1 April - Welcome Back, No Foolin!

AP Language

Welcome back, everyone! I hope that you found some time over the break to rest, recuperate, and relax. The trip to Mexico was a blast. I think my top highlight was seeing whales in the ocean each morning while I was having breakfast. The breakfast was pretty tasty too with all sorts of tropical fruits, juices, and Mexican flavors and products - like cactus (yum, nopales!)

If you have finished with your copy of Invisible Man, please have it ready to return. I'd like to get all the books processed. If you see a stray Gatsby around, be sure to bring him back to me too. If you have any work left to submit, now is the final time to do so. I am still missing a few annotated bibliographies in both classes. Be aware that failure to submit this major reading assignment will negatively affect your grade for the third quarter and could drop you as low as a D. My grades will be finalized and submitted at 3:00 on Tuesday, April 2. If you would like your work scored and reported on this report card, your deadline is clear.

Next class we'll be taking time to understand this final major unit of the year and take time to understand and complete our presentations of research. I'm excited to see you all very soon!

Welcome to 2021-22! English with Mr. Miller!

English 10

Welcome y'all to English 10 or as I call it, Around the World in 90 Classes. We'll be exploring the cultures of the world this year through reading, writing, viewing, listening, and thinking! Today we began with a general overview of the idea of culture and some of our guiding questions for the year. I'm looking forward to the year ahead! Be sure that you access the syllabus and the signature form which are on Schoology for your first assignment. Try to have that settled by the end of the week. Next class you'll need your laptop!

AP Language

Welcome y'all to AP Language and Composition! For the first day of class we're exploring various perspectives and engaging in some close reading. Be sure to review the syllabus and complete the syllabus signature form as quickly as you can - it is linked below. The syllabus is located in the Course Information folder under Materials on Schoology. For tonight, be sure to reflect on the various authors in our textbook and complete the reflection question at the top of the handout. What voices are present? Which are left out? What may this mean? You'll need your laptop with you next class.

Grey Day - 9 October 2020

And here we are at the end of another great week. AP Language students should be focused on finishing reassessments of writing diagnostics as well as the final reflection on the mini-project called "What's the Situation?" before moving on to our unit assessment, "This is (my) America." 

English 10 students should be focused on finishing their work related to South Africa and our questions and vocabulary tasks from today. There's no additional homework for this weekend in English 10 so that we can focus on getting caught up.

AP Research

Today we met briefly to review our CRAAP quiz and especially the College Board Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification. Be sure that this policy finds its way into your PREP. If you would like to resubmit your quiz, please do so via email.

The goal for right now is to continue developing our Body of Knowledge and by extension our Research Questions. Your next assignment to submit is your categorized source list - be sure to have that in by Wednesday. Next week we'll begin Unit 2! Be prepared to keep moving forward!

Don't forget that if you are coming to Fairfax High School on Monday to check out your novels for the year to remain in your car, pull up to Door 1, and wear a mask. Bring a piece of paper with your name, your English teacher's name, your class and period. That will help us to get you your books quickly!

End of Week 5 - Blue Day - 8 October 2020

Dear Students and Families - It's the end of another great week at Fairfax High School. We're reading, thinking, and creating, and it's all wonderful to see. This week we're really focused on our writing skills and revising our work as we are moving to the end of our first units. See below for reminders this weekend related to your classes.

Also, remember if you're coming to FHS on Monday to check-out your books for the year, I look forward to seeing you in-person (even though you'll be socially distant). Remember to stay in your car, wear a mask, and to have your information on a piece of paper (name, class period, teacher name) to give us to process your check-out faster.

AP Language

Today was our day to finish our first round of Writing Bootcamp where we focused on the essential elements of an argumentative essay as well as the smaller elements of effective paragraph structure. I've included a recording below to help review this information. This means that all Writing Diagnostic revisions can be completed - to be rescored, submit by 10/19.

We also began the end of our unit by beginning work with the final project - This is (my) America. In this assignment you are using texts to present your definition of our nation. Remember to follow the rubric and guidelines posted. This is your chance to show your knowledge and skill at argumentative writing, so all of our Bootcamp lessons should be applied. This project will be due 10/26.

Lastly, if you have anything remaining from Mini-Project 1 - What's the Situation? Be sure that it is submitted (or resubmitted) by 10/13.

English 10

Today we got a bit brainy as we broke down and thought about where our ideas come from and the way in which we're developing a personal culture or viewpoint. Our article by Neil Gaiman brought up a lot of big ideas related to culture clash and reflecting on ourselves and our ideas. The slam poetry during our journal also had us consider where our ideas come from and how we're affected by our past and our struggles.

Be sure that you've submitted all work from our weeks up to this point including any writing tasks, the work on South Africa, and today's questions. We'll be transitioning to our novel next week, so this first unit is ending. We'll take time to develop our projects before we move to Iran and learn about the culture and people of the country before reading Persepolis. 

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.

17 September - End of the Week - Blue Day

Good Afternoon Students and Adults!

Today was a day full of reading and thinking. We're also getting more acquainted with our classroom procedures like using our interactive notebooks for our journals and using PearDeck to take daily notes. I also really appreciate all of the help that you offer to each other with finding and accessing materials!

Over the weekend make sure that you have any missing work from Week 1 turned in. I know that getting oriented in online/virtual school is difficult, so I want to make sure that we get the support and time we need. I'll be grading on Sunday and Monday and changing scores. Further reminders are below.

AP Language

We have our Writing Diagnostic this weekend which is our main focus. The diagnostic should take you no more than 40 minutes. Time yourself. Remember that you're just submitting an outline, so don't write a whole essay for me.

Additionally, if you didn't submit your Close Looking Practice, please do so. This is just a simple completion activity so that I can see how you're processing non-print texts.

English 10

Be sure that you complete your Homework Assignment 2 this weekend. It's a document where we will look at our first essay question and break it down to understand it. The assignment is pretty simple, turn it in on Google Classroom. Also, be sure to play with your online textbook more since we'll really use it a lot next class.

Next week we'll start moving into the land of writing more, one of my favorite places to visit. Enjoy your weekend and let me know what I can do to help!

Homework for A-Day: Weekend Edition: 27 September

Happy New Year! L'Shana Tova!

AP Research

This weekend we should be focused on writing for the annotated bibliography. Remember to use the templates that you have been given in this class to guide your work with this writing. This will be helpful for you as we move forward into the paper even more.

There is also our reflection question for this week. It is Presentation and Oral Defense Question 1.3. Please respond in your Reflection Document. Also, use citations and exact references to make your writing stronger.

What were the strategies you used to conduct a review of the literature or gather information from the discipline-specific field? Why did you select those strategies? Which strategies did you consider and reject?

Be sure that any missing work is turned in by the end of the weekend. Your next due date is Tuesday - Source List Check 2 (Around 50 Entries).

Russian I

Today in class we took a quiz and then we started to work on the beginnings of Russian grammar. The case system in Russian. It's a bit complicated at first, but it gets easier the more you work with it. This weekend you should review Chapter One and complete your Chapter Preview. What will we learn in this unit? What will you be able to do with this information? Be sure that you're focused on learning the new vocabulary too!

Remember that we're finishing the first unit! If you have anything missing, it needs to be turned in next week.

Advanced Russian

We did some speaking and writing today in class as we continued to work through the trickiness of verbs and the cases connected with them. Remember everyone that learning comes with practice, the more we do, the better we become. This weekend there are a few essentials to take care of:

1. Complete the case analysis activity. Russian III and IV should complete the whole thing. Using the English direct translation, what case is the Russian word or phrase in? How does it connect to the rest of the sentence?
2. Have you submitted your slides on Google Classroom about your skyscraper?
3. Are there any reassessments you need to do? Assignments missing?

We're finishing this unit soon - be ready to move on!

Homework for the Weekend - Valentine's Day - B Day

AP Seminar

You did it! Achievement unlocked! You presented your TMPOD and we are moving on to our next task. I am very proud of the work that you all did today and the way that you all rose to the occasion. I have released the stimulus pack to you through Digital Portfolio. We will start working through this on Monday as we begin Performance Task 2. I would recommend reviewing the documents this weekend, considering any connections you may see between them, and then being ready for some focused study of these documents over the next few classes.

Don't forget to complete the Week 2 Reflection as well as submit your IRR to Digital Portfolio this weekend.

Advanced Russian

This weekend we should all be focused on project work and reviewing verbs of motion that may have been challenging to us on the quiz today. On Google Classroom you'll see slides for today which include the example slide for your project. Use this as an example of what to do as you are working.

The other project is our poetry memorization - this should be complete on Monday or Wednesday. Come in and present your poem to me aloud. If it's not good enough, I'll invite you to return.

Russian III Students need to complete reading in your textbook - pages 419 to 421 review the conditional and hypothetical in Russian. Review these pages and take notes so that we can review the concept on Monday. This is the last grammar concept before our Unit 10 examination.

Russian I

Today in class we did a lot of great writing and speaking to focus on the different cases, their sounds, and their jobs. We reviewed our film and discussed Nadya's actions through the film. From there, we spent time with our laptops working through our projects about ourselves.

This weekend you should finish the draft of your slides and writing. There should be an answer for each slide and there should be a photo. By the end of the project you should have used all six cases, a variety of verbs, and practiced with a lot of your Russian language skills. I'm available all week to review your work with you.

There are also our poem projects. Have your four lines memorized so that you can get your easy A on this assignment. You can come to me at any point next week to perform your poem.

Homework for A-Day Students - 24 January

English IV

Good work today on your final test on Twelfth Night. I'll have these tests graded and returned to you in the next few days. For tonight, feel free to relax a bit and unwind. Do look through your rooms and bookbags for any copies of Twelfth Night that you may have borrowed. I need those returned.

We will begin our Frankenstein unit next class by getting into the culture of the book a bit. We've got some interesting research coming up for us, be ready for that!

Advanced Russian

For tonight feel free to reflect on your performance on your quiz and plan any reassessment that you may think necessary. Spend time with your verbs and vocabulary - the more that you use and play with the language, the easier it will be to remember.

For our next class we will begin to look at prefixes added on to verbs of motion and what that does. You will find it helpful to review the pages in Chapters 6 and 10 that go over this information before we begin to cover it next class.

Also - if there are any last viewing guides on The Irony of Fate, those need to be turned in ASAP for any credit.

Russian I

Today we did a lot of work around formalizing our knowledge on cases. We have covered all six cases as they work with nouns. We have gone over the job of the case and how the case affects the spelling and sound at the end of the word.

For tonight, make sure that you are studying your case chart as well as your notes around the cases. Your quiz next class is going to focus on genitive, dative, and instrumental cases. We'll also finish the first part of the film next class, so have your part one viewing guides turned in for any credit.

Homework for A Day Students - 10 October

Russian I:

For homework tonight you should use your textbooks and review Chapter One in order to complete the Chapter Preview work. Make sure that you review the topics and consider what's going to be easy for you and what will be hard.

Here is the link for the vocabulary for Chapter One. You'll need to go to around 9:30 in order to start the Chapter One vocabulary. Before that is a good review of the alphabet.

If you have any missing work it needs to be in ASAP.

Advanced Russian

You all also have your Chapter Preview for homework tonight. Russian II should focus on Chapter Five and Russian III should focus on Chapter Eight. Here are the links to the audio files so that you can review your vocabulary and pronunciation. (Chapter Eight) (Chapter Five)

Remember that we will finish our unit exam on Thursday in the first half before lunch. After lunch, we will begin to get into our new chapters.

English IV

Make sure that you have completed your resume checklist for Mr. Bernhard so that we can move through creating our resumes in the next few classes.

Homework for 23 May 2017 - A Day

Advanced Russian

Next class we will have our Russian talk show featuring the characters from Night Swallows getting together for a bit of a reunion. Remember to have costumes for the show. Have cue cards or notes written to prepare to speak. You'll be doing a lot of Russian speaking on Thursday as a means to show off all the things you've been learning. To prepare, here are the questions that the psychologist and host will be asking.

Questions from Psychologist Marhoul:

1. Do you miss any friends?
2. What were the types of the most stressful moments?
3. What were the good moments in the war?
4. Do you have any deceased family members?
5. Do you regret anything?
6. How do you feel?

1. Сучились каким друзям?
2. Какие у вас были стрессовы моменты?
3. Какие у вас были хороши моменты с войны?
4. Мертвая семья?
5. Что нибудь вы сожалите?
6. Как вы чувствете себя?

Questions from the Host

1. Did you like your Army group?
2. Did you miss your family?
3. Did you like your plane? (For pilots)
4. Did you like the political officer?
5. What was life like in the Soviet Army?

1. Вам нравится амейская группа?
2. Вам скучно без семьи?
3. Вам нравится самолет?
4. Вам нравится политический офицер?
5. Как жизнь была в советской армии?

Prepare answers to these questions. Be ready for Thursday. It'll be a fun class!

Russian I

Many of you have textbooks checked out. Please return these books to me ASAP. Next class we will finish our film on modern Russian culture and then continue to prepare for the final exam.

English II

Continue to study your EOC review sheet. Focus on learning your literary terms so that you are prepared to answer questions on them if these terms show up on the EOC. Next class we'll be doing our final EOC preparation. It'll be a good chance to earn any last extra credit for the year.

Homework for A Day Students - 1 November 2016

Advanced Russian:

Tonight read over the section of the textbook that covers your new grammar for the beginning of the unit.  For Russian II this really just covers page 209.  Remember that you want to be reviewing and studying your nominative case and genitive case endings.  Don't forget your vocabulary.

For Russian III we have the information on modal expressions which is covered on pages 364-369.  You should focus on the usage of the dative and nominative cases in this section as well as the use of the verb "to be".  You also have vocabulary.

For Russian IV there's the information on verbs of positioning.  This is covered on 501-504.  Remember to study your conjugations of the new verbs - there are some weird stems there.  Did I mention your vocabulary work?

Russian I:

You have a quiz next class on verbs and conjugation.  Remember our study guide that we created.  Focus on your chapter one verbs and notes.  Hopefully the constant practice has helped you to determine what to do with a verb and how to do it to form the present tense in Russian.

English II:

You need to finish reading The Boy Who Dared and complete your questions to prepare for our final exam on this first unit.  Make sure that you are ready for your exam which will be happening next week.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students

Russian I

Today we had our exam on Chapters One and Two - I hope that you all felt prepared and were able to show what you know of Russian grammar.  For the weekend I would like for you to do a few things.  First, do some more preliminary research on your country.  Secondly, start to look over the information in Chapter Three.  Begin with your vocabulary for the new chapter.  It'll be useful to start learning now.

Russian II

This weekend you should start to review the next part of Chapter Seven.  Look over and read pages 271 - 282 in your textbooks.  Make a chart for case declension in the plural for adjectives and nouns.  Also, start to review the information on forming and using the genitive plural.  We'll start marching through this information together on Tuesday.

Russian III

You should also spend some time with your textbooks this weekend.  Look over the information on 466 - 477 about participles (adjectives formed from verbs) and look over the different types and the different formation rules.  There's a lot here, try to understand what you can understand and we'll start working through it soon.

English II

Hopefully your writing workshop was productive in the Dell Lab.  Over the weekend you should finish polishing these four paragraphs so that you are ready to add in your last body paragraph related to our final text.

Homework for B-Day Students - 5/20/2014

Honors English II

Please begin turning in your books.  After our presentations on Thursday I want to run through and check to make sure that all textbooks have been accounted and collected.  If not, I will issue fines and letters stating how much you will owe if the book is not returned.  Feel free to turn in the books early if you need to.

Next class we will be presenting our websites - make sure that they are thoroughly completed as you will be assessed during your presentation.  Make sure that you use the rubric and identify your two focus questions so that I know where to weight your grades.  Ask for help if you need it, but be aware that we are on the last minute related to this project.

Remember to make sure that you've shared your website to mrmillerjhs@gmail.com -- to make sure you could also e-mail me a link, but I prefer you just share.

ESL English III

You will have your final quiz on Night next class.  Be prepared for that by studying through your notes - it will be a short answer quiz so that we can prepare for our NCFE which will have short answer questions.  Study and prepare!  It's our last grade of the year.

Homework for 4/17 and 4/18

Welcome back everyone.  There are very few classes left before the end of the year - it'll be important that you all stay focused and on track as we move toward the end of the year.  Here we go with your reminders and notes for tonight.

AP English III:

Students, there are approximately ten classes left before your AP English Language and Composition exam.  Don't freak out!  We'll work on building in some review as we work through our final text The Things They Carried.  What you need to do tonight is finish reading the story "The Things They Carried" - as you read remember that you need to annotate heavily:  look for motifs, symbols, and characters.  Remember to really pay attention to the characters and keep track of where they are, how they're connected to others, and if they're alive or dead.

Don't forget that your motif projects are due on Thursday/Friday.  Be ready and prepared.  I've appreciated the fact that many of you have asked for outside help with this.  Keep coming and asking questions if needed.

English I:

Tonight for homework you all are going to read four poems by four very significant female authors in our textbook.  Remember that you can use the online textbook or paper textbook for this assignment.  Not having a textbook is not an excuse.  You need to check one out or get this assignment done during lunch.  No excuses for not doing homework in the fourth nine weeks!

So - the assignment is as follows.  On pages 409 and 410 you will read "Woman Work" by Maya Angelou and "Daily" by Naomi Shibab Nye - then answer questions 3, 4, and 5 about these poems.  On page 448 you'll read "Women" by Alice Walker and then on page 449 you'll answer questions 4 and 7.  Lastly, on page 461 you'll read "The Courage That My Mother Had" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and on page 462 answer questions 4, 5, and 6. 

When you answer these questions be sure that you answer all parts of the questions and answer in a three to four sentence paragraph.  This homework assignment needs to be turned in to the homework box or to me before 7:30 on Thursday/Friday.  And don't forget your movie reviews are due on Thursday/Friday, make sure you turn in your rough and final drafts. 

English I Online Textbook

Freshmen,

I've created a generic login that all of you can use to access the online textbook if you've lost your original login.  Please navigate to http://my.hrw.com/.  Login with the username gstudent677 and the password n4x4a.

Remember that you have homework due to the box.  Please get this quarter started on a good foot.  Get those four questions answered and submit your answers.  Answer the questions thoroughly.

Homework over the weekend

This weekend you will need to finish your creative essays concerning The Land of the Dead. Use the handout that I gave you to help guide you on your writing. I will be looking for thoroughness of thought in your essays and focus in you writing. If you have any questions while you're writing, please let me know by a comment.

I would recommend that you have a parent or friend read over your assignment so that you can catch some grammar mistakes - I will be looking at grammar in grading.

In addition, we will be going back to the textbooks on Monday. Bring your books to class.