welcome
Welcome to room 217!  This is our public online space to share ideas, showcase our learning, and celebrate our accomplishments. We use this online space to share out and connect with our parents and community members around all that we are learning in our classroom.  Students will also access our daily agendas, coursework, and readings on our Google Classroom space via their GHS login credentials.
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Overall, this site should help us reflect on the themes course and streamline how we learn and share information. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!
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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.  An interest in artificial technologies led Ms. Ward to become a certified MagicSchoolAI pioneer and a certified ClassCompanion teacher.  She also currently serves on the district's AI committee. In the 2023-24 school year, Ms. Ward was awarded a fellowship to participate in the MI Learning Channel Iconic Michigan program. 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. 

​The 2025-26 school year is Ms. Ward's ninth year as a Grandville Bulldog.  Ms. Ward teaches 10th grade honors American literature, 10th grade Composition through American Literature, and journalism courses.  

​ms. ward

stay informed:

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 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: ​

site visitors:

​social contract:

Respect-
  • When you interact with others either in class or online, it is important to be respectful; be respectful of other people and respect yourself. This means that personal attacks, inappropriate language and content, insults and harassment of any kind are strictly forbidden. Our digital classroom spaces are an extension of our physical classroom. Ask yourself if your comments would be acceptable in our physical classroom setting.
Rigor-
  • Before posting a comment, question, or blog entry, ask yourself, "will this forward the discussion we are having?" Your thoughts and ideas should be supported, and you should be using specific details to illustrate your ideas. Your posts should build on the discussion by responding to comments other students have made on a particular subject.
Grit-
  • Grit is one of those words that you hear quite a bit at Grandville High.  Grit is the willingness to persevere in the face of initial difficulties.  This will be important in our course as well. Indeed, many of the readings and exercises have been selected precisely because of the particular difficulties they present to the student reader.  Successful students will develop the ability to work through the following steps more or less independently:
    • acknowledge that the difficulty exists;
    • formulate the question which will allow the difficulty to be approached;
    • think through as many possible answers to the questions as they can;
    • bring the question and the most likely answers to class to share them;
    • listen and evaluate the comments of other students about the issue at hand; and
    • reconsider and reformulate their own ideas based on what they have heard.

to be successful:

what we're working on in JOURNALISM - The Bark:

​JOURNALISM - SCHOOL NEWSPAPER
(4th hour)

​Have you ever wondered how a breaking story makes it from an event to your screen in an instant? Or how your favorite social media feeds have become a primary source for news? In this class, we'll dive deep into the fascinating world of journalism, exploring how technology is constantly reshaping the way we create, share, and consume news.

This isn't just about reading headlines; it's about becoming a skilled storyteller and a critical news consumer in the digital age. You'll get hands-on experience writing and publishing articles online in a variety of styles, from hard-hitting news reports to engaging features. Our class will be a dynamic space filled with lively discussions, collaborative workshops, and personalized feedback sessions designed to hone your writing voice, refine your craft, and master various article formats. Students in this class are responsible for regularly publishing our school newspaper - The Bark.

We'll also tackle crucial questions: What does it mean to be an ethical journalist in a world flooded with information? How can we spot bias and think critically about the news we encounter every day? By the end of this course, you'll not only be a more confident and versatile writer, but also a more informed and discerning citizen.

Get ready to explore, create, and publish – the news is waiting for your voice!


​Journalism Units of Study:

what we're working on in CTAL 10:

​10th GRADE COMPOSITION THROUGH AMERICAN LITERATURE  (1st and 2nd hours)

​American author John Steinbeck wrote: “In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme: try to understand men. If you understand each other, you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love."  Through our reading and discussion of a variety of genres of literature from American authors, students in our 10th grade Composition through American Literature (CTAL) course will examine situations in which individuals struggle to understand concepts of identity and perspective. We will examine the impact of choices through both our reading and writing endeavors. We will learn about basic literary and rhetorical theory and apply our new knowledge to the analysis and interpretation of course texts.  By examining various themes such as the American Dream or Speaking Your Conscience, students will explore fiction and nonfiction and write about their findings through narrative, persuasive, and argumentative writing assessments. 

​CTAL 10 Units of Study:
  • Unit 1: The Power of Voice - reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and writing our own personal narratives 
  •  Unit 2: The Natural World and American Transcendentalism -  poetry analysis, introduction to SOAPStone, reading and writing free verse poetry inspired by American Transcendental writers
  • Unit 3: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald -  practicing close reading skills, understanding literary elements, and preparing and presenting a thematic analysis of the novel.
  •  Unit 4: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - understanding genre structures and character development in order to write a character analysis
  • Unit 5: The Art of Argument - introduction to rhetorical analysis; researching, writing, and presenting an original argument
  • Unit 6: Speaking Your Conscience - Reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and writing a quotation analysis of significant moments from the reading
  • Independent Reading: The expectation is that students will read at least two hours outside of class each week, which comes out to about 20 minutes of reading six days a week. We will track our reading progress, share our choice novels through book talks and class discussions, and at the close of each semester, students will complete a reading reflection which will address the accountability factor of your independent reading. A student’s independent reading will be assessed each semester through their semester exam.

what we're working on in HONORS AMERICAN LIT.:

10th GRADE HONORS AMERICAN LITERATURE (5th and 6th hours)
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One of the criteria which should distinguish the honors American Literature student is the willingness to persevere in the face of initial difficulties.  Indeed, many of the readings and exercises have been selected precisely because of the particular difficulties they present to the student reader.  Successful students will develop the ability to work through the following steps more or less independently:
  1. acknowledge that the difficulty exists;
  2. formulate the question which will allow the difficulty to be approached; 
  3. think through as many possible answers to the questions as they can; 
  4. bring the question and the most likely answers to class to share them; 
  5. listen and evaluate the comments of other students about the issue at hand; and
  6. reconsider and reformulate their own ideas based on what they have heard.
 
Honors American Literature Units of Study:
  • Unit 1: Introduction to American Voices (excerpts from foundational American writers; analytical reading and writing practices)
  •  Unit 2: Hopes and Dreams (poetry analysis, introduction to SOAPStone, The Great Gatsby, and A Raisin in the Sun)
  • Unit 3: American Revolutionary Spirit (introduction to rhetorical analysis)
  •  Unit 4: Art of Argument (argument writing and speech)
  • Unit 5 (optional): Speaking your Conscience (Fahrenheit 451)
  • Independent Reading: read a minimum of five books each semester following our course required selections