I had to take these off the blog a while ago. By popular request, they are back.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Second Period Snapshots
I had to take these off the blog a while ago. By popular request, they are back.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Science Fiction/Fantasy Class
Next week, students will be presenting on their magical creature research. Eventually, students will make their own "Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them" books.
Every class period students will need to report their reading. Just remind your student that they do not want to have the pink tulip of shame on their paper.
Saturday, October 23rd, we will be meeting to attend an afternoon showing of "Where the Wild Things Are". There will be details in class. If any family members want to come along, you are certainly welcome.
October 28th, J.Scott Savage, author of the Farworld series of fantasy novels, will be visiting us. Special thanks to Slade who suggested that we invite him.
Every class period students will need to report their reading. Just remind your student that they do not want to have the pink tulip of shame on their paper.
Saturday, October 23rd, we will be meeting to attend an afternoon showing of "Where the Wild Things Are". There will be details in class. If any family members want to come along, you are certainly welcome.
October 28th, J.Scott Savage, author of the Farworld series of fantasy novels, will be visiting us. Special thanks to Slade who suggested that we invite him.
Sophomore English
The Gilgamesh projects are due on Wednesday the 21st. We have gone over everything in class, so most of the homework is just finishing everything up. This isn't an assignment that can be done in an hour, however. Since it is the only homework I have given my sophomores this year so far, I'm expecting fantastic work.
Next up, we will be talking about standing up for what you believe in as we study Antigone.
Next up, we will be talking about standing up for what you believe in as we study Antigone.
Junior Honors
We are now proving how incredibly capable we all are. Students should be working on their Scarlet Letter chapter presentations. Students are encouraged to read Spark Notes before attempting the book itself. The presentations are the 27th and 28th of October.
We will be starting The Crucible in class next week. These two great works of literature have a lot in common. We will be doing reading journals that deal with characters, themes, plots and analysis. And of course, the discussions and timed writes will be intense.
We have been working in groups this week, too. Groups produced a comparison/contrast essay on Jonathan Edwards, the fiery Puritan minister, and Patrick Henry, a Patriot of the Revolution. If you weren't here, please get that in to me as soon as you can.
We will be starting The Crucible in class next week. These two great works of literature have a lot in common. We will be doing reading journals that deal with characters, themes, plots and analysis. And of course, the discussions and timed writes will be intense.
We have been working in groups this week, too. Groups produced a comparison/contrast essay on Jonathan Edwards, the fiery Puritan minister, and Patrick Henry, a Patriot of the Revolution. If you weren't here, please get that in to me as soon as you can.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sophomore English
We are working on The Epic of Gilgamesh. Today, students read "The Story of the Flood" and we compared Gilgamesh's story to that of Noah. We also went over Freytag's pyramid - something that will be part of the Literature Experience assignment. There is no due date for that yet - we will decide together when it will be due.
On Friday, October 9th, we will finish reading Gilgamesh, peer review the writing we did today on the ups and downs of immortality, and work on a Theme Essay for the Literature Experience assignment.
On Tuesday, October 13th, we will be having a test on Gilgamesh. On the 15th, I will be out of the building for a district meeting, but students will start working on Antigone, the classic play by Sophocles. It's a tale of family loyalty and putting the will of the gods ahead of the will of man. Very dramatic.
On Friday, October 9th, we will finish reading Gilgamesh, peer review the writing we did today on the ups and downs of immortality, and work on a Theme Essay for the Literature Experience assignment.
On Tuesday, October 13th, we will be having a test on Gilgamesh. On the 15th, I will be out of the building for a district meeting, but students will start working on Antigone, the classic play by Sophocles. It's a tale of family loyalty and putting the will of the gods ahead of the will of man. Very dramatic.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Fold-A-Book for Junior honors due!
Just a friendly reminder that the Fold-A-Book, the worst and most complicated thing we do all year, is due in class next time. For A day students, you need to have it here at the FIRST of second period so it can be evaluated. For B day students, you need to have them here at the first of your class.
I realize that there are some who will be on field trips, out for surgery and so on. If this applies to you, bring your project to me early and I can get someone to evaluate it. If you have an excused absence, I will excuse you from the FAB evaluation. You will need to write an essay on material in the FAB. I would suggest that you find a question from the FAB of a friend ( the field trip attendees are going to exchange essay prompts) and spend no more than 30 minutes hand-writing an essay for evaluation either on the 9th (A day students) or the 12th (B Day students).
Also, don’t forget that we will be starting The Scarlet Letter on the 9th and 12th . Be sure to have a copy you can mark up in class. It is worth points.
Parents, thanks for your patience and support as your student learns to do something difficult well. I’m really pleased with what I have seen so far. If your student doesn’t quite finish it, please send him/her to school with it anyway. I would rather have something here than nothing. The students told me that 4 weeks was plenty of time to get this done, but I realize that many of them will put this off until the last minute. I apologize for any chaos this may cause in your home.
I realize that there are some who will be on field trips, out for surgery and so on. If this applies to you, bring your project to me early and I can get someone to evaluate it. If you have an excused absence, I will excuse you from the FAB evaluation. You will need to write an essay on material in the FAB. I would suggest that you find a question from the FAB of a friend ( the field trip attendees are going to exchange essay prompts) and spend no more than 30 minutes hand-writing an essay for evaluation either on the 9th (A day students) or the 12th (B Day students).
Also, don’t forget that we will be starting The Scarlet Letter on the 9th and 12th . Be sure to have a copy you can mark up in class. It is worth points.
Parents, thanks for your patience and support as your student learns to do something difficult well. I’m really pleased with what I have seen so far. If your student doesn’t quite finish it, please send him/her to school with it anyway. I would rather have something here than nothing. The students told me that 4 weeks was plenty of time to get this done, but I realize that many of them will put this off until the last minute. I apologize for any chaos this may cause in your home.
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