Homework over the Break - A Day Students

I'm sorry that I didn't get this up on Friday.  Here's what you all need to get done over break.

Russian Students

All of you should be spending time over break to study and review the grammar and vocabulary that we have been learning so far.  There are some essential grammar skills and more specialized grammar skills for you too.

• Russian I - You should be focused on unit one.  The information on cases, verb conjugation, and the vocabulary too.  Don't forget gender and possessive pronouns.
• Russian II - You've been doing a lot with verbs so stay focused there.  Don't forget all of your vocabulary and the expressions related to time.
• Russian III - You've had a lot in this unit - also related to verbs and aspect and modals and imperatives.  That's a big unit.  There's your vocabulary too.

Russian I all got their drafts of the family writing back - make sure that you are going back and revising these assignments as well as finishing them up so that they are complete.  See my previous post about the example regarding my mom.

English II Students

No official homework over break but a LOT of you have make-up work to complete.  The priority in make-up work is the Persepolis movie review or graphic novel project.  There's the quizzes and tests too, which you'd have to do in school.  Make sure if these big projects are missing that you have them when you get back from break as we'll only have two weeks left in the quarter.  If you have questions about your make-up work you can send me them:  mrmillerjhs @ gmail (dot) com or daniel (dot) miller @ dpsnc (dot) net.

Enjoy the break!  Happy 2016!

Homework for B-Day students over break

AP English III

• Read The Great Gatsby. Be sure to read carefully and annotate.
• Complete a second draft of your essay for Monday, January 4.
• Final drafts of essays are due Friday, January 8. 

English II

Make up any work that you are missing. Your priorities should be your graphic novel project and your movie review, as these are big test grades and worth most for your quarter grade.

Homework for A Day Students - 16 December 2015

It's almost the last A day of the year!  You've just got one more left!

Russian II/III

Your homework for tonight is to prepare for your presentations.  The instructions are below for each of the sections -

Russian II - You should submit to me your first and second draft as well as a final draft.  You should also submit your verb analysis in which you tell me: 1) the aspect of your chosen verb; 2) the pair for the verb; 3) the tense of the verb in your writing; and 4) the meaning of the verb's tense and aspect in your writing.

Don't forget that you are also completing images of your verbal actions.

Russian III - You should submit to me your final draft of your script which you will present before the class as well as your verb analysis.  The verb analysis instructions are the same as what Russian II will complete.  Make sure that you have practiced your lines and reading before you come to class - don't let your fluency and comprehensibility score suffer since you haven't practiced.

Russian I

For homework you should continue to work on your family writing and paragraphs.  You'll see a grade in your PowerSchool which will reflect your work on the three paragraphs you gave me today.  Make sure on Friday when you get your notes back that you apply these to the rest of your writing.  Remember to follow the model in the previous blog entry.

English II

For homework tonight many of you need to turn in missing work or assignments.  You all got progress reports which outline what is missing and where you currently stand in class.  Don't allow these blanks to become zeroes.  Get ahead of things and get it settled.  The most important things are the movie review on Persepolis, the graphic novel project, and any missing quizzes or tests.  You'll have to see us to take care of a quiz or test, but the major projects you can simply just turn in.

Homework for B-Day Students - 15 December 2015

AP English III

For homework tonight you have three stories by Ernest Hemingway to read and annotate.  Make sure that you've read and considered "Hills Like White Elephants", "The Killers", and "Old Man at the Bridge".  Hemingway is known for his plain style, but don't be fooled - there's a lot going on beneath the surface.  Spend your time looking at his choices as a writer and considering their meaning.

You should also get yourself a copy of The Great Gatsby - you'll be reading this over break.

Lastly, make sure that you have completed the peer editing requirement for your literary analysis paper.  If you are unsure about this requirement see Ms. Ginocchio or contact her directly.

English II

For all of you on Thursday we will collect the final drafts of your movie reviews.  For these you will need to use your writing envelope to submit your documents.  You will need to turn in:

• the viewing guide for Persepolis
• the rough draft
• the feedback chart from editing 
• the final draft

If you were absent on draft workshop day you should see me, Ms. Ginocchio, or a peer for essay feedback.  You will then be exempt from the feedback chart.  Many thanks to those students who have already given me a draft to read.  

Lastly, some of you are still missing other major work or projects.  Get these things settled.

Homework for A Day Students - 14 December 2015

English II

For tonight you need to get your draft packets together for your movie reviews.  Remember that in your packet you need to have the following items:

• your viewing guide to Persepolis
• your rough draft
• your notes from peer editing
• your final draft

Make sure that your packet is complete so that you can get all of your possible points.  Your movie reviews will be test grades, so make sure that they're reflective of the work you've done this quarter.

Russian II/III

You have second drafts of your writing due for me on Wednesday.  Make sure that you've corrected your mistakes and that you've really focused on your spelling.  You need to make sure that you will have your verb analysis due for me on Friday.  Remember for the verb analysis you will need to tell me about the aspect, the tense, and the choice of aspect for the particular situation.  

We'll meet in small groups/partners to go over these pieces on Wednesday.

Lastly, don't forget your exercises (III) or your reading analysis (II).

Russian I

Tonight you need to add two sentences to your family writing.  Tell me what a member of your family has and what they do not have.  Remember the following information should be in your paragraphs:

• the name of the person, their relationship to you
• where the person lives
• what the person does as a hobby/activity
• possessions and lack of possessions

Here is an example of what you can make - 

Это моя мама.  Ее зовут Патриция.  Она живет на Аляске.  Она смотрит телевизор.  У мамы есть кошка.  У Патриции нет друга.

AP English III Rough Draft Peer Review

This post is for students who were absent on Friday, December 11th. Other students can ignore. 

Click through to see the entry and your instructions.

Weekend homework for B-Day Students: December 11

AP English III
Your main homework is to review for your test. Your study guide can be accessed here.

For students who were absent today, you missed our peer review workshop of our rough drafts. You will have to complete this outside of class. Tomorrow I will compile a list of everybody who was absent across both sections and try to organize some way for all of you to do this. If you have not sent me a draft of your paper, please do so. I will send out a message tomorrow with instructions about your peer editing and giving you the document we used to give our feedback.

English II

Your homework is simple: study for your grammar quiz! This quiz will cover apostrophes in general and the following words: whose/who's, it's/its, and there/they're/their.

Here are some helpful web comics from the Oatmeal if you are still confused:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

Also, do not forget to be working on your final drafts of you movie reviews. Those are due before break!

Homework for the weekend: English 2A

English II

Your homework is simple: study for your grammar quiz! This quiz will cover apostrophes in general and the following words: whose/who's, it's/its, and there/they're/their.

Here are some helpful web comics from the Oatmeal if you are still confused:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

Homework for the Weekend - Russian Students - 12/10/15

Russian I, II, and III

There is no required homework this weekend but all of you have the ability to reassess on standards and submit your reassessment work to me on Monday/Tuesday to earn new scores in the gradebook.  Below are the reassessment options.

Russian II and III

Служебный Роман - Viewing Guide G/SC/V - Write a brief paragraph (3-4 sentences) using vocabulary from the film which expresses your opinion on a theme or character from the film.  Cu - In English, compare the film to an American film.


Journals - Select one entry and make corrections.  Complete one entry for missing credit.

Quiz 9.1 (III) - Using food vocabulary and modals write a brief dialogue between a waiter and customer. The waiter should express what can and can't be ordered (заказать). The customer should express wants, needs, and preferences.

Russian I

If missing the family writing workshop - complete this first. Write your paragraphs on six family members including yourself.


Quiz 1.3 - Make a chart for the following ten words and identify their gender, declension pattern, and then identify the words in the nominative, prepositional, and accusative
cases. (G/V)

урок, озеро, карандаш, ручка, мать, девочка, кошка, конспект, площадь, письмо


Take two of these items and state your ownership of them. (SC)


Read this brief dialogue and explain the relationship between these two people. With whom would you speak this way? With whom would you not? (IR/Cu)


1: Здравствуйте Владимир Владимирович.

2: Здравствуйте Алла Сергеевна.

Homework for B-Day Students - 9 December 2015

English II

For homework tonight you should be able to complete the rough draft of your movie review assignments.  Keep in mind the four paragraph layout and the use of your viewing guides to help you write your reviews.  Remember that your thesis will be found in question six and your analysis of the device in the film will be seen in questions three and four.  Bring your review to class with you on Friday so that we can have our editing workshop for these.

AP English III

Excellent work today with your literary criticism work; I hope that you enjoyed reading and evaluating these different pieces.  For tonight, you should be focused on finishing your rough drafts.  If you're still having issues in the development of your topics then please try to see Ms. Ginocchio tomorrow to work through these questions.  Remember that you must have a hard copy of your writing for Friday.

Homework for A Day Students - 8 December 2015

English II

Your main goal for tonight is to finish your rough draft for your movie reviews of Persepolis.  Remember that you need to have all four paragraphs (introduction, plot summary, analysis, and conclusion).  Use your viewing guides to help you especially with the analysis work - you'll need your viewing guides for those ideas and to fill in the paragraphs.

Make sure that you have your rough draft in class on Thursday - we'll work through the drafts and work to make them stronger.  Your final drafts and viewing guides are due on Wednesday of next week!  Don't forget, you have a grammar quiz on Monday!

Russian I

You have a quiz on cases next class.  Make sure that you are studying your chapter one vocabulary - the nouns - and that you know your declension patterns as well as your declensions for Nominative case, Accusative case, and Prepositional case.

Outside of this, you will want to know your vocabulary around greetings, introductions, and farewells.  Lastly, make sure you know your pronouns.

Russian II/III

All of you have your final first drafts of your writing assignments due at the beginning of class on Thursday.  Make sure that you can meet this deadline.  There will also be our quizzes on Thursday - here are your studying goals:

• Russian II - know your aspectual pairs and the meaning of each of the aspects; know your types of verbal action (there are five), know your conjugation patterns and be able to identify tenses.
• Russian III - know the types of imperatives and how to form each type - hopefully the practice today helped; know the difference in tone with imperatives between aspects; know your conjugations.

See you all on Thursday, then we're just one week away from break!

Homework for B-Day Students: December 7, 2015

AP English III

Your homework is to work on your rough drafts (due this Friday) and prepare for your Huck Finn unit test (next Tuesday). You can access a PDF of your study guide here. If that link does not work for you, e-mail me and I will send it to you as an attachment.

Remember, you must have a rough draft printed for class Friday!! Plan ahead for this.

English II
Your homework is to continue working on your drafts of your movie reviews and prepare for your quiz on vocabulary and image analysis. Your quiz is Wednesday, and rough drafts of your movie review are due Friday.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 4 December

Russian II/III

You have writing assignments to complete this weekend.  For the level threes it's your dialogues - remember to have all five modal expressions as well as different forms of imperatives.  I'll collect these from you on Tuesday for a completion grade and to give you feedback on your writing.  For the level twos it's your aspect situations.  Remember that all I need is the writing; don't worry about the images as we'll do those later on.  The writing is the more important part.

Also, don't forget to translate the chorus of our song!  Focus on aspect and the tone created through the use of aspect.

Russian I

You should be able to finish page one and two of our review packet now - make sure that these are done for Tuesday's class so that we can finish with page three.  Also, we went through the family writing - make sure that this is complete for all of your family members.  You're writing about four people and yourself.  We're building these paragraphs each time we learn a case, so it's important to hang on to all your drafts.

Make sure that you're ready for the quiz on Thursday - it'll cover chapter one vocabulary and our three cases - nominative, accusative, prepositional.

English II

On Tuesday you'll have your quiz on Persepolis and vocabulary.  Study your reading guides and the vocabulary words that we've reviewed in class.  Today we finished watching the film and began writing our movie reviews - these drafts are due on Thursday.  Remember that it's a four paragraph assignment.  Follow the outline I gave you in class and use your viewing guide to help you with the writing of the assignment.  If you need help, please come and see me.

Homework for B-Day students- Thursday, December 3

AP English III

Your homework is to read the essay by Toni Morrison. As you read, answer the questions:

1. What is her opinion of Huck Finn and why?
2. Do you agree with her opinion? Why or why not? (Use textual evidence.)

The text at the top of the page that got cut off is as follows:

1. "Then, in the mid-fiftes, I read it again--or sort of read it. Actually I..."
2. "...some,' tolls like an evening bell; the moments when nothing is said,"

Other upcoming work due and assessments:

• Rough drafts due Friday, December 11th.
• Huck Finn test on Tuesday, December, 15th.

Students with pre-excused absences, I will create a new blog post for you next week with links to all the PDFs and materials you need to get caught up. 

English II

You have no homework for next class unless you are missing work on your progress reports. There will be a quiz on Persepolis next Wednesday, covering image analysis and vocabulary. There will be a quiz on apostrophes and grammar on Tuesday, December 15. 

For those of you missing the paragraph, here is the prompt:

How was your childhood similar and different from Marji's childhood? Write a well-developed paragraph (with topic sentence, evidence, explanation, and conclusion) comparing and contrasting your childhood with Marji's. Include examples from your life and the text. Be sure to include one example of something you have in common and of something different between you.

Homework for A Day Classes - 2 December 2015

English II

Today we finished reading Persepolis.  Next class we'll finish the movie.  Since we're done with the book there are a few important dates coming up for you all:

• December 8th - Tuesday - Quiz on Persepolis (second half) and vocabulary
• December 14th - Monday - Quiz on Grammar (apostrophes and other common mistakes)

Some of you are still missing your projects and other work.  Make sure that these are turned in sooner, not later so that you can get as many points as possible.  If work is still missing on Friday, we will convert those to zeroes for your progress reports.

Russian II/III

All of you should be working on your writing assignments tonight in advance of our workshop day on Friday.  Friday's class will be spent writing, reviewing, and working so that we can meet our first deadlines for our writing assignments.  Additionally, we will spend some time looking at a few related grammar topics and perhaps singing!  Please make sure that you have done the planning work you need to do so that you can be productive on Friday.

Russian I

You need to complete all of the exercises on page one of our packet.  We will move on to the other pages of the packet on Friday, but make sure page one is done.

Tuesday, December 1: Homework for B-Day Students

AP English III
You have no homework due next class, but you need to be working on your rough drafts. These are due Friday, December 11th. As a reminder, these rough drafts must:

• Be 5-7 pages in length (not including a works cited page, which is unnecessary for this draft).
• Be typed and double-spaced.
• Be printed out by class time when they are due.
• Include an introduction, conclusion, all body paragraphs, and a title.
• Include citations for quotes.

3B only- please remember to turn in your Duke MAT permission forms to Ms. Ginocchio. This is a 5-point completion grade. 

English II

You have no new assignments due next class, but many of you have late work that is due this week before progress reports. Please check Powerschool to make sure you don't have anything missing. These will be converted to zeroes at the end of this week. Assignments that you need to complete are:

• Personal narrative graphic project
• Paragraphs comparing and contrasting your life with Marji's (homework from late October).
• Persepolis Test
• Persepolis Test corrections (optional, but highly recommended).
• Duke MAT program permission form (applies to 4B only).

Homework for A Day Students - 30 November 2015

Welcome back everyone!  I hope that your Thanksgiving break was restful and that you were able to spend some time on yourself.  Here are your reminders as you move forward to Wednesday.

Russian II/III

For homework you should finish the viewing guide for Служебный Роман - remember that one question needs to be answered in complete sentences in Russian.  The other questions can be answered in English.  Make sure that this is complete as it will be entered in to reassess on your previous viewing guide for the film.

Outside of this you should review the grammar and new verbs in your units.  Make sure that you are preparing yourself in advance of your assessments before Winter Break.

Russian I

For homework tonight you should add in a sentence about your family members which uses the accusative case.  For this, I would recommend going back to the hobby sentence.  Tell me what the person reads, or what the person watches, or what the person cooks.  Remember to add in an appropriate direct object after the verb.  Remember the requirements:

• sentence which introduces the person, states the relationship to you
• sentence which states where the person lives, uses the verb "to live" and the prepositional case
• sentence which states a hobby the person has/what the person does
• a sentence which uses the accusative case

You'll end up with anywhere from five to six sentences for each family member.

English II

For homework tonight you should make sure that you are studying your grammar notes and your vocabulary from Persepolis.  You'll have a quiz before winter break on both of these things.  Additionally, if you are missing your graphic novel/memoir project you will want to get that turned in either Tuesday or Wednesday to get credit before the progress reports come out.  There are also some of you who are missing the paragraph on comparing Marji's life to your own life - make sure that all missing work is settled!

Russian Language Resources

Привет русские друзья!

Я хочу вам показать много хороших сайтов, на которых можно найти очень полезную информацию о русской грамматике.  Читайте и учите!

I want to y'all to show a lot good sites, on which possible to find very helpful information about Russian grammar.  Read and study!

http://masterrussian.com/

There's a lot on this site and it's organized pretty well for you on the left hand side of the page.  There are large categories there, and a lot of those pages have subpages.

All Russian Cases

This is a subpage from above with information on all six cases and declensions.  If you look carefully you can find subpages on each and every specific case.

Common Russian Verbs with Conjugations

This is a treasure trove of information.  It gives you related words, conjugations, everything really - aspectual pairs, imperatives!  Whoa!  Russian I Students, there's more here than what we've learned; don't be surprised if you think a verb is first conjugation but it isn't - we'll get to those things later...

One Stem Verb System Information

This is only for II and III students - it doesn't use structural transcription and goes into more detail about some topics, but there's a lot here on OSVS which may be helpful to you.

Homework for Thanksgiving Break - A Day Students

Russian Students - You should be practicing and working on Russian content everyday over the break!  Don't slack.

Russian I:  By this point in the course you should know the following concepts -

• nominative and prepositional cases
• possessive pronouns
• gender
• subject pronouns 
• verb conjugation
• basic sentence structure "This is..."
• vocabulary in Chapter One

Make sure that you have studied and reviewed these concepts so that you are solid and sure coming back from the break.  If you haven't done your family writing, you should take care of that.  When we come back from break we will move through the other cases - know the prepositional so that you are able to learn the others quickly.

Also, practice your singing.

Russian II/III:  I identified skills or objectives for each of you to practice/study over the break.  Make sure that you are using these cards to follow through on your studying and practice over the long break.  Verbs and cases are good to review for all of you since those foundational skills are so important.  Make sure that you have notes on the first questions which we watched today in our film - we'll finish the rest of the film at the end of Thanksgiving break.

English II:  If you did not turn in your project today make sure that it gets in to me tomorrow.  If you need to email it, please send it to daniel (dot) miller (at) dpsnc (dot) net.  I'll confirm that I got your project.  Make sure that you don't miss the chance to turn in this project since it's a major grade for the quarter.

Outside of this, you will want to make sure to finish any make up work that you may have.  Many of you are missing the paragraph where you should be comparing your childhood to Marji's childhood.  If you don't have that, get it to us after the break or email it in.  Lastly there is the extra credit which is also due after Thanksgiving - make sure to complete that if you want those points!

Weekend assignments for B-Day Students

AP English III

Your only assignment is to complete your outline for your literary analysis paper. As I said in class, the parameters are:

• 2 pages max (front and back of one sheet of paper)
• Typed
• State your guiding question. This may be revised.
• State your working thesis
• Organize the body of your essay--showing the main evidence you will use. Include direct quotes if they are short. For long passages, you can just say "the passage where Huck and Jim get lost in the fog from Chapter blah blah." Give a brief explanation of how you will use each quote
• No need for introduction or conclusion.

I will grade these for effort and mainly aim to give you feedback that you can use as you move forward. 

One of your classmates asked for a sample paper, so here is a link to a paper I wrote this fall for an undergraduate class I'm taking at Duke. It's not the best paper I've ever written, but it demonstrates the basic idea of what you'll be doing. Click here to view the paper. That link should take you to a PDF hosted on my Google Drive account. If it does not work, please let me know!

Also remember that you should finish the novel over Thanksgiving Break.

English II

Your graphic personal narrative projects are due Tuesday. We will be doing in-class presentations.

The optional extra credit assignments will be due after Thanksgiving Break, but you may turn them in earlier if you wish.

Homework for A Day Students - Weekend Edition - 19 November

Happy Thursday everyone!  Here are your reminders for the weekend -

Russian I, II, and III

We will be reassessing on standards from the previous quiz on Monday.  Make sure that you are reviewing and preparing to earn back points and show mastery of concepts. Russian I Students - Focus on your cases, possessive pronouns, and your vocabulary in chapter one, especially the nouns.  Russian II Students - Focus on your counting rules and the spelling of your numbers.  Russian III Students - Focus on your use of modals as well as vocabulary in chapter nine.

Russian II/III

Other than preparing for your reassessment on Monday I would like for you to complete your journal writing this weekend.  The phrase for the week is "кому/чему не удалось" meaning "it didn't work out for whom/what".  Remember that this phrase uses the dative case for the person/thing it didn't work out for.  Think about this as you use this phrase.

Russian I

You have your reassessment to prepare for this weekend.  Additionally, you can spend some time working on your family writing.  Next class we'll likely get started on our next case - the accusative case, so be ready for that excitement!

English II

You all have your extra credit assignment to work on over the weekend and on through Thanksgiving break.  Remember that the assignment can be turned in early or not at all since it's for extra credit.

Your required work for the weekend is to finish your project - the personal narratives focusing on a moment in your life.  On Monday we'll have our presentations of the projects, finish discussing "The Passport" chapter and then likely work on the film.

Homework for B-Day Students - 11/18/2015 - PLC Day

Happy Half Day!  Here are your reminders for tonight.

AP English III

Your resubmissions of quarter one's argumentative essay are due on Friday to me.  I will then process grade corrections for the first quarter and you will see these reflected on your next report card.  Do not miss this deadline as you will not have the chance to turn it in again.  Outside of this, make sure that you have been working on your outline for Ms. Ginocchio as that assignment is due from you all on Tuesday, before Thanksgiving Break.  Lastly, make sure that you have yourself in a good place to be able to finish The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn over Thanksgiving Break.  We'll be finishing the book quickly after that.

English II

Your Persepolis personal narrative projects are due on Tuesday, the class before we have Thanksgiving Break.  Many of you were able to use the workshop to get a lot done on your projects; try to finish them tonight so that you are ready going into the weekend.  Remember that one of the largest parts of this grade is your presentation - think about this clearly.  Be sure to explain how your use of graphic elements helps you to enhance the story you are telling.

Homework for A-Day Students: 17 November 2015

English II

Your homework for tonight is the same that it will be for Thursday.  You have your graphic novel projects due on Monday which means that you need to finish them tonight and tomorrow night.  Many of you got some good work done today in class on these projects - keep that momentum going and finish it when you get home.  Remember that you can turn in your work early if you finish it early and it's complete.

Please pay attention to the rubric as you are finishing this project.  Your explanation of your art and how you used graphic details to add to the meaning of the work is important - make sure that you can answer this question clearly.

Russian I

For homework tonight you have reading to do in Russian.  I want you to be able to identify all of the verbs in this text - you have twenty since I gave you the first one.  You also want to be able to identify any cognates (words that are the same in English and in Russian) - try to be able to translate these words.

After you have read the text remember to do your Interpretive Reading work - What is the main idea of this text?  What are three supporting details?  Remember to do this work in English.

Russian II/III

II's - You need to complete exercise 5.2 and 5.3A - Remember to spend time using your verb list in chapter five to help you learn the different imperfective and perfective verbs.  That list will be invaluable to you.  I would also recommend continuing to study the examples in the textbook with the translations.  The only way to understand aspect is to experience it and to work through it; try to get as much exposure as you can.

III's - You need to complete exercise 9.9, write out all of the sentences and form imperatives in the perfective of the imperfective verb in the beginning of the sentence.  Focus on forming your imperatives and selecting the proper pair for the imperfective verb.

II's and III's - Make sure that you complete your cheat sheet (шпаргалка) focusing on the different grammar we've learned today.  These will be very helpful as we learn and review these concepts.

Homework for B Day Students - 11/17/2015

Sorry for the delay everyone!  Here are your reminders for Wednesday's classes.

English II

You have some reading to do tonight - please read the next chapter of Persepolis called "The Cigarette" - as you read, consider the importance of the cigarette in this chapter as a symbol.  What does the cigarette mean?  How does it relate to a larger idea?  Why is this larger idea important to the story and to Marji?  Consider these ideas as you are reading.

Next class we'll spend time working on symbolism and our projects - so be prepared for that.

AP English III

Next class you have your rhetorical analysis timed writing - review the idea of a rhetorical analysis as well as the process of completing this type of assignment.  Remember that in this type of writing you are proving someone else's argument and how they are supporting that argument.

Additionally, you have some pieces to be working on for your papers.  You have your outlines for your essays due on 11/24/2015 - please follow Ms. Ginocchio's instructions for completing the outline - remember that it isn't as detailed as the first outline you completed, but the more work you do in the outline, the easier the paper will be to complete.  Lastly, you'll be finishing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn over Thanksgiving Break, so you may want to move toward that goal sooner, rather than later.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 13 November

Russian II/III

Today in class you had your assessment on the first goals of your new units.  If there were areas that confused or stumped you, please focus on those areas this weekend so that you are prepared next week for a reassessment on these particular skills and grammar points.  Remember that with our new grading system you will not simply retake the last quiz, but instead you'll be asked questions that assess you on the same skills and standards.

In addition, if you have a journal to submit to me on Tuesday or any other missing work, please get that in.  Some of you are missing a viewing guide for Служебный Роман on the first part.

Russian I

Today in class we also had an assessment, so the same rules for the Russian II/III students works for you - prepare yourself for reassessment if you need that.  Your main task for this weekend is to review and revise your writing on your family members.  I should see rewritten paragraphs on your family members which have perfect grammar and spelling.

English II

For homework this weekend you will need to read "The Cigarette" - you have photocopies of the chapter to read.  As always, look for new vocabulary.  The major thing to think about is what the cigarette symbolizes for Marji.  She's making some big strides in her life, try to take account of them.

B Day Students - Homework - 12 November

And just like that it's Friday.  Here is what you need to accomplish for tonight as we move forward to next week.

English II

If you didn't have your planning work from our workshop to show me in class today then please have that to show me next class.  For the planning you need to take your event that is the focus of your narrative and break that into (at least) five specific points or smaller moments (what happened first, second, third, and so on).  Then, account for all of your characters and their emotions through your story.  Select a graphic element you will use in the creation of your narrative, and lastly draw your first frame.

We'll be spending some more time next class working through these assignments more.  Remember that they will be due on the 23rd and 24th of this month.

AP English III

Over the weekend you have your next major chunk of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to read, Chapters Thirty to Thirty-Eight.  Continue to think about your essay topic and plan - now that you've determined your topic and general idea, you should read the rest of the text with this idea in mind.

Don't forget that on Wednesday you will have your first timed writing of a rhetorical analysis.  Remember that we are basically doing this all of the time, you're now being asked to formalize it on paper for us.

Lastly, if you have any missing work in PowerSchool (namely vocabulary cards) get those turned in ASAP!  And 3B students, don't forget your permission slips.

A-Day Homework - 10 November 2015

Remember that tomorrow we have a day off for Veterans' Day.  Thank a veteran for his/her service to our country; if you don't know a veteran, then find one and say thank you.  Here are your reminders to take you to Friday.

English II

For Friday's class make sure that you have a completed personal narrative plan where you have sketched out your plot into distinct moments, planned for your characters, thought about graphic elements in your art, and then drawn your first panel.  Many of you didn't have this and said it was at home - that's fine.  Make sure that I see it on Friday.

In addition, if you have missing work, now is a great time to take care of that.  You may be missing your writing on Marji's childhood in comparison to yours, the dramatic reading, or the test.  See us to check on this.

Russian I

For Friday you have your exam on vocabulary, prepositional case, and grammatical gender rules.  Make sure that you have studied and that you are ready.  Many of you still need to work more on verb conjugation and complete another retest - please see me to complete this sooner rather than later.

Russian II

For Friday you also have an exam that you'll be completing.  Make sure that you can discuss various time expressions and that you can explain at what time a particular event happens.  In addition, you should know your numbers from zero to sixty as well as the rules for counting items like seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, etc.

Russian III

For Friday you have your exam too - I try to give all the Russian tests on the same day.  Your exam will focus on the food vocabulary in chapter nine, the use of modals, and then aspect rules when working with можно/нельзя.  From what I saw in our review today many of you are confusing some of the modals with each other - try to understand what idea each of the modals controls and the particular case ideas that work with each modal.  That will help.

Homework for AP English III

1. Submit your paper topic via Google form by Wednesday at 11:59 pm. You should not need to log in or have a Google account to use the form. If you have trouble with the form, please email me. (Don't wait until class on Thursday to tell me it wasn't working.) The link is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lJUFYkYn6mBzOxgNxrx5R87cnj4h3JLNvEG4LqFv_i4/viewform?usp=send_form
2. Find 1 example of irony in Chapters 20-29 of Huck Finn. Mark it somehow that you can be ready to share it in class.
3. For the few of you who did not read for today, finish your reading!
4. Finish the Langston Hughes essay if you did not in class. We will do the AP multiple choice questions for it on Thursday.
5. For Monday, read chapters 30-38 of Huck Finn. When I wrote your reading schedules, I did not know that Wednesday is a holiday, so my A/B days got thrown off. You will finish the novel for the first class after Thanksgiving Break (Tuesday, December 1).

Please do not hesitate to contact me (Ms. Ginocchio) at jg239 [at] duke [dot] edu with any questions you have. 

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 6 November

English II

We had our exam on the first half of Persepolis today and began our in-depth study of the film.  I enjoyed the fact that so many of you noticed so many things about the adaptation of the book to the film.  Make sure that you've selected one element from question one and that you've written down one clear detail from our study of the film today as well as your opinion of the detail.

We'll work more on this as we continue to watch the film.  Make sure that you put in some work on the personal narrative project this weekend.  Many of you are off to a good start - it may be a good idea to see us with a draft of your project for some comments.

Russian III/II

You have your journals to complete this weekend as well as a second quiz on Thursday.  I would like for those of you who need to be reassessed from the first quiz to settle that before quiz number two - that makes everything easier for all of us.

With your journals - don't forget our phrase of the week:  не откладывай на завтра то, что можно сделать сегодня.  A good reminder for all of us, all the time.  II's - I want to see you using your time expressions as they work well with this idea.  Make sure to write out all of your numbers.  III's - use modal expressions and talk about what you need and/or need to do.  I'll be collecting all journals on Tuesday.  (G/SC/V/CU/C)

Russian I

There was a lot of good writing going on today in class and we didn't get to our game - things to get to on Tuesday.  For the weekend, focus on your writing and your notes from the writing workshop.  From what I saw there were two big areas:  verb conjugation and preposition usage (in Durham/in school/in Alaska/in Russia) that were throwing off a lot of you.  Remember to use the model expressions and my notes as you revise and rewrite.

Additionally you have your practice exercises.  These aren't for a grade, but they're good reinforcement and will help you learn your skills.  We'll likely look at a few of these on Tuesday as part of our review.

Homework for B-Day Students - 5 November 2015

English II

You have your exam on Monday which will cover the first half of Persepolis - chapters "The Veil" to "The Trip".  As you study and review make sure to focus on the characters we've studied, the plot of the text what are the major events) and finally the new vocabulary which we reviewed today in class.  Be ready and know your skills - the exam shouldn't surprise you at all.

You should also keep moving forward on your personal narrative projects - a lot of you got some great work done today; keep going!

AP English III

First you have your next reading goal for Monday's class.  You're going to be reading the next section of the novel which focuses on the Duke and the Dauphin.  Continue to watch these men and pay attention to the constant structure of the novel.  Secondly, you need to solidify a paper topic and have that ready for Ms.Ginocchio for next week as well - she'll collect it on Thursday from you.

Lastly, review the rest of the rhetorical analysis prompt that we began with today - there will be your first of these timed writings coming soon.  It won't be this prompt (obviously) but it will be a rhetorical analysis.

Homework for A Day Students - 4 November 2015

English II

Your main work for tonight is to study for your examination on Friday.  It's going to cover the first ten chapters (half) of Persepolis.  You should focus on our main characters from the first part of the text and the main plot events.  Additionally, we have the vocabulary that we reviewed.  I was happy that so many of you knew so many of the words!  Good work!

Russian II/III

You should be working on your journals tonight.  Remember in the journals we have our main phrase for the week and then I want you to work on including your new grammar concepts that you've been learning this week.  For IIs - that means time expressions.  For IIIs - that means modal expressions.  Remember to use these grammar pieces to learn them better.

Additionally, you should have your exercises done.  Be prepared if I were to check them.

Russian I

Tonight you should take another look at your family member writing and you should revise and develop.  Add two pieces of information - tell me what the person's name is and what they like to do at home.  You should for the last sentence tell me "In the house, my mom reads" as an example.  Here is an example of your four sentences:

Это моя мама.  Ее зовут Патриция.  Она живет на Аляске.  В доме, она читает.

Homework for B-Day Students

AP English III-

Your assignment for Thursday is to read the handout "Writing About Fiction." This should clarify a lot of the questions many of you had about this type of paper. Bring questions with you if you have them, and keep this text handy as you are working through your paper in the next quarter. Be thinking about your paper topic, and be sure to gather evidence and examples as you read.

For Monday, read Chapters 20-29 of Huck Finn. Don't save this all for Sunday. 

If you did not read for today or struggled with the quiz, review Chapters 17-19 before Thursday.

English II

• Test Monday: Study the first half of Persepolis, your reading and viewing guides, your notes about our introductory material on Iran and the Middle East (the video and Koran readings). Study vocabulary--I highly, highly recommend flashcards. Make them tonight and study a little bit every day. You remember better if you study in smaller chunks more frequently.
• Be working on your projects.
• Have your parents sign the permission slip for Ms. Ginocchio's program at Duke. 

Homework for A Day Students - 2 November 2015

English II

As a reminder you have two major things to be working on.  First we have your test on Friday that will cover the first half of Persepolis from "The Veil" all the way to "The Trip."  Make sure that you have read thoroughly, that you have studied your vocabulary and any notes from the text.  The quiz will also focus on the information about Iran and Muslim culture we learned before starting the text, so make sure you're familiar with that information too.

Your other major task is to work on your personal narrative projects.  For next class you should know your event from your life that you'll be turning into a graphic novel and the main parts of that event.  Try to break it down to what happened first, second, third, etc.

Russian I

For homework tonight you're going to be writing about yourself and five family members.  On a separate sheet of paper you want to write a sentence introducing the person and stating their relationship to you (ex:  This is my dad.).  Then you want to use our new verb "to live" and the prepositional case to tell me where this person lives.  Remember to use the proper ending with the location so that you are showing the prepositional case.  You should have twelve sentences total.

Russian II

For homework tonight you should review the information on accusative case time expressions on page 205 to 209.  Once you've done this, you should be able to complete exercises fourteen and fifteen talking about time expressions and using them to answer questions.

Russian III

Tonight you should focus on your modals and complete exercises four, seven, and eight at the end of chapter nine.  Remember to stay focused on aspect as you look at these exercises.

ALL RUSSIAN STUDENTS:  Remember we'll have our guests here on Wednesday.  Bring in your food/beverage item before school, check in with your first period teacher, and then report here!

Homework for B-Day Students: 30 October 2015

AP English III

For homework over the weekend you have to complete the next set of chapters - sixteen through nineteen - in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Related to this, check in with your annotations - especially front and back covers.  After this set of reading you will be more than halfway through the text, so your covers should reflect this.  Make sure that characters are paired with important page numbers and that the back covers reflect significant topics/motifs, settings, and symbols.

Related to your reading, you should also be further developing your paper topics.  After this weekend you should have a better idea as to what you are trying to prove or say about this topic or idea in the text.  Remember that this paper is argumentative (you're proving something about the text) and also analytical (you're analyzing the text to prove that you are right).  We'll work through more of this development in class next week.

Lastly, on Tuesday you'll have your next vocabulary cards due.  Use the site http://www.etymonline.com to help you with your word origin section of the card.  Remember to find the specific root of the word and that root's meaning.  Additionally, don't forget the synonyms and explanation of how the synonym is different from the original word.

Any paper resubmissions are due by the 18th of November.

English II:

Your homework for the weekend is the same as the A-day students below.  You have your next two chapters of Persepolis to read - be sure to take notes as you read because you will have a quiz on these chapters next class.  Also, work on your projects, you should be able to pick the specific moment in your life and then try to develop that moment.  What happened first, second, third, et cetera.

Lastly, if you didn't have your compare/contrast paragraph ready for today's class it needs to be turned in next class for credit.

3B and 4B Students - BRING BACK YOUR PERMISSION SLIPS!  MS. GINOCCHIO NEEDS THEM!

Homework for A-Day Students - 29 October 2015

English II

There are a few things to accomplish as we move into next class - let's go over them in order of importance.

1. Read the next two chapters of Persepolis - "The Sheep" and "The Trip".  As you read, take notes on characters, plot, and new vocabulary.  You'll have a quiz on these chapters on Monday.
2. Complete the paragraph which compares/contrasts your childhood to Marji's if you did not already turn that in today.  The only other day we will accept this assignment is Monday.
3. Select your moment in your life for your personal narrative project.  We'll spend some time working on projects on Monday, most likely.

Russian I

Continue studying your new vocabulary and grammar especially the older concepts such as verb conjugation and possessive pronouns.  These will continue to be important as we move forward.  For tonight's homework, you're going to complete exercise three on page fifty.  You have ten questions which will require you to use the PREPOSITIONAL CASE in your answers.  Review the way in which we change words to put them in the prepositional case and answer the ten questions.  Remember to write out full answers.

Russian II

Tonight you are focusing on numbers.  On page 221, you will complete exercise sixteen.  In this exercise you need to write out the answers to the questions that you are asked.  Remember that each answer will start with the word B (At).  Please write your numbers out in words so that you are able to learn this vocabulary.

Russian III

Tonight you are reading in the textbook and taking notes on the modal expressions we briefly reviewed today in class.  Read over pages 366-369 and develop your knowledge on the use of modals, especially as they relate to tense and aspect.  We'll review this on Monday in some detail.  To help you with your knowledge of the five modals I am asking you to write one sentence with each modal.  Please as you write use the new vocabulary in the chapter to help you to learn and reinforce these new words.

Homework for B-Day Students: 28 October 2015

AP English III

For next class you don't have any reading to complete, but I would make sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated the text up to and including Chapter Fifteen.  For homework, make sure that you have brainstormed five good topics for your future essay on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Keep in mind that these don't need to be thoroughly developed, in fact you'll go through the process of better developing them later.  Focus on main ideas/topics/motifs and other back cover information to get you started.

Also you have vocabulary cards due on Tuesday next week.  You'll need to do five new cards for five new words.  Don't forget to find the word origin and its meaning as well as the differences in meaning between the synonyms.  These were the places where many of you lost points before.

English II

Next class we will collect your compare/contrast paragraphs on your life versus Marji's life.  Remember that your writing should be on a separate piece of paper, and it should be about eight to ten sentences long with four clear examples (two from you, two from Marji) and explanation of how these examples make you similar and different.

Homework for A Day Students - 27 October 2015

Welcome to quarter two everyone; here's what you need to do for tonight to prepare.

English II

You have some writing to complete tonight about you and Marjane Satrapi.  Answer the question which will compare and contrast your life to Marjane's life.  Remember that in this type of writing you have to add in extra examples from both your life and from Marjane's.  After the examples you will want to make sure to explain the examples and why they're important - what they mean.  This will be your first major homework check of the quarter; ensure that it's complete.

Russian II/III

For homework tonight I would like for you to complete your viewing guide on the first part of our film, Office Romance.  On the first side of the worksheet most of the questions will be answered in English, but you should pick one to answer in complete sentences in Russian.  On the back, you should answer question thirteen and one additional question in Russian in complete sentences.

Level II students - Make sure that you are studying your new vocabulary especially numbers, verbs, and nouns.

Level III students - Review the previous grammar topics (dative case, verbs and stress) as we will need these in the next unit.

Russian I

You have a quiz next class on everything we have learned so far in unit one.  The quiz will focus on verb conjugation, but you should also be sure that you know your possessive pronouns, nouns and gender rules.  Remember that foreign language is cumulative, so you can't forget what you already learned.

All Students' Homework - 22 and 23 October - The End!

We have made it to the end of the first quarter!  Congratulations!  Here's where we need to be for next class.  I'm doing B-Day reminders too since I won't be in tomorrow

Russian II/III

Take a look at your work with our latest film "Служебный Роман" and work through your vocabulary and questions.  Make sure that all of the questions that we have seen so far in the film (the front side of the sheet) are answered.  In addition, work on question thirteen and compose an answer in Russian which expresses your opinion of the film so far.  One question from the front should also be answered thoroughly in Russian using complete sentences.

Russian I

You will not have your quiz on Tuesday, it will fall on Thursday.  We'll keep practicing and doing review on Tuesday.  To prepare for this review, complete the dialogue activity that we saw in our exercises on verbs.  Use the first dialogues as examples, and then complete the next dialogues using your knowledge of verb conjugation and Russian to complete the missing lines.

Now that we know about answering questions in the negative, please complete the final exercise writing out your questions as well as your negative and positive answer.  I will check homework again on Tuesday.

English II

Your homework for the weekend is on your second worksheet from today's class.  Select two of the images from those selected and analyze the image, picking out the important details as we did in our previous class.  Look at all of the details and codes that the author is putting into the image.  Then, be sure to answer the question about the image's importance in the story.

After these, please complete the final question on the back in a one paragraph response.  Remember to follow your good paragraph structure with a clear topic sentence, examples, and explanation of those examples!  This work will be your first grade of the second quarter.

AP English III

Reading!  You have your next goals on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn coming due on Wednesday, the next day we will see you.  Be prepared with thorough annotations and remember to work on your vocabulary bookmarks as well!

Homework for B-Day Students: 21 October 2015

English II

There is not any homework for you all to complete tonight; however, some of you are missing assignments that need to be made up tomorrow so that they can count for this quarter.  If you are still missing anything at the end of the day tomorrow and have not made a plan to make it up then I will be forced to submit missing grades for these assignments which will really hurt your quarter grade.

Remember that when you miss class it is your responsibility to get your missing work; if you don't then you can only blame yourself when things like this occur.

AP English III

Your next class will be a self-contained substitute day which will need no preparation.  For Wednesday, however, you have your next chunk of reading in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Remember to read and annotate the text heavily - look for particularly important passages and approach them the same way that we did today in class (that's some of the most fun in reading literature).

For Wednesday's class you will have two questions due:  one interpretive and one literal.  Be sure to refer to your question type assignment as you consider the writing of these questions.

Homework for A-Day Students: 20 October 2015

English II

There is no official homework tonight with the exception of make-up work.  If you are still missing your project or quiz on our Russian literature unit you only have Wednesday and Thursday to complete those assignments.  The projects can just be turned in to me, but the quiz will need to be taken with me during a time outside of class.  Please work to get this done so that your grade is the best that it can be this quarter.

Russian II/III

You have your exam on the one-stem verb system next class.  Today we reviewed the main stems that you will need to know and the various tricks to these stems.  Look at sample verbs, do activities for extra practice, and if you need help - please ask for it.  The quiz will follow the same format as the quiz with new verbs that you likely don't know so that I can see what your skills are.

Russian I

You have some work to do tonight with your verb conjugations of first and second types.  From the photocopy you want to complete exercise seven and eight (these focus on first conjugation) and exercise seventeen (focusing on second conjugation).  Remember as you do these exercises to follow the conjugation pattern given in the handout as well as the instructions of the exercise.  Additionally, please write out all Russian in these exercises - it will help you to do better than just filling in the blank.

Russian Students - Don't forget about our guests.  If you would like to bring in food for our guests please let me know!

Homework for B-Day Students: 19 October 2015

AP English III

Today Ms. Ginocchio gave you your reading schedules which will take you through the rest of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, your next deadline to meet is Wednesday of next week.  Be sure that you are pacing yourself appropriately and working to meet your next deadline.  It was clear that some of you hadn't read, now you are behind.

Remember as you read that you are expected to regularly annotate the text - you may use post-it notes, your notebook, or notes in the margins.  In addition, you should be keeping up with both your front and back cover as you work through the text and as we are discussing ideas in class.

Lastly, continue to look for new vocabulary - you'll have a set of vocabulary cards coming soon after the new quarter starts.  Ms. Ginocchio and I are working hard to get your papers and tests graded before the end of the quarter - these assignments will be put on this quarter.

English II

For tonight you have the next two chapters of Persepolis to read.  As you read, continue to think about the main characters - the Satrapi family - mark what you think is important as you read and also look for vocabulary that is new or unfamiliar to you.  We'll be discussing these moments in the text next class and looking at some of the significant elements of this genre as well.

Don't forget that if you are missing a project or your quiz that you have only until Thursday to make those assignments up.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 16 October

It's been a long week, but we made it to the end yet again.  Here is your homework for the weekend.

Russian II/III

You have your new phrase this week for your journals which is:

вольный как птица

Remember that as you use this phrase the adjective will change to refer to the thing/person/group which is free as a bird - so make sure to think about your adjective rules and declensions if those are triggered.  I will be looking for journals from everyone in class on Tuesday, both your first and second entry for the quarter - be sure that those are settled.

In addition, you'll have your verb exam on Thursday.  Study and prepare - I've been seeing clear growth as we've been working in class.  Make sure that you are settling your misconceptions to get things learned, for real this time!

Russian I

This weekend I want you to talk about the things and people you have in your house.  You should make a list of anywhere from ten to fifteen things and create complete sentences which work to express your possession (or someone else's possession) over the item.  Review your gender rules as well as your possessive pronouns; there will be an exam soon!

Don't forget too that we have a song to learn - here's the video to the song.

Practice your reading and your speaking with the song.  Make yourself an expert.

English II

This weekend you have two chapters of Persepolis to read "The Bicycle" and "The Water Cell" - as you read continue to take note of new vocabulary and add to your notes about the main characters.  What do we continue to learn about the Satrapi family?  The handouts are yours, so feel free to make notes in the packet.  Remember that your homework is to read, so you know what may happen when you have reading homework...hint...hint...

Thursday, October 15- AP English III

AP students--

Your homework for Monday is to:

1. Read Huck Finn Chapters 1-6.
2. Come up with one question of any type (see your assignment sheet or information below). Write this question down. You can put it in your notes or have a dedicated sheet for your questions for all readings. Also identify which type of question you have written.
3. 3B students only--please have a parent sign the Duke M.A.T. program permission slip and return it to Ms. Ginocchio on Monday. Thank you much!

Types of Questions

• Literal/direct questions: These are factual questions, and you can find the answers to them in the text. There probably will be a “right answer.”
• Example: What are the characteristics of District 12?
• How is the book The Hunger Games narrated? (First person, present tense.)

•  Interpretive questions: Questions that require inference or finding patterns in the text. The answer will be a conclusion backed up by the text, but there may not be one “right answer.”

Example: How does Katniss change in this chapter?

Is the cat a symbol? What does she represent?

Why did Suzanne Collins choose to make her hero from District 12?

• Applied questions: Go beyond the text or connect the fictional events/world of the text with your real life and experience.

Example: Is it ever okay to disobey the law?

What are the similarities between the world of The Hunger Games and our contemporary world?

What kinds of violent entertainment exist in our world? Why do people watch these sorts of things?

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/15/2015

English II

For homework over the weekend you have your four suras from The Koran to read and analyze. Remember that each sura teaches a lesson to the reader about how to live an upright life.  At the end of each one, write the rule for life as you understand it from the sura.  From each one, try to find two vocabulary words to add to your bookmarks.  If you can't define it, don't worry.  Just ask us in class.

Enjoy your study of The Koran!

Homework for A Day Students - 14 October 2015

English II

Tonight for homework you have five excerpts from The Koran to read and consider.  Remember that The Koran is the equivalent to The Bible or Torah - treat this text with some respect.  Read the excerpts that you have and at the end of each one try to get to the rule for life that this excerpt teaches.  You should be able to get four rules from the four surahs.  In addition, try to get eight vocabulary words from your reading - two from each surah is a good goal.

Russian I

For tonight you have to do some more work in your vocabulary lists for chapter one.  Tonight focus on the verbs.  Look at the verbs you have in chapter one and organize them by conjugation type using the rules that we learned today in class.  You should write out your words as it will help you to learn them better than just putting a number next to the word.

Russian II/III

Tonight for homework I want you to do some work in your exercises for Chapter Four.  Complete exercise G - make sure that you do the forms in both Russian and in standard transcription.  You can organize your work however you would like, but remember to focus on studying and learning your stems.  Hopefully today's warm up was helpful in going over some of these concepts.

Homework for B-Day Students: 13 October 2015

Sorry for the delay in posting this everyone; here are your reminders for our next class.

English II

Many of you were absent today, and I'll be checking on these absences tomorrow.  Everyone in class was able to complete the viewing guide for our film on Iran and its culture today, so there is no homework for you all to complete.  If you were absent, see me tomorrow to get the viewing guide.  I'll go ahead and post the video here so that you can watch it for yourselves or to watch it again for any of you who want to.

As you watch the video, focus on culture in Iran, important parts of the capital Tehran, and pay attention to any ideas about Iran which this video may challenge.

AP English III

Next class all of you have your test on Transcendentalism and Philosophy, so your key goal is to prepare yourselves for that.  Remember the ways that Ms. Ginocchio discussed today as to HOW to prepare for this type of examination.  You'll be asked specifically about our four key philosophical texts (King, DuBois, Emerson, Thoreau) as well as some overarching themes or ideas between all of them.  Review your notes and annotations as well as the text.  Include a look at your early notes on rhetoric as those are essential to this assessment as well.

You also have your first reading goal for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  You need to be to the end of Chapter Six by Monday's class.  It's better to be ahead then a behind (get it...) so make sure to meet your goals and surpass them.  Continue using your vocabulary bookmarks with this text, you'll have cards due again soon!

Homework for A-Day Students: 12 October 2015

Happy Monday Everyone - Here's what you need to take care of for tonight.

Russian II/III

Spend some time looking over your quiz on Russian verbs and the One-Stem Verb System.  Many of you are making small mistakes in stem identification which then lead to major issues when it comes to the conjugation of the verbs - this led to bigger mistakes in your quizzes.  Make sure to study and review and to prepare yourself for a retest if you want to do that.

For your actual homework tonight, spend some time working with your vocabulary from our film.  You have several verbs in the new vocabulary as well as nouns and adjectives.  Work to create sentences which make predictions about the film and what will happen.  Make sure to review your stems with the verbs as that is our key grammar goal for this unit.  As a baseline, try to write about ten sentences.

Also, don't forget that we have a new song to learn:


Russian I

Two cities are left to present and we'll get to those on Wednesday.  For tonight's homework, spend time working on your vocabulary in Chapter One, especially the nouns.  Take time to look at the nouns and to identify/organize them by their gender.  Further, try to pair the nouns with possessive pronouns which match the gender of the word.  All of this studying will help to prepare you and refresh you for your retest opportunity.

Remember all Russian retests must be done by the end of this week!

English II

If you did not finish your viewing guide on Rick Steve's Iran then make sure that you finish up that work and show it to me next class for credit.  Everyone currently has a grade based on what I saw.  Also, several of you are still missing your project grades for our Russian literature unit and your quizzes on our Russian literature unit.  Those assignments need to be made up this week as we will be finishing the grading period next week!

Homework for B-Day Students - Weekend Edition - 10/9/2015

AP English III

Next week we have two big things on the horizon - your argumentative essay and your quiz/test on our philosophical pieces.  We'll deal with the paper first and then the quiz/test (quest).

For your essay you will be required to submit your outline, rough draft with commentary from peer editing, and your final draft with rubric.  We will complete a cover sheet for the essay in class before submitting and I will give you an envelope in which to submit everything.

For your bibliographies, I invite you to use the Purdue OWL for MLA Citation Style.  On this page you will find everything you need to complete your bibliography and formatting.  For your bibliographies, you should use this page for book references (Kozol, Steinbeck, etc.) and this page for online resources.  If you need help I will make myself available on Monday to discuss only bibliographies and formatting questions, not to deal with the content of your essay.

For your quest on Thursday focus on the four pieces that we have studied in our philosophy unit:  Emerson's "The Over-Soul", Thoreau's "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For", King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" and lastly DuBois's Chapter One from The Souls of Black Folk.  Look forward to a review on Tuesday - to prepare for the review, look over the texts and consider what we discussed with each text.  Try to plan possible questions that we may ask you on this assessment.

English II

You have no official homework this weekend, but if you missed the chance to turn in your project on time make sure that it gets in to me by Monday.  In addition, if you are missing the Russian Literature Quiz, make that up by Wednesday afternoon as we are moving on to our next unit and the gradebook needs to be finalized.

Homework for A-Day Students - Weekend Edition - 10/8/2015

Students - Here are your reminders for the weekend.  Make sure that you complete these tasks below to get you ready for next week.

Russian II and III

This weekend focus on some specific verb pairs within chapter four to develop your lexicon in Russian.  Study the pairs located on page 141-142 and 157-165.  As you complete the exercises on pages 164-165 complete only the ODD sentences (1, 3, 5, etc.)  Make sure to write out the sentences.  Think about which verb is needed and in which form - use the clues in the sentences.

Russian I

For the weekend you should spend time making sure that your project is complete and shared with me in advance of Tuesday's class.  Please send it/share it to me at mrmillerjhs [at] gmail [dot] com.  In addition, make sure that you continue to study and review your notes and work this weekend.  By this point in the class you should be confident and comfortable with all of the Russian letters and the sounds they make - if not, things will only continue to be difficult.

ALL RUSSIAN LANGUAGE STUDENTS:  Start preparing for the OLYMPIADA!  Study your packets!  Begin to prepare!

English II

You have no homework to complete this weekend since we had a major project due in class.  If you have any missing assignments from our Russian literature unit (project, quiz, etc.) - make sure that it is completed no later than Wednesday the 14th to receive credit.  We'll be starting our next unit soon, and we need to account for all missing work before we move on.

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/7/2015

Apologies B-Day Students for not getting this posted yesterday.  Here is what you have coming up for Friday:

English II

Your projects are due on Friday.  I'm so proud that a few of you were able to finish up during the workshop in class and get your worked turned in.  We will present our projects and then wrap up our unit on Russian literature for Friday.

AP English III

For Friday you will have your timed writing and it will be an argument.  Make sure that you know your bootcamp notes as well as your DADS notes and your rules for good writing.  All of these will help you as you complete your timed writing on Friday.  In addition, remember that your final drafts are due on Tuesday of next week.  We'll go over all of the elements that you'll need to submit on Friday as well as how.  Lastly, if you haven't already purchased your copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn do so soon as we will likely be starting the text toward the end of next week.

Homework for A-Day Students: 6 October 2015

Russian II/III

I forgot to collect your journals today so I will definitely collect them on Thursday.  Make sure that you have your writing ready for me to check.  On Thursday you'll have your quiz on the one-stem verb system.  Make sure that you have reviewed your notes as well as the information in the textbook.  On this quiz you will need to:

1. identify the stem of a given verb based on its conjugation
2. apply stems and endings
3. write in structural transcription and in Russian
4. account for consonant mutations

Please make sure to check out the exercises in the back of the chapter as they can be helpful for you in preparing.

Russian I

You also have a quiz next class on your vocabulary and grammar so far in the unit.  Based on the dialogues in class I can tell that some of you are still struggling a bit too much with the alphabet.  Practice and prepare and ask for help when needed.  It's clear that some aren't spending enough time at home getting ready.  Remember that you'll need your vocabulary as well as your notes on possessive pronouns and gender.  Study and be prepared!

English II

Next class your projects are due.  Some of you were even able to finish them today in class.  Make sure that your project shows your best work and that it is either typed or written in blue or black ink.  Follow the instructions on your rubric sheet for your individual project.

Homework for B-Day students: October 5

AP English III:

• For Wednesday, read the "Forethought" and "Chapter 1" of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois. I have copies now for those who did not get theirs in class. You can also access the entire text for free here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm
• Obtain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by the weekend.
• Final drafts of essays are due Tuesday, October 13. Writing conference slots are still available, and we will post a schedule for Thursday and Friday meetings soon.
• There will be an AP-style Timed Writing on Friday. We will be writing argumentative essays, so review your "Rules for Good Writing" notes about DADS and arguments.

English II:

• Be working on your projects. We will have library time next class to work on these.

Russian Students Only

I want to have a Russian club and Olympiada meeting on Thursday afternoon. Russian snacks will be provided!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 10/3/2015

Sorry for not getting this up before now; I didn't realized that I'd forgotten.  Here are your reminders:

Students of Russian/Дорогие мои студенты русского языка!

I wanted to post a few things for you to use as you are writing your journals (Russian II/III) and working on your grammar homework and preparing for your first major quiz (Russian I).  First for II/III -

• Your homework this weekend is one double-spaced page in your journal using the phrase "Ни пуха, ни пера! К черту!".  Remember as you write to apply your knowledge of stems and the one-stem system.  I want you to edit and revise.  Read and consider - use your knowledge and your notes.
• If you need a dictionary there's this wonderful online resource from Duke - A grammatical dictionary of the Russian language.
• If you would like a reference guide for grammar you can use this - also from Duke and actually from one of the authors of our textbook.  

Russian I Students - You should continue working through the exercises on gender as well as studying your vocabulary words in chapter one.  In addition to the nouns you should know the possessive pronouns (моя, твое, его, их, наша, ваш) and the question words that we have learned in connection to the intonation patterns.  All of these things will be part of your vocabulary quiz on Thursday.  Don't forget too that you will have your project presentations on Thursday - is anyone bringing Russian food?

For all of you - here's our video about Кострома which we started in Russian II/III for the warm up - feel free to watch it to the end.  Remember our guests will be visiting in about a month!

English II:

If you didn't turn in your viewing guide from the Bulgakov film today then you will need to finish that for homework to turn in on Tuesday.  In addition, we'll be working on our projects on Tuesday before the due date and presentation on Thursday.  Feel free to work on your projects this weekend in preparation for our library workshop on Tuesday.  If you do research online, try to save the website addresses so that Ms. Ginocchio and I can show you how to complete your bibliography. 

Video about Refugee Crisis from AP III

For the sake of the several students who were absent on Thursday, here's a link to the video we watched:

https://youtu.be/ubGhzVdnhQw

As you watch, consider 1) strategies that the filmmakers use to communicate a message to you and 2) similarities and differences between the video and Grapes of Wrath, both in terms of content/themes and strategies used by the Guardian journalists and John Steinbeck. 

For context, this video was produced by The Guardian, a large British newspaper. John Steinbeck was a journalist too; he published articles in a San Francisco newspaper about the Dust Bowl and migrant crisis before writing The Grapes of Wrath. Think about methods of storytelling and what different modes can accomplish. 

Have a great weekend! 

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 10/1/2015

English II

You had a major quiz today so you don't have any official homework for tonight.  You should focus on your projects so that you are ready for the workshop we'll have in the library on Monday.  Try to do some work to select the project you want to do for your final test grade.  We'll have time to work as a class on Monday and Wednesday next week to put these projects together.

AP English III

Your homework this weekend is to read an annotate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" - it's available in 50 Essays as well as at this link.  As you read, pay attention to the ideas of Transcendentalism that we have been talking about in class.  In addition, pay attention to King's ideas of morality versus immorality and the concept of justice versus injustice.  Where do King's morals come from in this text?  This piece is rich in rhetoric and meaning and we'll have a lot to discuss with it.

Looking to the horizon, you'll have your first timed writing on Friday - it will be an argumentative piece.  Study your notes as you are preparing.  Your final drafts will be collected on the 13th of October - for these make sure that you have all of the supporting documents that have come together to make your final draft (outlines, rough drafts) so that I can see the whole development process.  Lastly, get your copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - make sure that it is complete and unabridged.

Homework for A-Day Students: 30 September 2015

English II

Today since we had our quiz on Russian literature we have no official homework to complete.  However, I have given you your final project for our Russian literature unit, and it would be a good idea to start working on your project tonight.  Next class we'll spend some time in the library working on these projects - make sure that the time in the library is useful by starting tonight.  Remember you have to select one of the four projects to complete.  Consider what you think will give you your strongest work.  Your projects are due on October 8th.

Russian I

Tonight for homework I want you to complete the reinforcement exercises from my Russian grammar textbook.  You're completing exercises 51, 52, 53, and 54.  For most of these you need to review your notes on gender and possessive pronouns.  Remember to select the appropriate pronoun based on the gender of the item.  We'll continue working on this and phonetics for Friday's class.

Make sure that with the homework that you write out all of your answers and sentences.  Don't just fill in the blank or write the word - writing the whole sentence will help you with your handwriting and your grammar knowledge.

Russian II/III

Tonight you'll continue working on questions and answers as you work through exercise one in chapter four.  There are fifteen questions there.  I want you to select ten and then complete the example where you give answers to the questions.  Make sure that you follow the model.  Use this as a chance to check in with verbs and to practice your knowledge of the one-stem verb system in Russian.  This is also a good chance for you to review your intonation patterns as we'll be doing some speaking related to questions and answers next class.

Homework for B-Day Students: 29 September 2015

AP English III

For tonight you have two major things to accomplish and bring with you to class on Thursday.  First you have your rough drafts of your argumentative essay.  The rough drafts should be approximately half of your final draft.  The final draft is five to six pages, so this should be two to three pages.  For the rough draft workshop make sure that you have your introduction, conclusion, and one whole topic written out in paragraphs.  As we have spent several days discussing, one topic does not equal one paragraph.  Consider your transitions between different elements of your topic and make a point to me.

Secondly for Thursday you have your vocabulary cards.  Remember that these come from your vocabulary bookmark.  Use the resources in the previous post to complete this assignment.  If you can't find a part of the card, then say so - don't leave anything blank on your cards.

Lastly, make sure that you have reviewed the final two chapters of Grapes of Wrath to finish our discussion that we started today.  You'll need to purchase/find a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the next few classes, so go ahead and get one sooner rather than later.

English II

For homework tonight you should be preparing for your quiz on Gogol's "The Overcoat" and the poetry of Anna Akhmatova.  The topics you need to study are in the previous post.  Make sure that you are highly prepared - remember that I pushed this back so that you could get yourself more ready.