Spring Semester 2010

Ms. Nicole Young’s Website

Spring Semester 2010

Writing for Teachers

“Teaching and learning is a crucial

part of everyday life. As an English

teacher, I will not only teach my

content area, but I will also make it

my responsibility to teach each

student life lessons they will need

for the future.”

-Nicole Young

Greetings and Welcome to my Web page.

I’ve been a college student at the University of Missouri St. Louis for the past four years. During elementary school, I told my parents that I wanted to be a teacher. In high school, I realized that English is my passion and I love to read, write, and interpret authors through my own eyes. I am 22 years old and still following my dream. I graduated from RitenourHigh School on the honor roll and continued to the Dean’s list in college. I love writing essays and reading my fellow peer’s work. I will be interning this fall and then student teaching the following spring. The end is in sight, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what my future holds! I look forward to one day having my own classroom and positively influencing the children of our future. Thank you for taking the time to look at my writing and lesson plans.

“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth." ~Dan Rather

Writing for Teachers

Magazine Assignment – Who’s in this School?

Nicole Young

Final lesson

May 2, 2010

Rationale: Becoming part of the community in a high school is important for incoming freshman. There are many new faces, which can sometimes seem overwhelming. There are many different clubs and organizations in which they can become a part of, but most don’t know where to begin. Students begin to identify themselves during their teenage years. Giving them guidance and helping them to become good people is what being a teacher is all about. We must provide each student with the opportunity to pursue their interests during these four years.

This is all important in becoming part of the community. Acceptance with peers is important for these children. Allowing students to become familiarized with the different groups and organizations throughout the school will help them to find a place where they feel welcomed and connect with new faces for the next few years of their lives, hopefully continuing the relationships after school is over as well.

Summary: In order to help the students become more actively involved their first semester of freshman year, I will provide them with an assignment that allows them to research one organization, club, or sports team and speak with the coach or teacher that runs that particular group. There will be many options and students will be required to choose which one they are interested in pursuing. They will research that particular topic, give background information, interview the individual in charge, and write a reflection as to why someone should join that group. Together, the students’ articles will compose a full magazine about the school and the opportunities that are provided for them. The children will be given time to present their topics to the class, hopefully sparking the interest of others in the class.

Objectives: Students will be required to create a magazine article about an organization in their school and present their information to the class, following the rubric with at least 85% accuracy.

Materials and Resources: The students will be given access to the computer lab to research their background information and compose their magazine article. They will also be required to schedule an interview with the teacher face to face. If for some reason that instructor is unable to make arrangements for an interview, the student can email or submit written questions to the instructor for review.

Assessment: The students will have requirements listed on their handout that must be met for the rubric. There will also be a separate portion of the rubric to grade for neatness and creativity as well as the presentation given to the class.

Magazine: Worth 40 points

Presentation: Worth 10 points

Teacher Calendar of Events for Magazine Unit

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5
Quickwrite –
What do you think of the sports teams, clubs, and organizations throughout our school? What interests you?
Discuss.
Present the assignment and rubric and give examples. Give each student their handouts. Clarify any questions and allow students to think about what topic they would like to choose. / 3 min write – What do you know about Word and Powerpoint?
Give a refresher course on Word and Powerpoint, reminding the students how to present their information.
Students will then choose their topic. They can draw numbers out of a hat, and then go to the sign up sheet based on their numbers, and let each student pick a topic. / Computer Lab time –
Students will go to the lab and begin their research. What is…? (Mu Alpha Theta) They will complete a KWL chart before they get on the computers, helping to guide their thoughts for the project. They will also be required to email the teacher that is in charge of their activity to set up an interview time. / Computer Lab-
Students will continue their research about the topic as well as begin formulating their interview questions. They will each submit them to the teacher before the interview for approval. / Construction Day-
Students will begin construction on their magazine articles with the information they have found.
*If the interview has been set up, students will have the opportunity to leave class to conduct their interviews. If this was not available, they will email the questions to the teacher on this day.
Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8
Construction Day-
Students will finalize their magazine articles. Anything that is not finished must be finished outside of class. They must have a title, background section, interview, and recommendation as to why the others should join this group. It must also be neat and eye appealing. / Present!
Students will present their article to the rest of the class, reading their recommendations about the clubs. If technology is available, the articles can be uploaded online and displayed on the screen for all to see. / Present!

Ms. YoungName: ______

Writing for Teachers

Your school = Your Teams, Clubs, and Organizations!!!

As a new student at this school, you may be overwhelmed by all the new faces and people. Here at RHS, we want you to feel like a part of our community. We make up this school together, and YOU are just as important as any other student here.

What better way to learn about the fun teams, clubs, and organizations than to write a magazine article about one of them? 

In this unit, each student will pick one of the groups involved at this school and compose a magazine article about it. Your article will include a title, background information about that sport or club, an interview with the sponsor, and a recommendation as to why someone SHOULD join this group. You will be giving a small 5 to 10 minute presentation after the final product is completed to the rest of the class and we will make an entire magazine out of all the articles!

(Back of Handout)

Wait!!!! There’s MORE…

Grading will be based on a few different aspects.

1. Did you meet all of the requirements listed above? Did you explain it thoroughly and give good details? Did you have enough interview questions for the sponsor and were they carefully thought out?

1. Did you use your creative juices to compose the article? Is it eye appealing? Is the article neat and does the information flow smoothly?

1. Did you present your information to the class? Did you speak loud enough so everyone could hear you? Did you seem convincing in explaining why people should check out this group or why they should join?

This project is meant for you to have fun using writing and research techniques to learn more about the high school and the opportunities there are to you as a student!

You will meet new people and possibly find an organization that you are interested in joining as well. Have fun and learn lots!!! 

Newspaper : Magazine Article – Rubric 1
Teacher Name: N Young
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 1 / 3 / 5
Title and Name / Not included. / Included but in the wrong place. / Included and in the correct place.
Background Infomation / Little to no background information. / Some background information provided. / Thorough background information provided and explained.
Interview / No interview or 1-2 question interview. / Basic interview with little to no thought provoking questions. / Interview with more than 5 questions that include some how and why questions to the sponsor.
Recommendation / No recommendation given. / Basic recommendation given with no explanation. / Recommendation has an explanation and is persuasive for the audience.
Overall / Directions were not closely followed. / Student completed assignment fulfilling the basic requirements. / Student fulfilled the requirements of the assignment, providing good detail and explanation for each section.
Newspaper : Magazine Article- Rubric 2
Teacher Name: N Young
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 1 / 3 / 5
Creativity / Basic layout, same font, no extra effort put toward making the article. / Some changes to the font and basic effort put toward assignment. / Extra effort put toward the layout and design of the project.
Neatness / Nothing is placed in logical order. / Information is mostly placed in logical order, with the exception of a few mistakes. / Information is placed in order and looks professional.
Eye Appealing / Only black and white colors with Times New Roman font. / A small picture included with some changes to the layout of the page. / 2 or more small pictures included and a new layout design from the student.
Oral Presentation Rubric : Magazine Presentation
Teacher Name: N Young
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 5 / 3 / 1
Preparedness / Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed. / Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals. / The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.
Enthusiasm / Facial expressions and body language generate a strong interest and enthusiasm about the topic in others. / Facial expressions and body language are used to try to generate enthusiasm, but seem somewhat faked. / Very little use of facial expressions or body language. Did not generate much interest in topic being presented.

I-Search Introduction

“I’m Sorry”

Nicole Young

Final Draft

March 11, 2010

“The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, The Big Book

I was sitting in the living room on a late Friday night in early December, nodding my head, beginning to fall asleep. The faint cry began over the baby monitor and continued to get louder. I realized that it was coming from the nursery. “She’s just going to get louder if I wait any longer,” I thought. I mustered up enough strength to get off of the couch and go check on Sarah. She was almost three months old at the time and the sweetest baby I had ever seen. I looked over the side of the crib and saw those big blue eyes staring back at me. The crying settled as I reached in for her. I picked her up and cradled her small body. I realized that she needed a diaper change, which I quickly took care of, and started to rock her back to sleep. Her eyes started closing, and her breathing became deep. Soon Sarah would be peacefully sleeping again, and then I could return to my nap.

I saw the flash of lights through the curtain in the nursery. The car pulled up in the driveway and I heard both doors close. I looked at the clock: Just about 1:30 am, right after closing time. My mother and her boyfriend came stumbling through the front door, laughing loudly and talking about the evening’s events. I heard them coming towards the room, and knew that there was going to be trouble. As soon as they opened the door to check on Sarah, their attitudes immediately changed. “I told you to have the baby asleep when we got home!” my mother yelled. Her boyfriend became enraged, slammed the nursery door, and went to their bedroom, not coming out until morning. I had ruined their evening. They drank too much and didn’t want to come home to be disturbed by a newborn baby. “I should have kept Sarah awake a while longer this evening and she would still be sleeping when they got here,” I thought to myself. I realized how upset they were, and I felt the tears hit my cheeks. My mother continued yelling, telling me to get Sarah back to bed, and stormed away.

I finally got Sarah to sleep a short while after they went to their room, and went back to the couch where I cried myself to sleep. The next morning, I woke up when the baby did, changed her, fed her, and held her until my mother woke up. My mother came to me immediately to thank me for watching Sarah the previous night, and she apologized for their actions when they came home, although she couldn’t remember exactly what happened. She told me that she cared for me and that she only got angry with me because of the love that she had for me. “People get angry with the ones they love, and I’m sorry,” she simply stated. This was not the first or the last time my mother took her drunken rage out on us kids.

At the time of these events, I was twelve years old. Sarah’s father introduced my mother to alcoholism, and she has never been the same since. I am now twenty two years old and my sister is eleven. She turned into the girl I was at that age. She recognizes the problems and is not sure how to deal with them. Her instabilities and insecurities need to be dealt with. The two of us talk about the problems, but I don’t really know how to react or what to say to make things better.

My mother continues down an alcoholic path and refuses to seek treatment. I see many characteristics that my sister possesses that I once saw in myself. I understand her insecurities, emotional instabilities, and questions about life, which many other people do not. Recently, she asked my mother “Why do you drink so much rum mom?” My mother could only reply with, “Because I want to Sarah.” My mother’s primary drink is Bacardi and coke, all afternoon and evening, just about every day. My sister once asked me the same question and I could only reply with, “It’s an addiction, and mommy and our whole family need help to fix it.” But where do you begin to get help?

I sit here and wonder “Will she ever get better?” “What will happen to Sarah now that I moved out of the house?” “Will my parents get back together?” “Is she going to get some sort of liver cancer?” “When is the next time she will decide to drink and drive, and will she eventually kill someone because of her carelessness?”

Many people don’t understand what an addiction involves and how it can affect the lives of not only the person with the addiction but the family members and friends as well. Often, addicts become abusive, both emotionally and physically. My mother’s dilemma is her emotional abuse, with her spiteful and cruel words. She always apologizes the next morning, telling us kids, “I only talk to you like that because I love you but I never mean to hurt you.” As much as you try to move past the hurtful words and think that whatever was said isn’t true, an imprint in the back of your mind remains. Sometimes, the words “I’m sorry” do not mean enough.

My mother was not always like this. I remember going on family vacations every year with my parents, my brother, and my grandparents. She only worked part time so she could stay at home with us when we were younger. We were the perfect family on the outside. When my parents’ relationship became rocky in 1997, my mother decided that she wanted to go out and find herself someone else. She dated the other man for two years, during which time she had my little sister. After he became physically abusive towards my mother, my father decided that he wouldn’t allow my brother and me to live in that type of environment, and he moved us back to his home. He gave his ex-wife the opportunity to stay with him temporarily so that she would have a safe haven for her and Sarah. This took place about ten years ago. Because of her costly addiction, my mother is still living in my father’s basement because she cannot afford to move out. My wonderful father raises Sarah as his own daughter because she has no contact with her biological dad. It may not seem like the ideal situation for most, but I find peace knowing that my sister is taken care of when my mother is unable to.