16 October - Harlem Renaissance Artifacts

English 11

Great day today in English 11 everyone. We started off by listening to "Drop Me Off in Harlem" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong for our jazz journal. One of the main elements that we focused on in the song was tone. I like the fact that we were able to discover that the song had mixed tones based on the target of the tone. Remember that we'll be listening to a lot of different types of music in this unit to explore the culture of the Harlem Renaissance.

From there, we did some station rotations and looked art and poetry. We annotated for surface meaning and then deeper meaning in order to discover topic and theme. We're going to usually get back to topic and theme in the works that we study, so continuing to repeat this skill is important. You all did great work collaborating and critically thinking to discover the messages that these authors were sending and the problems that they were responding to.

At the end of class, we did a review on writing, and then we took time to work as we needed. I like that people were focused on finishing projects or studying vocabulary. You will have a vocabulary test next week on List Two words, so it is a good idea to study and review. Use the resources linked in our folder for today's class. If you need help with your project (or anything else) come to Lion Time on Friday. My goal is to have everything graded and back to you next week so that you can focus on raising your scores at the end of the quarter. 

6 and 7 October

AP Language

Great day today, y'all. I'm very happy that the groups were formed quickly and then worked effectively to complete the first task. Remember that this is a very long-term project. I'm teaching you a lot of things through this work, so we will not finish this until the end of the unit (around November). 

Next class we'll have our quiz on Acts 1 and 2 of The Crucible. It's a timed writing. You'll receive a grade for your essay and then a grade for your knowledge of the play. Review your annotations, review key scenes, and work to understand what's happening.

Next week will be strange for our schedule. There will also be a bit of a break from The Crucible. We'll be looking at some choice readings from Howard Zinn (a modern historian) and then two narratives from the time period. One narrative is posted, the other is in your textbook on page 193. You'll need to have one Zinn excerpt read for the Zinn day and then one captivity narrative for that class.

Holla with any questions! I'm here for you!

English 10

Today we took our day to catch-up on Quarter 1. I am so happy that so many of you got so much done! Let's be sure that as we move forward we don't fall behind. Use the time you have in class, so that you'll have less to do later. If you need to still submit something, be sure to do so today once you get home.

We will have quizzes on our book the week of the 18th. If you're reading Persepolis then you'll need to get to page 134. If you're reading The Kite Runner, then you'll need to get to page 109. Those of you reading How Does It Feel to Be A Problem should read two full stories. The quiz will focus on characters and a lot of the topics we've been discussing.

Next class we'll be talking about writing, have some time to finish our character sketches, and take time to continue reading our books. I'm looking forward to a great Friday!

Ending Unit 1 - 24 and 27 September

AP Language

We've finished Unit 1! Congratulations everyone! I hope that you've enjoyed this introduction to non-fiction genres such as letters, speeches, and essays. We've also gotten our hands dirty with a new method of reading and analyzing readings - annotations and rhetorical frameworks - which we'll use to really extract meaning throughout the year.

Our next unit begins next week. We'll be studying The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The unit plan is attached on Schoology, and I'll give you a hard copy next week. If you want to get your own copy of the play, feel free. There are also several e-copies. No matter how you read, find a way to annotate and be consistent. Reading checks may become more frequent.

Projects and vocabulary are due at the end of the day next class. If you have any questions, be sure to ask!

English 10

Due to an issue with Schoology you're not going to be able to submit your project at the assignment spot. Instead, be sure to share your project with me or to email it to me directly. Use my djmiller1 [at] fcpsschools [dot] net account for this. Be sure that by the end of the weekend that your Unit 1 project is complete so that I can get your grades finalized for this unit.

Today we began our work in Unit 2 - The Middle East. We began reading a bit, talked for a bit, and discussed genres. Over the weekend, keep reading if you'd like, but don't feel any pressure to do so. We'll have more time next week for our novels and to wrap up vocabulary.

Wednesday - 18 November - Grey Day

English Students:

I hope that you enjoyed the time to read and work today in class. Keep in mind that I won't be assigning anything additional next week during the Thanksgiving Break so that you'll have a chance to unplug and unwind from things. To be honest, I'm not even planning on bringing my computer with me anywhere. Take this time to get caught up and then to focus on our end of unit projects. Reach out with any questions or concerns that you may have.

AP Research

Today was a working day for you to focus on writing your Annotated Bibliography entries and to look back on your poster presentation and graphic organizer in order to find any places to tighten up your language or make clearly needed revisions before we move on. On Friday we'll transition out of Unit 2 by discussing the elements of the Introduction and Literature Review in order to bring together all of our loose threads so that we can move on to Unit 3 and begin to design our Inquiry Proposal and Method to Collect and Analyze Data.

Grey Day - 23 October - End of the Week

Week 7 is now behind us everyone. AP Language and English 10 students should be focused on finalizing Unit 1 projects this weekend. As a reminder they are due at the end of the day on Monday. Keep in mind that the 30th is the end of the grading period. If you are submitting late work, resubmissions of work, or rubles for extra credit, you must have this submitted by the end of the day on Friday 10/30.

AP Research

Happy Friday Researchers! Today should be a day focused, I hope, on writing. Be sure that you've gone through your initial source list and filled or made a plan to fill any gaps. Consider especially method - as this gave some of you some pause as we read the Manzanar paper. What methods are done in the papers you've seen so far? Could those methods be feasible for your investigation? Why or why not? What modifications would you need to make?

Your final source list should be submitted on Monday by the end of the day. Try to have 35+ sources including open sources and peer-reviewed sources. Fill your gaps in your Body of Knowledge!

Use the templates as well as the Manzanar paper to begin writing. Begin with your most important sources and move from there into more tangential ones as you create the Annotated Bibliography. The rubric for the Annotated Bibliography is posted for your use. I've also posted your newest Reflection Question for your PREP.

Blue Day - 22 October - End of the Week

AP Language

Good analysis today with Equiano. I've left the documents there as a great example of tracing tone and active annotating around a shared purpose. This was a great practice toward rhetorical analysis - our writing skill for this unit. In this type of writing our focus is to trace the author's argument through the explanation of their choices. We focus on literary/rhetorical devices to organize ourselves and draw connections.

I've uploaded the recording on rhetorical analysis for you to review as needed. For this weekend, be sure to take fifteen minutes for your Multiple Choice Practice on AP Classroom. The main task is to read! Enjoy Huckleberry's adventures! Don't forget, there's the chance of an assessment based on your reading next class!

English 10

Today we had our guest speaker, Ms. Anne Nolan, who went over some of the nuts and bolts of graphic novels and elements of their construction and style. The notes and recording have all been uploaded. We put a lot of this into practice as we read and studied Chapter One of Persepolis - "The Veil". 

Over the weekend there's nothing to do except to finish and submit your Unit 1 Projects. If you have any other missing work, it should be turned in to be scored. 

Next class we'll be reading more of Persepolis and doing some research into the text. I'm looking forward to it!

Homework for Wednesday - PLC Day - 18 September

AP Lit

A rushed class today due to our schedule, but we still got everything done! Go us! We worked a lot on oppression and then we also took a look at Melville to see how these oppressions are staring us right in our faces in the text. From there, we worked on our outlines as we received the new assignment for this unit.

For tonight you should continue to revise your college essay (if not yet resubmitted) as well as your outlines with a look at the new work we are doing. Use the template to make the thesis an argumentative statement. Explain how the characters are fighting this oppression. Explain and show!

We also have "Bartleby" to finish for Friday as well as our vocabulary cards. Remember to submit five by Friday!

AP Research

Most of our class was taken with our assessment. Remember to check your folders for comments on reflections and to complete any work that you may be missing. Remind me that it's ready by sending me an email. Tonight it's time to work on the ideas of our revised research questions. Work with the elements of an effective research question (we had those handouts last class) and be sure to write out your question! You'll need it for Friday.

Homework for B-Day Students: 10 April

AP Seminar

Today in class we spent time conferencing, editing, revising, writing, and designing. I love when we get stuff done. This is very much what class will look like on Friday and Tuesday as well. Remember that we are in our final classes for preparation. On Tuesday I want to see you all running through your slides, seeing them on the board, and interacting with an audience. Practice makes perfect!

Keep in mind our due date of the 21st for all materials. Presentations will run on Monday the 22nd and Wednesday the 24th. If you choose to present before school you must bring your own audience.

Advanced Russian

Today was a day for submitting and reviewing (Russian II) or for learning some new concepts (Russian III) at this point, all projects should be in. Projects not turned in will be subject to a small late penalty.

For tonight, be sure that you're preparing for your final examination on this unit. We spent a bit of time going over the topics today. I think the most difficult topics are imperatives (Russian III) and double negation (Russian II) spend your time here. Know your procedures for navigating these areas.

There are additional exercises if you would like the practice - take a look at your translations at the end of the lesson as well as the reading and dialogues at the beginning. Your examination will fall on the 22nd. We'll have Friday and Tuesday for practice and preparation.

Russian I

Today was our final guided study day related to grammar, cases, and Russian linguistics. We spent some great time in class discussing verb conjugation and case declensions. Important skills as we think about our examination that we have on Friday. If you were able to do today's work easily then I think you're in good shape - if not, you will need to focus and study in order to memorize the concepts that you are feeling weak on. There are translations at the end of the chapter and you can also focus on learning your charts and endings. The essential skills for this examination are:

• verb conjugation (also from unit one)
• case declensions (we did nouns in unit one, now we can do adjectives, possessive and subject pronouns)
• knowing the jobs of each case
• knowing vocabulary meanings - translating from Russian to English
• culture around Russian houses and family life

We also finished our Soviet Republics work today. All projects should be uploaded on Google Classroom to be scored. We'll have our culture day on Tuesday where we learn about and share information on the Soviet Union!