Note: Submissions beyond the extended deadline will be penalized retroactively at the maximum rate of -40% per the course syllabus and department-wide standards.

If you will be absent for any reason on this day, you must submit your work ahead of time, via email, or any other method necessary to ensure that you will meet the project deadline.

- Mr. Smith

Just a friendly reminder that parent/teacher conferences are being held at 6:30pm on Thursday evening.  I will be located in the 2nd floor cafeteria for anyone interested in joining us for this event.  Bonus!  As always, your student will receive extra credit for your involvment in this event.

I look forward to seeing you there.

- Mr. Smith

In the event you have questions about your student’s progress in my course, and have not been able to gather appropriate information from previous discussions with your child, I invite you to contact me directly to arrange a time to meet and discuss the matter further.

– Mr. Smith

Following is a breakout of anticipated deadlines and activities related to your children’s literature projects.  As usual, no extension will be given without advance permission of at least two days prior to due dates, as well as evidence of ongoing attempts to meet all in-class obligations.

4/9 – Prewriting activities & story writing (In-Class)

4/11 – Drafting Stories: 1.) Identifying Visual Opportunities Within Fully-Written-Out Story (In-Class), and; 2.) Planning Page-by-Page Mockups of Books (H.W. – Due next Class)

4/13 – Peer Review & In-Class Revisions (In-Class)

4/24 – Stories Due by End of Class Period (H.W. & In-Class)

4/26 – Presentations/Story Time w/ Kids (In-Class)

As a reminder, portfolios will also count for 500 points toward your 4th quarter grades.  These points will be divided up and attributed to your other Bridge courses.  – Mr. Smith

• 3/15 – Review and take two column notes on “Elements of Fictions Presentation” found under the course tab.
• 3/19 – Essay plot outlines and 3-sentence summary (max) of story idea due by beginning of class meeting.
• 3/23 – Rough drafts due by start of class.  Two peer reviews due by end of class period, and revisions to first drafts due by next class.
• 3/27 – Meet with teacher about revised drafts (second draft), aand make any suggested revisions or updates during class aand/or at home.
• 3/29 – Class presentations today!  Final Drafts due today, along with all project materials from previous classes (evidence of involvment in the writing process).

• January 18th – Bridge Academy: Portfolio Projects Due
• January 20th – All Classwork Due Today; No Extensions or Exceptions
• January 23rd – Day 1: Portfolio Presentations to Faculty; Absence Will Impact Project Grade
• January 24th – YMCA Class Alt. Exam Today Immediately Following Day’s Activities
• January 24th / 25th – Day 2: Portfolio Presentations to Faculty; Absence Will Impact Project Grade
• January 26th / 27th – Make Up Exams

MAINSTREAM COURSES

• January 18th – E-Block Creative Writing.: Graphic Novel Deadline Extended; Projects Due Today Without Penalty
• January 20th – Typed Reflections on Selected Works Due Today
• January 24th – Exam: In Class Portion of Mid-Term/Final Exam Today
• January 26th – Exam Make Up Day

Dear Parents and Guardians of Bridge Academy Students -

In an effort to mitigate any potential confusion or concern about your student’s pending progress report, I wanted to clarify some of the potential reasons that your son or daughter’s grade may not reflect the level of academic success you may have anticipated.

As progress reports arrive, it will likely come to your attention that your student may appear to be struggling in my class.  While this may be the case for several reasons ranging from missing assignments to multiple absences, the majority of students’ grades are, in actuality, reflective of their current grade for our semester-long Portfolio/Independent Reading Project.  For detailed information about this project, I encourage you to visit the ‘Bridge Academy Projects’ page on our course website: www.shsenglish.com.  In doing so, you may realize that this project will be a major component of both their semester- and overall-grades for the year.

Because of the progressive nature of this project, the grade your student has received is largely reflective of their progress to date, and should be consider only as a standing grade, of which, will ultimately be replaced with an updated grade (potentially higher or lower) upon resubmitting and presenting their final portfolio projects in January.

If you have specific questions about your student’s performance in my class, or require additional information about our portfolio project, I invite you to contact me via email at franksmith@salemk12.org.

Best regards.

- Frank Smith