Homework for the Weekend - 19 January 2017

Everybody's readin' for the weekend...


English II:

Over the weekend I want you to read part two of "The Night Face Up" - I gave you a handout that has the story on it. As you read, take notes around the plot and the character. What is happening to the character as the story develops? What is happening in the story? Keep track of his dreams versus his waking life.

AP English III:

Over the weekend you'll be finishing up the reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" - keep following up on the annotating and discussion we did today as you are reading through the second half. Hopefully, having the context from the Alabama clergymen helps you to make more sense of the points King is making and why he is making them.

Following that, you're going to take a look at Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" - the essay is available in 50 Essays and it's also at this link. As you read Thoreau, connect back to Transcendentalism as he is a clear disciple of Emerson. But also consider the way in which the ideas that King presents are similar to those of Thoreau.  Read and annotate closely. How is Thoreau making his point to you?  What is his point?

When you finish - make a list. What are the things in your life that are complicating your life? What would you want to do in order to "simplify, simplify, simplify" as Thoreau says? We'll have this discussion on Monday.

Lastly, don't forget that Monday is your last day of the quarter/semester. If you have any outstanding work, tests, missing grades in PowerSchool, then they need to be settled on MONDAY at the very latest!

Homework for A Day Students - 18 January 2017

Almost the end of another week. Amazing how fast time is flying by right now...

English II:

I'm very proud of the work that so many of you did today during our class workshop. Many of you left with a clear idea of what you need to do to finish your projects up. No matter what that is, make sure that your projects are complete next class. We'll collect them then. Remember that these projects count the same weight as your test.

Russian I, II, III, IV

Next class we have our semester exam! Be ready! Be studied. Be prepared! You should have a full idea of what will be on the test. See the post below for your reminders.

Homework for B-Day Students - 17 January 2017

AP English III

If you have anything left for the monologues or Drama Project - that needs to get turned in ASAP. If you didn't do your monologue (2B) because of the time constraints, please make sure that's settled today or tomorrow.

Tonight we need to keep reading. Take the learning we've done around transcendentalism and apply it to Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail." You can find it in 50 Essays or at this link. As you read, look for the five tenets of the philosophy. Look for how Dr. King is appealing to his audience. Rip this piece apart - it's really productive.  It's pretty long too - make sure you've read through to around paragraph twenty for next class.

We also have our previous readings (Truth and poems). We'll touch on those as we discuss Dr. King.

English II

Hopefully with today's workshop you're feeling finished or near finished with your graphic novel projects. We're going to collect those next class, so make sure that if you didn't get it done today that you have it ready for us next class.

Also, since we started a new unit it's important that you study your vocabulary and notes every day!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 13 January

It's great to get back to our regular lives. Here's the work to do over the weekend.

Advanced Russian:

We're pushing hard to prepare for our semester exam which is going to fall on Friday the 20th. I'll put the topics for the exam below. Make sure that you are studying actively and reviewing everything to be prepared. To facilitate this make sure that you have finished the translations for your chapter (Russian III/IV) or the aspect exercises (Russian II).

• Russian II-IV:  Verb stems will be on the exam for all of you. Be able to work with all stems for your level and know conjugation patterns in past and non-past tenses.
• Russian II:  Know how to navigate numbers, counting, and time expressions as well as the basics of aspect.
• Russian III:  Be able to navigate modals, imperatives, vague language and aspect as well. Don't forget about sentence combining either.
• Russian IV:  You've got your comparisons, your mutations in them, and your use of them. There's also going to be writing using verbs of placement and position and your interrogative word. Don't forget about all the verb knowledge you know too!

Russian I:

Today we did a lot of work to prepare for the exam especially around cases, translating and building sentences in Russian. This is really good stuff. For tonight, keep going. You need to finish the translation exercise we started in class.  Also, you need to take a look at exercise eighteen and make a list of words in English you would need to talk about yourself. Lastly, do exercise six - identify the case and translate the sentence. Exercise 2B is a declension exercise. Work fast and use your charts.

All Russian Classes:

We started getting into Russian poets and poetry today. Super fun times. Here is a link to an online Russian poetry website with information about authors, selected poems, and some even have the authors reading the poems in Russian.  Go to this website to find a list of poets.  Remember you need to select a poem and a poet over the weekend.

English II

Today you had your unit test on Persepolis. I hope that you all felt confident and prepared for the test.  Next class we'll be focusing on our graphic novels and finishing those up next week. Make sure that if you need to spend time working on those at home to get caught up that you do so!

Homework for B-Day Students - 12 January 2017

AP English III

Your next class will be on Tuesday the 17th, following Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior Day. For our next class, make sure that you are prepared with the final draft of your rhetorical analysis of your monologue as well as your memorized monologue. You also need a copy of the monologue (annotated) to pair with your analysis.

In terms of our new unit on African American thought in the Harlem Renaissance, please read the article called "Ain't I A Woman" by Sojourner Truth available in 50 Essays or at this link. As you read, think about language and identity. How does language create power? You may find it helpful to look at Frances Harper's poem since she and Sojourner Truth share a lot of commonalities.

Additionally, read over the poems I gave you today so that we can work with those.

English II

You took a test today on Persepolis so there is no real homework to finish. Next class we will be working on our graphic novel projects and moving on to our next unit!

Back to reality!

Tomorrow we're back to school! Be ready.  It'll be a B Day!

Third one's a charm...I hope.

Here we are with another cancelled day of school - and I have to agree. The trip to the grocery store had a few dodgy moments, but the drive from Raleigh was pretty clear. I think tomorrow it'll all be cleared up, and we're back on Thursday for a full day.

AP English III:  If I'm right then Thursday will be your day for allegory presentations and the following Tuesday will be the day for monologues and rhetorical analyses. We'll also be starting to get into our new unit on the Harlem Renaissance and introduction to Invisible Man.

English II:  Your next class is the Persepolis unit exam (Thursday/Friday). If you are going to turn in the extra credit project it will need to be in by the end of next week. We'll be starting our next unit as we wrap up our graphic novel projects (please work on those at home since you have time - especially those of you who really want to work on the art).

Russian I:  Your exam will likely be on the 20th instead of the 17th. This gives us more time to review and practice. Make sure that you are working through the exercises in your textbook and reviewing Chapter One and the Introduction. Don't worry about the information around my/your - that'll be covered as part of Chapter Two.

Russian II/III/IV: Same as above on the exam and preparation. If you are working on missing work/reassessment items, be ready to do that on Friday. Remember to check PowerSchool as everything's been updated in there.

We will have final ruble/bathroom pass cash-in on Thursday and Friday next week. 

Another one...another one...SNOW DAY NUMBER TWO

DJ Khaled and Rick Ross are remixing this week. Yet another snow day.  I'm still stranded in Raleigh, and I say the roads are about fifty percent. Hopefully we can get back to real life on Wednesday.

Keep getting ahead and working on your projects and end of semester assessments which are upcoming.

Russian students, all of these snow days mean that we are eating into review and practice time for our exam. I hope that you're building that in for yourselves right now. Make use of the online resources that I posted a bit ago.

AP students, we may have to collect your rhetorical analyses before your monologue presentations. If you are ready to submit that, please have it ready for our next classes. Ms. McCormick and I are available over email to take questions and review drafts - but not the night before/day of. We will try to give you a separate class to prepare to give your monologues; however, if we continue to be out this week you may be forced to give your monologue the day we return. You should be prepared for this eventuality (if say our only day this week is Friday).

English II students, we have our test on Persepolis - if you were absent please email for the study guide and review game. It is helpful for the test.

Please communicate if you need to. I'm available. I've been reading, getting in political arguments on Facebook, and playing PlayStation. A pretty fun snow break, I think.

Snow Day Number One

So - we're out tomorrow. I'm stranded in Raleigh until the roads clear up, and I can get out of a parking lot which is currently a skating rink.

Next class day is a B Day. We'll be doing our allegory play presentations (be ready, AP students) and having our Persepolis Unit Examination (study your guides from the review game, English II).  After that we have Russian - do your exercises and study. We will have our exam before the end of the quarter.

My guess is we won't be back to school until Wednesday at the earliest. We'll see...

Russian Update - Grades/Powerschool

All Russian Students!

I've updated PowerSchool with zeroes or exemptions for assignments. If you have questions about an assignment marked with a zero, please email me daniel . miller @ dpsnc . net  -  or leave a comment. If you leave a comment, please leave contact information and name. Please include the name of the assignment.

Homework for A-Day: 6 January 2017

Let's go ahead and say that all of this refers to what's happening next class, whenever that so happens to be.

Advanced Russian:

You should continue to prepare for your upcoming exam on the 17th of January. For that you've got some things that you can be working on:

Russian II Students - Please work on the exercises in Chapter Five related to aspect. Especially numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Russian III/IV Students - Please work on your translation exercises. Use this time to review grammar and vocabulary from the most recent unit.  Additionally, Russian IV, you can start with reading Dostoevsky.

Russian I:

You also have an exam coming up soon! Do exercises 2B, 6, 18, 19 in Chapter One to review. Do as much of these as you can and ask questions when we're together again about what you can't do.

English II:

You have your test next class - make sure that you are studying and preparing using your study guide we did today. If you were absent from today's class, see us soon and review what you've missed before the test.

B Day Homework and Reminders - 5 January

With who knows what going to happen over the next few days I'm going to describe things in terms of how many classes from today things will be happening. Adjust and prepare accordingly.

AP English III

I hope that you felt prepared and successful on the test on The Crucible today. You have some online and group collaborating to do over the weekend to prepare for next class's priority - the group allegory presentation. Remember, make a point through the art of allegory. The thing you have to remember is that you have to be specific; a point to point comparison is needed so that the audience can make sense of how they line up and what the point is. You should prepare a script, I'd share a Google Doc, and prepare for about 3-5 minutes of length. One scene or two short scenes.

In two classes we're going to have our monologue presentations and collection of rhetorical analyses on the monologues. You have the rubric, and if you don't come get it tomorrow while we're at school or email. Remember that in the rhetorical analysis you're focusing on explaining how the author is conveying an argument through this monologue. That argument should be one of the main ones of the whole play too. Look at language - get your hands dirty - and remember that these are plays. They've been spoken and presented. YouTube it. Tone is a key element of how authors make arguments. You have a day before we collect, so come in for a conference!

English II

Lots of fun today for the review game - there was only one question that couldn't be answered! Tehran! Remember to use your study guides and prepare for what we have next class. The Persepolis unit exam is going to have everything that we did today - characters, plot, culture, vocabulary, and writing.

Please do keep looking at your personal narratives and working on them (especially if we have some time to do it). We'll build in a bit of class time to do that too, and soon!

A Day Homework - 4 January

С новым годом!!!  Happy New Year to the A-Day crew.  Here are your reminders for tonight to bring you to Friday.

Russian Students - We will be celebrating Russian Christmas on Friday! Be ready for some culture fun!  Don't forget that you all have a midterm exam on the 17th of January!

Russian II - Tonight I want you focusing on your aspect knowledge in the past and future cases. Spend time with the examples in Chapter Five as well as with the commentary on those examples. Then, study the verb pairs on pages 202 and 203.  In your journals, I want you to write at least ten sentences using at least two pairs. Write a lot of sentences in past and future with the different aspects. Explain the difference in meaning. This is also a great chance to review conjugations

Russian III - Complete the translation exercise, number 21, in your journals. Be sure to review grammar in the chapter and vocabulary as you do the translations.

Russian IV - Complete the translation exercise, number 17, in your journal.  Review the grammar and vocabulary for Chapter Twelve as you do this.

Russian I - We've made a very important study guide today for cases. Next class we'll take a few more rides on the metro before we do some writing practice and cultural work. For homework tonight you need to focus on studying. Study your declension chart and study your vocabulary. Apply the one with the other and change the words. Know what those changes mean!

English II - Your reminders are below. We will have our exam on Persepolis in two classes. Next class will be our review day in which we will finish the movie and play our review game. Make sure that if you've missed any chapters that you get those read.

Also, we have the graphic novels coming due soon. If you need to get caught up on those, spend some time working at home if needed.

B Day Homework for January 3rd

Welcome back from the break! I hope we all have a great start to 2017.

AP English III 

You have many assessments coming up in the next two weeks. Be sure to stay on top of them or your grade will start falling fast, and you don't want to do everything the night before it's due.

On Thursday, we have our exam on The Crucible.  Don't forget to bring your copy of the play for the annotation check. We're not taking late books this time. 

Part 1 will be character identifications (you choose four out of a list), where you say who the character is, their importance to the plot and to the allegory/Miller's argument. You need to cite specific scenes/moments in the play.

Part 2 will be the same as Part 1, except you'll be writing about the character you tracked.

Part 3 are short essays (one sentence argument followed by two or more well-developed body paragraphs and a short conclusion).  The essay questions will cover our discussion of The Crucible film, the character of John Proctor, and Mary Rowlandson.

We'll be working on our allegory plays in class after the test, and you'll be presenting them on Monday.

On Wednesday, your drama projects are due. This means delivering your monologue and turning in your rhetorical analysis and as well as your annotated monologue. We're giving you an whole extra week so you can have writing conferences with us--use it!

English II

Remember to review your notes and read parts of Persepolis you may have missed in class. The test is coming up in two class periods.  Don't forget you can do the extra credit project to help with your test grade.

Next class, we'll be doing a review game for the test and working on our narratives. If you are behind on the narratives, work on them at home.

Homework for the Break - A Day Students - 22 December

Happy Break!  I'm so excited to sleep in tomorrow and have a real breakfast!  That's how I know break has begun.  Here is what you need to accomplish over the time away from school.

Advanced Russian

Soon after we return we will have our semester exam.  The exam will cover everything that we've learned in the first semester including the one-stem verb system, review of case declensions, and vocabulary from Chapters One through Four for all students.  Beyond that, Russian 2 students will have information related to counting, numbers, and time expressions in Russian.  Russian 3 students will see elements related to modal expressions, imperatives, elements of vagueness and sentence combining.  Russian 4 will need to be skilled about the new information related to verbs of placement, the interrogative particle, and other information from Chapter Twelve.

Spend this time over the break preparing and studying daily.  I've been doing a lot in these last classes to point out a lot of the gaps you have in your knowledge.  Now that you have the time, it's important to focus on these gaps.

Also, if you are missing your writing project or any other grades (other than the viewing on Night Swallows) then make sure that's ready for me when we return.

Use these resources to help you study and prepare over break:

UCLA Online Russian Class with Exercises and Review

Overview of Russian Grammar - Lessons and Vocabulary

Russian I

Over the break you should focus on finalizing your learning of verb conjugations and case declensions.  This is so important to the rest of your learning in Russian.  Use the online resources above to help you study and review.  There's some great stuff up there to help you review.

You should be able to complete the declension chart I'd given you today in class as well as any of the exercises left.  We'll also have our exam on Unit Two after we return from break.

English II

Over the break if you would like to work on your hero narratives or on the extra credit project for Persepolis then please do.  We'll be finishing the hero narratives and the larger unit on Persepolis soon after we return from the break.

Homework for the Break - B Day Edition - 21 December 2016

Happy Solstice Everyone!  It's the longest night of the year tonight.  From here on out winter is only ending.  Here are your reminders as we are going into the break.

AP English III

Make sure that you have completed your reading and annotating of The Crucible by this point.  You should spend time over the break reviewing your notes and your reading to prepare for our final unit exam on this play.  That assessment will happen not too long after we return from break.

The major priority that you have over break is to work on your drama projects.  You should decide on your play (don't forget to make your post in the previous post to answer that question), read your play thoroughly, and select a monologue to study.  With your monologue, you will need to memorize, annotate, and analyze.  Put forward all of the skills you have learned with analysis as you do this work.

Ms. McCormick and I will be available when we return to review your work and give you feedback.

English II

Over the break if you would like to there is some extra credit that you can complete.  We have not read many chapters of Persepolis.  Over the break you can read these chapters and complete a writing assignment for extra credit.  For the extra credit you'll be either doing a pamphlet on Persepolis or writing a letter to the author, Marjane Satrapi.  Follow the instructions for this assignment and have it ready the day you return.

You can also spend time over break working on your hero narratives.  We'll finish these when we return from the holiday, but it may be a good idea to finish your rough draft of your comic now.

Homework for A Day Students - 20 December

Advanced Russian:

Tonight I want you to get ready for our final class of the year.  Prepare your exercises on new grammar for Thursday's class.  For Russian II, this is exercise five, filling in the blanks.  Think about the types of verbal action that you've learned today.  For Russian III and IV this is a translation activity.  Make sure that if you need to look up a word that you make a vocabulary card for those words.

On Thursday we'll finish collecting projects, watch some holiday movies, and work on our New Year tree!

Russian I:

Tonight you have case work to do which reviews all of the cases.  Work through the words and fill in the blanks for the proper cases.  Be able to translate the sentences that you create.  Hopefully on Thursday we'll finish Doctor Zhivago and make some ornaments for our tree.

English II:

A lot of you got some good work done in class.  Keep going.  If you want to, keep working on your narratives.  Plan and write!  These will be due after break!

Homework for B Day Students - 19 December

AP English III

Happy Monday!  Tonight you have two things to do, and one of them is right here.  First, read Act IV of The Crucible.  As you read, finish the tracking of your character and consider the end of the play. Is it satisfying?  How does it finish the allegory?  In what ways is symbolism used at the end?

Also, please post a comment to this post which states which play you've chosen for your project as well as a reason why.  Your comment may not show up immediately, but that's okay.  You should start reading for your Drama Project.

English II

For homework tonight you should do one of the following tasks.  First, you can choose to work on your hero narrative.  Keep putting together your rough draft and make sure that you've finished the planning sheet as well as the paragraph in your journals.  You should finish the rough draft so that we can start putting together the final draft soon.

The second thing that you can work on is your essay revisions.  You received back your final drafts with feedback.  If you would like to, you can work on these further in order to earn back points and make your writing even stronger.

Olympiada of Spoken Russian 2017

Russian Students:

In the spring Duke University will be hosting the Carolinas Olympiada of Spoken Russian.  There will be students from Enloe High School in Raleigh, Lexington High School in South Carolina, and Jordan.  There are four competitions:

1. Poetry recitation.  You memorize and present a poem to the judges.  Increasing levels of Russian must memorize poems of increasing length.
2. Speaking about yourself.  You prepare a short speech about yourself, your family, your interests, your hobbies.  Speech length and complexity increases with increasing levels of Russian.
3. Reading and answering questions.  You will read a text and then answer questions about it.
4. Cultural Competency.  You will be asked to discuss elements of Russian culture in Russian including but not limited to geography, politics, literature and music.

On the day of the competition there will be a Russian cooking demonstration as well as several different Russian language activities.  You'll also get the chance to meet professors and students from Duke and other Russian language students from around the region.

This is a great thing to work for and to begin preparing for over the winter break.  We'll talk more about it this week!

Homework for the Weekend - All Students - 16 December

With my early departure for last night's swim meet I forgot to make this post.  Sorry.  All classes can see their announcements and reminders for the weekend ahead.

B Day - AP English III

Over the weekend you should focus on reading and annotating Act III.  There is a lot that happens in this act to many of our characters.  I would think that your annotations on your character as well as within the text will be highly productive and thorough.  This is also a good chance to check in with your back cover annotations to collect ideas about themes, motifs, symbols, settings, and the allegory.

Additionally, if you didn't finish your Puritan tabloid assignment, have that ready for Monday.  If you missed class due to theater, your assignment for make-up credit is in Google Classroom.

B Day and A Day - English II

The next chapter of Persepolis that we are going to read is called "The Trip."  If you'd like to earn some extra rubles, read the chapters leading up to "The Trip".  We'll review these chapters on Monday and Tuesday before we begin on this chapter.

Also, make sure that you've completed your essay as well as your hero planning and paragraphs.

A Day - Advanced Russian

Over the weekend you have different things to do based on your different classes.  See the notes below:

• Russian II - You have the new work on aspect to do.  Study the list of imperfective and perfective verbs in Chapter Five.  Then complete exercise two where you analyze the verbs for their tense and aspect.  Also, you should study your quizzes and review your feedback for reassessment of the time quiz as well as for your writing projects.  Writing is due next week.
• Russian III - Writing is due next week.  We can do the performance of the dialogue before school.  You have exercises 15, 16, and 19 focusing on the new information/grammar.
• Russian IV - Please finish reading "Prisoner of the Caucuses" and studying for new vocabulary and roots.  Additionally, complete exercise 16 about using the particle ли in Russian.

I enjoyed our talk today about Russia and learning Russian.  Remember, it's a journey for a lifetime.

Russian I

Over the weekend I want you to read in your textbooks about the new three cases - Genitive, Dative, and Instrumental.  Think about how these cases are different from the ones we've already learned.  We'll go over them on Tuesday.  Also, if you need to keep studying to reassess based on today's quiz, make sure that you do that.  You have to know how to count before you can add.  The same principle works in foreign language.

Homework for A Day Students - 14 December 2016

Advanced Russian

Your writing projects are due on Friday.  Make sure that you are prepared to meet this goal.  Additionally, we will work through a lot of the new grammar on Friday to clarify any confusions.  If you need to finish the exercises on the new grammar, make sure that those are done so that you can ask questions on Friday.

Russian I

I hope you enjoyed the watching of Zhivago today - we'll stay rolling through Siberia for a few more classes.  On Friday we will have our quiz on the nominative, accusative, and prepositional cases.  Make sure that you know your declensions and your grammar.  Also, verbs will be on the quiz since it's hard to do much without a verb.

English II

Great day today, guys.  Very productive.  If you need to finish your essay, be sure to get that work done for Friday.

Homework for B-Day Students - 13 December 2016

AP English III

For tonight you are reading one of my favorite pieces from the Colonial period - "A Brief Narrative on the Captivity of Mary Rowlandson."  Read the piece carefully and annotate.  It's a good one for shedding light on the ins and outs of Puritan culture and their views on morality.

For Monday we have Act III - continue following the trends that you've been discovering in the text and keep annotating and reading.  If you're in 3B then read extra carefully since your luck is really crappy.

English II

No real homework tonight.  If you've missed earlier chapters on Persepolis then make sure that you're all caught up.  If you haven't yet turned in your essay, it's due on Thursday.

Homework for A Day Students - 12 December 2016

I just realized that it's 12/12.  Is there a special thing for this?  I don't know.

Advanced Russian

I hope that all of you felt prepared for your quiz today.  I'll have the grades posted to PowerSchool as soon as I can.  If you want to reassess, we will settle that next week.  Also, if you want to do ruble exchange for extra credit, we can take care of that next class.

For homework tonight you should be reading from your textbook (or from your textbook as well as your short story [Russian IV]).  Take notes and generate questions as you go through the new content.  It's my hope that next class we will have a chance to finish our work on the recent episodes of Night Swallows as well as begin on the final portions of this unit.

Russian I

You all did very well today during our review work on grammar.  Tonight, make sure that you have finished your sentences about yourself and generated images that pair with those images.  Develop the sentences further if you want by adding more details (locations, et cetera).  You have a major quiz on Friday on the grammar we've been learning, prepare yourself accordingly.

English II

Your final drafts of your essays will be collected on Friday.  Make sure that you have a finished draft from today's class with some feedback so that you can meet your final deadline.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Edition - 9 December

AP English III

We had a lot of fun today acting out that final scene from Act One.  Special congratulations to the actors who earned one hundred rubles.  Next class we'll move on to looking at Act II - make sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated.  Also, check in with back covers and your character list.  You have your one character to cover thoroughly as well as general annotations on the rest.

Next class we'll also spend time in our portfolios reflecting on writing.

English II

Some of you were able to finish your final drafts of your essays today.  This is great.  If you were editing today then you'll be finishing next week.  There's no real homework for you this weekend, but next week we'll be starting on our next writing project.  Think about your heroes.  Brainstorm about them.  Also, be sure that you're getting caught up if you've missed class recently. 

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Edition - 8 December

Advanced Russian

We have a quiz on Monday which will focus on the new grammar and vocabulary in the unit.  Here are some reminders for what to study over the weekend:

Russian II - numbers (spelling and counting rules), time expressions and prepositions with time
Russian III - forming imperatives in Russian from verbs
Russian IV - forming superlatives and comparisons in Russian from adjectives

Additionally, you have your writing assignments.  I was happy to see so many of you working diligently in the lab today.  These projects will be collected on Friday.  We will have a bit of time in class on Monday and Wednesday to keep working.  We will also be going on to the next piece of these chapters on Monday.

Russian I

You will have a grammar quiz on Wednesday which will focus on the three cases (Nominative, Accusative and Prepositional) as well as verb conjugation.  Make sure that you use the exercises that we have now completed to prepare.  We will play a lot of review games on Monday to prepare us for the quiz.  We'll also get back to Zhivago.  Please be actively studying and reviewing this weekend.

English II

Over the weekend you have your writing to complete about your personal hero.  Make sure to write a one-paragraph response which uses a topic sentence, clear example, explanation of the example and a brief conclusion.  Your writing should reflect what you know now about effective writing.

Also, our essays will be due next week.  For those of you who finished today, we'll be looking at draft workshops next week for you.  For those of you who have yet to finish, please work with me outside of class to get this done.

Advanced Russian - Word Parts

Advanced Russian Students - 

Use this online resource for your Russian root work.

It doesn't have everything, but it is very extensive.

This list focuses solely on prefixes.

Homework for B Day Students - 7 December

AP English III

Congratulations on completing your third timed writing.  From here on out it's just forty minutes for the timed writing because that's what you'll have on the actual exam.

For tonight, delve in to The Crucible - make sure that you have read Act One and thoroughly annotated.  Don't forget to follow your character thoroughly as you read and annotate.

Also, keep an eye out for vocabulary.

English II

Tonight you have a one paragraph response which answers the question - Who is your hero and why?  The hero you have does not need to be a person that you have met, nor does it even need to be an actual person (Batman, perhaps?).  No matter whom you choose, make sure that you have a clear topic sentence, clear examples, explanation of those examples and a conclusion.

Homework for A-Day Students: 6 December

Advanced Russian

We will have our quiz on new grammar and vocabulary on MONDAY.  Not Thursday.  I want to make sure that all of you have some more time to work on your grammar and vocabulary writing projects first as these are supposed to help get you ready for the quiz.  For Thursday's class make sure that you have moved forward from your first rough draft.  You should have corrected any/all mistakes and expanded upon your writing.

We will also finish working on the newest episode of Night Swallows next class.  Do not do the writing/culture work for homework.

Russian I

You have grammar exercises due for me on Thursday.  You'll be working with accusative, prepositional, and nominative cases as well as reviewing verb conjugation.  Make sure that you've done all that you can with the exercises.

English II

No homework officially tonight, but some of you may want to take this time to get caught up on your essays - especially if you missed a previous class.  Next class we will be working on revising our essays to create our final drafts.

Homework for B-Day Students: 5 December

AP English III

Sorry to put the fear into you this morning, but it had a purpose.  Hopefully you'll be able to recognize this same type of fear as we get into the work on The Crucible.  There are a few other things for you to pay attention to as we start moving through the month.  Remember that you will have a timed writing next class - it's a rhetorical analysis.  In these last few classes we've done a lot of work on this writing goal.  Ms. McCormick and I want to see improvement from the last time.

Also, make sure that you are reading The Crucible.  You need to complete the reading of Act I this week.  Don't read the introduction, but do read everything at the beginning of Act I.

English II

No homework tonight.  If you need to work on your essays more thoroughly then do that so that you are ready for our draft workshop which is coming next class.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 12/2/2016

Advanced Russian

Over the weekend you should be working on the revisions/productions of your written work which focuses on the new grammar in this unit (time expressions/imperatives/comparisons).  As you write, you should use the vocabulary in your textbook or a dictionary to help develop words that you need.  Make sure that you are using all of your new grammar in this assignment as it is meant to be a way to prepare for your quiz on Thursday.

Russian I

You have exercises which focus on Accusative and Prepositional Cases as well as verb conjugation.  Make sure that all of these exercises are as complete as you can make them by Thursday.  We will go over them then.  On Tuesday, we will finish presentations and see what happens with that gun that Lara has.

English II

If you finished your rough draft today, congratulations for working so hard.  If not, do try to finish working on it over the weekend if you can.  I also can help you on Monday.  Additionally, if you have missed any of the chapters we've read in Persepolis ("The Veil", "Persepolis", and "The Letter") then make sure that you get caught up on that reading.

Homework for B Day Students - 1 December 2016

AP English III

Over the weekend you need to read and annotate Oluadah Equiano's narrative on his captivity and travel across the Atlantic on a slave ship.  As you read, annotate heavily.  You get a good sense of the language in this time period.  There are also several key appeals that Equiano makes to his audience.  Specifically, look at how he is able to craft an anti-slavery argument in his piece.

Also, make sure that you have your copy of The Crucible - we will begin our study of that piece this week coming up.

English II

Tonight in Persepolis you have the chapter called "The Heroes" to read.  As you read, keep working on vocabulary and inferences.  Find important panels and draw out their meaning from the details.

Homework for A Day Students - 11/30

Russian II-IV

Tonight you should be working on the rough draft (черновик) of your new writing assignment.  Follow the directions on your sheet.  Remember that in some cases (Russian III) you will need to do some research to know what to write for your dialogue.

I expect to see a good faith effort at a draft on Friday so that I can conference with each of you.  Remember that these assignments are meant for you to get your final practice with these concepts before your quiz next week.

If you have any missing quizzes or work then you need to settle that soon.

Russian I

Tonight you have two texts that use the prepositional case so that you can get more practice with this case in Russian.  Read the stories.  Use the vocabulary to help you understand what is going on.  Then, answer the questions as best you can and fill in the blanks.  We'll go over this soon.

Next class we have half of our city presentations.  Those of you presenting, make sure that you have submitted your final project on Google Classroom.

Russian Students - Keep Singing!

English II

Next class will be our last class in the computer lab to work on essays.  Hopefully you will be able to finish a complete rough draft of your work by then.  Tonight, you need to do some reading in Persepolis.  Read the chapter called "The Party" and look at the whole-page panel.  Like we did in class, try to draw out at least four inferences from this panel.  What do they help you to understand about the story?

Also, please return your permission slips.

Sorry for the oversight - B-Day Homework - 11/29

Apologies for not posting this last night before I went home.  Then I got home and visited with my Russian friends and went to bowling and then it was bedtime...anyway...

AP English III

We'll be starting our study of The Crucible by Arthur Miller next week.  This week we're focusing on some necessary skill development and getting some context for Puritan America.  Read Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d" and annotate it heavily.  Look especially at how he is able to use rhetorical devices to suit his purpose.  Identify these and comment on them.  When you've finished, construct two rhetorical triangles for two different audiences.  Remember that he has a specific audience as he is giving his sermon:  How would they respond? How does he appeal to them?  What's another audience?  How does he appeal to them?

Please also secure a copy of The Crucible.  If you don't have one next week we can issue one to you.  We would prefer you buy the Penguin Edition.

English II

Please read "The Party" from Persepolis and draw inferences from the whole-page panel in this chapter.  What is going on in this panel?  Why are these details important?  How do they help Satrapi (the author) accomplish a purpose and send a message?

Next class will be our last class to work on our rough drafts.  You've been doing very well with this work!

Homework for A-Day Students: Welcome Back - 28 November

Russian II-IV

Tonight you should focus on summarizing what you've been learning so far this unit into a simple to read study guide.  Make sure to account for your grammar units so far in this section as well as useful vocabulary related to that grammar.  Additionally, if you did not complete the writing assignment over Thanksgiving Break then you should complete that work for me so that I can see how your writing is doing in Russian.

Russian I

Tonight for homework you have two exercises focused on reviewing the grammar you already know.  In the first exercise on Accusative Case you can only do three of the questions.  Answer the question and state the item in the Accusative Case.  In the second exercise you're working with verbs.  Read carefully, understand, and fill in the blank with a logical verb.

English II

We are going to continue working on our essays over the next few classes.  Keep doing that work.  For tonight, remember to bring back your permission slips for Mr. Miller and to read from Persepolis.  You should read the chapter called "The Letter" and find one panel to record your observations and inferences.

Homework for B-Day: Thanksgiving Break Edition: 22 November

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break everyone!  Don't forget to do your assignments!!!

AP English III:

Make sure that you buy your copy of The Crucible by Arthur Miller over the holiday break (maybe not on Friday though).  Get the edition by Penguin which shows a Puritan woman on the front cover.  We will start the book in December.

Also, make sure that you have spent time with the rhetorical devices and your tone vocabulary.  This will be a focus for us when we return from break.

Lastly, if there are any finishing touches to be made on your websites, make sure that they are made tonight because the grading will start tomorrow!

English II:

Over the break read two chapters of Persepolis - "The Letter" and "The Party".  You could also go back and read what we've skipped over if you want to.  As you read these chapters, pick what you think is the most important panel and do inferences on that panel.  What can you learn from it by just focusing on all of the details.  Take notes, and write out your inferences.

Also, if you want to work on your papers you can - next class we'll spend more time on those.

Lastly, please fill out and return my permission slip so that I can get started on my professional project!

Homework for Thanksgiving Break - A Day - 21 November

English II:

There's no real homework for you to complete over the break but you should keep reading and writing and thinking.  There's an online version of Persepolis if you're interested in that.  You can find it at this link.

Advanced Russian:

Over the break you need to write a brief story using the new grammar (time expressions, imperatives, comparisons), but don't forget what you've already learned.  There's a length requirement based on the different levels.  Twos should write eight to ten sentences.  Threes should write twelve to fifteen sentences.  Four should write twenty (or more) sentences.  Feel free to write about anything that you want, but make it logical.

I'd recommend planning in English first.  Remember to keep it simple.  No translators.

Russian I:

This break I want you to write ten sentences using the nominative and accusative cases.  Use exercise six as a jumping off point.  Use a variety of verbs and items, but be able to understand everything that you write and say.

No translators.  Use the vocabulary that you know.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 18 November

AP English III

This weekend you should be putting all of your energies into finishing your website projects and preparing to present on Tuesday.  Make sure to share your websites to Ms. McCormick so that she can give help and prepare for the presentations.

In terms of the presentation you will need to be able to discuss your own piece and your analysis of it.  You will also want to contribute to your group's explanation of their argument for the synthesis assignment.

Make sure that you have uploaded all citations for all of your information.  If you need help, you need to ask.

English II

Based on what we completed in class today you should move forward with the planning and writing of your essays.  Start to take your ideas and weave them together into complete thoughts, sentences, and paragraphs.  Don't worry too much right now about having the writing perfect - we'll go through an editing step.  Try to edit what you've already done to make it stronger, then add more.

Also, everyone, don't forget your permission slips for Ms. McCormick.

Homework for A Day Students - 17 November

Advanced Russian

On Monday we have the reassessment on our previous quiz as well as our writing projects.  For the projects, make sure that you have a written artifact to use for your presentation.  Everyone will be speaking aloud - make sure that you've practiced.  You have your rubric, use it to prepare your final drafts.

In terms of other homework, make sure that you are working with the exercises on our new grammar topics.  You should do either the odds or the evens in the exercises to prepare for Monday.  I'd like for us to work through some of the more difficult ones.

Russian I

We now know how to work with two cases - the accusative case and the nominative case.  The exercises will have you practice with these cases.  You should complete exercise one, three, and six.  In exercise one you should translate and identify the subject and the direct object.  In exercise three you should complete the sentences using verbs.  In exercise six, you are given the beginning of a sentence and then items - put those items in the right form to complete the sentence.

Write out your work.

On Monday you will also be reassessing on your verb work.  Hopefully what we've been doing the last few classes has been helpful with that.

English II

If you have permission slips for Ms. McCormick please turn those in to her as soon as you can.

Homework for B-Day Students - 16 November 2016

English II

A few of you were absent on the day we started Persepolis.  Today might not have made too much sense, but the book we're starting is from this country, Iran.  Tonight there's no homework to complete.  If you still have your copy of The Boy Who Dared bring that back.  If you have Ms. McCormick's permission slip, get it signed and bring it back.

For those of you who missed it - see us to get your work from the first chapter of Persepolis.

AP English III

You have your major exam on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on Friday as well as a novel annotation check.  Be sure that you are prepared.  The exam's sections have been revealed to you and you've practiced and received feedback on all of these types of thinking.  Use that feedback to prepare yourselves.  Do not forget your books or any annotations you have made on Friday.  That would negatively impact your grade.

On Tuesday (day before break) we'll have the presentations of the website projects.  A lot of good discussion was going on today in class - make sure that you follow through on your plans and hold each other accountable.

Homework for 15 November - A Day

Russian II-IV:

Tonight you should be working on the revision of your writing assignment.  I saw some great things today in terms of your grammar and vocabulary.  Make sure that you type, check your spelling, and mark stresses in complicated words to make your reading go better.  Practice reading aloud.  Practice your intonation patterns.  We'll present our work on Monday next week.  Monday will also be our day for any reassessments from the previous quizzes.

Additionally, you will want to review the information in your textbook related to the next grammar unit in your chapter.

• Russian II Students - Look over the information on the accusative case when using time expressions.  This is covered on pages 205-209.
• Russian III Students - Look over the information on imperative mood.  This is covered on pages 369-374.
• Russian IV Student - Look over the information on forming comparisons.  This is covered on pages 504-510.

Lots of fun new grammar for us to be learning!

Russian I

I hope that you enjoyed the film about Russia and the different cities in Russia.  Go forward with tonight's homework.  You have a list of cities and a blank map of Russia.  Using Yandex or Google Maps - find these cities and mark them on the map.  Be sure to label your map.  You should be able to read, write, and locate the city.

We'll be doing research with these cities next class - think about which one you would like to study.

Also, we'll be reassessing on grammar and verb conjugation next week.

English II

Please bring back the permission forms for Ms. McCormick so that she can move forward with her project.

Homework for B-Day - 14 November 2016

It's kinda strange that we have a full week ahead of us.  Is anyone else feeling that?

English II

Today we began our reading of our next major book, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.  We'll continue reading daily and you will have some reading at home to do once we get more comfortable with the book.  For tonight, your homework is to complete your permission slip for Ms. McCormick.  Have your parent sign it and bring it back to us.

AP English III

There are several things on the horizon that you need to start to prepare for.  Here they are in order of nearest to latest.  First, there's your unit test on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on Friday.  After today's class you have a good understanding of what will be on the test.  You have identifications, quote explanations, short answers and rhetorical analysis.  After Wednesday's class you should be feeling much stronger with completing the rhetorical analysis process.

Next week we have our websites.  As a group you should be finishing your synthesis assignment, editing each other's rhetorical analyses, and putting final touches on your sites.  Make sure to check the mock-up and account for all of the moving parts.  Your presentations will be on Tuesday.  In advance, make sure to share your websites with me (daniel_miller (at) dpsnc (dot) net) and with Ms. McCormick (samanthagmcc (at) gmail (dot) com).  Let us know if you need help with your sites.

Lastly, don't forget about Ms. McCormick's form.  Get it signed and bring it back.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 10 November 2016

English II

Today you had your unit exam on genocides and conformity.  Since we had a test today, there's no homework this weekend.  Next week we're going to start working on your first essay assignment of the year and then go on to our new book, a comic book.

Russian I

Continue studying your verbs and nouns from this chapter.  We will be having a reassessment on verb conjugation next class.  Look over your notes and your first quiz and aim to improve.  You'll need to be able to conjugate first and second conjugation verbs.  You also will want to know how to conjugate a verb like "to write" - remember that it does have a mutation.

Secondly, keep practicing the reading of your poems.  Here are links to youtube videos of the different poems so that you can listen and practice.

Poem One
Poem Two
Poem Three
Poem Four
Poem Five

Advanced Russian

Over the weekend you should work on the rough drafts of your presentations.  Remember that you each have different tasks to complete on this assignment.

For Russian II - You need to make a list of items in the dorm room that would be provided to you to live your life.  Then, a bit of research about the university.  The research questions about the university should be answered in complete sentences in Russian.  Remember, no numbers - all numbers must be written as words.

For Russian III - You need to come up with rules and needs for life on campus.  Three areas on campus need to be accounted for - the dorm, a common area (cafeteria/library), and a classroom.  What's possible or impossible?  What should we do?  What do we need?  Use your modal expressions!

For Russian IV - You need to use your verbs of positioning to tell us what to do with our things in different areas.  Make signs and use commands to tell us what to do.  You need to come up with at least five different rules for each area!

We will conference about your work on Tuesday and do a final presentation the class before Thanksgiving Break.  Make sure to use websites related to Moscow State University as you are researching!

Homework for B Day Students - 9 November 2016

We live to fight another day and move forward together.  Always.

AP English III

Today's class was really focused in on your website projects which are going to be presented by all of you to the class on the 22nd of this month.  Today we began work on the group synthesis assignment.  Now that you know the prompt and the focus of the assignment, it's time to start working.  As a group, decide on your argument - Do you all think that satire has a role in changing a society?  What is that role?  What change is created?

Remember that each of you will write about how your own piece of satire helps to support and develop your team's argument.  In order to do this, you have to have your personal rhetorical analysis done.

You should spend a lot of time with your groups in developing your websites.  The other main goal that you have is to finish your reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - we'll go over the final sections of the novel next week in advance of our unit examination on the book.

English II

Today we had our test on the Holocaust and Conformity.  You have no homework tonight.  If you did not return your copy of The Boy Who Dared then please have that for me soon.

Homework for 7 November - A Day

Remember that with tomorrow being Election Day there is no school.  Our next A Day will be on Thursday.  Also, remember to remind your parents (and anyone else you know over 18) to vote.  You can all volunteer to get out the vote!

Advanced Russian

On Thursday you'll be having a vocabulary quiz.  It won't focus at all on grammar, just the spelling and meaning of your new words.  Be prepared for this!

Russian I

You have five poems to begin reading and studying.  Practice regularly and develop your fluency.  All of the poems can be found on YouTube which will definitely help your speaking go up!  Also, remember to prepare for your reassessment on verb conjugation.  Play with your dominoes!!!

English II

Next class we will have our unit examination on Holocaust narratives and conformity.  Make sure that you are studying your notes and your study guides to prepare.  Also, you'll need to bring in your copy of The Boy Who Dared - I'll be collecting those next class.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 4 November 2016

AP English III

We have so much going on in the rest of November to finish up our unit on Satire and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Here are your reminders below:

1. Rhetorical analysis timed writing will happen on Wednesday - this is your next class day.  Be ready!  You will also start working on the final portion of your websites - the group essay.  Make sure that you have posted and revised your own rhetorical analysis in advance of Wednesday.
2. You must finish reading and annotating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by November 14.
3. Your unit exam on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is on November 18.
4. Your Satire Websites will be presented on November 22.

Lots of major grades are coming up!  Make sure that you are moving forward on your websites and in your reading.  You need to support your groupmates as they are working to make you all successful.  This weekend, we will check on the progress of your websites.

Don't forget your moral journey assignments - those are due on Wednesday if you didn't turn it in today.

English II

On Wednesday you will have your Holocaust and Genocide Unit Exam.  Use the study guide that we created today in class as well as your notes and books to help you prepare.  Remember that there will be a short answer question which requires you to write a one paragraph response.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 3 November

Advanced Russian

You will have a vocabulary quiz next week focusing on the new nouns that you are learning in this unit.  For Russian IV this deals with body parts and health vocabulary, Russian III has food items and Russian II has words related to time and counting.  Learn your new words!

Additionally, spend time tonight reviewing the new grammar that we are learning.  Russian IV and III have exercises to complete related to the new topics.  Make sure that as you complete the exercises you are using your notes and your notebooks.  Russian II - you have writing to practice to finish your learning on the Genitive Plural.  Remember that you are writing about five times of the day and what you do at that time.  Write out all numbers as words, don't forget your counting rules.

Russian I

If after today's quiz you feel like you need to reassess on this content, then make sure that you are actively practicing so that you are ready to reassess next week.  Today, we started learning the real meat of the Russian language - cases.  The textbook does a good job of reviewing this information - you may find it helpful to read over pages twenty six through to thirty seven for an overview of cases.

There is also this video taught by a Russian lady named Nadya to overview what we did in class today.  She has some funny examples to help you understand.

English II

As I discussed today we will have our unit exam next week!  It'll cover Hotel Rwanda, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy Who Dared, and The Wave.  Start studying now to prepare yourself.  Next class we will have our review game, start on our final essay for the unit, and work on our reading project!  Big days ahead!

Homework for B-Day Students: 2 November 2016

AP English III

In order to prepare for Friday's class there are two things that you need to be working on.  First, you need to continue reading and annotating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  You will need to be to the end of Chapter Twenty-Eight (the Wilkes episode).  Be sure to focus on the characters of the Duke and the King as well as Huck's moral development in this section.

In terms of your websites you should be working on your individual portion of the site - your analysis of your source material.  In advance of Friday you should upload your rhetorical analysis of your satirical material.  This way your partners will be able to read and give you feedback on your work.  Remember that you are focusing on explaining an author's argument and how the author makes that argument clear to you.  These websites will be presented on the 22nd of November.

English II

For Friday's class make sure that you have finished reading  The Boy Who Dared  and answering the final comprehension questions.  We will be playing our end of unit review game on Friday and preparing for our unit exam which will happen on Wednesday the 9th of November.

Homework for A Day Students - 1 November 2016

Advanced Russian:

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

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

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

Russian I:

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

English II:

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

Advanced Russian - New Unit Vocabulary

Advanced Russian:

Here are the vocabulary files for your new unit.  Please listen and repeat.  A good practice is listening to the word, spelling it, and then checking yourself as to your accuracy.

Unit 5

Unit 9

Unit 12

Homework for the Weekend - 28 October - B Day

English II

We almost finished Hotel Rwanda today.  There's only a few minutes left, so we'll finish that up on Wednesday.  Also, don't forget that you have your reading in The Boy Who Dared.  Please read the pages on your comprehension questions (to the end of the book) and answer your questions as notes.  These will be very helpful for you as we prepare for our final exam on this first unit.

AP English III

One of your biggest things to work on this weekend is the rhetorical analysis for your group websites.  Remember that you need to first thoroughly annotate and read your piece looking for the author's argument and the means by which they accomplish and prove that argument.  It's best to organize around rhetorical/literary devices.  Sketch out your outline and start drafting.  You and your groups should have rough drafts complete by Friday of next week!

In terms of reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn make sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated the section up to Chapter Twenty-Four.  We'll work through that section on Wednesday's class and deal with the section up to Chapter Twenty-Eight on Friday.  Basically, we're shifting the reading down a day - please make sure that you are caught up, or even ahead!

Lastly, remember what I said moving forward.  This is a new experience, being in AP English, if you're doing it the same way you always have; that's just not going to cut it.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 27 October

Advanced Russian

Today we had our quarterly exam.  I'll have the grades posted as soon as I can for you so that you can see how you've ended the quarter.  Over the weekend, focus on your new vocabulary.  Learn your nouns and be ready for an upcoming vocabulary quiz!

Russian I

After today's class you now know everything there is to know about conjugating verbs (for the time being).  Keep applying this knowledge and practicing.  There are a few exercises in your textbooks on verbs that you can do for extra practice if you need it.  Over the weekend, you should study and practice your verbs in advance of a quiz on Thursday.  Here's a good online exercise with conjugations!

English II

Keep moving forward in your reading of The Boy Who Dared.  Remember that you need to finish the questions and the reading by Thursday, the 3rd of November in advance of our unit exam.

Homework for B Day Students - 26 October 2016

AP English III

For Friday's class you should be read and annotated through to the end of Chapter Twenty-Four.  In this section you meet two important characters to put on your front covers and they will bring out a lot of satire in the next few sections of the book.  Watch them carefully!

Further, you and your partner should have finished your cartoon today and on Friday you and your partner will present it to the class.  Before your presentation, however, your cartoon will be analyzed - maybe your classmates will be able to figure it out.

Lastly, you should have finished your group contract for Friday and in it clearly state what it is that you will be analyzing in this project.  You should have that "text" with you on Friday so that we can begin to do the work of analyzing and building your individual rhetorical analyses.

English II

Keep on keepin' on with your work in The Boy Who Dared.  Next class we'll be hopefully finishing up with Anne Frank and our study of Hotel Rwanda before we start working on our first essay assignment!  Keep up with your reading so that you are ready for what is coming next (unit test).

Homework for A-Day Students: 25 October 2016

English II

Your homework that you received today isn't actually due until next week.  Over the next few days you should finish reading The Boy Who Dared on your own.  As you read, answer the questions to take notes on your reading.  You will be having our unit exam quickly after that.

Next class we will keep moving forward with Anne Frank and we will have our presentations of our skits.

Russian I

You have your new vocabulary list to start learning and now you can work with these words.  With the exception of the verbs that end in ся and the verb писать you need to create a conjugation chart and conjugate these verbs.  Apply your knowledge!

Russian II-IV

Next class you will have your quarter exam.  Be prepared.  Feel free to ask for extra help that you may need!

Homework for B-Day Students: 24 October 2016

AP English III

If you have any questions about the website project your first step is to see if the MOCK-UP PROJECT SITE has the answer.  The link is available in Google Classroom and it's also here.  We're really trying to not have a lot of paper with this project, welcome to the twenty-first century, y'all.  By Friday your group should have the empty frames set up on your site as well as complete the group contract.  We'll start putting in content on Friday, so be ready for that.  You need to state in your contract what each person's role is, i.e. what you will be analyzing for this project (Huck Finn excerpt, modern essay from McGraw-Hill reader, static visual, and non-static visual).

For Wednesday we have the reading of David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day".  This article is in 50 Essays and it is available at this link.  As you read, annotate heavily.  Notice how Sedaris creates humor in his writing.  He's funny; you should laugh.

For Friday you have reading in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Read and annotate to the end of Chapter Twenty Four.

English II

You have your final assignment with The Boy Who Dared.  Read to the end of the book and complete the comprehension questions while you read.  You have to finish the book by next Wednesday.  So you can average about five or six pages a day, you'll finish in no time!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 21 October 2016

Next week is the last week of the quarter!  Only Monday and Tuesday will be your day to submit any missing/redone assignments!  Don't be late with this!

Advanced Russian:

On Tuesday we will have our quarter one exam.  For all of you, we will have questions related to case governance with verbs and with the one-stem verb system.  Make sure that you are reviewing all of your stem knowledge as well as your verb knowledge.

Russian III will also have questions related to telling time and talking about dates in Russian.

Russian IV will also have questions related to participles, deverbal adverbs, and который phrases.

Today's readings should have helped you to review the needed ideas for Tuesday.  Remember, if you haven't turned in your profile online, you will have until Sunday to finish and submit it.

Russian I

Today we learned how to conjugate first and second conjugation verbs in Russian.  Congratulations!  Now all you need to do is memorize how to do this!  The homework this weekend will help you to do that.  Complete exercise nine as a reading and translating exercise.  Complete exercise ten as a writing exercise - using the pictures, answer with a positive sentence using Да or a negative sentence saying Нет ____ не __________.  This will help you practice your sentence structure.  Exercise one should be completed as writing - read the sentence, find the verb, fill in the blank with the appropriate pronoun.  Exercise three should be completed as a writing exercise.  Read the sentence, find the subject, and conjugate the logical verb to fill in the blank.

Also, if you haven't finished your profile yet, make sure that you submit it by Sunday to be graded.

English II

Over the weekend you should finish your vocabulary playlist activity.  Remember to state the word, the name of the song/movie that goes along with the meaning of the word, and then explain how the song matches the word.  On Tuesday we will be presenting our skits to help us start wrapping up The Boy Who Dared and our introductory unit.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 20 October 2016

AP English III

If you have any assignments that you would like to resubmit for another assessment, you must have that work in to us on Monday.  No later.  Any work submitted after Monday will not be graded.  Many of you will likely want to resubmit your essays on justice, your quests on rhetoric and argumentation, or other assignments.  If you have rubles, you can also buy extra points.  You also have your bathroom pass to submit as a way to earn extra points on assignments.

You need to read Chapters Seventeen through Twenty over the weekend.  This is known as the Grangerford section.  Pay close attention to the new characters and situations in which Huck finds himself.  Annotate heavily, paying special attention to the motifs/topics and symbols.

English II

Over the weekend you should finish your vocabulary playlist assignment as well as any missing assignments.  All missing work must be turned in on Monday to be graded for this quarter.  Next class we will be presenting our scenes from The Boy Who Dared - make sure that you have practiced and prepared yourselves so that your scenes are award winning and teach the class about our book and characters.

Homework for Russian Students - A Day - 19 October

What an exciting day!  We didn't have fourth period because of the fire.  (I bet I'll never say that again.) So, English II will meet again on Friday.  We'll keep working on our projects then.

Russian II-IV

If you haven't finished your profile for В КОНТАКТЕ make sure that it is finished and submitted by the end of the day on Friday so that I can grade it over the weekend.  Tonight, you are doing some writing for me in Russian.  With whom do you want to live in the dormitory?  С кем вы хотите жить в общежитии?  

You should use evidence from our class discussion/interview.  Russian II - Write at least three sentences in Russian.  Russian III-IV - Write at least five sentences in Russian.

Don't forget that you'll have an exam next week.  I'll go over the topics on Friday.

Russian I

Your vocabulary test is next class.  Make sure that you know the meanings of the words, their gender, and their animacy.  You will only have to spell about five of the words.

Also, if you haven't finished your profile for В КОНТАКТЕ make sure that it is finished and submitted by the end of the day on Friday so that I can grade it over the weekend. 

Homework for B Day Students - 18 October 2016

Tomorrow we have the PLAN (for all tenth graders) test as well as the PSAT (for some juniors).  Good luck on your tests tomorrow!  Make sure you know where you're going.  If you're testing, you will only have fourth period.

AP English III

Today in class you received your timed writings as well as your justice essays.  What Ms. McCormick and I found is that many of you have difficulties in your writing which translate into both assignments.  You cannot resubmit the AP Timed Writing; however, you can resubmit the justice essay.  If you are going to continue to work on it, remember that any resubmissions are due on Monday.

For tonight, make sure that you have read and annotated to the end of Chapter Sixteen in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Also, check in with your vocabulary bookmarks.  Remember that this space is for you to record words that aren't a part of your regular vocabulary.  Anything that you would like to hold on to here is good.

English II

Next class we will be presenting our skits to review this section of the book.  Make sure that you have your scripts and that you have read through it a few times.  Know the role that you have in your group and be ready to present it.

Also, if you have any missing assignments or assignments that you would like to resubmit for the quarter, please do that ASAP.  Your last day to turn in anything to be regraded is Monday.

Homework for A Day Students - 17 October 2016

Russian II-IV

Next class we will be doing our speaking and introductions of our characters.  Be ready to talk about yourselves in Russian.  Remember that your Russian Facebook page is meant to be how you prepare for this activity.  Know your favorites.  Be able to discuss them.  Use the language that you know.

Also, remember that you have your quarterly exam next week.  This week is your final week to work on any resubmissions of any work.

Russian I

You will be having your vocabulary test on Friday, not on Wednesday.  Next class you should aim to finish your Russian Facebook pages.  You also will be speaking next class.  Be ready to introduce yourselves in Russian and listen to the introductions of others.

Like I said for Russian II-IV, this is your last week for any resubmissions of any work.

English II

Next class we will be presenting our skits.  You will want to make sure that you have read through your lines and that you are ready to act out your scenes.  The most important thing to do is to read through your lines several times to get ready.  We'll go through the scenes in order, and you'll be learning about each of the scenes.  This will get us ready to quickly move through and finish the rest of The Boy Who Dared.

Be aware that if you have any missing work or want to resubmit anything - this is your last week to do that.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 14 October 2016

Happy Pep Rally Day, B-Day Students.  Here are your reminders for the weekend:

AP English III

Over the weekend you should make sure that you are up to date on your reading in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as reading and annotating Malcolm X's "Learning to Read".  This article is available in 50 Essays or at this link.  As you read the piece, you may find it productive to concentrate on the ideas of learning, power, and language.  Consider the role of Jim as you read this as well as Huck - their power as well as their abilities in the society.  This is also a very good piece for you to use for your vocabulary bookmarks.

On Tuesday you'll be getting back your essays on In Cold Blood as well as your timed writings.  Timed writing assignments are not available to be resubmitted; however, your essays can be resubmitted if you are not happy with your performance.  Some of you may find it helpful to conference with us before moving forward on your resubmission.  It is important that everything be settled by Monday the 24th as we need to finish the gradebook for the first quarter within that week.

English II

Next class we will be returning to the computer lab to finish working on our skit scripts, costumes, props, and backgrounds.  You may continue to work on this over the weekend if you feel like you need to.  The main priority that you have over the weekend is to use your progress report to finish any missing assignments.  If you have been absent and there are assignments that you need to complete, those have been marked with zeroes.  Please make sure to get the assignments from us and get them turned in no later than Monday the 24th so that we can finish your grades for the quarter.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 13 October 2016

English II

You have your progress reports which are updated up to today's class.  If you are missing any assignments, you have the weekend to get them done and turn them in.  Also, if you would like to use rubles to buy extra points then you can do that too.  Remember that it is 50 rubles for an extra point on a quiz grade and 10 rubles for an extra point on a homework/classwork grade.

On Monday we'll work more on our skits and our scripts before we present them on Wednesday.

Russian I

Over the weekend you should be spending time with your vocabulary.  To do this, you want to write your vocabulary words into categories.  Remember to organize them by gender and animacy and then by other logical categories.  Spend time each day with your vocabulary list so that you are prepared for next week's vocabulary quiz.

Also, spend time this weekend developing your profiles for our class assignment.

Russian II-IV

Over the weekend you should finish working on your profiles so that we can introduce ourselves to each other on Tuesday.  Also, remember that your quarter exam is coming up soon.  Be studying your new grammar concepts and reviewing your exercises so that you are prepared for the exam coming up.

Homework for B-Day Students: 10 October 2016

English II

Your homework is the same as the previous post.  Be studying your vocabulary and review The Boy Who Dared so that you are familiar on everything up to page sixty-seven (this includes everything we reviewed today).

If you didn't do the research on KRISTALLNACHT on youtube, make sure to finish that tonight and turn in your research cards next class.

AP English III

Next class you will have your first AP Timed Writing.  It will be an argumentative prompt.  There is a way to study for this type of assessment - and I'll list that for you below.  Ms. McCormick and I are really looking at how well you can construct and prove an argument.  How well have you learned all that we have taught you this quarter about writing.  To prepare you should:

1. Review your bootcamp notes - especially related to your Rules for Good Writing and your Arguments.
2. Take a look at the AP rubric that outlines a level 9, 8, 7 and so forth.  Make a checklist of what you need to do to get a level nine.  If you fall a bit short, you may end up at an eight.
3. Remember how to prove and explain your argument from your evidence.  It's important to have the evidence paired with convincing explanation.
4. Review the sample prompt we annotated as well as the student samples.

On Friday we have our next chunk of reading due.  Be prepared for that.  If you didn't do well on today's annotation check, learn from your mistakes and stop procrastinating on your reading.  Maybe next time we'll have an annotation check and a reading quiz.  Why not?

Homework for the Weekend - October 7

English II

Remember to be studying your vocabulary: parts of speech, suffixes, and definitions.  You have your vocabulary list from the coloring activity and the  mad lib activity to help you study.  We'll be testing on these soon.

Also make sure you're caught up in The Boy Who Dared.  You should have read and be familiar with at least up to page 67.

AP English III

You need to read and annotate Huck Finn chapters 7-12 for Monday.  We'll be having a graded discussion, so you'll need good annotations and thoughts about the chapters to participate and get a good grade.

Don't forget to talk to Mr. Miller or Ms. McCormick about setting up a time to do a resubmit on your Quest, if you feel so inclined. The grading period ends October 28.

Have a good weekend!

Russian I Resources for the Weekend - 7 October 2016

Russian I Students

Below there are several resources which you may find helpful this weekend as you are finishing the viewing guides for our first film and studying your vocabulary.

First - here's the first part of Office Romance.

And here's the second part.

This file is an audio file which goes over all of your vocabulary words for Chapter One.  You'll find it helpful to listen and repeat as you study.  You should listen and repeat several times.

Link to Audio File

Homework for A Day Students - 5 October 2016

Russian II - IV

Today I gave all of you exercises which will review the new grammar we have been learning.  You should start to work through these exercises, aiming to complete the ones you can and develop questions for me so that we can work together next week on the ones that are confusing to you.  Next class you will have time to work on these some more, but they should show a good faith effort at completion by Tuesday the 11th when we review them.

Russian I

Today we learned more about Russian words including gender and animacy.  You may want to apply this knowledge to the words that you have already been learning.  Those of you who didn't present dialogues today will do that on Tuesday.  Remember that on Friday you will be finishing our film and working on your Russian Facebook pages.

If you are missing any work - it is time to turn that in ASAP.  Especially if it is your name poster assignment.

English II

Tonight you are going to do a bit of research on KRISTALLNACHT.  Use your notecard.  On the lined side, write the Internet address of the youtube video you watch on the top line.  Then, write five facts you learn about KRISTALLNACHT from the video on the card.  We'll collect this next class.

Also, study your mad-libs sheets.  We'll be testing with our vocabulary soon!

Homework for All Classes - A and B Day - 10/4/2016

I was out yesterday celebrating the New Year (5777) so I didn't post this - here you are!

Russian I, II, III, IV

Next class we have reassessments (alphabet/phonics/vocabulary OR one stem verb system) as well as dialogue presentations.  Be ready for those.  If you're in Russian III or IV, you don't have a dialogue to present, but you have to listen and understand and transcript.

English II

Make sure that if you are missing anything (mostly it's the vocabulary assignment) that you get that done and turned in ASAP because we are going to be doing a lot with vocabulary over the next few classes.  Also, bring your books to class every day!

AP English III

Your papers are due next class.  Make sure that your packet is complete and that you have all of the supporting documentation in the packet.  For Monday, you have your next section of reading in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Chapters Seven through Twelve.  Take the work that we did today in class and make sure that your annotations for Chapters One through Six are complete and thorough.

Special Note for AP - Remember that your argument/thesis is now DEBATABLE.  This means you have to deal with and refute the counter argument at some point in the body of your essay.  Don't forget this very important step!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 30 September 2016

L'shana tova!  Happy New Year!  

AP English III

Over the weekend you should be working on two things:  First, you need to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, chapters one through six.  As you read, annotate.  Remember to add to your covers and investigate elements of humor and satire as well as repeated ideas.  Continue to focus on characters - their development and their conflicts.  Considering our discussion today around language and identity could also be helpful.

Second, we have your final drafts to begin developing.  Use the rubric you received today as well as the feedback from your conference to revise.  If you need/would like me or Ms. McCormick to look at your paper, let us know.  Come in for a conference before Wednesday afternoon.  Once Wednesday gets here we won't be talking about these papers with you.  Your final draft and the supporting documents will be collected on Thursday.

English II

Make sure that you are to page fifty-five in The Boy Who Dared for Tuesday's class.  We'll be getting back to Helmuth.  Hopefully our discussion on Dr. King over the last few classes gives you a lot to think about to connect these two men and times in history.

Homework for A Day Students - 29 September 2016

Russian II, III, and IV

This weekend you should all spend time reviewing your new grammar that we have been learning over the past few days and familiarizing yourself with your cases.  We'll continue to review next week.  Additionally, you should be spending time preparing yourself for your resubmission of your one stem verb quizzes next week.

Russian I

Over the weekend continue to work on your vocabulary and your dialogues.  Practice reading aloud and speaking with proper stress.  You and your team can create a Google Doc and share it between yourselves to finish your scripts if you need to.

Remember that you also have written homework to do - on the back of the dialogues we studied you should write more of your own, filling in the blanks.  Do the work on your own paper.  Use your handwriting.  Remember to explain how the one dialogue would be different if you were speaking to a different person.

English II

If you have any missing assignments that didn't get in today you need to turn those in as soon as possible - we only have a few weeks left in the first quarter.  Also, we will be getting back to The Boy Who Dared next week.  Make sure that you have read through to page fifty-five and that you have completed your reading guide for the first part of the book.

Homework for B-Day Students: 28 September

AP English III

We've started with our unit on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Your first reading deadline for the book will be on Tuesday when you will be expected to read to the end of chapter six.  Make sure that you are thoroughly annotating and adding to your cover annotations as well as collecting vocabulary.

Tonight you should complete the drafting of your rough draft for our workshop on Friday and read Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue".  The essay by Tan is available at this link or in 50 Essays.  As you read, think about language and vernacular and how that is used to characterize a person in the view of society.  You can also collect vocabulary.

English II

Now that you have your progress reports you can move forward to complete any missing assignments that you may have.  Additionally, keep thinking about the reading from Dr. King that we completed in class today.  What do you think that Dr. King would say to Helmuth about breaking the law?