Monday, August 31, 2015

Homework for B-Day Students - 31 August 2015

Happy Monday Everyone!  We're back in the swing of things, and I'm especially excited about this week because it ends with my birthday!  Here are your reminders for tonight to move you into Wednesday.

AP English III

Tonight you should all be working on two tasks which will move us forward into Wednesday.  First, I want all of you to start to do the heavy lifting and work to revise your outlines - especially the thesis/argument statements since we focused on that today.  Take a moment to look at what you have written:  Most of you have given me only the defensible point that you are trying to make.  Remember that this is only one part of the necessary argument structure.  Follow the way we created Kozol's argument today and use that as a model to help you rework yours.  Once this is done, the rest of the process will begin to fall into place.

In addition, reread and annotate chapters four and six of Kozol.  Remember to apply what we are doing in class to your reexamination of the text.  This is crucial as you begin to open your approach to reading texts such as these.

English II

There is no homework that you have to complete to turn in tonight unless, of course, you forgot to turn in the final draft of your paragraphs.  Since some students have been added to the class late I'm giving everyone an additional day with no penalty to turn in these assignments.  Make sure to submit both your first and second draft of the work to get full credit.  See me or Ms. Ginocchio if you have any questions or need help.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Homework for the Weekend - 8/28/2015

Russian II/III

This weekend you have to complete some writing to turn in to me.  Take your paragraphs and begin to write in Russian.  At any point when you are using nominative, accusative, or genitive case I want you to write that in Russian.  All other case instances or verbs should be written in English.  At the bottom of you work, do a verb analysis.  Russian II - You only need to tell me the tense of the verb.  Russian III - Tell me the tense, aspect, and if it is a verb of motion, the directionality of the verb.  In addition, practice your singing!  Here's a video to go along with our song about passionate, dark, gypsy eyes!  Enjoy Fillip Kirkorov - he's a bit like a Russian Liberace.


Russian I

This weekend you should master the first three groups of Russian letters as well as the handwriting that goes with these.  Make sure that your packet is complete, for all the letters we have reviewed.  I will check these on Tuesday!

English II

You have no official homework this weekend; however, some of you need to complete your travel paragraphs and everyone needs to study their Russian literature notes.  Make sure that you are practicing and reviewing every night so that you remember everything really well.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 8/27/2015

I won't be seeing you all again until Monday, so here is what you need to accomplish leading up to then.

AP English III

Over the weekend I want you all to go back to Kozol and re-investigate him given what we discussed today about rhetoric and argumentation.  Reread and annotate the introduction and chapter two of Shame of the Nation.  I would suggest using a different color of ink to the one you looked at originally - that way both you and I will see how you have updated your approach to the text.  Approach this the way we did Alexie today - How is Kozol manipulating the relationship between the topic/audience/himself?  How do the rhetorical appeals impact his work and your understanding of it?

English II

This weekend you need to complete your final draft of your travel paragraph.  You'll turn it in to me on Monday for your first grades of the course.  Make sure that you also turn in your rough draft with the peer editing notes so that I can give you credit for that part of the assignment.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Homework for A-Day Students: 8/26/2015

Russian II/III

Tonight, continue to work on your written paragraphs.  By the end of it, all of your paragraphs will contain all six cases - as you are writing, continue to develop your work so that all six cases are in the paragraph.  In addition, use this time to find translations of needed words.  Remember that if your paragraph involves motion/travel, you may want to talk to me about what verb to use.  Tonight you should be able to complete all the work in nominative and accusative case.

Russian I

Today we went over the second set of letters and I gave you a packet for practice which contains these letters and several others.  Please only do the letters and exercises which we have covered today.  You will finish the packet on Friday once we've finished all of the letters in the packet.  Remember to write the letters/words/sounds multiple times and to say the letter/sound/word each time you write it!

English II

For Friday I need the final draft of your travel paragraph.  Remember that when you turn in your final draft I will also need the draft you worked through today in class from peer editing.  If you would like for me or Ms. Ginocchio to look over your work, please see us outside of class before Friday.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Homework and Announcements for 8/25/2015 - B Day Students

And now I've met all of you and I can say that this year is going to be really wonderful.  I'm really excited to see how you all are approaching the course and your new year at Jordan.  Here's what you need to take care of for tonight:

AP English III

The parent information and contact sheet is located two posts down.  Make sure that if you fill out the sheet online then you bring back the paper version with the first line filled out and the word "ONLINE" at the top.  Then I'll know where to find the information.

In addition, I want you to finish reading the Alexie piece we started in class.  Make sure to read and annotate - follow the same ideas we began discussing today in class.  At the end, please answer question number two.  Make sure to write a thorough response to this question as we will spend time working through the idea in our seminar on Thursday.  The question is:

In paragraph 7, Alexie repeats a certain verb fourteen times. What is this verb, and what effect does this repetition have? What might Alexie be trying to say about the process of his coming to literacy, in terms of both the effort required and the height of the obstacles encountered (or, given the metaphor introduced in paragraph 4, the thickness of the doors that must be broken through)?

The whole Alexie piece and the question can be found at this link.

You should be able to turn in your response if I were to ask for it.  Make sure to also bring in your copy of Shame of the Nation next class.

English II

The homework for the A-day class is the same as your homework tonight.  Please complete the parent information sheet either on paper or using the online form below.  Remember to turn in the paper form, even if you complete the form online.  After this, complete the rough draft of your travel paragraph.  Remember that your paragraph needs all four parts to be complete.  Have your paragraphs with you next class so that we can complete our peer editing!


Monday, August 24, 2015

Homework and Announcements for 8/24/2015

Happy First Day of Class!  It was really great to meet a bunch of new students as well as reacquainting myself with my старики in Russian II/III.  Here are your reminders for tonight's homework - all classes have something to prepare for our next meeting on Wednesday.

Russian II/III:

Tonight you don't have to do much work in Russian - most of your work will be in English.  For tonight write your paragraph in English and then mark the words in a highlighter which will need to be in the NOMINATIVE case when you translate into Russian.  Tonight just focus on nominative case.  If there is vocabulary you need for your paragraph you can also look up words.

II:  Tell me about one thing that you do today. (Only writing in present tense)

III:  Tell me about one thing that you did this summer.  (Mixture of past and present tense)

Russian I:

Tonight you will need to start learning the first six letters of the Russian alphabet - remember these are not the first six in order, just the easy six.  Using your own paper, write the words from the homework sheet at least five times.  Practice making your letters.  Say the words aloud as you write them.  Write this on your own paper so that you can practice making your words nice and neat.  We'll begin by reviewing this next class.

English II:

Tonight your homework is to complete two things!  One - Fill out the parent information sheet either on paper or online (link below).  Two - Complete the first draft of your travel paragraph.  Make sure that you have all four parts to ensure a complete response!  We will work through these a bit more on Wednesday, when we do some peer editing.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Online Parent/Student Contact Form - 2014/2015

Dear Parents and Students - Please find below a link to the online parent/student information sheet.  If you would rather submit your information electronically, complete the form at the link below.  If not, please return the paper form to me.

Parent Information Sheet