With today we've reached the end of January! Just four more full months of school! See below for your reminders.
English IV
For tonight there's no real homework for you to complete. All of the grades are in PowerSchool up to this point, so please make sure that if you see zeroes for your work on the test on Twelfth Night then you need to make up that test as soon as possible.
Also, next class you'll be getting your research topics assigned to you! Be ready to work with your classmates and also to learn more about Lord Byron (the dirty boy...).
AP English III
For next class I am expecting that you will be able to thoroughly complete your research work in order to formalize your topic, question, and position that the paper will explore. Continue using SIRS or other resources as you continue to research and work on these topics. Also, keep in mind that you will continue to refine and specify your topic as we continue to do research.
Next class we will also have our quiz on Transcendentalism. You should review the four authors that we have studied in this unit to prepare (King, Hurston, Emerson, Thoreau). You'll see short answer questions on each of them. Review our texts and notes.
Lastly, read the excerpt from WEB DuBois tonight and annotate it. Look for what DuBois has to say about separation in America between African Americans and white people. Also, look at what DuBois has to say about the veil. What is it? What does it do? How is it a bit of a paradox?
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Tuesday Reminders - A Day - 30 January
Russian I
Today we began to learn about adjectives in Russian. What they do, how they're used, and most importantly, how they are spelled. We focused our study on colors, and then moved on to some writing using those colors.
Tonight you should continue to study your vocabulary related to colors. Also, to help you learn your declension chart, work on Exercise 9 on pages 88 and 89. Only work on the sections on Locative and Genitive case. You'll be given a question, followed by an answer. You'll need to answer the question by putting the answer in the correct case.
Advanced Russian
If you did not turn in your same story three ways about going somewhere, make sure that it is turned in to me tomorrow so that I can return it with feedback next class. Today we spent time reviewing and moving forward on our quizzes related to verbs of motion. I was glad to see the improvement in the room.
For tonight, you have your project that you can start to do research for - Where will you go? Which cities? Which regions? Which city will be your focus for that phase of the journey?
You also can complete exercises. There are the printouts that go over non-prefixed verbs of motion in present and past tense for Russian II and III. Additionally, for Russian III, there is Exercise 10.8 which focuses on prefixed verbs of motion.
English IV
There is no homework for tonight. Next class we will begin working on our research projects in our small groups. I'll return your contracts and have your topics ready for you next class. We will also take a look at some of the poetry of Lord Byron - that dirty man.
Today we began to learn about adjectives in Russian. What they do, how they're used, and most importantly, how they are spelled. We focused our study on colors, and then moved on to some writing using those colors.
Tonight you should continue to study your vocabulary related to colors. Also, to help you learn your declension chart, work on Exercise 9 on pages 88 and 89. Only work on the sections on Locative and Genitive case. You'll be given a question, followed by an answer. You'll need to answer the question by putting the answer in the correct case.
Advanced Russian
If you did not turn in your same story three ways about going somewhere, make sure that it is turned in to me tomorrow so that I can return it with feedback next class. Today we spent time reviewing and moving forward on our quizzes related to verbs of motion. I was glad to see the improvement in the room.
For tonight, you have your project that you can start to do research for - Where will you go? Which cities? Which regions? Which city will be your focus for that phase of the journey?
You also can complete exercises. There are the printouts that go over non-prefixed verbs of motion in present and past tense for Russian II and III. Additionally, for Russian III, there is Exercise 10.8 which focuses on prefixed verbs of motion.
English IV
There is no homework for tonight. Next class we will begin working on our research projects in our small groups. I'll return your contracts and have your topics ready for you next class. We will also take a look at some of the poetry of Lord Byron - that dirty man.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Starting the Week Right - B Day Homework/Reminders - 29 January
What a rainy and cold Monday, ugh. Hopefully the weather turns around so we aren't so sleepy and worn down all week.
English IV:
Tonight you have the same homework as the group below, if you have a chance. We got caught by the bell at the end of class, so you may not have had a chance to take note of the different topics. If so, look below at the A day post and consider those six topics before next class.
AP English III:
Today we began the process of completing our research based argumentative essays, aka - our research papers. This will be a long process in which you will showing all that you've learned this year around writing and composing a full argument. You'll research, evaluate sources, and show the way in which you use sources to support your own ideas.
Tonight, begin by brainstorming and considering which topic you will consider for this assignment. Remember that you want to pick something that interests you. Use the topic sheet and complete the first five sections. Next class we will go to the Media Center to begin research - remember to bring your Durham County Library card if you have one.
Lastly, we will have our quiz on Transcendental philosophy on Friday. There will be a question related to each of our authors. Be sure that you are prepared for this quiz.
English IV:
Tonight you have the same homework as the group below, if you have a chance. We got caught by the bell at the end of class, so you may not have had a chance to take note of the different topics. If so, look below at the A day post and consider those six topics before next class.
AP English III:
Today we began the process of completing our research based argumentative essays, aka - our research papers. This will be a long process in which you will showing all that you've learned this year around writing and composing a full argument. You'll research, evaluate sources, and show the way in which you use sources to support your own ideas.
Tonight, begin by brainstorming and considering which topic you will consider for this assignment. Remember that you want to pick something that interests you. Use the topic sheet and complete the first five sections. Next class we will go to the Media Center to begin research - remember to bring your Durham County Library card if you have one.
Lastly, we will have our quiz on Transcendental philosophy on Friday. There will be a question related to each of our authors. Be sure that you are prepared for this quiz.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 26 January 2018
Happy Friday and Happy Weekend! I've got a lot to do this weekend, so it'll be more of a working weekend for me. Hopefully you all have a bit of fun on my behalf. Here are your reminders.
English IV
Over the weekend I'd like for you to get acquainted with the six topics that we'll be investigating in our research projects. This way if you find something that really interests you, you can move forward with that as your choice for topic. Remember that the options for the research project are:
Advanced Russian
Today in class we started moving into learning about verbs of motion that use prefixes and thus become perfective. In order to have you practice and learn this information, I want you to do some writing this weekend. Write a basic story (4-5 sentences) about going somewhere. I want you to tell the story of going somewhere in all three tenses - future, present, past. Activate aspect and tenses as you work with this. You will also have to think about cases as well. Tell the same story but alter your language so that you cover the different tenses.
You will turn this in on Tuesday. Any evidence of translator use will cancel your grade. If you need help, see me on Monday.
Russian I
Today in class we finished watching The Irony of Fate - Part One and took our quiz on cases and nouns. Over the weekend, I want you focused on vocabulary. Go to Chapter Two in your textbooks and start to learn your colors in Russian. Notice that all of these words are adjectives. We'll start to learn about how to work with adjectives next week. Having some of the words in your head will make that run more smoothly. I would recommend making flash cards or some other sort of study aid to help you with this vocabulary.
English IV
Over the weekend I'd like for you to get acquainted with the six topics that we'll be investigating in our research projects. This way if you find something that really interests you, you can move forward with that as your choice for topic. Remember that the options for the research project are:
- Polar Expeditions
- Galvanism
- The Philosopher's Stone
- Vivisection
- Alchemy
- Body Snatching
Just do a Google search around these terms. What was going on with this in the 1800's in England?
Advanced Russian
Today in class we started moving into learning about verbs of motion that use prefixes and thus become perfective. In order to have you practice and learn this information, I want you to do some writing this weekend. Write a basic story (4-5 sentences) about going somewhere. I want you to tell the story of going somewhere in all three tenses - future, present, past. Activate aspect and tenses as you work with this. You will also have to think about cases as well. Tell the same story but alter your language so that you cover the different tenses.
You will turn this in on Tuesday. Any evidence of translator use will cancel your grade. If you need help, see me on Monday.
Russian I
Today in class we finished watching The Irony of Fate - Part One and took our quiz on cases and nouns. Over the weekend, I want you focused on vocabulary. Go to Chapter Two in your textbooks and start to learn your colors in Russian. Notice that all of these words are adjectives. We'll start to learn about how to work with adjectives next week. Having some of the words in your head will make that run more smoothly. I would recommend making flash cards or some other sort of study aid to help you with this vocabulary.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Homework for the Weekend - 25 January 2016 - B Day
English IV
A few of you were absent today for the test that we took on Twelfth Night. Be sure that you see me as soon as possible to get this made-up. You especially want to do it now while the information about what we've studied is still fresh in your head.
For the weekend there's not any real homework. If you have a chance, talk to people about Frankenstein. See what they already know or think about it. We'll start studying this text on Monday!
AP English III
I am so proud of the amazing level of analysis that you all brought to the Alabama Clergy's letter. You all found the holes in the argument and were able to see how King was immediately responding to them. We then went to the computer lab to do work on allusions, which will help us next class.
For the weekend you have a few things to do:
A few of you were absent today for the test that we took on Twelfth Night. Be sure that you see me as soon as possible to get this made-up. You especially want to do it now while the information about what we've studied is still fresh in your head.
For the weekend there's not any real homework. If you have a chance, talk to people about Frankenstein. See what they already know or think about it. We'll start studying this text on Monday!
AP English III
I am so proud of the amazing level of analysis that you all brought to the Alabama Clergy's letter. You all found the holes in the argument and were able to see how King was immediately responding to them. We then went to the computer lab to do work on allusions, which will help us next class.
For the weekend you have a few things to do:
- Reread Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" and annotate the heck out of it. Now you know what he's doing on a macro level, so start to find how it happens on the micro level.
- I gave you two sample SYNTHESIS essays. These are our next type of timed writing. Read over the essays and try to determine the task. What's the question? What do you have to do?
- If you are missing anything, you will see zeroes in PowerSchool. Take the time that you have this weekend to get those things turned in ASAP. Remember, you have to get away from bad habits if you're going to be successful this quarter!
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Homework for A-Day Students - 24 January
English IV
Good work today on your final test on Twelfth Night. I'll have these tests graded and returned to you in the next few days. For tonight, feel free to relax a bit and unwind. Do look through your rooms and bookbags for any copies of Twelfth Night that you may have borrowed. I need those returned.
We will begin our Frankenstein unit next class by getting into the culture of the book a bit. We've got some interesting research coming up for us, be ready for that!
Advanced Russian
For tonight feel free to reflect on your performance on your quiz and plan any reassessment that you may think necessary. Spend time with your verbs and vocabulary - the more that you use and play with the language, the easier it will be to remember.
For our next class we will begin to look at prefixes added on to verbs of motion and what that does. You will find it helpful to review the pages in Chapters 6 and 10 that go over this information before we begin to cover it next class.
Also - if there are any last viewing guides on The Irony of Fate, those need to be turned in ASAP for any credit.
Russian I
Today we did a lot of work around formalizing our knowledge on cases. We have covered all six cases as they work with nouns. We have gone over the job of the case and how the case affects the spelling and sound at the end of the word.
For tonight, make sure that you are studying your case chart as well as your notes around the cases. Your quiz next class is going to focus on genitive, dative, and instrumental cases. We'll also finish the first part of the film next class, so have your part one viewing guides turned in for any credit.
Good work today on your final test on Twelfth Night. I'll have these tests graded and returned to you in the next few days. For tonight, feel free to relax a bit and unwind. Do look through your rooms and bookbags for any copies of Twelfth Night that you may have borrowed. I need those returned.
We will begin our Frankenstein unit next class by getting into the culture of the book a bit. We've got some interesting research coming up for us, be ready for that!
Advanced Russian
For tonight feel free to reflect on your performance on your quiz and plan any reassessment that you may think necessary. Spend time with your verbs and vocabulary - the more that you use and play with the language, the easier it will be to remember.
For our next class we will begin to look at prefixes added on to verbs of motion and what that does. You will find it helpful to review the pages in Chapters 6 and 10 that go over this information before we begin to cover it next class.
Also - if there are any last viewing guides on The Irony of Fate, those need to be turned in ASAP for any credit.
Russian I
Today we did a lot of work around formalizing our knowledge on cases. We have covered all six cases as they work with nouns. We have gone over the job of the case and how the case affects the spelling and sound at the end of the word.
For tonight, make sure that you are studying your case chart as well as your notes around the cases. Your quiz next class is going to focus on genitive, dative, and instrumental cases. We'll also finish the first part of the film next class, so have your part one viewing guides turned in for any credit.
AP Reading - Printable
AP English III Students -
The link in the previous post takes you to an article you cannot print. Here is a printable version. Remember that you can take notes as you read for your annotations and then use a textbook during class as we discuss and work. You do not have to print the article.
The link in the previous post takes you to an article you cannot print. Here is a printable version. Remember that you can take notes as you read for your annotations and then use a textbook during class as we discuss and work. You do not have to print the article.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Homework for B-Day - 23 January 2018
English IV
Good work today in reviewing and considering the major characters and moments of Twelfth Night. Make sure that you put this forward into your studying tonight. Hopefully while we played you collected good notes and are using those notes to prepare for your exam on the play. Remember that you'll have a mix of multiple choice and short answer - a lot of chances to show what you know!
AP English III
I was very happy with the conversations that we had related to Thoreau today in class. I was especially happy to see the very critical approach that some of you took to Thoreau - especially around his selfishness and egocentrism. These are very valid critiques.
For tonight, I want you to read and annotate Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail". The piece is available in 50 Essays as well as at this link. You'll need to read and annotate on paper, most likely. Remember that we will be working on this piece for two classes to finish out this unit. For our first class, read through it generally and annotate with these two questions in mind.
Good work today in reviewing and considering the major characters and moments of Twelfth Night. Make sure that you put this forward into your studying tonight. Hopefully while we played you collected good notes and are using those notes to prepare for your exam on the play. Remember that you'll have a mix of multiple choice and short answer - a lot of chances to show what you know!
AP English III
I was very happy with the conversations that we had related to Thoreau today in class. I was especially happy to see the very critical approach that some of you took to Thoreau - especially around his selfishness and egocentrism. These are very valid critiques.
For tonight, I want you to read and annotate Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail". The piece is available in 50 Essays as well as at this link. You'll need to read and annotate on paper, most likely. Remember that we will be working on this piece for two classes to finish out this unit. For our first class, read through it generally and annotate with these two questions in mind.
- How is the Civil Rights Movement a Transcendental movement?
- In what ways does King respond to counterarguments in his letter?
Read, annotate, think, and consider. We'll have a lot of fun with Dr. King on Thursday.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Back to reality...A Day Homework/Reminders - 22 January
It was great to see all of you again today. We were reaching the point of being snowed in where I'd already read a book and was rearranging furniture for fun. Anyway, here are your reminders moving to tomorrow.
English IV
Next class we will have our unit examination on Twelfth Night. You did great today playing our review game and taking notes on your study guides. Make sure that you use the study guide as well as your folders to review all of the information we've learned in the unit. Your test will fall on Wednesday. Be ready!
Advanced Russian
Next class we will have our quiz on Verbs of Motion with no prefixes in present and past tense. For this you'll need to know how to conjugate your verbs, how they're paired with other verbs, their meaning, and how they're used. Today we had a lot of chance to practice and listen with these verbs. You also have exercises you can continue to use to check yourselves.
Be ready with our quiz next class. Also, if you need to complete the viewing guide, please watch the film on YouTube and complete the questions. You can turn that in next class for a new grade.
Russian I
Next class we will finish our Chapter One review before moving on to our quiz on Friday. For the quiz on Friday we're focused on Dative, Genitive, and Instrumental Cases. You'll also be asked about some of the verbs we've worked with today. For tonight, fill your evening with finishing the memorization of your verbs and some work with Exercise Nine. This exercise is broken down by cases so you can focus on one to remind yourself of how to make the changes and what these changes mean.
English IV
Next class we will have our unit examination on Twelfth Night. You did great today playing our review game and taking notes on your study guides. Make sure that you use the study guide as well as your folders to review all of the information we've learned in the unit. Your test will fall on Wednesday. Be ready!
Advanced Russian
Next class we will have our quiz on Verbs of Motion with no prefixes in present and past tense. For this you'll need to know how to conjugate your verbs, how they're paired with other verbs, their meaning, and how they're used. Today we had a lot of chance to practice and listen with these verbs. You also have exercises you can continue to use to check yourselves.
Be ready with our quiz next class. Also, if you need to complete the viewing guide, please watch the film on YouTube and complete the questions. You can turn that in next class for a new grade.
Russian I
Next class we will finish our Chapter One review before moving on to our quiz on Friday. For the quiz on Friday we're focused on Dative, Genitive, and Instrumental Cases. You'll also be asked about some of the verbs we've worked with today. For tonight, fill your evening with finishing the memorization of your verbs and some work with Exercise Nine. This exercise is broken down by cases so you can focus on one to remind yourself of how to make the changes and what these changes mean.
Friday, January 19, 2018
Snow Day #5 - 1/19/2018
I was hoping we'd be back today, but...I guess I'll finish my book and go on some more hunts.
See the previous posts for ideas of what to do. If you're in AP English III and you're looking for something to read, you'll want to take a look at Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. If you have a chance - maybe start reading now and annotating. We'll start it as a group as soon as we can (in about three-four classes). In English IV we'll be looking at Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in our next unit. If you have a Kindle app on your device you can download the book Frankenstein for free.
Hope to see you all on Monday for a regular week!
See the previous posts for ideas of what to do. If you're in AP English III and you're looking for something to read, you'll want to take a look at Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. If you have a chance - maybe start reading now and annotating. We'll start it as a group as soon as we can (in about three-four classes). In English IV we'll be looking at Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in our next unit. If you have a Kindle app on your device you can download the book Frankenstein for free.
Hope to see you all on Monday for a regular week!
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Snow Day #4 - 18 January 2018
I guess this is when we start just getting ahead on things, right. Continue to work and study as you see needed - I would say that this gives Advanced Russian and Russian I students a lot of time to learn conjugations, vocabulary, and declensions.
AP English III - Be sure that you've caught up and completed your readings! This gives you some good time to go back and review Emerson, Hurston, and move on to Thoreau. Be sure that your vocabulary cards, daily, and week-long reflections are ready for me to collect at our next class.
English IV - We've got our Shakespeare review and then unit test! Be prepared!
I hope to see you all soon, but I think it's probably not going to be until Monday...
AP English III - Be sure that you've caught up and completed your readings! This gives you some good time to go back and review Emerson, Hurston, and move on to Thoreau. Be sure that your vocabulary cards, daily, and week-long reflections are ready for me to collect at our next class.
English IV - We've got our Shakespeare review and then unit test! Be prepared!
I hope to see you all soon, but I think it's probably not going to be until Monday...
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Snow Day Number 3 - 17 January
I posted yesterday's post, and then DPS cancelled school about twelve minutes later. I think that's the fastest cancellation ever.
See the post below about what you need to do before our next classes. A special note to Russian I, II, and III. If you see a zero for the viewing guide assignment for The Irony of Fate it means that I do not have an assignment from you. When we return to school you will only have one day to turn in a resubmission. It may be a good day to watch the film and make up the time when you were doing something else in class. We will discuss expectations when you are with a substitute at our next class as well.
See the post below about what you need to do before our next classes. A special note to Russian I, II, and III. If you see a zero for the viewing guide assignment for The Irony of Fate it means that I do not have an assignment from you. When we return to school you will only have one day to turn in a resubmission. It may be a good day to watch the film and make up the time when you were doing something else in class. We will discuss expectations when you are with a substitute at our next class as well.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Homework/Reminders for All Classes - 16 January 2018
I'm going to do a post for all of the classes to review what needs to be done before next class - Wednesday for A day and Thursday for B day. If we don't have school because of the forecasted snow, then these reminders would be due for the next class.
AP English III
We had a really productive class today working through Hurston's "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." I think that working through this very accessible text helped you to understand more of what Emerson was doing with his piece "The Oversoul." Remember that as we keep reading we will continue to build an understanding of what Transcendentalism is.
For next class you have Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" - Be sure to read and annotate the piece clearly. Think about WHY Thoreau goes into the woods to live. Find out WHAT his points are about the life of others. His language and metaphors get a bit complicated, but if you keep Transcendentalism in mind, you'll be able to understand.
You have a few things to turn in to me next class. First, you have your small daily reflections on your Transcendentalism experiment. Remember that these should review how your process went for the day. You should also turn in your overall week-long reflection where you think about the week as a whole. This week-long reflection should be one-page, typed, double spaced. Lastly, you have two vocabulary cards due next class - one word from Emerson, one word from Hurston. Be sure to complete all parts of the card and share with me or turn them in.
English IV
We have finished Twelfth Night. You should be looking through all of the great work and notes that you have taken with this play to prepare for our unit exam. The exam will be in two classes from now. Next class we will play a review game, review our study guides as we play the game, and then get ready for our next unit of the year on Frankenstein.
Advanced Russian
You should be working on your exercises related to verbs of motion so that you are able to conjugate them appropriately in past and present tense, know the difference between unidirectional and multidirectional action, and be aware of the related cases and prepositions used with different verbs. Next class we will be doing a TPRS activity where we will be traveling through Russia. Make sure that you have your list of where you would go if you could go to Russia. Know where these places are and how you would get from place to place.
Russian I
Spend your time working on the exercises in the end of Chapter One related to the different cases and how to use them appropriately. You should be working hard to memorize your endings so that you can put words in any of the six cases and identify that case. You will also want to be able to know what each case does and why it is used in a sentence. Next class we will spend some time reviewing cases with Mad Libs in Russian!
AP English III
We had a really productive class today working through Hurston's "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." I think that working through this very accessible text helped you to understand more of what Emerson was doing with his piece "The Oversoul." Remember that as we keep reading we will continue to build an understanding of what Transcendentalism is.
For next class you have Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" - Be sure to read and annotate the piece clearly. Think about WHY Thoreau goes into the woods to live. Find out WHAT his points are about the life of others. His language and metaphors get a bit complicated, but if you keep Transcendentalism in mind, you'll be able to understand.
You have a few things to turn in to me next class. First, you have your small daily reflections on your Transcendentalism experiment. Remember that these should review how your process went for the day. You should also turn in your overall week-long reflection where you think about the week as a whole. This week-long reflection should be one-page, typed, double spaced. Lastly, you have two vocabulary cards due next class - one word from Emerson, one word from Hurston. Be sure to complete all parts of the card and share with me or turn them in.
English IV
We have finished Twelfth Night. You should be looking through all of the great work and notes that you have taken with this play to prepare for our unit exam. The exam will be in two classes from now. Next class we will play a review game, review our study guides as we play the game, and then get ready for our next unit of the year on Frankenstein.
Advanced Russian
You should be working on your exercises related to verbs of motion so that you are able to conjugate them appropriately in past and present tense, know the difference between unidirectional and multidirectional action, and be aware of the related cases and prepositions used with different verbs. Next class we will be doing a TPRS activity where we will be traveling through Russia. Make sure that you have your list of where you would go if you could go to Russia. Know where these places are and how you would get from place to place.
Russian I
Spend your time working on the exercises in the end of Chapter One related to the different cases and how to use them appropriately. You should be working hard to memorize your endings so that you can put words in any of the six cases and identify that case. You will also want to be able to know what each case does and why it is used in a sentence. Next class we will spend some time reviewing cases with Mad Libs in Russian!
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Final Grades Submitted - English Students - Goodbye from Mr. Bernhard
It has been a total pleasure working with all of you this fall. I can't have asked for better groups of students to help me begin my journey as a teacher in Durham. If you ever need anything, have questions, or just want to say hello, reach out via email at sam.bernhard@gmail.com. Good luck this spring!
English IV
Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. I am very proud of the work you collectively did in the time we worked together this year, and will miss you all while I'm student teaching at DSA in the spring. Make sure you continue to develop your skills throughout the spring with Mr. Miller; I can't wait to see how you all are doing later in the semester when I come back to visit. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!
AP English III
I have gone through and graded the Gatsby synthesis projects. As I have said to a few of you, I wish I had built in more time to go over instructions with you and developed a better way to keep everyone on track. I take full responsibility for any confusion/stress you may have had over the course of completing this assignment. With that said, I am very impressed at the quality of work most of you demonstrated in your shared documents. Over the last few months, you have collectively developed into a group of sophisticated and skilled readers and writers. I hope you're able to see that as clearly as I can see it in you.
Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. Keep grinding away through the fall, and you will continue to grow and succeed. I can't wait to check in with you again sometime this spring. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!
English IV
Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. I am very proud of the work you collectively did in the time we worked together this year, and will miss you all while I'm student teaching at DSA in the spring. Make sure you continue to develop your skills throughout the spring with Mr. Miller; I can't wait to see how you all are doing later in the semester when I come back to visit. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!
AP English III
I have gone through and graded the Gatsby synthesis projects. As I have said to a few of you, I wish I had built in more time to go over instructions with you and developed a better way to keep everyone on track. I take full responsibility for any confusion/stress you may have had over the course of completing this assignment. With that said, I am very impressed at the quality of work most of you demonstrated in your shared documents. Over the last few months, you have collectively developed into a group of sophisticated and skilled readers and writers. I hope you're able to see that as clearly as I can see it in you.
Your final grades for Q2 and the first semester are officially submitted to PowerSchool. Keep grinding away through the fall, and you will continue to grow and succeed. I can't wait to check in with you again sometime this spring. Have a great long weekend, and good luck!
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Homework for the Weekend - End of the Quarter - 11 January
English IV
We are all done for the quarter. All that's left is to do Acts IV and V of Twelfth Night which is going to happen next class. It would be a great idea to spend some time going through your notes and organizing them so that you can easily study for our unit exam on Twelfth Night and Shakespearean Comedy. This exam is going to happen on 22 January for B day students. Be ready!
AP English III
Today was a bit of a whirlwind in order to get 4B caught up with the early release last week. After today's class we should have a better understanding of what Transcendentalism is, who Ralph Waldo Emerson is, and why "The Over Soul" is an important text. Remember that with a complex text like "The Over Soul" you will want to review it many times especially as we continue to learn more through the unit.
Tonight you are starting your reflections for your Transcendentalist for a Week project. Tonight's reflection is "What I gave up and why." Be sure to write a thoughtful paragraph that accomplishes this. The rest of the weekly reflections will track your progress and what you are learning from day to day. Lastly, next week, you'll look over the days and write a reflection on the week. I'll collect your larger reflection, as well as the minor ones, next week on the 18th of January.
Over the weekend you'll also want to read and annotate Zora Neale Hurston's "How It Feels to be Colored Me" - As you read this, pay attention to how Hurston herself is very much a Transcendentalist. Look at what she has to say about nature and music, about identity, and about how people can be different and yet the same. There's a great metaphor at the end of her article that is important to look at. Hurston should help you to make sense of Emerson - so go back to him, after you've visited with Ms. Zora.
Lastly, remember that your final work on your Gatsby synthesis assignment is due tonight by 11:59. Be sure that it shows good work so that Mr. Bernhard can finish your grades for the quarter.
We are all done for the quarter. All that's left is to do Acts IV and V of Twelfth Night which is going to happen next class. It would be a great idea to spend some time going through your notes and organizing them so that you can easily study for our unit exam on Twelfth Night and Shakespearean Comedy. This exam is going to happen on 22 January for B day students. Be ready!
AP English III
Today was a bit of a whirlwind in order to get 4B caught up with the early release last week. After today's class we should have a better understanding of what Transcendentalism is, who Ralph Waldo Emerson is, and why "The Over Soul" is an important text. Remember that with a complex text like "The Over Soul" you will want to review it many times especially as we continue to learn more through the unit.
Tonight you are starting your reflections for your Transcendentalist for a Week project. Tonight's reflection is "What I gave up and why." Be sure to write a thoughtful paragraph that accomplishes this. The rest of the weekly reflections will track your progress and what you are learning from day to day. Lastly, next week, you'll look over the days and write a reflection on the week. I'll collect your larger reflection, as well as the minor ones, next week on the 18th of January.
Over the weekend you'll also want to read and annotate Zora Neale Hurston's "How It Feels to be Colored Me" - As you read this, pay attention to how Hurston herself is very much a Transcendentalist. Look at what she has to say about nature and music, about identity, and about how people can be different and yet the same. There's a great metaphor at the end of her article that is important to look at. Hurston should help you to make sense of Emerson - so go back to him, after you've visited with Ms. Zora.
Lastly, remember that your final work on your Gatsby synthesis assignment is due tonight by 11:59. Be sure that it shows good work so that Mr. Bernhard can finish your grades for the quarter.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Homework for 10 January - A Day
English IV
If you have anything missing for class including your humor essay or any other assignments related to Twelfth Night it is urgent that you get those turned in tomorrow or Friday, at the latest. Your grades will be finalized and we will quickly be moving on. Today you have completed your study of Act III, next class we will quickly move through Act IV and V so that we can finish our study of Shakespeare and move on to Frankenstein. It would be a good idea to start reviewing your notes now to prepare for your test on Twelfth Night which will happen in Quarter Three.
Advanced Russian
Today we got a lot of good work done related to understanding our verbs of motion. You will have your first quiz on verbs of motion on the 19th of January. Be studying your verbs daily and working with them so that you can fully learn how to use them for yourself.
Tonight for homework you should continue to work through the exercises that we started today in class. Keep working on recognizing how you know to use each verb. You should also get started with your Russian tour plan - this will be more toward next week - but you should find cities or places in Russia that you would like to visit (about six) and then plan out how you would get from one place to the next. Which verbs? Which means of transit?
Russian I
The priority for all of you is to continue working and editing your project on you and your friends. This will be your last major grade in the quarter. Remember that for this project you want to be able to use all of the cases in the Russian language to talk about you and your friends: what you do, what you have or don't have, where you're from, et cetera. I'll start grading these on Friday morning to finish your grades for the quarter.
Also, keep in mind that if there is anything that you want to reassess or keep working on that everything must be in by Friday morning.
If you have anything missing for class including your humor essay or any other assignments related to Twelfth Night it is urgent that you get those turned in tomorrow or Friday, at the latest. Your grades will be finalized and we will quickly be moving on. Today you have completed your study of Act III, next class we will quickly move through Act IV and V so that we can finish our study of Shakespeare and move on to Frankenstein. It would be a good idea to start reviewing your notes now to prepare for your test on Twelfth Night which will happen in Quarter Three.
Advanced Russian
Today we got a lot of good work done related to understanding our verbs of motion. You will have your first quiz on verbs of motion on the 19th of January. Be studying your verbs daily and working with them so that you can fully learn how to use them for yourself.
Tonight for homework you should continue to work through the exercises that we started today in class. Keep working on recognizing how you know to use each verb. You should also get started with your Russian tour plan - this will be more toward next week - but you should find cities or places in Russia that you would like to visit (about six) and then plan out how you would get from one place to the next. Which verbs? Which means of transit?
Russian I
The priority for all of you is to continue working and editing your project on you and your friends. This will be your last major grade in the quarter. Remember that for this project you want to be able to use all of the cases in the Russian language to talk about you and your friends: what you do, what you have or don't have, where you're from, et cetera. I'll start grading these on Friday morning to finish your grades for the quarter.
Also, keep in mind that if there is anything that you want to reassess or keep working on that everything must be in by Friday morning.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
9 January - B Day - And a good day was had by all...
AP English III
Way to go on completing your midterm examination today. I will have scores for the multiple choice put in likely today or tomorrow and the essay scores will go in as soon as they are all prepared. You will receive a grade for completing both portions of the midterm, separately.
For tonight, you have some reading and writing to attend to. In terms of your reading, spend your time with Emerson's "The Over Soul". As you read you will want to find different elements depending on your class period.
3B Students should focus on finding elements of Transcendental philosophy in the text as well as deriving questions for our large class seminar. 4B Students have not yet had the lesson on Transcendental philosophy, so you should be looking at areas of the text related to truth and reality as Emerson defines them. Remember that you should thoroughly read and annotate about half of the piece (to approximately paragraph twenty).
For your writing, there's your group synthesis assignment on The Great Gatsby. For this assignment you are working collaboratively in Google Classroom with your peers to present a theme shared across several excerpts of text. Be sure to review the instructions on Google Classroom for these details.
English IV
If you did not submit your humor essay today, then it will need to be done by Thursday. If not, we will grade what you have. This is a good time for you to start looking over your notes on Twelfth Night since we will quickly finish the play and move on to our final test on the play soon.
Way to go on completing your midterm examination today. I will have scores for the multiple choice put in likely today or tomorrow and the essay scores will go in as soon as they are all prepared. You will receive a grade for completing both portions of the midterm, separately.
For tonight, you have some reading and writing to attend to. In terms of your reading, spend your time with Emerson's "The Over Soul". As you read you will want to find different elements depending on your class period.
3B Students should focus on finding elements of Transcendental philosophy in the text as well as deriving questions for our large class seminar. 4B Students have not yet had the lesson on Transcendental philosophy, so you should be looking at areas of the text related to truth and reality as Emerson defines them. Remember that you should thoroughly read and annotate about half of the piece (to approximately paragraph twenty).
For your writing, there's your group synthesis assignment on The Great Gatsby. For this assignment you are working collaboratively in Google Classroom with your peers to present a theme shared across several excerpts of text. Be sure to review the instructions on Google Classroom for these details.
English IV
If you did not submit your humor essay today, then it will need to be done by Thursday. If not, we will grade what you have. This is a good time for you to start looking over your notes on Twelfth Night since we will quickly finish the play and move on to our final test on the play soon.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Homework for 8 January - A Day Students
It's good for things to be back to normal. I just wanted to take a moment to remind all of you - especially Russian students - that you need to make sure your grade and assignments are in good shape now. Don't wait until the weekend because our week and quarter will end quicker than you would probably like. If there's something you need to reassess on, make sure to do that now.
Russian I
Today in class we had ample time to work on our projects. By this point you should have sentences that talk about who the person is, what they do, where they do it, what they own, what they don't own, and where they are from. By writing these sentences you are activating many of the cases in the Russian language. I will go through your projects on Wednesday morning and update grades. Make sure that your work is "turned in" on Google Classroom or shared with me so that I can see the work.
Additionally, you should keep working on Exercise 8 at the end of Chapter 1. This exercises focuses on each of the different cases. For the cases accusative, genitive, prepositional, and dative you should be able to fill in the blank with the word in parenthesis placed into the proper case and you should be able to translate the sentence. Next class we will spend time working on this exercise to review.
Advanced Russian
Today in class we spent time learning more of our verbs of motion and fully understanding the idea of multidirectional versus unidirectional motion. We have also now begun to work with verbs of motion that are transitive (they need the accusative case after the verb). We began playing with our language a bit today to see how to add prepositions and cases in order to understand the motion in the sentence. Tonight, you should continue to review these skills with exercises in our textbook.
Russian II students will want to complete exercises 6.1 and 6.3 - complete the exercise and translate to the best of your ability. Russian III will want to complete exercise 10.6 and 10.8 - again, complete and translate. You are only required to work with questions that use verbs we have studied in class - if you see a verb that we haven't looked at, then don't worry about it.
Remember that you will have a quiz on these verbs in approximately one week (on Wednesday the 17th) - these exercises provide you a good chance to practice and learn from your mistakes.
English IV
It looks like many of you were able to get some good work done related to your humor essays and for that I applaud you. Make sure that if you didn't finish this assignment today in class that you get it turned in ASAP to Mr. Bernhard. We will be finishing Twelfth Night very quickly as we move forward this week. Be reviewing your notes to prepare for our final test on this play. Also, if you see anything missing in the gradebook, this is your last chance to make up the assignments.
Russian I
Today in class we had ample time to work on our projects. By this point you should have sentences that talk about who the person is, what they do, where they do it, what they own, what they don't own, and where they are from. By writing these sentences you are activating many of the cases in the Russian language. I will go through your projects on Wednesday morning and update grades. Make sure that your work is "turned in" on Google Classroom or shared with me so that I can see the work.
Additionally, you should keep working on Exercise 8 at the end of Chapter 1. This exercises focuses on each of the different cases. For the cases accusative, genitive, prepositional, and dative you should be able to fill in the blank with the word in parenthesis placed into the proper case and you should be able to translate the sentence. Next class we will spend time working on this exercise to review.
Advanced Russian
Today in class we spent time learning more of our verbs of motion and fully understanding the idea of multidirectional versus unidirectional motion. We have also now begun to work with verbs of motion that are transitive (they need the accusative case after the verb). We began playing with our language a bit today to see how to add prepositions and cases in order to understand the motion in the sentence. Tonight, you should continue to review these skills with exercises in our textbook.
Russian II students will want to complete exercises 6.1 and 6.3 - complete the exercise and translate to the best of your ability. Russian III will want to complete exercise 10.6 and 10.8 - again, complete and translate. You are only required to work with questions that use verbs we have studied in class - if you see a verb that we haven't looked at, then don't worry about it.
Remember that you will have a quiz on these verbs in approximately one week (on Wednesday the 17th) - these exercises provide you a good chance to practice and learn from your mistakes.
English IV
It looks like many of you were able to get some good work done related to your humor essays and for that I applaud you. Make sure that if you didn't finish this assignment today in class that you get it turned in ASAP to Mr. Bernhard. We will be finishing Twelfth Night very quickly as we move forward this week. Be reviewing your notes to prepare for our final test on this play. Also, if you see anything missing in the gradebook, this is your last chance to make up the assignments.
Friday, January 5, 2018
Snow Day #2 - 5 January 2018
Everything from my last snow day post still applies, except now we are pushing things back one more day.
The midterm examination for AP English III will fall on Tuesday the 9th. Be prepared. You will need to have your group and individual work for Mr. Bernhard (Gatsby Synthesis Assignment) by Thursday - 11 January. Hopefully you are using this weekend to finish that work and assist your group mates as needed.
On Monday and Tuesday the English IV classes will be finishing their writing assignment about humor in She's the Man or Twelfth Night. If you have already started working on this assignment - great. If not, go to Google Docs and begin working on this. We will finish Twelfth Night at the end of this week/beginning of next week and move on to our final assessment on that.
Russian classes should all be reviewing and preparing for any resubmissions of old work as well as working through the current lessons on cases (Russian I) or verbs of motion (Russian II/III).
As always, please email me if you have any questions or concerns about anything. See you all on Monday!
The midterm examination for AP English III will fall on Tuesday the 9th. Be prepared. You will need to have your group and individual work for Mr. Bernhard (Gatsby Synthesis Assignment) by Thursday - 11 January. Hopefully you are using this weekend to finish that work and assist your group mates as needed.
On Monday and Tuesday the English IV classes will be finishing their writing assignment about humor in She's the Man or Twelfth Night. If you have already started working on this assignment - great. If not, go to Google Docs and begin working on this. We will finish Twelfth Night at the end of this week/beginning of next week and move on to our final assessment on that.
Russian classes should all be reviewing and preparing for any resubmissions of old work as well as working through the current lessons on cases (Russian I) or verbs of motion (Russian II/III).
As always, please email me if you have any questions or concerns about anything. See you all on Monday!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
PSA for English Students - Mr. Bernhard's Email
AP English III & English IV
Over the last couple weeks, there seems to have been something weird going on with sharing settings and email messages going through to my account. I think I have identified at least one solution for this. If you are sending me an email, please send it to this account: samuel_bernhard@my.dpsnc.net
I have gone through and updated the gradebook to account for all the work I have seen submitted to me; check your records to see if there's something I am missing. Please send me an email if there is a discrepancy between PowerSchool and what you believe you have submitted.
Have a great snow day, and keep warm!
Over the last couple weeks, there seems to have been something weird going on with sharing settings and email messages going through to my account. I think I have identified at least one solution for this. If you are sending me an email, please send it to this account: samuel_bernhard@my.dpsnc.net
I have gone through and updated the gradebook to account for all the work I have seen submitted to me; check your records to see if there's something I am missing. Please send me an email if there is a discrepancy between PowerSchool and what you believe you have submitted.
Have a great snow day, and keep warm!
Snow Day Number 1 - 4 January 2018
Here we go! Hopefully this year won't be as bad as the years past. While you are enjoying your snow day today, here are some reminders for you.
Our next class will be an A day. Hopefully it will be a regular day. We will continue moving forward with our lessons. This means that Russian students should complete their homework that was detailed in your last blog post.
Seniors - If you can continue working on your writing assignment about humor in She's the Man or Twelfth Night it would be a good idea to do that. You will only have one or two classes left this quarter to finish everything up.
AP English - Your midterm examination will now fall on Monday of next week. You will have to finish your work on the Gatsby synthesis assignment for review on Wednesday. Today gives you a great chance to get a lot of that work done. Some of you are still missing the final test on The Great Gatsby - you should contact us immediately to settle this.
The last day of the quarter will now be Thursday for A day and Friday for B day. There has been no word as of now as to which teacher workday will be taken to make-up for this day.
Our next class will be an A day. Hopefully it will be a regular day. We will continue moving forward with our lessons. This means that Russian students should complete their homework that was detailed in your last blog post.
Seniors - If you can continue working on your writing assignment about humor in She's the Man or Twelfth Night it would be a good idea to do that. You will only have one or two classes left this quarter to finish everything up.
AP English - Your midterm examination will now fall on Monday of next week. You will have to finish your work on the Gatsby synthesis assignment for review on Wednesday. Today gives you a great chance to get a lot of that work done. Some of you are still missing the final test on The Great Gatsby - you should contact us immediately to settle this.
The last day of the quarter will now be Thursday for A day and Friday for B day. There has been no word as of now as to which teacher workday will be taken to make-up for this day.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Homework for English Students - B Day - 3 January
With the one-hour early release the classes for AP are a bit off from each other. We'll be caught up by the end of next week again.
AP English III
Next class you will have your AP English Language and Composition Midterm Exam. You can't really study for it other than to review any devices that we've studied this year as well as to look at your notes around the different timed writings we have done. You will have twenty eight multiple choice questions and one essay.
The other assignment that is shared for both classes is the work on our Gatsby Synthesis assignment. In this assignment you should be working in the same document as the rest of your group. As a group you have determined a theme that is shared among all of the texts. This is stated in a shared introduction. Then, each person should import one of their texts from their annotated bibliography with annotations. This should be paired with explanation and analysis that shows how the text develops the shared theme. There should be transitions to the next person's text. At the end, there is a shared group conclusion. This assignment is due on Tuesday. You'll receive group and individual grades for this work.
3B - Since you all had a full class today you should begin to read and annotate "The Over Soul" by Ralph Waldo Emerson for homework. We'll begin to work through this piece on Tuesday of next week. Remember, he's defining a concept. Stay focused on seeing how he explains what exactly the OverSoul is.
4B - Since you all only spent thirty minutes with us we did not have time to begin the unit. I will give you Emerson to read after the midterm on Friday.
English IV
Today, we had a pretty productive class despite the excitement of the shortened day. We began our reading of Twelfth Night, Act III and then made some more progress on our short writing assignment comparing Twelfth Night to She's the Man. Before next class, spend some time planning out your essay so before the end of next period you have a workable draft to submit for feedback. This is the last significant assignment of this semester, so make sure you are doing well with it! Have a good day, and see you soon!
AP English III
Next class you will have your AP English Language and Composition Midterm Exam. You can't really study for it other than to review any devices that we've studied this year as well as to look at your notes around the different timed writings we have done. You will have twenty eight multiple choice questions and one essay.
The other assignment that is shared for both classes is the work on our Gatsby Synthesis assignment. In this assignment you should be working in the same document as the rest of your group. As a group you have determined a theme that is shared among all of the texts. This is stated in a shared introduction. Then, each person should import one of their texts from their annotated bibliography with annotations. This should be paired with explanation and analysis that shows how the text develops the shared theme. There should be transitions to the next person's text. At the end, there is a shared group conclusion. This assignment is due on Tuesday. You'll receive group and individual grades for this work.
3B - Since you all had a full class today you should begin to read and annotate "The Over Soul" by Ralph Waldo Emerson for homework. We'll begin to work through this piece on Tuesday of next week. Remember, he's defining a concept. Stay focused on seeing how he explains what exactly the OverSoul is.
4B - Since you all only spent thirty minutes with us we did not have time to begin the unit. I will give you Emerson to read after the midterm on Friday.
English IV
Today, we had a pretty productive class despite the excitement of the shortened day. We began our reading of Twelfth Night, Act III and then made some more progress on our short writing assignment comparing Twelfth Night to She's the Man. Before next class, spend some time planning out your essay so before the end of next period you have a workable draft to submit for feedback. This is the last significant assignment of this semester, so make sure you are doing well with it! Have a good day, and see you soon!
Homework for English Students - A Day - 2 January
English IV
Today, we had a pretty productive class despite the shortened period. We began our reading of Twelfth Night, Act III and then made some more progress on our short writing assignment comparing Twelfth Night to She's the Man. Before next class, spend some time planning out your essay so before the end of next period you have a workable draft to submit for feedback. This is the last significant assignment of this semester, so make sure you are doing well with it! Have a good day, and see you soon!
Today, we had a pretty productive class despite the shortened period. We began our reading of Twelfth Night, Act III and then made some more progress on our short writing assignment comparing Twelfth Night to She's the Man. Before next class, spend some time planning out your essay so before the end of next period you have a workable draft to submit for feedback. This is the last significant assignment of this semester, so make sure you are doing well with it! Have a good day, and see you soon!
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Homework for Russian Students - 2 January - Welcome Back!
С новым сладким годом! To a sweet new year! So happy to see all of you today - here's a quick recap of what we did in Russian as well as what you should do tonight to keep the learning going!
Russian I
Today we learned the five main jobs of the genitive case as well as how to change the endings of nouns so that they show that they are in the genitive case. Then we did some example sentences around the idea of ownership (I have a Honda. У меня есть Хонда.), lack of ownership (I don't have a Mercedes. У меня нет Мерседеса.), and stating where a person is from (I am from Durham. Я из Дарема.).
For your friend project you should write three new sentences using the genitive case. You should state something that each person has, doesn't have, and where each person is from. Remember you are only working on the slides about yourself, your male friend, and your female friend. You should already have sentences describing what they do and where they do it to accomplish your accusative case and prepositional case work.
You should also take a look at Exercise 8 in the end of Chapter One. This exercise is broken down for each case. You should take time to work on the genitive case so that you can learn your declensions better.
Here is a good video on all of the Russian cases - use it for review!
Lastly, keep in mind that you have one week to reassess or complete any missing work. The quarter for this class will end on Wednesday the 10th.
Russian I
Today we learned the five main jobs of the genitive case as well as how to change the endings of nouns so that they show that they are in the genitive case. Then we did some example sentences around the idea of ownership (I have a Honda. У меня есть Хонда.), lack of ownership (I don't have a Mercedes. У меня нет Мерседеса.), and stating where a person is from (I am from Durham. Я из Дарема.).
For your friend project you should write three new sentences using the genitive case. You should state something that each person has, doesn't have, and where each person is from. Remember you are only working on the slides about yourself, your male friend, and your female friend. You should already have sentences describing what they do and where they do it to accomplish your accusative case and prepositional case work.
You should also take a look at Exercise 8 in the end of Chapter One. This exercise is broken down for each case. You should take time to work on the genitive case so that you can learn your declensions better.
Here is a good video on all of the Russian cases - use it for review!
Advanced Russian
Today we began the journey of learning about verbs of motion in Russian. Primarily today we learned about going by one's own power or going by the power of another. We also discussed what it means for an action to be multidirectional or unidirectional.
Tonight for homework you should play with your new verbs (the four we conjugated today in class). You should be able to create a variety of present tense sentences which use these verbs to talk about going different places. Write at least eight sentences in Russian, two for each verb, and pair the sentence with an English translation.
Next class we will review this work and these verbs before moving on to the others. Be sure that you have written work to show next class.
Lastly, keep in mind that you have one week to reassess or complete any missing work. The quarter for this class will end on Wednesday the 10th.
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