The Hughes News
Sophomore Honors English Newsletter ~ June 2018
THE GREAT AMERICAN READ Program (PBS)
Our Final Exam
Final Exams are upon us, and in case the teenager in your life hasn't filled you in, our English Final consists of two parts: an essay and a Seminar.
THE ESSAY
The essay, which centers around The Great Gatsby, is due in Turnitin by midnight on Wednesday, June 13th. And because of how long these take to grade, no late essays will be accepted. I shared the guidelines and the rubric with your student at the beginning of June, and your student is aware of this strict deadline.
THE SEMINAR
The other 50% of the exam is a Seminar that will take place on Exam Day. It will start out as a small-group discussion at their tables (first about a favorite read and then moving into their growth as readers and writers) and end with a whole-class discussion (about The Great Gatsby). I shared the guidelines and the rubric for this portion of the exam at the beginning of June as well.
Nothing to Do?
And HERE are 100 ideas that the whole family can do together this summer!
One nasty summer habit in the Hughes Casa is for my kids to sleep the mornings away and then plop down in front of a device. Tired of fighting, I turned to the internet and stumbled onto a post like THIS ONE. So, we sat down with the kids and came up with THIS LIST of non-negotiables that need to happen before a device gets turned on. Every summer we revise the list. It results in fewer fights (because the expectations are clear and because the kids helped create the list) and more productive teens. Ish.
And if your teenager is still bored, HERE is a list of skills all students need to be able to do on their own before they head off to college--in two years! (Sorry.) With only two summers left, this could be the summer for your student to begin chipping away at these life skills.
Summer Reading 2018
This year's Summer Reading program will require your student to enjoy FOUR* books. One title must come directly from a list of S.T.E.A.M. books (i.e., books that relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and/or Math). The other three titles are entirely up to your reader! (You had me at "choice.") Students will discuss these books during the first week of school. The details for this year's program can be found at WakefieldReads.org. Bookmark it now to return to later.
If your student needs ideas for the three choice titles, encourage him/her to check out Goodreads, PBS' The Great American Read Top 100 list, Time Magazine's list of the Best Young Adult Books of All Time, and/or Common Sense Media's list of Award-Winning Books for Teens.
*Note: If your student signed up for AP English next year, one of the three books must be Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Details for the other AP English assignments will be shared at the mandatory AP meeting on Monday, June 11th.
A Summer WRITING Program?
Granted, as I shared at Back to School Night and in previous issues of this newsletter, reading is the number one way for students to improve their writing. It's even more beneficial than writing itself!
However, writing is another great way to boost their skills, too. This year, your student not only wrote and revised one major essay each term (which is what is required in every English class). Your student also published monthly book reviews online, emulated writers' tools in class, performed routine ten- and fifteen-minute writing bursts (i.e., "Quick-Writes") in Google Classroom, and published regularly to their Passion Blogs. While it meant a whole lot of extra grading for Teacher Lady, regular writing really is where it's at.
On our (anonymous) End-of-the-Year Survey, two comments validated all of the extra work the students and I did this year. See their comments below.
STUDENT #1: With the mix of book reviews, blog posts, essays, and quick writes, I wrote a lot more frequently and thought of ideas for future assignments easier.
STUDENT #2: Unlike my previous English teachers, Ms. Hughes took it upon herself to teach me tools that could actually benefit my writing for both professional and unprofessional writing. I know how I am supposed to format and how my tone is supposed to sound in an English MCAS essay compared to personal story I am writing.
However, studies show that when we don't use skills--in any discipline--we lose them. (This applies to us adults, too. Let's just say that my piano-playing was a bit more impressive pre-kids!) My wish for the students is for them to continue--this summer and beyond--all of the fabulous, real-world publishing they've been doing all year! I'll be encouraging them to continue posting reviews on Goodreads to help other readers (they can be short and sweet since Teacher Lady won't be grading them anymore!) and to continue posting to their Passion Blogs. (Again, blog posts can be shorter, too!) And a third option is to just practice writing for themselves. No audience. No rubric. Just practice, practice, practice. HERE is a list of 55 prompts that teenagers can use in their routine writing. I'll be encouraging your writer to set aside time each week this summer to just write.
THE METAPHOR
The students learned what a metaphor is back in elementary school (i.e., a comparison of two unlike things without using "like" or "as"). However, infusing them into their writing is a different story. The students know them. They can identify them. They just don't use them. In that vein, after looking at some fabulous examples in literature, the students set out to make this sophisticated technique their own. Take a look at some of their publishing!
- My brain was a puddle; leaking out of my mouth and dripping all over the floor.
- Her smile took on the brightness of the sun.
- The silk of her voice poured past her lips.
- She was steel. Strong and proud and holding up the world on her own.
- The curtains of his eyes were drawn as he began to fall asleep.
- A smooth river of lyrics flowed from her mouth, and it sounded heavenly.
- She brought a storm wherever she went, chaos and lightning following her every move.
- Her voice was like honey, her smile, a sunbeam. Her personality was sweet lemonade on a summer day.
- She was the moon, the stars, even the whole solar system to him.
- My grades are drowning in a sea of procrastination.
- Your team is five fingers; my team is a hand.
How to Contact Me
Email: beth.hughes@wpsk12.org
Website: msbethhughes.org
Location: Wakefield Memorial High School, Farm Street, Wakefield, MA, United States
Phone: (781) 246-6440
Twitter: @msbethhughes