Current Happenings in Class
Mrs. Bassett
September 09, 2006
Welcome to Mrs. Bassett's teacher page. I have noted some of the common procedures I use in class in a separate article. I have included below current projects and activities my students are working on in class. I will also use this page to let parents/guardians know when progress reports have gone out.
NOTE: Progress reports go out for my classes Nov. 4, 2006. Please sign the bottom and have your child return the report to me.
Should you need to make contact with me, please use the e-mail address noted on the bottom of the progress report your child brings home. I can also be reached through the school number during the following time: 10:45 - 11:30 AM and after school.
I have been teaching for nine years, mostly English related subjects, though I have also taught junior high keyboarding and applications. My current classes are Dual Credit British Literature/English IV, Dual Credit Composition/English III, English II, News Journalism I, II, & III, and Creative Writing.
Dual credit classes earn college credit and high school credit simultaneously.
The English II class is a preparation class, i.e., the students are prepared for taking college English in their junior and senior years.
My journalism students produce the school paper on a monthly basis.
Creative writing students progress through workshops, submit to writing competitions and put out an in-class anthology of their favorite work.
Projects and activities by class:
British Lit I: Students have begun reading Dr. Faustus and will follow that reading with a Shakespeare play. They have just completed their mid-semester test that included the ever frightening Shakespeare sonnets.
Composition I: Students have begun their rhetorical projects. The first project required students to work with a partner on a poster that would be a sales display for a product they pulled from a bag of possible products. The poster attempted to appeal to their selected customers through emotional, logical and ethical sales visuals and information in order to sell their product. Mice that cleaned house at night, shoes that automatically fit to one's feet and chocolate bearing trees were just some of the products worked on. The students are now working on their commercials to sell yet another product using the rhetorical practices they are learning to appeal to their selected markets. The last project is a research essay that will use their now practiced skills at reaching an audience and guiding them to agree with their point of view on their chosen topic.
English II: Students continue to practice writing paragraphs, essay writing, reading analysis and continue their grammar/punctuation studies.
Creative Writing: Students are in a daily practice of quick-start writing exercises, gaining new ways to work with dialogue, description and character development. This class is run in a very relaxed manner as creative climates are best encouraged if given a chance to stretch. One exercise the class enjoyed was wandering around campus writing down striking images, sounds and smells.
Journalism NP: The students are now busy working on their third Paw Prints issue of the year. It will highlight Christmas events and the usual news and senior features. Our issue will be available Dec. 13, 2006.
