21 September - Going into Yom Kippur Weekend

AP Language

A pretty solid day today as we engaged with a difficult text written a bit above the high school level. Remember that this is going to be a regular occurrence. We are a college level class, so we'll read college level texts. You made the choice to accept this challenge when you signed up for this class. We discussed several strategies to deal with difficult texts - I'm a big fan of using the structures the texts provides, especially sections, to navigate difficult waters.

Our conversation and work on Anzaldua was especially rich. I enjoyed seeing your focus on language, identity, legitimacy, and the power of politics to determine worth. You may find it helpful to review the recording as we had a very deep conversation. Fantastic work!

Our next class is going to be our gallery walk for our projects. I've been focusing a lot of people to use evidence in their slides to support their claims. Also remember the way in which audience determines purpose and message -- determine your two audiences for the text and focus the analysis on them. If you'd like to get ahead on reading then you'll want Cuomo. The link to his speech is posted in Materials; we'll have a handout for you next week. Remember that it's a speech, so you may want to watch the video from 1984 before reading. 

I hope to see you next week - I've been called for jury duty, so I hope to get excused so that I can be with you.

19 September - James Baldwin's Letter

AP Language

Today was a great day in class because we spent time with James Baldwin, one of my favorite authors. Today in class we really focused on our Reading Interpretation skills as we discussed alternative perspectives, lines of reasoning, compare/contrast, and the creation of a message for a particular audience. I loved seeing the engagement in the text and with the ideas we discussed today in class. I hope that all of you are seeing the connection between the work that we're doing in class and your first project, What's the Situation, remember that we're asking you to determine and explain elements of PEWCAM. Follow the rubric as you create your slides and remember, audience drives purpose and message!

We'll have some more time on Thursday to continue working on projects. For tonight, read Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" -- it's a complicated text, so try to derive what you can as you read. I would recommend reading and analyzing the sections. Try to determine a main idea or argument for each section and bring questions for our work on Thursday! The PDF is posted in Materials.

Homework for B-Day: 20 March - Almost the End of Quarter 3

Next class we'll be doing ruble cash-in for all of our classes. Be sure you have your cash!

English IV

Today we spent much of our class having a seminar around themes in Frankenstein - especially the idea of how society makes judgments on people and the danger of those judgments. We focused strongly on our study guides today - on the study guide you have a good outline of what you will see on the test. We'll have characters, plot, literary devices, and theme questions.

Go through your folders and work to fill in your study guides. Remember that you can use your study guide on the test. Your unit exam will fall on Monday and will be the first big grade of Quarter 4.

We'll also be working on our essays more in the coming days - if you haven't shared your introduction paragraph with me, be sure that you do so that I can get you a grade and feedback.

AP English III

We are continuing with our writing conferences that have been scheduled on my door. If you are not able to make your writing conference it is your responsibility to come at another time. I would recommend that you come after the scheduled conferences on Wednesday-Friday. I should have time to work you in. Remember that this is the last grade of the quarter.

For the week your main task is to get through Chapters 16-19 for Monday of next week. This is a major section of chapters that take TIM into The Brotherhood and has him start to make speeches. Pay attention to what his speeches say and how this is recreating some of the major cycles of the text.  You may find it helpful to also take a quick look at the Booker T. Washington speech since there are a lot of parallels between TIM and Booker T.

Lastly, we have reading for next class. You'll be looking at Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" - it's available in 50 Essays and at this link. As you read it - pay attention to the way in which she connects language to identity. Why is this an important idea for us to consider when reading Invisible Man? How does it help us to understand the conflict at the heart of TIM's quest?

Homework for A-Day Students: 12/10/2013

AP English III

Tonight for homework you have two key things to accomplish.  First, make sure that your group site is up and shared with all members of your group; also, be sure to think through what you need me to cover with you at our tech help session next class in the Dell Lab.  This will give you all an opportunity to get some of your pages created as well as start plugging in media.  In addition to this, be sure to read Gloria Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" - it is available in 50 Essays as well as at this link.  As you read Anzaldua you will be struck by her use of Spanish in the piece - consider her rhetorical purpose behind this.  In addition, consider the connection between language and identity that Anzaldua presents as well as the link between language and revolution.  This is a highly political and provocative piece; I'm looking forward to our seminar on it.

What follows is your reading schedule for the next few classes as well as winter break.

• Chapters 23 - 28:  Monday, December 16th
• Chapters 29 - 33:  Wednesday, December 18th
• End of the Book:  Tuesday, January 7th

Don't forget that you will have a timed writing - RHETORICAL ANALYSIS - on Friday, December 20th before we leave for break.  If you are going to be absent on that day, please get your Timed Writing done before you go!

Russian I

For tonight's homework you will need to get started on your writing project.  Follow the outline that I gave you on the assignment sheet in order to complete this assignment.  The outline is below in case you forget your handout:

• Sentence One – Introduce person by name.  State relationship to you.  Possessive Pronoun.  Agreement.
• Sentence Two – State where person lives.  Verb – жить.  Prepositional case.
• Sentence Three – Describe the person using an adjective.  Adjective.  Agreement.
• Sentence Four – State something the person likes.  Verb – любить.
• Sentence Five – State something the person does.  Verb – choice.
• Sentence Six – State something the person wants for the holidays.  Verb – хотеть.

Remember that next class we will be having a writing workshop on these paragraphs.  Please be sure to bring what you have and make sure to try!  We won't be able to do much of a workshop without any work.  Use your vocabulary lists for this and dictionaries.  Do not translate whole sentences.