Mrs. Mendoza's Blog

Our first class writing project in Secondary One was to, using Wendy Ewald's The Best Part of Me as a mentor text, write about our own favorite features. We also began working with photography and photo editing with this project. Our final books are now for sale on a self-publishing website, Blurb.com! Check out the preview below. (We are not making a profit on these books - the cost on Blurb is the lowest we can make it). If you would like to purchase a copy of our book, please  click here  to purchase on Blurb. The Best Part of Me By HYSA Secondary One

What better way to take advantage of our new classroom than to fill up the walls with student work? Today in A Level English Language, we discussed the final episode of our study of Serial , a podcast that takes twelve episodes to investigate a crime and tell a compelling story. We've studied features of narrative nonfiction, using evidence (both physical and circumstantial) to support an argument, use of ethos, pathos, and logos, and author's craft in constructing an engaging show. Instead of a more traditional discussion that, while certainly valuable, can favor more extroverted personalities, we spent 20 minutes in total silence (and they really did respect the silent atmosphere!). The students used this time to share questions that they had created and then respond to other students' questions. (I adapted our structure from this stellar teacher's website .) One aspect of today's discussion that worked particularly well was that the students w...

The title of our novel, Station Eleven , comes from a fictional graphic novel that serendipitously ties together the book's many characters, times, and plotlines. Today, we studied graphic novels as a literary medium. Our classroom all ready for students to choose their graphic novel for the day The students chose a graphic novel, began reading it, and then analyzed their choice as a literature. Happily reading away A room full of readers Getting comfortable on our flexible seating arrangement If you or your students are interested in some further reading, here are some graphic novels I recommend for middle grade readers. Anything by Raina Telgemeier Roller Girl Around the World Bluffton Monster on the Hill A Wrinkle in Time A Midsummer Night's Dream (this is one of the Shakespeare plays referenced in Station Eleven !)