Happy October! Blue Day - 10/1 - End of Week 4

Time certainly flies when you're busy and having fun! Congratulations on making it to the end of the first month of virtual school. We've been adjusting and supporting each other through it - and I'm a fan of all of that. Below are your reminders moving into the weekend.

Please, mark your calendars! Book collection for my classes will be on October 12 at Fairfax High School. Remember this is your time to collect your novels for the year. Please see the Book Form (Day 5) and register your preference if you haven't already!

AP Language

Today was a day to brush off our close reading and annotating skills as we investigated the conclusion of Occom's "Narrative". This was a great way for us to pair our work with rhetoric and the rhetorical situation as we were able to dig deep and explore his message to his audience. 

Over the weekend your priority is Mini-Project 1. If you have questions or need a review, feel free to email me/share a draft with me and ask for feedback/or attend Office Hours on Monday.

The other items hovering on us are our first vocabulary cards - use Google Slides and follow the template on Google Classroom. Our revisions of our diagnostics - next week we'll discuss structure and organization. 

Lastly, the reading which will be discussed next week is Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates." It's available on page 267 in the textbook. This is low priority right now, but it's our next text to consider if you'd like to get ahead.

English 10

Today we had our timed writing in class to finish our writing diagnostic. Remember that you're getting four grades on this assignment - one for your argument/thesis, one for the examples, one for explanation, and one for style. I hope that you were able to use your planning and earlier work to be ready and feel prepared for our task today. If you were not able to complete the planning steps, you will be able to get partial credit based on your essay that you wrote today. Also remember that you can redo this essay if you're not happy with your score.

Our other task for class today and on to the weekend is to work with Desmond Tutu's speech from our textbook on forgiveness in South Africa. Remember that the questions and tasks in the textbook are there to help you but aren't required. To get credit, complete Homework Assignment 4. Interact with one of the two choice activities at the end of the speech - there's an interview and a Google Earth field trip. Then, submit the South Africa reflection.

Be sure that if you're missing anything from before that it's turned in. We're at our mid-point, and I don't want anyone to fall behind.

30 September - Grey Day

Good Afternoon Everyone - 

Reminders and takeaways for AP Language and English 10 are the same as listed below. We are all focused on reading and being critical readers who ask questions to find information in texts. Use the graphic organizers and the strategies we're learning in class to help you break down and find meaning in the works we study. I look forward to our essay next class (English 10) and our continued work with close reading and Native American literature (AP Language).

AP Research

Today was our day to begin giving and receiving feedback with our research questions. By next class you should complete the graphic organizer and give feedback to your peers to aid in the development of their work. Remember that this process is full of starts, stops, and redirections - especially now. Lean in to the messiness of it all. If you're feeling that there's a lack in a particular place, use that as a way to focus your reading of sources. If you can't think of variables, consider using sources in your Body of Knowledge as models. Then consider the feasibility of using a similar variable for your own investigation.

On Friday we'll have individual conferences. You'll also have time to continue revising, reading, and giving feedback to each other on your Research Questions v 1.0.

Kicking off Week 4 - Blue Day

AP Language

A great day in AP Language filled with reading, discussion, and reflecting. As always, I love seeing your thoughts and opinions related to our study.

Use your PearDeck notes or the slides in class to help you as you revise and continue to read the texts in our class. The approach to finding rhetorical appeals and considering the rhetorical situation is a great strategy for you to use as you read non-fiction and sort through the various ways that authors make their arguments complete.

For tonight, our reading is Samson Occom's From "A Short Narrative of My Life". It begins on page 226 in the textbook. As you read, consider his audience for the text and the way in which he appeals to them. Think about when this was written and who was buying books at that time. 

Don't forget about your mini-project due on October 5. If you have any questions, please let me know. Begin the revision process on your outlines - you have ample time to work on them and resubmit for a new score.

English 10

Today we began our study of South Africa by learning about its history and starting our reading of Nadine Gordimer's "The Train from Rhodesia".

Tonight, you should use your story map to finish reading and studying the story. Pay attention to the way that the woman and her husband get into an argument. Think about how the argument could be symbolic. What does the woman realize at the end of the story? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Don't forget that next class is our in-class essay. Be sure that Homework 2 and 3 are done to help you be ready - the topic of the essay is competition.

Please let me know if there are any questions or concerns - enjoy your afternoon!