Fantastic Freshman Experiences
by Drew Madras
Introduction
Hi, my name is Drew Madras. I am a Freshman this year and I would like to tell you a little bit about English 9. I had a really fun year with Mrs. Allen. We did many different fun units that I found very interesting.
The Hunger Games
We read the first book in the Hunger Games series. We read them on a Kindle and read some in class and some at school. We did some fun activities and assignments. At the end, we even got to watch the movie. It was by far one of my favorite units
Romeo and Juliet
We also read the classic Romeo and Juliet. It is hard to understand at first, but Mrs. Allen helps explains it for us. It is a very fun book to read. We did many smaller assignments to help solidify the information.
Monster
Another book that we read is called Monster. It is about a kid named Steve Harmon that was on trial for murder. The neat thing about this book is that it is written as a movie from his perspective. It also has journal entries for us to see what he is thinking. We read it primarily in class and do a packet for it.
The Odyssey
We get to read sections from the famous epic The Odyssey. It is about a hero named Odysseus, appropriately named, and his long journey home from the Trojan war. We watched the movie Troy, as it is what happened to lead up to The Odyssey. We watch parts of the movie version too. It is quite neat and was one of my other favorite unit.
Poetry
My favorite unit by far was poetry. We got to watch a movie about slam poetry. We were able to write our own poem the way we wanted. It is in free form so you don't have to worry about following a strict format. We got to record us saying the poem and had the option to show it to the class.
Book Talks
Throughout the year, you will read various books independently. Instead of doing a boring report, you get to do a book talk. It is the equivalent of a report, but all you have to do is talk with Mrs. Allen or Mrs. Scott for about five minutes. It is very fun and has made me a much better reader.
My "fave"
My "fave," as Mrs. Allen calls it, was the Poetry unit. Like I said above, we got much freedom in what we wanted to do. It provided me with an excellent outlet for self expression.
My "Not So Fave"
My "not so fave" was when we learned about speeches. It wasn't bad, I just feel like it isn't possible to make speeches very fun, even if you are as awesome as Mrs. Allen.
Advice
Read ahead of time! Waiting until the last minute is stressful and doesn't always work. Play it safe and be smart. Get the independent reading done in a timely fashion.
Top 5 Ways To Keep Mrs. Allen Sane
- Don't point out mistakes that she makes. A student in my class did it all the time and I feel as if she is slightly less sane now.
- Do your work.
- Be kind.
- Laugh at her jokes.
- Her jokes are really funny, I swear.
Quote
"To be or not to be."