Enrichment Day - 14 October

AP English Language

Today was our Rhetorical Analysis enrichment day! I hope that you appreciated the lesson, time for reflection, and the group based practice. As you work through this project, your first goal is to complete your rhetorical analysis. Remember, we're all focused on social commentary so first you have to think of an issue that needs comment. Use your passions as a guide. If you care about climate change, then find a text which comments upon or satirizes that issue. The goal of your analysis will be to show and explain how the commentary is made clear.

I've posted the resources from today's lesson on Schoology. Blue Day students - I would suggest checking out this video as you are building and planning your rhetorical analysis. We'll have more time next class for project time. Remember that your choice of Zinn reading is due next class.

English 10

Today was our enrichment day! It was a day to explore around the world and learn a bit more about where our book and our main characters come from. I hope that you enjoyed the time to explore and travel a bit, no matter where you found yourself going.

If you didn't complete the assignment today in class, be sure that you complete and submit as much as you can by the end of the weekend. If you're missing any assignments, this can earn back some points. If you don't have any missing work, than this work can add points to a low scoring assignment.

Next class we'll be reading one of our anchor texts in this unit - a beautiful short story from the Palestinian Territories. I'm looking forward to us reading something as a whole class and then exploring one of our main themes in this unit - the connection between land and people.

Ending the Week - Thursday the 28th

AP Language

Today was our final day for researching and the building of outlines in class. The recording posted on Google Classroom goes over the template documents for the outline and sourcepack assignment as well as the requirements of the rubric for the outline. I hope you find it helpful. I'm available on Monday during Office Hours to review or conference before you submit your outlines.

We will start reading very soon, likely next week. If you need to secure a copy of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, let me know via email. If you've not started reading, it's recommended you do so that you can begin to get ahead.

Enjoy the weekend! I'm looking forward to reading and discussing texts with you all again.

English 10

Today was a really exciting day, and I hope that you were able to use this time as a chance to explore and travel to various museums around the world. Remember that our goal is to find a museum which appeals to us first, then we'll find a piece in that museum which really draws our attention and makes us want to dig deeper. This can really be any item in the museum - based on what it is will direct the work that we will do in the rest of the unit. 

One of the main skills we'll be working with through this unit is developing our use of specific examples in our writing. Today we did a mini-lesson on citations to guide our work and practice moving forward. The recording is posted for you to access as you need it.

By the end of this week you should have submitted two tasks - the Semester 1 Reflection and the Perfect Paragraph - Museum Choice. Keep using our class time to produce and focus on your tasks. If you need additional time this weekend to finish anything, take it and submit your work before due dates on Monday.

Notes for B-Day: 26 September

AP Literature

You all were fantastic today at UNC. I hope that you enjoyed Native Son, definitely a lot to think about and process. Tonight, I would encourage you to sit, think, and consider the usefulness of the story to your projects. How could you use Bigger's story? How about one of the female characters? How does this help us to make a statement about oppression?

For Monday we have a short story by Graham Greene - It's called "The Destructors" and it's available in the Perrine books.

Please remember that outline resubmissions are due next week and college essay revisions should be turned in. If you have any missing assignments, be sure that you are settling those up!

AP Research

Today was the first of two workshop days. We should all be working diligently on developing our source list further (speaking with our Media Specialists will help you with this a ton) and you should be writing for your Annotated Bibliography.

The final source list is due on October 2nd. Remember that this is also your resubmission of the original source list. Use the Purdue OWL for help - I can't stress that enough. Following that we'll have the annotated bibliography due after that.

Homework for B-Day Students - 24 September

AP Literature

Next class we have our field trip! Remember that the procedures for the trip are outlined on the slides for today. The play, Native Son, will provide a lot of great evidence related to oppression and will be a useful source in your final project. I encourage you to grab evidence from it for your work.

Next week we have our outlines due as well as our final two stories. You'll be reading "The Destructors" by Graham Greene from Perrine's Literature - It starts on page 111. Pay attention to oppression, power, and irony in this text.

Also, please be sure that you have submitted the FRQ practice on AP Classroom as well as any other missing assignments from your progress report.

AP Research

Today we worked through understanding how to build an annotated bibliography and the usefulness of it for us. I armed you with many templates that you can use to work forward. Be sure that you have submitted your source list as well as your reflection. I'll be scoring these tonight and tomorrow.

As we move forward, be aware that there are many assignments in this unit. It's imperative that you work regularly to complete all of these tasks. As always, use me as you need me.

Homework for A-Day Students: 9 April 2019

English IV

Today almost everyone was out on a field trip - I hope that you enjoyed your time at Durham Tech today! It's really exciting when you're getting ready for college and what's to come! Today we spent our class time reading and working on reading journals. Remember that everyone's goal is to finish their book by the end of the month. If you need to be reading tonight to make up for class time, please do that.

On Thursday we'll have time in the library to complete our research projects related to our books. After we come back from Easter Break I'll go over the requirements for our final projects and the last classes of the year. Be ready to finish strong!

AP English III

Sorry for the confusion everyone - we'll have our college planning workshop next week on Monday. Not this week. Today in class we focused on Machiavelli and the different strategies he uses to communicate his idea on effective leadership. We made a lot of connections back to Steinbeck as well as we discussed various "princes" in The Grapes of Wrath. Our main motif was power - but I think that there was a bit related to corruption too.

Tonight you should continue reading in Grapes to the end of Chapter 21. Chapter 20 is very long and chronicles the Joads arrival to California. Notice what the reality of California is. Why is it different from the fantasy? Why does this matter? Be sure that you have also completed your motif charts up to Chapter 21 - they'll be necessary as we begin to prepare for our final project on Steinbeck.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 5 April

AP English III

I'm going to reiterate things for the good of the group before we get too far into this final quarter of the year. If you were expecting me to be easier or more lenient as we approach the end, then you were mistaken. I will ease up after we finish the AP Exam. Not before. There are some of you missing research papers still. This is a bad place to be. Some of you did not do well on the break quiz - I hope you've saved some rubles. It's important to finish strong. Not to crawl over the line. If you need help, you need to ask for it. With all that said, let's go on to our work this weekend.

On Tuesday we'll be having a college planning workshop to go over some of the alphabet soup that is applying to college. We'll have about 20 minutes to work through Machiavelli's "The Morals of the Prince" - this is an excerpt of a longer work called The Prince. Machiavelli is a political theorist from the 1400's. You might find it helpful to consider who holds power in our novel and what that institution is doing to hold on to power. I think you may see some interesting parallels. Don't forget our conversation related to Marx today too.

We'll work through the next section of Grapes on Thursday. Be ready for that - it's time to get to California.

English IV

Today in class we had a productive day focused on some grammar skills - Where do we always put commas? - as well as time for reading and our projects on our novels. Remember that most of you will be on the college field trip on Tuesday - have fun and enjoy! - be sure that you have read this weekend to make up for the time in class that you'll miss.

Thursday will be our final day to work on our projects related to our books. Be sure that you're ready to present to your group about your topic.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 31 January

AP Seminar

This weekend is a weekend to be finishing the process. At this point many of you have revised your original questions and reapportioned your research focus. This is great! Consider all of the other tasks that come along with this changing and modifying.

Remember to practice, to time, and to support. This is a heavy lift if we do it alone; when we help each other, it's a lot more manageable.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we completed our practice with one of our common Russian television shows. As we do this work, it's great for us to practice using a variety of language, constructions, and situations. Hopefully this has been a good practice for you on verbs of motion.

Remember to complete the assigned exercise over the weekend. On Monday we will be focused on working through this exercise to finish our understanding of verbs of motion. Russian III students will find it helpful to focus on how prefixes are paired with prepositions, as well as the use of aspect. Russian II students should be focused on understanding when the verbs call for an A, B, or C type action.

For those of us competing tomorrow in the research symposium, thank you for being flexible. I'll have our transportation plan finalized in the morning. We will meet in the cafeteria at 9:30. I'll be emailing your teachers today during 4th period.

Don't forget that we have a second quiz as well as poetry recitations coming up soon.

Russian I

Today in class we finished our viewing of The Irony of Fate and reviewed information around forming and using the instrumental case in Russian. From there we did a quick review of possession and lack of possession using the nominative and genitive cases.

We have now finished learning about all six cases in Russian. Your Chapter 1 test will focus a lot on cases. Be sure that you are actively studying and reviewing not just how and where they're used but also how to change the endings of the words to show that they are in a particular case.

By the end of this weekend you should finish all of Exercise 8 at the end of Chapter 1. This goes over all six of our cases. As you go through this activity, use your notes, change endings of words, and translate the sentences to show that you know what the cases are doing. Practicing with our cases will be our key task to finish this first major unit of the year.

Snow Day #2 and the Russian III Field Trip

Hey All -

I've heard that there have been a lot of power outages in the area. I hope that everyone is able to stay safe and warm; as always, your health and safety are first priority. If you aren't able to accomplish some of your work because of issues with electricity/Internet, please let me know.

Hopefully we'll be back to school on Wednesday. I've seen that some AP English III students have submitted their synthesis writing; please do that if it is ready for me to read. I'll have scores uploaded tomorrow and comments too.

Russian III - Be aware that the trip has been postponed until the Spring. I'll be listening to your spoken presentations in two classes to be assessed. In the next class we'll be doing our dry run. Russian II - I'll also be looking at your visuals. You'll be explaining it in English.

AP Seminar's IWA scores are nearly complete. Remember that there will be a reassessment opportunity. I would suggest that if you want to ask specific questions related to your grade, please do. We can start that resubmission process a bit earlier. I would say that with those of you who have earned lower scores (below middle) did not produce an actual IWA in that it was not presenting an argument with clear limitations, implications, or objections. These papers tended to rely on summary of source material as opposed to synthesizing and applying source material toward the explanation of an argument. As of now, the scores are raw scores - they'll be converted to a scaled score once the scale is determined.

Russian I - I did not see completed projects from everyone. Those that I saw have been scored. Again, feel free to begin reassessing based on scores and feedback. You'll want to unsubmit and then resubmit. Please email me when you've finished this work. Do not use translators at all. Simply perform the task/sentences that you have been asked for. Everything else is coming very soon!

I've also graded the English IV work on A Doll's House - Make sure that you have a clear ACES response and that your work reflects the grammar rules that we have focused on especially related to punctuation and capitalization. If you can, finish and submit the rest of your projects.

Check us out!

Look how wonderful we all look at the Forest Theatre at UNC Chapel Hill.

Homework for A-Day Students: 17 October

Remember tomorrow is our field trip day to UNC Chapel Hill to see Skeleton Crew. Be sure that you are behind the school no later than 9:15 to board the buses that will take us over to UNC. All that you will need is yourself and some money for lunch while we are on the trip. You'll be back at school for the last part of fourth period.

AP English III

We all received our essays today as well as feedback on how to improve them as we begin the writing process. I think that the main takeaway from today's lesson is that this is a different type of English class than what you've had before, so it's important that you work differently for this class. Please be sure that you are using me, Ms. Coco, and your peers as resources as you are revising your essays. Final revisions will need to be submitted no later than October 25th in order to be graded.

Additionally, we have our first Denisovich day on Friday. Be sure that you've read to the work site. The guys have had lunch and they're working out in the cold. We're going to focus on the characters, the plot, and the elements of social commentary running through the text - I think that this will be very helpful as we approach our projects. I expect that you all have a lot of questions about Russia and what you're seeing in the text, so generate those for me.

We also have Zinn for Friday. Be sure that you've read and annotated that excerpt - pay attention to the appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos in the text.

English IV

Today we started to delve deeper into the complications of the Helmer family, and we met Mrs. Linde - Nora's friend. Next class we'll get to the film version of A Doll's House and probably spend more time looking at some vocabulary as well. Be ready for tomorrow and for the end of the week!

Homework for A-Day Classes

Phew - It sure is good to be getting back to normal. Here are the announcements for today. Be aware of what's going on and prepare for what we have ahead!

AP English III

Ms. Coco and I ended up changing the homework ever so slightly for you since it makes more sense for us to change things. The reading of Oluadah Equiano's "Narrative" will not be done until later in this unit, we'll be using it more as a bridge piece to Beloved instead.

For Wednesday, prepare for your quiz on Acts I and II of The Crucible. Remember that the multiple choice section will be open book, but the quotation identifications and the short answer will be closed book. You'll also be getting back your essays and timed writings on Wednesday as we discuss revisions and the process moving forward.

Thursday is our field trip - dress for the theatre. No athletic attire will be accepted as attire appropriate for the theatre. Jeans are acceptable. Shorts are acceptable. But please, no athletic shorts.

Friday we'll be discussing the first half of Denisovich. Focus on your characters and the front cover annotations. Remember that these characters are not actual people but more the amalgamation of many people that Solzhenitsyn was in a prison camp for many years and that these people are based on whom he met while he was there. We'll also be discussing Zinn on Friday.

Lastly, keep working on your group project. By the end of this week you should have thoroughly analyzed your chosen text for its social commentary and the way that it makes that commentary clear to you.

English IV

Over the long weekend I had a chance to look at your rough drafts online. Some of you have really complete drafts and you've settled up your "This I Believe" essay. In this case you received either twenty or nineteen points. Others of you need to keep writing, probably because you weren't here for all of the days at the beginning of the unit. If this is the case then you have fifteen or sixteen points.

If you need to spend time revising or finishing, please do so. We'll be submitting final drafts soon to finish Quarter 1 - be aware of this deadline!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 5 May 2017

Advanced Russian:

If today's assessment came as a surprise to you today, then please take the time over the weekend to study and prepare for a reassessment on the topics which troubled you. We have pretty much finished with the new grammar and topics for the year - for the rest of our time together we will be reviewing and preparing for our final speaking assignments.

Also, please make sure to fill out your permission slips and return them to me ASAP. I have already contacted your teachers to let them know about the trip - you need to follow up with them.

Russian I:

Same note as above to you on the exam today. Think about the particular topics or areas of the test that gave you trouble and spend your time preparing and studying for a reassessment if you need to. You also need to make sure that all of your paragraphs are uploaded into Google Classroom by Tuesday's class so that we can begin to end our final project of the year and move into our final film study for the year!

English II:

Make sure that over the weekend you are studying your vocabulary crossword from "Rama and Ravana in Battle". Your final vocabulary quiz of the year will cover these words. Next week we will start to read our final story of the year and begin to work on our final major writing assignment.

Make sure that if there are assignments on your progress report that you would like to redo or reassess on that you prepare for that this weekend!

B-Day Homework/Reminders - 4/22/2014

Honors English II

Tonight for homework there are a few things for you to do concerning our new unit - Night by Elie Wiesel.  First, I would like for you to read chapter one of the text in preparation for next class.  Chapter one in the "blue books" will take you until approximately page fourteen.  Pay special attention to the creation of VOICE in the piece as well as TONE.  Tone will be especially important here because it is a memoir, thus the tone is actually what Wiesel is himself feeling.

In addition, I gave out the rubrics today for your final drafts.  We will go over formatting and citations in class on Thursday, so come prepared to ask questions.  I would recommend bringing your drafts too.  These papers will likely be collected from you on Monday to give me the time to finish reading my AP students' papers first.

Make sure as well that you complete the viewing guide for Die Welle and that your answers are thorough and complete.  I'll check these on Thursday for a grade.  I hope you all enjoyed the film.

ESL English III

I would recommend answering the questions based on what we were able to read today in class.  I also would suggest continuing to read Night at your own pace.

Field Trip Reminders:

• Be to school by 5:20 at the latest.  We will be departing at 5:30 on the dot.  If you are late you will be left.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes, jeans, a t-shirt and a light jacket.  I'd also recommend bringing a towel or a blanket to sit on if we have class outside.
• Bring about twenty dollars for food.  We will go to restaurants in DC for lunch and stop in Virginia on the way home for dinner.  There is a gift shop at the museum if you'd like souvenirs.
• Bring snacks for the bus, but remember that you will need to be neat and clean on the bus.
• You'll need your copy of Night as we will be doing some study of the book.  Bring something to write with as well.  I'll provide you a notebook to record your observations during the trip.

If this isn't the last snow day I'm going to kvetch

I already freaked out once this morning, especially because we just got the schedule back to normal.  Oh well, I'll grade and readjust; here's what all of you should take care of on your new day off.

All Students:

It's important to realize that the end of the quarter will still be next week.  Many of you due to being sick or absent for another reason, and then with all the missing school for snow days, have missing assignments which must be made up ASAP.  Wednesday will provide a good day to take care of these things before next week when my availability will be limited.

AP English III

Your rough drafts are still going to be due next week and we will begin conferencing.  Outlines were ready for pickup, but not everyone did.  If you have your outline, and even if you don't, you will want to begin drafting and writing.  Remember to continue refining your topics to be more fine and specific and to push the argument deeper.  What is the big reason why this issue is so important?  Why should I as your audience be invested in this topic?  That's what you want to prove to me.

Next class will now be Wednesday; have your reading complete to the end of chapter twelve so that we can begin that analysis work.  I guess you all weren't meant to take the ACT; I still recommend that a lot of you take that exam - just for another data point, I did better on it than the SAT.

ESL English III

Continue reading The Kite Runner and complete your comic strips if you have not already submitted that.  Also, some of you need to finish your Persepolis test.  Make sure to see me this week to take care of those exams.

Honors English II

We will see each other again on Thursday and have our discussion of Chapter II as well as some time to work on the Multi-Genre Project.  Today gives you a chance to finish your first two products as well as your reading of the third genre.  As you read, take notes using the essential questions.  Many of you will see that these essential questions can be used to organize and approach the argument to your essay and structure that argument.

As a benchmark, please have everything that you've completed for your essay outline to class on Thursday.  I will want to see these, especially your argument on change!

Honors and ESL Students - The final day for permission slips is Friday.  Please make sure that you have that turned in!

Russian I

Our next class together will focus on finishing the Accusative case and doing some listening activities to prepare for the exam coming next week.  The date of the exam is now the 25th and 26th.  You will still have the weekend to prepare, but it is coming a bit earlier.  Our presentations will fall on the 21st (A-day) and 24th (B-day).  Use the time today to work on your presentations, build your vocabulary skills, complete the exercises on the prepositional case, and listen to the news about Russia.

Olympiada Team - Please still plan to meet with me this week.  Friday is best because I want to see all of you as a whole group to talk about the weekend and the fact that we're traveling next week.

Homework for B-Day Students: 3/13/2014

Honors English II

Over the weekend you all have a few tasks to accomplish before our next class.  First, you need to complete the reading of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" to the end of chapter one.  As you are reading, be sure to refer to the Essential Questions in your Multi-Genre Assignment pack to help you consider and analyze Kafka's story.  Here are some other things to consider as you are reading:

1. What is the setting of this story?  How could the setting be symbolic?
2. How well does Gregor know himself?  How well can he control himself?
3. How often does language related to prison or confinement appear?  Why this trend in the text?
4. What makes Gregor angry?  Why?
5. Develop each member of the family and his/her characterization.
6. Where is there some humor in the story?  Consider the darkness of this humor as you read.
7. What is the reaction once Gregor finally is seen by the family?
8. How does the tone shift in chapter one?  What causes these shifts?

Furthermore, be sure that you are continuing to outline for your final essay on change, related to the Multi-Genre Project.  Remember that your products and your product reflection are due this nine weeks, the final essay will not be collected until the fourth nine weeks so that we have time to develop some great pieces of writing.

Lastly, don't forget your permission slips and money.  I need those on Monday!

ESL English III

Over the weekend you will want to finish the comic strip to go along with your personal story.  Make sure to follow the rules related to which colors you can or can't use in your art.  Remember to put all of the details of your story into the images that you are creating.  We will present these on Monday as we move forward into our study of The Kite Runner.

The A-day That Shouldn't - 3/5/2014

Today we had a class day that we shouldn't have had, but that's okay.  I was still able to make it productive for all of us.  Here are your A-day reminders for tonight:

AP English III

Tonight you have several goals to meet as we move toward the weekend.  First, you need to be to the end of chapter nine in Invisible Man by Friday.  Do not procrastinate in your reading or fall behind, doing so will begin to make things very difficult for you.  On Friday you will be placed in groups which will be tasked with teaching the different chapters.  Take good annotations so that you are prepared for this work.

Furthermore don't forget that you have your research paper outlines due on 3/13; these need to reflect all of your research and development of your argument.  Be sure that your full bibliography is attached.

Lastly, you will have your first assessment on Invisible Man on 3/11 - it will cover the Prologue to the end of Chapter Nine.  Prepare yourselves!

Russian I

Today you took your quiz so you have no required homework tonight.  However, you should spend some time studying your fundamentals of Russian (cases, declensions, and conjugations) as we will spend the next few classes focusing on these elements.

Also, start speaking to your parents now about our trip next summer.  Remember that the earlier your lock in and confirm that you will be coming, the lower your overall price!