Welcome+Back

Dear Students and Parents:

Welcome back to Shaw High School 2016 - 2017 school year. The school year will be filled with a great deal of work for students in English II. Along with reviewing previously learned material, we will be learning new skills which your son or daughter will find challenging and sometimes frustrating. This year MCSD has again changed its curriculum. This new curriculum will be challenging for students and teachers alike, I ask that you be patient as we transition to this new material as we try to work out the bugs. As you may or may not know there is no end-of-course test for this English course, so we take this opportunity to help students prepare for multitude of tests they must take during their high school career. The state has implemented a new series of tests called Student Growth Measure (SGM) for all classes that do not have an end of course test. The SGM which will be administered twice during the year. The first test will be within the first ten days of class and the second will be towards the end of year. In order to help prepare your son or daughter we will work on developing reading comprehension, problem solving, and writing skills - taking your child(ren) from where they are to the next level.

In this class students will be work from an assigned text book and a Close Reader workbook. As we do so we will discuss the elements story writers use to make the tales flow and keep them interesting. These same elements are also found in novels - they are just more thoroughly developed. It is imperative students complete the reading assignments in order for them to get the most out of the lessons presented in class. All reading material is subject to pop-quizzes when students enter the classroom. It is imperative students keep up with the reading assignments. With the implementation of the Common Core Curriculum I have discovered the students can read the words; however, they do struggle with comprehension, inference and interpretation.

Students will continue to work on the writing process. Students will review what has been previously learned and will add new information to this foundation. The writing process, just like writing itself, is a developing skill requiring practice to become proficient. Students have learned, previously, how to conduct research. In this class students will learn the importance of pre-writing through the preparation of research cards, outlines, rough drafts, and the importance of editing and revising. We will discuss and practice supporting our ideas with evidence from the texts. All writing and literature assignments are weighted heavily on students' grades and must be completed on time. This is a good place to let everyone know that **plagiarism** is unacceptable in this class and will result in a zero that cannot be made-up.

The students will review what we have already learned in years past to reinforce the foundation we will use in English II. We will cover grammar in detail and how to use words effectively in writing and for analysis and interpretation of reading material. The new curriculum requires students to develop analytical skills necessary for problem solving, interpreting text, and making inferences based on evidence. This evidence is presented in the text and is written at grade level - in some instances the reading material is quite challenging and must be read more than once for students to understand what the author is saying. On this web site I will a weekly calendar of events what we are doing day by day and what assignments will be used to assess student growth. We will begin the work in the classroom but students will be required to finish the work at home. Students will be allotted time to work in class, but each piece of text has new challenges and requirements. Students will be expected to be responsible for their learning and work completion. Late work may be accepted on remediation days; however, never for the full value of the assignment. Each piece read in the class will have a technical vocabulary and a critical vocabulary. Students will be responsible for defining the words and for completing all vocabulary exercises. **Students will have homework every night; this homework comes from the student's classwork not completed in class**. It is up to them how long it will take them to complete the work and may need parental guidance to help them manage their study time..

When we begin writing students must remember writing is a work in progress. This means it can and should be changed and improved until the deadline date. Students cannot wait until the last minute to write and earn a passing grade. Planning is important to becoming an effective writer. Students will be required to do the necessary pre-writing work in order to gather the necessary data to write. Writing is a difficult task for some; however, we cannot allow the students to give up before they begin. Parents it is imperative you insist and assist your students in developing a homework study schedule and insure that they follow it to help them to achieve success. Parents must be involved in order for a student to achieve success with the writing process.

I will work hard to keep this web site up to date and ask that you bear with me. I encourage each parent to check this site regularly to see what your child should be working on and when the work is due. I also encourage you to use the parent portal to keep up with your child's grade in all of his/her classes. If you have not received your log-in and password please see Ms. Hemmings, the assistant principal. Again, I want to welcome all of you to my English II class for 2016-2017 school year.

Parents, I enjoy face-to-face conferences because so much more can be accomplished this way versus the telephone. I will contact you via email to request a conference and I will give you open dates I have at the time. Telephones are so impersonal and I believe the student (your son or daughter) is important enough to rate a face-to-face conference. I usually make my own conferences, yet, if you wish a conference with me please email me using my school email, I will return the email as soon as I can (usually within 24 hours). If you wish to schedule a conference through the guidance office you may do this also.

I would ask everyone to understand that changes within Muscogee County School District will present challenges to everyone. Remember MCSD is on its second year of the seven period day.The schedule will continue to challenge the teachers and the students. Remember the students have doubled the number of classes they attend each day and will need help developing a viable study schedule, and teachers will be delivering instruction to twice as many classes and twice as many students. In order for the year to progress with as few glitches as possible communication is important. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me, the success of **all** of the students is my priority. I can be contacted via the school website. To do this go to Shaw's web site go to faculty and find my name you can click on the email address and send me concerns. I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mr. Braman

//Print and sign this page and have your son or daughter return it by the due date for bonus points.//