About Our Class and Teacher

Welcome to Mark Barnes' language arts class at Memorial Junior High School 

This page will tell you about your teacher and his class

Mark Barnes started teaching in 1992 and began his career at Memorial in 1994.  He has a BA in communications, a Masters Degree in the Art of Teaching and Learning and a license to teach English/language arts in grades 7-12. 

Mr. Barnes has taught grades 7, 8, 10 and 12 in reading, regular language arts, college prep language arts, advanced language arts and study and life skills.

A published novelist and freelance writer with hundreds of writing credits, Mr. Barnes' writing career began at the Warren Tribune, where he covered high school, college and professional sports.  During his time as a writer, he was a high school basketball coach, which ultimately led him to teaching. 

During Mr. Barnes' time in the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools, he has been a department head, an academic team leader, a curriculum writer and a presenter at the local, regional and international levels.  Most recently, he has spoken at the prestigous International Conference on Learning and at eTech's Annual Educational Technology Conference.  He also teaches web-based instruction to teachers, through Lake Erie College and Notre Dame College.  Mr. Barnes is also a STAR Discovery Educator, meaning he is recognized by the Discovery Education Network as a leader in K-12 technology literacy and technology integration.

Mr. Barnes resides in South Euclid with his Wife, who teaches at Greenview, and two small children. 

Language Arts Class Information

All class activities, handouts and assignment guidelines will be available here at www.barnesclass.com.  Please refer to the Class Activities page for daily information and the Class Presentations page for important class presentations.

Daily class materials:

• pens
• notebook (preferably with three sections)
• vocabulary book (distributed in class)
• binder
• loose leaf paper

Daily routine (subject to change, based on the unit of study):

1. Warm-up -- a daily opening activity: 5-8 minutes -- this may be vocabulary work, sentence practice or a journal response
   1. See a model journal response at this link and a list of possible journal questions at this  link
2. Objective/Procedure -- "meat & potatoes" of the day explained and mini-lessons presented on our Smart Board: 5-15 minutes
3. Whole/Small group activity -- reading, writing, project work, etc.: 15 minutes
4. Summation/Analysis -- discuss the main activity: 10 minutes

Required Reading:

• Summer reading novels: Loser, by Jerry Spinelli; preview and purchase the book here at Amazon.com
  • NOTE: you can also download Loser directly to your PC or laptop; go to this site for details
• Various short stories from our textbook, which will NOT be distributed
• The play, A Christmas Carol, in class from the textbook
• Novel: The Outsiders
• Supplemental reading, usually linked on our website under Class Activities, Presentations and Links on the left menu
• Other: library books, research materials, etc.

Contact the teacher:

e-mail Mr. Barnes at barnes@sel.k12.oh.us