Vocabulary 11 sentences due Tuesday; quiz, Thursday

Raisin in the Sun — We’ll continue reading Act I in class. You’ll read Act II on your  own; then, we’ll finish Act III together in class. Work on filling out the handout as you /we read.  The test will include another essay question and you’ll need the handout to help with writing the essay.

4th Block

No vocabulary this week.

To Kill A Mockingbird: quiz, chapters 7-11 on Thursday

Poetry: Tuesday and Thursday– We’ll be reading the final poem that must go in the Poetry Notebook. Now you’re on your own. Find 6 poems to analyze and write one of your own and analyze it too.  Put all 10 poems in a notebook (follow instructions!) and turn it  in on March 23.

Romeo and Juliet: we begin reading Act I together in class this week.

2nd Block– A days (Mon., Wed., Fri.)

Vocabulary #11: sentences due next Tuesday 3/9; quiz Thursday, 3/11

A Raisin in the Sun: We’ll be taking parts and reading this play, mainly in class, this week and next. We’ll also be watching the made-for-tv movie of the play with Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad.

Non-fiction Friday: We’ll review the Maya Angelou autobiographical piece you read. You will be turning in the questions you answered about the selection for a grade.

4th Block

SAT vocabulary #7– sentences due Thursday; quiz Friday

To Kill A Mockingbird– First chapters (1-6) quiz is Wednesday, 3/3. See the TKAM page for the schedule.

Poetry–  Tuesday and Thursday: We’ll read and analyze the next two poems for the poetry notebook; we’ll continue to look at poetry, but you should begin working on the poetry notebook, finding 6 of your own poems to analyze as well as one of your own. The poetry notebook is due on March 18th.

Romeo and Juliet–we’ll start this unit with some background. On Monday in class read the background information about William Shakespeare, the theater in his day, and where he got the idea for this play (pages 764-768). Take good notes on what you read because you’ll be taking an open note quiz on Tuesday. You’ll also be getting literary terms for the unit to define.  We’ll be reading Act I together in class. Then, you’ll read Acts II, III, and IV  in groups.  We’ll read Act V together. As we read we’ll stop and watch portions of both movies: the 1970 Franco Zeferelli version which is true to the play and the modern version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

• Animal Farm quiz chapters6-10– Also, turn in two sheets: “Propaganda in AF” and “Comparing AF to the Russian Revolution.”
• vocabulary 1-10 review on Tuesday; quiz Thursday
• “When I Lay My Burden Down” by Maya Angelou– nonfiction assignment from Friday is due.  We will discuss this, some Langston Hughes poetry and start reading the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.

4th Block

Vocabulary #6 this week: sentences due Thursday; quiz, Friday.

Short Story unit ends with discussion of Poe story and assignment: “Buried Alive!” story due next week on Monday (3/1).  Short Story unit test is on Tuesday(2/23). See the page for details about what to study.

Poetry on Tuesday/ Thursday will continue.

Research: House on Mango Street– you will be given a critical article to read, summarize, and cite. We’ll be working on this in class on Wednesday and Thursday and then this annotated bibliography is due on Friday. See the page for details.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee starts this week. Background and schedule: see the page for details.

Reading Comprehension Benchmark #1: will be given Friday in class.

•  Propaganda Assignment #1 due Wednesday– Presentations of propaganda techniques in the media are due.
• Animal Farm quiz  chapters 1-5 on Wednesday; 6-10 next Tuesday, 2/23.
• Non-fiction Friday: Black History Month selections and some poetry: background for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, a play we’ll be reading next.

4th Block

Reading Comprehension Benchmark tests this week.

Short Story Unit:

• “Scarlet Ibis”  symbolism handout. Essay question response using quoting, parenthetical documentation, formal writing techniques, etc. will be written in class on Wednesday.
• “Cask of Amontillado” by Poe. Check out the Short Story page for the background powerpoint. The “Buried Alive” story will be assigned and is due next week on Wednesday.
• Short Story unit test is Tuesday, 2/23.

 Thursday will be another poetry day. We will work on the first poem to be completed for the Poetry Notebook, which is due next month.

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Vocabulary 10 sentences due Mon.; quiz Fri.

Non-Fiction unit continues with discussion of rhetorical devices: propaganda, ethos, logos, pathos. Every Friday for the remainder of the semester will be Non-Fiction Friday. We will be working different reading strategies with different types of texts.  In May the unit will culminate with a non-fiction project.

Animal Farm by George Orwell: See the “Animal Farm” page for all the background information, the propaganda assignments, etc.  Assignment #1 is due  onFriday.

4th Block

Vocabulary 6  this week: sentences due Thursday ; quiz Friday.

Short Story Unit: Work on compare and contrast writing assignment for “The Birds” (story vs. movie).  This will be due on Tuesday. Read the story “The Interlopers” and discuss irony.  Check quiz on terms and stories so far on Tuesday.

House on Mango Street: Final Evaluation is a “Where [Esperanza's]  From” poem due on Thursday.  See the page for details.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• SAT vocabulary #10 words and definitions– sentences due Mon., 2/8; quiz, fri., 2/12.
• Odyssey in class essay
• Non-fiction unit begins: terms, passages, reading selections, rhetorical devices

4th Block

• Vocabulary 5 this week: sentences due Thursday; quiz, Friday.
• Short story unit continues: Define character and theme terms and read story “The Birds” by Daphne DuMaurier. There will be a quiz over this story and then there will be a writing assignment where you will be comparing  Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds to the story “The Birds.”
• Define irony and read “The Interlopers.” Quiz over story and terms so far on Friday or Monday.

SAT vocabulary #10:  new words and defintions this week.  Sentences due next week on Tues.; quiz next Thursday.

The Odyssey: On Monday, groups will complete the Powerpoint presentations for the Part 2 Jigsaw activity. The presentations will be on Wednesday, and the Odyssey test will be Friday.

Nonfiction unit will begin:  reading and persuasive writing.

4th Block

Vocbabulary 4 this week: sentences due Thursday; quiz, Friday.

Descriptive writing: Final copy of memoir due Tuesday, 1/26.

House on Mango Street: read through page 69 for Tuesday.  We’ll be working on a “one-pager” for these chapters.  Make sure you have at least five quotes that pertain to one of the two themes we discussed written and cited on your chart.

Short Story unit: We’ll begin discussing short stories by reviewing the elements of plot and conflict.  Our first story is “The Most Dangerous Game.”  It’s in the textbook.  Oh yeah, you’ll be assigned textbooks this week!

Vocabulary #10: next week

The Odyssey: We’ll finish part one and begin the group jigsaw activity for part two.

4th Block–

Vocabulary 3 this week: sentences due Thursday; Quiz, Fri.

Memoir: rough draft of memoir due Wednesday.  We’ll be discussing editing and revision skills and MLA format.  Final copy is due next week on Tuesday.

Poetry unit starts with terms and unit plan.  We’ll be reading  and analyzing poems two days/ week.

The House on Mango Street: We’ll start reading this book in class towards the end of the week.

2nd Block -A Days (Mon., Wed., Fri.)

SAT vocab. #9: sentences are due Mon.; quiz Fri.

The Odyssey: We’ll be reading Part One in class this week. For Part Two, we’ll be doing a jigsaw activity where groups will read parts and present a Powerpoint presentation to the class.

4th Block

SAT vocab #2: we missed the vocab. quiz Friday because of the snow day, so we’ll move on and get 10 more words, reviewing the 20 words all week.  Sentences using the second 10 are due Thursday; quiz will be Friday.

Descriptive writing unit: Showing paragraphs are due Mon.  We’ll begin the memoir by writing a “Where I’m From” poem, and we’ll read some example of  memoirs, including an excerpt from Stephen King’s novel On Writing. We’ll brainstorm ideas together, and then you’ll be ready to write your first paper, a memoir.  See the “Memoir” Page for more details.  A rough draft of the memoir is due Fri., 1/15.

JANUARY 5-8

2nd Block (A days)– Tuesday/Thursday

We pick right up where we left off. 

• Vocabulary #9: you’ll get words and defintions on Tuesday; quiz is next Friday.
• I’ll present background information on the Trojan War. Armed with those notes and the ones you took on chapters 1 and 2 in the mythology book before the break, you’ll take a quiz on Thursday to ne sure you have all the background in formation necessary for understanding Homer’s The Odyssey.  Bring textbooks to class every day starting on Thursday as we’ll be reading the epic poem in class.

4th Block

• SAT vocabulary: you’ll get 10 words on the first day; write a sentence using each word for Thursday; quiz is Friday.  Before the quiz, we’ll review how to work ANALOGIES.  You can find the handout on this blog.  Go to the Vocabulary page and click on the Anaolgy handout link to open the Word document. 
• TALENTS lesson– We’ve all got talent! What do we excel at?
• First unit: description– we’ll be discussing picture-making words, showing vs. telling and we’ll be composing some home-grown poetry and begin writing our first paper, a memoir.
• Summer reading: January 13th–Take a test on your book(s).

4TH BLOCK STUDENTS: CLICK BELOW (RIGHT) WHERE IT SAYS COMMENTS TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENT. BE SURE YOU READ THE “BLOGGING PROTOCOL” PAGE BEFORE YOU DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!