Week of April 13th

Hey everyone, I'm feeling much more comfortable with technology and Google Classroom and I hope you are too. I received Week 1 assignments from the vast majority of you, and made sure that anyone who submitted has received feedback. I was very happy with the work that I saw and I am excited to see how you implement my feedback from Week 1 into your assignment for Week 2. The assignment requirements are the same, but you will be stating your position on a new topic. Remember, this assignment is asking you to state your opinion on the topic, and then support it with evidence from the article. This week's assignment is due by 3 pm on Friday. It will not be graded, but I will be giving everyone feedback. You only need to submit once.


A few other items to consider:

1. If you did not submit your Week 1 assignment, I will be reaching out to you on Monday.

2. I am holding office hours every Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 3pm. I would love to see more of you take advantage of this as it is an excellent time for me to give you feedback on the assignment as well as just check in! You can reach me during office hours by going to this web address: meet.google.com/myt-gioj-nfb

Google Classroom Guardian Invitation

This morning I invited parents and guardians to our Google Classrooms. This should provide you with an email summary of the week's assignments, their due dates, and whether or not your child has submitted the assignment. If you are not receiving these emails after accepting the invitation, please let me know!

I used email addresses provided to me on the behavior contracts at the beginning of the year. If you have not received an email invitation, but would like assignment summaries from Google Classroom, please email me at mzangari@northschuylkill.net to provide me with the email address you would like me to send the invitation to.

Week of April 6th

Hope everyone is staying healthy! Your first assignment is on Google Classroom. Some of you have already completed and submitted this assignment. If you have, I added some comments and returned it to you. You do not have to resubmit after I return the assignment to you. Just try to keep the comments in mind when you complete the next week's assignment. If you have not completed the assignment, please do so by the end of the week.

I will be posting the Week 2 assignment at the end of this week. It will be the same type of assignment where you need to write a paragraph supporting your personal position, but the topic will be different. I'm enjoying reading your thoughts and am excited by the number of you using textual evidence to support your position. Keep it up!

If you need anything, you can email me at any time. Don't forget I also have office hours from 1pm to 3pm every Tuesday and Thursday. You'll be able to get immediate help from me during that time. See the post below for the link.

Stay well, stay home, and I hope to see you soon!

Office Hours

Every Tuesday and Thursday I will have office hours from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. If you have any questions about your weekly assignments, I'll be able to answer your questions right away during this time.

You'll use Google Meet to connect with me during office hours. To do that you can:
1. Join a Hangouts Meet
Web address: meet.google.com/myt-gioj-nfb

2. Call in using a phone
Phone number: 1 318-433-2049
PIN: 251 335 548‬#

Joining Google Classroom

With the start of a new month comes a new educational journey!

You should receive a call from your homeroom teacher on Monday or Tuesday.

On Wednesday, April 1st, my first assignment will be posted to Google Classroom. This assignment will not be graded, but I will give you feedback when you submit the assignment. If you have questions about the assignment, email me, or contact me during my office hours. I'll give you directions about that soon.

Directions to Sign in to Google
Go to google.com
In the upper right, click Sign In.
Your email is your lunch id number @gapps.northschuykill.net (1234@gapps.northschuylkill.net)
Your password is the password you use to sign in to Chromebooks in school


Directions for Joining Google Classroom
Option 1. Accept the invitation I sent to your gapps email
After you have signed in to Google, click on the dots and click Gmail. You should see an invitation from me to join our class.

Option 2.  Join the class with a code
After you have signed in to Google, click on the dots and click Classroom. In the top right, click Join Class. Enter the code for your English class period from the list below:

English 7, Period 1: 2b4kdda 

English 7, Period 2: os2zb6y 

English 7, Period 3: bycr5ab

English 8, Period 5: c33cjhk 

English 8, Period 6: eu3rvsv 

English 8, Period 7: f66pb2d 

English 8, Period 8: cingwsn


Additional help with joining a class
https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6020297?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Update: March 27

Students, parents, guardians:

Teachers had a virtual meeting with Dr. Ackell this afternoon and we received important updates. 

Marking period 3 is over. At the time of the closure, we were a few days away from the end of the marking period. Grades will be based on what was due before the closure. Seventh grade students will receive credit for the persuasive paragraph. Eighth grade students will receive credit for their "Flowers for Algernon" craft and structure questions. Many of you submitted these assignments on the day of the closure. I saw all of you working on and completing these items.

Moving forward, on Monday or Tuesday you will be receiving a phone call from your student's homeroom teacher. The teacher will ask you some questions, help you with technology needs, and discuss our district's plan for continuing education during the closure.

I have set up Google classrooms for our classes and I will post an assignment there each week. The codes are unique for each period. They are:

• English 7, Period 1: 2b4kdda 
• English 7, Period 2: os2zb6y 
• English 7, Period 3: bycr5ab

• English 8, Period 5: c33cjhk 
• English 8, Period 6: eu3rvsv 
• English 8, Period 7: f66pb2d 
• English 8, Period 8: cingwsn

All students have already received invitations to join my Google Classrooms. 

The assignments I post to Google Classroom will be optional and will not be graded. Though it will not be graded, I will provide feedback to each student's work. The goal is to provide review and enrichment during the closure. In order to maintain continuity of learning, I ask that you participate if you are able. If you do not have access to the internet, we will be providing paper packets. You will be getting more information about this when you speak to your student's homeroom teacher on Monday or Tuesday.

In addition to Google Classroom, I will be holding office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00pm to 3:00pm in Google Meet. During this time, you will be able to ask me about the weekly assignment. You can also email me about assignments outside of my office hours at mzangari@northschuylkill.net.

If you have questions after speaking to your student's homeroom teacher on Monday or Tuesday, please do not hesitate to contact me. I understand that this a difficult time for everyone and I plan to be very flexible.

Codes for Google Classroom

Parents, guardians, and students,

I have used some of my time during this closure to create a Google Classroom for each of our classes. I have invited students to join their appropriate class. Students can also join using the codes below. Keep in mind that the code for each period is unique, so make sure you join the right period!

I envision using these Google Classrooms to provide you with resources and communication while schools are closed and beyond. I think this can be a great educational tool at any time!

Please be aware that at this time Google Classroom and any materials I post there are optional. More information will be provided should that change.

Google Classroom Codes

English 7, Period 1: 2b4kdda 

English 7, Period 2: os2zb6y 

English 7, Period 3: bycr5ab

English 8, Period 5: c33cjhk 

English 8, Period 6: eu3rvsv 

English 8, Period 7: f66pb2d 

English 8, Period 8: cingwsn

There is also a webpage of resources available on the North Schuylkill website.

Be well during this time, and as always, please contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or would like information for additional resources. My email address is mzangari@northschuylkill.net.

Resources for Learning

While you're not in school, you have an opportunity to learn about things you're personally interested in! Here are some cool resources you can use to do some of that learning. You aren't required to visit any of these websites, and you should always get a parent or guardian's permission first, but I encourage you to explore them if you get bored!


Reading with your eyes or your ears (audiobooks)
Audible- You can access a lot of the audio books on this website for free right now. It's a great deal!

Scholastic- This is a magazine for students like you! You can read many of the articles online for free.

Amazon Kindle- You can get the Kindle app on your phone or just by using a Kindle. If you have Amazon Prime (or someone will let you use theirs) you can read a lot of books for free!


Aquarium and Zoo Live-Streams
Georgia Aquarium
Monterey Bay Aquarium
San Diego Zoo

Week of March 23rd

This week all schools in Pennsylvania will continue to be closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

While school is closed, any student in the North Schuylkill School District who is under the age of 18 can pick up Grab-N-Go breakfasts and lunches Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. These lunches will be distributed from 11am to 12pm at the Washington Fire Company in Ashland, The Goodwill Fire Company in Frackville, and The Range Hose Company in Girardville. The meals are free and students do not have to be present to pick up the meals. To respect social distancing, it is important not to socialize or play after meals have been picked up.

I have not posted any work for students to complete this week, however, it is an excellent time to read short stories, novels, or poems. This can be something done alone, or reading aloud can be an excellent activity to do with members of your household. Books can provide us an escape from uncertainty, they make us more empathetic, and they keep our minds and imaginations entertained while maintaining social distancing.

Should school not resume on March 30th, more information and an educational plan will be provided. I will not be grading any work until that time.

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like any recommendations for additional resources this week, please do not hesitate to email me at mzangari@northschuylkill.net.

Persuasive Project Schedule

Week of March 9th

This week students in 7th grade will be focusing on persuasive writing and persuasive techniques. Students will complete a project that includes creating a visual, writing a paragraph, and presenting to the class using a persuasive technique of their choice. Students in 8th grade will continue working with "Flowers for Algernon."

English 7
Students will finish notes on persuasion technique early this week. On Wednesday, students will plan their paragraph for their presentations. On Thursday, students will be in the library to type and print their paragraphs. On Friday, students will complete their posters. Students will need to finish their posters for homework.

Students' Week 10 paragraph bellringers will be due on Thursday and will be worth 20 points.

Homework
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Finish paragraph planning, be ready to type tomorrow
Thursday: Finish and print paragraph, if not finished in class
Friday: Finish poster, due Monday
*Poster presentations start Monday. Everyone must be ready to present on that day.


English 8
Students will spend the early part of the week diving more deeply into "Flowers for Algernon." We will spend Monday completing a close read independently and analyzing the text. Tuesday and Wednesday students will analyze the craft and structure of the text, reviewing things such as point of view, tone, mood, author's word choice, and author's purpose. We will finish our work with "Flowers for Algernon" by the end of the week.

 Students' Week 10 paragraph bellringers will be due on Thursday and will be worth 20 points.

Homework
Monday:
Tuesday: Finish "Analyze the Text" questions from page 380 in the textbook, cite evidence from the text
Wednesday:
Thursday: Finish "Craft and Structure" questions from page 380 in the textbook, cite evidence from the text
Friday: