Homework for B-Day Students: 11/17/2014

AP English III

Tonight AP students you have two big goals.  Make sure that you accomplish them by the dates listed.  First, for Wednesday you will need to aim to be to the end of chapter three for our class discussion.  Make sure that you have been adding to your annotations especially under motifs, characters, and satire.  You'll need to be to the end of chapter six by Friday, so if you want to keep reading tonight, go ahead.  Don't forget as well that you need to keep up with new vocabulary - there's a LOT of slang in here.

Secondly, make sure that for Friday's class you have read, annotated, and considered thoroughly the ideas brought up by Amy Tan in her piece called "Mother Tongue" which is in 50 Essays or available at this link.  As you read this piece - consider the link between language and identity as well as language and power.  These will be major ideas we will continue to discuss as we move through Twain.

English II

Your homework is the same as the A-day students below.  Make sure that you have finished reading the chapter called "The Shabbat" and then completed your character changes chart.  Follow the instructions on the graphic organizer and have that ready to be handed in on Wednesday.  In addition, you'll need to make sure that you're feeling solid on the information as you will likely have a quiz coming soon.

Lastly, don't forget that your projects are due next week before Thanksgiving Break - we'll be in the computer labs the next few days, but make sure that you're working hard to complete this due date.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 11/14/2014

Russian II

This weekend you need to study for your quiz on telling time and numbers in Russian.  Review your questions, cases, and prepositions used to tell time.  Also make sure that you have learned all of the vocabulary for this unit.  If you could do today's homework review easily you will be in good shape, just make sure to know the other prepositions and phrases!

Russian I

This weekend spend some time researching your cities if you can.  In addition, complete the genitive case exercises.  Put all of the words in parenthesis in the genitive case.  Remember to not do the ones we crossed out in class as you don't know the genitive plural yet.

English II

Read the chapter on the handout called "The Shabbat" - after you've read the chapter, complete the graphic organizer charting how two characters have changed.  Remember to follow the instructions clearly.  Use your notes and readings to help you do this!

Homework for B-Day Students: 11/13/2014

AP English III

I will have your tests back to you ASAP, likely at the end of the weekend.  For this weekend you have two things to accomplish:

1. Get a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Make sure that it is a complete copy and has not been abridged, you want an UNABRIDGED version.  If you can find one that has the original illustrations, even better.  That will add a lot to your understanding of the text.
2. Watch an episode of Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons, Colbert Report, or The Daily Show.  Take notes as you are watching on the following topic:  What is being ridiculed or mocked?  How is this humor accomplished - through what rhetorical/literary devices?  These notes will help you in our work beginning TAoHF next week.

English II

Your homework is below.  Make sure that you have all of the preparation work done so that you can be super productive in the computer lab.

Homework for Wednesday - A-Day Classes

English II

Tonight you should work hard to finish all of your preparation work for your graphic memoir projects. You should go us on planning your frames and writing any narration and dialogue. Next class we will be in the computer lab to type and create. Make sure that you have everything fine so that you can be productive in the computer lab. 

Russian I

Tonight you have exercise number fifteen to complete. Remember for each exercise you need to write the question starting with the proper form of ЧЕЙ followed by the answer using the genitive case. Review your endings. Create a chant and memorize these endings. Remember that this is the main chunk of Russian grammar. 

Russian II 

Tonight you have two main goals. First be sure that your presentation on aspect is ready.  You need to have your situations ready and proofed. If you want me to read over your work, please let me know. Outside of this you have your review sheet on telling time. Be sure that you can do this whole sheet. 

Homework for B-Day Students - 11/10/2014

Remember everyone that there is no school tomorrow!  Thank a veteran for your day off.  I always give thanks to my dad.  Here's what you need to accomplish.

A-Day Students:  Your reminders are below; be sure that everything is done.

AP English III:

You have your exams on The Great Gatsby next class.  Be sure that you have your annotated copies of the novel with you next class so that you are ready for your books to be checked.  Remember that you will have quotation identifications, short answer questions, and a rhetorical analysis.  All that we have done over these classes is meant to prepare you and this exam should show what you have learned in this unit - be sure that it does.

English II:

Continue to work on your projects.  We will be going to the computer labs over the next few classes to work on these pieces a bit more thoroughly.  Have your timeline done as well as your drafting done so that you can work efficiently in the computer lab!

Apologies! Homework for the Weekend! All Classes!

That was a lot of exclaimation marks up there.  Sorry for not getting this out to the website until now.  Here is what everyone needs to accomplish before next class.  A-day, remember that I won't see all of you until Wednesday so you have a lot of time to prepare.  I expect that all of you will be prepared.

Russian I:

Be sure that you use the phonetics work that we have done over the last two classes to really know your alphabet sounds as well as be able to say them more clearly, confidently, and with less of an American accent.  Think about tongue and lip position as you go through each letter and sound.  The mirror technique is a wonderful one to watch yourself as you speak.

You do have a grammar worksheet to complete.  The front side has you identifying words in cases and the bottom exercise has you putting words into the accusative case.  The back has you doing writing in the prepositional case.  Work hard and ask questions on Monday if you need me.  I'm available at all lunches.

Oh, and here's our new song for today!  It's karaoke version so you can review your lyrics as the song continues.

Russian II:

You've got your sentences still ahead of you and we'll get back to doing that work on Wednesday.  If you can continue to work on these over the weekend, please do.  When you feel as though you're ready feel free to share the work with me so that I can see and give some feedback.

Make your focus your numbers and your work with time expressions.  You have two exercises to complete on telling time - we started all of these in class so that you can continue the work on your own.  WRITE OUT ALL NUMBERS!  This is key in helping you to learn the spelling and the vocabulary words.

English II:

You don't have any reading homework over the weekend but you should be working on your project.  Some of you are moving forward on to the drafting phase of your work - this is wonderful!  Make sure to have your planning done first, before moving on.  Make sure that your timeline is complete - that you have clearly broken up this important moment in your life to the key parts of it.  The closer your focus, the more specific your detail, the better your piece will be.

We'll be finishing Persepolis soon - start reviewing things like vocabulary and notes regularly to prepare for quizzes and the like.

AP English III:

You have your presentations coming up on Monday!  This weekend this is your focus.  Get these presentations polished, have your scripts, have a run-through of your piece.  Remember that you have a ten minute limit to your presentations and that Ms. Gerdes and I will require a copy of your script.

After the presentations we'll review for the exam.  Make sure that you have annotations complete throughout your novel.  Develop any questions you have for this review.

Homework for Wednesday Night - 11/5/2014

Russian II

Tonight for homework you have a few goals:

1. Start learning your numbers - you need to really focus on zero through sixty so that we can focus on telling time.
2. Complete exercise fourteen - make sure that you're working on your prepositional case and returning to the months of the year.  Answer the questions using the months.
3. Preview the other exercises.  We'll look at those next class.  Consider what you need to know to complete those.

Russian I

Spend a bit of time tonight reviewing and practicing your phonetics.  Read what we went over in class.  Try to talk about drinking lemonade!  Also, you have your song to continue to study.  Follow along with the lyrics and sing along.  Practice your pronunciation.  Watch the video a few times and sing along.

For homework - complete the worksheet on cases.  The front side is accusative case, the back is prepositional case.  You have to do the writing on the back - practice, practice, practice!

English II

Tonight spend time working on your projects.  As a goal - try to complete your timeline of your event.  Break it down into the specific moments of that big memory.  Put them in chronological order.  Think about what was said or done, how it made you feel, what was going on around you.  All of these parts will make your comic that much better! 

Homework for B-Day Students: 11/4/2014

ALL OF YOU!!!  REMIND AND ENCOURAGE YOUR PARENTS TO VOTE IF THEY ARE REGISTERED IN NORTH CAROLINA!

Now that that is out of the way, let's move on to homework.

AP English III

Your homework tonight is to focus on your Woolf/Petrunkevitch tone compare/contrast assignments.  Make sure to structure this in MLA format with your header at the upper right, your title centered, and your quotes/paraphrases cited with either a page number or paragraph number.  Remember that your question is:  How does the tone of the author help him/her to achieve his/her purpose.  Tie the tone clearly to the purpose and through your explanation and analysis of details, prove that this is what happens.  I would recommend a three to four paragraph organizational structure with your argument, a paragraph on text one, paragraph on text two, and then a conclusion.  This ensures that you deal with both texts thoroughly.

In addition, remember that your presentations of your skit will occur on Monday.  Work on these.  Practice over the weekend.  Your test on The Great Gatsby will fall on the 13th of November.

English II

Continue working on your projects tonight.  Brainstorm your moment and consider how you will tell that story in the format of a graphic novel.  How will you draw yourself?  The other people in the moment?  How will you communicate your feelings?

Homework for Monday - A Day - 11/3/2014

Russian II

Tonight complete your writing work on Бриллиантовая рука using the handout we started in class.  Write sentences describing the action in the film which you noted.  Think about what you are trying to emphasize as you look at your sentences - the process or the completion or both?  Work on conjugating the verbs accurately.  We will look at some of the new verbs on Wednesday as we finish the sheet together.

Also - don't forget that I want your study plans.

Russian I

For homework tonight consider what you would like to work on during our Phonetics Day next class.  To prepare yourselves, complete the reading which I gave you.  Practice reading clearly and fluently with your proper intonation patterns.  This will be a lot of what we will be doing on Wednesday.

English II

Homework for tonight is to finish your first goals for the project.  First, decide on a moment for your focus.  Second, begin to brainstorm details you want to include - begin by sketching out a timeline for the memory that you'll focus on.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 10/31/2014

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

AP English III

I hope that you all enjoyed working with Ms. Alley today on your analysis of "The Death of the Moth" - I was especially impressed by the connections that you made to The Great Gatsby as well as to "The Oversoul".  Making these connections when you study literature is so important and good to do!

For the weekend you have a few things on your plate:

1. Finish reading The Great Gatsby - ensure that your covers are fully annotated and that you have thorough annotations throughout the text.  
2. Read A. Petrunkevitch's "The Spider and the Wasp" - you do not have to read and prepare this piece for class discussion; it will only be used for your writing assignment.
3. Complete the graphic organizer using mostly direct quotations from both Woolf and Petrunkevitch.
4. Write your compare/contrast assignments on the TONE used in each of the two pieces.  Here is the question that you should consider as you are writing:  Both Petrunkevitch and Woolf chronicle the death of an insect but in vastly different ways.  How does the author's tone establish a difference in purpose?  Your graphic organizer and typed, compare/contrast assignment will be due on Thursday.

In terms of long-term planning, you will have your presentations likely on the 10th of November, your test on the 13th, and we will begin our study of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the 17th - go ahead and get yourself a copy now.

English II

No homework for tonight as you had a test today in class.  

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/30/2014

Technically this is your homework for the weekend since I won't see you all until Monday.

Russian II

This weekend you have two goals to complete for our class.  First, I'd like for each of you to write a study plan for Russian.  This plan will detail what you will do for an additional thirty minutes to an hour each day of the week to improve your Russian.  This time is meant to be spent outside of any homework assignments that I give you.  I would like for you to plan out each day of the week (Sunday to Saturday).  Have an activity that you will do each day to improve your Russian.  For example:

On Sunday I will watch one episode of Орел и Решка, write down five new vocabulary words from the episode and learn them by Wednesday.

On Wednesday I will quiz myself on my five new words.  I will put them in all cases or conjugate them.  Then I will meet with Mr. Miller to check my work.

In addition you have exercises on ASPECT to keep practicing.  Use Exercises 6-11 as practice.  You must complete exercises 12 and 13 for credit.  Do them on the back of the sheet since it's blank or on a separate sheet of paper.

Russian I

You also have your study plan to write.  Please follow the outlined procedure above.  In addition, you have several exercises on possession, the accusative case, and the prepositional case.  For possession, use exercises 84, 85, and 86 as practice.  Complete exercise 87 following the example.  For prepositional case, use exercise 10, 11, and 12 as practice.  Complete exercises 9 and 13.  Lastly, for accusative case, use exercise 4 and 6 as practice, complete exercise 5.

With all of these exercises there will be a lot of words you don't know.  That's ok.  Focus on putting the words in the parenthesis in the required cases.  Write out the sentences.

English II

No homework tonight since you took a test in class.  If the test was difficult - consider why; for many of you, being more engaged in class and in activities will make a big difference.  For 90 minutes every other day you have to be present and active.  It's not too much to ask.

 

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/29/2014

AP English III:


You have a few things to take care of tonight as you're working toward Friday.  First, make sure that you complete your next set of vocabulary cards.  Select five words and do your study of these words.  Remember to grow from the mistakes that you made on the first round.  Exhaust all of your resources and find the information that you need in order to complete this thoroughly.


Secondly, read Virgina Woolf's "The Death of the Moth" - it's in 50 Essays and available at this link.  Read it thoroughly and annotate - pay special attention to the setting, the tone, and the use of metaphor in the text.  Ms. Alley will be working with you through this text.


Lastly, remember that for homework grades no late assignments will be accepted in the second nine weeks.  If you don't have your work, then you don't have your work.  That's it.  Be prepared.


English II:


Study and prepare for your test.  Follow the guidelines in the previous post for A-day students.

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/28/2014

Russian II

Next class you have a quiz on aspect and verbs.  In the previous post for A-day you will find the list of verbs to focus on as these will be used in crafting the situations.  You will have several brief situations to read and then analyze.  You should be able to tell me:

1. What tense is being used in the situation?
2. What aspect is being used in the situation?  
3. Why is that aspect being used in that situation.

Be sure that you have studied your KEY WORDS for aspect as well as your other vocabulary.  If you need additional practice with aspect and making choice I would invite you to check out this page where you can find exercises and podcasts reviewing the imperfective and perfective future tenses.  Remember as well that with swim season starting I cannot work with you on Wednesday afternoons - we can work on Wednesday before school or during lunch.

Russian I

You have no homework tonight since you had a quiz today in class but you should continue to practice and review.  Spend time tonight looking over your notes and practicing your cases.  I recommend this page for help with cases.

English II

Next class you have a test on the first half of Persepolis from "The Veil" to "The F-14s".  Be sure that you have studied your notes, your vocabulary, and your writing skills as you will be required to write a paragraph on this test.  Ask for help if you need it!

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/23/2014

Congratulations everyone, we've made it to the end of the first grading period!  Most classes will begin the quarter with a major assessment, so make sure to pay attention to the notes below.  Grades will be finalized on Monday morning around 9:30 am - check PowerSchool around then.

Russian II

From going over your assignments today I can see that we still need to do some review of the concept of aspect and perhaps review some verb conjugation types.  Your assessment will be pushed back to Thursday to allow us Tuesday to review this homework assignment in depth.

I am still going to give you a brief list of some verbs to start focusing on as we think about that assessment.  You also should learn all vocabulary for this unit - including the nouns, days of the week, months, key words for aspect, and the verbs we've focused on.

Some key verbs:  читать/прочитать, писать/написать, хотеть/захотеть, петь/спеть, рисовать/нарисовать, говорить/сказать, заниматься/заняться, танцевать/станцевать, решать/решить, слушать/послушать, смотреть/посмотреть, спрашивать/спросить


Russian I

Your quiz on cases will still occur on Tuesday when we return from the long weekend.  Remember that you need to know the nouns that we have been working with as they will be key parts of your quiz.  Ask yourself the following as you study your vocabulary:

• Can I identify the gender of the word?  The declension pattern?
• Do I know how endings change between cases?  Can I chant the changes to myself?
• Do I know the spelling and meaning of these words?
• Do I know my question words?

The quiz will bring in a bit about our work today on possessives, but it will focus on declensions.

You will need to write, read, speak, and listen to Russian on this assessment.

English II

Technically you have no homework tonight but it would be a good idea to do an inventory of your notes in preparation for your test next week on the first half of Persepolis.  As Ms. Gerdes said today, check to make sure you have your worksheets or something written down on each of the chapters we've read.  If you're missing something, ask on Tuesday or Wednesday and make sure to pay close attention during the review on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Extra Credit - Russian I and II

Thanks all for coming out this afternoon and watching Кавказская пленица with me.  I hope that you enjoyed Шурик и его друзья.  The next film we watch will also feature these characters.  For your extra credit, I'd like for you to write a one paragraph response (по-английски или по-русски) that answers the following prompt:

How does this film rely on stereotypes to create a comedic effect?

Here is the link to the film if you would like to re-watch it or if you would like to watch it in its entirety.

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/22/2014

AP English III

Tonight you need to read to the end of chapter six to be prepared for our next class.  Next class we'll really be focused on pulling together some of the big topics and ideas that have been presented in the first part of the novel - try to do some of this work yourself as you are reading.  Build off of what you have done in your groups today and see how these trends continue.

Make sure as well that your cover annotations are solid and reflect the reading and thinking that you have done up to this point.

English II

Take time tonight to define the vocabulary words you collected from the first CDA test.  Make sure that the definitions are simple and short so that you can remember them easily.

Homework for A-Day Students - 10/21/2014

Russian II

Do your homework for tonight on aspect and filling in the blanks with the assignments.  Make sure that you don't just fill in the blanks but write out the full sentences and paragraphs as you are working.  Use your verb pair sheet to help you here!  It's a life saver.

Russian I

Homework for tonight is the two sided worksheet on cases.  Read the exercises and put the words in the parenthesis in to the appropriate cases.  Make sure that you write everything out as the repetition will help you to learn this process!

English II

Take the words from the CDA test which you found on your vocabulary bookmarks and define them!  Remember to make the definition simple so that you can remember it easily!

Homework for Monday - 10/20/2014 - B Day Students

AP English III

Congratulations!  You can cross timed writing off of your list of things to do!  I will have these graded and back to you next week so that we can begin building and improving this vital skill.  For tonight, here's what you need to do to prepare yourselves.

1. Complete the revision of your summer assignment essay.  Have your original with rubric (if applicable) as well as the new version of your essay.
2. Read and annotate chapter five of The Great Gatsby.  Continue to add to your cover annotations (both front and back).
3. Complete your vocabulary bookmarks for another check and the beginning of your next set of cards.  Cards will be collected next Friday - 10/31.  

English II

Continue your reading of Persepolis with the next two chapters.  Remember to continue reading and taking notes as you read to increase your comprehension.  Try to also consider the details in the images as you read to figure out some of the deeper messages that Satrapi is communicating.

Homework for the Weekend - 10/17/2014 - A Day Students

Russian I

Over the weekend complete exercises on Accusative and Prepositional cases on the handout.  Fill in the blank with the appropriate word in the blank.  Have this ready to be checked on Tuesday.

Remember - kill and drill - memorize - that's how you learn the cases.

Russian II

Make sure that for Tuesday's class you have completed exercise six in Chapter Five as well as a redo of exercise three a and b.  Now that you have your pairs of verbs exercise three should be much easier for you.

On Tuesday we will spend time working on your speaking assignment.  Thank you for being patient with me today.

English II

Read the next two chapters of Persepolis.  Remember to continue taking notes as you read to make yourself a more effective reader!

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/15/2014

Russian II

Tonight for homework you need to continue working with your aspect pairs. Complete exercise six from our green textbook. Write out the sentences and fill in the blanks using the proper aspect and tense. Make sure to pay attention to your aspectual clues as you make your choices. 

Continue then by writing five additional sentences using your pairs you've chosen for your charades activity. If you need help come in tomorrow and ask. 

Russian I

Work on your words. You need to focus on learning the meaning of the words, the spelling, and the other important information related to the words. 

English II

Tonight you have the next three chapters of Persepolis. Read carefully and make notes in your handouts. Remember that being an active reader to improve your comprehension.  

Homework for B-Day Students - 10/14/2014

AP English III

Over tonight and the next you will need to accomplish two reading goals.  First read The Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson which is in 50 Essays or at the link.  Annotate the essay heavily.  Connect it to The Great Gatsby - How do you see these lies within the text?  How does this text change the way in which you approach or consider the idea of lying?

In addition, read and annotate to the end of chapter three.  Continue your cover annotations as you go through the text, you should be collecting and adding consistently as you read.

English II

No homework for tonight - good luck on the PLAN test tomorrow!

Homework for 10/13/2014 - A Day Students

English II

No homework for tonight.  We'll be presenting our posters next class.  Make sure that you have also taken note of where you will be on Wednesday for the PLAN test.

Russian I

Tonight complete the worksheet on Russian nouns.  Remember to tell me all about the noun in the second column - the gender, the declension, the pronoun, and if it is a who or a what.  I'll be collecting this sheet next class with your Начало sheets.

Russian II

Tonight you need to read the letter and analyze the verbs in the letter.  You should find all of the verbs and analyze what ASPECT and what TENSE is being used with the verb.  Try to understand why these particular tenses and aspects are used to better understand the concept.  We'll review this next class before we begin our speaking!

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/9/2014

Russian II

Your homework this weekend is to complete exercise three, parts A and B.  For part A you need to read the sentence and create an answer that uses the CB of the verb to emphasize that the action has been completed.  To find your aspectual pair, either use a dictionary or the online WIKTIONARY - remember to write out your sentences as this will help.  Check your conjugations as you are writing.  For part B, you need to read the sentence and move from the CB to the HCB - for this you will take off the prefix on the verb to move from CB to HCB.

Be sure that you are also studying your vocabulary!

Russian I

Over the weekend create your vocabulary study aid and have this ready for inspection on Monday.  As a baseline, include the word in Russian, the word in English, mark the stress, and note the gender of the word.  We'll keep working with gender on Monday!

English II

No homework for the weekend, be sure that if you have any missing assignments that you turn them in tomorrow as no missing work will be accepted past Friday!

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/8/2014

AP English III

Tonight for homework your main goal is to prepare for next class's assessment on Transcendental philosophy.  You all did a wonderful job of teasing out the topics for the questions you will be asked.  Focus on those topics now as you review your notes and annotations from the class discussions on these pieces.  Remember to always focus on clarifying the ideas presented to you using more concrete examples, especially when working with philosophy.

In addition, remember to read to the end of chapter two in The Great Gatsby for Tuesday's class.  As you read, continue to annotate and add to your covers.  Collect vocabulary.  Consider the ideas on the ROARING TWENTIES discussed today in class.  How do you see Fitzgerald building upon these ideas within his text?

English II

Your homework is to complete any missing assignments and submit them by Friday.  The gradebook will be closed for this first portion of the quarter then, so any changes need to be settled.

Homework for A-Day Students: 10/7/2014

Russian II

Tonight I would like for all of you to spend time with your new vocabulary and create your study aid for your new words.  Have this to show me next class.  Remember to mark stress and any important notes about the words (like conjugations, cases, etc.).

Russian I

No homework tonight after your retest - continue to practice and study!

English II

You only have homework tonight if you need to make up a missing assignment.  Get these things settled by the end of the week this week so that your grade can be finalized for this week.

Homework for B Day Students - 10/6/2014

AP English III

Remember to bring your work with you on preparing for the exam to class on Wednesday. We brought out a lot of great points on argumentative writing which will be helpful for you on Friday for our examination day. 

For next class, bring a copy of The Great Gatsby as we'll start studying it then. Continue to study and review for the exam. 

English II

Complete your frame depiciting you as a revolutionary. Show what you've learned about reading graphic novels and think about facial expressions, speech bubbles and colors. Ms. Gerdes and I are looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 10/3/2014

Russian II 

From the dialogues today I see a few places for us to keep working but overall I saw some good use of cases and verbs. Over the weekend I want you to continue working with Russian as you write a one paragraph response about the film "Бриллиантовая рука." Express your opinion on the film and then give an example to support your opinion as well as explanation of the detail. I look forward to reading these. Remember to make it your own work. Outside assistance is only okay for looking up individual words. 

Russian I 

Your retest is happening on Tuesday. Prepare yourself accordingly. Learn your vocabulary and alphabet. 

English II 

Complete your comic homework this weekend. Show yourself standing up for something important to you. Feel free to use narration or speech bubbles to make this drawing in the style of a comic book frame from Persepolis. 

Homework for A-Day Students - 10/1/2014

Happy October everyone!  Here are your reminders to prepare for Friday!

Russian II

Your goal for tonight is to finish your dialogue scrips and be ready for our work on Friday where you all will present your dialogues.  Remember to focus on clear pronunciation and try to mirror your intonations to the IK-1 and IK-2.  Come in tomorrow or later today if you need more help.

Russian I

Tonight continue the work we've done in class preparing for our retesting of the alphabet unit.  I expect to see serious improvement for the next attempt at this important assessment.  Tonight, take one of the four texts on the back of your sheet and prepare it for reading to me on Friday.  Write it out in your best handwriting and practice, practice, practice!  Also make sure that you have thought about what you need to do to prepare for your retest on Tuesday!

English II

For tonight you need to use your excerpts from Persepolis as well as your knowledge from our study of the Koran to answer the following question:

According to the Koran, would you say that Marji has a good relationship with G-d or not?  Explain your answer.

Remember as you do this to construct a solid paragraph with a topic sentence, a clear detail sentence and explanation of that detail!  Show us what you're learning about paragraph writing.

Homework for B-Day Students - 9/30/2014

AP English III

There's a few things coming down the pike that I want to make sure you're all aware of.  Here's a bit of information on these tasks coming up:

1. For tonight read E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake"; it is in 50 Essays or at this link.  Remember to read and annotate - look for Transcendentalism in there!
2. Your vocabulary cards are due on Monday.  Remember that you need to have five cards from your bookmarks.
3. We will likely have an exam on Wednesday of next week on these non-fiction and philosophical pieces.  Prepare for that by reviewing your notes - I'll give a more guided review on Monday.
4. Our first novel of the year is The Great Gatsby - we will likely begin this next Friday.  I would recommend purchasing your own copy of all of our novels as they will be heavily annotated by you!

English II

Your homework is to read the excerpts from Persepolis and answer the questions on each excerpt.  Remember to have a record of what you have read by doing notes or writing down observations in the margins of the text.

Homework and Announcements - 9/29/2014

Russian II 

Tonight we returned to the land of verbs. It looked to me that things were clicking again in class as we did those drills. Please continue your practice tonight. The Schaum's Outline is ver useful here because it organizes the exercises by stem. The book will call the stems by their Russian names. The exercises for you on the stems we know are on pages 215-218, 221, and 226-228. 

Try a sampling of these and see how you feel. Ask for help if you need it!

Russian I

From grading your tests today I can see some clear places for improvement. We will do some review work and probably look at scheduling a retest date for next week for those of you who would like that option. 

English II 

Tonight you have two excerpts which Ms. Gerdes gave you from the first chapter of Persepolis. Read the excerpts carefully and complete the tasks given to you at the top of the sheet. These excerpts are yours so please annotate or take notes on them to help you complete your task. Remember to have some evidence to show that you have done your reading for class. 

Homework for B-Day Students: 9/26/2014

AP English III

Over the weekend I have two or three things for you to take care of to prepare for next week.  First, begin on your vocabulary study.  Be aware that this is a standing assignment throughout the year.  Whenever I ask to see your bookmarks you should have these and be able to show me that you have actively been working on these pieces.  Remember that you will have to select five words for your cards and you will turn in five cards by the 6th of October.

Secondly, be sure that you have your five journals from being a Transcendentalist for the week.  With the journals you'll complete a one page, typed, MLA format reflection.  In the reflection, here are some questions to consider:

• What did you learn from this experience about yourself?  Others?  Society?  How did you learn these things?
• What were some of your successes?  Your failures?  Why?
• How do you better understand this philosophy?  Is it applicable in our world today?

The reflections are a space for you to write and process the experience.  Show me that you are thinking and being considerate.

The third thing would be to go back through your work on King and review now that we've read the clergymen's letter.  How can you better understand this piece given this context?

English II

No homework for the weekend!  Enjoy your time!  Be ready to start reading comic books next week!

Homework for B-Day Students - 9/24/2014

AP English III

For next class you will need to complete your reading and annotating of King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail."  As you read, try to make connections to the ideas of Emerson and Thoreau - I was glad to see some of that happening today in class (h/t Ellen).  Also, make sure that you complete your first bookmark.  You need to have twenty words with synonyms on your bookmark sheets.

Finally, let's clarify the Transcendentalist project.  You will write your fifth journal on Friday.  This is the end of the experiment.  Over the weekend, review your journals and write your reflection.  The reflection and journals are due on Tuesday.

English II

Your homework is the same as what was shared in the post below.  Complete your six word memoir and have it ready to be collected next class.

Homework for A-Day Students - 9/23/2014

Russian II

You all should be reviewing your cases and your work on grammar nightly.  You have no homework tonight to turn in, but there is a lot of stuff to review and study!

Russian I

Your homework is to prepare for your test!  Your test will be on Monday and will cover all of the subjects I went over with you in class.  You will want to come in on Friday afternoon for extra help if you need it.

English II

Your homework due on Thursday is to complete your six word memoir.  Remember that you will want to use either your computer or the paper we gave you in class to put your memoir together.  Focus on filling the page with the six words.  Make sure to think about your font or design of the letters, the colors, and any images that help the sentence.

Homework for B-Day Students - 9/22/2014

AP English III

Be reminded that you are always supposed to have a record of your notes from any reading assignment.  This is how you show me that you've done your homework.

For your work tonight you need to complete your first journal on your "Transcendentalist for a Week" assignment.  The prompt for tonight is:  What have you chosen to give up and why?  Remember that you can only write one page in your bluebooks.  Keep it brief, but answer the questions well.

Outside of living like a Transcendentalist you also have to begin preparing Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail."  This piece is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  Remember that you are always to have notes on reading.  Always.  The discussion of this piece will be on Friday, prepare yourselves accordingly.

English II

No homework for tonight.  Consider the ideas we began discussing today about telling our own stories versus someone telling those stories for us.  What's the difference?

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 9/19/2014

Russian II

This weekend you are finishing your work reviewing all six cases.  This weekend, spend some time with the instrumental case.  Using your Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar complete the following exercises.  The numbers after the exercise tell you which questions in the exercise you can complete.

• Exercise 31, page 63:  1, 3-8
• Exercise 32, page 63: 1-4, 6-10
• Exercise 33, page 63:  1-7
• Exercise 36, page 64:  1-15
• Exercise 37. page 64:  1-5
• Exercise 38, page 65:  1-9

At the end of this you have worked in all of your cases.  Continue practicing and reviewing and studying nightly.  Drill and practice.  Drill and practice!

Russian I

Your homework this weekend consists of the worksheet I gave you today.  Complete the exercise in which you take each word and turn it into a sentence paired with a translation.  All of your sentences should start with the Russian equivalent of "This is...".  Have this done on a piece of paper to turn in.  Also, read the names of the colleges and universities.  We will practice with some of this on Tuesday.  Don't forget.  You have your first test on Thursday on the alphabet and culture.  We'll prepare for this a bit on Tuesday.

English II

No homework for the weekend.  Enjoy your time off.  Consider our ideas about memoir and perspective from today's class.  

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 9/18/14

AP English III

Over the weekend you have Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" which is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  If you are accessing the text from the link then you will not need to read all of it, begin the reading at the paragraph which starts "I went to the woods because...".

As you read, annotate.  Look for the elements of Transcendental philosophy within the text and also go back to "The Over Soul" - Thoreau is living Emerson's philosophy.  How do you see this?  What are the positives or negatives to this?  Is it still possible to live this way?

English II

No homework for the weekend - if you need to finish your quiz, please make sure to take care of that tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

Homework for A Day Students - 9/17/2014

Russian II

Tonight you need to work through the dehydrated sentences.  Remember to be reviewing your cases and your grammar as you work.  Fill in the blanks with the required items and then consider the cases that you need for these items.

For numbers seven and eight you need to write two sentences of your own choosing.

Russian I

Tonight you all need to spend your time reading and working on your vocabulary lists.  Continue to practice with your reading and handwriting of these vocabulary words.  As a reminder you should be working with your vocabulary each night for about thirty to forty minutes.

Read aloud!  Practice!  The reading should be getting easier day after day.  Please ask for my assistance if you need it.

Here's a video on greetings to help you with your vocabulary.  Listen to the intonation patterns!

English II

Today we took our quiz and didn't really have time to get in to the film on Iran.  Next class we will begin on this topic and move forward into our study of memoirs.

B-Day Student Homework - 9/16/2014

AP English III

Tonight for homework you should spend time reviewing and rereading "The Over Soul" so that you are prepared for our discussion of this piece on Thursday.  Also, make sure that you are filling up your vocabulary bookmark with new words and definitions.  We will soon move on to the second portion of this assignment which is the word study.

English II

Tonight you need to prepare yourselves for your quiz.  Study and review what we've been going over in class as these questions and texts will be part of your quiz on Wednesday/Thursday.

Homework for A-Day Students - 9/15/2014

Russian II

Tonight for homework you have three exercises from Schaum's Outlines of Russian Grammar related to the Dative Case.  You will need to complete exercise 26 (1-8), exercise 28 (1-7) and exercise 29 (2, 3, and 5).  For exercise 29 you will need to use the expression надо which we learned today in class.

Russian I

Tonight I want you to practice with your vocabulary related to greetings and introductions.  Read over pages fifty and fifty-one which you were given today in class.  Then, complete exercise ten.  First, you need to fill in any missing parts of the dialogue using context clues.  Look at the answer, and then work backwards to fill in the missing question.  Once you have this done, on the back, you will need to write two brief dialogues.  Practice your vocabulary.  Write and speak.  Practice your intonation patterns!

English II

Next class you will have a quiz on the following texts:

• The Anecdotes and Sayings of Saadi
• "The Train from Rhodesia" by N. Gordimer
• "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself" by W. Szymborska

• You will have thirty multiple choice questions related to these stories/texts.
• You will have grammar related to our warm-up tasks.
• You will have to write a paragraph which follows the proper structure.  The point is to show us what you have learned.  

Please feel free to ask questions.  Use your notes to study.  Prepare yourselves.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 9/12/2014

AP English III

This weekend you have a very difficult piece to read and annotate, due to its difficulty we will not be working on this piece until Thursday the 18th.  I would like, however, for all of you to have given this piece one solid attempt before Tuesday's class because we will be touching on it and may have the chance to start asking questions.

Your task is to read Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Over Soul" and annotate the text.  Your annotations will likely be focused around asking questions of the text because it is wordy and complex, especially in terms of the sentence length and complexity.  As you read, use the rhetorical modes to help you.  Remember that this piece is centered around Emerson clarifying a concept - look for definition and exemplification.  Try to come out of this piece understanding what the Over Soul is to Emerson.  It may be helpful to consider connections to The Grapes of Wrath as Steinbeck is thoroughly influenced by Emerson, think especially of Ma and Jim Casy.

English II

Your task for the weekend is the same as the A-day students.  Complete your poetry study of your favorite song or the other poem that was on the back of your copy of "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself."  Remember to work through all parts of the VLSITFT model and apply these ideas to your favorite song.

Homework for the Weekend - 9/11/2014 - A Day Students

Russian II

This weekend you need to finish watching our episode of "Орел и Решка" and answer the questions on the sheet I gave you.  Please make sure to bring your questions with you to class on Tuesday so that we can review some of these structures in writing.  If I see a good attempt you will get full completion credit.

Here's the video in case you can't find the link.

Russian I

This weekend you need to study your vocabulary lists and complete your handwriting of the new vocabulary words.  Please bring your flashcards or study aid with you to class on Tuesday so that I can check your handwriting.  We will begin working more with these words and phonetics on Tuesday.

English II

This weekend Ms. Gerdes and I would like to see you apply our poetry reading strategy to a favorite song of yours.  Please select a song and then evaluate the song based on the VLSITFT model in class.  You will need to do this on a separate sheet of paper to turn in.  Next class we will review a bit before our quiz which is happening on Wednesday and Thursday.

Homework for 9/10/2014

AP English III

Tonight for homework you will need to read the next chunk of chapters from Grapes which are chapters five through eight.  As you are rereading and annotating the text, be sure to look for the following ideas/topics/characters:

• motifs:  person to animal, American dream
• characters:  Ma Joad, Jim Casy
• devices:  personification, irony

As you read and notice things, go back to our conversation today and think about significance.  What is the importance of these specific elements of language?  What do these specific details add to Steinbeck's argument?

Furthermore, remember that you will have a quiz on the elements of rhetoric and argumentation next class.  Be sure to review your notes and know the new terminology well.  In addition, you may want to look over and complete your vocabulary that you've collected so that you are more familiar with these terms.

English II

Tonight you have no official homework but you should review your notes and your vocabulary collected from "The Train from Rhodesia".  You will be having a quiz on "The Sayings of Saadi", "The Train from Rhodesia", and the next text we will be reading "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself" on Thursday the 18th of September.

Homework and Reminders - A Day Students - 9/9/2014

Russian II

Next class you have your first quiz on the nominative, accusative, prepositional, and genitive cases.  Prepare yourselves.  You will have a dialogue to listen to and answer questions, a paragraph to read and answer questions and finally a small writing and speaking assignment.  Feel free to come ask for help today or tomorrow.  And also, keep practicing your phonetics!

Russian I

Tonight I would like for you to spend time reading and writing in Russian.  First, practice your phonetics for approximately thirty minutes each night.  Then, write the poem about the little old man out in your best handwriting.  Practice your reading too.  We will have our first quiz on the alphabet coming soon - likely next week!

English II

You have no homework tonight but you should be working on your vocabulary and reviewing your notes.  If you have make-up work to complete, please get that settled.  You will have a quiz on 9/17 and 9/18 on the first few texts that we have read this year and on your writing skills.

9/8/2014 - B Day Homework and Announcements

AP English III

Tonight you have two things to settle.  The first is to reread and annotate (or reannotate if you have already) chapters one through four of The Grapes of Wrath.  As you are reading and annotating you should continue looking for vocabulary and, hopefully, notice elements related to rhetoric which may have been hidden in plain view before.

Be sure to have your book with you until I tell you that you no longer need it.

Additionally you will have your first quiz on Friday.  This quiz will focus on the elements of rhetoric and argumentation which we have begun to study in the opening of the year.  More details to come on Wednesday, but you may want to begin studying now by looking over your vocabulary from our class discussions.

English II

Your homework is the same as the post below.  Complete the reading of "The Train from Rhodesia" and then complete your detail hunt following the instructions on the assignment sheet.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 9/5/2014

First of all, thanks for being with me on my birthday!  You all got me off to a good start.  Here are your assignments for the weekend.

Russian II

This weekend you have several exercises on cases.  Remember to complete the even numbered questions in each exercise.  I will be checking this for completion.  Mark questions that you cannot or aren't sure how to do so that we can review these on Tuesday.  On Tuesday we will review in preparation for our quiz.

Also remember that if you did not submit your warm-up sheet with last night's homework you must get that in to me no later than Tuesday for credit.

Russian I

This weekend I would like for you to practice with your reading and writing.  Go to your phonetics sheets and practice reading the two poems several times.  Also, practice your handwriting and write these poems in your best Russian handwriting.  You will want to write them several times to practice.

Russian I and II

Don't forget to read and practice your phonetics sheets nightly.  You should read over these every day to practice your mouth positions and sounds.

English II

This weekend finish reading "The Train from Rhodesia" and complete your detail hunt about the character of the man and the woman.  Feel free to use the back of your handout to collect details and do your work.

Homework - B Day Students - 9/4/2014

AP English III

Over the weekend you have a few things to read and consider to prepare for Monday's class.

1. You'll need to read/annotate "On Compassion" by B. Ascher.  You can find this in 50 Essays or at this link.
2. You will also need to reread/annotate "Harvest of Shame" and "Work Works" from The Working Poor.  As you do this rereading, consider the argument we developed in class today.  How can you continue to refine it and clarify it using the data from these chapters?

English II

Your assignment is in the post below for A-day students.  Be sure that your paragraph is submitted no later than Monday if you did not submit it today.

Homework for A-Day Students - 9/3/2014

Russian II

For homework tonight you need to complete the assignment on dehydrated sentences.  Put the five sentences into grammatically correct Russian forms.  See me for help if you need it.

Russian I

Complete the handwriting homework and go back to complete any skipped exercises from the first set of homework.  You should complete the following exercises:  4, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, and 29.

Be sure to have your completed homework and your warm-up sheets next class as it will be collected for a grade.

English II

You have no official homework tonight if you were able to submit your final draft of your paragraph.  If you did not submit your draft then you must turn it in next class.  Feel free to complete the bonus assignment below for extra credit.  Next class we will continue reading "The Train from Rhodesia".

English II - Extra Credit Assignment - 9/3 and 9/4

If you finish typing your final draft and turn in your draft packet before the end of the period, then you may complete this extra credit assignment.  To complete the extra credit assignment, follow these instructions:

1.  Leave a comment to this blog post by clicking the link below.
2.  Do an Internet search for a current event related to South Africa - it may be related to culture, politics, arts, or anything that you'd like as long as it is centered on South Africa.
3.  Post the link to your article in your comment.
4.  Type a three to four sentence summary of your current event.
5.  Explain in three to four sentences how this current event is connected to Sarafina, "The Train from Rhodesia", or "Teaching Under Apartheid".  Be clear and specific when you explain this connection.
6.  Leave your name and class period in the comment to earn credit.

9/2/2014 - B Day Homework and Reminders

AP English III

Be reminded that your final drafts of your introduction piece is due to me on Thursday.  You will need to submit your rough draft as well as any additional drafts which you completed before the due date.  In addition, be sure that you have your copy of The Working Poor next class as we will be studying the introduction of this piece.

Lastly, complete the Ehrenreich questions based on "Serving in Florida" - we will review these questions on Thursday to start our day together.

English II

Next class we will be going to the computer lab to type up our final assignments.  Remember to have your rough draft and feedback chart as you may be able to turn everything in before you go for the weekend.  The final drafts are due no later than Friday (A-day) and Monday (B-day).  If you didn't have a draft for workshop, please come see me or Ms. Gerdes before the computer lab time with your draft to get back your points.

Also, if you are completing the bonus assignment make sure to have your reading done for our next class.

Homework for the Long Weekend - 8/29/2014

Russian II

This weekend you have several exercises to complete to review and refresh your knowledge of the Nominative, Accusative and Genitive Cases. In your Schaum's Outlines of Russian Grammar complete the following exercises:

• page 49-51:  exercises 17 (1-5, 7, 11-15), exercise 18 (all), exercise 19 (1,2), exercise 20 (1-3, 5), exercise 21 (1-4, 6), exercise 22 (1-7, 9), exercise 24 (1, 4, 5, 10)

Most of this work focuses on the genitive case.

Russian I

This weekend you need to complete the handwriting practice worksheets which I gave you in class today.  In addition, make sure that you continue to practice your reading and phonetics work.  

English II

Read the bonus assignment if you so choose - take notes as you read about segregation/apartheid as this will be very important for our story study next class.  Also, revise your paragraphs based on your feedback today in peer editing.  We will be typing the final drafts of these paragraphs on Wednesday/Thursday.  These paragraphs will be due on 9/5 for A day and 9/8 for B day.

8/28/2014 - B Day Homework

AP English III

For this weekend you have a few goals to accomplish - here they are in some sort of order:

1.  Review your annotations of "Serving in Florida" - apply the terms of logos, pathos, and ethos as well as looking at the rhetorical relationship which is established and manipulated throughout this text.

2.  Read and annotate "On Dumpster Diving" which is available at this link.  Be sure to look carefully at the terms that we discussed in class as well as other elements which you find to be significant to the text.

3.  Prepare your final draft of your "Introduction" piece.  Final drafts are due on Thursday - remember that I am available for conferencing on Tuesday afternoon.  Take the feedback you've received today and build from that.

English II

Just like the A-day students you are expected to have a draft of your paragraph to use for peer editing and review on Tuesday.  We'll work through this process and move toward our final drafts.

8/27/2014 - A Day - Homework

Russian II

Spend approximately fifteen to twenty minutes reading over the new phonetics sheet from today.  Focus on your mouth position for the vowels as well as clear sounds.  Spend an additional fifteen to twenty minutes reading over the exercises on sheet one.

I would additionally recommend reading over the information in your Schaum's Outline of Russian Grammar about the nominative and accusative cases.  Next class we will do some exercises before going on to the new focus cases.

Russian I

Read over your phonetics sheet to practice your pronunciation of the letters.  Make sure that you also practice your handwriting by writing the short poem on the back of the second page.  Try to read the poem as you write it to practice more of your pronunciation and vocabulary knowledge.

English II

Be sure that you have finished a draft of your paragraph for our peer editing session next class.  You must have a complete paragraph in order to receive credit.  It may be handwritten.

First Day of School - Version 2.0

AP English III

Students - great first day!  We're off to a really wonderful start.  Here are your reminders for tonight to prepare you for our next class together on Thursday.

1. Prepare your rough draft of the introduction assignment.  Make sure that you have at least two paragraphs to earn credit for editing.
2. Read and annotate "Serving in Florida" available at this link.  If you cannot print the article make sure that you at least have notes to show.
3. Begin rereading the selected chapters of The Working Poor:  "Introduction", "Harvest of Shame" and "Work Works".
4. Complete your Parent/Student Information Sheet either on paper or on the online form available a few posts down.

English II

Please see the A-day post for English II for your assignments.

Homework - First Day of School

Greetings Students!  It was great meeting you all today.  I'm looking forward to getting to know you more as we progress through the year together.  Here are your reminders for tonight to get you started:

Russian I/Russian II/English II

Make sure that you fill out your Student/Parent Information Sheet and turn that in to me.  You can also complete the online version and turn in no paperwork.

Russian I

Read and write exercise one.  Practice several times with the speaking of the words.  Listen to your recording.  Remember to reduce your aspiration of the letter T through proper tongue position!  Write the words several times to get the style of Russian handwriting.

Russian II

Read through all exercises and practice your speaking.  Pay close attention to the unstressed vowels and the change in their sounds.  For tonight, spend some time with the Schaums Outline book and review concepts as we begin our structured review over the next few classes.

Russian Online Resources

Russian I and Russian II

Students - The following resources will be very useful for you as we move through our study of Russian together.  Below are several links as well as information about what you will find at each of these links.  Please use them throughout the year as you find them to be needed.

Эхо Москвы
The only way to get better at a foreign language is by immersing yourself in it.  That's why I offer you this radio station.  A great practice is for you to listen to this about thirty minutes to an hour each day.  I say do it while you're working on Russian.  You won't understand much, but it'll help you with intonation, and just repetition.  You'll also find yourself understanding more as you learn more through the year.

UCLA Beginner's Russian
There are so many resources here I don't know where to start.  This is an online textbook with explanations of grammar concepts and exercises that you can use to help with your mastery of skills.  The chapters aren't the same as ours so feel free to explore through several different chapters to get what you will need.  Please ask for help using this resource if you need it.

Викисловарь
This is a great online dictionary especially for forms of words in cases.  The explanation of the words are in Russian as is most everything else on the page.  Put the word you're working with in the search box to find your declension charts or any other information you may need on a word.

Tons of Resources
This page has almost everything else from grammar to translators to games to exercises.  If you can't find it elsewhere, look here.

Yandex
This is the Russian equivalent of Google.  They have some really good tools to help out with Russian like their translator which is far better than Google's.

And just like that it's time to start up again!

Welcome back everyone!  I'll post more as the year actually gets started but for now I just want to post the link to the Parent/Student Information Form.  Please either complete the paper document or this online form after the first day of school to ensure easy communication through the year.

Link to Parent/Student Information Form.

And It's The End of Another Year

And now I'm officially done for the year.  It's been a serious pleasure this year working with all of you.  I look forward to seeing you next year and sharing a lot of stories about how crazy Moscow was this summer.

Grades Done!

All grades and exam scores are now in, including English II.

Grades Complete

I have now completed all grades except for B2 - Your EOC scores will hopefully be in tomorrow or Friday.  I'll let you know once they are.

Textbooks

AP English III 

I cannot account for five copies of the McGraw Hill Reader and six copies of 50 Essays.  If you have these texts please return them to me tomorrow morning.

Grades Complete

I have completed grades for A3 in addition to the previously listed classes.  No EOC scores yet; hopefully tomorrow.

Final Grades

Currently I have final grades ready for A2 and B1. I will continue to update as more exams are taken. Please see me before school, at lunch, or after school. 

Russian I - Helpful Resource

Russian I Students -

Here is a link to a very useful resource for explaining and practicing Russian grammar.  You'll have to look at all chapters to review what we've done in class.  If you see topics which were not covered in the course of the year, overlook them, the program at UCLA uses a different system.

I hope this is helpful as you prepare for your exam.

Exams Begin!

All Students -

Please make sure that you follow the exam schedule and attend all required review sessions.  My review sessions will be especially helpful in AP and Russian since I have written those exams.  For English II and III we will review all the needed skills and types of questions on the exams to prepare.

If you have missing work or things to be completed you must finish by Friday the 30th of May.  This is the day that I will finalize my 4th Quarter Grades.

The Last B Day of the Year - 5/22/2014

Honors English II

All grades have been posted for the quarter with the exception of a few websites which were given extensions.  Please make sure to finish your site by the approved time so that I can grade it and finish my work for the quarter.

Our review session for the EOC will fall on Thursday the 29th, beginning at 11:06.  If you are exempt from the morning exam (A2 class) you are expected to be in class for our review.  It's important to be at the review since we have not seriously done deep review for the EOC.  Our exam will be the next day, Friday morning.  Be to school on time.  If you miss the beginning of an EOC you may be asked to come back on a make-up day.

ESL English III

Our review period will fall on Monday the 2nd of June, beginning at 11:06.  With your exam happening the very next day, Tuesday the 3rd.  Again, be on time, have all of your materials, and be well rested!

If any of you have textbooks you must turn them in before the review period.  I will be issuing fines for any missing texts at the review session.

News

I didn't win for the district but I still feel accomplished! Thanks y'all! See you in the morning.  

A-Day Student Homework - 5/21/2014

This is it - our last class on Friday is really just an extra day for us to tie up some loose ends.

AP English III

Come prepared on Friday to have some fun, it's character cafe day!  Bring your supplies, feel free to drop off in the morning before school, and then we'll eat, drink, and be merry.  Some of us will end up dead on the ground by the end of the class, but that's okay - as long as the rest of us get out of the way of that speeding car, right Myrtle?

Exemptions have been announced - if you think you should be exempt and are not, please see me.

Return all books or materials which are mine - you know who you are.

Russian I

You should be studying nightly for your final.  See me if you have individual questions or concerns - I'll have your letter grades posted as soon as I can.

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 A-Day Classes - 5/19/2014

AP English III

Your homework for tonight is to spend time working on your Character Bone Structure sheets.  Know that these will be collected on Friday as your final grade and will be half of your participation in Friday's Character Cafe.  This is your main goal.  I'll give out exemptions to the exam as soon as I can.

Russian I

Today we reviewed the different topics which will be covered on the final exam.  I hope that this was useful for all of you.  In addition, we spent some time going over the different cases and their functions.  Next class you will have your final writing assignment.  Be sure to have your index card with necessary vocabulary on it to compose your letter.  This is your final grade of the year before the final exam.  Make it count.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students

Honors English II

This weekend you should all be preparing for your final major assessments in class. Your final quiz on Night will fall on Tuesday with the presentation and assessment of your websites on Thursday. I'm more than happy to help you with your websites. Send me emails or come meet with me to get on my calendar. 

In addition I would start to look over things in preparation for the EOC. We will discuss this more as it draws nearer. 

ESL English III

This weekend you should all continue reading Night. I would also study and review your multiple choice practice questions as we keep doing more. Consider the correct answer and try to understand what makes the answer correct over others. 

Homework for A-Day Students: Final Weekend: 5/15/2014

AP English III

For this weekend I want for all of you to begin preparing for your final exams by making a study list of texts we've read this year, authors, and significant characters in each.  Go all the way back to Steinbeck for this.  For those of you planning on taking the exam, this will be highly fruitful in organizing your study of these different pieces this year.

In addition, we'll be having a bit of a writing workshop on college admissions essays.  Try to look at the applications for schools which interest you and find essay prompts.  Bring those with you to class on Monday so that we can begin to talk about effective strategies for compiling and completing these essays.

In addition, here is the link for the AP Summer Scholars Camp hosted by DPS - A good opportunity for those of you in town this summer to develop your AP skills before next year.

http://cia.dpsnc.net/advanced-academics/advanced-placement

Russian I

No homework this weekend as you had a test today.  Make sure that if you have missing work that you get this turned in.  I'd also recommend studying a bit for your final - we'll start review on Monday with the introduction and chapter one.  Don't forget as well that we will have our writing assignment on Wednesday and Thursday in class.

B Day Homework - 5/14/2014

Honors English II

I hope that today's brief conversation helped you all to see the larger point that Wiesel is making about himself and a lot of survivors from the camps after World War II.  We'll continue to look at the text as a whole next class before we have our final quiz on Tuesday of next week.  For tonight, I would suggest continuing to review the text as well as work on your websites.  You have your rubric for completing the websites, so make sure that you are moving forward with that final project.  In addition, make sure that you email me or contact me in some way to ask for help with these sites.

ESL English II

We began reading chapter five today in class to see more of what life is like in the camps.  Next class I'll be giving back your project drafts so that we can revise those before our final few classes.  Continue reading forward in Night.  Watch how Elie's character is continuing to change and how his relationship with his father is shifting too.

Remember to get all missing or make-up assignments in to me by Friday.  If you can't get your work in by Friday, let me know so I can expect your work.

A Day Homework and Announcements - 5/13/2014

AP English III

I applaud all of you for your argumentative letters today.  If you need to finish a draft or make some tweaks, please do that tonight so that I can put our letters in the mail on Friday.  I've enjoyed seeing your approaches to this idea of banning books as well as the clear and thorough approach you're using in speaking to the school board members.  Continue this type of writing, working and thinking.

For tonight, make sure that you have read Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" - you have my annotations to help you though the text as well as good questions to consider to help you break down the text.  Read and analyze thoroughly so that we can have a productive conversation on Thursday.

Russian I

Next class we will be having our verb exam.  You'll need to be able to conjugate verbs in the present, past, and future tenses.  Make sure that you have studied the One-Stem Verb Resource Sheet which outlines particulars to each conjugation as well as the different stems and conjugation patterns controlled by those stems.

In addition, continue working on your drafts of your letters to your Moldovan host family.  We'll continue working on this in class in preparation for Wednesday/Thursday's completion of this writing task.

Finally remember that all make-up/revised work is due by Friday.  If you will not be able to make this deadline please see me in advance.  

B-Day Homework - Super Late - So Sorry - 5/12/2014

Honors English II

Incredibly sorry that I didn't get this posted.  I had a presentation which threw off my afternoon and this just flew out of my mind.  I'll also blame cutting the grass since I was too exhausted to do anything after that.

To those of you who submitted your papers yesterday, thank you.  The resubmission window is open and Friday is the last day to submit those items.  Friday is actually the last day for all items for everyone.  For tonight finish reading Night.  We'll be taking our final exam on Wiesel's narrative on Tuesday the 20th and then present our website projects on Thursday the 22nd.  The extension for the websites is due to the technical problems we were having in the labs.

With the website projects, remember to use e-mail to communicate with me on those.  If you've shared with me I can get in there and help you to format and incorporate things.  Also remember to use images and videos, but to cite all sourced information.

ESL English III

I was happy that many of you performed well on the practice multiple choice.  We'll be doing more of those in the days to come.  For tonight, continue to review those questions and strategies.  If you got a question wrong, look at the right answer and try to ask yourself why the answer you selected isn't as good as the one labeled correct.

Next class we will have our (hopefully) last day in the library and you'll be printing all of your items for submission.

Homework for A-Day Students and a Few Announcements

AP English III

You have something very rare this weekend - nothing to do for our next class.  Enjoy this weekend.  Enjoy the fact that you've taken your AP Exam.  I hope that you all felt confident and prepared!  Next class we'll start to have some fun with our final five classes together.

Russian I:

Your Verb Conjugation Unit Exam will fall on the 15th and 16th.  Next class we will continue to review and practice some of our new vocabulary on numbers (which will not be on this exam) as well as a few more conjugation drills (which will be on this exam).  In addition we will continue to work on our final letter drafts for the 21st and 22nd - the day we have our written examination.

For tonight/this weekend continue to study and prepare.  Complete the additional translation assignment if you would like to submit that for extra credit or make-up credit for a previously missed homework/classwork assignment this unit.  If you have no missing assignments I will apply extra credit to a previous assignment.

All Students:

Remember that all missing work needs to be completed and submitted ASAP.  Nothing will be accepted past next Friday the 16th for any classes.  If you don't know your status in regards to missing assignments, see me.

English II Honors:

I'm going to move your quiz on Night back to the 20th so that we're all done with AP Exams.  This will also allow us to finish the novel before the quiz.  Please make sure that your parallelism assignment is ready for me next class.  You should also be ready to begin constructing your websites!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 5/8/2014

Honors English II

This weekend you all will be doing some textual analysis between chapters two and six focusing on the idea of parallelism.  Your goal within this activity is to investigate the similarities in order to see the underlying differences.  First, set up your paper:  Create four columns (item/chapter two/chapter six/analysis).  For the items, you must analyze Elie and the group/community, you may then choose two other items you see as parallel.  With each chapter, find a quotation which helps you to see the parallelism between the item in chapter two and in chapter six.  Lastly, analyze and explain the larger difference you've identified.

This is a high level activity in analysis and pattern recognition.  Great skills to develop before our EOC.  Also, remember that paper resubmissions are coming due.  If you would like to resubmit, get that settled.

ESL English III

Make sure that if you have a native language to English dictionary that you bring that with you to class so that we can work on strategies for using that tool effectively.

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/7/2014

AP English III

In effect, we're done.  You've got your exam next class and that is your chance to show everything that you've learned this year.  Make me proud.  Remember to have sharpened number two pencils, a few pens, and a watch for the exam so that you can time yourselves on the essays.  I would also suggest a good breakfast on Friday morning.

Please come to my room at 7:30 so we can do our chant before you all march over to the exam.  Remember that this is an English exam; don't stay up cramming the night before - a good night's sleep will do you much better.

Russian I

Tonight for homework you need to complete exercise six which is the fill in the blanks activity.  Use a dictionary to find the word needed and then use clues to put the words in the proper tense or case.  Most of these words are verbs, so this is an excellent final review on conjugation and verb completion.  Make sure that this is complete for Friday when I will collect it and your most recent warm-up sheet for an accuracy check.

Also, you should try to begin preparing yourselves for your final writing assignment which will fall on the 21st and 22nd of this month.  You received the prompt today, take this time to prepare, write drafts, and ask for my help.

Your exam on verb conjugation will fall on the 15th and 16th which is next week.  We've been reviewing a lot so I expect good things from all of you.

Homework for B-Day Students - 5/6/2014

Honors English II

Tonight for homework I would like for you to complete the reading of chapter six in Night.  This runs until page ninety-seven in the "blue" books.  Tonight as you read pay attention to the relationship between Elie and his father as it undergoes a significant crisis and change.  This chapter is pretty brutal, so pay attention to the use of language as well.

On Thursday we will return to the library to finish our research.  Make sure that you are prepared for that.  Also, next Wednesday we will have a quiz on chapters one through six of Night.  Study a bit now to be prepared in advance for that assessment.

ESL English III

Make sure that you've read the end of chapter four and that you can tell me about the people who were executed at the end of the chapter.  Pay attention to the differences between these executions and how they make Elie and the other prisoners feel.

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/5/2014

AP English III

Due to the fact that we had a lot of students affected by today's AP Examinations we did not hold class and used the time as a study hall.  I appreciate those of you who were in class today who spent the time focusing on your work and being productive.  For next class, please make sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant".  This is our last text before the exam on Friday, so make sure that you approach it with the necessary time and effort.

Russian I

Today I conferenced with each of you on your answers to the questions in Exercise Nine.  Tonight I would ask that you revise these questions based on the notes I gave today in class.  For the most part here are the common errors I've seen:

• improper use of the instrumental case with the verbs "to be", "to become", and "to work"
• omission of prepositions
• confusion between the prepositional and accusative case for places
• errors in verb conjugation
• improper conjugation of the second verb in a chain
• improper use of possessive pronouns

Look over your errors and make corrections.  Also, be aware that our verb conjugation exam will likely be changed to the 15th and 16th as no students will be affected by AP testing on these days.  Prepare for that.  We will have plenty of days to review in preparation for this exam.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students: 5/2/2014

Honors English II

This weekend I want all of you to focus on your research projects since we will not have time to go back to the media center until Thursday the 8th to continue working on those.  This weekend you should aim to finish answering three of the five questions about your country.  Make sure that you have citations for all of your information.

With this project we will concentrate on having all of the notes and content collected first before we begin building our websites.  For now, concentrate on collecting information and images to help you make your websites complete.

Make sure as well that you have finished the reading of chapters one through five over the weekend.  We will move through the second half of the novel starting next week.

ESL English III

For the weekend I would like for all of you to finish reading chapter four.  Continue to build on what we were discussing today about life in the camp for Elie as well as how he is changing as a person.  We will continue working on our research projects in class, next week.

Homework for A-Day Students: 5/1/2014

AP English III

Well kiddos, it's about time to start your dancing season (AP Exams start next week!).  Looking at the list of who will be taking what it looks like most of you will be out on Monday and Friday for exams.  So, the work below will be due for Wednesday, 5/7/2014.  For Wednesday's class I would like for you to read George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant."  This text is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  Read this piece carefully as we will spend a fair amount of time analyzing it as our final preparation for the exam on Friday.  In addition we will do some work with Multiple Choice with this piece too.

For Friday, I would like to see all of you before the exam.  Please come in around 7:40 am so that we can do our "This is my pen..." chant one last time before you go in to the exam.

Outside of that we will be looking at some short stories to finish our year.  I'll post those next week so that you can start reading.  Please make sure that you use your progress reports to get caught up.  Some of you are missing assignments from absences and need to get these things settled by the middle of next week at the latest.

Russian I

To prepare for our final writing assignment I would like for you all to complete exercise nine tonight and write sixteen Russian sentences which answer the questions asked of you.  Be sure that you are using a dictionary only to look up individual words.  Use the structure of the question to help you to create your answer.  Practice with your verb usage and check yourself using your notes.  This will be collected on Monday for a grade - please complete it and see me in advance with questions.

Be sure that all of you also use your progress reports to make up any missed or missing assignments.  The due date for any late work is Monday the 5th as I have to begin to prepare for final exam.  Please meet this deadline.