News and Notes from Classroom 620

13 October 2023

Please encourage your student to log in and complete weekly activities in ReadTheory. First,
it helps students improve their reading and comprehension skills. Second, it provides data for
teachers and case managers to incorporate into annual goals and show you how your student
is progressing on their current goals. Third, completing the weekly activities can improve
their overall grade in their Language Arts class. If your student has lost or forgotten their
login credentials, it is their responsibility to ask to get them again.

Here’s what we’re working on currently:

 American Literature: we’re looking into rhetorical appeals, the power of words,
misinformation, and how these lead to mass hysteria. We are using excerpts from The
Crucible by Arthur Miller, informational texts about other widespread cases of mass
hysteria and trying to understand what lessons we can learn from these events.
 9th Grade: we are wrapping up our unit on true crime and our fascination with such
stories. We have also talked about summarizing a text by identifying the main idea and
key details. We will finish off with a skills-based assessment incorporating what we
have learned about characterization and summarizing.
 10th Grade: we are learning how to recognize the different appeals in a text, explain
how we know which appeal is being used, and how to use the different appeals when
we write our own persuasive piece. The next step will be reading, analyzing, and
writing arguments.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
 October 24th: PSAT (10th and 11th Grade students)—those not testing will be in
Homeroom until testing concludes.
 October 27: Fall Progress Report # 2

Ask your student to share with you what we’re reading and discussing in class. Sharing what
you’re learning is a fantastic way to retain information and skills for a longer period of time!