Mrs. Coleman

ELA/Language Arts:  During this course, the students will explore strategies and activities that foster active listening, thinking, reading, writing, speaking and viewing. Students will keep an Interactive Notebook for weekly vocabulary (students will learn five new SAT words each week), Daily Oral Language, and a weekly journal entry. Examination will involve grammar & usage, language acquisition, reading different genre from their literature books including short stories, poems, functional documents, and OP-ED articles, as well as current events from the newspaper and periodicals, practice using analogies, the writing process, study & test-taking skills and so on. Emphasis will be placed on the development of the students writing and reading skills, and lessons and activities will be developed to accommodate a diverse range of learning styles and abilities. Some of the writing techniques that we will continue to address this semester are identifying the purpose of a paragraph, writing engaging topic sentences, sentence variety, using transitions, recognizing the difference between complete and incomplete sentences, knowing your audience, etc..  Some of the different reading strategies include skimming, identifying the main idea, subject matter, supporting details, clarifying devices, vocabulary in context, and making connections to real life.

Life After High School 101 & 102:  The purpose of this exciting class is to provide students with the invaluable lifelong skills they need for living and planning their future, as well as provide necessary information to help them with the transition from high school to college or work.  We will be using the textbook "Creative Living Skills" in conjunction with the reality-based work text "Life on Your Own."  Both books are designed to help students find success in a variety of real-life situations. Some of the areas we will focus on are on personal growth, problem-solving skills, health, food, and nutrition, consumer skills, management of time and money including how to maintain a check register, write checks, learn about credit cards, debt, insurance, etc., In addition, students will also be learning about careers and establishing goals, relationship and people skills.

Health:  The purpose of this course is to help students make wiser choices and better informed decisions in regards to every aspect of their health and well-being. It is my personal goal that each student be equipped with the information they need to help them improve both the quality and length of their lives.  I believe a diet that is balanced and emphasizes the importance of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, healthy fats, low sodium, low sugar, etc. will enhance ones well-being, reduce the risk of illness and disease, keep the mind sharp and keep energy levels high. I will take this personal philosophy and the curriculum to educate my students. The textbook is a wonderful source of information with its relevant and up-to-date enhancements including 15 minute videos from Discovery Education, web links for the most current topics on health, as well as meaningful warm-up activities and hands-on activities. In addition to the textbook, I will supplement the topics we cover with the most current information I find from the Los Angeles Times, professional periodicals, health and nutritional related magazines and the Internet.  Some of the topics we will cover over the semester will cover physical, emotional, mental and social aspects of health, causes and ways to manage stress, building healthy relationships with family and friends, nutrition and physical fitness, preventing disease, and community relationships and safety. Labs: kale chips, acai smoothie. In addition, each student will receive a copy of "Everyday Healthy Meals" sponsored by Champions for Change.

Sample of chapters and sections we will focus on:

1: Making Healthy Decisions

(Physical, emotional, mental and social aspects of health)

2: Personality, Self-Esteem, and Emotions

(Think positive, learn from your mistakes, Impress Yourself!)

3: Managing Stress

(strategies to keep stress at bay and minimize risks of stress-related illnesses)

8: Food and Nutrition

(I advocate a healthy lifestyle: eat more fruit & veggies, drink water, exercise, avoid transfat, GMO foods, processed foods, what does organic mean as well as identifying produce that is most pesticide laden and which are lowest in pesticide residue.)

9: Making Healthy Food Choices

(foods labels: how to decipher the good and the bad as well as evaluating nutrient & health claims, open dates, superfoods, antioxidants, fatty acids, immune boosting foods, nutrient dense foods, fiber, white flour vs. whole wheat, sodium, good carbs and bad carbs., calculating your Body Mass Index; BMI)

10: Digestion and Excretion

6: Building Healthy Peer Relationships

7: Preventing Violence

22: Using Medicines Correctly and Evaluating Internet Sources

16: Comparing & contrasting healthy diseased lungs and benefits & tips for quitting

(advertising tactics, effects of nicotine on the body, effects of exposure to secondhand smoke)

15: Alcoholism and brain activity

(underage drinking, peer pressure, abstaining from alcohol, body's response to alcohol, long and short term effects)