Good afternoon. Before students begin their four-day weekend, I thought I would give you an update on the second semester so far. Prior to reading The Odyssey, students are working on a presentation on Ancient Greece. It is an in-class partner project, assigned January 11. This week, students learned how to evaluate on-line resources, and were responsible for providing at least three valid sources in an annotated bibliography. They also worked on outlines, complete with topic sentences and details about their presentations. I expect them all to be on track to complete their slide shows, and be ready to present by Friday, January 25.
Those students who are not on task during this assignment will have to make up the work during lunch breaks next week, or attend after school Base Camp. Like other major assignments, they are given ample time to complete every step during class time. If the work is done according to schedule in class, they have the benefit of my assistance, as well as the chance to collaborate with their peers. Although I naturally make allowances for absences and other circumstances, I cannot dedicate additional class time because of off-task behavior. There is still so much to cover, and the school year is flying by.
I encourage you to check ParentVUE regularly to make sure your student is completing his or her work in a timely manner. I resist marking assignments “missing” until I have made several attempts to collect them and we have moved on to the next topic, but if there is no score, there is a good chance I received nothing.
I appreciate your time, and please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!
Carolyn Marietta, English
