school closed beginning March 13th:
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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grandville High along with all other Michigan schools closed in mid-March. While we are away from the classroom, students are encouraged to use this gift of time to develop their own learning. The district has provided a collection of optional learning resources which can be found at https://bit.ly/GHSoptional. Additionally, students in Ms. Ward's classes will be using our Google Classroom space to connect and continue our learning conversations. Students should regularly check our Google Classroom space for updates. Parents and guardians will find the same information that is shared with students posted to the "Updates" tab of this website. Parents and students will also find a slideshow of daily optional reading and writing prompts that can be completed together while at home to the right. Above all, the priority to take care of one another, take care of ourselves. This is an unprecedented moment in time. Be gentle on yourself; be kind to your loved ones.
Stay safe and stay in touch, Ms. Jen Ward |
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welcome!This is our space to share ideas, collaborate on projects, and reflect on the themes of our course. Adding content and sharing has never been easier! We will build the knowledge on this site together by contributing to online discussions, sharing our research, and through creating and and posting to your personal online portfolio sites as a way to showcase our course creations.
Overall, this site should help us reflect on the themes course, celebrate our accomplishments, and streamline how we learn and share information. |
your teacher:
An interest in helping young people discover and define their writing voice and reading interests drives Ms. Jennifer Ward to cultivate a student-centered learning environment, one that supports individual learning goals and incorporates purposeful use of technology. In March 2017, Ms. Ward was named teacher of the month by Michigan's 86th district state representative, Thomas Albert. In March 2016, she was named a TED-Ed Innovative Educator and is also a Google Certified Innovator, National Writing Project Consultant, and a 2014 PASCD Emerging Leader. Ms. Ward taught for 13 years in a Philadelphia suburban district and returned to her home state in 2015. Most recently, she taught at Ionia High School.
This is her third year as a Grandville Bulldog. Ms. Ward teaches 10th grade American literature and honors American literature as well as ninth grade Composition Through Literature courses. Ms. Ward |
stay informed:
Students in Ms. Ward's students and their parents can sign up to receive a daily text message of our homework by clicking on the appropriate class below:
what we're working on:
9th GRADE COMPOSITION THROUGH LITERATURE (CTL9): (1st and 4th hours) We open our second semester with our study of poetry. In this unit we will explore how poets craft their works. We will look at a variety of mentor poems and poets to help us discover our own poetic voices. By the close of this unit, not only will students have opportunities to read and analyze a wide variety of poetic styles, but they will also be writing in a variety of poetic formats. Students will be invited to publish their pieces on their online portfolio for their summative unit assessment and will also learn about opportunities to perform and publish their poems inside and outside of the classroom. 
10th GRADE HONORS AMERICAN LITERATURE (HAmLit): (3rd and 5th hours)
In our second unit, we are focused on the changing American Dream. We've studied John Steinbeck's take on the dream from the perspective of 1930s migrant workers found in his Of Mice and Men. Now we must understand how that dream has changed. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, students are interviewing family members about their understanding of the American Dream and how it has played out in our lives. We will be turning these interviews into feature articles, some of which will be shared through our district's website. We will also be reading and responding to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and at the start of second semester we will read and reflect on Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun. 
10th GRADE COMPOSITION THROUGH AMERICAN LITERATURE (CTAL): (6th hour)
At the close of the first semester, we completed our research writing unit. As we kick off a new semester, we'll be turning those research essays into speeches. Modeled on the TED-Talk style of speech, students will prepare and present their own talks to our class. And, for those interested students, we can record those talks and share them with TED! In fact, we had a couple of our GHS students travel to TED headquarters with me last year! |
social contract:
Respect-
take a look at what is happening in our classroom:Follow our class Instagram account at @wardsworldghs
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