2 November

English 10

Welcome to Q2. This is a quick one because of all of our holidays built in, so it'll be important to stay focused and make up for any lost time. 

A very good day in English 10 in which we did a lot. Next class we'll be kicking off the quarter with our first major writing assignment - our heroes/villains essay. We've planned, prepared, and written, so we're ready for Friday. Come armed with your work up to this point. If you were absent for our workshops, use the recordings and handouts to catch yourselves up. I'm also available after school. 

Our next unit starts next week! I'm excited to take you to one of my favorite parts of the word, Russia and Eastern Europe. Be ready for the next phase of our adventure.

Homework for B-Day Students: Tuesday, 2nd of May

AP English III

Next class we will have our last AP Multiple Choice practice to prepare for the examination. It'll be another full-length test from a previous year. To prepare for this make sure that you have reviewed your previous multiple choice practices and begun to fully learn some of the vocabulary that may have caused you to stumble before.

Additionally, you may want to continue working on your research/close reading of your amendments to the US Constitution. We will be closing that assignment on Thursday and I'll be checking your work to prepare for your timed writing.

English II

Good work today finishing up Spirited Away.  Next class we will continue to read "Rama and Ravana in Battle" as well as get started on our final writing assignment - a character analysis!

Homework for the Break - A Day Students - 22 December

Happy Break!  I'm so excited to sleep in tomorrow and have a real breakfast!  That's how I know break has begun.  Here is what you need to accomplish over the time away from school.

Advanced Russian

Soon after we return we will have our semester exam.  The exam will cover everything that we've learned in the first semester including the one-stem verb system, review of case declensions, and vocabulary from Chapters One through Four for all students.  Beyond that, Russian 2 students will have information related to counting, numbers, and time expressions in Russian.  Russian 3 students will see elements related to modal expressions, imperatives, elements of vagueness and sentence combining.  Russian 4 will need to be skilled about the new information related to verbs of placement, the interrogative particle, and other information from Chapter Twelve.

Spend this time over the break preparing and studying daily.  I've been doing a lot in these last classes to point out a lot of the gaps you have in your knowledge.  Now that you have the time, it's important to focus on these gaps.

Also, if you are missing your writing project or any other grades (other than the viewing on Night Swallows) then make sure that's ready for me when we return.

Use these resources to help you study and prepare over break:

UCLA Online Russian Class with Exercises and Review

Overview of Russian Grammar - Lessons and Vocabulary

Russian I

Over the break you should focus on finalizing your learning of verb conjugations and case declensions.  This is so important to the rest of your learning in Russian.  Use the online resources above to help you study and review.  There's some great stuff up there to help you review.

You should be able to complete the declension chart I'd given you today in class as well as any of the exercises left.  We'll also have our exam on Unit Two after we return from break.

English II

Over the break if you would like to work on your hero narratives or on the extra credit project for Persepolis then please do.  We'll be finishing the hero narratives and the larger unit on Persepolis soon after we return from the break.

Homework for the Break - B Day Edition - 21 December 2016

Happy Solstice Everyone!  It's the longest night of the year tonight.  From here on out winter is only ending.  Here are your reminders as we are going into the break.

AP English III

Make sure that you have completed your reading and annotating of The Crucible by this point.  You should spend time over the break reviewing your notes and your reading to prepare for our final unit exam on this play.  That assessment will happen not too long after we return from break.

The major priority that you have over break is to work on your drama projects.  You should decide on your play (don't forget to make your post in the previous post to answer that question), read your play thoroughly, and select a monologue to study.  With your monologue, you will need to memorize, annotate, and analyze.  Put forward all of the skills you have learned with analysis as you do this work.

Ms. McCormick and I will be available when we return to review your work and give you feedback.

English II

Over the break if you would like to there is some extra credit that you can complete.  We have not read many chapters of Persepolis.  Over the break you can read these chapters and complete a writing assignment for extra credit.  For the extra credit you'll be either doing a pamphlet on Persepolis or writing a letter to the author, Marjane Satrapi.  Follow the instructions for this assignment and have it ready the day you return.

You can also spend time over break working on your hero narratives.  We'll finish these when we return from the holiday, but it may be a good idea to finish your rough draft of your comic now.

Homework for B Day Students - 19 December

AP English III

Happy Monday!  Tonight you have two things to do, and one of them is right here.  First, read Act IV of The Crucible.  As you read, finish the tracking of your character and consider the end of the play. Is it satisfying?  How does it finish the allegory?  In what ways is symbolism used at the end?

Also, please post a comment to this post which states which play you've chosen for your project as well as a reason why.  Your comment may not show up immediately, but that's okay.  You should start reading for your Drama Project.

English II

For homework tonight you should do one of the following tasks.  First, you can choose to work on your hero narrative.  Keep putting together your rough draft and make sure that you've finished the planning sheet as well as the paragraph in your journals.  You should finish the rough draft so that we can start putting together the final draft soon.

The second thing that you can work on is your essay revisions.  You received back your final drafts with feedback.  If you would like to, you can work on these further in order to earn back points and make your writing even stronger.

Homework for B Day Students - 7 December

AP English III

Congratulations on completing your third timed writing.  From here on out it's just forty minutes for the timed writing because that's what you'll have on the actual exam.

For tonight, delve in to The Crucible - make sure that you have read Act One and thoroughly annotated.  Don't forget to follow your character thoroughly as you read and annotate.

Also, keep an eye out for vocabulary.

English II

Tonight you have a one paragraph response which answers the question - Who is your hero and why?  The hero you have does not need to be a person that you have met, nor does it even need to be an actual person (Batman, perhaps?).  No matter whom you choose, make sure that you have a clear topic sentence, clear examples, explanation of those examples and a conclusion.