English with Mrs. Olmos

08/31/2019

Today I have completed my year as a Fulbright TGC. Although this part of the journey is over, my life and my teaching practice have been altered completely. The experience taught me so many things about myself, my students, my country, my world and my place within it. I hope that I can carry those lessons with me as I continue my journey, never assuming that I know enough, always looking to learn more. [ 705 more words ]

Today I have completed my year as a Fulbright TGC. Although this part of the journey is over, my life and my teaching practice have been altered completely. The experience taught me so many things …

12/30/2016

We are nearing the end of our winter break, and a new year is fast approaching. My annual stack of English Biography Projects has been conquered, scored, analyzed and entered into the grade book. We are in the homestretch now! Freshmen can revise their biographies and raise their scores, but, after that, there is only the Poetry Unit left for proving their skills. This month, we will study some great poets and poetry from around the world, past and present. We will collect poems, respond to them, and assess our knowledge of poetry terms. It is a fast-paced unit that ends with our Poetry Coffee House celebration, just as the semester ends. :)

As for the seventh-grade class, we have a novel to finish! We are over halfway through The Giver, and it just gets better from here. There are two more reading tasks to complete, and students can write, draw, build or perform their ideas, according to their own tastes and talents. Then, a final reading comprehension pairs up with a narrative extension of the story to wrap things up. To finish up the semester, we will have short unit that explores universal themes in literature and art. I can't wait to see how creative this class will be with the "Theme Museum" projects! (Pictured are two from last year's unit.)

11/15/2016

The first quarter is behind us, but there is so much more to come! I have enjoyed the creativity of my seventh-grade classes as they have brought another class of superheroes to life for the League of Heroes. Orange Monkey is very proud of his new recruits. :) The icing on the cake was the presentation phase of the project. My students did an awesome job presenting their work to younger students. I think there may be some future teachers among them!

As for my high school students, they have finished the short story unit and proven themselves to be proficient with evidence-based reading assessment. Yay! Now it is on to our biography project. This week we are completing the Literary Genre Projects. Groups of students work on presentations to teach one another about the different genres of popular fiction. This is going to help inspire our author choices for the biographies next week. Parents should look for the Biography Project Handout to come home tomorrow. It's about to get real!

09/13/2016

Here it is, the first post of the 2016-2017 school year! Just eight days in, and already we are making memories and digging into new learning. This year, I am teaching 7th grade and English I, as well as Drama and Washington State History. This is officially a page for my English classes, but I feel like we should include the history students, too. :) Mossyrock Drama has its own page, so check that out separately, as well as the Mossyrock Art Club's page.

All but one of my English I students has been in my class before, and most of them started with me in 7th grade- year three in the same room! No worries, though; this will be a year full of new learning! We start with the short story unit, and we have already read four stories. We are focusing on using evidence to respond to literature. We discuss concepts such as theme, point of view, setting and conflict. It's an intense unit, but it lays the foundation for all of our literature studies this year.

Seventh grade is a year of new beginnings. The new junior high students are getting acquainted with the schedule and the teachers, while we are learning all about them. Just this week we started learning the difference between a "strong" verb and a "dead" one. Our goal is to be active and interesting writers!

Washington State History starts with units on the geologic history of the regions of Washington. We will look at the earth's activities in the region over millions of years, right up until now. What is happening under our feet these days? We are working up to a wonderful discussion about volcanoes and earthquakes!

06/14/2016

Well, the final grades are in and the 2015-2016 school year is in the books, officially. I have read a lot of great essays and stories this last week, and I was proud to display a lot of projects at the eighth-grade celebration, too. My students make me proud.

Today we reflected on our time together, and I asked them for advice, you know, so the next classes will get the best possible education. They were lovely and helpful and funny.

Next year will be a new adventure, but it is always tough to say goodbye.

05/31/2016

The school year is quickly come to an end, but there is still so much to do! We don't stop learning around here until the doors close on June 14!

In English I, the students just finished our Animal Farm Unit with an exam and a narrative assignment. I really enjoyed the work of the students who took the time to study the background of the novel. We have such amazing access to information on the Internet about authors, history, and classic novels! Kudos to the kids who took my advice and went out on their own to extend their learning.

Now these students are beginning the final unit -Science Fiction. Today we read "The Sentinel" by Arthur C. Clarke, the predecessor to his famous 2001: A Space Odyssey. The students will be working on an original story of their own in the next week, and they will read and view several works of science fiction. Additionally, we will explore some nonfiction readings about the SETI program to prepare for a debate next week. :)

The eighth-grade English students are working furiously on their Discover Me projects. We are less than a week away from having this biographical publications printed, laminated and bound in preparation for the big Eighth-Grade Celebration. We will begin our video for that special night this week, too.

In seventh grade, we are digging in to writing craft and structure by sharing an out loud reading of selections from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This book is a model of unique structure, and is super entertaining to boot! We will follow up with a viewing of the film version. Students will finish up the year with carefully crafted essays that explore the merits of each. They have some so far this year, and this is one more opportunity to show off their skills.

05/09/2016

Last week in English, seventh-graders researched and reported news for the upcoming Viking Voice, eighth-grade students finished up their Word of the Day books, and English I students began Animal Farm.

This week, the seventh-grade news staff continues their work, creating pages for the paper- world news, local news, regional news, sports and entertainment.

The eighth-grade class is taking the Smarter Balanced English Language Arts assessment, and we are super excited to show the progress we have made. Later in the week, the class will study for and take the big culminating vocab test. Big week!

In Freshman English, Animal Farm continues, with comprehension projects, fishbowl discussions and a whole lot of reading.

Meanwhile, the drama class invites all English students to come and see their adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing - Much Ado in Mossyrock. Performances are Saturday at 7PM and Sunday at 2 PM.

05/01/2016

This week in class, students were transitioning between units. Seventh grade took the three-day state assessment for English Language Arts, and, in their spare time, began planning for their newspaper project. Eighth grade took the one-day Science MSP while winding up our unit on Treasure Island with a movie and an essay. English I students ended the big Romeo and Juliet unit with the final exam. When Mrs. Olmos gets home from Washington DC, her scoring basket will be FULL!

Meanwhile, this coming week is full of changes. The seventh grade will research and write news articles, the eighth grade will begin the Discover Me project, and English I begins the Animal Farm unit--all this around a complicated testing schedule. May is always a little crazy at Mossyrock Junior High and High School! Look for the May newsletter soon for more detailed information. :)

04/26/2016

Wow! Last week was crazy in Mrs. Olmos's classroom! Shakesfair drew about 120 visitors on Thursday, and that doesn't include all the students who presented their projects. We saw videos, Power Point presentations, lovely artwork, essays, models of the Globe Theater, an interactive game, Renaissance Era food, and much more! This year's students stepped it up and showed us some excellent work. Prize winners included the following: Ana for her "Outstanding Research" with her Globe project; Heather, James, Nick and Calina for their "Most Educational" Globe project; Jaycee, Jackson, Sarah and Brennen for their "Most Entertaining" video; Anaflor, Soledad, Daniela and Ariana for their "Best Visual" and People's Choice" feast project (shown in the photo with a very discriminating attendee); Campbell, Makenzie, Alizabeth and Vanessa for their "Judge's Choice" feast project; and Gabby for her "Teacher's Choice" art project.

In other news, the seventh grade used fairy tale skits to prepare for the Smarter Balanced assessment they began today, and the eighth grade took their final Treasure Island test. This week, eighth grade watches the latest movie version of Treasure Island to prepare for their compare and contrast essays, while the seventh grade begins their newspaper project ---when they are not taking the big English Language Arts Assessment! Meanwhile, the English I students will watch Baz Luhrman's 1996 Romeo + Juliet prior to taking their unit exam on Friday and wrapping up that monster unit. :)

04/18/2016

This was a great week in English, and we have a lot of exciting days coming up. Seventh-grade English students are making amazing progress as they work on using evidence in their answers. We will continue this work in preparation for showing what we know on the Smarter Balanced Assessment beginning a week from Monday.

The eighth-grade English class is finishing the novel Treasure Island this coming week, creating a final comprehension project and taking one last assessment. We celebrated pirates on Friday with Pirate Appreciation Day on Friday, and the doubloons were flying! The photo shows a couple of visiting pirates that dropped in.

As for the English I students, this coming week is the week of Shakesfair. This Thursday, the freshmen will be showing off their projects and educating their friends and families about the life of Shakespeare, his plays, and the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Male plans to stop by between 3:30 and 5:30 PM.

04/10/2016

Spring Break is coming to an end, and tomorrow we are back at work and in the "homestretch"-- so much to do!

In 7th-grade English we will be combining our work on reading and writing standards. We will solidify some key skills in the weeks to come: summarizing a text, identifying a central theme, writing a great introduction and conclusion, and knowing how to distinguish (and show our talents in) expository, persuasive, and narrative writing. And, let's not forget, we will use textual evidence in all of our writing!

The 8th-grade classes are winding up Treasure Island in the next couple of weeks. That means that Pirate Appreciation Day is THIS WEEK! This is an annual event in which "pirates" compete for doubloons while showing off their Treasure Island and pirate trivia. This is a great way to get ready for the upcoming final test. We will have projects to present at the beginning of the week, and Mrs. Olmos is loving all of the creativity the students are showing in their study of the book. :)

In English I, the end of Romeo and Juliet is looming. We have a review and a quiz for Act IV this week, and then the final act, with all of its tragedy, is upon us. We will watch the videos and study for the final exam, but the big news is that we are just a week and a half away from Shakesfair projects being due!

Exciting - and busy - times are ahead.

03/19/2016

The last couple weeks flew by in Mossyrock, as we worked on our novel/drama studies in all three levels.

The 7th-grade class finished Tuck Everlasting and are wrapping up the unit with an essay comparing and contrasting the novel with the movie version. Later next week we will move on to a unit that will improve our use of evidence in reading comprehension questions.

In 8th grade, the students are halfway through Treasure Island, and the action is getting intense. After each section of the book, students have created projects to review the characters, setting and plot of the story. They choose from writing assignments (expository, argumentative and narrative) and art projects (2D and 3D). The 2D art projects are the most popular, and we get to enjoy an illustrated version of the book unfolding as we go. Each project requires textual evidence and accuracy, so we are improving our skills immensely!

In Freshman English, we are just beginning Act III of Romeo and Juliet. This is when everything begins to unravel for the young couple. Students received their Shakesfair assignments, and they are signing up for all sorts of exciting projects, including videos, art, and food.