ninth

4/1/10 Laurie added some AWESOME papers down below for __A Tale of Two Cities__. Please check them out if you are going to be teaching this novel. Last year, we decided to introduce English Honors 9 to literary theory. I do have the PDF of a Prestwick guide I purchased if anyone wants it. Due to copyright laws, I am not supposed to post it on a wikipage such as this, but if you would like it, just let me know I and I will be sure to share it with you! Just let me know in an email or stop by F-36. Alicia

1/24/10 Please check the discussion forums for Shakespeare links. I placed a bunch of sites there. Some have online activities (or they used to), so let's try to immerse these students in literature!

Alicia

1/27/10

In my hunt for resources, I found a few that might help you all!

__Romeo and Juliet__

audio and print of each act audio and print of most of the sonnets Mr. Lettiere's Grade 9 Website

__To Kill a Mockingbird__

__A Tale of Two Cities__

audio and print of each chapter Laurie Lintner's Resources (not great, but yours for the taking) [|List of Characters.doc] [|Character Chart.doc] [|critical lens childrens book chart.doc] [|Criticisms table.doc] [|Essay Options.doc] [|Essay topics literary criticism.doc] [|Literary Criticism Notes.doc] [|Literary Criticism Overhead.doc] [|Notes to Keep Throughout a Tale of Two Cities.doc] [|A Tale of Two Cities Research Project.doc] [|Research Project Rubric.doc] [|Research websites.doc] [|A Tale of Two Cities Comprehension Questions.doc]

__Cooperative Reading Resources and Theory__

My Read Guide

1/10/10

Here are the answer keys and test forms for the Semester 1 Exam. Sorry it took me so long to get these posted - the template was refusing changes, and I had to improvise. Please review the document and let me know if you see any errors.

Alicia



5/15/09 If anyone has final exam review materials, could you please upload them to the wiki. Angela and I are working on a review for you all, but would love to steal your stuff if possible :) Thanks!

Lintner

5/13/09 Thank you so much for all of your help!!! Here are the four exam files. I will also send them through email. -- Alicia 1:10 PM

5/11/09 Great job everyone with the COW- what a long day! I am working on an exam review. So far I have a list of the terms on the test with definitions and a crossword puzzle using them. If you all have extra passages that have not been used on an exam and could be added to the review, please throw them my way! Thanks!

Laurie

5/8/09 The fruits of our labor!!!

5/7/09 Hey everyone. I wanted to let you all know that I have the pacing guide that was created last year during collaboration. There are a few things we could probably tweak, but for the most part, we are pretty good. The pacing guide we created is a merged combination of the two 9th grade collab groups' work. I will have photocopies for everyone tomorrow. Another thing...were the hand-edited versions of the exam ever put in our mailboxes? I was gone both Monday and Tuesday, so I am not sure. As far as writing prompts are concerned, if we are doing one after all, I prefer merging themes from the novel with the essential questions. Thanks, Veronica

5/6/09 Are we still doing a timed writing assessment during exams or did we decide to incorporate these writing assignments into the novel study? I'm confused. My thought was matching the topics among teachers who are teaching the same novel and using it at the end of the novel study. At the meeting, I asked for someone else to decide on some writing topics, and people said that they would get back to me. I haven't heard anything back yet in regards to topics or rubrics until your post (Thank you, by the way, Laurie! :-D). I like the direction you are going. Will something like that work for everyone else out there?

Will we have time on Friday to look over the exam together?

Take care, Lish

5/5/2009 Hi all, I will put a hand-edited version of the grade 9 exam in your mailbox, Alicia, by tomorrow. I think it is easier to wait until the exam is finished before I start creating accommodations, so I will just make some notes for myself and then frantically finish when I recieve your final copy. Did we agree last week that Honors and General will write different paragraph-long prompts? When will these be written? Will we use 6 + 1 rubrics or make our own? Could a prompt about the effects of the time period on the events in the novel work for all classes? What about going back to the essential questions and having them view one of the questions through the prospective of a main character in the novel? Thoughts? Take care!

Laurie

5/4/09 Please check out this attached document. It is not in ACT format yet. We may need to change out some passage. Just let me know what we need to fix/change ASAP. I will also send this out using the school email system.

5/4/09 I should have the remainder of the questions typed into the document this evening, and I will post the **unformatted** document as soon as that occurs. I am in seminar right now, and I thought I might have a few minutes toward the end to enter items, but that is not very likely today with all of the ADS forms I've been filling out (and the fact that I left the Skills Development Workbook in my classroom). I changed out the question in the grammar section that uses "; however," -- many of you had expressed concern that you had not stressed that a lot this year. Most of you only addressed it in the Daily Language Practice warm-ups.

I adapted some of the passages so that our general students will not shut off when it comes to Poe. Please look over that section, and let me know if there is anything further that we should do.

I talked to Jocelyn, and she suggested having Laurie look over the test to figure out what to change / eliminate for the modified test once we all come to a consensus about the regular form.

You'll be hearing from me sometime soon, i.e. this evening, probably around 7 or 8, so be on the lookout. It may be all typed in earlier, though.

5/1/09 Larry and I discussed passages, specifically in regards to who is reading what throughout the year.

4/23/09

We looked over the grammar portion and made some changes. We discussed the literary terms all students should know and how many questions per term we should include on the exam (it seems almost impossible to include non-fiction terms that we are teaching this quarter if we want to keep the multiple choice portion at 60 questions, especially since we have some terms, such as plot, that have more than just one term for students to master). We plan to meet on Monday, right after school in the media center at the rectangular table near Karen's office. See you then!

4/23/09 I can meet on Monday, too. Just let me know where and when. Thanks. Veronica

4/23/09

Sound's good! See you then.

Laurie

4/21/09

Larry and I are in collaboration right now (we are going through some old exams that Angela passed along to me yesterday). We were thinking 60 multiple choice questions (45 on the top twenty terms, 15 on grammar). I will be typing in the grammar section tonight - I will be pulling from information based on the Marking Period Planning guide that was provided earlier in the year. See Writing & Grammar sections 29.2 (Commas), 22.2 (Sentence Combining), and 27.1 (Negative Sentences) for more specific information about the grammar and usage component for the quarter.

The following terms were on the list that was provided to us at an English department meeting some time ago:

Story elements -

plot (I'm guessing that we are all reviewing plot structure - exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) internal conflict external conflict static character dynamic character protagonist antagonist indirect characterization direct characterization setting theme narrator first person point of view third person point of view (limited, omniscient) foreshadowing flashback inference prediction

Poetry elements -

onomatopoeia alliteration personification metaphor simile

Larry has a busy week this week after school with the upcoming production on Friday and grad school (my semester ended on Monday - YAY!). Could we possibly meet next Monday after school to look over the exam?

As far as the writing component, can we have the teachers teaching the different novels submit topics? We are supposed to focus on analytical and thematic writing this quarter. There should be different prompts in the materials that were provided to the English 9 teachers, and I'm sure some of you already had a collection of them. Do we want to assess full essays or short/extended response writing?

Alicia

4/21/09 Since we have not talked about or seen the multiple choice section of the exam, should we assume that that is taken care of? Our group would love a chance to take a look at what you have so far and to add any passages/questions that you might need. Angela and I can meet with you all any day after school, just let us know. I'm sure that other grade 9 teachers would like to join as well. Hope everyone had a great break! 31 more wake ups!

Laurie and Angela

4/9/09 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky and Larry Koch Time: 7th Hour Location: F14

I made copies and delivered copies of materials for __To Kill a Mockingbird__ and delivered them to mailboxes today during seventh hour. Some of you were on the way, so I just dropped them off in your classrooms. Within those packets, you will find copies of the materials provided in the English office, as well as copies of a film guide (that helps students make connections among the text, the film, and other disciplines). At the back of that document (the large one without staples - the Teacher Guide), you will find interdisciplinary suggestions, as well as performance-based assessments for differentiation. Deb really seemed to like the materials, so if you can find any use for them, please feel free to incorporate them. They are, in no way, required curriculum, so recycle whatever you don't need / want.

I want to know if we can all meet at some point when we return to discuss the writing assessment portion of the exam. Some of you have shared some great ideas, from assigning a final essay / response to questions at the end of the novel you are teaching to having a separate part of the exam a few days prior to the final exam week. We should come to a consensus about what we plan to have students demonstrate and then pore through our materials for the novels for questions.

Alicia

4/08/09 I found a variety of resources for __A Tale of Two Cities__ and __To Kill a Mockingbird__ in the English office (as well as in my own materials and online). I made copies of the AToTC materials for Laurie and me, and I will be sorting through and helping Larry select items for TKaM. We should have items copied and in mailboxes for teachers by the end of the seventh hour on Thursday so that, should you choose, you can peruse them over your vacation. I know...just what you want to be doing on your week off! Oh, and I made sure to give Deb Cooper a copy of the third quarter exam (even though I could swear Larry had submitted a copy when he turned in the item analysis results). In any case, it is there, but you can also find copies on this wiki since it is a private wiki page.

Alicia

4/07/09 Hi all! Laurie and I would be interested in helping with extra questions for the passages Veronica suggested. We have the same books, so if you want to suggest a few passages, we can add questions to fit whichever missing top twenty terms we have. Also, we are concerned about an extended writing section at the end of the school year. I'm sure we will all be swamped with other written assessments at the end of the school year. What about a short answer since that seems to be the State's new direction?

Laurie and Angela

4/3/09 Thank you so much, Veronica. Larry and I totally agree with you on this. On another note, Larry and I have noticed some issues with our ninth graders and their homework apathy. We are wondering if this is across the board just ninth grade or just ninth grade general. I have just a handful of students who I've been trying to get back on track, and Larry has nearly half who are not completing anything outside of class.

/1/09 I've looked over the state's test from last year, and in all honesty, am not a huge fan of it. If anything, I was thinking that we could perhaps use the first reading selection and the questions related to it, in addition to, adding questions related to what we are teaching this marking period. I also think that if we were to go with the passage from the state's test, since it is a lengthy passage, then that should be what the 4th MP exam is based solely on. I think it's too much for them to read and process. I like the idea of taking some of the shorter passages from the Prentice Hall resources, specifically the __Standardized Test Preparation Workbook__ and/or the __Reading Support Practice Book__, and using some of the questions provided and then adding questions based on the top twenty terms list. I think including at least one fiction and one nonfiction passage would be a pretty nice balance. If we are able to balance the types of questions asked, I think the kids as a whole, will perform better. There is also room for teachers (especially Honors teachers) to add 10% of any questions that they might like. Thanks. Veronica

4/1/09

Smart Goals What - Mastery of novel terms, mastery of top 15 - 20 list terms, nonfiction, analytical writing, thematic writing How - 4th quarter term tests, exam, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, A Tale of Two Cities When - end of 4th marking period, upon completion of novels Strategies to meet goal - graphic organizers, vocabulary, guided reading, literature circles, multiple intelligence-based projects Outcome - 70% proficiency

Short meeting meeting today due to Dubisky meeting with Ottewell.

Looked over curriculum materials for To Kill a Mockingbird. We also collected the Smart Goals form from Deb Cooper and copied it for our files.

3/31/09 Hello, I (Larry) just turned the smart goals into Deb but I'm sure I could get it from her to make copies. I'll work on that and update the item analysis sheets. I had to turn what I had as of Friday to Deb Cooper, so for our benefit I'll revise the figures. Today Alicia and I discussed the 4th quarter exam and having a writing portion for that exam (5 paragraph essay). Also, we'd like to know if you've had time to look over the state's test from last year and if there's anything you feel we should take from it.

3/27/09 Alicia and Larry, Could you post the 4th Marking Period smart goals? I'm interested in seeing what our focus is supposed to be. Thanks. Veronica

3/27/09 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky and Larry Koch F-14, 7th Hour, Odd days

(done) Task one - compile item analysis documents (done) Task two - complete Semester Two Smart Goals form (to be turned in to Deb Cooper today). (to be continued - not done) Task three - Reading and selecting information for final exam.

3/25/09 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky and Larry Koch F-14, 7th Hour, Odd days

We looked over the 2008 state-created exams and will be placing copies in all English 9 teachers' mailboxes today for all to see what MDE wants our kids to be able to do (high level vocabulary and grammar skills are expected). Please look these documents over and keep them secure. As far as the list of English 9 terminology, I see a total of 17 that students should know (when we eliminate the six paragraph terms - I agree completely with Veronica that it is not necessary to include test questions on those terms). There is a section of terms to be introduced but reinforced (tested) in other grades. Did we want to create a composite of the MDE test, the "Should Know" list, and the most commonly missed concepts from MP3? Or do we want to eliminate some or all of the MDE test questions, as our grammar and usage lessons are not aligned with the state expectations?

Larry and I plan to share the responsibility with the other English 9 teachers. We are asking the other English 9 teachers to find passages and create questions on specific skills (although we will divide that responsibility later this week with attention to the other exams you are responsible for creating). That way, we are not scrambling at the last minute to change passages and questions when people email us and express their concerns over not having taught certain concepts (which causes sections to be rewritten and, ultimately, the distribution of the exam to be delayed). Also, depending on the reading level of your students, I think it is best to continue sending the exam digitally. I had mentioned in my message with the last exam that teachers are permitted to make changes based on the needs of their students, so if you have not looked over the exam prior to the exam day, please try to do so with the final exam. Modifications **are** allowed, especially as our students have different ability levels.

Also, as far as the writing portion, we need to come to a consensus on a topic and format as soon as possible so that we can tailor our writing assignments for the fourth quarter.

Item Analysis documents are due soon, so make sure to pass yours along to Larry or Alicia. Be sure to make copies for your records.

3/24/09 Since we weren't given the MP 3 exam until last Wednesday, I have waited administering the exam to my 9th graders. I needed time to look it over. I intend on giving the exam tomorrow to my 9th graders. I am concerned about how well they will do, not necessarily because they do not know the concepts, but because the wording and language of the exam in some parts is really quite difficult. In both the questions and answer choices, there are many vocabulary words that my students will not know. For instance: #11 - "foreboding", #26 - "disdain", #27 - "witty skeptic", #31 "incongruity", "#33 - "outlandish", #34 - prominently. I hope that we have the opportunity to see a draft of the MP 4 common exam with enough time to look at wording, offer suggestions for change, etc.

While there are many terms for 4th marking period, I think that it is important to keep in mind the Top Twenty Terms that every 9th grader should know list. We need to make sure that all 9th graders leave at the end of the year with a solid understanding of these 20 terms. With that said, we need to make sure that most of these terms are on the 4th quarter exam. I do not think that the students should be tested on definitions or identification of all the types of nonfiction listed below. I do not teach in-depthly all nonfiction types; I pick and choose what works best with my Mockingbird unit. Also, I do not think that it is necessary to include test questions on paragraph structure. I think it is important to create a MP 4 exam that is reflective of what all 9th grade teachers teach, not just touch on. We also have to keep in mind that the concepts that the students bombed on the MP 3 exam need to be retaught and retested. I will have my data analysis to the 9th grade collab team by Thursday. Veronica

3/23/09 Room F-14, 7th Hour, In attendance: Alicia Dubisky Highlighted problem area questions on item analysis documents (Dubisky only - no others have been submitted yet). Most commonly missed questions for my students: #15 foil, #21 pun (and we went over this time and time again!!!), #23 aside, #27 foil, #38 mood, and #39 analysis of alliterative device.

As far as the list of terms for nonfiction and the novel (quarter 4), we have many! I had hoped Larry would be here so that we could pare down the list for the exam together, but he did not show today. We have a variety of terms AND a note to review the literary terms from marking period 1. That does seem like a lot. I would really like to hit some key concepts that we can all agree on, so here is the list of terms that we should all start with:

nonfiction characterization dialogue mood point of view (first, second, and third - limited and omniscient) purpose theme

Types of nonfiction: biography autobiography (memoir, diaries, journals, letter forms of autobiography) essay (expository, persuasive, personal) informative article (news stories, feature articles) interview (profile of an interview, edited transcript) speech true-life adventure

MP1 terminology plot narrator conflict (internal - person v. belief, person v. emotion, person v. wish/need AND external - person v. person, person v. nature, person v. obstacle) character (static, dynamic) and methods of characterization (direct, indirect) protagonist antagonist setting symbol theme point of view (first, third - limited and omniscient)

Literary devices: foreshadowing flashback irony (dramatic, situational)

Reading skills: inference prediction active reading

Paragraph terminology: paragraph topic sentence support elaboration attention-getter concluding sentence unity 6+1 writing traits

3/19/09

3/16/09

Any 9th grade teacher know when the MP 3 exam will be finished? Thanks. Veronica

3/10/09

Thanks for the update. After speaking with Larry earlier, he explained the confusion with the terms list and why we hadn't received a copy yet. Thanks, Larry! I appreciate the update regarding the terms, but am wondering when we can expect a draft of the exam. Is it possible to receive a draft by Friday? I am willing to help, so please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks, Veronica

Oh, and is it possible to meet so we can determine what the 4th marking period goals will be? I would really like to have some input. Thanks.

3/10/09

Larry and I met today after school to look over the exam pieces. Apparently, some teachers were given a photocopy of the list while others were not. Here is a pared-down list for the exam. We will be using passages from Romeo and Juliet (and possibly some from Taming of the Shrew), as well as poetry from our textbook for students to analyze or identify the concept being demonstrated. These are all from the master listed that was provided to us at an English department meeting. The "Reading" portion will include:

drama prologue tragedy foil soliloquy aside pun foreshadowing dramatic irony stanza mood tone theme allusion metaphor simile hyperbole symbol alliteration assonance inference (re-testing concept from earlier demonstration of student confusion)

The "English" portion will include passages for students to correct:

common usage and spelling rules and errors (homophones, contractions, etc.) quote embedding

(With all of the interruptions and scheduling conflicts with media center time, I don't know if many of you were able to incorporate the research and MLA stuff enough for student mastery of MLA citations, so I decided to take those items off the exam.) I am spending my evening tonight poring over the English section. I am also trying to swap out passages/poetry for more accessible material for our students.

Alicia

3/8/09

Is it possible to get a list of the terms that will be included on the MP 3 common exam? It would be great to have an idea of what I should be reviewing with my kids. With little instructional time this week because of registration and MME, having an idea of what this exam will look like sooner rather than later will help to avoid last minute exam preparation with our students. Also, when can we expect a draft of the exam? I'm not sure which specific concepts, as a grade level, the 9th grade collaboration groups decided needed to be retaught and retested, so that information would be nice as well. I know that it was said at the department meeting that reading comprehension and usage were problem areas, but can you identify the specific questions or terms from the semester exam that 9th graders as a whole did poorly on? Finally, I think it is important to include in instruction and on the exam the applicable Top Twenty Terms we decided all 9th graders should know. Are any of those terms going to be included on the MP 3 exam? Thanks. Veronica

3/3/09 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky and Larry Koch Location: Room F14 Time: 7th Hour Task: Pare down the list of terms for the third quarter exam (done). While we do teach all of the terms, we decided to limit the list for the test. We plan to have two questions per term. We will be typing up the list (it's from the grade 9 paperwork from last year). The usage questions will be set up like the ACT once again, with portions underlined, etc. We simply have to pick and choose passages from our materials.

Thanks!!!

I think 50 questions is fine. I prefer the written portion to be optional. I only want to use one day for the common exam, and it will take both my 3rd and 4th hours the whole hour to finish the comprehensive exam. As far as the content of the comprehensive exam, we are not finished reading __R&J__ so my kids may bomb any checking for reading questions that deal with the later Acts of the play. I can't guarantee where we will be at in the play the week of the exam. I am going to double check the 10th grade MP 1 exam because we use several drama selections on our exam. In order to avoid using the same selections, I will post those a little later on. Thanks. Veronica

3/1/09 Sounds like the state DOE has done some work for us (Yea!) I'd be interested to know if anyone has responded. Thanks. Gail

2/25/09 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Larry Koch Location: Room F14 Time: 7th hour, odd days Larry and I started to look through the Michigan Department of Education exams (Parts 1, 2, and 3) that Deb gave to us to figure out what we can use to create our exams for the 3rd and 4th quarters. There is some poetry. We will be adding drama selections, as well as a grammar and usage section. We are thinking that 50 multiple-choice questions would be appropriate for the 3rd quarter exam, as we will have standard-length classes for those test days. There is a compare/contrast response writing portion that we //could// include if the rest of you deem it feasible to give a writing assessment at that time. Please let us know your thoughts on that as soon as possible. Included with these exams is an answer key that highlights the benchmarks met by each question.

2/23/09 Sorry for the lack of updates to the page. Larry and I have been trying to gather materials and information from those teaching ninth grade this semester. With all of the staffing changes, things have been hectic. Who has regular and who has honors?

Larry and I compiled the exam results and submitted them to Deb Cooper shortly after exams. Larry put everything into an excel file for us.

I have a number of Shakespeare resources that I can copy for you. I also provided a list of Shakespeare links on the discussion page some time ago. Please check out some of them.

Larry and I met today, so we will try to nail down some of the details for the 3rd quarter exam (number of questions, etc.). If there is something specific that you would like to see on the exam, please send it to me or Larry by Wednesday, February 25, by the end of sixth hour.

-Alicia



Way to go ninth grade teachers...sounds like you guys are on track for exams! Way to go. Gail
 * Please post notes and information from collaboration here for all teachers in the department to see. Thanks!**

Any 9th grade teacher planning on using sonnets for the //Romeo and Juliet// unit may want to check to see which sonnets the 10th grade teachers use. I use "Seven Ages" and Sonnet 30 (they are both in the 9th grade text). There have been a few issues in the past with sonnets used in 10th grade being taught in the 9th.

In addition, the 10th grade holds a Poetry Slam competition in the spring, while Nekole and I host a 9th grade Poetry Potluck in May. Every year, we distribute information regarding the poetry potluck to all 9th grade teachers inviting their students to participate. If anyone would like more information, please see either Nekole or me.

Thanks, Veronica

Honors 9 gets two selections (Romeo and Juliet, the anchor text, and The Taming of the Shrew). Regular English 9 just gets Romeo and Juliet. As part of a short introduction to Shakespeare, I use monologues and sonnets to get them used to the language. Alicia

RE 12/5 posting - I thought Honors 9 did 2 selections of Shakespeare, not all 9th grade classes, right? Gail

1/5/09, 1/7/09, 1/9/09 Monday - Larry, Alicia, Cindy - worked on exam (typing, validity of questions, special education form) Wednesday - Larry, Alicia, Cindy - Larry and Alicia met with Nekole to look over exam. Friday - Larry, Alicia - Typed exam changes/additions in media center. Veronica and Nekole joined meeting, as well.

12/15/08 Alicia Dubisky and Cindy Davis We looked over test questions and changed some answer choices (some seemed too closely related in some cases). We gathered materials for teaching Romeo and Juliet. We will place copies in the mailboxes of those who will have ninth graders second semester (they will be delivered by the end of this week, if all goes well). Also, the exam should be in its first "official" draft form by the end of the week. If someone catches something that seems a little off, please let us know. We have caught a few errors here and there already and have corrected them. We are finishing up the rubric and the writing prompt. If you have the prompt from last year, please forward it to Alicia and/or Larry. Thanks!

12/11/08 Dubisky, Koch in room F14 today Worked on writing prompt, and selected several questions to add. Discussed pacing guide for third quarter. Poetry Slam competition might be an interesting way to approach tone, voice, etc. I also plan on using a monologue and soliloquy mini competition in my classes for Shakespeare.

12/9/08 Dubisky, Koch, Davis Added 10 questions to exam. Edited format, changed wording. Worked on writing portion topic.

12/5/08 Dubisky, Koch, Davis Discussed ideas for a study guide for all of the ninth grade teachers. Discussed a pacing guide for next semester (we need to coordinate books, as __Taming of the Shrew__ is not in our textbooks and is to be taught IN ADDITION to the anchor text __Romeo and Juliet__).

12/3/08 Dubisky, Davis, Koch Selected passages for the reading section of the exam. Typed exam.

12/1/08 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis, Larry Koch Cindy assisted in formatting terminology section for special education students. Typed questions. Discussed number of questions on each concept. Selected passages to use for application and identification questions on exam. Considering limiting questions (we had thought 100 would be perfect, but it might not serve our students as well as we thought).

11/25/08 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis, Larry Koch Formulated ideas about the writing prompt (expository). Typed exam questions, worked on ACT format template.

=If your students are struggling with keeping the places straight in __The Odyssey__, __[|www.GoogleLitTrips.com]__ is wonderful!!!= = =

11/21/08 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis, Larry Koch Worked on phrasing of questions. Edited some sections of the exam. The template is still in production, but the test should be able to be pasted in easily once it is finished. Typing day. We are considering separating the test into three parts - the writing portion, the reading portion, and the English portion - to better match the format of the ACT. Does anyone find this to be a problem?

11/19/08 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis Worked on typing sections of exam. Cindy made suggestions for special education modifications and accommodations. Some tweaking of numbers for each section of the exam.

11/17/08 In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis We are looking over some of the exam questions gathered from other sources, as well as those we wrote ourselves. We are portioning out each section to make sure we have a sampling of different types of questions (identification, analysis, usage, etc.) throughout the test, although the overall idea is to have 40 questions on short stories and the epic (terminology, narrative structure, and literary analysis), 35 questions on usage (capitalization, end punctuation, pronouns and antecedents, run-ons, fragments, and general questions on the parts of speech), 5 questions on MLA format (NOT citation-based...more along the lines of general notions on margins, plagiarism, paper headings, format, underlining/quoting titles, etc.), 5 questions on the writing process, 5 questions on 6+1 Writing, 5 questions on paragraph structure, and 5 questions on sensory details - which may be added into the literature portion. We appear to be on track to have a first draft by Friday, November 21st, to peruse during our collaboration.

11/13/08 Chose questions from texts. Worked on exam questions. We should have a first draft by the end of next week. Alicia, Larry, Cindy.0

11/11/08 Goal: compile exam by next Friday. Completed list of reteaching strategies gathered from multiple teachers. Larry, Cindy, Alicia

11/7/08 Continued weeding out reading passages. Checked reading level with Cindy. Larry, Alicia, Cindy

11/5/08 Looked over reading passages provided by online resource from Laurie Lintner. Selected some usage exercises that we can modify for the exam. Copied 6+1 materials for all ninth grade teachers. Alicia, Cindy, Larry

11/3/08 we plan to bring printed passages to Wednesday's meeting. We will have a list emailed to the English 9 teachers by tomorrow highlighting the terms we will be testing. We also will be paring down the list exercises for our usage section on Wednesday. In attendance: Alicia Dubisky, Larry Koch, Cindy Davis

10/29/08 We also started mapping out sections of the semester exam. A rough draft should be available for teachers in approximately two weeks. We are also considering creating an alternate form of the exam either to use next year or for students who are absent on exam day and need to make it up later. Deb Cooper stopped by to discuss assessment results, but we did not yet have the analysis. We should have it by Friday. In attendance: Larry Koch, Cindy Davis, Alicia Dubisky

10/27/08 Began reviewing the master list of literary terms. A more specific list should be compiled by Monday, November 3. Veronica graciously offered to enter our information into a spreadsheet to better analyze our students' achievement. Thank you!!! We pored through resources to gather possible test questions and reading passages. Activities for The Odyssey were copied and placed in mailboxes (or hand-delivered) to ninth grade teachers. In attendance: Larry Koch, Cindy Davis, Alicia Dubisky

10/23/08 Focus: Marking period 1 exam Benchmark alignment. We double-checked that the appropriate Benchmarks matched correct test questions. Veronica finished identifying the Benchmarks on the exam and will turn copies into Coop and Gail tomorrow morning. Cyndi finished modifying the MP 1 exam to make it more accessible to special ed students. We discussed strategies for engaging intentional non-learners in class. We also began outlining the focus of Marking Period 2. Alicia suggested having a Greek food/dress-up day. We will continue to brainstorm that idea. Alicia has activities for //The Odyssey// designed for special ed students. She will photo copy and distribute to all 9th grade teachers. Veronica has an entire modified (designed for special ed students) unit plan for //The Odyssey// if anyone is interested. She also has a translated version of //The Odyssey// if interested. Goal for Tuesday: Data collection and item analyses for MP 1 exam Meeting place: A25 In Attendance: Cyndi, Alicia, Larry, and Veronica

10/21/08 Focus: Finishing MP 1 exam. Received feedback/suggestions from Liz Simmons. Made necessary changes to exam. Final draft was completed and distributed to all 9th grade teachers. There was discussion of why passages from spring final exam were used on test - we decided we wanted to re-vamp the final exam by focusing on skills needing re-teaching throughout the course of the year. We will make the final exam cumulative and will decide which areas to concentrate on based on each MP's data analyses. We will also work on creating the 1st semester exam during the first two weeks of marking period 2, so we don't spend the entire marking period working on creating a test. Meeting place: A25 In Attendance: Alicia, Larry, Cyndi, and Veronica

10/15/08 Focus: Formatting MP 1 exam. E-mailed another draft to all 9th grade teachers. Waiting for feedback. We tallied the number of concepts being tested to make sure there is proper balance on exam. This will help with greater validity and reliability. Cyndi worked on creating a modified exam. We also discussed possible review activities (best practices). Goal for Friday: Finish exam formatting and revisions. Meeting place: Media Center In attendance: Alicia, Veronica, Larry, Cyndi

10/13/08 Focus: Alicia and Veronica worked on formatting the exam. If anyone has questions, concerns, feedback, please let us know asap, as we will have all formatting completed by Wednesday afternoon. We will get a copy of the final draft to everyone by Thursday. We will also go over, once again, Benchmarks to make sure all applicable are applied to common assessment. Honors 9 teacher may want to get together to determine if (or what) additional questions will be added to the exam. Once the exam is distributed, we will begin working on a review guide. Again, if you have input, please let us know. Thanks. Meeting place: Media Center In attendance: Alicia Dubisky and Veronica Coker (Cyndi Davis had to leave halfway through due to a meeting and Larry Koch was not in school)

10/9/08 Focus: 9th grade exam for MP1. (All 9th grade teachers should have received a copy of the working draft of the 9th grade exam. If not, please let Veronica know so she can get one to you.) We looked at each question on the exam and decided which questions we wanted to keep, revise, and get rid of. In addition, instead of going with 40-45 questions, we decided to go with 60 questions. After looking at what the test consists of, we think most students will be able to complete the entire exam within the allotted time period. The exam does not have any long passages, and most questions are pretty straight forward. There will be 35 literary element questions, 20 grammar and usage questions, and 5 questions on paragraph structure. The grammar and usage portion will contain capitalization, end punctuation, and pronoun /antecedent questions. Veronica will work on formatting the exam, and on Monday, we will continue to edit and revise directions and test questions. All test questions have been Benchmarked and Veronica will work on creating a spreadsheet that lists each test question and the Benchmarks covered. As a group, we will also double-check to make sure that all Benchmarks that can be applied to test questions, are. We anticipate that the final draft of the exam will be completed by Thursday, 10/16, at the latest. Meeting place: A-25 In attendance: Larry Koch, Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis, and Veronica Coker

10/3/08 Focus: 9th grade exam. Veronica provided exam questions from last year. We discussed limiting the total number for the first quarter to 40-45 questions. Veronica said that she and Nekole would be meeting to assign benchmarks to the already existing test. Alicia will be creating and sending along questions that test our students' abilities with pronouns and antecedents, and Larry will be providing questions that focus on capitalization and end punctuation. We determined that the Class A feature on ZANGLE is still unresponsive for most of us, although Cindy Davis has been able to access it through her account. We should have a first draft of the 9-week exam on Monday. We will be proofing and revising it this week. Meeting place: Media Center In attendance: Veronica Coker, Larry Koch, Cindy Davis, and Alicia Dubisky

10/1/08 Focus: Training on Wikispace with Stephanie Halliday in the Media Center. We will continue to pore through our assessment booklets (we will be taking questions from the EXTRA grammar booklet for the exam, as well) so that we can start to pull together several sections of the exam. We are be starting with the end punctuation, capitalization, and pronoun sections. Can someone share with us the exams from last year? I would like to see what we can still use - there is absolutely no reason to reinvent the wheel! :-D Who is in the other ninth grade collaboration? In attendance: Larry Koch and Alicia Dubisky

9/29/08 Focus: 9th grade quarter 1 exam Questions will be pulled from the Standardized Test Preparation Workbook, Diagnostic and Benchmark Tests, and the Literature (Michigan) Progress Monitoring Assessments. We are selecting questions and creating a preliminary document this week for all ninth grade teachers to review. Meeting room A-25, odd days, during B and C lunches. Alicia Dubisky, Cindy Davis, and Larry Koch