Skip to main content

Home

Hello!
 
 
Official Duties: In addition to teaching English 9 and AP English Literature and Composition, I am also the Scholarship Chair.
 
Contacting me: The best way to reach me is by email: [email protected]. I typically check my email multiple times over the course of the school day.
NOTE: When you email, please write your student's name in the subject line of the email. Our email program converts many emails from outside our server into attachments, and I receive an abundance of spam mail--as a result I may inadvertently delete an email if I do not recognize the address or subject.
 
WishNight: 
Stamps! The 9th graders will write letters to adults giving and asking for book recommendations, so we need stamps for both the envelope out and the return envelope. (Two years ago a parent brought enough envelopes to cover a few years.) THANK YOU FOR BUYING THEM, WISHNIGHT!
Spring WishNight: Books: For both 9th grade and 12th grade, I would love to add to the options for independent and book club reading, including some contemporary memoirs and novels to best meet students' reading levels and interests. SPEF sponsored book circle choices for the AP Lit students last year, and they were incredibly popular and effective. 
 
Books, books, books: It's great, particularly for AP students, to build a bit of their personal library and have their own copies of books. In addition to the fabulous Vromans and Octavia's Bookshelf, you could also order online through https://bookshop.org/ or amazon. For Hamlet and Macbeth I recommend the Folger Library edition. Any version of Frankenstein would work (although there are two slightly different versions, which we will discuss). The audiobook from Audible narrated by Dan Stevens is wonderful. 
 
Purdue OWL for MLA format and citation: MLA Purdue OWL
 
Recommended reading options for 9th grade students planning to take Honors English in grade 10:
Fiction

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolf Anaya

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth

Ruta Sepetys (especially to give World History insight): Salt to the Sea, I Must Betray You, or Fountains of Silence

Nonfiction

Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racisim, and You by Kendi X. Ibram and Jason Reynolds
Viral: The Fight Against AIDS in America by Ann Bausum

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo

We Are Not Yet Equal by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden

Memoir

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

March 1, 2, and 3 by John Lewis
The Best We Could Do (An illustrated memoir) by Thi Bui

Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince  

How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
 
Recommendations and references:
In addition to college recommendations, I have many students who are applying to summer programs, internships, and private high schools that require a recommendation. If you would like me to write one for you, please contact me at least two school weeks before you will need the letter or form.
 
 

Classes

Posts