If you have any questions, be sure to ask me in class.  If you think of something at home while you’re working, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you in class or by email or post.

Mrs. Gillis

I apologize for not updating last week.  It completely slipped my mind as I was wrapping up last week. 

This update brings us to the end of the year as this was the last full week of classes.  We spent the bulk of this week reviewing the big ideas from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Five People You Meet in Heaven.  We also reviewed vocabulary for the final exam. Next week we’ll be reviewing grammar and writing rules.

The exam schedule for next week is as follows:

Wednesday, June 16
Period 1:          7:45-9:45
Period 2:          10:10-12:10

Thursday, June 17
Period 3:          7:45-9:45
Period 4:          10:10-12:10

Friday, June 18
Period 5:          7:45-9:45
Period 6:          10:10-12:10 

Monday, June 21
Period 7:          7:45-9:45
Make-up:         10:10-12:10

Tuesday, June 22
Move-Up Day

Wednesday, June 23
Last day of school: 11:00 dismissal

It has been an absolute pleasure having your children as students this year.  They were energetic and had fabulous ideas to bring forth during class discussions.  They are a wonderful group of young men and women and I look forward to seeing them progress through their years here at WMHS.  I will miss them!

Have a great summer!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

As the year is winding down, I felt it was the perfect time to give students the opportunity to have more latitude with our current assignment.  This past week students have been writing quite a bit in preparation for their last writing assignment of the year.

Monday and Tuesday I gave students lists and prompts to get them thinking about all the important people, places, events, objects, conversations, conflicts, likes, dislikes, about their lives.  They spent time writing in class on these various topics, and continued their freewrites at home for homework.

On Wednesday, I asked students to narrow their focuses down and try to come up with the topic they would focus on for this last piece of writing and the form in which they would write it. (The written assignment can be an essay, poem, editorial, song, piece of fiction etc.)  We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and students spent the period writing outside.

Yesterday students were put into writing groups where they shared their essays and received feedback from group members. 

For next week, I have asked students to revise these drafts according to the feedback they received from their peers.  I will check in with students next week to see how they are progressing with their essays and I will provide them feedback as well.

Since students will be taking the math MCAS next week, I will not see them on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.  When I do see them again on Friday, they will have yet another revision of their paper which will go through one more edit with their writing groups.  The final draft will be due Monday, June 7.  My hope is that with all of these revisions, students will hand in a paper they are proud of and feel really good about their last written assignment of the year.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please comment below.

It looks like the holiday weekend will be an enjoyable one.  I hope you all have the chance to get out in the sun and relax!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

We are half way through term 4!  Since we are at the mid-term point, progress reports were sent home this Wednesday.  If you have not seen your child’s progress report, please ask them for it so it can be signed and returned to me.

Since we had an extended block earlier in the week, students were given the chance to watch the made for TV version of Five People You Meet in Heaven.  Before showing the film, we discussed reviews and what a writer needs to consider when writing a review.  I then explained to them that after finishing the movie, they would be writing a review of the film.  I asked students to take notes during the movie so they would have specific points to refer to when writing their review.

Yesterday, we looked at two reviews for current movies so that students would see the structure of a review, as well as the types of commentary included in a review.

Today in class students will be peer editing each other’s drafts.  The final draft of their review is due Monday, May 24.

Next week, we’ll be starting a writing workshop.  Students will be able to write on any topic, in any genre, they wish.  We’ll be starting the assignment with some quickwrites in class next week.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please comment below or contact me at the high school.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

The year has come to an end for seniors.  The last hurdles are senior exams.  Here  is the link to the schedule for seniors the coming week.

I wish you and your children the best in the future.  I enjoyed my year with them this year and hope you found these posts helpful in keeping your child on track.

Have a fabulous weekend and summer!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

With the end of this week, it is time we say goodbye to Ms. Wildes.  She finishes her student teaching today.  It has been a pleasure having her in class and we wish her all the best as she embarks on her teaching career.

This week students simultaneously wrapped up their presentations for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as well as their reading of The Five People you Meet in Heaven.  Students have written four responses in connection with the reading and have done a nice job connecting to various quotations, illustrating and discussing important scenes, and relating topics from the reading to their own lives.  Many students have even noted that Five People was their favorite book of the year.

Also, on Wednesday of this week, students had their last vocabulary quiz of the year.

Due to MCAS testing on Monday and Tuesday of next week, we will be running block schedules in the morning.  I will see each freshman class once for a double block on those two days.  With the extended block, students will be viewing the movie version of Five People.  After watching the movie they’ll be writing a review of the movie based on their knowledge of the book.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment below or contact me.

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

As hard to believe, but we are at the end of the last full week for seniors.  For a more detailed list of events for seniors, click here.

In addition to seniors wrapping up their responsibilities, it is also time we say goodbye to Ms. Wildes.  She finishes her student teaching today.  It has been a pleasure having her in class and we wish her all the best as she embarks on her teaching career.

This week students began presenting their projects on A Thousand Splendid Suns.  The last of these presentations will be completed today.

Also, on Wednesday of this week, students had their last vocabulary quiz of the year.

Next week we’ll be reviewing vocabulary, Joy Luck Club and A Thousand Splendid Suns for the final exam.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment below or contact me.

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

As hard to believe, but we are at the end of the last full week for seniors.  Next week will be a bit scattered as we have two MCAS days, which means that I will see students for a double block on Monday, and will not see them at all on Tuesday.  For a more detailed list of events for seniors, click here.

This week we wrapped up our study of Shakespeare’s Othello.  We focused on Act 4 the first half of the week, both reading the play and watching the 1995 Oliver Parker version of the play.

On Monday, students were given two worksheets with important quotations from Acts 1-3 before we moved forward with the rest of the play.  Today, students were given another worksheet that covered important quotations from Acts 4-5.  Both these worksheets will be great study aids for the final exam, which for this class will take place Friday, May 21 from 7:45-9:15.

Also, on Wednesday of this week, students had their last vocabulary quiz of the year.

Next week we’ll be reviewing vocabulary, The Great Gatsby and Othello for the final exam.  The last assignment students will be turning in is the updated and final copy of their character’s Facebook page.  This is due Wednesday, May 18.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment below or contact me.

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Mrs. Gillis

As we mentioned in last week’s update, students began reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven for Tuesday of this week. Since there are a few more students who have to present, and presentations are taking quite a bit of time, we spent some days listening to presentations and others discussing the novel.  Students have had some amazing insights into the book!

On Tuesday, conversation centered on the responses students wrote for the two sections of the novel they have read thus far.  They also discussed strangers and how someone a student doesn’t know could impact his/her life in ways they can’t imagine.  They also discussed how endings can also be beginnings.

On Thursday, Ms. Wildes gave students the chance to put on the “teacher hat.” Two volunteers wrote the day’s warm up which started off the conversation on the novel.  In one class, students were asked to write about the characters in the novel and who most impacted Eddie’s life while the other class was asked their opinion of war and whether the ends justify the means.

Lastly, students worked on unit 15 in their vocabulary books in class today, however, many students were on the science field trip.  The completed unit is due Monday, May 10.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment or contact me.

Best,
Ms. Wildes
Mrs. Gillis

As seniors are half way through their last term of the year, progress reports were sent home this week. If you have not seen your child’s progress report, please ask them for it.  As always, the returned progress report is counting as a grade for students.

At the beginning of the week, students read an essay by Barbara Kingsolver entitled “Small Wonder.”  The essay discussed Kingsolver’s attempt to make sense of the attacks on 9/11.  The essay connects to a discussion that main characters have at the end of A Thousand Splendid Suns shortly after the attacks take place.  Basically, it gets at whether the ends justify the means and what is or is not accomplished through acts of violence and war.

On Tuesday, students had a wrap-up discussion and also had the opportunity to hone their improve skills by acting out the main themes of the novel.  They were also given an assignment for their final project.  Students will either create a T-shirt for one of the characters in the novel that reflects his/her personality, or they will create a soundtrack for the novel. 

For the remainder of the week, students were given time to work on the project in class.  The project is due Monday, May 10.  Students will be presenting projects next week in class.

Lastly, we’ll be going over the definitions for their last vocabulary unit of the year.  Over the weekend, students will be completing unit 15 in their vocabulary books.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to comment or contact me.

Best,
Ms. Wildes
Mrs. Gillis