Final Week of the 1st grading period!

The school year is flying by and we are already bringing our first quarter to a close!  Students took a test over "The Cask of Amontillado" today and had a one-paragraph essay response to finish as a take home element of the test.  The essay is due on Monday.  Grades officially close on Friday and we will have just a few more items entered into the grade book next week.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about final grades!

If you missed the previous post, please also take advantage of Remind101 to stay in touch with what we're up to in the classroom!  

Remind 101

In my continued attempt to best keep in touch with students and parents, I have opened a new account using Remind 101.  This website allows me to send out text message reminders to students and parents without compromising any personal information.  The text message will only go one way (students cannot respond) and I cannot see phone numbers of students, only the names of those who have enrolled.  Please check out the document below if you would like to enroll in Remind 101 as well!  I'm excited about this new means of communication!

Hope you're enjoying a beautiful Sunday!  

How to sign up for Remind 101

Short Story #2: "The Cask of Amontillado"

Last Friday we read one of Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tales, "The Cask of Amontillado."  

On Monday students worked with a partner to create their own textual questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy- Higher Order Thinking.  Today they did an amazing job leading their own small groups through a discussion on the story!  It was fantastic to see the groups at work today!  Wednesday we are on an alternate schedule for various tests at the high school and Thursday students will quiz over their Cask vocabulary and work on the concept of Irony within this story.

It is a short week, but we have kept very busy! I am continually impressed by the students ability to grasp higher order thinking skills and to venture outside of the box!  :)  

Short Story #1: "The Utterly Perfect Murder"

This week we began our short story unit with Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Utterly Perfect Murder."  Students worked on vocabulary, literary terms, and discussion questions on this story.  Monday we will have our class discussion and our quiz will be Wednesday.  For anyone who was absent, or did not finish the story in class- Here is a link to the online text-

Utterly Perfect Murder TEXT

Have a GREAT Homecoming weekend!  :) 

Parent Conferences

It's that time of year already!  This year for conferences we are changing the format a little.  

From 5-7:30 you may select a time to meet with me individually about your student's progress.  Conferences will be scheduled in 15 minute increments.  Please e-mail me (or call) to set up a conference time.  

From 7:30 to 8:30 there are no scheduled appointment times, so you may feel free to just stop in at your convenience!  I look forward to seeing you then!  

Please e-mail me at cf_mihalyov@cfalls.org