1. Diane Shires Freshman Language Arts
Back To School Night!
Diane Shires
Freshman Language Arts

2. Academic Background...
BA - Comparative American / British Literature, UCSC
MA - Liberal Arts/ Rhetoric, St. John’s College
CLAD / Clear Teaching Credential, San Jose State University, Secondary Ed. English Language Arts, CLAD certified
Collegeboard AP Language and Composition training
SPHS alumni (Go Tigers!)
SPMS alumni (Go Tiger cubs!)
Marengo Elementary Alumni (Go Lions!)

3. Background and Family
Last

4. Curriculum Semester One
Non Fiction Unit (Test for first half, Unit test at completion of unit)
To Kill A Mockingbird Unit
Scholastic Art and Writing Award Submissions (various genres of writing)
Letters About Literature Submissions - Due December 1
Short Research paper (citation, MLA, footnotes)
Semester Two
Greek gods and mythology Unit
Romeo and Juliet Unit
Homework-
10 literary terms every 2 weeks (see quizlet.com - dishire)
Scholastic Writing Categories- month of November
Schedule and Homework Links

5. Scholastic Write every night! 30 to 45 minutes per night.
Pre- plan in October:
Dramatic Script
Flash Fiction
Humor
Journalism
Personal Essay/Memoir
Persuasive Writing
Poetry
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Short Story
Novel

6. Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
SPHS Western Regional Writing Winners
2014/15/16 SPHS National Winners
76 students and 7 teachers
awarded Scholastic Art and Writing Regional Awards
Seventy-six South Pasadena High School students received 124 Western Region awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Competition. Nearly 500,000 students grades 7 through 12 participated nationally in the 2016 Scholastic competition, in categories ranging from Critical Essay Writing to Poetry to Photography. South Pasadena participates in the Western Region-At-Large, which includes California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington State, and Wyoming.
Lena Gavenas / Somi Jun / Dzelila Maslesa
researched persuasive essay
Scholastic Scholarship Opportunities
Western Regional and National Recognition
College application achievement

7. Homework 10 literary terms every 2 weeks
* In the reference section in the back of the green textbook
* Quizlet.com - online index cards with self tests, memorization games, audio, memorization helps (see my quizlet list under “dishire”)
Units assigned as packets - Next unit To Kill A Mockingbird
Learning Styles (see handout)

8. Wish Night... 1. Class Set of Textbooks
Complete class set of textbooks for in-class and study hall use.
2. NaNoWriMo 2015 Classroom Kits
Writing Curriculum and Student Composition tools
Donations of tissue boxes and hand sanitizer are happily accepted...

9. E-mail- dshires@spusd.net
Contact Information -
Checked daily Monday through Friday
Teacher Web page
sphstigers.org
Click on “faculty”
Click on “Diane Shires”
Office Hours
3rd period (odd days)
7th period (every day)
After 3 p.m. (Monday through Friday)