welcome
Welcome to room 217!  This is our public online 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.
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Overall, this site should help us reflect on the themes course, celebrate our accomplishments, and streamline how we learn and share information.
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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. 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. 

​This is her fifth year as a Grandville Bulldog.  Ms. Ward teaches 10th grade honors American literature as well as 10th grade Composition Through American Literature courses. She is also the faculty advisor for the Knit Wits (our GHS knitting club), the GHS Writing Club, the Dungeons and Dragons club, and the Political Action club. She also serves as the coordinator for the GHS Seminar MIproject program.

​ms. ward

stay informed:

​social contract:

to be successful:
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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: ​
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.

what we're working on:

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10th GRADE HONORS AMERICAN LITERATURE (2nd, 3rd, and 6th hours)
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A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

The certainty that the ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” can become a reality for anyone willing to work for them is what we call the American Dream.  For many, the dream does come true; but for a large portion of the population it does not.

Lorraine Hansberry knew about disappointment, false hope, and despair.  For many of her ancestors who had come north for a better life only to find exploitation and frustration, the dream had become a nightmare.  In contemporary terms, she chronicles their nightmare in A Raisin in the Sun, an epic story of the Younger family struggling to realize the dream by escaping ghetto life.  Hansberry’s drama not only tells the story of the Younger family, but reveals the plight of all who have failed dreams.
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10th GRADE COMPOSITION THROUGH AMERICAN LITERATURE (CTAL 10)  
(4th and 5th hours)

UNIT 3: Research and Speech Unit

A good persuasive speech is developed through organization, clarity, and interest.  Supporting material should be presented in a logical manner designed to maintain a high level of interest for the listener.  In your speech, take a position on your research topic and use specific reasons and examples to support your position.  Offer counterarguments (like you did in your research paper) to address the claims of the opposition and to build credibility as a speaker. Finally, you will be required to use at least 5 rhetorical strategies devices in your speech​.

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