This last quarter, we picked up one of my favorites: Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I divided the play into four weeks and the students have done an awesome job approaching the Elizabethan text. We acted out the assassination of Julius Caesar and watched as students pretended to hurt the main character “Caesar”. Poor Caesar, died while the conspirators shook hands and stood proud of their betrayal. The students got a good understanding of how themes unfold in the play. Themes such as: friendship vs. betrayal, superstition vs. intuition, good leadership vs. bad leadership were covered and were discussed in class. It’s good to see student interest in how the themes can be related to modern times. What an awesome way to end the year.
As students have been preparing for the New York State English Comprehensive Regents, I decided to change up the school year a bit and spent an entire quarter on short stories. We dissected several works of literature while covering the elements of a short story. Some fun stories we read were: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor, The Cask of Amontillato by Edgar Allan Poe and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This was a fun way to cover literary elements, characterization and critical thinking skills.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, the junior class enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at Great Adventure. We left early in the morning and arrived just as the park was opening. Here are several rides we enjoyed the most – Scream Machine, three times in a row!; El Toro – long line, but short waiting time!; the Congo Rapids, never knew who would get soaked next!; and Batman the Ride – short enough line to get one last ride in before leaving the park. A few students were even able to see the Safari animals. Watch out for sleeping lions, I mean rocks that look like sleeping lions. Finally, we ended our time at McDonalds where we enjoyed the dollar menu with the pocket change we will had remaining from the expensive park souvenirs.
This year we continued our studies of Algebra, most students looking to earn the advanced regent diploma or the advanced regent diploma with distinction. This two year course will be continued in their senior year when they learn trigonometry and statistics in order to pass the Math B regent in June 2009.
This year we studied weather and climate in the fall semester where we learned about global climate changes and US regions and how weather affects defferent parts of our country. In the spring semester we learned about magnets and electricity and how the combination of the two brings power into our homes on a daily basis.
The 11th graders became savvy investors by studying the stock market. They invested money (not real of course J ), made trades, and researched companies. They also ran a mock t-shirt business and competed against other teams to see which team made the wisest decisions and the most profits.
In chemistry, students tested household items to determine which were acids and which were bases. They prepared an indicator by boiling purple cabbage and saving the juice. They then tested common household items such as soap, vinegar, antacid tablets, and soda to name a few.
This year I have had the privilege of teaching Physical Education for Grades three through twelve. The year has been a wonderful learning experience filled with awesome memories. Some of my fonder memories include: High School will always be remembered for their competitiveness. Whether it be playing basketball, dodge ball, or even just sitting around having a conversation, they were always trying to top each other. But the greatest thing that I will be taking away this year is the relationships that I have with my students. I would not trade that for anything in the world.
The masquerade event was a celebration of having completed Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare is challenging for any group of students – young and old alike)! Students wore their own personally created masks, danced – Elizabethan style, participated in contests, and, of course had many goodies to snack on! It was the perfect way to end the year! – Ms. Collins
Lo qué hicimos este año/A highlight of some activities from class this year…· Creating short stories using the conditional tense, to talk about “Lo que haría si hubiera un animal” (What I would do if I were an animal).
· Examining Spanish and English grammar to practice sentence formation
· Reading excerpts from internet articles, writing responses to a variety of questions, listening to Spanish music, and playing Spanish “Cinco” (Bingo) to increase comprehension
· Listening to and translating Spanish music for practice and new vocabulary
· Practicing the four components of the Spanish Regents Exam: listening, speaking, writing, and reading
· One student had this to say about class: “La clase de español es una experiencia tan buena! Although I come from a Spanish-speaking family, it´s extremely easy to forget all the things you learn speaking Spanish… Spanish class keeps you sharp, aware, and gives you a lot more of proper, spoken Spanish.”
· Textbook materials included Glencoe Spanish Buen Viaje, Nivel 2 textbook and workbook, Let´s Review Spanish, and Barron´s Spanish Regents Exams and Answers
Señorita Janna Dyk