Greenfield R-IV School District

The Contemporary Literature class (Juniors and Seniors) started this semester with individual books/ book reports, and now have just finished reading ( and essay tested), To Kill a Mockingbird with very good results.  They are now reading a combination of 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451, which are early sci-fi classics written in the mid 1900s about the future as the authors thought might happen. After that, we will finish the year with Grisham's  A Painted House.  My English 1, 3, and 4 classes are using the Literature and Language textbook (which some parents may recall using). They have just finished the unit covering a part of Homer's Odyssey.  They are reading for or have done book reports on individual reading and all grades have different levels of vocabulary study with weekly quizzing taken from the Kahn Institute suggested words to master for each grade.  In the fall, all the freshmen read Animal Farm and upper levels read Lord of the Flies. The students also completed a series of short story classics in October before encountering  enough of the older textbooks and ancillary study aids that were in storage to use again.  I plan many  more writing assignments as we finish out the year, doing it all a bit "old school" to help them with their off-line communication skills. After being retired for 12 years, I have really enjoyed coming back into the school and teaching this year.