Welcome to the official newsletter for all things Language Arts and Mr. Goldhammer. The purpose of this newsletter is simple: to allow parents and guardians a way to stay informed about their student's Language Arts experience and to promote involvement in his/her education. This newsletter is updated regularly and should be a great way to finally get an answer to that dreaded "what'd you learn at school today" question students so cleverly try to avoid. As "Hey Parents!" is a bit of an experiment, be sure to pass on any comments or suggestions that you may have. Enjoy.
February 24
Sun, Feb 24 2008 03:49
Well, it's been a while, but the Hey Parents! Newsletter is back up and running smoothly. Unfortunately, I ran into some computer issues right after conferences...and, as I'm sure many of you discovered, this portion of the site was down right when you yourself were trying to log on and stay up to date. The good news though, is that after switching webservers, losing a hard drive, and basically having to rebuild the innards of the website from scratch, I think everything is finally stable and ready for regular updating. Let's get to it...
Next, let's move on to Creative Writing. For many of the parents and guardians from this bunch, this is most likely your first time logging on to the newsletter. Let me start by saying welcome! Since open house and conferences do very little for 2nd semester-only classes, I'll use this post as a quick introduction to the course. In a nutshell, Creative Writing is all about giving students the opportunity to branch out from the formal essay writing they are so used to and to provide students with a chance to come up with written works that are personal, expressive, and wholly unique. What I love about this class, is that for many of them, creative writing has been absent from their curriculum since middle school. While it sometimes takes a few weeks for some of them to warm up to the idea, it's absolutely fantastic to watch these students find their voice and start writing beyond the boundaries of a 5-paragraph essay.
Sophomores have definitely been busy. The past few weeks have
been spent analyzing novels and developing writing skills. After working for a number of weeks on A Separate Peace and Their Eyes were Watching God, we've just finished up Lord of the Flies. We've spent quite a bit of time tearing this book apart and really digging beneath its surface. There have been some great class discussions and I think I can honestly say that nearly every student is a big fan of this novel. Currently, you've probably seen your student working hard on a creative project of sorts that seeks to demonstrate a masterful understanding of symbolism in the novel. It's due later this week and should be nice opportunity for him/her to take a quick break from essay writing and produce an insightful and thought-provoking project.
...However, that is not to say that this is an extended hiatus from formal essays. Over the next few weeks, all of the LA 10ers will be diving into a WASL boot-camp that has been designed to get everyone familiar and comfortable with the upcoming reading and writing WASL next month. While the test itself should not pose too much of an obstacle for the vast majority of honors students, it is always a good idea to get some practice with high-stakes testing. From the WASL and the SATs to potential AP tests next year, this style of testing is something that your student will definitely be dealing with over the next few years. The next two weeks will be all about strategies, techniques, and practice to get them prepared for what's to come.
Next, let's move on to Creative Writing. For many of the parents and guardians from this bunch, this is most likely your first time logging on to the newsletter. Let me start by saying welcome! Since open house and conferences do very little for 2nd semester-only classes, I'll use this post as a quick introduction to the course. In a nutshell, Creative Writing is all about giving students the opportunity to branch out from the formal essay writing they are so used to and to provide students with a chance to come up with written works that are personal, expressive, and wholly unique. What I love about this class, is that for many of them, creative writing has been absent from their curriculum since middle school. While it sometimes takes a few weeks for some of them to warm up to the idea, it's absolutely fantastic to watch these students find their voice and start writing beyond the boundaries of a 5-paragraph essay.Currently, we've been spending some time working on descriptive writing (be sure to ask your student what The Fruit Journal is all about) and are slowly making our way on to dealing with setting and place. Although it may be tough to believe, your student is writing creatively every day and sharing his/her works with the entire class...make sure you ask to see some of the pieces they've come up with--I'm blown away every day by the complexity and brilliance of what these juniors/seniors have to say.
As for Freshmen, after finishing up Animal Farm and also The Odyssey, your student has been hard at work on his/her writing as well as his/her ability to decipher, analyze, and interpret difficult texts. Our work with Animal Farm lead the class to all sorts of interesting conversations about government and human nature, and The Odyssey got everyone thinking about epic adventure and how the genre has evolved into what we see in modern films and literature. Your student is definitely an expert on the classic Greek tale and has even spent some time picking out allusions and references in modern works (namely, the Coen brothers' O' Brother Where Art Thou?...which we watched in class for its direct ties to The Odyssey).
Next, we will take about a week or two break from any specific piece of literature and jump into a new persuasive writing unit that should help strengthen everyone's writing and help your student prepare for the WASL. Although much of our class time will be spent working with this specific form of writing, I do think I should stop and mention that your student should be hard at work on 2 specific things:
-rewriting his/her Animal Farm essay (due Tuesday 2/26)
-and, working on their final Odyssey project (due Tuesday 3/4)
Both are assignments that they've had for a few weeks and are hopefully not saving until the last minute. The Odyssey project in particular is a big one and they've hopefully had a chance to get started...be sure to ask your student what his/her plans are for pulling it all together--the due date is surely bound to sneak up on a few.
As always, if there are any questions or concerns about any class, be sure to contact me directly so we can chat. Be sure to check back often (every 2 weeks or so) and thanks for reading!
Til' next time,
Til' next time,
Eric Goldhammer
February 1
Fri, Feb 1 2008 09:45
Parents! Guardians!
Just wanted to let everyone know that the Hey Parents! newsletter is not dead! I've had some major issues with the program I used to build the site and have had essentially had to rebuild a few things from scratch...this section particularly, has given me quite the runaround. It's taken tons of work (especially since I don't really know too much about webdesign) to get it back and running. The good news though is that am I just now getting to the point where I can start posting under this section again. I know at conferences I promised all sorts of regular updates and info; rest assured, it will definitely be here...a little late, but it's on its way. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for 2nd semester updates and all sorts of exiting stuff. If you need to get in touch, please feel free to call or email. Again, sorry for the delay and thanks for hanging in there!
Eric Goldhammer
Language Arts Teacher
Mount Si High School
Just wanted to let everyone know that the Hey Parents! newsletter is not dead! I've had some major issues with the program I used to build the site and have had essentially had to rebuild a few things from scratch...this section particularly, has given me quite the runaround. It's taken tons of work (especially since I don't really know too much about webdesign) to get it back and running. The good news though is that am I just now getting to the point where I can start posting under this section again. I know at conferences I promised all sorts of regular updates and info; rest assured, it will definitely be here...a little late, but it's on its way. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for 2nd semester updates and all sorts of exiting stuff. If you need to get in touch, please feel free to call or email. Again, sorry for the delay and thanks for hanging in there!
Eric Goldhammer
Language Arts Teacher
Mount Si High School