Homework for All Classes - 1/31

English I:

On Wednesday/Thursday you will have an exam on chapters six through ten of A Separate Peace.  The test will have four sections.  Section one will be matching.  Section two will be multiple choice.  Section three will be short answer.  Section four will be different for the different sections:  Honors students will have quote identifications, and Standard students will be asked to complete a character web.  Thus, it's important for Standard students to focus in on characters (Who are they?  Who are they connected to?  What is important about them?)

In terms of studying, you are going to want to focus on plot events, literary devices, and the ways in which these literary devices are being used in the text to add meaning.  Also, think about the major motifs and symbols that we have been discussing throughout this portion of the text (reality versus fantasy, childhood versus adulthood, maturity, the war, the school, and the relationship between Gene, Finny and Brinker.)

If you've been engaged with this novel and keeping up with your reading, then this will be an easy exam; if not, this will be very difficult for you.

Lastly, don't forget that your projects will be due next week.

English III:

For homework tonight you will need to complete your "Orientation Posting."  Login to the Google Group and click on the discussion board called "Orientation Post," follow all of the directions.  You will be asked to post three things in your posting.  Make sure that this is done before you come to class tomorrow.  The beginning of class is the cut off time for all discussion board postings.  If you are having problems getting to the group, please come and see me or e-mail me so that we can resolve the issue.  Please remember to check your Spam/Junk folder.  Your invitation may be in this folder if you have strict Spam settings.

Homework/Notes - 1/27/2011

English I:

For homework over the weekend you have a few things to do.  First, you should read chapter ten of A Separate Peace.  As you read chapter ten, continue to pay attention to Gene and how he is changing in this chapter, again.  Pay particular attention to his treatment of Leper.  Also, you should complete the grammar worksheet on Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement.  Remember that if the antecedent (thing that comes before) is singular, then the pronoun will also have to be singular.  If the antecedent is plural, then the pronoun needs to be plural.  It's all about matching.  Lastly, you should be working on your final projects for A Separate Peace.  Come and see me next week after school if you need any extra assistance.

Lastly, on February 2 (A day) and February 3 (B day) you will have an exam on chapters six through ten of A Separate Peace.  You would do well to begin reviewing these chapters over the weekend.  On Monday/Tuesday we will review chapter ten and then prepare for the exam.

English III:

I want to begin by saying that I was very impressed with the amount of engagement that I saw in our class discussion today.  If we can work as hard as we did today every day, then we are going to have an amazing year.  For tomorrow you have two things to do.  First, you need to complete the final drafts of your "What is America?" essays.  Please submit to me the final draft and the rough draft.  Second, I want you to do an activity tonight called 1Q1P, to do this, you will need to select one sentence that you think is the most important sentence in the whole story.  That is the 1Q (quote).  After you have selected your sentence, you need to write your 1P (paragraph).  As you write the paragraph you will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt why your selection is the best choice for the whole story.

Tomorrow, we will finish up with Oates by playing with the numbers a bit more and then we will move on to our next key piece.  A piece of poetry...

Enjoy the evening, let me know if you've got any questions.

Homework - 1/25/2011

Welcome back!  I think it's going to be a great semester for all of us.  Only ninety days to go until the end of the year and summer vacation!  Let's get on to business:

English I:

For Thursday/Friday, you need to be sure that you've read and understand chapter nine of A Separate Peace.  We'll be spending a lot of time working through the major conflict that is being established here in this last part of the novel.  Furthermore, your projects on the novel will be due the week of February 7th.  Be sure that you're working on these bit by bit as opposed to waiting until the last minute.  Lastly, I do want to inform you that you will be having a test soon on chapters six through ten of A Separate Peace.  Be ready!

English III:

This was a good first day.  For your assignment tonight, you need to complete your writing diagnostic:  a two page definition essay that answers the question "What is America to you?"  Your answer in one sentence will be your thesis - I encourage you to use the brainstorming that we did today in class to begin this writing.  Your body paragraphs should show me what these concepts mean; you'll want clear, concise examples from our world which support your opinions.  Finally, make sure that you use the rubric to compose your assignments, that is how you will be graded.

Tomorrow we will do a Peer Editing workshop on these essays and begin our first piece of literature for the year, an absolutely fantastic short story by a woman named Joyce Carol Oates.  Get excited for that.  Don't forget to return your parent contact forms to me tomorrow.

Let me know if you've got questions!

3rd Nine Weeks/Semester II

We start brand new tomorrow!

Tomorrow's schedule will have you going to all of your classes like normal.  You will have a new third and fourth period.  Tomorrow will be an A-day.  Tomorrow you'll be getting your essays back and we will discuss chapter eight.  Make sure that you've finished reading the chapter and that you understand it thoroughly.  If you have any questions about the reading; jot those down and ask them in class during our discussion.

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow after the semester break!

Grades and Wrap Up...

Freshmen and Seniors:

For the most part, I have grades ready for you. Some of you have come to see me about redoing some final assignments to earn a few extra points. Some of you are missing a major assignment, and I have contacted a majority of you about this. Friday will be the last day to make anything up for this grading period. I'm also available on Thursday afternoon (12-2:30) if you would like to come then.

Tomorrow's schedule has me meeting after the 4th period exam with 3rd period for lunch, 1B and then 2B. This will provide a chance for Seniors, and B-day students to make up missing work, redo past assignments, or even play games. I'm bringing Apples to Apples. I know not all of you will be in class tomorrow; especially those of you exempt from your 4th period exam.

The next time that I will be seeing all Freshmen will be on the 25th of January. This will be an A day and the start of a new semester. I will be handing back your essays on this day, and I will inform you of some important changes for this quarter. You will begin your new classes for the second semester on this day: new third and fourth period. In A Separate Peace, I am expecting that everyone be finished with chapter eight. I encourage you to read ahead. The end of the novel moves pretty quickly, and once you see Gene leave Leper out there...you really just want to finish to see what's going to happen.

We will be picking up the pace with this novel as we move to its denoument. Don't forget that you have projects on A Separate Peace. This will be your first major test grade of the third nine weeks! Make it count!

Homework - 10 January

Freshmen:

In looking at your warm-up checks today, it seems like some of you either aren't reading or you aren't reading as closely as you need to. Tonight, for homework you'll need to read chapter eight of A Separate Peace. It may be a good idea for some of you to go back and reread chapter seven before moving on to chapter eight. Make sure that you pay attention to vocabulary and keep up with your bookmarks as you're reading.

Seniors:

Tonight for homework I would like for you to listen to this episode of This American Life. As you listen, make note of things that are interesting to you. I'd like to start class on Tuesday by discussing this piece with you. If we don't have class until Wednesday, then we'll just have the Pub activity.

With this post, I'd like for you to comment with what you're bringing for the Pub activity. I'm bringing cups, plates, and napkins as well as tea for everyone to drink. If you'd like something other than tea, bring some soda for the group. When you're cooking/shopping, remember that you need to bring enough for 34 people.

Keep up with this to know what the schedule is. As of now, it looks like we'll have school tomorrow. But who knows...

Homework for the Weekend - 1/7

Seniors:

Over the weekend I expect that each of you will use this time to put together a full rough draft on Hamlet. Then, you can come and see me next week either after school or during 4th period or A lunch to have me review it before the final drafts are due. Please remember what I said last week, this is your last paper of your high school English career, thus I expect it to be the best. Also, this weekend, you'll want to spend some time preparing for our British Pub activity next Wednesday. If you weren't in class today, come see me on Monday to get ready for the Pub activity.

On Monday we will finish our study of Hamlet. The bodies are going to start hitting the floor.

Freshmen:

Over the weekend you all will read chapter seven of A Separate Peace. Pay very close attention to the way that the school is organized socially. We're going to start seeing a new side of the Devon School in these chapters. Further, remember that if you didn't turn in your essay on the first due date, it will need to be handed in to me on Monday/Tuesday to avoid late penalties.

If you've got questions, please ask!

Freshman Study Guide

Freshmen:

Your A Separate Peace test will be on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. It will cover information in chapters one through five. Below you'll find some ideas for things to study - this list doesn't cover everything, but is intended to get you started. Remember to be active as you study, study in bursts, not all at once.

• bildungsroman notes - You should know about the different stages of bildungsroman as well as important literary devices that we went over in this powerpoint
• literary devices - As you saw on the benchmark, a lot of questions relate to identifying literary devices and how they're used in a text. We've gone over a lot of these this year - everything is fair game.
• characters/plot events
• motifs/symbols/themes
• VOCABULARY- You will see vocabulary on this exam directly from the book. Be sure that you are looking over your vocabulary bookmarks as well as going back to those pages to reexamine how the vocabulary is used.

Lastly, there will be writing on the exam. As we have really been doing a lot of writing practice lately I am expecting that your skills will be a lot stronger. I expect clear topic sentences in your writing as well as good use of examples. There will be short answers about topics we've spent some time discussing in class as well as quote identifications for Honors students. Honors students - you will have to identify the speaker, context, and importance of the quotes I give you.

If you want extra help getting ready, please come and see me on Monday.

Homework for 12/6

Only NINE more days until Winter Break begins!

Freshmen:

Those of you that I did not have a chance to meet with today will get your first paragraphs back on Wednesday/Thursday. The biggest issue that I am seeing in your writing is that you are not explaining everything thoroughly AND/OR you are not really connecting your ideas back to your thesis. Remember to be clear in your writing. The idea here is that you want me to understand the story in the same way that you do. Continue working on these essays. Final drafts will be due on 12/16 and 12/17.

For reading homework tonight you have to read chapter five of A Separate Peace as well as complete the worksheet. The worksheet should go to the box by Friday/Monday morning. Make sure that it's complete.

Lastly, don't forget about your websites. The next deadline will be Thursday! By Thursday you should have the Group Overview for your page done.

Seniors:

Tonight you should finish your reading of Act II. Be sure that you're using the annotation guide which I gave out last week to understand the goings on of Act II. Tomorrow we will discuss Act II in a lot of depth before moving on to one of my favorite short stories ever written. There are a lot of interesting connections between the short story, Hamlet, and a few books of the Bible. Some strange things are going on here - and I look forward to investigating them with you all.

Let me know if you've got any questions or concerns.

Reminders

I don't really see the point of posting the homework for tonight. I'm just going to remind everyone that you all have something major coming up.

Seniors, you have your Great Expectations websites. As of now I've seen two mock-ups. This is one of your last major grades in the class. Make sure that it gets the time and attention that it deserves. Please see me for any help with this. The last major grade that you will have is your Hamlet paper. You may want to begin thinking about a topic and planning now. Some of you were interested in the eight to ten page option - you will want to especially come see me in developing a topic.

I'm in the midst of your poetry explications. I'll have these back to you on Monday. We will be having a Act I test on Monday. Think about characters - this will be a large portion of the exam. Also, go back and review the opening notes; that content will also be there. You will also have an annotation/writing portion based on a passage from Act I. Some important hints about which passages will be revealed tomorrow in class as we watch the film. We will first finish Act I, Scene 5 and discuss some of the big ideas that Shakespeare is establishing - motifs, symbols, themes, and such...

Freshmen, you've got your first essays. Progress reports will go out next week; once I have your Benchmark scores. As you are working on your essay assignment, please come and see me to look at drafts or for extra help. I've got time on Friday afternoon as well as Monday.

Lastly, I get the feeling that some of you may be behind in your reading. Let me be clear and state that by Monday/Tuesday - I expect that you will have read to the end of chapter four and kept up with your vocabulary bookmark assignment.

That's all - one week down, two to go til Winter Break.

Homework - Welcome back!

Today is the 29th of November - we have fourteen more days of school until Winter Break! Things will move pretty quickly before break, make sure that you're keeping up with EVERYTHING that we have going on. There will be a lot of deadlines for you to meet.

So, let's review.

Seniors:

You will want to be sure that you finish Great Expectations by the end of this coming weekend. I would actually suggest that you finish it by Friday. You will not have any Hamlet reading this week, but this weekend and next week, you will. You will not have vocabulary cards due this week.

Now, don't forget that you have that website project due before we leave for Winter Break. First check-in on this is coming. I want there to be a mock-up shared with me and all group members live by this Sunday. Your group has a task. Today, at the end of class when we had free time - I hope that you were speaking to your group members about this.

Lastly, your poetry explications are due on Wednesday of this week. Remember what I said about taking things late with this project. I have a rubric and will share it with you tomorrow. Feel free to see me before or after class with drafts.

Freshmen:

For Wednesday/Thursday - You will want to be sure that you have read chapters one through three. Keep up with your notes, and keep thinking about some of these big ideas that we're bringing up. Those of you with your own books should take notes in your book as you read. Be sure that you also have your vocabulary bookmarks done. Don't forget the page number and definitions.

We have Benchmarks coming up on Thursday/Friday. For Thursday/Friday - just come to class with pencils. You can read when you're done with the test, but you have to remain quiet.

On Wednesday/Thursday, we will be taking the next step forward with our essay assignments. These will be due before Winter Break! If you need help, see me as soon as you realize the problem.

Onward!

Homework over Thanksgiving Break

A-day Freshmen:

Over the break you'll need to read chapter three of A Separate Peace. Make sure that as you read you keep up with your vocabulary. We will have a vocabulary check in the coming days.

B-day Freshmen:

Over break you'll need to finish reading chapter two. Please keep up with the vocabulary assignment.

All Freshmen: You will have your first benchmark exam on December 2nd and 3rd. Feel free to review your grammar warm-ups and grammar notes as well as important literary devices. Don't spend a lot of time studying; I want to see what you know and where you don't understand things.

Seniors:

Over the break you should make it a priority to finish reading Great Expectations. You've got fourteen chapters left in the text to finish Book Three. If you don't finish it over break, you'll want to finish it in the week that we begin Hamlet, after break. Also, over break, you'll want to get your copy of Hamlet. You can get just the Shakespearean version, but I recommend the No Fear Shakespeare - it will help with understanding the plot!

Everyone! Have a great Thanksgiving! Eat lots of food!

Homework - 11/22

Seniors:

Tonight you should be able to finish reading book two of Great Expectations. Tomorrow we're going to finish reviewing some of the main concepts from book two to give you some things to think about as you finish reading Great Expecations on your own.

Also, when we get back from break we will begin studying Hamlet. I would recommend buying a copy of No-Fear Shakespeare Hamlet - this will provide a great aid to help you understand Shakespeare's language.

Freshmen:

You should finish reading chapter two of A Separate Peace. Be ready for good discussion tomorrow!

Weekend Homework - 11/19

Freshmen (A-day):

This weekend you need to read chapter two of A Separate Peace. As you read, be sure that you're keeping up with the vocabulary bookmark assignment. Jot down the words that are new to you with the page number, after you complete the reading assignment, look up the word and - on the bookmark - write a personal, one or two word definition of the new word. Reading is important because it builds vocabulary!

Also, as you read, pay attention to the ideas that we're raising in the class discussions. Especially in this opening bit of the text you want to really pay attention to the characters of Gene and Finny. Their similarities, their differences, and the relationship between them.

Freshmen (B-day): You've got to finish reading chapter one. Don't forget about the vocabulary bookmark.

Seniors:

You've got memorized poems to present on Monday and Tuesday. This should be your priority for the weekend. As I suggested earlier, try recording the poem and then listen to it again and again. Another good memorization technique is to write the poem again and again until you've literally etched it into your mind. We're also going to get back into discussing Great Expectations in these last two classes before we leave for Thanksgiving break. On Monday we'll be discussing chapters thirty, thirty-one, and thirty-two. Be prepared to discuss areas of these chapters in some depth on Monday.

Lastly - all of you come to the game tonight! HUP FALCONS!!!!

Homework - 11/18

Seniors:

For tonight make sure that you get your vocabulary cards taken care of. I will be collecting these from you tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll also have a timed writing on poetry. Try to use some of the things that we've been talking about lately in class about writing for tomorrow. Also, think about the sample essays that we analyzed today in class. Be more like a nine, and less like a two.

Lastly, you should be reading two chapters of Great Expecations each night. Tonight you'll need to read chapters thirty-four and thirty-five. I know that some of you are behind, please take the weekend to get yourself caught up. Don't forget about memorized poems on Monday and Tuesday.

Freshmen:

Tonight you all need to finish reading chapter one of A Separate Peace. As you're reading, continue to pay attention to your vocabulary bookmark assignment as well as your motif and character lists. Note important quotations as you read as well to bring up in the class discussion.

See you all tomorrow. Happy Friday!

Homework - 11/15

Seniors:

Tonight for homework you have to read chapter twenty-nine. The story is beginning a bit of a turn. Pay attention to Estella very carefully in the chapter. We'll work on understanding key areas of the text tomorrow in class. Come with good annotations.

Also, don't forget that you have your dramatic presentations on Wednesday and Thursday. Feel free to see me in the morning or during lunch to get some extra help on this. The key here is tone. Also, be sure that you're fluency is high. You shouldn't stumble through.

Lastly, think about your writing skills. We're working on our final push for writing. If there are specific skills you really would like to focus on here at the end - please raise those during these next few days.

Freshmen:

Tonight you will begin reading A Separate Peace. One of the biggest downfalls of this novel is the opening. It's dry. And it takes a bit of opening up to really get into the text. Remember the importance of narrator and setting. Knowles has got to establish these things before the story can continue. For tonight, read in chapter one up until the point when Gene goes back in time. You should recognize this moment fairly easily.

As you read, make sure that you keep track of your motif list on the back cover, your character list on the front cover, and your vocabulary bookmark. These are meant to be done as you read. Wednesday/Thursday, we will begin talking about annotations.

Lastly, don't forget about outlines.

To all of you:

Enjoy the reading! As always, ask questions if you have them.

English I - Weekend Work

This weekend you all need to write your rough drafts of your paper about A Separate Peace. Bring your paper with you to class on Monday/Tuesday. Be sure that you have used your outline, and that you follow the rubric to help you write the essay. The rubric will be helpful to show you what you will be graded on.

If you need help over the weekend, e-mail me or leave a comment. I will not read drafts this weekend.

English I Homework - 12/2 and 12/3

Tonight for homework you have a few things to do:

1. Read chapter twelve of A Separate Peace. Things in the novel are starting to move to a conclusion - begin to start wrapping up the novel and see what happens to all of our major characters, especially Finny and Gene.

2. Complete your dialectical notebook entry for chapter twelve.

3. Your essay outline is due to the box on Friday (A-day) or Monday (B-day). If you need assistance completing this. Please let me know as soon as you can. Don't turn it in late!

English I Homework 11/17 and 11/18

Your homework for tonight is to read chapter nine of A Separate Peace. There is a HUGE unexpected plot twist in chapter nine that will really throw you for a loop. You may want to continue reading chapter ten to get a resolution - that's fine. But you can't talk about chapter ten until the class gets there.

Don't forget your dialectical notebook entry for chapter nine as well.

Homework for 9th Graders

Freshmen -

Your homework for tonight is to read chapter four of A Separate Peace and complete your dialectical notebook entries for chapter four. Also, today I gave your reminiscience assignment out. Try to focus on your topic for this writing assignment. Your rough draft of the Reminiscience is due on 11/2 and 11/3.