Hale's Tales

School is flying by and going very well! All classes are accomplishing a great deal and working very hard!

Spanish I – These first two weeks the 8th graders are learning about the verb SER, agreement in plurals and gender, and how to tell time.

AP English III students are reading The Crucible in class and the Red Badge of Courage outside class.

Both English I and Adv English I are beginning the study of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Art class is learning about the elements of art – line, color, value, shape, form, space, texture.  They just finished up a project on Illumination and are working on a line element project using one continuous piece of wire to create a wire sculpture of a person caught in an activity.

Exciting things are happening at Quanah High School!  We have a beautiful, updated environment, and the year is beginning with great student and teacher attitudes. This is what is happening in my corner of the world:

SPANISH I

Changes to the building are not the only changes! Beginning this year, I am teaching Spanish I to the entire 8th grade.  They have been super students so far. Taking courses for high school credit while in junior high might be a little scary, but these Spanish classes are very important. I have been working closely with Mrs. Osborne to make sure that these students will be ready for her upper level Spanish classes.  Teaching Spanish I again has been very fun for me and has renewed my excitement for teaching.

AP ENGLISH I

These advanced English students are starting off the year reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. They are each focusing on a specific motif in the novel and preparing a multimedia presentation for the end of the six weeks. This assignment facilitates practice of close reading skills and technology.  Learning methods of reading, thinking and writing are all important activities this six weeks.

Pre AP English I

Freshman advanced classes will be reading Lord of the Flies this six weeks while they acclimate to the high school environment. They will be focusing on writing and transitioning from the old TAKS testing to the new end of course STARR testing.  This class will be the first one to graduate under this new testing.

English I

Freshman English students are concentrating on short stories, grammar, and writing while learning to think on a deeper lever with more rigor.  Learning to infer while reading is also an important goal.

Art

Even though there is only one section of art this year, students are busy  learning to make spirit posters in the best manner possible. Their creations will hang in the QHS gym. Students are  beginning each class with a 5 minute bell activity and will  study  the seven elements of art.    Also, each six weeks, students will learn about famous artists.

CX Debate

CX debate teams are preparing to travel to the National Debate Conference in Waco on September 10.  This year’s topic is Resolved:  The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere. This promises to be an interesting topic!

Literary Criticism

This year’s lit crit team is anxious to get started. This year they are reading Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor: (An Inside Narrative), William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and poetry by Marianne Moore.

I am looking forward to a fun, productive year!

English I and Pre AP English I are beginning a study of Greek mythology. All freshmen will read the Odyssey translated by Homer.  The first test is coming up soon.

AP English III is still working hard on their research papers.  The rough draft is due next Tuesday, March 1. These juniors have also begun reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In art, the students have just completed a caricature of themselves and will incorporate their caricature into their own comic strip. This is included in a study of balance and variety.

NOTICE:  The 5th six weeks is notorious for falling grades. Students are beginning to be tired and worn down from all the high school activities. Spring is a busy time at QHS with spring sports, FFA, FCCLA, and UIL contests. However,  if they stay on top of their classes and get all work completed and turned in, there is usually no problem.  Now is not the time to relax.  Let’s all work toward having great grades this six weeks. Then, we can look forward to finishing up the school year in a stress-free environment.

On Monday, February 7, 2011, the QHS debate teams won the overall district  CX debate championship.  Winning 1st place were Marley Sparkman and Kylie Watson who won all 5 rounds of the day.  Taking 2nd place were Hayley Griffin and Megan Loveless who were defeated only by teammates Sparkman and Watson in the final round.  Other schools entered were Crosbyton and Ralls.

Other Quanah participants were freshmen Amanda Leal and Matt Leal.  Time keepers and helpers for the event were some of the National Honor Society members  Garrett Betts, Jessie Loveless, Jacie Randolph, and Makila Silvey.

These Quanah’s students are shining examples of everything we want our students to become. I am so proud of all these Quanah young people.

Saturday, January 8,  CX (cross examination) debate teams competed in the Pied Piper Speech Tournament in Hamlin, Texas, where 24 debate teams were entered.  Marley Sparkman and Kylie Watson finished the day with a perfect record of 5-0 and the championship trophy.  Marley Sparkman was named top speaker out of the  48 speakers there.  The team of Hayley Griffin and Megan Loveless posted a record of 3-1, a very good score for the day.  Beginners Amanda Leal and Matt Leal traveled with the group to observe and learn the procedures of CX.

Saturday, January 22, CX participated in the Peggy Wallace Invitational Speech Tournament at Holliday High School with about 25 other teams.  Marley and Kylie finished in second in a very close decision on a split ballot with one judge voting for them and two against, completing another very good tournament for the team.  Also attending were the team of Hayley Griffin and Megan Loveless and the novice team of Amanda Leal and Matt Leal.  The novice team had a very good day learning a great deal about debate.

The next official tournament will be the District 5A competition which will be held here in Quanah at the First United Methodist Church on Monday, February 7.  The top two teams from this tournament will advance to the State UIL Tournament in Austin in March.

AP III students have 6 bibliography cards due tomorrow,

Friday, January 21!

Other research deadlines:

Thursday, January 27         Thesis statement and working outline

Friday, February 4               35 notecards

Friday, February 11             35 notecards

Tuesday, February 22          Rough draft

Thursday, February 24        Rough works cited page

Wednesday, March 11         Final project (NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED!!)

January 19, 2011

This is the third week of the six weeks, so heads up everyone!

English I and Pre AP English I need to be working hard.  Here are a few important assignments and dates that they need to be working hard to complete:

Thursday, January 20 -

1.  All freshmen classes – Season poem is due – a minimum of 8 lines, no more than 12 lines about ONE season. This should be typed, printed out, and handed in on Thursday.

2.  Pre AP English I – Test #2

Friday, January 21

1.  English I – Test #2

2.  Pre AP I will recite “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost by MEMORY.  This has been assigned since January 4.

Friday, January 28

English I will recite “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost by MEMORY.  This has been assigned since January 4.

Wednesday, February 2

All freshmen English classes - Headline Poetry – Each student should bring a baggie or envelope full of words cut from headlines in magazines.  These will be used to create a spontaneous poem using correct poetic form.

Can old teachers learn new tricks?  I certainly hope so.  I have always been a writer but never a blogger. Since rhythm or coordination is not involved, maybe I can accomplish this.  I am hoping this will be an effective way to communicate with parents and students about school work and school activities.  This is what my classes are beginning this six weeks:

Art – Students are making colorful masks to learn about facial proportions and to practice creativity.

English I and Pre AP English I - Students are reading and analyzing poetry. There are two big projects projects in the works for the freshmen.  First, they are memorizing “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.  Memorization is often a difficult task for some students, but memorizing a poem is great for developing brain cells!  The poem is to be memorized by Friday, January 28.  Second, they are going to write creative poetry using headlines cut out from magazines.  If you need magazines, let me know or maybe ask some neighbors or friends.  This fun project will be completed in class on Wednesday, February 2. Students will need to be sure and bring their words (in a baggie or envelop) and a piece of posterboard (any color) that day!

AP English III – These lucky students are embarking on a quest to write a research paper about an American author.  They have to read a novel by the author as well. Learning to write an informative paper such as this is sometimes a daunting task, but we are taking it slowly, one step at a time.  They will be very glad to be finished in eight weeks, but they will be very proud of their finished products.

GT – I am new to the GT program but very excited to learn about the GT program and to work with the students.  Right now, seven GT students have begun researching the ocean, the oil spill in the Gulf, the repercussions, and the clean up.  They are gathering knowledge that they will present in the form of a panel discussion.

CX Debate – Debate is beginning with a bang. The topic this year is  Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military and/or police presence in one or more of the following: South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey.  The CX’ers are off to Hamlin this weekend to compete and find out if their cases will hold up under pressure.  Holliday tournament is next on January 22.  District is here in Quanah on February 7.

LD Debate - Ld’ers have learned their new topic.  RESOLVED: Free trade should be valued above protectionism. Now it is time to begin writing cases and getting ready to debate at Holliday.

Lit Crit – The lit critters this year are Marley Sparkman, Megan Loveless, Justin Turner, Matt Leal, and Quentin Read. We are ready to set up a practice schedule and see if we can get ready to compete. This year the students are going to read Pride and Prejudice, “The Hairy Ape,” and poetry by Theodore Rothke.