Beginning of the Year: Lessons and Procedures

Hello Students!

     At the beginning of the school year there are always lessons and procedures that I must teach or demonstrate for you, so for the next few weeks we will be practicing and doing several things at once. This post outlines those lessons so that you will know what is coming up.

1. Lesson Activator: Caught Ya
     I call the activity done in the first five minutes of class a "Lesson Activator." Other teachers might call it a "Do-Now" or a "Bell-Ringer" but I've chosen my label because it sounds less elementary to me. It's just my preference, but all the labels mean the same thing.

   The activity I choose for you to do is known as "Caught Ya," which some of you may remember if you had me as a teacher before. I've been doing this activity with my English classes for many years. We will work at this activity for a few minutes at the beginning of almost every class, and the activity will last for most of the school year.  I like this activity because it combines practice in many different reading and writing skills, like spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, vocabulary, and sentence structure, but it also allows you to sharpen your skills in listening, following directions, doing things consistently, participating, and acting responsibly to always have your work with you.

     Look for me to present the procedure for Caught Ya this week.

2. Dialectical Journaling and The Cornell Way
     Most of you probably know something about creating a dialectical journal, also called a 2-column (or 3-column) note taking system. It is also very similar to the Cornell Way note taking system we use here at BHS. In my class, students will use a dialectical journal format often when taking notes, analyzing literature, and close-reading texts. We will go over the required procedure for Dialectical Journals this week also.

4.  Taking Notes from a Power-Point Presentation
     As we proceed this year, you will notice that the important writings and texts we study are deeply connected to the historical and social themes of each time period. Therefore, at the beginning of each unit, you will learn something about each time period and how the important people, events, and customs of each period influenced the writers of that period. For each unit, I will post a Power-Point presentation which you will be required to read, study, and take notes from. If you like, you may also print it out in handout form (6 slides to a page). The first one you will be required to study covers the Anglo-Saxon Period. Your notes will have to take the form of  Cornell notes. We will practice a bit in class to get you started.

5. College Essay
     Your first process writing assignment will be your college essay. Everyone will write one, and it will take several drafts before it is finished. I will give you many tips on writing the essay, and will conference with each of you as needed to improve your essay. If you have already begun the process in an AVID class or on your own, bring in whatever you have written.

6. Discussion Forums Using Blogger
     In the near future I will begin using my blog to initiate discussion forums on a variety of topics. These will be counted as a homework assignments. For example, I will present a topic and post a prompt and ask you to respond to it and to other contributors. There will be more on this soon.