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                                                                      1431 Mecklenburg Highway

                                                                      Mooresville, NC 28115

                                                                   

 

                                                                     

Dear students:

 

   Welcome to eighth grade language arts class! This is my fourth year teaching language arts and my third year teaching at Mount Mourne. Before Mount Mourne, I taught eighth grade language arts at Francis Bradley Middle School in Huntersville. Before becoming a teacher, I worked as an advertising manager at The Charlotte Observer.

 

   I live in Cornelius with my husband, Steve, and our two children, Stephen and Sydney, who are in seventh grade at Mount Mourne. We also have a four year old Boykin Spaniel, Annabelle. I spent the first 20 years of my life in upstate New York (Utica area) and then relocated to the Charlotte area, where I've lived ever since. During college, I took classes in Dublin, Ireland one year and in London, England the next. I've also been to the Carribean, but there are many, many places in the world I still hope to visit.

 

   I'm sure you won't be suprised to hear that reading is one of my favorite things to do. I'm excited to be sharing some of my favorite books with you this year. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a non-fiction book that attempts to disprove traditional explanations of success. Elie Wiesel wrote Night to provide a lasting record of his experiences in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. You will be amazed at the state of racial relations in the U.S. in the 1950's described inThe Help by Kathyrn Stockett. Finally, we'll explore Palestinian culture through a book of poems called 19 Varities of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye.

 

    In addition to reading, I enjoy being on the lake. I also coach my daughter's soccer team and love to attend my son's football games. You'll see a pattern in my favorite shows: Law & Order, NCIS, Criminal Minds.

 

   My expectations for eighth grade are that you and I give our best effort every day. I believe that people learn best by doing, so you can expect to be very hands-on in my class. You can also expect to do group work frequently, present often and use a lot of technology. I promise to provide you with the tools you need to become a stronger writer, to comprehend difficult texts on a deep level, to be a strong team member and to be a confident public speaker.

 

   I look forward to a successful and fun year!

 

                                                                      Sincerely,

                                                                     

                                                                     

 

                                                                      Mrs. Hoffman