Greetings from the English corner!

Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections occupied all the 7 and 8th graders' thoughts and grammar dreams during November!  Really?  Absolutely! They even coordinated some conjunctions and joined some clauses, ending up with some pretty nice grades on the last test! They are beginning to spy subjects and verbs just about as quickly as they breathe when they play dodge ball!

The Junior class finished a unit on the NE School Poets, and experienced poems that were written for political purposes, like saving the USS Constitution. The students got some experience with in-class essays. We then focused on a grammar unit: Punctuation...this sounds simple at first, but throw in a few restrictive or nonrestrictive clauses and some coordinate vs. cumulative adjectives, and you've got a challenge.  No fear, this class always rises to the challenge, and met this one head-on. Nice work!

The English 9/10 class finished Unit III on Allusion and Symbol in literature. Selections included both poetry and prose. There was quite a variety of subjects ranging from A Piece of Chalk (Chesterton) to The Red Masque of Death (Poe) to maggie and milly and molly and may (e e cummings). After reading great literary examples of allusions and symbols, they wrote their own literary analysis of a biblical symbol. These are well worth reading-be sure to ask to read theirs.They, too, moved on into a grammar unit-they studied good old sentences and nouns.  Again, it sounds simple, but ask them if it was!!  Rising to the challenge, they did well.

The 7/8 grade english class finished Unit 2 and moved into the historical fictional story In Search of Honor by Donnalynn Hess.  We focused on characterization, style, personification, and  the use of suspense.  We finished by reading a biographical sketch written by Tom Brokaw whose purpose was to show the great sense of personal responsibility and commitment of honesty in the members of the Greatest Generation. We could see how these character traits make a difference in a person.

The best character traits, though, are best learned through the amazing love God has for us, as shown by the humbling gift of His Son.  We pray that everyone who makes up KA will shine their light of love and joy this season in particular, allowing God to draw his children to Him. Wishing you peace and joy.
Mrs. Lemmen