23 April - Wacky Wednesday Yet Again!

English 11

Solid work today, everyone! I hope that you enjoyed Flannery O'Connor and her spin on life in the Southern United States. Today we read "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and explored the grotesque, Southern Gothic, irony, and the idea of a ruined Christ figure. It was a heavy reading day, but these are the days that steel us for future testing.

We read the story in order to discover our devices and to explore the darker side of human society. This is definitely one of those stories that will stick with you for a while. Is Lucynell still sitting in that cafe?! We didn't have as much time at the end to discuss some of the meaning from the story, so we'll have to hold that to the end of the unit when we pull together some loose threads.

For tonight, focus on finishing your vocabulary work and your play reading. Friday's class will be focused on our Drama Projects, so having a good chunk of the reading done will help to facilitate that. Remember to use your resources to help you read. They're posted in the Unit Folder. I've posted the common version of our SOL Reading Review Bank, so be sure that your version is updated. If you haven't yet finished your MAP test, be sure to schedule time for Lion Time to get that complete. Looking forward to Friday!

21 April - Welcome Back!

English 11

Welcome back, everyone! I'm so excited to have seen so many of you today. For those who were away, know that you were missed. I look forward to seeing you, soon! Today was a bit of an everything day as we worked through some key reading tasks. I hope that everyone will note my intentionality in the next few classes. It's all about reading right now as we do our final preparations for the Reading SOL. Personally, I'm a bit anxious about this test because it's an unknown for a lot of us; however, I'm sure that if we work together to prepare with purpose, we'll do great things together! On to the recap...

We started out with some time for reading. We're in different places with our plays, which is okay, but the goal is the same. You should be done reading the majority, if not all of your play, by Friday. I've posted videos and audio books to help. In some cases, watching while reading will really help. Plays are meant to be seen, ya know. After reading, we processed by discussing and note taking. I loved the engagement and connections we drew between stories. Be sure that you're actively checking in with your Reading Review Bank assignment after every class. You should be getting more devices each day. Check in with a peer or with me if you need help.

After lunch we played a bit of a bonus round from our discussion before vocabulary. The end of the day was independent working time. If you're missing the Vocabulary Summative from Day 68, that's a major priority. You can do the test or the project, but it needs to be done. Zeroes will go in the gradebook on Friday. We also need to finish up the MAP test. If you already started it, you can probably finish it in a LT B or C. If you haven't started, you might want to reserve a whole LT for this. I appreciate that many of you made appointments.

As always, reach out with questions! I'm here to help as much as I can. We've got about three weeks until our Reading SOL and six weeks til finals...Let's finish strong!

8 April - Terrific Tuesday

English 11

You all were crushing it today in English 11. We started off by discussing author's purpose and brainstorming some of the reasons why an author would choose to keep key details like characters and settings ambiguous instead of specific. This took us into our study of John Dos Passos's U.S.A. We studied the "Prelude" to his larger novel to understand the role of the main character as a symbol for the blue collar American worker. We also discussed the stylistics in the text like listing, lower case letters, and shifts that made meaning clear.

From there, we focused on our SOL Reading Bank and processed the text. Today's text, as an allegory or short story, provided us a lot of conflict, symbolism, and character. We also were able to identify irony and tragedy as this text dealt with the tragedy of American capitalism. As you keep reading your plays, I hope that you'll take some time to process them with this tool.

We ended the day with vocabulary. The assignments will stay open for the rest of the week. If you did not finish your vocabulary assessment in class, please make that a priority. Next class we're going to take the time to complete our FCPS Reading Test. This will help me to prepare us for the Reading SOL since it tests your reading ability. Be sure to have your FCPS laptop to take the test. If you finish the test before the end of class, then you'll have time to finish any other assignments. 

17 March - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

English 11

Today was a really fun start to the week in English 11. You all gave me a lot of energy to recover from almost no sleep last night. Now I can go home and crash out on the couch. The class for today was all about poetry, poetic devices, and the way in which authors use them to shape messages. We did some learning around new literary devices (use the slides and recording to review) and we practiced by looking at some songs. I looked over your work and updated scores - if you didn't have the chance to finish during class, please get your chart and/or discussion board post in as soon as possible.

All of this practice and collaboration will take us forward into Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday we're going to do a replacement of the quiz we took last week. A few of you who missed it will get the chance to replace the missing score, others will raise their scores, and some others will confirm mastery before the test on Friday. Friday's test is almost all multiple choice. It's meant to be very similar to the SOL. In order to prepare, study your devices and practice with theme statements.

We ended the day with vocabulary and choice working time. Remember that presentations and book projects are due by the 25th. Make your appointments, submit your tasks, and let's get everything settled with style. We'll take a bit more of class on Wednesday to work on these major grades. The vocabulary words are all posted in the slide, sorry for missing them with the recording. We won't take the quiz on List Six unitl April.

As always, reach out with questions. I'm here to help!

3 September - It's Birthday Week!

English 11

Really great day today everyone! We're crushing it. Today we started off class with our new norms and guiding principles before taking time for our journal and then some time to explore some key ideas. Remember that our word bank of narrative elements are super important - it's important that you're learning this information as we move through the next few classes together. We'll have a test at the end of the unit about these ideas.

The resources to learn about the various narrative elements and the practice assignment will stay open for you through the unit. Keep researching and accessing. We paid the learning forward while we read and studied Gloria Anzaldua and the way she uses different narrative elements to engage the author and create a message. I loved what we discovered through our close reading. We finished class with five vocabulary words. Remember, when we hit fifteen you'll have a quiz.

For tonight, keep reviewing Schoology. Review the recordings and resources that I've posted. If you missed class, be sure to follow up with what you missed. Next class we'll be reading something pretty funny. I'm excited to show it to you. All the best for the afternoon. See you Thursday!

21 and 22 October - End of Quarter 1

AP Language

Today was a movie day! We watched Act III of The Crucible and understood some of the major moments of Act III as well as the way in which they connect and deepen some of Arthur Miller's larger ideas. Over the weekend your main task for me is to finish your reading of the play. Act IV is very quick. Pay attention to the ideas of reputation and confession at the end of the play.

For your project, you have a deadline on Monday/Tuesday which is your rhetorical analysis rough draft. You'll meet and share your drafts/plans/work. See the video from a few days ago for help with this.

Remember that any missing/resubmitted work is due by Friday. I'll be scoring and updating grades this weekend. If you are completing the reflection for the second timed writing, that is available at the form linked on Schoology. The reflection is due by the end of the day tomorrow - Friday the 22nd.

English 10

Today was our review day! We went over all of our concepts and ideas that are going to show up on our examination next week. Remember that you'll have grammar skills, reading and writing skills, and a bit of vocabulary with your literary devices. The exam is going to be paper/pencil as well as computer based - so bring your laptops.

Any missing or late work is due by the end of the day on Friday. Don't miss this chance to submit anything that you may need to submit. I'll still take it! You can submit on Schoology or bring me hard copies of assignments.

I've posted our review game on our Schoology page! Feel free to access the questions to help you study and review over the weekend.

The Long Weekend (Before and After)

AP Language

Today in class we had a workday in which we focused on reading/annotating/vocabulary and/or our first project of the year called "What's the Situation". Remember that the reading will be officially assigned to you later in this unit, this is just a chance for us to get ahead a bit.

Over the weekend, be sure that you've uploaded your dirty outline as well as completed any forms (syllabus signature and/or the student questionnaire). Next week we'll have additional time to work on our project in class. Your project is due at the end of next week.

We've got some diagnostics coming to us around the corner. So far so good in AP Language land! Keep pushing and striving.

English 10

Today in class we started our first country focus - South Africa. We began by looking at a clip from a movie about South Africa called Sarafina, and then we did some research on South African culture. We learned a lot about the culture and especially about the strife in South Africa and the various examples of culture clash. From there we read. Our story we're reading right now is "The Train from Rhodesia" by Nadine Gordimer.

To finish the story, complete your story notes. Remember to note new vocabulary words, draw the setting to the best of your ability, and fill out the column notes based on your reading. Turn this in to me next class!

Blue Day - 5 November - Hybrid Learning Begins

Dear Students! 

Thanks for being with me on this journey as we figure out what it is to learn in school and at home at the same time. If you watch the news, I hear that we'll be on Channel 4 today this evening, so keen an eye out for your English teacher tonight...notes and updates for classes are below.

English 10

What a great day today in English 10 focusing on literary devices. We focused today on six key devices which will all probably show up on your SOL Reading test next year. We then did a scavenger hunt in Persepolis to find these devices.

Over the weekend, be sure that your scavenger hunt is turned in as well as the Day 16 Assignment. If you've finished that, then go on to the brainstorm for the final project, but know that we'll spend time on that in class next week - so you don't need to get it done now.

Have a great weekend! Come to Office Hours on Monday if you need anything!

AP Language

Well - we survived our first hybrid class! I was glad to have you all along for the ride. Today we had a great discussion on symbols and discovered wonderful connections between four key symbols. Keep looking at the way in which these symbols interact and develop as we move through the text.

Over the weekend, focus on vocabulary cards and your next chunk of reading (all the way to Chapter 27). There will be more time for group contracts and group tasks next week. The next chapter set is an adventure called "The Grangerford Event" - there's a lot of satire here, so keep those eyes peeled. Look out for new characters too - lots of routes for satire coming into this text in this section.

As always, please reach out for any questions.

Homework for Monday - 11 February

AP English III

Today in class we got a lot done. There was an overview of Romanticism and Transcendentalism including the five tenets of the philosophy as well as a bit of historical information related to Emerson and Thoreau. From there we looked at art before delving into proper research questions and the synthesis assignment.

By the end of today's class you should have a basic understanding of Transcendentalism and Romanticism. This week you'll be reading R.W. Emerson's "The Over Soul" and annotating it in order to better understand the key ideas of this philosophy. As I said in class, Emerson is defining a concept. Pay attention to the way that he uses definitions, exemplification (examples of the concept), and compare/contrast in order to help his reader understand exactly what the "over soul" is. We'll work through this text on Friday.

On Wednesday your novels, as well as any remaining work on Beloved is due. While you are going through your registration information I'll be scoring novels. Make sure that you've turned in your 1Q1P either electronically or on paper. We also have a few missing projects/presentations.

The only other thing that we have this week are our revised research topics and arguments. You must do research in order to write a proper research question (the irony, I know). By the end of this week you should have a good understanding of your question, scope, focus, and argument. I'm available for any help you may need with this task.

English IV

Today we took our vocabulary test on Unit 16 of WordSkills and then did a bit of a review on figurative language, focused on similes and metaphors. From there, it was time for creativity as we wrote about different people, paintings, and sites around the world using similes and metaphors.

As we go through the rest of the week, we'll start to wrap up our poetry unit pretty quickly. I've gone through and graded your Poet Research Projects. If you are not happy with your grade please redo the project and include the work that you were missing before. It's important that you have a poem you have found for this project. The final part of this assignment is to write about the meaning of a poem - to present your own interpretation of it as we've been doing in class. We'll be working through that work all this week!

Homework for A Day - 15 January 2019

AP English III

Today in class we focused on our projects and the AP Examination before doing a quick check-in on some major ideas and trends in Chapter Nineteen. Here are your reminders as we move forward to next class.

Make sure that you've read and annotated Chapters 20-22 for next class. These chapters present basically the same content in three different ways, through three voices. Look at what makes these voices different. What does each talk about? Why is this important? As you read, don't forget to go back and consider Chapter Nineteen with the notes from today's class.

Additionally, remember that we'll be doing another multiple choice section next class. Practice with the skills and strategies today, and don't forget to start learning any terms from that sheet which may be new or unfamiliar to you.

Lastly, the dates for presenting your final project will be the 28th and 30th of January. Remember that you'll only have about two minutes to present. The final product is due that Friday, February 1.

English IV

Today in class we focused on learning some new literary devices often seen in poetry before going on to trying our hand at making or interpreting the devices. Many of these literary devices are used in poetry as well as in other types of text, and I would bet that you'll see these devices referenced on your NCFE at the end of the year. After that, we went back to our documentary on slam and performance poetry.

Next class we'll be looking at studying poems and identifying these various literary devices in them. It is also important to think to yourself about the way that these devices are used by authors to put together their themes or main ideas. Take a look at your poet's poem and see if these devices are being used to support the theme.

Homework for A-Day Students - 13 November

AP English III

I think that today's class led to some big breakthroughs about writing and completing projects. It's important not to wait until the last minute and to ask questions along the way. If the answer you get doesn't satisfy you, then you need to ask again until you understand what's expected. Additionally, it's important to consider the specific task that is being asked of you - if you don't accomplish the task, you'll get no points. I know that based on today's class that many of you will be able to accomplish a rhetorical analysis next class - showing improvement will result in a change of your scores on your website projects.

Outside of developing your skills with rhetorical analysis we have some poems. I want you to look at three or four of the poems that you have in your packet. All are from African American authors through different historical periods. Can you see similar ideas between Dubois and these authors? How? Where are they developing his idea related to the veil and double consciousness? Where do we see issues of racism and prejudice and the effects these have on people?

Next class we'll have our timed writing as well as a bit of a discussion related to the veil and double consciousness which will be helpful before reading James Baldwin.

English IV

Today we got through a lot of review of A Doll's House as well as the beginning of Act III. We also reviewed our vocabulary skills as well as some significant literary devices that we've encountered so far in the play. At the end of class we spent time reviewing our final project on the play. Next class we'll use the film to understand the interaction between Kristine and Nils as well as jump into the project more thoroughly. Be ready for our eventual test (Acts I-III) and for days to focus on our projects in class.

Homework for A-Day - 5 September 2018

AP English III

Sorry that we didn't get to touch on the outlines that you built around Section II of In Cold Blood. Please hang on to this work as we will likely take a look at it next class or next week as we spend time working on outlining and writing skills. Today you all got some great direct instruction in writing an argument, particularly on structure, organization, and thesis/argument statement writing. Start to apply this now to your outlines. Begin the revision process.

Next week will will have a rough draft workshop - more instructions will come on this Friday and Tuesday. You should work through half of your outline and turn it into a rough draft. To me, it makes most sense to do your introduction paragraph with your argument as well as a topic or two of the body.

Next class we'll be focused on Section III of In Cold Blood. Be sure that you have updated your vocabulary bookmarks with words from Sections I, II, and III - have pages numbers and synonyms. We'll be going on to the next phase of vocabulary work on Friday, and you'll need full bookmarks to do that.

English IV

Thank you all so much for the amazing celebration! I'm going to remember this for a long, long time! We even found time to do some work! Bonus! Today we were able to review grammar rules around apostrophes and start understanding how word families work. Remember - if the words share a root, then they share a meaning.

For tonight, take a look at your vocabulary notes and your literary terms from "I Go Along". We'll be reading more of the story on Friday, and doing some work about ourselves.