looks like for this week:

Monday and Tuesday
Students will be reading Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed by Ray Bradbury. (Parents, this is a fun one, please read with your children!) Students will practice taking active notes while reading this selection. They will be finishing an in-class chart for homework (GIFTED ONLY) as well as working on vocabulary questions on page 464 (1 - 8) and (1 - 5). A quiz will be given on Wednesday and Thursday covering Vocabulary and Roots.

Wednesday and Thursday
Students will discuss the story and take a quiz on the vocabulary content. After, we will work on writing strengths and weaknesses, preparing for Friday and Monday's District Timed Writing. Homework is TBA.

Friday and Monday
Students will be bringing multiple assignments home. Grades will be made available on OnCourse. The focus of today is writing. How to write the 'perfect' essay. Gifted classes will have a very challenging writing assignment over the weekend. They will be required to have one person revise and edit who is NOT a peer. Please allow them to ask these very important questions of you. If you need assistance I will be watching my email all weekend!

3rd Nine Weeks Changes and Essay Assignments

2010-01-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

Students and Parents,

In an effort to not reward irresponsibility and accurately reflect student work, I will not be accepting late work for full credit unless noted by an absence. In the case of an absence you will be given one day for every school day missed to complete the work. As always, it is the student's responsibility to check with the classroom assignment log and ask me for directions. This decision comes after a very turbulent 9weeks that found many students without assignments until the last minute.

Students, realize that the turning in of late work will drop the score of the assignment by half. This means the most you may receive on a late assignment, not excused by an absence, will be 50%.

Parents, please encourage your students to complete all assigned work on time. Today and tomorrow will serve as an eye-opening exercise as to how not turning in assignments will effect the student in classroom activities as well as grades. Also, many students are not coming to class prepared. I have more and more students coming to class without paper and writing instruments. This should be corrected as soon as possible due to the high volume of students without these materials.

Below is the current homework assignment. All students are required to write a four paragraph, free-form, essay. The paragraphs should be organized as posted below. Parents, please note that the photography essay was given to those students who completed the homework assignment. The alternate essay focuses on grammar usage. The alternate lesson was designed to boost writing and work completion skills for those who could not participate in the primary lesson. The homework grade for those writing the grammar essay is presently a 0/10.

Photography Essay
Taking your photo into consideration, write a four paragraph essay reflecting on our classroom use of style and mood. Reference the photography lesson on pg. 520 for help with the terms.
P1: What is this photo? Give background and purpose to your photo. Was this shot set up purposefully? Was it a candid shot? Etc...
P2: Discuss the style of the photograph: layout, staging, lighting, color, etc...
P3: Discuss the mood of the photo (remember, this is how the photo impacts the viewer)
P4: Conclude the essay by wrapping these ideas together and making a bold statement about the photo. Maybe something new you have discovered.

This essay will be attached to your in-class posters and displayed. Please either type the final product or write very neatly!

Grammar Essay
Students will use the grammar lessons learned from Thursday and Monday's classes in order to reflect on the current state of the student's grammar abilities.
P1: Why do we want to focus on grammar? What are your weaknesses in grammar?
p2: What can you do to correct these mistakes?
p3: How do you think these new skills will help you later with your high school/college/writing career?

As always, please feel free to email any questions directly to me through my school account at stlaurep@duvalschools.org

Valentine or Love-Themed Poetry Opportunity

2010-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting opportunity for all students to be published authors! I must receive all entries by the 13th of this month in order to ensure that the materials reach the publication in time. If you have any questions please email me immediately.

"In the February issue of The Resident and The San Marco Resident, we would love to run any Valentine or love-themed poems from local students. If your students at your school are writing any as part of their curriculum this month, please let me know if there is any potential of publishing them in the paper. It would be a wonderful way to start some students off in the field of publishing! I don't know how much space we're looking at right now, but my assumption is a double-page spread of some sort. I would need poems, with the name age and school of the author, by Jan. 15." - Susanna P. Barton

Extra Credit

2009-12-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

Parents and Students,

This is the link for the extra credit assignment work ten points over your holiday. Remember, you must print this out and complete the assignments typed for full credit. Also, this is not part of the Holiday Journal Assignment. Students are expected to complete one statement per day in the journals as well as find a scrapbook piece from the holidays.

I'd like to wish everyone a safe and wonderful Winter Break! See you in 2010!!

Mr. St. Laurent

Close to the Break!

2009-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Students and Parents,

As the break approaches our class is hard at work revising and expanding on our District Writing assignments. Students have been informed of effective strategies and tools to use when writing in essay form. As the next few classes are completed, before the extended holiday, let me inform you of the work that is coming up and what you can expect from the oncourse grades during the break:

Tuesday and Wednesday's focus will be establishing a plan before writing. Students will use previously completed essays in order to analyze and rewrite their planning page to better outline and aid them when writing. FRIES will also be discussed.

1 Assignment: In class planning sheet revision
1 Homework: Persuasive addition to Black Death news report (Students are to take the short news report on The Black Death articles and expand them, adding a short persuasive element. This is a creative assignment! Use that brainpower!

Thursday and Friday's focus will be on the Persuasive Essay. Students will discuss the homework assignment and take notes on Persuasive form. They will then attempt District Writing #3 where they must be a persuasive writer, focusing on our new writing strategies.

1 Assignment: District Writing #3
No Homework
1 Journal Entry: Holiday Record - Each day of the holiday break make a short statement followed by the date. The statement should be a very short (less than one sentence) summary of the day's events. Together this will open a powerful way of looking at language. Students may even consider creating poetry from the words.

Monday and Tuesday: TBA

Next Year: As we all return to school in January study guides for a major literature test will be given. This will cover several stories we have read in class. I will post a list of the stories included on the test over the break so that you may prepare. An extra credit assignment will also be given over the break to work on. (More on these items later)

New grades will be available through oncourse within the first week of the break.

Parents, please be aware that assignments may be turned in late, with penalty, as long as your child hands in the completed work with a note from you simply stating that you are aware of the late work.

Nov. 16th - 20th

2009-11-16T04:26:00.000-08:00

Students and Parents,

This week our class will be focusing on the writing process. Students are currently work-shopping the district timed writing assignment. This is a great chance for parents and students to get together in order to discuss what they have written. Homework will be based around this workshop. Expect to see some serious writing happening at home!

Students, you will be taking this essay home over the Thanksgiving break in order to take advantage of the time and rewrite your essay. This will not be an easy process and I expect many of you will need help from your parents!

Parents, I also realize many questions may surface about the writing. Fear not! I will be sending home several worksheets on writing a thesis, successful body paragraphs, as well as conclusion help later this week. Please take advantage of these handouts! As you know, essay writing does not get any easier and a successful writer has a very large advantage in any Magnet High School.

For those students who are planning to be out next week, before Thanksgiving break: The assignment will be posted here so you can work on it during the break. Students in class will be doing a film activity that covers Non-fiction. The assignment can be done with any examples of Non-fiction in film. (more to come later!)

As always, if you have any questions, please email me through the link on this blog (or from the Landon website). Scholarship warnings will also be given out this Thursday and Friday in order to monitor the progress your students have made. Parents, you will hear from me on Monday and Tuesday if these are not returned. I want to ensure that every parent is as up-to-date as possible before the turbulent holidays occur!

Sincerely,
Mr. St. Laurent

District Timed Writing #2

2009-10-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

The student's goal for the day was to complete the District Timed Writing Assessment #2. Be sure to ask them how they did! We will be revising these assignments later on this nine weeks.

Homework: Students are to read pages 187 - 193 (part 2 of 'Zebra'). While reading please take notes using the visualize strategy.

1. Sketch
2. Characterization details
3. Theme details
4. Other Lit. Device details

Only one set of notes is required for this assignment. Also, be aware that both the homework as well as books will be checked coming up next class!

Welcome!

2009-09-17T17:38:00.001-07:00

Students and Parents,

First, let me welcome you to my blog. Weekly updates will be coming soon with all assignments completed in and out of class. Test dates and quiz reminders will be included in the updates as well as any class project information. My email links directly with this blog so please feel free to contact me at any time. Specific grade information will only be discussed in a parent-teacher conference setting, not over email, unfortunately.

Next week's schedule will be posted by Sunday evening. Students will have an introduction to poetry and build the final piece to The Giver Project. All reminders will be set for students and Compass Learning Odyssey will become active, allowing students to participate in online learning at home and school. For any further questions please email me at stlaurep@duvalschools.org.

Until Next Time,

Mr. St. Laurent