Greetings from the English Corner on this sunny winter day! God's creation is breath-taking, especially in the dawns and twilights. Such a contrast in worldview from the writings the American Lit class has had. The literature of the Transcendentalists and the Naturalists, in particular, are unsettling in their intentional ignorance of God and His love. The Juniors have finished a unit on the Transcendental Optimists and Pessimists,  and are now sampling the writing of the Regionalist, Realist, Naturalist and Anti-Naturalist authors.
    For all MS/HS students, the month has been full of not only reading, but writing!  They have completed the poems they will present at the Prose and Poetry Slam-Jam on February 22nd. Now they are writing the stories they will present as well. Today's first "read-through" of poems  went very well! I am quietly excited for each of them, and for those who can come and listen.
     Grammar is keeping the 7/8th graders thinking! They all completed the chapter on subject-verb agreement today, in good shape, too! A colorful poster in our room helps remind all of us of the three principle parts of verbs. Blackout poetry they created from prose is displayed on the wall outside our room-maybe you can take time to read a few poems when you're here for parent-teacher conferences?
    The English 9/10 class just finished a unit on Poetry.  With lots of digging, patience in learning about all the devices poets use to make their poems come alive, I think everyone's appreciation of poetry grew at least some!
     English 7/8 is just about to have a test over Unit 4 where they've learned the many parts of the plot diagram, read a beautiful autobiography/memoir (Evidence Not Seen), and enjoyed the adventure and life lessons learned by Andy in You've Got to Learn and The Wild Duck's Nest. Poems by Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson and others were good examples for the students as they created their own poems for the Slam-Jam, too.
     We hope to see all of you at the Slam-Jam February 22nd! Siblings and friends are welcome, too! I can't say how much I appreciate all of your support for this, and for your students/KA. Always feel free to call/text me with anything.  His Blessings.
Mrs. Lemmen