October 2015 Blog
English Language Arts
Grade 7
 Reading 7: Melissa Nonack
o Throughout the month of October students continued to work on their Interactive Notebooks.
Interactive notebooks are used for class notes, as well as for other activities where the student
will be asked to express his/her own ideas and process the information presented in class.
Students completed several Close Reading activities throughout the month. Close Reading is a
central focus of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It requires students to get truly
involved with the text they are reading. The purpose is to teach them to notice features and
language used by the author. Students are required to think thoroughly and methodically about
the details in a text. We ended the month by reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Students
had the opportunity to create a flip book that focused on the main characters in the story and on
plot diagram. Plot Diagrams are essential for building literary comprehension and appreciation.
Plot diagrams allow students to: pick out major themes in the text, trace changes to major
characters over the course of the narrative, and hone their analytic skills

English 7: Jackie Scheidler
o During the month of October, we focused on a STEM project. The students were reminded of
the story of the 3 Little Pigs and were tasked with budgeting for materials to design and build a
house that could withstand the force of the Big Bad Wolfe (a hairdryer). The students then
worked to actually build their houses. Once we tested all of the houses, the students were given
the opportunity to calculate the worth of the their houses and attempt to sell their houses by
creating a persuasive advertisement that involved a picture of their house. The students focused
on using transition words to explain how they built their houses, and they also included
persuasive language. The students were very enthusiastic and successful.
Grade 8
 Reading 8: April Egal
o In both Literature 8 and Advanced Literature 8, the students have been working on their close
reading skills while reading fiction and nonfiction. Students have analyzed the mood of fiction
and how the author created suspense through word choice, tone, characterization, and dramatic
irony.

English 8: Jamie Smith
o During the month of October, we wrote suspenseful stories based on a chosen picture. Character
development and plot techniques were emphasized. We developed these stories using
Chromebooks and Google Classroom. We learned how to manage our Google Drives and utilize
Google Classroom to maintain our assignments. Sharing documents and commenting on peer
work showed us how to help one another virtually. We also talked about what goes into an
informative essay and created an example explaining the characteristics of a hero.
Grade 9
 English 9: Matt Grove
o Areas of focus in October have been the continued application and review of the principles of
and expectations connected to the establishment of our classroom environment, the continued
review of the parts of speech, a switch to non-fiction writing based on connections to literary
themes, the continued study of vocabulary, and the continuation of the “Moments of Discovery”
literature unit. The elements of fiction including plot, theme, symbolism, characterization,
conflict, setting, and point –of-view were studied extensively through the reading, analysis,
discussion, and advanced study of the William Stafford poem Fifteen and the Cynthia Rylant
short story “Checkouts”. The importance of parts of speech mastery and contextual usage was a
focus during the study of the twenty terms in Chapters 3-4 and we again worked on completing
practice exercises, crossword puzzles, identifying synonyms and antonyms, forming connections
between the meanings and our personal experiences and opinions, and constructing original
sentences using each term in perfect context. We also introduced online resources to help with
vocabulary studies.

Honors English 9: Ann Marler
o Independent reading testing via teacher subjective interviewing was done individually on
student's time. Do Now class starters continue for one point for each as a participation point and
collected at the end of each week. The reading of articles from journals on abandonment and
Antebellum marriage and Poe's "The Black Cat" and two poems were read and analyzed with
some introduction to "The Cask of Amontillado." Word study work continues with expressions
and usage (literal, figurative, connotations, nuances, colloquialisms, etc) with an evaluation after
much practice within Unit 1 of vocabulary.
Grade 10
 English 10: Susan Pusateri
o Students have been engaged in multiple-readings and discussions of the short story “By the
Waters of Babylon,” by Steven Vincent Benet. Through these readings and discussions, students
have used a variety of strategies, including analyzing literary devices and elements, to
comprehend the story. Students also worked on sentence combining using various types of
conjunctions.

Honors English 10: Ann Marler
o Independent reading testing via publisher's tests was done individually on student's time. Do
Now class starters continue for one point for each as a participation point and collected at the end
of each week. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, as read independently and aloud in parts in class,
has had assignments and evaluations on the literary and poetic elements, as well as the writing
style and story elements to the end of Act IV.
Grade 11
 English 11: Kourtney Mollis
o Students finished their study of American slave narratives and chose one of the following
assignments: compose an analytical paper or a PowerPoint presentation on an independently read
novel. Thus, time was spent this month observing/delivering student presentations and engaging
in a question session after each. Additionally, students began studying the gothic genre by using
prior knowledge to identify defining characteristics of gothic literature and by analyzing other
less familiar traits; students developed more accessible definitions for the terms uncanny,
grotesque, and fantastic by exploring dense explanations of these words. Students ultimately
applied these defining characteristics to a gothic example in preparation of their reading two
different texts from the same genre.
o In addition to practicing analogies and finishing their study of American slave narratives,
students chose one of the following assignments: compose an analytical paper or a PowerPoint
presentation on an independently read novel. Thus, time was spent this month composing and
observing/delivering student presentations and engaging in a question session after each.
Furthermore, students began studying the gothic genre by using prior knowledge to identify
defining characteristics of gothic literature and by analyzing other less familiar traits. Students
applied these defining characteristics to a gothic example in preparation of reading two different
texts from the same genre.

Honors English 11: Kourtney Mollis
o Students finished their study of American slave narratives and chose one of the following
assignments: compose an analytical paper or a PowerPoint presentation on an independently read
novel. Thus, time was spent this month observing/delivering student presentations and engaging
in a question session after each. Additionally, students began studying the gothic genre by using
prior knowledge to identify defining characteristics of gothic literature and by analyzing other
less familiar traits; students developed more accessible definitions for the terms uncanny,
grotesque, and fantastic by exploring dense explanations of these words. Students ultimately
applied these defining characteristics to a gothic example in preparation of their reading two
different texts from the same genre.
Grade 12
 English 12: Andrea Zupancic (Melissa Pottinger)
o In September, the English 12 students finished up our mythology unit by reading "Atalanta" and
"The Flower Myths", and they took a test on those two myths, as well as The Odyssey.
Afterward, they immediately moved into the next unit titled "From Legend to History." The
students read "The Seafarer" and answered questions discussing the idea of being torn between
two places, its basic themes, and the cultural shift that was happening when this poem was
written. They also read The Canterbury Tales: Prologue and The Canterbury Tales: The
Pardoner's Tale, focusing on themes and author's purpose. We discussed how "The Pardoner's
Tale" touches on the same themes that are discussed in literature today. We have had focused on
history, language, and customs during this time period.

Honors English 12: Andrea Zupancic (Melissa Pottinger)
o In September, the Honors English 12 students wrapped up our mythology unit by reading
"Atalanta" and "The Flower Myths". They took a test on The Odyssey and the aforementioned
myths. The students wrote an essay discussing why Atalanta and Odysseus are considered heroes
throughout their stories, and they chose a contemporary hero who is a public figure. The students
discussed the similarities and differences between all three heroes. After we wrapped that unit
up, students began their next unit titled "From Legend to History". They read "The Seafarer" and
answered questions discussing its themes of Christianity and the cultural shift that was
happening when this poem was written. They also read The Canterbury Tales: Prologue and The
Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale. They finished the month by beginning to complete a
project in which they can create their own pilgrimage, a fake Facebook profile for one of the
characters from The Canterbury Tales: Prologue, a travel brochure for the pilgrimage from
London to Canterbury, or a series of drawings of 6 of the characters we read about with an
explanation of their artistic decisions. We have had a heavy focus in history and learning about
the language and customs during this time period.

AP English Literature and Composition: Susan Pusateri
o Students have been engaged in guided activities designed to show them how to approach the AP
exam.
Electives:
 Introduction to Manual Communications and Manual Communications I: Ann Marler
o We are studying number-related words, Halloween holiday words, times of the day, and
prepositions; reading and finger-spelling 7 letter words, and empathizing, analyzing, and
commenting as we observe the raising of a deaf child by hearing parents through the nonfiction
work on VHS of Mr. Holland's Opus.
o The end of the first rotation concluded with the learning of nearly 200 words, three songs,
numbers 0-99, and the alphabet for fingerspelling anything they made need to communicated.
Much like that of the first rotation, the second rotation is learning words that are current to the
time of the year to start in vocabulary (The first rotation was spirit-bound as this one is
Halloween driven.). We are also learning to sign, fingerspell, and interpret the manual alphabet.
This class is very curious about hearing and deafness, so to give them what they crave, I have
used multi-media to show them how sound works and the appearance and function.

Speech: Kourtney Mollis
o Students composed and delivered creative speeches based on visual images, focused their
attention on eliminating verbal pauses and developing powerful introductions/conclusions in
impromptu speeches, and began narrowing topics and researching for persuasive speeches.

Media: Matt Grove
o Areas of focus in October have been a combination of the development of journalistic principles
of story construction and editing for the school’s news Announcement Show “The Devils Do”
and the advanced production and editing of videos using professional-grade equipment and
software. We continued the analysis of professional and amateur projects, brainstorming
activities, one-on-one work meetings, and the practice of applying advancing skills to a series of
news segments. Students completed the personal, team and peer editing of the news segments
and premiered the first episode of the new show to the student body, faculty and staff on
Wednesday, October 28. The Public Service Announcement production has advanced as students
have started writing scripts and developing and executing detailed video shot plans. The planning
for the second episode of “The Devils Do” has started and students have selected their specific
assignments, identified goals, started writing interview questions, and have begun developing
and executing detailed video shot plans. Topics for the second episode include a review of all of
the fall sports’ seasons, an update on the changes in the cafeteria’s recycling and menu offerings,
features on new faculty members, a preview of the Student Council’s auction benefitting The
Caring Team, a series of video game and movie reviews, a highlight of the Halloween and Day
of the Dead festivities in Mrs. Baillie’s Design and Foods classes and Senora’s Spanish classes,
and a feature on Burgettstown students attending Western Area Career and Technology Center.
The individual, creative project selection process was introduced and students will be developing
and producing a feature story on a topic of each individual’s choice.

Poetry (S2)