If you are absent, please check this page for what you're missing.
Last update: 05/29/2008 03:00 PM -0500
Thursday, May 29
Went over yesterday's homework and covered pages 102 and 103. The rest of the packet will be useful to you as a review; I will make the answers available to you.
I'm sorry the link to the complete packet is so enormous and slow... It's a lot of information.
We also got the review sheet, which you may use on the final exam (but nothing else).
Wednesday, May 28
We're almost there! Today we talked about pages 97-99 of the "clauses" packet; please do the odd numbers on pages 100-101 for tomorrow and have your questions ready for me!
Here's the review sheet you'll get tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 27
Flew through clauses! Most classes did pages 93-96 in class; if you did not finish the last page, please do the odd numbers of the last page for homework.
Thursday, May 22
Received a packet of handouts on clauses (useful notes are included) and went through pages 88-92 rather quickly. Over the long weekend, please go back, do a few of the questions we did not do together, and have any questions ready for me Tuesday. Happy long weekend!
Wednesday, May 21
Took notes on parody and discussed. Watched quite an excellent parody of Romeo and Juliet--your reward for being an educated person is that you get the jokes!
Tuesday, May 20
Watched Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet to clear up some misapprehensions about the plot. For instance: no, Lord Capulet does not get angry at Juliet because of Romeo; he doesn't even know about Romeo... and so on.
Monday, May 19
Finished essays in MyAccess; some people were still behind.
Friday, May 16
Typed our essay on Romeo and Juliet into MyAccess. Specific instructions, including login instructions, are here. I will leave the assignment up over the weekend in case you need to finish it, but I will take the highest score and count it Monday.
Thursday, May 15
To give you one more day to think about the essay, we spent today going over the multiple-choice part of the last test. The chances that you will see this same subject matter--indeed, some of the same questions--on the final exam are VERY high.
Wednesday, May 14
Took the short-essay portion of the test over Romeo and Juliet.
You'll type tomorrow's full essay into MyAccess, so feel free to work on that at home if you like. The "Who is to Blame?" essay prompt is already there for you.
Tuesday, May 13
Took the multiple-choice portion of the test over Romeo and Juliet.
Monday, May 12
Turned in extra credit assigned Wednesday, or at least would have if even one single person had done it. Turned in completed handout from Friday, INCLUDING the paragraph you were supposed to write on the back! Don't turn it in without that, please!
Got and worked on a review for tomorrow's test. It will be open-book, so please bring your copy--or even just a copy--of the play. You may not use the textbook. The test will also be open-note, but please please please study anyhow. Trust me. Study.
Friday, May 9
Looked again at Romeo's final speech, starting with "How oft when men are at the point of death..." Completed a handout identifying literary and rhetorical techniques. On the back of the sheet, write a paragraph explaining how any one of those things contributes to the speech--how does it support the meaning? If you didn't finish, please finish over the weekend and turn it in first thing Monday.
Thursday, May 8
Reviewed the use of iambic pentameter and scansion. Finished reading Romeo and Juliet. Great reading! Remember: BEEEEG test Tuesday!
Wednesday, May 7
The day's notes and announcements are here (sorry they're late...yikes!). Notice the TEST next Tuesday! In class, we read Romeo and Juliet Act IV Scenes III through Act V Scene I. Please read Act I Scene II tonight (except for Period 6, who finished in class).
Tuesday, May 6
Turned in yesterday's assignment on Cleaver's Godly Forme of Household Government. Some people had not done as I specified, incorporating quotes from Cleaver into their own arguments. If this was the case, you got a mercy extension to complete the work well and correctly.
Did a playacting exercise with subtext. Notes: Subtext (the "under" text) includes all the thoughts, feelings, and circumstances "under" the actual words a character says.
Read Romeo and Juliet Act IV, Scenes I and II.
Monday, May 5
Notes on primary sources and pointers on the assignment are here.
In pairs, we read an excerpt from Robert Cleaver's Godly Forme of Household Government (please be patient; this is a large file) and answered the following questions in detail, using quoted and documented text evidence. Each answer should be a short paragraph or two.
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Which of Robert Cleaver's "rules" of behavior has Juliet broken?
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How are Cleaver's rules and expectations different from modern ones?
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Explain one of Cleaver's points with which you strongly agree or disagree.
The answers to these questions are due tomorrow. Also, tonight Period 4 must finish reading Act III Scene V of Romeo and Juliet. Please be ready to discuss it when you walk in tomorrow.
Monday, April 26-Friday, May 2
TAKS has thrown the schedule off, so almost every class is in a slightly different place. This week all classes have learned and danced an Elizabethan dance and read Romeo and Juliet Act III Scenes IV and V. Fourth period is slightly behind and will finish Scene V next week.
Friday, April 25
Mrs. Horton off campus. With a partner (if the sub. teacher allows), answer #1, #3, and #4 on this worksheet on Friar Lawrence's argument.
Thursday, April 24
Got some notes as an introduction to rhetorical appeals. Read Act III Scene II and III in class.
Wednesday, April 23
Brainstormed words related to the idea of "night" and discussed how connotation functions. Read Romeo and Juliet Act III Scene II, annotating for all mentions of "night" and related ideas throughout the scene.
Tuesday, April 22
Watched the very brief Act II Scene V in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Quickly read Romeo and Juliet Scene IV. With a partner, read and annotated Act III Scene I. Remember, guys, in a Shakespearean tragedy, Act III contains the turning point that will unravel everything...
Monday, April 21
From pages 986-987 in the orange textbook, took notes over tragedy, tragic hero, comic relief, and foil. Took a pop quiz over Act II Scene III, on which most people did so terribly I don't think I'm going to count it. People, DO THE READING already. Sheesh.
Watched the Zeffirelli version of Act II Scenes III and IV, since the text (which would have been quite funny to Shakespeare's audience) doesn't really have the right effect on a reader who has to plough through it with a dictionary for two days. Read Scene V in class. If your class did not finish reading, you must read Scene V tonight.
Friday, April 18
Took notes on some literary terms and found examples of those and other techniques in Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene III. We talked about what all those plants and flowers might have to do with Romeo and Juliet... doesn't look good for them, does it? Please finish reading Act II Scene III over the weekend.
Thursday, April 17
Each group wrote a final draft of its stage directions on one copy of Act II Scene II and turned that copy in. Some classes had time to watch two different versions of that scene and compare their own stage directions to the directors'; some classes watched only the Zeffirelli version. First period got the notes on apostrophe, aside, and soliloquy.
Wednesday, April 16
All classes created stage directions for Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene II. Please finish up tonight; tomorrow your group (if you were working in a group) can consolidate those changes and hand them in.
Tuesday, April 15
All classes except first got brief notes on some drama terms. All classes read most of Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene II. Finish reading Scene II for homework. If you were not here today, you should look at a classmate's book and copy annotations made during class.
Monday, April 14
All classes took a quick quiz over Romeo and Juliet Act I. I have not checked your books for annotation yet, so be sure you have them updated and with you this week.
First period paraphrased the Prologue to Act II; this paraphrase is due on Tuesday. Some suggestions about this assignment are here.
All other classes got brief notes on mood (the reader's or audience's intended emotional response to a work). We watched some of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet to answer the question: how does this film produce the mood Shakespeare would have intended for his own audience (while changing many of the details of setting to suit modern viewers)?
Friday, April 11
First period read Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene V; all other classes worked on paraphrasing the Prologue to Act II; this paraphrase is due on Monday. Some suggestions about this assignment, plus daily reminders and so on, are here.
Thursday, April 10
All classes were told that we will have a quiz over Romeo and Juliet Act I on Monday and books will be graded for annotation.
First period listened to a song from the movie and analyzed the lyrics. Please mark up the handout with your notes and answer the questions to turn in tomorrow.
All other periods read Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene V.
Wednesday, April 9
All classes handed in the drawing of Queen Mab (from yesterday) and watched Romeo and Juliet through Act I Scene IV.
First period did the pronoun practice together; all other periods listened to a song from the movie and analyzed the lyrics. Please mark up the handout with your notes and answer the questions to turn in tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 8
Took notes on subject pronouns and object pronouns and did a short practice together. Read Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene IV (starts on page 15). Watched a little bit of the movie.
For homework, draw (as well as you can) Queen Mab and her chariot according to Mercutio's description. Label each part with the text that applies to it. Ten bonus points will be awarded for using color if it indicates extra effort.
Monday, April 7
Discussed a way to organize the essay. Last day to work on the essay in class; you have until this weekend to finish it and submit it in MyAccess if you haven't already.
Friday, April 4
Continued writing the essay in MyAccess. You may work on it from any Internet-enabled computer this weekend if you feel you might not be able to finish in class Monday. Remember, your login name is first name and school ID (no spaces) and your password is 999 and your last name (no spaces).
Thursday, April 3
In MyAccess, started an essay on how involved parents should be in their children's romantic lives. We spent most of today using the Persuasive Wizard to build an outline; we'll write the draft itself tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 2
Continued reading Romeo and Juliet in class. For homework, read through page 16 and complete this worksheet comparing characters' opinions on love and marriage.
Tuesday, April 1
Took notes on puns. All classes read at least through Romeo's entrance on page 6.
Monday, March 31
Took a quiz over subject-verb agreement; if you missed it, you must make it up this week. Read the prologue to Romeo and Juliet in a variety of interesting ways, discussing unusual diction, rhyme, and so on. Please continue to bring your copy to class.
Friday, March 28
3rd period got got their copies of Romeo and Juliet. Since those cost me $1 each, I would appreciate a $1 contribution from each of you toward their cost. In return, you get to keep those books and write in them instead of sticky-noting and carrying around the huge textbook.
We reviewed "Shakespeare's World" from yesterday and discussed the concept of a feud: a long-running, multi-conflict rivalry between groups. But what's to keep a feud going without a little smack talk? We looked up definitions of and chose appropriate stinging insults to hurl at each other: very satisfying. You do not have to make this up if you weren't here, but oh, are you sorry you missed this one. :)
Thursday, March 27
Scored, went over, and handed in yesterday's worksheet; expect a quiz Monday over subject-verb agreement. All classes except 3rd got their copies of Romeo and Juliet.
We got a handout explaining SQ3R and used this method to read and study the "Shakespeare's World" article on pages 983-985 in the orange textbook.
Wednesday, March 26
Took questions about and briefly went over yesterday's worksheet; for the moment, just hang on to it. Here are the diagrams.
Talked about subject-verb agreement and worked on these exercises; please finish them tonight.
Tuesday, March 25
Mrs. Horton off campus for training. Complete the worksheet to turn in tomorrow and diagram the following sentences in your notebook:
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Bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women.
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Into the darkening sky, unearthly humps of land curved like the backs of browsing pigs, like the rumps of elephants.
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On the boards of both the porch and the steps beyond the mutilated screen door were spatters of blood.
SPRING BREAK
Friday, March 14
Continued the preposition exercises.
Thursday, March 13
Period 1 went over Practice 1 of the preposition exercises and was assigned Practice 2. Periods 3 and 4 went over Practice 2 and will do practice 3 tomorrow. Period 6 did Practice 1 in class, went over it, and was assigned Practice 2.
Whew! I'll be glad when we get back from break and we're all on the same schedule again!
Wednesday, March 12
1st and 6th periods had their last day in the lab and were assigned Practice 1 of the preposition exercises. 3rd and 4th period went over the answers to Practice 1, got credit for completion (the precious few who HAD completed it!), and were assigned Practice 2 for tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 11
All classes worked in the lab on the Preposition Poetry assignment from Friday and 1, 3, and 4 received the preposition exercises. Please do Practice 1 for tomorrow.
Monday, March 10
Continued assignment from Friday. We will have one more day, since people are not quite finished. 6th period experienced the excitement of a bus evacuation drill and received a packet of preposition exercises.
Friday, March 7
In the computer lab today, we started transferring our Preposition Poetry assignment to book format. Here are the instructions; use this template to make your book. We have one more day to work on this in the computer lab.
Thursday, March 6
Read the Ruth Heller book Behind the Mask: A Book About Prepositions. Got a prepositions list (should match up largely with the one you have, but another one won't hurt!) and the Preposition Poetry assignment. Please use at least 15-20 prepositions in your poem, which does have to rhyme but does not have to be about any one thing. All you have to do right now is write the text; we'll play with illustrations tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 5
No class meetings today due to TAKS testing.
Tuesday, March 4
Worked on sentence diagrams: if you do not get this yet, you had better see me, because we're about to move on to more complicated work. Most classes had time to talk about some of the possible answers to yesterday's released TAKS test. Turned in short answers for a grade.
Remember the TAKS is tomorrow. Get some sleep. Drink water. Eat protein for breakfast. Good luck.
Monday, March 3
Turned in Friday's questions. Worked on a released TAKS test for practice (the English/Language Arts short answers only). Please finish tonight.
Friday, February 29
I will be absent Friday. You will finish watching The Secret Garden and work on these questions. They are due Monday (oh, don't whine, you know I don't give very much homework for a Pre-AP class). Please give detailed and supported answers.
Thursday, February 28
Watched the next half-hour of The Secret Garden. Talked about some of the notes you might have thought to write down.
Wednesday, February 27
Talked about some guidelines for film study in class. Watched the first 30-something minutes of Holland's The Secret Garden and took notes on archetypal imagery used. Got an additional handout on archetypes, because yesterday's handout was missing a few; please read the new one tonight. If you're absent, pick one up in the rack by the door.
Tuesday, February 26
Practice diagramming--nothing new, but make sure you've mastered what we already know before we move on. We turned in one of the five on an index card; if you weren't here, just pick one of the five, copy it onto an index card, and turn it in.
We received this handout (except the first page; it's actually pretty useful, now that I look at it...) and talked about it until the bell rang. You'll have to finish reading it tonight.
Monday, February 25
We learned how to recognize and diagram indirect objects. We went over last week's test and read "Siren Song" in the orange textbook. If you did not take the test, you MUST make it up after school SOON.
Friday, February 22
Test as promised. Turned in crossword for extra credit. Those who had time read "Siren Song" (page 938 in the orange textbook), "Penelope" (970) and "Ithaka" (971-972) and responded to one of these (your choice) in a journal.
Thursday, February 21
Went over what will be on tomorrow's test. Turned in yesterday's epic similes exercise. Reviewed by doing a crossword and some practice sentence diagrams (here are answers for the diagrams).
Wednesday, February 20
Diagramming warm-up: nothing new, just practice. Brief notes over Roman numerals.
Today all classes finished the portion of the Odyssey that is in our orange textbooks. Then we discussed epic similes (look on page 891 in your orange textbook if you didn't make notes on that before) and started an exercise in finding and explaining them. Please turn that assignment in tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 19
I'm planning a test for this Friday; it will include the text on hero motifs, your notes on Homer and epics (pages 987-891 in the orange textbook), criteria of heroes, the Odyssey in general, and diagramming sentences (including questions and direct objects).
Okay, so there was no quiz, but we briefly discussed last night's reading, addressing any questions. We diagrammed questions and then read about Odysseus's slaughter of the suitors. Every class is in a slightly different place in the reading; you may as well finish the Odyssey selections in your orange textbook, since we're almost there anyhow.
Monday, February 18
Notes and exercises on adverbs (we did the first four slides today; the rest are for tomorrow, but it wouldn't hurt to get ahead!). Please finish reading and marking up the rest of the text on hero motifs; a surprise open-book quiz seems likely tomorrow. But of course YOU won't be surprised because YOU are reading the Web site! So smart!
We read in the green textbook today about Odysseus's reunion with Telemachus, his dog Argus, and his sneaky entrance into his own home. Tomorrow, let's kill us some suitors!
Friday, February 15
Practice diagramming and started thinking about personal odysseys: see the notes. Read about the Cattle of the Sun God in the green text.
Thursday, February 14
Took notes on how to diagram direct objects. Talked about and turned in yesterday's worksheet about the qualities of epic heroes. Read the "Rites of Passage" section of our hero motifs text; remember to highlight important ideas and write down questions, examples, or cross-references. Read all or most of the "Sea Perils" section of the Odyssey in our orange textbooks; please read pages 928-937 by tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 13
Read the second section of our text on hero motifs. Read about Odysseus's descent to the underworld (you can read an online version here; we read through paragraph 10. This is a somewhat difficult translation, but it'll do, since this chapter is not in your orange textbook). Began a worksheet in which we listed different heroes who meet the "hero criteria"; please fill in not just a name but an explanation of how that story fits the bill. The worksheet is due tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 12
Took notes on the importance of ENGAGING with text: highlight, write on it, ask questions, record your CONVERSATION with a text! Don't be passive.
Read the first page together of a college-level nonfiction text on motifs in hero stories. Then read the story of Circe the witch and her encounter with Odysseus. If you did not already read that, please read it in your textbook.
Monday, February 11
Went over the exercises from last week and then took a re-quiz. Much, much better, guys!
Friday, February 8
So, I looked at the diagramming quizzes from last week. And they were AWFUL. And I have decided not to count them because I love you. However, you will have a quiz Monday on which you will have to diagram VERY similar sentences to the ones on the quiz. Look, here are the answers to the last quiz! And here are some exercises you should do for practice. Yes, that file includes the answers to those exercises, too! I must really want you to understand this stuff!
Periods 3, 4, and 6 registered for next year's classes today; if you were not here, you will have to make an appointment with your counselor.
All classes should now be caught up through page 913 in the orange textbook. If you're not, please read.
Thursday, February 7
Apologies for the recent neglect of updates to this page; I have been out sick most of the week.
Read and discussed Odysseus's encounter with the Cyclops. By tomorrow, all classes except first period should have read through page 913.
Wednesday, February 6
First period registered for next year's classes. Third, fourth, and fifth began reading the Odyssey.
Tuesday, February 5
Create a ten-question quiz from the notes you took (the questions can be true/false, multiple-choice, or whatever you like). Administer your quiz to a classmate and take his quiz; you may use your own notes, but not the book. Put your name on the quiz you created and turn it in.
Monday, February 4
In the orange textbook, read pages 987-891 on Homer and epics. Take notes. You'll have to make decisions on what seems most important; that's part of note-taking. If you don't finish in class, it's homework.
Friday, February 1
Quiz on diagramming. If you got at least 25 prepositions in the word search, you handed it in today; if not, you must find at least 40 and hand it in Monday.
Thursday, January 31
Short periods due to testing. We got a word search puzzle with 49 prepositions hidden it it; find at least 25 for credit. Yes, you have to. If you find all 49, we'll start talking about extra credit.
Quiz tomorrow over diagrams: understood subjects, articles, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, compound subjects and verbs. You may use all your notes and handouts, but there will be no test retakes, so know what you are doing!
Wednesday, January 30
Received a handy-dandy guide to prepositions and discussed prepositional phrases. Remember: the subject of your sentence will NEVER be in a prepositional phrase! Got a handout on which we marked prepositions, objects of those prepositions, prepositional phrases, and what those prepositional phrases are modifying. For homework, diagram #13; here are some examples.
Remember to go to your testing rooms at 7:30 tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 29
Continued with sentence diagrams. As your reward for looking on this Web site, I've added the ANSWERS to all the questions in the notes! Quiz on sentence diagrams Friday.
Monday, January 28
First period scored mandalas with the rubric. All classes took notes and started practicing sentence diagrams. The homework is on the last page of the notes.
Signed registration sheets.
Friday, January 25
First period turned in mandalas and went to the freshman class meeting.
All other classes scored the mandala assignment (pages 467-468, #1-#7) using this rubric. If you didn't turn in your own mandala on time you didn't get the extra 100 for scoring someone else's, but you got the rest of the period to turn in your work.
I will accept late mandalas Monday for 20 points off.
Thursday, January 24
Continued work on our mandala assignment (look at the assignment sheet, pages 467-468; you do not have to do the poem or other writing, but you have to do #1 through #7). These are due at the beginning of class tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 23
Took brief notes: personal symbology, archetypes, and mandalas. Started our mandala project: we did numbers 1-5 and 7 on this assignment sheet, pages 467-468. Please have these done when you come in tomorrow (most people finished in class) so we can start building a mandala of our personal universe.
SEMESTER BREAK
Wednesday, January 16
Period 3 exam.
Tuesday, January 15
First period took the final exam. Other classes discussed "Los Boxers" amongst themselves (though to be fair to first period, I did not actually teach or tell them anything). Tomorrow, third period exam. Yay!
Monday, January 14
Wrote the final exam essay in class. You can finish tomorrow if you didn't already. Bring the essay question sheet with you to your final exam.
Friday, January 11
Competition based on the final exam review.
Thursday, January 10
Wrote five questions, with answers, to use in the game tomorrow. Finished final exam review; you won't be able to use it during the game tomorrow, so be ready!
Wednesday, January 9
Worked on the final exam review, this time in pairs or small groups. Plan on having this stuff DOWN by Friday so we can play quiz games.
Tuesday, January 8
Got the final exam review.
My suggestion is that you make several passes through it. First write down everything you know by heart; then fill in all the blanks you can from your notes; then research any remaining blanks by getting your friends' notes, looking up notes on this Web site, or using dictionaries or textbooks; then (once you've filled in all the blanks) quiz yourself, making flash cards for any especially stubborn concepts.
As far as what you should write down, I suggest definitions in your own words, examples from text you're familiar with, and examples you create yourself.
Monday, January 7
Welcome back! Today was the last day to turn in your book without penalty to the actual book grade. From here on out it's 10 points off per day, so hurry!
Periods 3, 4, and 6 wrote a brief journal describing a gift we've given someone else. All classes briefly reviewed the three types of irony (dramatic, verbal, and situational) and read O. Henry's very famous story, "The Gift of the Magi." We discussed the allusion in the title, allusions to this story in popular culture, and some of the techniques used in it (personification, anaphora, polysyndeton, etc.). We also talked briefly about "Three Kings Day," January 6, and two meanings of the word "epiphany." Phew! Busy, busy!
Friday, December 21
No journal today. We put together our books to these specifications.
If I do not get your book today, you have a zero for a daily grade but you also have another two weeks to work, and the double-test grade for the actual book will be unchanged (assuming I get it the day we come back from break). If I do get it before 3:30 today, you get 100% as a daily grade and a homework-free break!
Happy holidays! Come back rested and smart!
Thursday, December 20
No journal today. Went to the computer lab and typed our vignettes to these specifications.
Wednesday, December 19
No journal today. We worked on writing and peer-conferencing our vignettes. By Thursday, be ready to type.
Tuesday, December 18
No journal today. We worked on writing and peer-conferencing our vignettes. By Thursday, be ready to type.
Monday, December 17
No journal today. We went to the computer lab and typed our benchmark essays into MyAccess, just like last time. If you were not here today, you will have to get your written essay from me and enter it into MyAccess on your own time by Friday.
Friday, December 14
Poem journal over "Love Song."
Did some peer editing of the vignettes we have and discussed the plans for finishing our book next week. Because of a problem with scheduling computer time, we will finish the book and turn it in next Friday instead of Thursday.
Thursday, December 13
Because of the testing schedule, our poem journal over "Gratitude for Old Teachers" is all we had time for! Please remember to have two vignettes ready to talk about tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 12
Poem journal on "Smoking."
Tomorrow, report to your testing room at 7:30 for the benchmark. Room
assignments are posted on my door in case you forget.
If you passed yesterday's test, you spent today working on your vignettes so you'd have at least two ready to discuss Friday. If you didn't pass the test, you spent the period working on corrections. Please also see those notes for tips about the benchmark.
Tuesday, December 11
Poem journal on "Sentimental Moment, or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?" Turned in journals from 11/29 and 12/6. Please do not bother turning in journals that you know are too short to receive credit.
Took our test over The House on Mango Street.
Monday, December 10
Poem journal on "Space Heater."
Took notes on narrative summary; got a handout with exercises on adding detail. Reviewed for tomorrow's test. For homework, finish the detail exercises and come up with three possible themes for The House on Mango Street.
We did not turn in our list of vignette topics because it occurred to me that you need those in order to write! But please do have your topics decided on.
Friday, December 7
Poem journal on "Taking My Son to the Police Station to Be Fingerprinted."
On Monday, please turn in a brief list of the seven vignettes you plan to write. You don't have the have the names figured out yet, just the specific topics.
Please finish reading The House on Mango Street by Monday; we'll have a short test Tuesday.
Thursday, December 6
Poem journal on "Watching the Mayan Women."
Finished yesterday's assignment on adding line breaks. Most classes got the Vignette Project Overview--enough to get you started on the project, which is due December 20. Please finish reading The House on Mango Street by Monday; we'll have a short test Tuesday.
Wednesday, December 5
Poem journal on "The Moon."
Discussed yesterday's assignment, in which you compared "No Speak English" with "Four Skinny Trees." Most people found "Four Skinny Trees" to be more poem-like because of its focused use of imagery and sound devices, so we're going to take the text and make it into a free verse poem by adding line breaks. We worked on this in class today; we will finish tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 4
Poem journal on "I've Been Known." Discussed idioms and infinitive phrases.
Turned in our Mango Street short essays. If you didn't turn them in, for goodness' sake please turn them in tomorrow! Yes, it's 20 points off, but that's potentially 80 points better than a zero!
Here is our assignment for the day; please finish at home.
Monday, December 3
Poem journal on "For My Daughter."
Finished our Mango Street short essays, which are due Tuesday. Remember, these are a test grade; this assignment can do great things for your average, or it can keep you from passing. Make it work for you.
Friday, November 30
Read "What I Would Do," but instead of the scheduled journal, we wrote for five minutes about Dali's Illumined Pleasures because you guys did such a great job yesterday. We also watched a few clips from Destino.
We worked on the Mango Street short essays, which are due Tuesday (not Monday as the paper says) and will be worth one test grade. We'll work on them Monday also, but to avoid overload you should do all the reading over the weekend. Just a suggestion.
Thursday, November 29
Read "The Bagel"; our notes and poem journal were about surrealism and Dali's Swans Reflecting Elephants. Fantastic discussion! (By the way, the Dali-Disney collaboration I was talking about is called Destino; a few short clips of it are linked from the NPR site).
The reading quizzes were appalling, so I don't think I'm going to count those. Instead, we're going to spend today and tomorrow working on some analysis of Mango Street. We got the first half of this assignment today; you'll get the whole thing tomorrow, but here it is now for your comfort and convenience.
Wednesday, November 28
Poem journal on "Sister Cat." 3rd period handed in the November 14 journal.
We took a quiz over last night's reading assignment. Then in our notebooks we listed some of the "big ideas" that are addressed in Mango Street: Latino culture, women and girls, poverty, racism, community, family, self-sufficiency, friendship...and so on. We read "Darius & the Clouds," ""And Some More," and (in some classes) "The Family of Little Feet." If your class didn't get that far, read at home.
Tuesday, November 27
Poem journal on "Football" and notes defining prose poem. All classes except 3rd period handed in the journal from November 14. Remember, if you are absent, you have to make those up just as you would any other assignment.
Took notes and read more of The House on Mango Street, through "Meme Ortiz." For homework, read up through (and including) "Alicia Who Sees Mice."
Received a handout with words to describe diction and tone. Please pick one up in the rack by the door if you didn't get one today.
Monday, November 26
Poem journal on "Lesson." I plan to take up a journal for a completion grade this week; please make sure you're up to date, especially if you've missed any classes. If you haven't taken your "Scarlet Ibis" test, your grade will be "INC" until you do.
We received copies of Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street and read "The House on Mango Street," "Hairs," "Boys & Girls," and "My Name"; third period also read "Cathy Queen of Cats." We took notes on vignettes and DIDLS.
Friday, November 16
Poem journal on "To Help the Monkey Cross the River." Verrrrry interesting poem.
We took the multiple-choice portion of the test over "The Scarlet Ibis"; if you didn't do this, you'll have to do it when we get back from the break. Have a good one.
Thursday, November 15
Poem journal on "White-Eyes."
Wrote the test essay in class, exactly the one we talked about yesterday: #1 on page 69 of your study guide. You could use your book, your study guide, your notes, your essay plan, or anything else you had. If you were not here today, you can even do it at home. If you missed class yesterday, you should come for tutorials before you write the essay. Of course, if you don't write it, you won't get a passing grade on the total test.
Tomorrow we'll take the multiple-choice section of the test. Again, if you miss it, you are responsible for coming after school to make it up. I will not chase you around about this.
Wednesday, November 14
Poem journal on "Fat is Not a Fairy Tale."
Talked about possible themes for "The Scarlet Ibis," sibling rivalry, love and cruelty... talked about #1, #2, and #3 in the study guide. #1 will be the essay for your test tomorrow, so we talked about that quite a bit. Please come in with some kind of plan for your writing: a formal outline, a bulleted list, a mind map, whatever. You will turn it in with your test.
Tuesday, November 13
Poem journal on "Biscuit." Very brief notes over color symbolism. Class discussion on symbolism in the story: colors, the ibis, the storm, the war (study guide through #20). Discussed the simile of "the knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love" and found examples of the narrator's love for and cruelty toward Doodle (#21). At home, complete through #24. There will be a test Thursday over the story and associated concepts.
Monday, November 12
Poem journal on "Song." We copied and turned in our answers to #8 in the "Scarlet Ibis" study guide. Then we continued to discuss and answer questions #13-#17. For homework, complete the "Literal Meaning" column in the color chart (part of #18).
Friday, November 9
Poem journal on "Selecting a Reader." Continued the study guide through the multiple-choice questions.
Thursday, November 8
Poem journal on "Love Poem with Toast." Remember, when I collect this (I didn't today, but when I do), it must be AT LEAST 100 words. No partial credit will be awarded. The idea is to stretch yourself... if you've only written the first few things off the top of your head, you haven't done that.
We filled in the "Commentary" column on page 2 of the study guide and did number #7 and #8. If you haven't gotten that far, please finish at home.
Wednesday, November 7
Poem journal on "Primer of the Daily Round." Read some of these in class; great results! This kind of exercise is good for forcing your brain out of its linguistic rut.
All classes should now have yesterday's notes on connotation, denotation, and tone and the study guide to "The Scarlet Ibis" (page 594 in the orange textbook). All classes finished reading the story in class except 6th; 6th period students will have to finish for homework.
Also for homework, all classes: in the "Evidence" column on page 2 of the study guide, quote examples of sensual imagery in the first two paragraphs of the story. Work only on the "evidence" column; we'll talk about "commentary" tomorrow.
All classes received an extra-credit word search. This will be an extra, optional completion grade of 100. No partial credit will be awarded, so please turn these in completed only.
Tuesday, November 6
Poem journal on "Otherwise." Notes on connotation, denotation, and tone. Turned in our Amontillado writing assignment.
All classes turned in one of our previous journal entries: 1st period turned in November 5; 3rd period, November 2; 4th period, November 1; 6th period, October 31. Yes, this is a grade.
All classes except 1st period received a study guide to "The Scarlet Ibis" (page 594 in the orange textbook). As a class, we looked at the first few paragraphs especially, looking for connotations and foreshadowing; all classes except 6th continued reading the story.
Monday, November 5
Poem journal on "Painting a Room." Brief notes on irony.
Finished our point-of-view writing assignment. If you did not finish in class, finish at home. Please remember to use blue or black ink, loose-leaf paper, and a full heading.
Friday, November 2
Poem journal on "Thanks for Remembering Us."
Started our writing assignment recasting the point of view in "The Cask of Amontillado." If you're not at least halfway through your section, please get at least that far over the weekend; plan to finish during class Monday.
Thursday, November 1
Poem journal on "Fault." Got a handout of exact procedures for when you miss class.
Notes on inverted syntax. Discussion of Poe's writing style in preparation for tomorrow's writing assignment (don't worry about doing it tonight; we'll work on it in class tomorrow).
Wednesday, October 31
Poem journal on "Grammar." Had a talk about class rules as presented in the syllabus.
Watch video production of "The Cask of Amontillado" to compare it to the original story. What can a video production do that a prose text can't?
Tuesday, October 30
Poem journal on "Nights." Took related notes on meter.
Read "The Story Behind 'The Cask of Amontillado,'" page 215 in the textbook. Listed the differences between the original nonfiction version of events and Poe's fictional story; why did he choose to change the things he did? Periods 1 and 4 also looked at "Poe's Sinister Stylings" on page 217 and talked about which of those key stylistic devices Poe used in each story excerpt.
Monday, October 29
Started a new opening-of-class activity, the Poetry Journal; instructions are here. Did our first poem journal on "A Man I Knew"; you guys did great! Lots of good ideas.
We read "The Cask of Amontillado" together.
Friday, October 26
Read Poe's "The Bells." Took notes and then marked Stanzas I and II (or your choice of lines if you're in 1st period) for rhyme and scansion. As promised, here is an example of a stanza already done. Please finish for homework; once you have the hang of it, it doesn't take long.
Thursday, October 25
Watched a short documentary on the life of Edgar Allen Poe, taking a few notes as we went (ask a classmate for a synopsis). Talked about possible connections between Poe's life and his work.
Wednesday, October 24
Only 6th period read the poem for today, but it was a doozy. We were in the lab for the last day. Please finish your essays tonight and submit if you haven't already.
Tuesday, October 23
No poem, back in the lab. Be aware: MyAccess is accessible from any Internet-connected computer, so you may look at your assignments and be working on them wherever you are! Instructions are here. Go directly to SE233 tomorrow.
Monday, October 22
Daily poem. No notes.
Went to the computer lab and worked with MyAccess to type and submit our benchmark essays. Instructions are here. The subject of the essay was, "Write an essay about a person who has influenced your life in a positive way"; if you didn't take the benchmark test, just write and submit it now. Tomorrow we will work more in the lab on our latest essay: Is America truly the land of opportunity?
Friday, October 19
Daily poem; no particular notes, but we briefly discussed the Big Bang/expanding universe theory and how it relates to the poem.
We took a heavily weighted test; yes, you may use your review on the test! In real life, there are few situations where you will have to work without any access to reference materials; the trick is to be familiar enough with the content to use them efficiently. So that's what we're doing here.
Thursday, October 18
Daily poem; no notes.
Worked all period on the review for the test tomorrow. If you will not be here tomorrow, you must make up the test after school tomorrow (if you're out for a field trip, for instance) or Monday.
Wednesday, October 17
Daily poem; no notes; very short periods.
Orally, we did some exercises in discerning transitive and intransitive verbs and finding the objects of transitive verbs.
Tuesday, October 16
Daily poem; the only notes were a reminder that when we write about poems, we put their titles in quotation marks.
We got the review for the test Friday and worked on it, most people with a partner. We also talked about our thesis statements and the expectations those set up in the reader. We'll work more on that essay next week, after Friday's test. That test could raise your grades a LOT, guys! Please study! Especially practice writing and recognizing EXAMPLES--don't just memorize definitions.
Monday, October 15
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
Turned in our "Two Kinds" chart. Took a few notes on static/dynamic characters and what a thesis is and started an essay, which is described in the notes. By tomorrow, have the introductory paragraph written, including the thesis statement.
In case you're interested, I've finished the review for the test Friday.
Friday, October 12
Daily poem; no notes over the poem today. If you don't remember what day you're signed up to read, please check the list on the back of the door.
Analyzed "Two Kinds" using a chart; you may turn this in Monday if you didn't finish today. Took notes on theme.
Thursday, October 11
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
Reviewed the parts of plot and took notes.
Wednesday, October 10
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
Yesterday you were asked to annotate "Two Kinds" for signs of conflict; today you copied two of your notes to turn in as a grade. Tonight, write an example of stream of consciousness (described in the notes); turn this in tomorrow.
We talked about the either/or fallacy (in the notes) and read "Two Kinds" looking for contrast. There are a lot of examples of contrast other than the obvious "two kinds" the mother talks about.
Tuesday, October 9
Due to a lucky (for you) technical glitch, no notes over today's poem.
However, we did take notes over conflict and read Amy Tan's story "Two Kinds" in the orange textbook, page 88. If for some reason you don't have your textbook, you can read the badly formatted but better-than-nothing version here. Your assignment is in the notes. Finish reading and annotation tonight.
Friday, October 5
Daily poem; no notes today over the poem.
Took notes over transitive and intransitive verbs and (briefly) gerunds and practiced... with the Mad Libs®, naturally.
Thursday, October 4
Daily poem; no notes today over the poem.
Spent a lot of the day taking the district benchmark test; good for you! Reviewed parts of speech and used them to fill in Mad Libs®! Got State Fair tickets.
Wednesday, October 3
Daily poem; no notes today over the poem, because the poem itself was quite complex enough.
We talked some about the benchmark test we’ll take tomorrow and went over the answers to our practice; if you were absent today but will be at school tomorrow, stop by my room before school starts and find out where you should be at 7:30. Bring a pencil and something to do after you finish; avoid the second person “you” in your essay; read the selections and the questions carefully; remember you may use a dictionary on the test… and so on.
When you answer the short-answer questions, remember ABC.
- ANSWER the question ASKED with an ASSERTION (remember this? We already talked about assertions and backing them up; see September 19).
- Then BACK up the assertion with evidence from the BOOK (the text)—yes, I mean quotes! And if the question is about two different literary works, you MUST have evidence from BOTH!
- Then in your CONCLUSION, CONNECT the evidence to your assertion by explaining how the text proves the assertion.
And this will make you COOL! (Sorry. Ran out of C words.)
Tuesday,
October 2
Daily poem; no
notes today over the poem. All classes began a practice for Thursday's
district benchmark test. We're doing it on paper, but here's a cool interactive
version you can do!
Monday, October 1
Daily poem; no
notes today over the poem. All classes except sixth got some brief notes over
Costa's
levels of questioning. Sixth finished map presentations. Some classes
starting reading materials for the practice TAKS you'll take before
Thursday's benchmark, but if you were absent you can just read it tomorrow.
Friday, September 28
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
Finished map presentations for all classes but sixth
period, who will finish Monday. All classes received Style Books today or
yesterday; if you DID NOT GET ONE, please see me.
You may do the scavenger
hunt for extra credit.
Thursday, September 27
Daily poem; no
notes today.
Groups in periods 1, 3, and 4 began presenting their maps;
we will finish tomorrow. So far the scores range from outstanding to pretty
awful--remember, text evidence is CRUCIAL!
Because I was not here 6th period, instead of presenting
you got a NSHS Style Book and completed a little scavenger hunt to
get familiar with its contents. (You were supposed to keep those style
books--why do I still have them all??) We'll do our map presentations
tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 26
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night. We'll test again over these before the end of the quarter.
This was the last day to work on the map assignment. Late
maps will be 20 points off per day. As a little reward for visiting my Web
site, you can see the rubric
I'm going to use.
Tuesday, September 25
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night (though today there weren't many notes, really). Today's notes include an
assignment, which is due FRIDAY (not Thursday).
I've moved the due date for the map assignment to
Thursday. USE YOUR CLASS TIME WISELY or I am not likely to do such a thing
again.
Monday, September 24
Daily poem and
notes. Remember to
complete your Cornell notes at
home every night (though today there weren't many notes, really).
Today we continued last week's map assignment over
"The Most
Dangerous Game." Tomorrow is the last day we'll work on it.
Remember, pretty doesn't count nearly as much as well documented
with support from the text.
Friday, September 21
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
Today we took notes on setting and
inference and received an assignment. We
worked on it a little in class; we'll continue next week.
Thursday, September 20
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night. Also, be aware that some of the poems on the Poetry 180 site may
change from one day to the next, so the notes may not
always match up. Today we scheduled the next few weeks' worth of readers.
Turned in yesterday's evidence-based
paragraph and went to have our yearbook pictures taken. Please bring your
book tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 19
Daily poem and
notes. Remember
to complete your Cornell notes at
home every night. The more poetry and vocabulary we accumulate, the more
you'll need to review.
As a class, we wrote an evidence-based
paragraph about Ivan from "The Most
Dangerous Game." Then we worked on shaping individual paragraphs
based on the assertions and evidence we already had. Please make sure your
paragraph follows the model in the handout. I will
collect it first thing tomorrow. Write it in blue or black ink on loose-leaf
paper, with the correct heading. Bring your book to class tomorrow.
Also, remember we're getting pictures taken tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 18
Daily poem and
notes. Remember
to complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
Turned in our poems based on "The Poet." Shared a
few.
Got a handout on
writing paragraphs based on text evidence. Looked over our collection of text
chunks about the character of Zaroff or Rainsford and made an assertion about that character:
we're looking for something arguable but supportable with evidence from
"The Most
Dangerous Game." Tomorrow when you walk into class, please have your
book; an assertion about Zaroff or Rainsford; and two or three chunks of documented text
that will support that assertion.
Monday, September 17
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
Got a worksheet
to help us write our own list poem based on today's poem, "The
Poet." The poem should be about yourself. Turn
it in tomorrow.
Discussed some of the evidence we're finding in the story
about Zaroff and Rainsford.
You MUST complete this assignment (first assigned September 11) before we can
go any further!
Friday, September 14
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night--yes, even on weekends!
Today we took a retest over last week's material and most
people did much, much better. All classes except 1st talked about how to read
poetry and started scheduling readers for the daily poem (this will be a
daily grade and you'll only have to do it once every 4-6 weeks, so quit yer whinin'!). All poems can be
found on the Poetry
180 Web site.
On Monday, please bring your textbook and the work that was
originally due Thursday.
Thursday, September 13
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
Due to the low grades on last week's test, we're putting
aside the "Most
Dangerous Game" stuff for the moment and practicing some more with appositive phrases.
There will be a retest tomorrow on the same material. Please review the
poetry notes
that were on the last test.
Wednesday, September 12
Mrs. Horton is absent today. Complete yesterday's
assignment, plus this vocabulary
assignment. All are due when you come to class Thursday.
Tuesday, September 11
Daily poem and
notes. Note
the extra credit. Remember to complete your Cornell notes at home every night.
Took notes on
characterization--see the notes for the first two parts of the
assignment. For the third part, answer those characterization questions for
either Rainsford or General Zaroff.
You may get more details in some boxes and fewer in others; that's okay. You
MUST use QUOTES from the story as your details and note the page number in
parentheses.
Monday, September 10
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night. Heads up: Starting next week, I will assign the
day's poem to students to read
for a daily grade.
Pop quiz on "The Most
Dangerous Game." We went over the quiz after we finished. If you
haven't finished the story yet, DO IT. No other homework tonight.
Friday, September 7
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night. I am not even close to kidding.
We started reading and discussing "The Most
Dangerous Game." Finish the story by Monday. On sticky notes,
annotate the places where the author builds suspense. In your notes, define
the following words: affable; amenity; condone; deplorable; disarming;
droll; elude; imperative; quarry; scruple; solicitously; stamina; tangible;
uncanny; zealous. An open-note pop quiz is likely on Monday.
Thursday, September 6
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
Periods 3, 4, and 6 checked yesterday's work (but did not
turn anything in). All classes took a test over the notes (through yesterday's) and appositive phrases
and went over most of it. Please bring your orange textbook tomorrow; we will
read "The Most
Dangerous Game."
Wednesday, September 5
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night. Everything in our notes so far, including today's
notes, will be on the test tomorrow.
Periods 3, 4, and 6: We turned in one of the sentences we
wrote for yesterday's homework and did the final exercise, in which we
combined sentences to make new sentences based on the model. Numbers 1, 2, 3,
and 4 are due tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 4
Daily poem and
notes. Remember
to complete your Cornell notes at
home every night.
A TEST was announced
for THIS THURSDAY. It will include
everything we've studied so far, including the use of appositives and the
notes over our daily poem.
We continued working with our handout on appositives. We
did the "Scrambled imitations" in Practice 2 together as a class,
then wrote our own sentences based on the "Other models" (one
original sentence per model sentence for a total of three). These are due
tomorrow.
Periods 1, 3, and 4 created writing portfolios and put our
interview rough drafts in them. Anything connected to composition will go in
the folder, and the folder will stay here.
You don't have to bring your literature book again until
Friday, when we will start reading "The Most
Dangerous Game."
Friday, August 31
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
We went over yesterday's assignment (the handout on appositives); each
person turned in one completed sentence for a grade. We got textbooks; please
bring them Tuesday.
Thursday, August 30
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
Discussed what an appositive is and
what it can do for your sentence, particularly when combining two choppy
sentences into one more sophisticated one. We got a handout on appositives and
started Practice 1 together; please do Practice 1 #4-#8 for homework. You may
do it in your notebook. #6 is particularly challenging; just play with it and
do the best you can.
Wednesday, August 29
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
We turned in our interview write-up and letter to Mrs.
Horton. If for some reason you could not get them turned in today, I will
take them up to two days late for a twenty-point penalty per day on each
assignment. If your work is late because you were absent, please write ABSENT
and the dates you missed class at the top of the page so I don't deduct
points.
Today we reviewed the definitions of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.
We created "word hoards" in our notebooks so we always have
interesting, specific, fun words at our fingertips to work with. Our lists
include fifty nouns, fifty verbs, twenty-five adjectives, and twenty-five
adverbs. Please finish these lists at home tonight.
Tuesday, August 28
Daily poem and
notes.
Remember to complete your Cornell
notes at home every night.
We finished our interviews and wrote a paragraph
summarizing the information we've gathered: start with the more general stuff
and move toward the more specific. Also, make sure at least one sentence in
your paragraph starts with something other than the subject of the
sentence--a prepositional
phrase or dependent
clause, for instance. Write it in blue or black ink on loose-leaf paper
and put it in the in-box tomorrow.
Also due tomorrow: letter to me! Remember to use your best
grammar, spelling, and so on so that I know what you've already mastered!
Monday, August 27
Welcome all!
Today we received the syllabus and started
our daily poetry, including notes in the Cornell format. We began focused
interviews with a classmate; we'll finish tomorrow.
For homework (due Wednesday), please write me a letter of at least one page introducing yourself and telling me anything I should know to be a good teacher for you (you have to sit in the front, you're new to Pre-AP, you just moved here from Timbuktu, etc.).