ACHS English Department

Reach Out and Read

mthompson — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:35:13 +0000

What do high school students and preschoolers have in common? Both are learning about children’s literature. Ms. Nicki Sutherland’s Reading Improvement class has been learning about the importance of reading to young children to coincide with the Reach Out and Read book drive over the last two weeks. The students from this class were able to put their new knowledge to use by reading to the preschool students in Ms. Laura Tielke’s classroom.

Reach Out and Read is a national effort to promote early literacy and school readiness by providing children’s books to families through doctors’ offices. Antioch’s goal is to reach a total of 5,000 book donations for the three years students have been involved with Reach Out and Read.

Access Dickens

johnwhitehurst — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:44:42 +0000

Want to interview Marie Antoinette—before she lost her head? Or ask Charles Dickens about his novels? In preparation for reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Ms. Logan English I Honors classes researched the events and personalities of the French Revolution, and then presented the information in an engaging way.

The group in the video conducted an imaginary television interview with Charlie Dickens and Marie Antoinette. (By the way, Marie is the one with tall blonde wig.) View their presentation to have some fun and learn about history. Click here.

World Literature Presentations

johnwhitehurst — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:02:52 +0000

We all like the freedom to choose. Seniors in Ms. Paul’s and Ms. D’Andrea’s World Literature classes had the freedom to choose an independent novel. After reading the book, they completed a creative project, wrote a critical essay, and presented the book to the class. For the presentation, students described a work of art and music that captured the essence of each character, placing their choices in an interesting, organized format.

Here are excerpts from Kyrie Brown’s speech on True Notebooks by Mark Salzman, Brennan Casey on Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Valerie Martin on My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Valerie enjoyed the project: “Including the music and art gave everyone the chance to corporate their personality… It was definitely fun to hear the kinds of music my classmates listen to.” Click here to watch part of Brennan’s presentation.

Rhyming with Taylor

johnwhitehurst — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:07:47 +0000

If you want to be a rhyming sophomore,

Just step through Ms. Taylor’s door…

To give her sophomores a feel for sound in poetry, Ms. Taylor has her students get out of their desks, stand in a circle, and perform a poem. She wants to get her students out of their comfort zone, to have them “feel” rhyme and rhythm, and to prepare them to write their own poems. Students enjoyed getting out of their seats and gained an appreciation for how and why poets use sound. “It was very hands-on and a lot better than sitting in a desk,” said Serenity Rentsch. “It helped me appreciate the way Shakespeare wrote poetry and the difficulty of writing sonnets.”

Click here for a short video of the students in action.

Institute Day

mthompson — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:24:24 +0000

English department teachers spent the bulk of the institute day on January 15 reviewing student achievement goals, discussing differentiation, and examining strategies for teaching writing. Data from semester exams helped to spark the discussions. Teachers also considered modifications in the curriculum as part of the ongoing process of evaluating the content of English courses at Antioch High School.

English Department Blog Is Now Active

mthompson — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:19:17 +0000

With this blog, the English Department will aim to keep students and parents informed about the good things happening in the classrooms of our school. News items will appear both on the English Department web page and on the main blog site. We hope that this feature will be a positive contribution to our web presence.