Homework for B-Day Students, Weekend Edition, 17 September 2015

English II:

Tonight you need to read section two of Gogol's "The Overcoat".  As you read, make sure to complete the following tasks:

1. Collect five new vocabulary words.  Collect more if you want, but five is the minimum.
2. Take notes on the symbol of Akaky's coat.  Why do you think it is important?  What does it symbolize?
3. Take notes on how Akaky changes as a person - go back to what we've discussed in section one and compare how he is now in section two.  What causes these changes?

Don't forget we will have a quiz on Monday to start class on section two.  If you take good notes you'll do well on the quiz!

AP English III:

Over the weekend you'll be reading one of the most difficult things of the entire year, Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Over Soul".  I'm telling you now that it's difficult to encourage you to work hard on this.  As you read - here are some tips:

1. Use paragraph three as his argument.  In this piece he is defining an abstract concept.  Use the later paragraphs as examples of the concept.
2. Consider the purpose of each paragraph.  What is it telling you?  How does it help to clarify the argument he is presenting about "The Over Soul"?
3. Use the five traits of Transcendentalism to help you make sense of this - How do you see him working these ideas into his article?
4. Use Jim Casy to help you make sense of all of this.  Remember that Steinbeck is putting a lot of this philosophy into practice with Ma, Casy and Tom.  Use Grapes of Wrath to help you make sense of this piece.
5. Develop questions - if you want you can post them as a comment here and I'll try to respond through the weekend.

Russian Students Post

https://open.spotify.com/user/djmiller01/playlist/54mDUxWvfmhL4dZBHtCVY8

Here's the link to my Spotify Russian Music playlist.  There's a bit of everything, so have some fun.  A great activity is following along with the lyrics as you listen, it'll help you train your ears.  You'll need to copy and paste the link.

Homework for A-Day Students: 16 September 2015

English II

Tonight you need to read section two of Gogol's "The Overcoat".  As you read, make sure to complete the following tasks:

1. Collect five new vocabulary words.  Collect more if you want, but five is the minimum.
2. Take notes on the symbol of Akaky's coat.  Why do you think it is important?  What does it symbolize?
3. Take notes on how Akaky changes as a person - go back to what we've discussed in section one and compare how he is now in section two.  What causes these changes?

Don't forget we will have a quiz on Friday to start class on section two.  If you take good notes you'll do well on the quiz!

Russian I, II, and III

We have exams coming up on Friday.  Russian II/III - You'll be having your case exam.  Make sure that you're studied and prepared with nouns, adjectives, and pronouns of all types.  Use your notes and your grammar review packets to help you to prepare.  We've been drilling this information daily so you should be ready to go.

For Russian I we will have our alphabet and phonics test.  Make sure that you know all of the letters and their sounds.  The handwriting helpers will be gone, so know your stuff!

Homework for All Classes - 14 and 15 September

All Students - Here are your reminders for the next class.

Russian II/III

Next class we will spend a lot of time reviewing for our exam on cases which is coming soon.  You should be spending time nightly drilling and memorizing case endings and constructions which will lead you to a better understanding of Russian.  To begin, make sure that your exercise packet is as complete as you can make it.  We'll start by fielding questions there before we move on.

Russian I

Continue to study your phonetics and handwriting for the coming exam on the alphabet.  We'll have our last day of practice on Wednesday.

English II

Using your copies of Gogol, go through the text and stay focused on finding new vocabulary words.  Write the words and the definitions at the bottom of the page if you don't have your bookmarks.  We'll spend some time reviewing before we move on.

AP English III

Continue your rereading and reexamination of Steinbeck.  For tonight, read and annotate chapters five through eight focusing on:

• motif of person to animal and the American Dream
• the use of irony in the text (grab bag)
• the characterization of Ma and Jim Casy
• pay special attention to Jim Casy's philosophy and how Ma responds to certain elements of it.

If you're interested in more about the Dust Bowl, check out the PBS Documentary which we looked at a bit in class.  Here's the link to it.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 11 September 2015

AP English III

First off, here are the links to the supplemental texts that we looked at today in class.

New York Times Book Review of Kozol

Washington Post Article about Wake County

Economist Article on Charter Schools

NPR Transcript on Pre-K

Remember to use these if you would like as you are revising your essay outlines this weekend.  Work hard on these and remember to include and show all of the ideas that we have been learning in regards to analyzing a text and constructing an argument.  Remember that your outlines are due on Tuesday.

In addition, make sure to read/annotate chapters one, two and four of The Grapes of Wrath - we will begin our study of that text on Tuesday.

English II

You have no homework this weekend - make sure that you study and review your notes - we'll have our Russian literature test sooner than you think!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 9/10/2015

Russian II/III

After our writing conferences today I can say that all of you are ready to finish your writing assignments and turn in on Monday your final drafts.  Make sure that you account for all of your changes and read through it several times to make sure that it is correct and grammatical.  In addition, try to add some adjectives for your nouns - this will help you to better learn all of the endings.

I will not be with you on Monday, so you will turn in your work to Ms. Ginocchio.

Russian I

This weekend I want you to continue working on your handwriting and pronunciation as you begin studying Russian cities.  Make sure that you write each city five times - and each time you write the name of the city, say all of the sounds and the word as a whole.  In the last column, tell me where the city is.  Use Yandex maps to find your cities.  If you need a Russian keyboard you can use this one at this link.

On Monday you'll start your research on these cities.

For my Russian students, here's Полина Гагарина - a wonderful Russian singer.

English II

Over the weekend you have no homework to complete - please stay focused on studying your notes from the two pieces we've read so that you are constantly preparing for your unit test on Russian literature.

Homework for B-Day Students: 9/9/2015

AP English III

Tonight your only homework is to work on your outlines and to revise!  Put to practice all that we have learned over the last few days of class, and show me how you are growing as a writer.  Remember to start with your argument revision since that is the heart of the essay - then move forward into developing your topics, details, and explanation.  Please come to conference as you are working - remember that five minutes face-to-face can really help you a lot as you go through this process.  The revised outlines are due to class on 9/15/15.  You will need to submit your original and the revised copy.

Next class make sure that you have Kozol - we'll be finishing him up and getting ready to move to Oklahoma.

English II

Your homework is the same as the A-Day students.  I want you to write your personal reflection on the prompt using a clear detail from the story to support your opinion.  You're going to write three of these reflections - so remember to keep them together on the same piece of paper.  Your prompt is:

Do you agree with Sasha's final thought that he is "indeed a criminal"?  Why or why not?  Use one clear piece of evidence from the text to support your idea.

In addition, if you are still missing the travel paragraph, or the vocabulary work you will need to get that turned in for credit by Friday.

Back from the long/birthday weekend...Homework for 9/8/15 - A-Day

Remember:  Each and every day makes us older and hopefully wiser, too.

Russian II/III

Thursday we will begin with our writing conferences which we cut today in order to work on phonetics.  Make sure that for Thursday you are fully prepared with a paragraph that has all nouns, pronouns (of all types), and adjectives translated into Russian into the appropriate case.  Your paragraph should reflect all six cases.  If you use a translator/dictionary for a word, indicate that so that I can give you another, easier word or reference my dictionary.

For verbs, put your verb analysis chart at the bottom of your work.  Verb in English with tense and subject (for II and III) followed by aspect and directionality (III only).  As we conference we'll go over the individual verbs you need.

Bring your textbooks - we'll use them in class during conferences.

Russian I

Looking at your handwriting packets I see that a few of us will be having a working lunch to correct some mistakes and misunderstandings.  The grades are already posted in PowerSchool - if you have B lunch, you could come to lunch on Wednesday instead of waiting until Thursday to earn your credit back.

For tonight's homework, study your alphabet and your new vocabulary.  I encourage you all to make flashcards which will help your handwriting and memory.  Study the main words, not really the whole phrases.  Also, continue to practice with your phonetics packet - we'll have more phonics work on Thursday.

English II

I've updated PowerSchool to reflect missing assignments including the vocabulary work.  If you want to, please turn in your work tomorrow to me or Ms. Ginocchio and we'll fix the grade as soon as we can.  Remember that missing work must be turned in by Friday to be eligible for full credit.

For tonight you will be writing your first of three personal reflections to a text - remember that you will keep this until the end of our unit on Russian literature when it will be collected for a full quiz grade.  For tonight, you will reflect on Chekhov's "A Problem" - your prompt is:

Do you agree with Sasha's final thought at the end of the story that he is "indeed a criminal" or not?  Why do you agree or disagree?  Use one clear example from the story to support your opinion.

Remember to follow your rules for good paragraph writing and build complexity by talking about a story.

Homework for B-Day Students: Weekend Edition - 9/4/2015

AP English III

This weekend for homework you have a few things to read and consider as we start moving to the end of Kozol and into The Grapes of Wrath.  I would like for you to read "On Compassion" by B.L. Ascher which is in 50 Essays or at this link.  Read and annotate the piece closely:  pay attention to her argument and the way in which she proves the argument to us as an audience.  How does she appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos?

In addition, read over chapter twelve in Kozol as well as his Epilogue.  For the Epilogue, look at it only as a conclusion - go to your notes on a conclusion and notice how he does what he needs to do over the course of several pages.

You'll be getting your outlines back next class - be ready to start revising!

English II

Your homework for this weekend is the same as the A-day students below.  Using your vocabulary bookmark select five words from our study so far and use them to write a short story (about 100 words) about someone borrowing money from another person.  Try to include some conflict in the story because that always happens when people borrow money.  When you turn in your story you will also turn in your vocabulary bookmark to get full credit!

Homework for A Day Students: 9/3/2015 - Weekend Edition

I won't see all of you until I'm thirty-one!  Thankfully that happens on Saturday, so we won't have to wait too long.  Here are your reminders for the weekend:

Russian II/III

Continue to work on the grammar exercises to help you review genitive, accusative, and prepositional case.  A lot of you were making some breakthroughs today in terms of case construction and knowledge, keep practicing and learning.  In addition, go back to your paragraphs - apply the dative case and continue to edit and develop.  I will be collecting finalized versions for cases soon!

Russian I

I want you to make sure that your handwriting packets are complete this weekend so that you can completely study the alphabet.  After today's class we've done all the letters, and now we're starting to get at phonetics too.  Continue to write, read, and practice.  We'll be doing all of that next weekend.

For my Russian language students - here's a fun song that you can listen to this weekend just for the heck of it.

English II

We've started studying Chekhov and will continue that work next week.  For the weekend, I want you to write using your vocabulary.  Construct a short story using FIVE vocabulary words from your bookmarks.  The story should be about someone borrowing money from another person.  Don't write more than a paragraph or two - I want the stories short.  Include some conflict - that always happens when people borrow money.

When you turn in the story you will also turn in your vocabulary bookmarks - so make sure that all the words on them are defined.

Homework for B-Day Students: 2 September 2015

AP English III

Tonight for your homework you have two key things to accomplish.  First, continue to revise and edit your outlines and especially pay attention to the refutation.  Most of you left this out of your original outlines and as we discussed today, it is necessary.  Find a place to include this and start to develop it.

In addition, complete your rereading and annotation of chapters eight and ten from Kozol.  Continue to notice the way in which he is building and developing his argument as the text proceeds.

English II

If you didn't finish your tone analysis work, make sure to turn that in at the beginning of next class!

Homework for A-Day: 9/1/2015

Russian II/III

The exercises tonight for homework are intended to be used so that you will memorize your case endings for the accusative and genitive cases.  Practice and then practice some more.  Here are the exercises you should study and complete:

For Accusative case - pages 82-85.

Russian II and III:  Exercise 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37.
Russian III:  Exercise 25 and 26.

For Genitive case - pages 122-123.

Russian II and III:  Exercise 15, 16, 17, 29, 21, 24.

I'll have your written work to you returned soon.

Russian I

Please complete the additional handwriting work tonight to finish your study of the letters.  Only focus on the handwriting exercises.  Do not worry about translating words that you don't know.  I'll collect all of your handwriting work on Thursday.

English II

If you did not complete your tone analysis and imagery from the Pushkin poem, make sure to finish that tonight and turn it in on Thursday.  Also, if you were a late addition to the class you need to complete your paragraphs and turn them in on Thursday too.

Homework for B-Day Students - 31 August 2015

Happy Monday Everyone!  We're back in the swing of things, and I'm especially excited about this week because it ends with my birthday!  Here are your reminders for tonight to move you into Wednesday.

AP English III

Tonight you should all be working on two tasks which will move us forward into Wednesday.  First, I want all of you to start to do the heavy lifting and work to revise your outlines - especially the thesis/argument statements since we focused on that today.  Take a moment to look at what you have written:  Most of you have given me only the defensible point that you are trying to make.  Remember that this is only one part of the necessary argument structure.  Follow the way we created Kozol's argument today and use that as a model to help you rework yours.  Once this is done, the rest of the process will begin to fall into place.

In addition, reread and annotate chapters four and six of Kozol.  Remember to apply what we are doing in class to your reexamination of the text.  This is crucial as you begin to open your approach to reading texts such as these.

English II

There is no homework that you have to complete to turn in tonight unless, of course, you forgot to turn in the final draft of your paragraphs.  Since some students have been added to the class late I'm giving everyone an additional day with no penalty to turn in these assignments.  Make sure to submit both your first and second draft of the work to get full credit.  See me or Ms. Ginocchio if you have any questions or need help.

Homework for the Weekend - 8/28/2015

Russian II/III

This weekend you have to complete some writing to turn in to me.  Take your paragraphs and begin to write in Russian.  At any point when you are using nominative, accusative, or genitive case I want you to write that in Russian.  All other case instances or verbs should be written in English.  At the bottom of you work, do a verb analysis.  Russian II - You only need to tell me the tense of the verb.  Russian III - Tell me the tense, aspect, and if it is a verb of motion, the directionality of the verb.  In addition, practice your singing!  Here's a video to go along with our song about passionate, dark, gypsy eyes!  Enjoy Fillip Kirkorov - he's a bit like a Russian Liberace.

Russian I

This weekend you should master the first three groups of Russian letters as well as the handwriting that goes with these.  Make sure that your packet is complete, for all the letters we have reviewed.  I will check these on Tuesday!

English II

You have no official homework this weekend; however, some of you need to complete your travel paragraphs and everyone needs to study their Russian literature notes.  Make sure that you are practicing and reviewing every night so that you remember everything really well.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 8/27/2015

I won't be seeing you all again until Monday, so here is what you need to accomplish leading up to then.

AP English III

Over the weekend I want you all to go back to Kozol and re-investigate him given what we discussed today about rhetoric and argumentation.  Reread and annotate the introduction and chapter two of Shame of the Nation.  I would suggest using a different color of ink to the one you looked at originally - that way both you and I will see how you have updated your approach to the text.  Approach this the way we did Alexie today - How is Kozol manipulating the relationship between the topic/audience/himself?  How do the rhetorical appeals impact his work and your understanding of it?

English II

This weekend you need to complete your final draft of your travel paragraph.  You'll turn it in to me on Monday for your first grades of the course.  Make sure that you also turn in your rough draft with the peer editing notes so that I can give you credit for that part of the assignment.

Homework for A-Day Students: 8/26/2015

Russian II/III

Tonight, continue to work on your written paragraphs.  By the end of it, all of your paragraphs will contain all six cases - as you are writing, continue to develop your work so that all six cases are in the paragraph.  In addition, use this time to find translations of needed words.  Remember that if your paragraph involves motion/travel, you may want to talk to me about what verb to use.  Tonight you should be able to complete all the work in nominative and accusative case.

Russian I

Today we went over the second set of letters and I gave you a packet for practice which contains these letters and several others.  Please only do the letters and exercises which we have covered today.  You will finish the packet on Friday once we've finished all of the letters in the packet.  Remember to write the letters/words/sounds multiple times and to say the letter/sound/word each time you write it!

English II

For Friday I need the final draft of your travel paragraph.  Remember that when you turn in your final draft I will also need the draft you worked through today in class from peer editing.  If you would like for me or Ms. Ginocchio to look over your work, please see us outside of class before Friday.

Homework and Announcements for 8/25/2015 - B Day Students

And now I've met all of you and I can say that this year is going to be really wonderful.  I'm really excited to see how you all are approaching the course and your new year at Jordan.  Here's what you need to take care of for tonight:

AP English III

The parent information and contact sheet is located two posts down.  Make sure that if you fill out the sheet online then you bring back the paper version with the first line filled out and the word "ONLINE" at the top.  Then I'll know where to find the information.

In addition, I want you to finish reading the Alexie piece we started in class.  Make sure to read and annotate - follow the same ideas we began discussing today in class.  At the end, please answer question number two.  Make sure to write a thorough response to this question as we will spend time working through the idea in our seminar on Thursday.  The question is:

In paragraph 7, Alexie repeats a certain verb fourteen times. What is this verb, and what effect does this repetition have? What might Alexie be trying to say about the process of his coming to literacy, in terms of both the effort required and the height of the obstacles encountered (or, given the metaphor introduced in paragraph 4, the thickness of the doors that must be broken through)?

The whole Alexie piece and the question can be found at this link.

You should be able to turn in your response if I were to ask for it.  Make sure to also bring in your copy of Shame of the Nation next class.

English II

The homework for the A-day class is the same as your homework tonight.  Please complete the parent information sheet either on paper or using the online form below.  Remember to turn in the paper form, even if you complete the form online.  After this, complete the rough draft of your travel paragraph.  Remember that your paragraph needs all four parts to be complete.  Have your paragraphs with you next class so that we can complete our peer editing!

Homework and Announcements for 8/24/2015

Happy First Day of Class!  It was really great to meet a bunch of new students as well as reacquainting myself with my старики in Russian II/III.  Here are your reminders for tonight's homework - all classes have something to prepare for our next meeting on Wednesday.

Russian II/III:

Tonight you don't have to do much work in Russian - most of your work will be in English.  For tonight write your paragraph in English and then mark the words in a highlighter which will need to be in the NOMINATIVE case when you translate into Russian.  Tonight just focus on nominative case.  If there is vocabulary you need for your paragraph you can also look up words.

II:  Tell me about one thing that you do today. (Only writing in present tense)

III:  Tell me about one thing that you did this summer.  (Mixture of past and present tense)

Russian I:

Tonight you will need to start learning the first six letters of the Russian alphabet - remember these are not the first six in order, just the easy six.  Using your own paper, write the words from the homework sheet at least five times.  Practice making your letters.  Say the words aloud as you write them.  Write this on your own paper so that you can practice making your words nice and neat.  We'll begin by reviewing this next class.

English II:

Tonight your homework is to complete two things!  One - Fill out the parent information sheet either on paper or online (link below).  Two - Complete the first draft of your travel paragraph.  Make sure that you have all four parts to ensure a complete response!  We will work through these a bit more on Wednesday, when we do some peer editing.

Online Parent/Student Contact Form - 2014/2015

Dear Parents and Students - Please find below a link to the online parent/student information sheet.  If you would rather submit your information electronically, complete the form at the link below.  If not, please return the paper form to me.

Parent Information Sheet

AP English III Summer Assignment Help Sessions

Upcoming students of AP English III.  I am teaching summer school this session and am making myself available to help you with your summer assignments.  I am on campus from 8:00 am to 12:30 Monday through Thursday until August the 5th.  Please come in and ask for whatever help you may need completing your assignments.

To my former AP English III students, know that I can help you with your college essay drafting and revising process if you've already started on those.

And Now I'm Done...

With the receipt of the last final exam scores and the calculations as well as me taking my own exam this morning I can say that summer has officially started.  I've posted all of your grades and will be submitting grade corrections on Monday for students who didn't have final exams posted.

Enjoy your summers!  Let me know if you need anything and stop by next year for a visit!

And we're done!

Today was the last day of regular exams.  If you have anything to settle with your teachers (make-up exams) make sure that you speak to that teacher to finish your year.  All English make-up exams will start Tuesday the 9th at 7:30 AM.  I'll have grades posted once I receive final exam scores.

Weekend Post - 5/29/2015

Make sure that you know your exam schedule and that you are preparing yourselves!  See me if you need any help as you prepare!

Exam Schedule - 2015

All Students:  Here is my exam schedule over the next few days.  It's important that you not miss your exam since this will delay your final grades for the year.

Russian II:  Review on Friday, 5/29.  Exam on Monday, 6/1.

AP English III:  Review on Monday, 6/1.  Exam on Tuesday, 6/2.

Russian I:  Review on Tuesday, 6/2.  Exam on Wednesday, 6/3.

English II, B3:  Review on Wednesday, 6/3.  Exam on Thursday, 6/4.

English II, A4:  Review on Thursday, 6/4.  Exam on Friday, 6/5.

English II, B4:  Review on Friday, 6/5.  Exam on Monday, 6/8.

If you are in English II we will be testing in one of the computer lab, I'll let you know the location the day of the review.  Russian and AP English students, you'll be testing in my classroom.  Make sure that any missing work is turned in the day of the review as I'll be finalizing grades for the classes at the review.

LDOC - B Day Students - 5/27/2015

And now we start the exam schedule.  Here are your reminders to get you there.

AP English III

All of you have grades from your participation in our activity today.  I'll post some photos later.  Please respond to this post with your reflection from the activity.  Remember to think about who impressed you the most and why?  What did you learn from the activity?  General thoughts?  Please post no later than tomorrow evening.

Remember our review session.  I highly recommend that you attend as we will go over the exam and the content you will need to know.

When you post your comment it will not show on the website until I approve it.  Send me a copy via e-mail to make sure it reaches me.

English II

If you have anything left to turn in, please make sure that it's done by your class review session.

LDOC - A Day - 26 May 2015

For A-day students it's LDOC (last day of class) - the only thing now to get through is our review and exam schedule.  Here are your reminders for that:

Russian II

If you are exempt, congratulations.  Please make sure to bring back your class materials like books.  If you are not exempt, I expect to see you on Friday afternoon for our review session and then on Monday morning for our exam.  Use your quizzes to study and prepare.  Don't forget your final journal entry!

Russian I

If you are exempt, congratulations!  Please make sure to bring back your class textbooks.  If you are not exempt I expect to see you on Tuesday (6/2) for the review session and Wednesday (6/3) for our morning exam.  Remember that journals are due for those of you not exempt by the review session.

English II

None of you can be exempt for this exam because it is a state test.  Make sure to report to the review session.  A4's review will be on Thursday (6/4) with the exam the following morning Friday, the 5th.

B-Day Homework: Weekend Edition - 22 May 2015

This is actually the last weekend that you'll really have homework since we all hit the exam schedule starting on Thursday.

English II:

You have your study guides for the EOC and many of you have asked for extensions to Sunday on your essays.  Make sure that you start by learning/reviewing your literary devices and that you finish your essay no later than noon on Sunday so that I can grade it.  This is your last major grade of the quarter, so make sure that it shows your best work.

AP English III:

Our last class will be our character cafe.  Make sure to bring back any leftover books!  Bring costumes and food items and remember we'll have a special guest star.

A Day Homework - 21 May 2015

Well, we've survived our first day of exams.  Here are the reminders for A-day students to take them through the weekend.

Russian I and II

Your final exam study guides are now in your hands and you have your final assignment which is your last journal entry.  We will have time to really focus on the study guide during our review period before the final exam.  As you review the study guide, use your textbook and other resources.  Begin reviewing grammar, go over your quizzes to see where you have gaps, and learn your vocabulary.  Do a bit each day so that you can accomplish what you need to.

Your journal entry is due by the review session.  I know that many of you have things to prepare for, so I don't want to add to your list.  Some of you got this done today in class, and I applaud that.  Remember that the final journal will focus on the phrase "Это палка о двух концах!"  Write about this phrase, work it into your writing, and remember that by writing you're able to practice your language skills.

English II

Everything is due tomorrow:  essays, extra credit, missing work, everything!  I'll be grading essays this weekend and finishing your grades.  Don't miss this chance to do the final push on your grades.  Some of you have already told me your essays are ready - I'm very proud of how hard you've worked to accomplish this!

B-Day Homework: Oops

I guess with my meetings after school I forgot to post this for all of you.  Here are your brief reminders:

AP English III:

We are basically done with Friday being a short class and next Wednesday being our character cafe.  Make sure that if you have books that you bring them back to me on Friday so that I can start accounting for all of the supplemental novels.  In addition, if you have missing assignments about which we've already discussed, make sure that it is turned in to me tomorrow as I want to finish grades this week.

English II:

Your essays and any additional extra credit or make-up work are due on Friday.  Please make sure that you refer to your rubric as you put together your drafts.  I'll be looking for all of the elements on that sheet.  As I said today in class, most of you just need to finish the work you've already started.  It's your responsibility to take care of this.

If you need help, I'm free after school on Thursday to offer assistance.

A-Day Students: Homework

A-Day Kids:  Sorry for not posting your work for the weekend.  It slipped my mind.  This will actually serve to get you ready for Thursday.

Russian I and II:

Your journals are due on Thursday as well as any make-up work or finishing work that you need to do.  You'll be watching a film and getting your study guide.  We'll be doing a lot of review the next few days so use the study guides to prepare yourselves.

English II

Essays are due on Friday (normally I'd say Thursday but Friday is the last day, so I'll call it there.)  I'm free after school on Wednesday-Thursday to help you if you need it.  I'll go over the rubric with all of you on Thursday so that you can make any final tweaks to your essay before the final due date.

Homework for B-Day Students: 18 May 2015

AP English III

First groups today did a great job of presenting and teaching their tales.  Good work!  Next class we'll run through the next set as well as the synthesizing conversation.  Be ready for your presentations.

English II

Today you got progress reports and a reminder of the extra credit project.  Do what you need to raise your grade.  Remember that essays are due on Friday!

Homework for B-Day Students: 14 May 2015

AP English III

We have next week pretty well planned out.  On Monday and Wednesday we'll have our discussion groups.  Three of you are presenting on Monday and three on Wednesday.  Remember to prepare a PowerPoint with your essential questions and your multiple choice questions and send it to me so that we can use them in your presentations.

Also, don't forget about your character cafe next Friday.  You know who you are going to be so now you can start to prep your costumes.  If you're going in a pair, try to coordinate with your partner, right A. Bird?  We'll sign up for refreshments on Monday.

English II

A lot of you got a lot of work done today on your essays.  Congratulations.  Continue working.  Remember that you need to follow the guidelines from our last two days of writing bootcamp.  Take your outlines and remove the labels, put your sentences in the right order, and then add on.  Develop your examples and especially your explanation given what we've been discussing lately.  If you need me to continue working with you on this assignment then please make an appointment to work with me outside of class.  There will be a conference sheet on the door Friday for you to sign up.

Homework for A-Day Students: 13 May 2015

English II

Today we started drafting our essays in the computer lab.  Continue this work.  Remember that by THURSDAY you are turning in your rough draft.  This will be your last grade of the year and your last major grade of the year as well.  Just turning it in will earn you fifty points and then each paragraph will be judged on a ten point rubric.  Have everything and have it complete so that it reflects what you've learned this year.  Next class we will do more work for EOC preparation and watch more of Escape from Sobibor.

Russian I and Russian II

You have your quizzes next class.  Prepare yourselves.  Here are your study tips for tonight:

Russian II:  time expressions (months, days, weeks, years, whole dates), prepositions related to time, numbers, counting rules, ideas related to verb tense and aspect

Russian I:  plurals from singulars, singulars from plurals, possessive pronouns, adjectives, the words meaning also

All of you have big things going on.  Practice and prepare!

Homework for B-Day Students - 12 May 2015

AP English III

Your homework for tonight is KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!  There's nothing that you can do at this point to get ready for tomorrow other than:

• review your writing skills for each essay
• look over your tone words and learn definitions
• review literary/rhetorical devices (there's a link a few posts back)

Be in my room tomorrow morning before the exam at 7:25 am so that we can do our chant of "This is my pen!" and apply warpaint for the exam.

English II

Next class we will spend half of our period in the computer lab drafting our essays.  To prepare for this you should continue the work that we were doing today in class during our writing workshop.  Finish your topics.  Continue to develop your examples.  Do more to explain and describe your evidence.  Put your voice in your writing through your descriptions.  Full rough drafts will be due next week, so those of you who may be behind in the writing process should work hard to get caught up.  

Homework for A day Students - 11 May 2015

As you all saw from today - I'm still sick.  Thanks for bearing with me and tolerating my horribly scratchy voice.  Here are your reminders for tonight:

Russian I and II

Both of you have your second unit quiz this Friday.

For Russian II this quiz will focus on all of the time expressions that we have learned and reviewed these past few classes.  To practice this your homework is your genealogical chart of you and eight relatives.  On the back of your chart you should explain the dates of birth/death for these people.  Remember that if you just have a year it's different than if you have the full date.  Next class we'll focus on reviewing prepositions with time as well as times of day.

For Russian I you should focus on your plurals for your quiz on Friday.  We've read two articles which use plurals and the words for also.  Reviewing these articles as well as the rules we've reviewed for the two words meaning "also" and plurals would be helpful.  Continue to study your vocabulary as we prepare for Friday.

English II

In order to move on to the rough draft portion of our essay assignment you should make sure that you have a complete outline with all three topics clearly outlined.  Many of you need to spend more time working here before you can move on to the actual essay.  For those of you who are ready, you should be drafting your paragraphs using the structures we reviewed in class.  On Wednesday we'll spend half of class in the computer lab writing essays.  Be prepared for this - if you're productive you'll be able to finish your rough draft and you'll have no homework for the weekend.

Homework for the Weekend - B-Day Students - 8 May 2015

I've been feeling sick the whole weekend - nasty and congested.  Here are your reminders from Friday for Tuesday's class.

AP English III

We will be having our last class before the AP Exam on Tuesday.  Make sure that you've read and annotated "The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" - it's probably my favorite story in the whole selection.  Stay focused on our key motifs and add to the characters as we'll see them develop.  This story is also interesting because it's told in a different voice.  Notice how O'Brien creates character through voice.

English II

I'll be reading your outlines online today and the paper ones turned in to Mr. Owen on Monday.  Everything will be ready for you on Tuesday so that we can move to the next step which is developing paragraphs.  From what I'm seeing so far there are about three issues that I'm seeing which are key:

1.  You haven't clearly outlined three topics.  Remember that two of the topics can be the same text, but they need to show different examples and explanation.

2.  You don't have a clear topic sentence for each topic.  Remember, you want to stay focused on relating your topic back to your idea about remembering tragedy.  Stay focused on your argument.

3.  There is weak explanation.  In your explanation remember to stay focused on the idea within your topic sentence.  How does your example help to display and prove this idea?

Continue working and revising.  Use these tips as you move forward.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 7 May 2015

Russian II

This weekend you all need to do some reading and writing.  Using the family tree reading, complete the three tasks A, Б, В.  Make sure that you focus on your time expressions especially those of years and full dates (day, month, year).  On the back, you should read the letter in Russian handwriting to review grammar and vocabulary.  We will go over this and I will check it on Monday.

Russian I

For homework you have the reading about Moscow State University.  Read the text carefully and then complete the first three tasks on the opposite side with the text.  First, identify all of your conjunctions we've studied in this unit and consider their meaning.  Second, identify the uses of "also" and consider the difference in choice between these words.  Lastly, notice your plurals and rewrite them as singulars.

We will continue to work on this on Monday including the other questions.

English II

Over the weekend you should all continue working on and developing your outlines.  Work hard to follow the instructions carefully.  Remember to outline you don't need to write full paragraphs.  Just list out the important elements -

Topic:

Topic Sentence:

Evidence:

Explanation of Evidence:

Make sure that you have these three topics done!  Next week we'll move on to drafting and writing our paragraphs and essays.  The outline step must be done before the writing!

AP Students - Test Prep

AP Kids:

I forgot to post this yesterday.  Here's a PDF of commonly asked terms on the AP Examination as well as examples and definitions.  Go through the ones you know and then study the ones you don't!

AP English Language Terms

Homework for B Day Students - 6 May 2015

AP English III

For our next class, which is really going to be on Tuesday you've got two things to take care of.

1. Read and annotate "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" - This is a great story and I think you're all going to love it.
2. Do work in your discussion groups - You'll all get some time to work together face-to-face in class on Tuesday.

Lastly, look over your multiple choice.  Study and review.  Understand why you got the question wrong the first time and why the right answer is the right one.  Remember that part of the reason why we do these practices now is so that you can take your knocks before the actual exam.

English II

For homework tonight you have two major things to complete as we prepare to move to the end of the week.  First, make sure that you have completed your three topics for your outline.  Remember to follow the listing format that we discussed in class.  The only sentences that you need to write are your argument and three topic sentences.

Second, make sure that you're ready for your quiz on Friday.  Study Night, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Hotel Rwanda.  Study and review, be prepared!

Homework for A-Day Students: 5 May 2015

Russian II

For homework tonight I would like for you to do a bit from our review/exercise packet to help you to learn the different ways to express time in Russian.

In exercise ten, select five events.  Tell when these events occurred by stating in which year as well as the full event with month and date if you have that information.

In exercise eleven, select four times.  Write the time in official format and in conversational format.

In exercise twelve, select two clocks and write the time in official and conversational style.

Don't worry about exercise thirteen.  Complete all of exercise fourteen.  Remember to write out the sentences and all numbers.

Russian I

For homework tonight you should continue working on your exercises related to plurals.  Remember that you should be able to complete the translation for homework as well as the exercise before parts A and B.  For the translation, if you don't know a particular word then you can feel free to put in the English word instead of the Russian.  However, when you know the Russian you should put in the Russian.

English II

Next class you have two things due for me.  First we'll have our quiz - make sure that you have studied and prepared so that you will do well on this important assessment.  Secondly, your outline will be collected.  Make sure that you have all of your topics identified, your evidence selected, and your points explained.  We will be turning these into rough drafts next week so it's important to have a solid outline first.  If you were not able to complete this in class, you must complete it on your own.

Homework for Monday - B Day Students - 4 May 2015

And may the fourth be with you...

I can't help letting my nerd flag fly a bit today.  I was always more of a Star Trek kid than a Star Wars, but anyway...Here's your reminder for tonight.

AP English III

Future brought donuts and they were delicious.  I will pay for that at the gym, soon.  Your reminders are in the previous post.  Remember your reading and Google document for your group.  Hat tip to the group that has already set up their document.

English II

For tonight you have two key priorities which are to study for your quiz as well as work on your outlines.  We'll be working a lot on Wednesday on our outlines as well as reviewing for the quiz by looking at some sample questions.  Make sure that you are prepared for this by doing some work in advance.

Keep working on your outlines as the due date has been extended to Friday.  Remember that for the outline you need to have three specific examples/topics that you'll use to prove your point about remembering tragedy.  Remember to use the films and books we've been studying as your topics (or whatever fits your argument, but I recommend using what we're studying in class!).  Explain to me why you think these films or texts are good ways to remember tragedy?  What makes a movie better than anything else?

Thank you especially for being understanding with my sensitivities today.  It was a rough day to be me.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 1 May 2015

Russian I and II

С праздником товарищи!  Happy holiday comrades!  Remember that today is a Russian holiday - May Day - or the holiday of spring and labor.  How much more communist of a name can you get, right?  For the weekend you have your journals to write.  Remember our phrase:  Все свое ношу с собой!

Beyond your journals you've all been learning some new grammar concepts recently which should be practiced this weekend.  Review your system of plurals (both regular and irregular).  For Russian II, look at your new information related to time.  As always, try to write using these concepts to help you learn them more thoroughly.  Both classes will have unit assessments coming up soon - it's a great idea to start preparing now.

English II

I've decided that you all having more time on your outlines is a good thing in advance of writing the essays.  So, that being said the full outlines of your essays are now due on Thursday - the same day as your quiz on our unit.  While all of you are writing your quiz, I'll be grading your outlines.  Remember that for the outline you need to have three specific examples/topics that you'll use to prove your point about remembering tragedy.  Remember to use the films and books we've been studying as your topics.  Explain to me why you think these films or texts are good ways to remember tragedy?  What makes a movie better than anything else?

As I've said throughout the whole process - the idea is that you need to be able to prove that you are right by using examples.

Homework for B-Day Students: 30 April 2015

AP English III

For the weekend you have a few things to take care of to prepare for our next class.  Remember that with the AP Exams coming up next week we will only be holding class on Wednesday as most of you will be out for testing on Monday and Wednesday.  For Wednesday's class please make sure that you and your group have created a Google document which is shared with me (mrmillerjhs @ gmail [dot] com) in order to receive your first check-in grade as a group.  Remember the workflow, begin by reading the story, then determine your essential questions, and from there, plan your discussion.

In addition, please read and annotate George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" which is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  You will want to build connections between this text and "The Man I Killed" as we'll be discussing both stories on Wednesday.

English II

Your homework for Monday's class is to finish your outline of all three topics.  Remember that you can use what we studied today in class (Night and Escape from Sobibor) as topics in your paper.  Please follow the instructions in the previous post and maintain your formatting of the topics in the outline.  For each topic you must:

• identify the topic
• write a topic sentence
• give your example from the topic
• explain how this example proves your point about remembering tragedy

Remember what we said at the beginning of this process - everything proves the argument!

Homework for A-Day Students: 29 April 2015

Russian II

If you did not present your dialogue today then you will be presenting on Friday.  For the dialogue make sure that you have a copy of the script for me to review as I will be marking on it my notes for your grade.

Today in class we continued to review the distinctions between the different prepositions related to time.  Continue to study these tonight.  For homework, complete the exercise at the bottom of the practice sheet - exercise eight.  In this homework assignment I want you to write out the sentences and follow the instructions.  Look carefully, I did the homework during lunch and didn't see anything that will throw you for a loop.

Russian I

If you didn't present your country presentation today then you will be doing that on Friday too.  For homework, continue practicing with plurals as we did today in class.  Look through your vocabulary and make plurals.  We'll deal with exceptions soon enough.

English II

For homework tonight you should be working on your outlines.  If you would like/need you may use the film we watched today Escape from Sobibor or the text Night as one of the topics for your essay if you can use it.  Remember that I'll be looking for a full outline of your essay on Friday.  Make sure that it is complete.

Also remember that if you didn't turn in your work from today's timed writing and reflection activity that this is due from you on Friday as well.

Homework for B-Day Students: 28 April 2015

AP English III

For homework tonight I would like for you to read and annotate the story called "The Man I Killed" - This story isn't necessarily immediately after the one we studied today but you'll be able to find a lot of connections.  Stay focused on where we centered our conversation today as you read and annotate.

Additionally you'll have a full length Multiple Choice for practice next class.  This will provide you an opportunity to see the types of questions you'll be asked as well as the amount of energy it will take you to get through these readings and questions.  Prepare by studying your rhetorical terms and devices as this is really the only way you can possibly study.

English II

As we went over in class your homework is to work on your outline and complete the outlining of all three topics you will be using with your essay.  Be sure to follow the instructions in the previous post.  Remember that you'll use the same frame as topic one with topics two and three.  Follow the format in the document below and make sure to be specific with how you explain and prove your point.

Homework for A-Day Students: 27 April 2015

Russian I and II:

You all have presentations due on Wednesday so make sure that you are prepared for these.

For Russian II, make sure that I get my own copy of the script to follow along with your presentation.  If you type the script then make sure that you have proofed it for spelling and grammar mistakes as these will count against you.

For Russian I, make sure that you have shared your presentation with me so that I already have it in Google Drive for Wednesday.  Use Russian words where you can, especially in places where you have ownership of the words.

English II:

Tonight, and for the rest of this week, you should be actively working on your outlines.  Remember that your Topic 2 and Topic 3 will need to be other texts or examples that you can use to prove your point about remembering tragedy.  Remember that you can't use a topic more than once, so if you've already written about Hotel Rwanda you'll need another movie for the other topics.  Your instructions for the topics and your key questions are in this document.  Please see me outside of class if you have questions as this is a very individual process and sometimes spending that five minutes with me at lunch is the best way to settle any questions you may have.

A-Day Students - Your outlines of all three topics are due on Friday.  Be sure to see me before Friday if you have questions!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 4/24/2015

AP English III

Over the weekend you have two important things to take care of to prepare for next week's class on Tuesday.  First, make sure that you complete your motif project for Invisible Man.  This has a few pieces:  your writing on the quotation, your illustration of the quotation, and then your motif chart for the whole text.  I'll collect these on Tuesday.

Second, complete the reading and annotating of the first story "The Things They Carried".  Pay special attention to the characters that are part of the platoon.  In addition, consider our ideas of truth and honesty as they relate to art.  We did a lot of foundation laying today in our approach to this text.

If you have time/energy, you may want to look at some of the shorter stories which will be taught by you all in small groups.  These stories are:  "Love", "Spin", "The Dentist", "Stockings", "Good Form", and "Night Life".  These are relatively short - you may want to see if you have any preferences as to these stories before we pick/assign them next week for discussion circles.

English II

Today we started the process of working on our essay outlines with the computers and resources in the lab.  You should continue this work this weekend.  First, outline your first topic that you'll use in your essay.  For most of you, this is an example of what you think the best way is to remember a tragedy.  Remember that you need to describe this "text" and explain how it proves your point about remembering tragedy.  Follow the formatting in the instructions document shared below.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 23 April 2015

Russian I and II

Next week all of you have project presentations on Wednesday.  For the weekend, you should be focused on your projects as I'll only be able to give you a bit of time on Monday to finish them in class.

I will have graded work returned to you next week.

Russian I students - I forgot to collect missing journals today.  Make sure that you have them for me on Monday.

English II

This weekend you all should be spending time working on your outlines for your essays.  If you have access to your Google Drive document which you started today, then you should continue to work on this document.  If you do not have access then you should work on paper so that you continue to move forward.  Remember the process here.  Find a fact or example.  Create a topic sentence for your paragraph which links the example to your idea about remembering a tragedy.  Then, make sure that you explain HOW your example helps you prove your point about remembering a tragedy.

Writing an essay is about following the same format in each of the body paragraphs.  Be sure that you are doing this.

English II - Writing Workshop 2 - Outlines

English II Students:

Use this post today in the computer lab as you are writing your outlines.  You'll want to access this document for instructions on how to complete your outline.

B Day Homework and Reminders: 22 April 2015

AP English III

Today we had an abbreviated ending to Invisible Man, but it's all that we had time for unfortunately.  For tonight, you should be working in earnest on your motif projects as well as reading the first text of our next unit related to truth and reality in art.  The piece you're reading tonight is by Joan Didion and it's called "On Keeping a Notebook."  It's available in 50 Essays, first edition, or at this link.  Read the piece carefully and annotate.  Keep an eye on the idea of truth as Didion expresses it.

In addition, remember that if you have a missing assignment from Ms. Alley then you must get in touch with her about submitting that assignment.  Her email address is kta5duke (at) gmail (dot) com.

Your motif projects will be collected on Tuesday.  I hope that I'll have your timed writings done by then as well.

English II

Your homework is in the post below.  You should focus on either revising your argument statement so that it can earn a perfect score, or you should be working on finding evidence for your argument.  Remember to think of examples or moments that prove your idea to be true.  Could you use Anne's diary?  Hotel Rwanda?  A monument or day of remembrance that we've discussed in class?  We'll be in the computer lab next class to do some research and planning.

Homework for A-Day Students: 21 April 2015

Russian I and II

Both classes have quizzes next class on the first half of the current units.  Here are your focuses for study as you are preparing.

Russian I:  adjectives into adverbs, nouns into adverbs, the different types of adverbs (qualities and cultures), knowing your conjunctions and how they're used in sentences, the differences between the conjunctions, your chapter three vocabulary

Russian II:  the grammar points around "all", each other, one's own, and the reflexive pronoun "myself", you will need to know the main vocabulary from chapter eight, you will also need to know the cultural information about post offices and sending mail in Russia, studying the exercises in your textbook/notes from these grammar topics will be helpful.

Your projects will be presented next week - any of the time you have after the quiz on Thursday will be spent preparing your projects.

English II

Today in class we were able to complete the writing of our argument statements in class - the heart to any good essay.  Tonight you should make corrections to your argument statement if you didn't receive a check or you should be thinking of evidence to use to prove your argument is true.

To revise, make sure that you have the COUNTERARGUMENT plus the four answers to the questions.  This makes up your argument.

For evidence, think of texts, movies, or other ways of remembering you could use to prove your idea is true.  Are you going to use Anne Frank's diary or Hotel Rwanda as part of your essay?  How?  In what way do these texts help you to prove your idea about remembering tragedy?

Homework for B-Day Students: 4/20/2015

AP English III

The final due date for motif projects is now Tuesday, April 28th.  Please make sure to check-in and ask if you have any questions related to this project.  For tonight you have a few things to take care of in order to prepare for Wednesday:

1. Look over your notes in preparing for the synthesis essay.  Remember that you've done this before, it's all about the argument.  They've done the research, they need you to prove the point.
2. Read the Epilogue for Invisible Man - We'll take a look at that as a class on Wednesday.
3. Friday will be our beginning for The Things They Carried.  I'll have copies that you can check out on Wednesday if you don't buy your own.

English II

Today we had some pretty great classes and I think that the reality of Anne's situation in the annex with her family sank in when we took the tour of the annex.  Remember this tour as we read her diary moving forward.  For tonight please make sure that you have answered all four parts of the essay prompt in our planning section.  Then, on the back, make sure to put your answers together into one sentence which answers the whole essay question.  Lastly, deal with the counterargument.  What is the opposite idea to your idea?  Is something else better?  Is forgetting the best?  We'll put this all together on Wednesday.

Homework for the Weekend - 17 April 2015

Russian I and Russian II

Both of you started a project today and both of you have started a journal entry today.  My recommendation would be that you work on your journals and your projects in order to prepare for your quiz next week.  Both of you have quizzes on Thursday.  The phrase of the week is:

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей!

Don't have 100 rubles, have instead 100 friends!

Remember to write a full page in your journal incorporating this phrase.  Make sure that you double space your entry.  If you need anything else to do this weekend then you can work through and review your dialogues we went over today in class.  That will be helpful too.

English II

For homework this weekend you have a bit of writing to do for me as we are beginning our major essay on remembrance and tragedy.  Work through to the top of side two on your question sheet.  Have your answer and the counterargument figured out.  We'll put it all together on Tuesday and start planning the essay.

Also, if you would like to explore more of the Anne Frank House, please visit this website:  http://www.annefrank.org.  You can learn a lot more about the annex and the families hiding there.

Homework for B Day Students: 16 April 2015

AP English III

Today is Ralph Ellison's death day.  He died on this day in 1994.  Remember that by reading him he continues to live.

For the weekend you should do some serious work on your motif projects.  Hopefully by this point you've been completing your motif chart, you've reexamined your chapter under consideration, and you've selected a quotation.  Now - plan your illustration of the quote.  Think about arrangement and design of the words.  Consider your work to pair it with illustrated meaning.  Plan your writing.  Three paragraphs for the three parts of the question.  Once you've selected your quote you are able to do this, so remember, pick your quote first.

Also you need to read chapter twenty-five to prepare for Monday's class.  We'll finish reading it in class on Monday.  This will bring us to start The Things They Carried next Friday.  There will be a timed writing to finish Invisible Man on Wednesday.  We'll be transitioning on Wednesday to Vietnam.

English II

Your post below will go over your homework for tonight.  Read the two journal excerpts from Holocaust survivors about their experiences living in the ghetto.  As you read, underline elements of the text which tell you about living conditions in the ghetto.  Compare and contrast these to the experiences that Anne has living in the Annex.  We'll be reading more of Anne next week, but it's important for us to look at the experiences of the other victims of the Shoah.

A Day Homework - April 15, 2015

Sorry for getting this out later than usual; having three meetings threw a bit of a wrench in my plans.  Here's what you have to do tonight.

Russian I and II

We either discussed or began a project today to which we will be devoting time on Friday.  For Friday, come prepared to work on the dialogue or culture project.  Russian I, there will also be a dialogue component of your project to be discussed later.  Both classes will have library time on Friday to help work on this.

In terms of grammar and vocabulary, this is a great night to study in context.  Here is an episode of a Russian television show called Live Healthy!  Жить здорово!  It's about ninety minutes long, so maybe just watch a thirty minute clip.  Listen for words you can recognize.  Train your ears.  Listen for the grammar we've been studying recently.  Try to understand how it's being used in context.  Make a list of five to ten new words you hear being used often.  Look them up in a dictionary and check your spelling.  Try to work with these words in cases and conjugations you know.


You will have a quiz soon - use this time to study and prepare for that.  Russian II will focus on new grammar in Unit 8, Russian I will focus on adverbs and other covered topics from Unit 3.

English II

Tonight you have the writing of two Holocaust survivors who relocated to North Carolina after World War II.  They both experienced life in the ghetto:  the ghetto presents a very different experience from Anne's life in the Annex.  Read the two readings on the handout and as you read underline examples of the living conditions in the ghetto.  Compare this to what we know of Anne's life so far.  We'll be looking at more of Anne's transition into life in the Annex next class to further this conversation.

Homework for B-Day Students: April 14, 2015

AP English III

Big discussion today from which I hope you learned a lot.  For tonight, make sure that you have finished your consideration of chapter twenty three since we've not yet talked about it and make sure that you have thorough annotations and reading done for chapter twenty four.  You'll have to finish the book over the weekend, so you may find it helpful to just go ahead and get it done now.

Don't forget as well that the window is open for resubmission of papers.  If you have a required resubmission you are required to meet with me to discuss your paper and develop a revision plan.  If you don't have a requirement to resubmit I would still recommend meeting with me to discuss the work you need to do.

We'll be getting to The Things They Carried likely at the end of next week.  You may want to get your copy today or tomorrow - if you order from Barnes and Noble you can help send students to Russia if you use my code.  See the poster outside my room.

English II

You have no work to turn in for me next class, but it would be a good idea to write about or just think about the similarities between Hotel Rwanda and what we've learned so far about HaShoah and The Diary of Anne Frank.  Additionally, make sure that you study your vocabulary.  It'll help you to really learn the vocabulary if you focus on it every day.

Happy Monday - Homework for 13 April 2015

Russian II

Tonight for homework I would like for you to write five sentences using your vocabulary words for chapter eight and to include a possessive pronoun (my, your, his, her, etc.).  Then, write a new version of the sentence changing the possessive pronoun to свой as we learned today in class.  When you change the pronoun, explain how the sentence is now different in its meaning.

By doing this you'll be working with the new vocabulary and the new grammar.  Don't forget to work nightly.

Russian I

Tonight for homework I want you to finish the work we did today with conjunctions.  Work through the activity at the end of what we were doing in class.  Read the sentences and combine them together so that you have cut down on the repeated information and used the proper conjunction.  Remember to write out your sentences, don't just make changes to the printout.

English II

Final call for projects is Tuesday.  Ms. Alley's last day on campus is this day.  In addition, keep working on your new vocabulary which you're learning every day.  Just like in Russian - spend a bit of time every day working on learning your vocabulary!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students: 10 April 2015

AP English III

Remember ladies and gentlemen that you must always annotate what you read for my class.  Especially when I go through the trouble of writing you a blog post like the last one which is meant to help you make sense of things.  That being said, our discussion was really great.  Here's how to follow up:

1. You may want to reread "The Allegory of the Cave" now that we've worked through it.  Maybe some of those questions will start to resolve themselves now.
2. Read chapters twenty-two and twenty-three for our next class (Tuesday).  Keep in mind that the Invisible Man has now seen the sun, he's still got some growing to do before he's fully in the light; notice how he's changed.

English II

You all don't have any homework tonight but if you need to finish your project then make sure that's done by Tuesday so that you can turn it in to Ms. Alley.  Remember that your writing needs to have two paragraphs - one about the character and one about your visual.  If you left off the second paragraph then get it turned in Tuesday for no penalty.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 9 April 2015

Russian II

For the weekend you have your vocabulary studying to do; remember, thirty minutes a day to work on vocabulary to conjugate verbs and build sentences and to decline your nouns and adjectives into cases.  That's especially important as we're starting a new unit and we have a lot of new vocabulary to learn.

For homework, make sure that you complete exercise ten on the new phrase "each other" - focus on your forms.  There's a lot of advanced vocabulary in the sentences, just focus on your blanks!

Russian I

For the weekend you should also be looking at your new vocabulary.  Practice what we do every night so that it stays fresh in your brain.  This weekend you have three exercises to complete.  One will have you working by changing words into adverbs, one will ask you to fill in the blanks with new vocabulary, and the last asks you to combine sentences with the new conjunctions.  Be sure that with your conjunction exercise that you combine sentences and also translate the new sentences.

English II

You all have no homework this weekend but if you need to finish the project for Ms. Alley, make sure that you do that.  Remember the second paragraph of your writing; you need to make sure that you explain how your drawing shows the change in your character which you have seen.  In the first paragraph you explain how Kambili or Jaja changes in the text.  In the second paragraph you need to explain how your visual shows this change.

AP Exam Review Sessions

AP English III Students:

Here is the link to register for the AP English Language review session this Saturday and on the 25th.

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

Remember they'll provide lunch, you have to provide transportation.  Register quickly and see if there are other sessions you'd like to attend as well.

Homework for B-Day Students: 4/8/2015

AP English III

As promised here are the materials that will help you to make sense of the piece by Plato, "The Allegory of the Cave."  First, make sure you're reading the proper excerpt from 50 Essays or from this link.  Make sure that you read the introductory material on Plato as it will help you to make sense of his argument.

Before You Read:

1. Think about the idea of vision in Invisible Man - In what ways does he see?  How is he blinded?  What does this idea of blinding and seeing mean when it comes to reality and truth?
2. Understand the structure - this is a dialogue between a student (Glaucon) and a teacher.  Understand the meaning of the student's name.  Understand the role of the teacher in this.

As You Read:

1. Annotate heavily.  Look for key ideas.  Mark questions.  Read the whole thing without stopping.
2. Make connections - How does this parallel the journey of the Invisible Man.  What is the meaning of the sun?  How does this piece relate back to "The Over-Soul" and the ideas of Transcendentalism?

After You Read:

1. Watch this video from youtube.com.  Go back through the piece as you watch the video and answer your questions.  Develop more.
2. Consider Plato's argument and its relationship to Invisible Man.
3. Do you see?  Or are you blind?

I'm looking forward to a productive discussion on Friday to start our conclusion of Invisible Man.

English II

You have your final project on Purple Hibiscus due on Friday.  Remember that there are four key components to this project that you must turn in for full credit.  Here they are:

1. Your timeline sheet - this was completed in class today.
2. Your quotes sheet - this was begun in class and completed by you at home if you didn't finish it during the workshop time.
3. Your written work for the project.  Ms. Alley gave you a plan for this today and reviewed it with you in class.  Make sure that you finish the planning and then either write or type your work on a different piece of paper that you will turn in.  Follow all of the guidelines on the assignment.
4. Your visual of how the character has changed.  Use your writing to help you figure this out.  Show us Kambili or Jaja at the beginning and show us without words how the character has changed in the text.  You can draw, use a photo, a collage, painting, etc.  There are lots of options for this.

Homework for A-Day Students: 7 April 2015 - Welcome Back to You!

Russian II

Tonight for homework you have to finish exercise six which will require you to use the forms of весь that we studied today in class.  You're going to find using your 6x4 declension chart really helpful for this.  Remember how we worked through number one and two - look at the word associated with the blank - identify the case and gender of this word - your form of весь will need to agree as весь is like an adjective.

Make sure that you write out all of the sentences - don't just fill in the blanks.  Writing the sentences out will help you to notice the grammar patterns like conjugation and declension that you need to keep working on.

If you would like some extension work, feel free to look at exercise three or two - these aren't required tonight, but we'll likely look at them soon.  Also, have your Винни Пух work done so that we can have some fun with him on Thursday too!

Russian I

Tonight for homework I want you to spend more time with your vocabulary - especially the adjectives.  Select five adjectives and turn them into adverbs following the two systems.  Use your notes for this.  Remember - change the endings!  When you've written out your two words - one from vocabulary and one from your creation then look at what you've done and explain the difference.  You may want to use a sentence with each word to help explain.  Here's an example of what I would like:

скучный - boring, adjective
Это мой скучный класс.  This describes the class saying it is boring.

скучно - boringly, adverb
Он скучно говорит.  This describes the way he talks - boringly.

By doing this you'll be working with ten words.  The idea here is to learn the system and the differences between parts of speech.

English II

Tonight you need to make sure that you have your project on Purple Hibiscus finished for Thursday's class.  Make sure that you have both the visual and the written portion complete.  This is your first major grade of the nine weeks; work hard and get yourself off to a good start to finish the year!

Homework for B-Day Students: 6 April 2015 - Welcome Back!

AP English III

We went over a lot today to get us ready for the next few weeks.  Here are some of your reminders to get you going for tonight and on into Wednesday.

1. Read/Review chapters twenty and twenty-one of Invisible Man.  You've got the climax of the novel in these two chapters so pay close attention.  Be sure to pay attention to how the invisible man reacts and is changed by this climactic event.
2. Write and submit questions for the Socratic Seminar we will be having on Wednesday.  Your questions should focus on these chapters.  Check out Ms. Alley's twitter stream for what she wants from your questions.
3. Begin to complete your third short paper on other invisible minorities.  Ms. Alley reviewed the instructions for this with you today.  If you have questions, be sure to ask sooner rather than later.  This paper is due for you next Tuesday.
4. If you would like to purchase our last book of the year - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien then please do that soon.  If you wait until Saturday and buy it at Barnes and Noble at Southpoint then your purchase will help the Russian students traveling to Moscow and St. Petersburg this summer.

English II

If you did not finish reading Purple Hibiscus over break then you should try to do that today.  We'll be spending time on Tuesday/Wednesday working on our projects to finish Purple Hibiscus.  Try to work hard on these as this is your first major test grade of the quarter.  Also remember the ideas I shared with you today about the end of the year.  This is the time to make our final push.

Spring Break

AP English III- Your only homework over break is to read to ch 19 in Invisible Man, but I strongly encourage you to finish reading the novel.

English II- Your homework is to finish reading Purple Hibiscus. Remember, if you read ~15-20 pages per day, it won't feel like as much. Or you could settle down in a cozy armchair and get it done with in one sitting. Your choice. You do not need to work on the quote sheet for Kambili and Jaja. We will pick up with that when you come back.

Russian I and II - Practice your Russian daily. Suggestions on how to do so: Call each other up and chat in Russian. Teach your dog commands in Russian. Watch Youtube videos in Russian. (Winnie Pooh, anyone?)

Homework for A-Day Students: 3/25/2015

Today's my last day with you.  I bought my plane tickets before our snow days and now I've got to leave a bit early.  Here's what you have to accomplish for tonight.

Russian I and II

You all should be taking this time before we begin a new unit to work on your foundational skills.  After today's class we've reviewed our case declensions as well as our verb conjugations for first and second conjugation.  Use all of this to help you work on those necessary skills.  Every day you should be working for thirty minutes on new vocabulary, writing, and reading.  Work hard and practice - that's how you'll get better in Russian.  Continue this work next class with your videos and over break.

English II

For our next class on Friday you should read to page 162.  Make sure to keep up with your timeline, family tree, and quotes sheet as you'll need all of these things moving forward.

Homework for B-Day Students - 3/24/2015

AP English III

Tonight for homework you have two priorities and maybe a few others depending on you.

1. Research papers!  You need to submit your research portfolios with all of the required pieces that you have developed into your research paper.  These are your question sheet, your outline, your rough draft with notes from conference, and your final draft.  Remember that the final draft must have the cover sheet and rubric attached.  You will submit everything in your portfolio to Ms. Alley on Thursday.
2. Reading in Invisible Man for Thursday is to the end of chapter sixteen.  Remember to pay attention to the Brotherhood and the new characters you are meeting associated with this organization.  There are also a lot of parallels happening at this point in the text.  Notice them and consider why.
3. If you are resubmitting one of your shorter papers you must do this by Thursday.  Any missing work (timed writings) need to be made up by this date.

English II

Continue reading in Purple Hibiscus to page 140 for Thursday's class.  Pay attention to the differences that are starting to develop between Kambili and Jaja at this point in their lives.  Why are they becoming different?  How are they becoming different?

Homework for A-Day Students - March 23, 2015

It was so good to see all of you today!  Let's go over what we need to do for tonight to get ready for Wednesday.

Russian II

Tonight you should make sure to finish your journals if you haven't yet.  I need them submitted before school tomorrow so that you can avoid a late grade.  If you turn it in past 7:30 tomorrow morning, it will be late and I will take points.  Make sure that you've got four entries with each entry using one of the phrases.  In addition, you need to make sure that your viewing guide for Служили два товарища has all questions answered so that we can do our writing workshop next class.

Russian I

I did not collect your journals today since I have the Russian II journals to grade.  Make sure that you have your journals for me on Wednesday as I'll collect them then for full credit.  You also have the task of completing your viewing guides on the film tonight and answering all questions so that we can have our workshop next class with new vocabulary and writing.

English II

You all have your next chunk of reading for tonight.  Continue working through Purple Hibiscus.  Read to page 140 in your books and make sure to reflect on what is happening to Kambili as she is spending time with her Aunty and cousins.  You may also want to think about how Ifeoma's family is different from Eugene's.

Homework for A Day Students: 3/19/15

Russian I and II - Continue to practice your spoken Russian outside of class. Remember that your journals are due Monday, and bring them to class with you. Also, bring back the vocal sheet and viewing guide you worked on today -- You'll be finishing the film with Mr. Miller when he returns.

Also, remember the Russian olympiada at Duke this Saturday!!

English II - You caught a break today since we read a short story from our textbooks, but you absolutely need to be on p. 111 by Monday. We will have a quiz, so make sure you read carefully and take notes on what you read!

Homework for B Day Students : 3/18/15

AP  III - I started grading tests this evening, and they look really good so far. Told y'all it wasn't hard. For Friday, make sure you have read ch 11-12 in Invisible Man, and be prepared to turn in your papers on Langston Hughes. Also be reminded that your final drafts of research papers are due March 26. If you have not yet had a conference with me or Mr. Miller, please find a time to do so tomorrow or Friday - the sign up sheet is on the door.

English II - Read to p. 111 for our next class. There will be a reading quiz! Please bring your close reading passages to class as well. Since we did not finish these in class today, we will begin with them the following class period. Continue to think about Kambili and Jaja's personalities, and pay attention to the way they change.

Олимпиада!

Russian Students!

Don't forget about the Olympiada of Spoken Russian this weekend at Duke.  The competition will begin at 9:30 and end anywhere from 12:00 to 12:30.  The competition will be held in the Languages Building on Duke's West Campus.  You should park at the visitor lot for the Bryan Center and then walk around Duke Chapel and Perkins Library to the Languages Building.

There will be light refreshments for you.  I hope that you enjoy your competition this weekend!

Homework for A-Day Students: 3/17/2015

Русский 1 и Русский 2 - С днем святого Патрика!

Russian students - over the next few days while I am gone you should all be practicing nightly with your vocabulary and grammar.   If there's a case that you haven't finished mastering - spend that time now to memorize and work.  If there is a verb you can't conjugate then memorize those forms now.

You have a lot of writing to do for me in Russian.  Make sure that for next MONDAY (3/22) you have your journals for the quarter due for me.  Your previous three sayings are in the previous blog post.  Make sure that you write the new journal entry focusing on the phrase "Нет худа без добра!"  Your journals will be collected on Monday and will be graded.

Here's the song we listened to in class, with the lyrics.

Русский 1

Make sure that if you have your family writing to turn in or your work on the animal writing - or any other missing work that you get that in to me on Monday as well so I can get it graded by the end of the quarter.

English II

For Thursday's class I want to make sure that you keep reading.  You need to be to page 111 in Purple Hibiscus.  Make sure that you are reading carefully and keeping track of the trends

Homework for B-Day Students: 3/16/2015 - Happy Monday!

AP English III

For homework tonight you have a few important things to take care of to keep you moving and ready for the week ahead.  Here are your reminders and tasks for tonight.

1.  You need to be studying.  You have your exam next class on the first half of Invisible Man.

2.  You have your motif chart check next class during your exam.  Be sure that these are complete for the prologue all the way to the end of chapter eleven.  Remember that if you can't find it, then it may not be there.  Your task is still to look for this work.

3.  You have your short paper due for Ms. Alley on Friday.  Make sure that you are working on this regularly so that you are able to accomplish the goals of the assignment thoroughly.

4.  Lastly, you have your writing conferences this week.  Make sure that you meet your deadline for the conference as well as coming in for any additional help as you are writing this incredibly important assignment.

5.  Keep reading Invisible Man - get yourselves ahead so you'll have less to do over break.

English II

You have another reading check for Wednesday's class.  Make sure that you are to the end of page seventy in Purple Hibiscus and that as you are reading that you continue to look at important ideas and major quotes which relate to both of the main characters - Kambili and Jaja.  This will be helpful as you complete your final assignment on Purple Hibiscus.

Homework for the Weekend - 3/13/2015 - A Day Students

Russian I and II

You have your journals due on Tuesday for the quarter.  This quarter you should have three entries.

1. С кем не бывает?
2. Маслом масленное
3. Убить двух зайцев

Remember to use the phrase in the body of your writing.  Write one full page in your journal, double spaced.  Feel free to write about anything you would like but don't use translators.  Just write what you know and use your vocabulary.

If you didn't finish your test today, make sure that you finish it on Monday.

Russian I

Don't forget your family assignments are also due to me on Tuesday with your journals.

English II

Meet your next reading goal - you need to be to the end of page seventy in Purple Hibiscus by Tuesday.  You will be doing a lot of reading over Spring Break - read ahead now to be ahead for break.