Checking in

Hey everyone. I'm getting my computer out today to get started on some things I need to get done over break. I figured I'd take this chance to give you some progress checks. 

English II

Hopefully by this point you have taken the work from your drafting packets and transferred it onto paper or typed it put. Remember to work on putting your paragraphs together in a way that they flow together. Go smoothly from one idea to the next. Transition. 

AP English III

Keep reading Huck. Annotate and read closely. Notice how ideas come to a conclusion and how Twain resolves his main points. 

For your group projects get your analyses written and uploaded as well as your annotations. I can take a look at them on your sites and give feedback, as can your group. 

Lastly, remember your illustration assignment! Find the illustration, annotate and recreate. 

Russian I and II

Go through your books and study what we've done. Memorize case endings and functions. Practice with nouns and possessive pronouns. Use Russian and practice. Try to set a review goal each day and meet that goal. You know what I'll ask you to do - be perfect. Work hard to reach this point and prepare questions for me when we return. 

Homework for Winter Break - A-Day Students - 12/19/2014

Russian I and Russian II

You do not have anything that you need to submit over break but you should all be working daily on reviewing and studying the content we've learned so far this year.  I would highly recommend the exercises in our textbook, the exercises from the Schaum's Russian Grammar, or the online textbook from UCLA located at this link.

Remember everyone that when we return from the break we will have cumulative mid-term examinations.  Focus on the topics we've studied, review and practice.  Spend time with authentic uses of the language like television shows or movies - especially those of you in Russian II to learn more about the use of verbs of motion or aspect as it's really more of a sense of how it works more than anything else.

English II

Over break you need to put together a draft of your speech over break.  Make sure that you have created a speech that flows together well so that when we come back from break you can move on to the next portion of the assignment which is revising the speech and preparing for your final presentation of the speech.

And lastly, a New Year's song from Russia!  С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ ВСЕМ!

Homework for Winter Break - B-Day Students: 12/18/2014

See all of you B-Day kids next year!

AP English III

Here are your Winter Break tasks ranked in no particular order other than this is how I have them written in my planner.

1. Finish reading and annotating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Make sure that when you come to school after the break that you have your book with you and it reflects the type of reading and thinking expected of you in this class.
2. Complete your illustration assignment - remember that our first day back will have some time for asking questions and getting assistance.  Be sure that you are prepared for this help session.  Remember that our presentation of these illustrations will fall on the second class after break - Wednesday, January 7, 2015.
3. Continue working on your group projects - over break you should finish your analyses of the different pieces and get them uploaded.  You should be able to finish everything except the synthesis.  We will knock this out when we return.

English II

Here are your Winter Break tasks - remember that FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18th is the last day to submit any missing assignments.

1. Take your drafting packet and either type up or write out a rough draft of your speech.  As you write out your paragraphs, make sure that your ideas flow together.  Add details or language where you think it's needed.  Remember that your overall word count is 200 to 250 words.
2. If you did not complete your bumper sticker in class, get that turned in after the break.

Remember what I said today in class - you're the only one who can do the work.  Do what you need to do and get it done.  Ask for help when you need it.  Don't suffer in silence.

Homework for A-Day Students - 12/17/2014

Russian II

Tonight everyone you need to start reviewing for your semester exam which will fall on the final day of the semester, 1/16/2015.  The mid-term exam will have everything from Russian I as well as the work we have done on aspect, numbers and counting, and verbs of motion.  Practice and review nightly.  I would also recommend going through your portfolios and looking at your previous mistakes - this is key in starting to begin your growth.

Lastly, do some pre-research on your holiday choices.  Rank your top four as we will pair off for holidays next class.

Russian I

Next class we will finish our work through our review packets as well as do some work on phonetics and pronunciation.  From today you should feel confident conjugating first and second type verbs, working with the nominative case, the accusative case, and the prepositional case.  Keep practicing!  Use the exercises in your text books, go back to the exercises in the packet we did not touch today and try doing some of those.  Work nightly and keep practicing.  Your mid-term is also coming in the new year, you'll have a study guide next class.

English II

Today in class you all did a great job of working on your speeches.  Once you've worked through today's questions and have full answers, you've got a great start to your final project.  You should take what you did and either type it out or write it out as a speech - maybe add some details or elaborate more.  Remember the goal of your speech.

In addition, if you didn't finish the bumper sticker assignment, get that done and turned in next class.  Lastly, remember that any missing assignments are due next class - Friday!

Homework for B-Day Students - 12/16/2014

AP English III

Your task for next class is to complete the reading of Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" available in 50 Essays or from the link in last class's post.  Make sure to read it and annotate it thoroughly as her ideas are complex, yet approachable.  Ms. Gerdes will be taking you through a reading of this piece next class.

In addition, you may want to start now on your illustration assignment.  Review the handout and bring me any questions before the break begins.

English II

In preparation for a writing workshop next class make sure to complete all of your pre-writing including the first planning sheet and the assignment you were given today.  Have these things completed so that next class you can begin moving forward with the work on creating your speech!

Homework for A-Day Students - 12/15/2014

And now we begin the last week before Winter Break begins.  Hooray for that.  Here are your reminders to move you to Wednesday's class.

English II

Tonight you should complete the planning and pre-writing sheet on your speeches.  Please make sure that you answer all of the questions on the sheet so that you have a good start moving into class on Wednesday.  Remember to use your first planning sheet to get this work done as it will be crucial in getting a good start to your speech.

Russian I

Tonight for homework you have one thing that is required and one thing that is optional.  We are now done declining nouns in all six cases in the singular.  In addition, you can also work with pronouns and possessive pronouns.  Here's what you need to do now:

1. Move through the exercises at the end of the chapter one section.  I'd recommend trying a few of these especially the declensions and the verb exercises.  If you can do these with no errors then you will have mastered these concepts and are on a good footing for our next few classes.  If you don't know what to do, bring this up on Wednesday during our review!
2. Using your textbooks revise your sentences.  Your sentences must be ready to turn in next class with no mistakes.  For details on this assignment, look below to last class's homework.

Russian II

Tonight for homework you have a bit of a process - here's that process outlined for you.  Go back to the post which has the exercises and finish the last exercise on using all verbs of motion.  Repeat this exercise until you have 100% correct.  Then, once this is done, move on to your handout.  On the handout, you need to fill in the blank on all sentences and then select a group of five in a row.  Once you have selected these, go to VOKI and create your VOKI reading your selection.  Send your VOKI to mrmillerjhs (at) gmail (dot) com - with your name in the subject line or the message.  I will confirm receipt next class.

On Wednesday we'll have a few small details to finish up with and then we will be able to do some review of this concept working with all of the verbs!

Homework for B-Day Students - 12/12/2014

AP English III

Your homework for the weekend is made of two parts.  Number one, please make sure that you read the next chapter set of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  As you read, continue to annotate and pay attention to the notes I gave you today in class.  The turning point in Huck's maturity is the key thing in these chapters.

Secondly, read Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" available in 50 Essays or at this link.  As you read this - think about the connection between language and identity.  Anzaldua is working through this in a Mexican-American context - there's a lot of good stuff in here, especially considering the continued debate around immigration in this country.

English II

Continue to plan and develop your speeches.  Remember that if you didn't have the homework for today's class have it next class for partial credit.  Also, if you have anything to turn in you need to get it in by Friday the 19th because that's the last day anything will be accepted.

Homework for the Weekend - A-Day Students - 12/11/2014

Russian II

We will be returning to the computer lab next class to finish our work on the verbs of motion and the VOKI assignment.  Please continue to review these online exercises as you keep studying and reviewing over the weekend.

For homework this weekend I would like for you to do some writing in Russian.  Select two verbs of motion (which is actually four when you consider the pairing) and the verb носить/нести.  Create eight to ten sentences using these verbs in a variety of contexts and tenses to explain your motion and travels.  Feel free to be creative, they don't have to be factual, just grammatically correct.

Russian I

You are also doing some writing this weekend.  Using our verbs читать, писать, говорить, и жить create sentences which use these words with at least three additional cases (nominative, accusative, prepositional, genitive, dative).  Remember to pair your sentences with translations in English.

As you do this make sure that you're using your notes and reviewing your declensions.  Keep conjugating your verbs!

English II

Keep working on your "This I believe..." speeches.  If you haven't finished the planning work, make sure to do that and then show it to us on Monday so that you can get partial credit.  Getting this planning work done will make writing to actual speech so much easier.  Also, please get your paperwork signed so that Ms. Gerdes can use your work for her portfolio.

Russian II - Online Class Assignments - 12/11/2014

For today's activity in the computer lab we will be working through the following interactive exercises.  You will need a Russian keyboard for these exercises so use this link.

Choosing ходить/идти или ездить/ехать

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Review of Accusative Case - Destinations

Exercise 1

Accusative versus Prepositional Case

Exercise 1

Reviewing Preposition Choice

Exercise 1

Reviewing All Verbs of Motion

Exercise 1

Once you have finished three of the exercises above (one must be from the first group) you may go on to creating your VOKI.  Go to the website for VOKI and follow the steps to create your VOKI.  You must record yourself saying five sentences correctly from the exercises above.  Your five sentences must come from one of the first set of exercises.

Homework for B-Day Students - 12/10/2014

AP English III

For tonight and tomorrow you'll need to prepare for Friday's class.  To begin, make sure that you reach the end of your next chapter set in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  You'll be finishing up with the Wilkes family.  Pay attention to Huck's developing sense of morality as well as the characters of the King and the Duke.  Both of these men become significant in this section of the text.

Additionally, remember that you have your next set of vocabulary cards due on Friday.  Five cards with new words.  Make sure that if your word comes from something we've read you need to give the quote/context of the word.

English II

Today we went through a really quick day.  I hope that all of you were able to make it through the day and felt successful. Your main goal for tonight is to finish up the work on the writing workshop sheet.  Go through and complete the sheet to complete your planning for this assignment.  Make sure that you answer the questions and complete the tasks as they're stated on the assignment.

Homework for A-Day Students

Русский 2

Tonight for homework you should complete the exercises reviewing our verbs of motion.  Remember that now you will have the opportunity to discuss motion under one's own power and motion by vehicle.  Keep these distinctions straight.

In addition, if you didn't finish your packet - please make sure that this gets in to me next class.

Continue focusing on your vocabulary and your grammar essentials.

Русский 1

Tonight spend some time reviewing grammar before we move on to the last two cases.  In the readings on the first side identify the uses of the prepositional case and also the genitive case.  Highlight, circle, or underline these words.

Read and answer the questions on the back, and on the back - read the poem by Владимир Высоцкий.  Read it several times and practice to become more fluent.  Here's the film of Владимир Высоцкий singing the poem.

English II

Tonight you should spend time working on your speech assignment.  Take the outline that we did today in class to prepare yourselves.  Try to tell the story of Odysseus's adventure from his point of view.  Remember to give advice to the people of your generation.  Be sure that you're walking into class with the bottom part of your outline sheet completed.

B-Day Homework - 12/8/2014

AP English III

Here are the things that you have to accomplish over the next few days.  Keep in mind the due dates that we have below:

1. You will have a timed writing on Wednesday.  It will be a rhetorical analysis.  Be prepared to show all of the work we've done related to this skill.
2. You have vocabulary cards due on Friday.  Make sure that some of these words are from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
3. You will have some time to meet with your groups on Wednesday.  Make sure you've met your group goal.
4. Your next reading deadline in TAoHF is to be to the end of chapter twenty eight for Friday.  We'll also be spending some time working through the Grangerford section on Friday too.

English II

You don't have any homework tonight but you should move forward in your work on your speeches which we started today in class.  In addition, if you have any missing assignments these need to be settled by the time we leave for Winter Break.

Apologies! A-Day Homework

Russian II

Your exercise packet is due on Tuesday. If you need help come by on Monday afternoon and we can take a look at any questions you may have. We'll spend time looking at these exercises on Tussday. 

Also, remember about the possibility of daily quizzes. 

Russian I 

The presentations on your Russian cities are due on Tuesday. Remember that for extra credit you can include some sort of cultural relic from your city and explain it. We wrote our sentences in Russian in class. Make sure that these sentences appear in your presentation. I'd recommend using http:\\russian.typeit.org and copy/paste from the window to your document. 

Practice your reading of the sentences. Be prepared to present on Tuesday. 

English II

Anything that you have to do in terms of major assignments needs to be settled soon. Nothing will be accepted past the beginning of Winter Break. 

For tonight you don't have any homework per se, but it would be a good idea to work on your Odysseus speeches. A lot of you wrote some good main idea statements. Try to move forward with an example. Tell a story!

Homework for B-Day Students: 12/4/2014

AP English III

This weekend you have a few goals to accomplish so that we can move forward to next week.  Over the weekend make sure that you complete your reading of Oluadah Equiano as well as the next chapter chunk from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, chapters seventeen through twenty-two.  In addition, you will have a collection of your third installment of vocabulary cards next week.  You'll need five new cards reflecting words from our most recent unit.

Also, be sure that you are working on your group projects - you'll have some meeting time on Wednesday to check in; have something to show for this.  Here is the resource for the covers of the New Yorker if you're interested in pursuing one of these as your image analysis.

English II

If your progress report reflects a low score it is likely due to a missing project or a low test grade.  Turn in any missing work and come in at lunch for test corrections!

Homework for A-Day Students: 12/3/2014

Russian II and Russian I

Please remember what I said today in class about our new warm-up procedures.  Study and know your declensions and your verb conjugations.  This is an effort to make sure that you learn what you need to learn in order to be fully successful in Russian.  Get it done.  Ask for help.

Russian II

Today you got your exercise packet on the beginnings of verbs of motion.  You should be able to work on the exercises up to the information on пойти which we will discuss next class.  Try to do one or two questions from each exercise.  The whole packet is due next week, so take this time to try to get something started and ask questions next class if you're confused or unsure.

Russian I

The presentations of your Russian city projects will be on Tuesday.  We will return to the library on Friday to finish the research on the cities.  Tonight, I would like for you to try to write your sentences about your city.  What is in the city?  Что в городе?  What does the city have?  У города есть что?  Who is from the city?  Кто из города?

We'll review some of these structures next class as we continue our work moving forward with cases.

English II

Today you got progress reports which is an indicator as to if you have homework tonight or not.  If your project grade is blank, this means you did not submit it or it was not labeled with your name.  Make sure to get this work turned in so that you can have your progress report reflect a good score.  If your work is not turned in by Friday then we will put in the scores that you have earned.

Homework for B-Day Students - 12/2/2014

AP English III

Today I saw some heads exploding over how deep we were getting into society and symbolism and steamboats.  Keep reading and keep thinking on this level.  Tonight, you have a few things to be working on as we move toward our next deadline.

1. Reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn needs to be done by the 8th.  You need to be to the end of chapter twenty-two by this date.
2. Reading of the excerpt by Oluadah Equiano is also due for the 8th.
3. You should be working on your projects nightly - you'll have some time on Thursday to finish up your contracts and begin on your first goal.
4. I would like to see your vocabulary bookmarks on Thursday - make sure that you have new words from TAoHF - look at slang and any other words used in a context that you're unsure of.

English II

Tonight is your night to get things settled.  Make sure that you have completed your test and your project and that all of these things are ready to turn in next class so that you don't earn any penalties.

Homework for A-Day Students - 12/1/2014 - Welcome Back!

And now we begin the trek to Winter Break!  Work hard and keep up with your assignments.  This is a great time to get caught up and solidify your skills before we get into the second semester.

Russian II

Complete your cheat sheets on aspect.  Be sure that you have HCB on one side and CB on the other side.  Try to simply the rules around choosing the perfective or the imperfective form of the verb.  Make sure that this is completed as you will need it for class on Wednesday when we begin working on verbs of motion.

Russian I

The multiple choice portion of your exam is coming on Wednesday.  Based on what you saw today you should have a good idea of what is coming for you tomorrow.  Study and prepare.  Have your cheat sheet ready for what you need to know.  Also, spend some time working on your projects.  Presentation day will be either Friday or Tuesday.  Be prepared!

English II

For those of you who completed your take-home tests over break, congratulations!  You have no homework tonight.  If you did not complete the take-home test you have tonight to finish it for full credit.  If you turn it in past Wednesday/Thursday then you will lose points for it being late.