Thursday, January 29, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students: 29 January 2015

This is really your homework for the weekend since I won't be seeing you all again until Monday.

AP English III

This is a very rare day where you don't have any homework, really, over the weekend.  For the weekend make sure that you have a copy of Ellison's Invisible Man for class on Monday.  We will likely begin the text with a bit of context before we actually jump into the reading of the text.

I want to take a moment to remind you all that this is a very complex and strenuous text.  You would all do well to start your reading and annotating of the text this weekend so that you are ahead when Ms. Alley gives you the reading schedule for the whole text.

English II

If you did not finish your one paragraph response on the ending of "A Problem" and Sasha's realization at the end of the story then this is due for all of you on Monday.  Make sure to follow good writing rules and formatting as stated in the outline.  Remember to clearly explain everything and use details from the text to help clarify your ideas.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Homework for A-Day Students - PLC Day - 1/28/2015

English II

Tonight your homework is to finish your paragraph response of the question on Sasha's character.  Remember as you write you need to first have a clear topic sentence which answers the question and gives a reason behind your answer.  You need two clear details in your writing with explanation which help prove your point.

Show what you've learned about good composition and writing and put this in to this assignment.  Don't also forget that the last day to turn in the tone assignment is next class.

Russian II

We didn't get as far as I would have liked today, but we had a good class nonetheless.  For tonight, work on your exercise focusing on using the word интерес.  Write a brief story using this word in a variety of contexts.  Make up a situation.  Project to your future.  Whatever you'd like, but use the word and use it correctly.  Remember the examples you have and the analysis we did in class.  Come and see me if you need help.

Also remember that if you haven't submitted your translation sentences these are due on Friday for final call.

Russian I

Tonight you should complete exercise nine on the use of the accusative and prepositional/locative case in Russian.  After our review of exercise eight, all of you should be able to complete this exercise.  Remember to follow the patterns.  Don't make things more complicated than they need to be.

Lastly, remember that we have the vocabulary project which is due next week.  Get ahead on this now and start to create your sentences.
 

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students: 1/27/2015

AP English III

For tonight make sure that you are reviewing your notes on The Crucible as well as your annotations in preparation for our quiz next class.  Next class you will have multiple choice questions, quote identifications, and short answer questions on the play.  In addition, you will have a timed writing which will be a rhetorical analysis.  These two assessments will count as two grades.  Make sure that you have your copy of The Crucible with you next class as Ms. Alley and I will be looking at your annotations of the text.

English II

There's no homework tonight except to finish the tone/image assignment from "I Have Visited Again" by A.S. Pushkin.  Make sure that if this is reading as a zero on your PowerSchool that you have settled this by next class or those zeroes will become permanent.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Homework for A Day Students - 1/26/2015

Next class we'll be having a PLC day, so make sure that you plan accordingly.

Russian II

For homework tonight you have to complete the translation activity from last class.  Remember that if you didn't have this ready for today that's not necessarily a bad thing, but you do need to make sure to use me as a resource if you need me.

In addition to finishing the translation work, please do the analysis on интерес versus интересы.  Read exercises 162 and 165 to understand the difference between the singular and the plural.  Take notes.  Be able to explain the difference between the singular and plural usage in your own words on Wednesday.

Russian I

For homework tonight I would like for you all to finish what we did not finish in exercises eight and nine at home.  Remember that in exercise nine you are only do to the sentences on the Locative/Prepositional case and the Accusative case.  Focus on making sure that all of your words are in the correct form.  Use your notes to check yourself!

English II

There is no homework for tonight except to finish your tone assignment if needed and to work on your new vocabulary.  Next class we will finish our study of "A Problem" and do some work with the main characters!

Friday, January 23, 2015

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Classes - 1/23/2015

English II

If you didn't finish your tone illustration from Pushkin's "I Have Visited Again" then you will need to finish that over the weekend.  In addition, don't miss assignments in the second semester.  If you didn't get your vocabulary work done, you'll need to make sure that you consistently do the rest of your assignments for the quarter!  Don't make the same mistakes you made last year.

AP English III

For homework this weekend you have two things to do.  First, finish reading The Crucible.  As you finish reading, finish your annotations.  Pay attention to the ideas you see in the text and the ideas you've seen throughout the whole text.  Make sure that your covers show your reading from the text.

When you've finished the text, then move on to your writing assignment.  Your writing is a simple three paragraph essay which answers the prompt:  What would Arthur Miller think of Mean Girls?  As you write follow this structure:

Paragraph One:  DADS Argument based on the prompt.
Paragraph Two:  Body Paragraph.  Use an example from The Crucible as well as one from Mean Girls to support and prove your argument.
Paragraph Three:  Brief conclusion.  Reconnect to the argument.

In all your piece should be no longer than one page.  Focus on getting to the point quickly and clearly.  Answer the question and be insightful.


Thursday, January 22, 2015

Homework for A-Day Students: 1/22/2015

English II

You all have no homework for the weekend except to finish your tone illustrations if you did not finish in class.  As we move forward, please make sure that you continue to meet expectations and complete all assignments.  Today a lot of you missed the chance to submit your vocabulary work which does not set a good trend for the rest of the quarter.

Russian I

For the weekend you have two tasks to complete.  First, dress up your basic sentences by adding adjectives.  Remember the rules of agreement for case and gender.  Use colors or any other adjectives from your vocabulary sheet as the goal with this is to create complete sentences using grammar and vocabulary concepts.

In addition, you have the reading for chapter two.  Here is a link to the Chapter Two audio.  First there is the vocabulary read aloud for you and then you have the reading.  With the reading, follow along and read it several times.  Then, do your analysis of the reading.  Find all pronouns, nouns, and adjectives and analyze the case in them.  I would recommend doing this with highlighters or markers and color coding the reading.

Russian II

For homework this weekend you have some more review work to do to keep practicing with important concepts.  Select ten sentences from exercises 6.13B and translate them from English into Russian.  Be sure to have the English translation with your Russian so that I can make sure your translation is accurate.

As you work through the translations I'd recommend the following questions:

  • Which cases do you need for which words?
  • What type of action is happening in this situation?
  • Which group of verbs is needed?  
  • What is being emphasized in this action?
Spend time with this - try each - and if you don't know, come and ask!

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students - 1/21/2015

English II

For tonight your assignment is the same as the one below for A-day.  Write your paragraph discussing your return to a place that you know well but haven't visited for some time.  Use your new vocabulary from the Russian notes or from the poem to write about this.  Make sure that you show the meaning of the words as you write - no lame sentences!  See me if you have questions on this.

AP English III

For next class we have our Illustration Project presentations.  Make sure to pay close attention to the assignment sheet and the rubric attached.  The questions I ask of you at the bottom are important in crafting your presentation.

Make sure that you have your original illustration with annotations as well as your updated version.  In addition, you can have a notecard to help with your presentation.  I would recommend bulletpointing your responses to the questions to make sure that you earn full credit on this part of the assignment.

In addition, stay on your reading of The Crucible.  By Tuesday you need to be to the end of Acts III and IV.  Lastly, take this time to get your copy of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  Get either the red or green copy from Vintage Publishers as Ms. Alley and I will be working from this edition.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Homework for A-Day Students - New Quarter - 1/20/2015

Welcome back from the long weekend and welcome to the beginning of the third nine weeks and second semester.  Here we are at the halfway point on the way to summer vacation.

English II

Using your new vocabulary for the day create a paragraph which uses five of these words.  When you use the word in your paragraph, try to make sure it's clear you know the meaning of the word.  Don't just say something like, "I had a tsar."  Tell me something along the lines of. "The tsar hated everyone and nobody could do anything about it.  He was too powerful."  Show me what you learned.  You can use vocabulary from the lecture/game about Russian culture or from Pushkin's poem.

Your prompt for the paragraph is to write about going back to a place you know really well.  I might write about going back to my mom's house in Alaska.  If you need help, review the poem.  Think about how Pushkin felt about the going back home.  We'll work more with Pushkin and the poem on Thursday, but make sure that you do this vocabulary work tonight.

Russian I

For tonight, write sentences about your house and the things located within those spaces.  Remember our example from class:

В туалете находится ковёр.  In toilet room there is located rug.

You need to write about four more rooms and tell me about two things in each.  This leaves you nine sentences.  Use the example as a model, but vary your sentence structure if you feel like you want to.  You won't lose points for being adventurous.

A quick note about some rooms as you put them in prepositional case:  If the ending is ая in the nominative, like гостиная, then the ending becomes -ой in the prepositional, like в гостиной.

Russian II

We will finish presentations about Russian holidays on Thursday and then move on into the new unit on weather.  Also, I have a wonderful preview for you all - we're finally going to start learning plurals in all of the cases!  Get ready for a lot of work with your favorite Russian sound Х!

A few of you need to finish testing.  Get this settled ASAP.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Oh My! The Whole Last Few Days...

Everyone!  My sincerest apologies for leaving off the blog post for two days.  Here's what needs to be done over the long weekend as well as some reminders.

Russian I

We will begin a new unit on Tuesday which will look at adverbs, adjectives, and a few other types of pronouns.  To prepare for this, start looking at your chapter two vocabulary.  Much of this vocabulary focuses on the house and family, so I would recommend labeling things around your house to help you.  Make some flashcards and mark stress on them.  Just work on identifying and memorizing.

We're going to keep working on cases in this next unit and how these parts of speech (especially adjectives and pronouns) continue changing for case.  Practice with your case endings.  Memorize.  Drill and practice.  Ask for suggestions if you need them.

Russian II

Tuesday will officially be the end of the semester for you.  We will finish the exam and then finish project presentations on Russian Holidays.  I've received two new prezis but I don't know how the other groups are planning on presenting, make sure that you are prepared for Tuesday.

In addition, you've all seen the exam now so I expect that you'll be studying over the weekend and practicing with what you've seen.  Expect a few additional questions on the same concepts to test your knowledge.

English II

Some of you still need to tie up some loose ends from the end of the semester on Tuesday.  I know that a few of you have made arrangements to take the Heroes Unit Quiz with me after-school.  Thank you for that, make sure to meet your commitment.  In addition, there are also the speeches.  The scores will be entered on Monday and finalized on Tuesday - so if you have your speech and haven't yet submitted it (you'll see a score of 50%), then stop by and see me on Tuesday.

I also want to take a quick second to remind you all about second semester.  No more free passes.

AP English III

Over the weekend you need to begin with your study of The Crucible.  If you have yet to begin your reading of the play then you will now be paying the piper with some heavy reading for the weekend.  Your task is to read to the end of Act II.  As you read, you must also start your front cover annotations on characters.  Remember that since this is a play you will be given a character list in the play.  Use this.

The language of the play is simple and direct.  So look for the complex in the simple.  Read Miller's "Why I Wrote The Crucible" - annotate it heavily and understand his context and purpose for the play.  From here, you should be able to begin the annotation of your back covers and within the margins of the text.  Remember that this is an allegory - connect the dots.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Snow Day Number One - 1/14/2015

Having this day off today means that we lose that day off next week, oh well.  Keep in mind that this means when we return on Thursday that we will be having an A day.  Here is what all of you can do today to make sure you're ready for the end of the quarter.

English II:

All of you should take this time to prepare for your quiz on The Odyssey, Musashi Miyamoto, and Exodus.  Remember to review characters, the elements of being a hero, and the elements of the hero's cycle.  If you don't have notes - ask a friend or send an email to me.

In addition, be aware that you need to turn in your speech and do your presentation if you did not do this on Monday/Tuesday.  Thursday and Friday will be the only days left to do this, so get it taken care of.  A lot of B-day students were not in class because of the lockdown; make sure you submit this last major assignment.

The only minor assignment you can still submit is the bumper sticker assignment.  Do that if you do not have a grade.

Russian I and II:

You have your mid-term next class.  Please let me know if you need help as you are studying and preparing.  I had a bit of a mini-review session with some Russian II students yesterday which was really productive and went over some key parts of the exam.  Let me know what you need!

AP English III:

You have your presentation of your websites on Friday.  I'd also like for all of you to bring in your copies of The Crucible because we will be starting to work on that in class at the conclusion of your presentations.

For your presentations each group will need to present its synthesis - What is your argument?  How do each of you support the argument of the group?  In addition you'll need to each speak about your piece that you analyzed and give a brief explanation of the piece and the author's argument in the piece.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students: 1/13/2015

AP English III

Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you have your final night to prepare your websites to be evaluated next class.  Please make sure that you take care of your citations and that you have in-text citations as needed in your analysis and in your synthesis assignment.  Use the mock-up as needed to make sure that everything is where it needs to be.

In addition, remember that you have your illustration assignment due next week.  Follow the guidelines on the assignment sheet and complete all parts.  You should first complete the annotation of the original illustration before moving on to any other work with this assignment.

Lastly, remember our reading of The Crucible - for next week you will want to be to the end of Acts I and II.  We'll be taking a very express path through this play so make sure that you have the reading done so that we can take a close look at key passages within the play.

English II

Using your notes and memories from today's review game make sure that you have studied and are ready for your final quiz on the Heroes unit which will fall on Thursday.  Also, if you have to turn in your speech still you will need to take care of this on Thursday as this is really the last day of the quarter for you all.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Homework for A-Day Classes: 1/12/2015

Russian II

Very excellent job today on presentations.  I especially enjoyed eating pelmeni and getting flowers - you know how to make me feel special!  For tonight you need to review for your mid-term examination.  For the mid-term we'll be focusing on three big concepts:

  • Aspect of verbs in Russian
  • Numbers and counting in Russian - be sure to know your currencies and how to count them in Russian.
  • Verbs of motion
A good activity is working through what we did today in class.  You can also use the online exercises available from the UCLA Beginner's Russian website.  Please let me know if you need any help studying and preparing!

Russian I

I enjoyed the activity today in our mad libs activity.  Tonight you need to finish your preparation for the mid-term examination.  Make sure that you can work within all six cases in Russian and that you can work with the verbs.  If you are able to do this with few to no errors then you're in good shape.  There are several online exercises on the UCLA Beginner's Russian website as well - you'll have to pick and choose to see what is most useful for you.

English II

Remember that if you did not present your speech today in class then you will need to present on Wednesday or outside of class.  Also, if you didn't have your speech ready to be turned in today, make sure that it is ready for us on Tuesday or Wednesday.  For tonight - focus on reviewing for your quiz next class.  Study your notes from class and from today's review game.

Also, as promised, here is the video on the Epic Hero Cycle which includes a lot of information to know for your exam.



All of you have assessments next class to finish the quarter - make sure that you do your best work on these to finish strong.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Homework for the Weekend: 9 January 2015

English II

This weekend your major goal is to finish the final draft of your This I Believe speech.  Remember that in this assignment you need to speak as someone else - don't use your voice, but that of another person.  Follow the guidelines on the assignment sheet.  Make sure you have a title for your speech.

You will need to read your speech aloud - if you don't want to read in front of the class then make sure that you plan to read privately to me and Ms. Gerdes.

This is your last major test grade of the quarter so make sure that it shows your best work!

AP English III

Make sure that you spend this weekend reviewing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and preparing for your exam on the text on Tuesday.  We went through all of the things that will be on the exam today in class so use that as your study guide.

Also remember that website presentations will be on Thursday.  Here are two useful resources for you to complete this work:

The Purdue OWL - A resource for formatting MLA citations.
Project Mock-Up - This is your "rubric" for the project.  Make sure that you look at this as you are crafting your websites so that everything looks how it needs to look.

Lastly, remember that you can continue to come to me and Ms. Gerdes for help reviewing your writing.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Homework for A-Day Students: 1/8/2015

Russian II

Tonight everyone you need to continue working on the verbs of motion assignment on the film Ирония судьбы.  Please make sure that you have at least two sentences written using two different verbs in each group - this is the next step of the assignment.  Make sure to really understand the difference between the sentences when you use the different verbs of motion.  Continuing to practice and work with these concepts is really the only way to improve on these.

Also, please do what you need to do in order to be successful.  Too many of you had blank homework sheets today in class - this is completely unacceptable.  You need to try and come to me with questions if you don't know what to do.  That's the acceptable way forward.

Russian I

Tonight I think it would be a good idea if you all went through the back side of the question sheet on the cartoon we watched last class and continued the work we started today in class.  Remember to start with the question as the beginning of your answer and then add in the needed information.

In addition, self assess and use your study guides to figure out where you need to spend time this weekend.  Use your textbooks or your Russian grammar reference books to find exercises and practice.  If there are concepts that you don't understand.  Please ask for help.

English II

You have your speeches due on Monday.  Make sure that when you complete your final draft that you can submit your planning, as well as a rough draft with your final draft so that we can see the development of this work.  The speech is a major test grade, so make sure that you are giving us your best work.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students - Wednesday, 7 January

AP English III

Very excellent discussion today about a piece which was challenging to our approach to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  It's always good to challenge yourself with a different perspective so that you can fully understand what you think.

For tonight, read David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day."  It's available at this link.  You can also read the copy from 50 Essays, First Edition.  The other editions have a different Sedaris piece.  Make sure that if you use the piece from the link that you only read pages one through five, the essay itself.

In addition, remember that you have your exam on TAoHF on Tuesday next week and your presentation of your website projects on Thursday.  We'll spend time on Friday preparing for both of these things.

Lastly, you now have The Crucible.  I'd recommend starting to read now and try to get through to the end of Act II by the beginning of the third quarter.  We'll be racing through this piece, but it's pretty short so that's good.

English II

Your reminders are in the A-day post below.  Just know that your speech final drafts are due for you on Tuesday, not Monday.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Homework for A Day Students - 1/6/2015

And now welcome back to all of you!  Here are your reminders for getting you to the next class.

English II

Your final drafts of your speeches are due on Monday.  You will need to make sure that you have a final draft, your draft packet, your outlining sheet, and your assignment sheet.  If you are missing any of these documents, make sure to get them so that you can receive full credit.

Next class we will continue watching the film and hopefully finish it.

Also - apologies for this but we will need to deal with the DPS English test next class.  Remember that this is a skills test for which you cannot study.  We'll go over it before we start on Thursday before we start the assessment.

Russian I

For tonight you should focus on writing the answers to the questions on the cartoon we watched in class.  Remember to use the question as a starter to your answer.  Use your grammar and attempt all of the portions so that we can have our workshop next class.  If you'd like I'm putting the cartoon below so that you can watch it again if you need to.


Russian II

For tonight finish your sentences using verbs of motion to describe actions in the film Ирония судьбы.  Remember to start with the English version of what you want to describe and then move on to the Russian.  Use the notes on the back for locations and character names.

In addition, spend some more time on your research.  We'll have only a bit left next class to work on these projects before we present next week.

ALL RUSSIAN STUDENTS - Don't forget you have a mid-term next week.  You should be studying nightly!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Welcome Back Everyone! Homework for 1/5/2015 - B Day Students

English II

For homework tonight you need to prepare for next class's drafting workshop on your Odysseus "This I believe..." speech.  Remember to take your work from your drafting packet and rewrite it as a whole speech either typed up or written out.  As you write the paragraphs, try to create transitions from one paragraph to the next so that your writing flows seamlessly from one idea to the next.

Make sure to have these speeches with you as these speeches will likely be your last major grade of the nine weeks.

AP English III

You've finished reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn so now we just need to finish the connected work.  You will finish up your seminar on the end and whole of the novel with Ms. Gerdes on Wednesday - make sure that your texts are fully annotated to reflect the thinking you've done as you've been studying this novel.

Tonight and for the rest of the week you should really begin pushing forward on your websites to get these things done.  Your presentation of the website will be on Thursday next week.  Remember that your first task is to finish your analysis; after you finish the creation of your analysis then you can move on to the drafting of the group synthesis.  This is when you really need to start working together as a group to make sure that everything gets done.

Your test on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will fall next Tuesday.  We'll spend time on Friday to prepare and outline this exam.  Your illustration project has been postponed to the week after MLK, Jr. Holiday.  Continue to work on these and ask questions as you are creating these projects.

All Classes - Remember about the new cell phone procedures.  These will begin on Friday.

Friday, January 2, 2015

And Winter Break is Done...

I had to go in today so my winter break is officially finished.  All of you have the weekend remaining, so enjoy it.

Russian II

I have your study guides ready for your midterm.  Be ready to receive these on Tuesday as well as finish our film and begin our holiday study.

AP English III

I went through all of the websites and unless I'm missing something a lot of you are procrastinating a bit too much.  By the end of this weekend you should have everything done except for your group synthesis.  If you're not going to be able to meet this goal then you have yourselves or your groupmates to blame.  You must have your work ready to move on to the next phase before Monday's class.

Don't forget as well that you need to finish reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Russian I

You have your study guide as well as your reference books.  I hope that many of you have been working hard over break to improve your skills.

English II

I went through and saw that a lot of you aren't doing too well because of missing assignments.  I've got something to take care of this, but I don't think a lot of you are going to like it.  I guess we'll have to see.

Remember everyone, at the end of the day you've got to do the work yourself because nobody else will.  If you don't do the work then the only person to blame is yourself.  Ask for help if you need it.