Open Thread

This is a place for you to ask questions, post comments, and get feedback.  If any questions come up while you're studying, put them up here and we'll try to get them answered.

Homework for 9/23 & 9/24

This is the final homework for our unit on Short Stories. Your homework is to complete your worksheet on "The Survival of the Fattest" and to write the compare/contrast assignment. You must turn in both the worksheet and the paragraph for full credit. The worksheet can be done in pencil, but the paragraphs must be typed or written in ink.

In addition, be sure that on Thursday/Friday you have your rough drafts of your short stories. You will get a grade of either 100 or 0 on this day. One hundred percent if you have your draft, zero if you do not.

Finally, here's the link for the clip of The Simpsons - feel free to watch as often as you need to.

http://www.tubearoo.com/player/FullScreen.aspx?file=http://www.tubearoo.com/videocodes/89326/data.xml&item=1&timestamp=0&id=89326

Have fun!

Homework for 9/19 & 9/22

For homework you will need to finish reading "The Most Dangerous Game." After you finish reading the story everyone will need to complete questions three and five. Honors students will also need to finish quesion eight. Remember to do your homework in pen and then turn it in to the box.

In addition, as you're reading the story I want to be sure that you are taking notes on elements of foreshadowing nin the story as well as examples of diction that you find interesting.

I keep forgetting!!!!

Tonight's homework.  Sorry ya'll.

You'll need to provide me a 3-4 sentence synopsis of your short story and then plan out the events on a plot diagram.  Turn this into the box.

Also bring your textbooks next class!

Important!!!

B-day students!

Please bring your books to class tomorrow!

- Miller

Homework (9/15 and 9/16)

For homework tonight, it depends on what story you read over the weekend:

If you read "Thank You M'am," you will need to complete the writing activity on the back of your handout.  Remember to select one row of the chart and complete that assignment.

If you read "The Scarlet Ibis," you will need to finish your packet and turn it into the box.  This packet will count as TWO homework grades.

Also - don't forget to review your notes on any short stories that we have read so far and your notes on short story structure from the beginning of the unit.

Homework over the weekend (9/11 & 9/12)

Over the weekend there are two separate homework assignments for the different sections of English I:

Honors students need to read the story "The Scarlet Ibis" on page 343. After you read the story, complete questions 6-9 and turn them in to my box.

Standard students need to read the story "Thank You M'am" on page 86. After you read the story, complete questions 2-4 and turn then in to my box.

I hope that you enjoy the reading over the weekend!

I just remembered!

Sorry everyone!  I was just sitting down to watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann and I realized that I hadn't posted the homework.

So - here it is:

I want you to tell me about a time when somebody wronged you.  I want you to tell me about what happened, how you responded to being wronged, and how the situation was resolved.  If you need to change names to protect the innocent - go for it.

This needs to be done in your journals - and you should expect a journal check next week sometime.

Homework 5/8 September

Thanks for all the great birthday wishes today! It was nice to have you all sing to me today. Over the weekend I want you all to read one of my favorite short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado." The story is located on page 173. Read the whole story, including the box on page 178. After you read the story you may want to read about the biography of Edgar Allen Poe on page 180. In your journals, I would like for everyone to answer question number eleven on page 181 - Honors students need to also answer question ten.

Remember to bring your textbooks to class next week on Tuesday/Thursday for A day and Wednesday/Friday for B day.

Have a good weekend - enjoy Tropical Storm Hanna.

Homework - 3rd and 4th of September

Tonight your homework needs to be done in your journal. This means that you WILL NOT turn it in to the box.

What you need to do is write a new ending to the story "The Necklace." Your new ending can either be in the form of a poem, a script, or a short story. I may ask a few people to present their responses in class. Have fun with this and be creative. But make sure that your ending is still plausable (believable).

Homework! 29 August/2 September

Students!

Over the weekend you will need to finish reading the story "The Necklace" by Guy DuMaupassant. I would like for you to answer the following questions:

1. For which character do you feel the most sympathy? Why?
2. What is the point of view in this story? Does it work for you? Why or why not?
3. Do you think that du Maupassant is particularly feminist? Why or why not? Use quotes from the story to prove your point.

Standard and Honors students need to answer questions one and two. Honors students need to also answer question three. Please answer in a few sentences. For sentence three, answer in a complete paragraph with a topic sentence.

Welcome and 1st day Homework (25/26 August)

Hello Students!

I think that this is going to be a really great year. I've got some fun things planned for us throughout the year for us to accomplish. I hope that you're learning your way around the school and not getting too lost.

Today in class we reviewed my policies and procedures as well as a quick overview as to how to write a paragraph. Tonight for homework you need to accomplish the following tasks:

• Finish your opening paragraph. Make sure that it's written in pen! Turn in your paragraph to the box in Mrs. Phillips's room - 214.
• Have your parents complete your information sheet completely!
• Make sure that you have your materials for class!

That's it! Have a great afternoon!

This is the end...this is the end, my friends...

Dear Students,

It's been a great year. I think that this blog is going to go into retirement for the summer because I'm going to be too busy or too lazy to update this thing. I've had a truly wonderful year with all of you.


Thank you,

Miller

Wrapping up the end of the year...

1. Guys and Gals - Work on your review sheets. You should be able to define all of those literary devices and you should be able to recognize them when you see them in an example. You may have noticed that from the matchboxes we have done in class, that there are a lot of questions about these devices. Study. Study. Study!!!!!!!

2. After school on Tuesday and Wednesday I will be having study/review sessions. Remember that after school busses will not run. You need to provide your own transportation.

3. In class on Tuesday/Wednesday we will be finishing TKAM and finishing up our writing portfolios to get them ready to move up to next year. Also you can bring questions from your review sheets.

4. I've had a lot of fun with you all this year. I'm really looking forward to the last few classes.

Tonight's Homework

For tonight I want you to take the list of themes and conflicts from The Color of Water and think about the following questions:

1. How are the themes and conflicts seen in both The Color of Water and To Kill A Mockingbird. Basically, what are some examples of these themes and conflicts?

2. Why are these themes/conflicts important in each work?

I want you to organize your answers to these question in either a venn diagram, chart, or a paragraph. For the paragraph you need to write six to ten sentences and for the chart/diagram you should have six to ten examples. Put this in your journal.

Weekend Homework

For this weekend you will need to read chapters nineteen through twenty-one in The Color of Water. In your journals I want you to answer the following question: "Do you think that James is always a reliable narrator? Are there times when you don't believe him? Why or why not is James reliable?"

Things to do...

For the next class we will be having our quest/tiz (whichever you want to call it) on Non-Fiction.  Here are the things that you will need to review:

1.  Information on The Color of Water

2.  The articles on Albert Einstein from the textbook

3.  The different kinds of non-fiction that are available.  You should be able to tell what each of these things are and how they are different from each other.

4.  The definitions of different literary devices.

5.  The rules of debate - the process and vocabulary about debates.

Also - your poetry paper will be due.  You need to turn in everything (analysis log, outline, rough draft and final draft) tomorrow.

After our next class we will start reviewing for the EOC - and we'll finish up The Color of Water.

Homework for 6/7 May

For tonight you need to do a few things:

1. Get your parents and anyone else that you know who is registered to vote, to vote!
2. Read the next two chapters of The Color of Water.
3. Begin your position paper.

Your position paper will be no more than one page long and will concern your current topic. In the first sentence of your paper you will clearly state what your position is on the topic and why you feel that way. In the body paragraph you will give specific reasons why you feel the way you feel about your topic. Your conclusion will wrap up your argument in one sentence.

I'll give you more guidance on this next class.

Reminders

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tomorrow/Wednesday I will be collecting two things at the beginning of class:

1. Your viewing guides to the show we watched on Friday/Monday.
2. Your humor paragraphs.

The paragraphs will go into your writing portfolios, the viewing guides will be checked. You will get a grade for both assignments.

Also, next class we will begin our research for our debates. Be ready!

Weekend Homework

For this weekend you need to finish your humor paragraph to turn in on Tuesday/Wednesday. In addition, you will need to read the next two chapters in The Color of Water - there's no journal entry for you to complete, just enjoy the reading.