Tuesday, March 5th: 1st/2nd Periods: We are beginning to read the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, studying allegory and the historical people and events on which the book is based. We are hoping to finish the novel by spring break. We had a vocabulary quiz today, and we will have a quiz over the first two chapters Friday (hopefully). For the rest of the novel, we will study vocabulary from the story. We will also be working on grammar through Everyday Edits. 3rd Period: We just bega Wednesday, February 20th: Here are some important dates for upcoming assignments and assessments: 1st/2nd Periods: Thursday, February 21st: I will check media literacy webquests for completion, and we will begin signing up for presentation dates; you will also need to finish the background work for the invention/advertisement assignment Friday, 2/22: We will have a quiz over media literacy, and we will begin presenting research projects Monday, 2/25: We will watch parts of the documentary, Merchants of Cool, in order to wrap up media literacy; I will distribute Vocabulary SAT List 7 HW on this date as well. Tuesday, 2/26: We will finish up media literacy and begin working on the novel Animal Farm. Wednesday, 2/27: Vocabulary SAT List 7 HW will be due today
Thursday, 2/28: We will have our Vocabulary List 7 Quiz today - Friday, 3/1: We will be on a field trip at the Arboretum 3rd Period: Thursday, 2/21: We will wrap up our media literacy web quest and have a Vocabulary quiz over Scrib words (you will be able to use your Root Squares handout) Friday, 2/22: We will have a Media Literacy quiz; we will also continue watching the documentary, Merchants of Cool. 4th Period: Thursday - I will check media literacy web quests for completion Friday, 2/22: We will have a quiz over media literacy; we will also finish our invention/advertisement assignment (which will need to be finished for HW if not completed in class) Monday, 2/25 - I will distribute the vocabulary SAT List Three HW to you (it will be due Wednesday) Thursday, February 14th: Friday, February 8th: You will use the digital copy to access the websites, and you will type or write your answers. Wednesday, January 30th: 1st/2nd Periods: We are examining persuasive non-fiction in class for the rest of the week, and while we will briefly analyze advertising, we will take a detour for the next two weeks to complete a research project in the media center before ultimately returning to media literacy by the end of the month. 3rd Period: We are working on advertising analysis currently. We have been watching parts of the movie "The Lorax", examining ways products are marketed. We are wrapping up Friday with creating our own advertisements. We will also begin research projects in the media center. 4th Period: We are wrapping up advertisement analysis, though we will revisit the 2013 Super Bowl ads in a few weeks after our research project, which we will be working on in the media center. We do have a vocabulary quiz over our second set of SAT words on Friday, 2/1. Thursday, December 13th, 2012: For my 3rd Period class today, to access the character trading card template, click on the link below to get started: Friday, November 2nd, 2012: I apologize for the long delay in updating my website :( Now that the dust has settled from Cross Country season, and with a new school laptop hopefully arriving soon, I should be able to update my website much more frequently. I will begin posting weekly schedules and any assignments, as well as linking important documents as well. Here are some updates for each class: 1st/2nd Periods - We are in the middle of the Outsiders, having wrapped up Chapter Six this morning. Our plan is to wrap up the novel by Thanksgiving, taking an assessment the week before or the Monday of Thanksgiving Week. We will also have projects over The Outsiders, which will be due Monday, November 19th. Students are to select two project options to complete. These will largely be completed at home. With vocabulary, we are focusing primarily on more advanced words like the ones they will encounter on the SAT. We continue to read SSR weekly, and we are going to begin working on grammar more consistently through the use of Everyday Edits. 3rd Period - We recently wrapped up our unit on The Outsiders, and we just completed a short unit on scary stories for Halloween. As part of this mini unit, students wrote their own scary stories. Next, we will begin a unit on personal goals and effective habits, incoporating fiction, non-fiction and multimedia texts. 4th Period - At this point, we are largely on the same track as 1st and 2nd periods. Students in 4th also have two projects due November 19th, and they will likely have a unit assessment over The Outsiders on November 16th or 19th. Also, we are studying Latin and Greek stems for vocabulary. Friday, February 17th, 2012:
Here is the website for the Super Bowl commercials:
Sorry for the delay in posting the names of the soccer roster. I was putting baby Zoe to bed :) After talking to Coach Ford and Mr. Whitlock, we have made a final cut to get to our final roster for the 2012 soccer season. Again, I want to stress how difficult it has been to decide. Like I mentioned at tryouts today, everyone worked so hard during these past two days. We spent 30 minutes after tryouts today making our final decision. Again, if you do not make the team this year, I apologize in advance. This is my least favorite part of coaching, and it is the most difficult. Please do not be discouraged; I strongly encourage you to tryout again next year. Here is the final roster for the 2012 NBMS Girls' Soccer team: Claire Amon Malya Byers Heather Capps Oceanstar Concannon Stephanie Dillingham Olivia Gentry Kayla Guilliams (Player Manager) Bella Hatch Sarah Holtsclaw Ellie Jones Laney Landeros Rylie MacKinnon Jordan Matthews Samantha McDonald Nadia Miller Peyton Newfont Keeley Peek Megan Ramsey Taryn Rickey Lilah Rossell Congratulations girls! We will hold our first practice on Monday, February 20th, from 3:15 until 4:30. Please bring your gear with you everyday. You should bring your cleats and shin guards, as well as clothes to change in to (check the temperature for the day so you don't freeze in shorts on a cold day). Also, if you have a soccer ball, it may be good to bring that with you to practice as well. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise we will see you on Monday after school! February 15th, 2012
Girls' Soccer Tryouts I want to thank everyone who tried out for the soccer team today. With so many girls trying out, naturally we have had to make some cuts after this afternoon's tryouts. If you do get cut (today or tomorrow), please do not take it personally; it was a difficult decision deciding who to cut, as everyone worked very hard this afternoon. If you do not make the team, please consider getting involved in a league through ABYSA. The following people are invited back for a second round of tryouts on Thursday: Claire Amon Cheyana Bassham Meredith Broadway Megan Buchanan Alana Burnette Malya Byers Heather Capps Oceanstar Concannon Stephanie Dillingham Olivia Gentry Jennifer Gonzalez Kayla Guilliams Bella Hatch Sarah Holtsclaw Ellie Jones Laney Landeros Sarah Ledford Rylie Mackinnon Jordan Matthews Samantha McDonald Nadia Miller Peyton Newfont Taylor Pate Keeley Peek Megan Ramsey Taryn Rickey Lilah Rossell Lauren Webb Alexandria Welch Lynnsey Wilde If you do not see your name above, I want to thank you for trying out this year. Again, it was not an easy decision making cuts. As I mentioned before, consider playing for an ABYSA team in the meantime and try out again next year. You may also want to look into running track this spring, as it's a great way to stay in shape. If you are interested in track, see Mrs. Sapp on the Weaver Hall. Thank you, Coach Jennings November 9th
*****Review materials and notes for the fiction test can be found at the top of the Daily Notes section*****
November 7th, 2011 Here is an update on where students are headed for the next week and beyond. Below are some important dates for the next week: Tuesday (11/8): A) Washington D.C. money and forms are due today B) We will finish scary stories and start studying for the fiction assessment Wednesday (11/9): A) 1st block will have their final assessment over literary terms and short stories. There will be questions on literary terms as well as two sample passages with questions modeled after the End of Grade test. B) 2nd and 3rd blocks will have a vocabulary quiz over words generated from the root "vers" Thursday (11/10): A) Home Reading Logs for the weeks of 10/31 and 11/7 are due B) 1st block will take the vocabulary quiz over the root word "vers" C) 2nd and 3rd blocks will take the fiction assessment Friday (11/11) - No school (Veteran's Day) For the rest of the quarter, until Christmas break, we will be reading novels in class. 1st and 3rd blocks will read the novel The Outsiders and 2nd block will be reading Animal Farm. November 5th, 2011 At 2:28 A.M., on October 17th, my wife and I welcomed our baby daughter into the world. She weighed 6 lb.s 1 oz., and was 18 inches tall. I will post a picture of her soon! Both baby and mother are doing well. October 10th, 2011 (Monday) Students in first and third blocks have a fiction assessment Tuesday (10/11) over character, setting, foreshadowing, point of view and personification. The test will consist of questions related to a sample passage, as well as questions on the various literary terms listed above. Check the notes in the Daily Notes section for any missing notes. September 30th, 2011 Students do not have school on Monday, October 3rd. Home Reading Logs are due on Tuesday, October 4th. Also, student picture packets and money need to be brought in Tuesday as well. September 27th, 2011 Students in homeroom need to turn in permission slips and money ($12) for the field trip to the Arboretum on November 4th. Students should begin their home reading this week, reading at least three times at home during the week for at least 30 minutes each time. They are to keep track of their reading on their reading log sheets, which need to be signed by a parent or guardian at the end of the week. We just began our fiction unit, which will last us through 1st quarter. We are going to study literary terms through short stories for the next four to five weeks, followed by our novel study at the end of October. We also just started studying vocabulary using Word Build. I have also recently taken over coaching the boys' soccer team, moving over from Cross Country. We won tonight at Owen, 9-3, to even our record at 4-4. September 14th, 2011
I apologize for the lapse in updating this site. The past week or so has been a busy one with our home Cross Country meet last Tuesday and preparations for our daughter's arrival. I will work to update this site on a daily basis.
This past week in class we finished our "This I Believe" Essays and we've been looking back on the events of September 11th. Most recently, we examined editorial cartoons related to 9/11, looking at the messages, mood, and symbolism used in each. We also created our own editorial cartoon on 9/11.
August 29th, 2011
I am now updating this site daily with the daily agenda. Click on the Class Schedule tab to see what we did in class. Also, the notes from each class can be accessed on the "Daily Notes" page. I will post notes each day we have them, with links to any related handouts. Look for both tabs on the left side of the page.
August 19th, 2010 My name is Mr. Jennings, and I am thrilled to begin my second year at North Buncombe Middle School! I teach 8th grade Language Arts on the Quest team. I moved to Asheville from Cincinnati, Ohio, in May of 2010, to be closer to my wife. She is a Madison County native who currently works as a Curriculum Coach at Black Mountain Primary and Elementary Schools. We were married in September of 2010 and are expecting our first child, a daughter, in early November!!! Before coming to North Buncombe Middle, I taught in Northern Kentucky for two years at an all boys Catholic High School and one year in Ohio as a long term substitute. In addition to teaching 8th grade, I am also the head coach of the Cross Country team and Girls' Soccer team. This website will be updated several times a week. It will contain all of the important information for each class, including handouts, weekly assignments, and more! I will post the lessons and assignments for the week on the weekends, but check back to look for updates during the week. Under "News and Notes," I am also going to try to keep a running log of events in the classroom, as well as the school in general. | 
