Homework for 2/25 and 2/26

First I want to take a second to make mention of progress reports.  Right now, for a lot of you, progress reports are not very accurate due to the fact that a lot of you are missing work from being absent or from being on a school related trip.  Please come to see me this week about these assignments.  As I get them graded, your Jupiter access will get updated.

Here are your reminders for tonight:

AP English IV

Tonight I would like for you to read through to the end of Act II, Scene 2.  Keep track of your vocabulary notes as we will begin to develop these words into a more coherent approach to Shakespeare's language next class.  I especially want you to look at Act I, Scene 5 as this is a very important scene in understanding some of the larger comedy at work in the play.

AP English III

Next class you all have your term papers due for me.  You will be turning in the following:

1. Your final draft with cover sheet filled out, the draft itself, and your rubric.
2. Your draft from peer editing.
3. Your proposal with my feedback.
4. Any outlines or other documents used to prepare your final draft

Along with this you also want to bring in your copy of Invisible Man.  We're going to start reading on Wednesday/Thursday.

English IV

Tonight you should spend some time studying for your grammar test as well as completing your Act II viewing guide and worksheet.  Hopefully you were able to finish taking notes for most of the questions.  Be sure to pay attention to the questions marked with a ** as you need to answer these questions in complete sentences, expressing a full idea. 

Homework for the Weekend - 2/21 and 2/22

I hope that all we have tomorrow is a delay and not a full cancellation.  No matter what the weather has in store for us, here is what you need to make sure you complete before I see you again.

AP English IV

Today you need to continue moving forward into Act I of Twelfth Night.  I want you to read to the end of scene four, paying particular attention to characters, conflicts, and significant topics as you move through.  I believe that you're really going to like this play, so get to know the characters well to help begin your appreciation.  Also, be sure to keep track of vocabulary as you read.  Shakespeare is rife with new words and expressions for you.  Look at what he's saying and pick up some new material.

AP English III

This weekend you have two major priorities.  The first is your final assessment on The Crucible.  With your partner you are to present a dialogue of no more than three to four minutes; as you present your dialogue, I will be grading you on your tone, your creation of character, and your blocking and interaction with your partner as you speak.  You should practice a lot to make this fluid and dramatic.  Also, you will submit a brief paragraph to me stating your dialogue's importance to the overall play.  Other than this, you need to revise your papers.  Make sure that you work hard to get this major assignment completed. 

English IV

Over the weekend, now that you have your categories, I would like for you to begin planning your presentation.  Make sure that if you need to do additional research that you get that done.  We won't have many more days in the library to prepare.

Homework for Tuesday/Wednesday - 2/19 and 2/20

So, we're settling down into a nice long stretch of school before Spring Break.  Make sure that you realize that at this point in the year you're running a marathon, not a sprint.  Think about all of the things that you have left to accomplish and don't allow yourself to burn out too quickly.  Here are your notes to prepare you for your next class.

AP English IV

You've survived your first test.  This was definitely more of a skills based examination than a content based test - I look forward to grading these and getting them back to you by the start of next week.  If you were absent please see me ASAP to schedule a time to make up the test.  For tonight, you don't have any homework - you worked hard enough in class.  Just be sure that you come to class with a copy of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night as we will begin our study of this play!

AP English III

There's a lot for you all to accomplish tonight, please let me know if you have any questions about any of the following:

1. Your first priority is to finish your Crucible synthesis assignment as well as your questions tied to the document packet.  Remember that the questions must be answered in complete sentences using specific details from the documents.  You will submit both assignments to me at the beginning of class on Thursday/Friday.
2. You have a final assessment coming up on The Crucible.  Please be reviewing the text and preparing yourself for this.
3. Your final drafts of your term papers are due on the 27th and 28th.  Use the rubric to prepare yourself and tweak your draft to make it sing.  Feel free to ask for additional help if you need it, but remember that I will not answer questions about this assignment starting on the 26th.
4. If you haven't already done so - get a copy of Invisible Man.  You're going to want to get this book as it's probably one of the best books we'll read all year.

English IV

Continue working on your research projects and pulling together information.  If you didn't get your cards checked today make sure that you have them ready for Thursday/Friday. 

Homework for the Long Weekend and Monday - 2/14 and 2/18

I hope that all of you enjoy your Friday off this week.  Please think of me while I'm here leading some staff development and working hard!  Here are your reminders and announcements.

AP English IV

Your biggest task for the weekend is to spend your time preparing for your exam.  I think that one of the best ways to prepare is to practice annotating and pulling out meaning quickly since you will have two timed writings ahead of you.  Use what we did today in class but then also use your Perrine book to get more opportunities for analysis.  You will have a prose analysis and a poetry analysis.  So spend time looking at both.

Also, use your Perrine books to look at examples of explications.  From pages forty to forty-nine you have several different examples of prose and poetry explications which you can use to look at proper structure and analysis techniques.

AP English III

This weekend your biggest priority is your term papers.  Next class we will be spending approximately half the class workshopping drafts and preparing to move on to our final drafts.  Please make sure that you are constantly reviewing and revising your argument to make it as strong as you can.  I will be sharing the rubric which I will use on this assignment with you next class, which will help you create your final product.

Finally, your synthesis related to the primary source documents from the Salem Witch Trials will be due on the 21st and 22nd.  You will turn in your argumentative editorial as well as your complete answers to the questions.  This is a change of date from earlier!

English IV

Now that you know about your notecard structure for researching I would like for you to continue researching over the weekend.  We will be spending more time in the library next week to continue this process, but the more time you spend working on this at home, the better you'll be.  Remember that you will be having several checkpoints on this project.  Keep up and ask questions to make up the work if needed.

Homework for the Weekend and Monday - 2/8 and 2/11

Students - Here are your reminders/announcements for the weekend or Monday.  Whichever you see fit.

AP English IV

This weekend you're reading John Updike's "A&P" as our final story in our short stories and poetry unit.  You also may find it useful to begin preparing for your final exam in this unit by reviewing the other texts that we've studied.  More information coming on your test soon.

AP English III

You all need to finish the reading of The Crucible this weekend as well as devote some time to your papers.  My suggestion with your papers is that you spend the time on your outline so that the actual body of the paper is much easier to compose.  Put your time in the beginning so that the ending goes more smoothly.  Several of you have started to conference with me, I invite more of you to do that too!

English IV

No homework this weekend - if Jupiter Grades indicates a missing assignment for you then you will want to spend this time getting that made up.

Homework for 2/6 and 2/7

Here are your reminders for tonight.  I'm not going to be here for the B-day classes - so if any of you have any specific questions please be sure to e-mail me or see me on Friday.

AP English IV

Next class we are going to take a full length AP Multiple Choice exam.  To prepare for this, I would recommend that you spend time taking a look at our previous practice sets to look over question types and the reasons why you got questions wrong before.  You'll have sixty minutes to complete this in class on Friday - come prepared.  

Also, you'll need to read Wilfred Owens' "Anthem for Doomed Youth" - it's our bridge text to our final short story in this unit.

AP English III

You all are also going to have a full length AP Multiple Choice exam next class.  You've had a lot of practice sets, so be sure that you use those to review.  Look at question types, review your terms and tone words, and be sure that you're always thinking!  Outside of this you need to put in some good work on your essay outlines.  I would like to remind you that next week is still open for conferences and toward the end of next week you should have at least half of your draft done.  Work hard, ask for help if you need it.

English IV

You all tested today, so no homework tonight.  We'll continue with Act II next class, it's just going to get zanier from here!

Freshman Focus

With the news article you all read in class today with the substitute you have a reflection to complete for homework.  Please make sure that you follow those guidelines on the assignment so that you get full credit for this assignment.  Have it ready to turn in on Monday!

Homework for 2/4 and 2/5

Students - Here are your assignments or reminders for tonight.  Be aware that I will not be in on Thursday due to the fact that I'll be at the North Carolina State Swimming Championship.  You'll have a substitute who will take you through your assignments for the day.

AP English IV

Tonight for homework you've got a good amount of reading to do, let me outline that for you here.  First, you need to finish reading Graham Greene's "The Destructors" - you have chapters two, three, and four left.  When you finish the story, consider questions three, four, five, six and eight.  I'm hoping that these will be discussion questions for us to work through in class on Wednesday.  Furthermore, I would like for you to also read Hopkins' "Spring" and Heaney's "Digging" available in the Perrine book.

Finally, as a spot check, I will be looking at vocabulary logs on Wednesday.  Please make sure that you have a few words from each of the texts that has been assigned so far and that you have defined or marked synonyms for all of those words.  Be sure that your finished log is with you on Wednesday to be checked.

AP English III

Tonight I would like for you to read George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" which is available in 50 Essays or at the following link. When you read this piece I want you to think about the ideas of conformity, free will, and power which Orwell works through pretty thoroughly in this text.  We'll do some analysis, multiple choice work, and some connection building between this text and The Crucible.  Any connections you can make in advance would be welcome. 

Furthermore, you should review Act III so that you are clear with that content.  We will study this act next class by looking at the film - lots to do there.  Lastly, please make sure that you are working on your papers/outlines.  This week should be the week for outlines, by the end of next week, you will want to be to drafting.  Please let me know if you need help or if you would like to conference.

English IV

Next class you have a test on Act I of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  Here is a rundown of what you will need to do in each section of the test:

• Section One:  Character identifications - know characteristics, behaviors, and names of characters, know their conflicts, understand their importance.
• Section Two:  Translation - be able to put Shakespeare's language into your own words so that you can show me you know what he's saying.
• Section Three:  Reading Comprehension - you'll get a bit of text from Act I, Scene 5 and I will ask you several reading comprehension questions based on that text.
• Section Four:  Grammar Corrections
• Section Five:  Short Answer - the topics will be comedy and love - you will need to use textual evidence to make your answer clear.

Homework for the Weekend 1/31 and 2/1

Sorry for not posting the announcements and reminders yesterday.  I had meetings during my planning and after school, so this just slipped my mind.  Here are your reminders to prepare for the weekend.

AP English IV

Over the weekend your main priority is to complete your poetry projects, which will be submitted to me on Monday.  During Monday's class, each of you will come to the front to present your memorized poem - as a class we will clap - you'll then turn in your work and we'll go from there.  The rest of class will be spent doing a read aloud/think aloud of another short story, so Monday will be a pretty relaxed day.

AP English III

This weekend you have two main things to occupy your time.  First, you need to read Act III of The Crucible.  This is the climax of the play and also provides a lot of important development of key motifs and ideas that we've seen Miller establish in the first two acts of the play.  Remember to add to your annotations and start to notice how particular characters are changing.  Be sure that you note why they change, to and from what they change, and if that change is particularly significant.

Besides reading you should also be working on your outlines.  Now that you have my feedback on your proposals you should begin fine tuning your argument and finding your specific textual support which you will use in your essay.  I fully expect that next week you will all want to begin conferring with me about your papers and your outlines -- be sure that before you come in to meet me that you have completed a full outline with citations and that you are coming with questions.

English IV

You have no official homework this weekend but you will want to start to prepare for your test on Act I of Twelfth Night.  I would focus this weekend on studying characters and what we have learned about them thus far.  If you missed any reading in class I would get those notes from me or from a classmate so that you can begin to prepare.

Freshman Focus

You have no homework this weekend.

Homework for All Classes - 1/25 and 1/28

Early Release because of SNOW!?  That's the best thing ever!  Well, I would have liked full classes, but we can make up the time throughout the next few days.  Here are your notes for the weekend or Monday night to prepare you for Tuesday/Wednesday.

AP English IV

Over the weekend I'd like for you to read Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" from your Perrine book.  As you read the story, think especially about connections to O'Connor -- the stories mirror each other in a few ways which I hope we'll be able to tease out in our discussion and analysis.  As a note, we've only got two more stories to read after this one so you may find it useful to begin to review the other texts that we've studied so far to prepare you for a comprehensive exam on this short literature unit.

Don't forget about your poetry projects -- they'll be due a week from Monday.  Nobody has really come to see me yet, so I assume that everything is going swimmingly with these.

AP English III

Over the weekend I'll be reviewing your paper proposals and returning those to you on Tuesday/Wednesday - make sure that if you did not get this assignment submitted on time that you get this turned in ASAP, don't fall behind.  E-mail is an acceptable option for this assignment as speed is of the essence.

To prepare for our next class please read ALL of Act II of The Crucible.  Pay special attention to the development of John and Elizabeth Proctor as characters - we're really going to get to know them in Act II.  Also, we will spend a bit of time reviewing Act I since we were rushed today.  Lastly, please complete a works cited entry for your texts - we'll spend some time talking about MLA formatting on Tuesday/Wednesday.

English IV

You have no required homework, but if you are missing an assignment you need to get it turned in.  The only assignment at this point which you can be missing is the vocabulary assignment for Twelfth Night.  For this, find five words from our reading so far which are new to you.  Once you have those words, note the act, scene, and line number next to the word.  Then, define the word, give two synonyms and finally create a sentence which uses the word with context.  Don't just drop the word in, but show me in your sentence that you know what it means.

Homework for All Classes - 1/23 and 1/24

It's time for us to begin our long stretch to Spring Break.  Here are your reminders to prepare for Friday/Monday's class.

AP English IV

That Flannery O'Connor - what a great author, right?  Tonight for homework you've got two poems to read in your Perrine books:  Lucille Clifton's "in the inner city" and Wallace Stevens' "Sunday Morning".  The Clifton poem acts as a really excellent counterpoint to O'Connor's "Good Country People"; the Stevens poem is just a really beautiful one.  Remember to read the questions after the poem with the Stevens piece as they will really help you to understand what's going on in the poem, especially with the structure.

Also, next class we're going to keep looking at our timed writing tasks.  You might find it helpful to look at all of the work we've done with analyzing poetry to prepare for this.

AP English III

Today's discussion was really productive and I hope it served you well in opening up your approach to The Crucible.  Tonight you need to finish reading Act I of the play -- remember to consider the major motifs and concepts in the play and to think about their meaning or importance in the text as you move forward.  Also remember that drama is all about conflict.  On your back cover, make sure that you identify the significant conflicts as you see them to help you keep track of the various plot lines.

In addition your paper proposals are due next class.  In your proposal you should tell me the following information:

1.  As you see it, what is your argument at this point?  What are you going to prove in this paper?
2.  Which texts are going to be used?  How will you use them?
3.  Do you have any questions for me?

Consider this a pre-outline, we'll make them more developed and specific as we move to the next step.

English IV

You need to finish your vocabulary development activity for Act I, Scenes 1 and 2 if you did not finish that work in class.  If you finished that work, you have no homework for tonight. 

Homework for 1/15 and 1/16

Sorry for not getting this up earlier; it was just one of those things that I allowed to slip my mind in the mix of everything else.  Here are your reminders for our next class.  A-day students, I'll see you on Thursday.  B-day students, I won't be seeing you until after the four day weekend.

AP English IV

Tonight you have two goals to accomplish.  First you need to study for your Wordskills exam on unit two.  Ms. Rubenstein left me the test and stressed the importance of giving it to all of you for this quarter.  The test is scheduled to take the first thirty to forty minutes of our class.  Following your preparation for the test, secondly, you need to read Philip Larkin's "Church Going" and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "Constantly Risking Absurdity".  I would also recommend that you review all of the poems that we have read so far as we will be having a Poetry Extravaganza on Thursday!

AP English III

Thank you all for your dedication to your website projects.  Grades for these as well as comments will be available for you on Jupiter Grades.  There are a few things that you all need to accomplish before our next class.  First, finish reading Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" for our next class.  I hope that all of you find the story interesting and intriguing.  It's one of my favorites.  I'm looking forward to our discussion to see what you all got from it.  Also, I would like to remind you that we'll be starting our study of The Crucible on Thursday/Tuesday so you will want your copy of that text if you intend to purchase.  I do have copies which you can borrow in the room.

Finally, this nine weeks you are going to write two papers for me.  I would like for you to get started on this first paper today.  You should begin brainstorming your argument and which texts (one major and one minor) you would like to use for this assignment.  I would start this process by considering which of the major texts we read has been your favorite and then go from there to your argument and other text.  I'll be giving out more particulars on this paper next class.

English IV

Those of you who got your papers in have no homework tonight.  If you did not submit your paper today then your last chance is Thursday.  I would like to remind you that you did have a lot of time to get this put together - and I made myself available outside of class for any assistance.  My grades are due on Friday - so I am under a time crunch and need these papers submitted.

Freshman Focus

If you and your partner did not present your lesson today you will be expected to present on Tuesday. I certainly hope that Tuesday goes better than today.  Expect to have new seats.  

Homework for 1/10 and 1/11

AP English III:

You have a few things to work on tonight as we move toward finishing the quarter.  First, I would like to remind you to finish The Catcher in the Rye.  We'll have probably our final discussion on the novel on Thursday/Friday before moving forward to begin our next major piece.  In connection to finishing Catcher I'd like for you to read the piece called "Why Don't We Complain" by William F. Buckley.  This can be found in 50 Essays or at the following link.  Read this thoroughly and annotate it.  Pay particular attention to the argument that Buckley presents and the way in which he goes about proving that argument.

Lastly, papers.  I've been seeing a lot of you this week to conference.  Please keep coming to see me.  I like that I can see a lot of movement with these papers and from talking to a lot of you, it seems as though you're really getting into this new kind of academic writing.  We will continue this type of writing with not a lot of pause as we will shortly begin working on our research papers.

English I:

On Thursday/Friday we will have our quarterly vocabulary quiz on words from Animal Farm - please use the list that I gave you last week to prepare for this.  We will also be having our Animal Farm unit examination on Tuesday/Wednesday of next week.  You should all begin preparing for this if you haven't yet done so.  I'll be giving you a study guide on Thursday/Friday that you can use over the weekend to prepare.

As well for all of you, papers.  Please keep writing and revising.  A lot of you are coming to see me, which is a really good thing.  I'll be collecting your final drafts next week.  Don't miss an opportunity to show how your skills have improved this year.

Homework for 1/6 and 1/9

A few things to accomplish over the weekend.  Spend some time to get prepared and make sure that you're ending the quarter on a really good note.

AP English III:

You're all at very different places in the drafting process which is fine.  You have all of the next two weeks to complete drafting.  Remember that you have your rubrics that will be used to grade the essays.  This should be by your side as you draft so that you know what you're going to be scored on.  Please try to see me next week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) after school for conferencing on your papers.

Over the weekend you also need to finish reading The Catcher in the Rye - this should be a quick finish for you as the ending of the book moves quite rapidly.

Lastly, you need to know that you will have another timed writing soon.  It will be an analysis.  Please review your notes on crafting a good analysis so that you are prepared for this timed writing adventure.

English I:

Your biggest priority this weekend is to finish your propaganda homework assignment.  This assignment is due on Tuesday/Wednesday.  Remember that you need to turn in not only your poster but also your worksheet with all seven slogans on it.  Also, Honors kids, remember that you have an additional writing assignment to complete with this poster as well.  The other major priority you have to is to begin revising your essays.  Remember that the essays will be due on the 19th (A-day) and 20th (B-day).

Next week you have your vocabulary quiz.  This will happen on Thursday/Friday.  We also have that Animal Farm examination.  I know that there's a lot to get done here at the end of the quarter, but I'm sure that you all can rise to the challenge.  Please be sure to see me after school to get help on your essays or anything that you're working on for me.

Final Break Update

All,

I'm excited about getting back into the swing of things with all of you tomorrow!  I've just made my final edit of the Google documents for tonight and I won't be posting new comments until tomorrow.

Enjoy the last night of your break.  Make sure that you all (Freshmen and Juniors) have made a lot of progress on your papers - draft workshops are the 6th for A-day and the 9th for B-day.  I'm available before that for those of you who may want to finish things a bit early, perhaps.

Also, don't forget about those novels we've been studying.  Juniors, you have a reading goal to meet.  Freshmen, you should have spent some time reviewing the story over the break.  We will have an exam very soon on Animal Farm and allegories as a whole.

See you in the morning!

AP Term Papers - End of Break

I'm seeing a lot of you working on your papers which makes me happy, but many of you have really procrastinated on this assignment.  I just finished my read through for today and I saw a lot of you working while I was reviewing what was up from earlier.  I'll do another read tomorrow afternoon with comments for all.

I'm going to make myself available on Wednesday afternoon this week for any individual conferencing that you may need before draft workshop on Friday/Monday.  I'll also be available after school Monday of next week to provide extra assistance.

See everyone on Tuesday.

A Friendly Reminder

I hope that all of you are having a really restful and enjoyable break.  Remember, especially AP kids, that you do have essays to do.  From what I'm seeing on Google Docs, some of you haven't taken a look at your online document for a almost two weeks.  Don't forget that you do have a draft due shortly after we return from break.  This is a challenging paper, do not wait until the last minute and then expect a lot of in-depth last minute assistance.

I look forward to seeing what you all are coming up with, but please do start sharing and working.

Homework for Winter Break - Get it Done!

Here are your guidelines for Winter Break.  You do not need to complete any of this work for Tuesday.  On Tuesday we're going to have a nice relaxing day of films and review.  A smooth transition to the break!  Remember that it's a B-day when we get back.  B-day students, we'll be having our movie day the first day back for a nice smooth transition.

AP English III:

You have two massive priorities for Winter Break:  your term papers and your reading.  Let's deal with the reading first and then the papers.  By the end of Winter Break you need to be to the end of chapter twenty-one in The Catcher in the Rye.  This is a good chunk of reading to get done over break, but it's not impossible.  Some of you may even be able to finish this in the first few days of break.  As you read, continue to develop your annotations and look closely at the deeper issues that we've begun discussing as a class.  I look forward to seeing what you all come up with after Break.

Your other major goal for Winter Break is to complete a draft of your term paper using the Google document that you've shared with me.  If you have yet to construct and share your document you are falling behind!  This is not the type of paper that you can throw together in a weekend and expect to do well on.  Once you've completed your brainstorming and gotten my approval, you should then begin your outline.  Once I see that your outline is fully developed, then I will tell you to start drafting your essay.  Remember the important steps of the outline process:

1. Construct your argument.  What is this essay going to prove?  We used to call this your thesis, but I prefer to call it an argument.  Make sure that as you construct your argument you make sure it's got DADS (debatable, analytical, defensible, specific).
2. Pull out all possible quotes from your sources and group them together.  As you do this, think about how you're going to organize your essay.  What will you need to discuss first?  What will you need to discuss second?  And so on...
3. After you've pulled out the quotes and examples, begin to connect them to your argument.  How do these different quotations support and prove your argument to be true.  Put this information under the examples and explain!  Remember, you want to leave absolutely no doubt in my mind that your idea is valid.

Once you've done this, you'll be ready to draft.  The idea that I always get back to with writing essays is that if you spend a lot of time preparing, then you'll have an easier time writing the essays.  Your first drafts will be due to class for editing on the 6th of January for A-day and the 9th for B-day.  Then you'll have a week to make your edits before the final drafts are due.  Please ask for help as you're working.  I'll keep checking in on you over break.

English I:

Over break you all have an essay to be working on as well.  Hopefully by this point you've figured out what your introduction paragraph is and you've pulled out your nine examples that you'll discuss in the essay.  Your rough drafts are also due on the 6th of January for A-day and the 9th for B-day.  Please make sure that you're keeping everything focused on the novel Animal Farm and your concept and definition.  Tie all of your examples back to your definition through your explanation.  I will be available the first week that we get back for any individual conferencing that you may need. 

I did also want to let you all know that you should expect an exam on Animal Farm in the second week after we get back from Break.  Review the story and your notes over the break to make sure that you're prepared.  This exam will also cover some of the concepts we've studied in the first semester, making it more of a midterm.  It would be a good idea to also take a look at your earlier literature and writing notes to prepare for this exam.

I hope that you all have a lovely and restful break!  Enjoy the time off but make sure that you get done what you need to get done.  A-day kids, I'll see you on Tuesday.  B-day kids, I'll see you in 2012!