READ THIS: Parents ... Things You Need To Know Over Break

Happy Holidays to everyone!
I am writing to let you that I just returned Thursday after being out 5 days with pneumonia. I want to keep you updated on what is happening in class and where your child should be or what they should be doing (forgive the length!):
1. READING/AUDIO BOOK: We are reading Fahrenheit 451 in class. Students should be to at least Page 89. If they are not (due to absence), and wish to catch up with the use of an audio book, they can go to www.audiobookx.com/video/1661  and listen up to the 2:41.30 mark. It is read by actor Tim Robbins and is actually very entertaining. 
2. BOOK AVAILABLE ONLINE: If your child has left their book at school, no worries; here is a link to a downloadable PDF of the book: https://www.fsusd.org/cms/lib03/CA01001943/Centricity/Domain/2034/Fahrenheit%20451.pdf
3. ONGOING BOOK ASSIGNMENTS: Students are supposed to be, while reading, filling out a vocab sheet (already posted) and also annotating the book for figurative language and other parts of the text that they find of interest, which will be used for a later assignment in the third quarter. A list of Figurative Language/Poetic Devices has already been posted. 
4. MISSING ASSIGNMENTS: On Friday, I distributed to all students in attendance a copy of all of their missing work (if any was missing, that is). Was your child absent, lose the slip, or do you want to check yourself? Look on Progressbook or email me at [email protected], and I will be happy to email you their current status. All missing assignments must be turned in by Wednesday, January 8, unless other arrangements are made.
Note: Assignments not completed due to skipping class will receive a zero, and cannot be made up, per the syllabus.
Note #2: During my absence, students were given entire 45-minute bells several days in class to complete missing work, or to catch up on ongoing assignments. SOME STUDENTS CHOSE NOT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS, WHICH IS WHY THEY STILL HAVE SO MUCH MISSING WORK. 
5. NoRedInk ASSIGNMENTS: Any assignment that begins with "G" is a NoRedInk.com Grammar assignment. Most students have finished their work on that, but some have chosen to not even begin on some of the four assignments that have been spread out over the quarter. Students should know their USER name and PASSWORD, but if they do not remember (or claim to not remember), you can email me at [email protected], and I will be happy to email you their USER name and then reset their PASSWORD.
The USER name SHOULD be their initials, plus their six-digit lunch code. The password SHOULD be their first initial, followed by an @ sign and their backward birthdate. So, Joe Jones, born on March 28, 2003 would be USER: JJXXXXXX and the PASSWORD would be j@030328. However, some students passwords have been reset to 1234567 and then the student did not change it to the correct format as requested. Also, USER names and PASSWORDS are case-sensitive, so you may have to try several combos of capital and lowercase if your child did not follow directions. Again, I can reset passwords as needed.
6. 451 MINI-ESSAYS: Students have been working on five 250-word essays for a number of weeks now. They are not due yet, but will be shortly after we return from break. They were given numerous days in class, but some students chose to not work on them. The assignment, along with the prompts, is already posted. 
7. MIDTERMS: When we return from break, we will be having regular class on 
Monday-Wednesday, but then will begin 3 days of special schedules for Midterms on Thursday, Friday and Monday, Jan. 9-10 and 13. The complete Midterm schedule has been posted separately on my pages.
8. OTHER QUESTIONS: Please contact me at [email protected] and I will respond as quickly as possible. 
 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!