Mr. David Eckelberg
English
1/ELL
Email
Address: deckelberg@aaechighschools.com
School
Phone: (602)323-9890
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell
where his influence stops. Henry James
Biography
Originally from the
Midwest, Mr. Eckelberg graduated from Stonewall Jackson High School in
Manassas, Virginia. He has Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of
Connecticut (Psychology) and James Madison University (English). A veteran
educator, Mr. Eckelberg has taught in public and private schools in Arizona, California,
and Virginia. He also worked as an ESL instructor in Japan where he lived for
16 years.
He and his wife
Mari have been residents of Arizona since 1998; they have been married for 31
years and presently live in Ahwatukee. They attend City of Grace Church in Mesa. Their daughter Tiffany graduated from the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU. His
interests include writing, religion, history, architecture, and traveling. More
than anything, he enjoys hanging out at coffee shops, libraries, and museums.
When asked about AAEC-South Mountain, Mr.
Eckelberg replied, “I'm thrilled to be teaching at such a fine school. Its
small size, innovative courses, and proximity to South Mountain Community
College, provide a wonderful opportunity for students to gain a solid
educational foundation while getting college credit in the process. I am very
impressed by the support students receive from the teachers and administration
of AAEC. Helping students pass the Reading and Writing portions of the AIMS
test is extremely rewarding. I hope to be here for a long time.”
Letter to Parents
Starting
a new school term is an exciting time for both students and teachers! I am
looking forward to having your son or daughter in one of my English classes
this year---either English 1 or English Skills. Each of my students will be
treated respectfully and courteously. In return, I expect to receive the same
treatment from them. Likewise, I will do my best to ensure that the classroom
environment is conducive to learning.
The
opportunity to enlarge the mind by attempting to understand people and cultures
that are different from us is extremely valuable in a global society. English
class provides a vehicle by which such knowledge is transmitted. In the
process, communication skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing
gradually improve. If all of us work together, we can reach these truly
worthwhile goals.
Class Policies and Procedures
General Expectations
1.
Students should always practice the Golden Rule by treating other people the way
they wish to be treated.
2.
Show respect for the dignity, opinions, and property of your classmates and
teachers.
3.
Since everyone has their individual areas of strength and weakness, try not to
compare yourself with anyone; if you do, you will either feel superior or
inferior and neither attitude is beneficial.
4.
There is no excuse for a sloppy or half-hearted effort; therefore, take pride
in your work and always do your best!
5. Arrive
on time for class with all required materials and be ready to work.
6.
Use your time productively; work when it’s time to work and relax when it’s
time to play.
7. Remember,
you only get as much out of something as you put in; therefore, contribute to
all class discussions and activities.
Specific Class Rules
1.
Food and drinks are not allowed in the classroom (except
at
lunch time or during class parties).
2. Dispose
of chewing gum before entering the classroom.
3. Caps
and hats cannot be worn on campus.
4.
Cell phones, ipods, and other electronic devices should not be utilized in
class.
5.
All work turned in must be your own. Copied or plagiarized work will not earn
credit.
6.
Profanity, crude language, or any other inappropriate speech will not be
tolerated.
Materials
1. 3-ring
binder with dividers (all returned assignments must be saved)
2. Loose-leaf
notebook paper (pages torn out of spiral notebooks are messy and will not
be accepted)
3. Pens
and pencils (please use only black or blue ink).
4.
Grades will be held until lost or damaged books are paid for.
Grading
A=90-100%
B=80-89%
C=70-79%
F=Below
70%
(Grades
are based on total points)
Reading
assignments 30% Spelling/Vocabulary 20%
Grammar 10%
Essays 20%
Projects
10%
Final
exam 10%
Assignments
1. Record
all assignments on your assignment sheet and in your planner.
2. Homework
is due at the beginning of each class.
3.
Late work will receive no more than 50% credit.
4.
Progress reports are issued three times each semester.
5. If
you miss a day of school, you are responsible to ask the teacher how to make up
the missing work.
6. It
is your responsibility to ask the teacher if you have any
questions
about your grade!
English 1
Overview
Students will explore contemporary young
adult fiction, contemporary classics, and be given an overview of literature
from other cultures and lands. Students will learn about themselves through the
struggles and triumphs of literary characters. Basic grammar skills will be
reinforced on a weekly basis, and students will compose a variety of personal
writing and written responses to literature. Students will strengthen their
vocabulary through challenging reading. Students are required to complete one
hour of independent reading each week using novels and non-fiction works of
their choice.
Novels/Plays
Accidental
Love (Soto)
A
Child Called “It” (Pelzer)
Anthem
(Rand)
Bad
(Ferris)
The
Book Thief (Zusak)
Breaking
Through (Jimenez)
Breathing
Underwater (Flinn)
Bud,
Not Buddy (Curtis)
Buried
Onions (Soto)
Call
Me Maria (Cofer)
Chinese
Cinderella (Mah)
Deathwatch
(White)
Fahrenheit
451 (Bradbury)
The
First Part Last (Johnson)
Flowers
for Algernon (Keyes)
Go
Ask Alice (Anonymous)
House
on Mango Street (Cisneros)
Macbeth
(Shakespeare)
Much
Ado About Nothing
(Shakespeare)
Number
the Stars (Lowry)
One
Child (Hayden)
A
Painted
House (Grisham)
Parrot
in the Oven (Martinez)
The
Pearl (Steinbeck)
A
Separate Peace (Knowles)
Stargirl
(Spinelli)
Swallowing
Stones (McDonald)
Tao
of Pooh (Hoff)
To
Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
The
Whole Sky Full of Stars
(Saldana)
Nonfiction
Ten
Thousand Sorrows (Kim)
A
Blessing Over Ashes (Fifield)
Farewell
to Manzanar (Houston)
The
Hot Zone (Preston)
Miriam’s
Song (Mathabane)
Warriors
Don’t Cry (Beals)
Short
Stories
Impact:
50 Short Short Stories
Poetry
Matthew
Arnold
Jimmy
Santiago Baca
Billie
Collins
e.e.
cummings
Emily
Dickinson
Robert
Frost
Langston
Hughes
“Ode
of Mulan”
Theodore
Roethke
Carl
Sandburg
Stevie
Smith
Vocabulary
Mastering
the Verbal SAT 1/PSAT
Vocabulary
for Achievement
Vocabulary
Workshop (Levels D & E)
Writing/Grammar
Texts
Daily
Oral Language
English
Skills with Readings
Teaching
Essay Strategies
(Pennington)
Videos
America’s
Civil Rights Movement
Awakenings
Charley
The
Children’s March
The
Education of Little Tree
Fahrenheit
451
Gorillas
in the Mist
To
Kill a Mockingbird
Much
Ado About Nothing
ELL
(English Skills)
Overview
ELL
students who scored on the Intermediate level on the AZELLA Test receive 1 ½ to
2 1/2 hours of English instruction daily. The first hour is generally devoted
to Listen/Speaking, Reading, and Vocabulary practice; the second is used for
the instruction of Spelling, Grammar, and Writing. The last half hour
of
instruction takes place during Reading Enrichment class.
The
following books and materials are utilized for each area of study (of course,
almost anything may be added to the list as long as it is at the appropriate
ability level or can be modified to conform to it and it helps build students’
language skills).
Instructional
methods and/or suggested activities are briefly noted.
Listening/Speaking
·
Oral
presentations (from time to time students are required to give presentations in
front of their peers; these are usually extemporaneous [using notes] but can be
impromptu [without preparation]; examples include poster presentations of research
done by the student, current events, book reports, personal activities, etc.).
·
Videos
(students take notes as they watch DVDs; the subject matter can include documentaries,
movies, cartoons, or other appropriate materials)
Reading
·
Academy
of Reading (1x/wk for 30 minutes benefits students who need practice with their
decoding skills).
·
Study
Island (1x/wk for 30 minutes helps students to learn particular areas of
Reading skills).
·
Arizona
Republic Newspaper
(students are given a section of the newspaper; they find an article that is
interesting to them, carefully read it, write the meanings of 3-5 new
vocabulary words, write a half-page summary of the
story, and present
the key information to the class).
·
Read
Magazine
(published 14 times each school year; each issue includes a 10-12 page dramatic
adaptation of a book; these provide an opportunity for students to read the
parts for each character; scenes are either read orally or silently, followed
by a discussion of the characters, setting, and plot; new vocabulary is pointed
out; students may be asked to summarize scenes or provide written responses to one
or more aspects of the story).
·
Short
Stories (Impact: 50 Short Short Stories; Thurber, Twain, O’Henry, Poe,
and other writers).
·
Reading
Groups: The Circuit (Jimenez)/Crazy Weekend (Soto) (form reading
groups of four or five students each; students read a chapter or two [15-20
pages], then provide readers’ responses which include answering such questions
as what impressed them the most about the chapter, what they predict will
happen next, and so on).
·
A
Painted House (Grisham);
Farewell to Manzanar (Houston) (these are just two examples of novels
that are easy for most students to understand; chapter questions are available
for each; in most cases, the entire books are not read, only excerpts).
·
Poetry
(to be selected by the teacher) (very useful for teaching imagery, figurative
language, symbol, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and other poetic elements).
·
Reading
for Proficiency (Levels
A & B) (particularly good
for
understanding informational sources such as schedules, instructional manuals,
dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, charts, and graphs).
·
Barron’s
AIMS Reading and Writing (contains fictional passages, poetry, historical and
cultural literature, and informational and persuasive text).
Spelling
·
625
Commonly Misspelled Words (Writers Inc, pgs. 485-490) (20 words are dictated
each week; afterwards, students correct their mistakes and write each misspelled
word correctly 5x; students are tested two or three days later).
·
Using
the Right Word (Writers Inc, pgs. 491-500 (commonly confused words).
Vocabulary
·
Words
on the Vine (Vurnakes)
(contains 36 lessons; 10 words with Greek or Latin roots are introduced each
week; exercises help students to learn their meanings and use the words
correctly).
·
The
Book of Lists (Muschla)
(excellent source for word lists of specialized vocabulary words related to
math, science, education, history, business, music, sports, travel, myth-ology,
and many other areas; sections include homophones, compound words, sensory
words, time words, cliches, etc.).
·
Vocabulary
for Achievement (Introductory
Level to Level 5)(Richek, McRae, Weiler) (ten words which are grouped in categories
are introduced each week; definitions and variant word forms are provided;
exercises include matching
words
with definitions, using words correctly, choosing the best word, using different
forms of words, and a short reading using the words).
Grammar
·
English
Skills with Readings (Langan)
(pgs. 353-495) (students are given exercises to help them identify and avoid
sentence fragments and run-on sentences; learn harder forms of irregular verbs
like present and past perfect tenses, infinitives, gerunds, etc; practice
correct subject-verb agreement, subjective and objective case, comparative and
superlatives, the correct placement of modifiers, eliminate dangling modifiers,
and other common mistakes; practice is also provide in capitalization and punctuation).
·
Grammar
in Context ---Books
1, 2, & 3)(Elbaum) (these books contain numerous exercises for proper
grammar usage).
·
Daily
Grammar Shots (Great
Source) (students are given handouts with individual sentences or a paragraph
that contains several types of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, usage, or
other mistakes; this can be done either as a group activity where corrections
are listed on the whiteboard by students or teacher or individually for
homework).
Writing
·
75
Writing Topics (the
teacher or a student chooses a topic; members of the class then write ¾-1 page
which usually takes from 20-30 minutes; after each student finishes, the
teacher circles grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mistakes; if there is
time short conferences are held with individual students; everyone is required
to rewrite their papers making corrections).
·
How
to Analyze, Organize, and Write Effectively (Whimbley) (students
“reconstruct” paragraphs by placing sentences in the correct order; these
logical exercises are especially helpful for students learning the value
of effective transitions).
·
English
Skills with Readings (Langan)
(students practice basic writing skills such as choosing a topic, writing
thesis statements, prewriting strategies, writing effective
paragraphs,
using transitions, editing, etc. Students practice nine types of writing,
including providing examples, explain-ing a process, examining cause and
effect, comparing or contrasting, defining a term, dividing and classifying, describing
a scene or person, narrating an event, and arguing a position).
·
In
conjunction with their reading of fiction and nonfiction materials, students
are required to write plot or article summaries, character descriptions,
opinion papers, personal reactions, essays, and other types of assignments.
·
Writing
for Proficiency (Level C) (basic writing skills that include persuasive, descriptive,
expository, and narrative essays).