tkent@jcsc.orgEnglish 10 students are working toward mastery of state English 9/10 standards with a focus on close reading of grade appropriate texts (like "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy, "Abolishing the Penny Makes Good Sense" by Alan Blinder, and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson). Students are also gaining proficiency in grammar using new technology and the No Red Ink program with a focus on parallelism, modifiers, and active and passive voice sentence construction. Students are nearly finished learning the 100 targeted vocabulary words with only 10 to go using Quizlet and Socrative programs on their laptops to support their classroom activities. Students continue to write answers to text dependent questions using the ACE format. Students select novels to read each month. Some students are finishing up their 7th book! The ISTEP test is coming on April 17th and students should be ready.
The students in Mrs. Shoultz’s English 11 classes are traveling back to the Roaring Twenties while reading the novel The Great Gatsby. The readers see how the American Dream can affect people who want money, power, and love. Nick Carraway, the narrator, gives readers his perspective on the Buchanans, the Wilsons, and many other characters meshed together to form the complex plot.
Mrs. Thill's English 11 Honors Students are deep into working on the term paper over the McCarthy Era. This era in U.S. History enticed Arthur Miller, the great American writer, to write THE CRUCIBLE to expose to the American public that what happened in the Salem Witch Trials was happening in American politics of the 1950s. This assignment corresponds with American History classes the students are taking at JCHS. Therefore, the two courses are designed to have inter-curriculum purpose. Not only does the assignment serve the purpose of tying the two courses together, the objective is also to teach the students how to organize a major term paper, which the college bound students will have to do in college courses.
After reading Animal Farm by George Orwell, Mr. Terry Furgason’s English 10 Honors class presented a mock trial. The civil action lawsuit was started by Benjamin, the donkey, on behalf of the other non-pig animals that live on Animal Farm (formerly known as Manor farm). The lawsuit alleged that Napoleon (the pig), president and leader of Animal Farm, and the other pigs violated the animals’ civil rights as set forth in the Seven Commandments of Animalism. Following a guilty verdict from the jury, School Resource Office Matt Staples, who presided over the trial, sentenced Napoleon to be sold for market value.
The winning Prosecution Team included Ethan Rice (Prosecutor), Weston Miller (Assistant Prosecutor), Michael Gibson (Benjamin, the donkey), Bryce Kirchner (Boxer, the carthorse), and Erika Kiefer (Muriel, the white goat).
The Defense Team countered with Joshua Downey (Defense Attorney), Peyton Whitehead (Assistant Defense Attorney), Jason Franks (Napoleon, the pig), Justice Watterson (Squealer, the pig), and Arizona Harvey (Mr. Wymper, the human negotiator for the animals).
The case was covered by the Animal Farm News. Staff reporters Annie Ertel and Morgan Gibson related the details of the trial. Sketch Artists Brock Ernstes and Skylar Garris added illustrations to their articles.
Members of the court assured that justice was rendered. Assisted by Bailiff Colton Ebbing and Court Reporter Sydney Burnett, Judge Matt Staples determined the sentence based on the verdict from the jury members Cameron Moore (Foreman), Tyla Roberts, Haley Kipper, Courtney Lykins, and Tyler Henry.
