Back to School Night

Thank you for coming!

We are partners in your student's education:

jzartler@pps.net 

ZartlerSophomoreEnglish.blogspot.com

Reading; Writing; Speaking; Thinking:

Lord of the Flies; Macbeth; Night (research paper during this unit); Persepolis.


Proficiency Grading: What a student knows and can do is most important; trying to learn and meeting reasonable deadlines regularly is important, too.


Syllabus including full grading policy, accommodations, etc., will be available on my staff webpage beginning later this week (awaiting approval).

Back to School Night: Last weeks letter

I am Jamie Zartler, and I currently get to teach your child Sophomore English.

I want to share with you the most important information for success in my class.

Contacting me via email is generally fast and effective; my email is jzartler@pps.net You can also phone me at 503.916.5160 x75-700 but, you will often here back sooner from an email.

I keep a blog to help students (and their families) keep track of what is going on in class. Most days I post what happened in class. Assignments and due dates are generally posted when assigned. The blog will not substitute for a student being in class, however.

My blog address ishttp://ZartlerSophomoreEnglish.blogspot.com/

My syllabus, which includes grading policies, and other details about class is available on my school staff page athttp://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/grant/835.htmIf there is no current link to the syllabus, it will be present again in a day.

The most important thing to understand about grading in my classes is that I try to grade students primarily on proficiency. Proficiency is the successful demonstration of skills and knowledge. 75% of a student’s letter grade is based on their demonstration of skills and knowledge. Often students can make a second (and VERY rarely additional) attempt(s) to demonstrate their proficiency. 15% of a student’s grade is based on them demonstrating the skills of successful students (and workers) e.g. meeting deadlines for work, working in successfully in groups, coming prepared; most of the “points” in this category however are based on meeting deadlines in order that there is little subjectivity around awarding them. 10% of a students grade is based on their doing the “formative” work (e.g. homework, etc.) that helps them learn.

Perhaps I will see you this coming Monday, September 21st at 6:00 at our Open House.

If not, I hope to be in contact with you about the success of your son or daughter at some point soon. If you have any concerns about their success, or lack of success, please reach out to me by email or phone.

Thank you,

Jamie Zartler

Friday, 18 September

Students in different periods approached the following activities in different orders, but ALL students should have completed the following activities by class next Tuesday, 22 September.

Essay self evaluation:
     Did you like the assigned topic?
     What do you think of your essay?
     What would like feedback on?
     Does this essay represent your best writing?

Finish Chapter 1 "The Sound of the Shell" in Lord of the Flies

Write for 9 minutes on the prompt: "Rules: Are rules good or bad?"

Begin reading Chapter 2 "Fire on the Mountain"

Review PSAT booklet and put in planner that October 14th sophomores will be taking the PSAT.

Students also examined the titles of the various chapters of Lord of the Flies and noted that fire; a beast, darkness, and painted faces are likely important symbols to keep watching for.

Tuesday, class will begin with a 7-5-3 event activity.

Wednesday, 16 September

Class notes:

HOMEWORK: The essay responding to the prompt: "Is human nature good or evil?" Is due on Friday (next class). Students who wish to conference with Mr. Zartler first, may attend tutorial on Friday afternoon,  and then turn in the essay on Tuesday instead.

Class began with a review of the importance of key words in organizing an essay. Students did a variety of excercises on their own and in small groups to review and revise their essay. Students wrote a "So what?" answer about their essay.

Mr. Zartler discussed the form of an essay: the introduction narrows the topic; the thesis defines the topic; the conclusion expands the topic by explaining "so what" that is, how does this essay pertain to life.



The class also spent time considering the idea of symbolism using the illustrations in the previous post and others. 

Notes on Symbolism for 16 September

When you see this image,

what do you think of?

Is this image that thing or those things?

Here is another photo of an animal? 

Does this photo convey a message to you?

This painting is called a vanitas painting. 

This one is by Pieter Claeszoon who painted it in 1625.

If this painting is an allegory (and I'm pretty sure that it is),

What moral is Claeszoon suggesting. Why do you think that?

Monday, 14 September

After checking on homework completion, class reviewed last week's studies.

Mr. Zartler presented notes on "Organizing your thoughts:" Clear organization in an essay is necessary to help guide a reader through your argument.  Repetition of KEY WORDS is a fantastic (and necessary) way to do this.

The class then did a variety of exercises designed to practice use of key words in body paragraph topic sentences of  to improve the thesis and evidence statements that students completed for homework. Students had time to create excellent body paragraph topic sentences in class with coaching from Mr. Zartler.

HOMEWORK: Students are to bring a rough draft of an essay responding to the prompt: "Are humans good or evil" to next class on Wednesday.

Mr. Zartler then introduced Lord of the Flies as an allegorical novel (one which uses symbols to share a moral or political point).

Symbols to watch out for in the novel include: conch; island; "Lord of the Flies;" children; adults / grown ups; scar; asthma; pigs; eye glasses.

Students had time to begin reading the novel in class.

Thursday, 10 September

Class began with Mr. Zartler checking homework from last class.

Next students formed into "expert" groups based on the article they studied. Students shared their analysis and questions about how the story that they analyzed provided evidence that people are either good or evil (or for some other conclusion).

Expert groups shared their conclusions with the class (see photos below).

Next students recorded their current thoughts on the question of human nature. Heterogeneous groups formed and discussed these statements and questions.

HOMEWORK for Monday
Students were asked to write a sentence answering one of their questions or to write what they are thinking as a clear statement with context, e.g., "I believe that the terrorist attack on the Paris train in August provides clear evidence that human nature is both good and evil."

This sentence is the tentative thesis statement for a short essay due next week.

Students should identify the key words in this thesis statement: I believe that the terrorist attack on the Paris train in August provides clear evidence that human nature is both good and evil.

Next students should identify at least three pieces of information that support their thesis. For each piece of information they should write a sentence or two that explains how this information supports their thesis.

This is due on Monday.