Homework for 9/10/2014

AP English III

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

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

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

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

English II

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

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

Russian II

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

Russian I

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

English II

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

9/8/2014 - B Day Homework and Announcements

AP English III

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

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

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

English II

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

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

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

Russian II

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

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

Russian I

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

Russian I and II

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

English II

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

Homework - B Day Students - 9/4/2014

AP English III

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

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

English II

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

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

Russian II

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

Russian I

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

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

English II

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

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

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

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

9/2/2014 - B Day Homework and Reminders

AP English III

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

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

English II

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

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

Homework for the Long Weekend - 8/29/2014

Russian II

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

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

Most of this work focuses on the genitive case.

Russian I

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

English II

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

8/28/2014 - B Day Homework

AP English III

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

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

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

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

English II

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

8/27/2014 - A Day - Homework

Russian II

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

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

Russian I

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

English II

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

First Day of School - Version 2.0

AP English III

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

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

English II

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

Homework - First Day of School

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

Russian I/Russian II/English II

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

Russian I

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

Russian II

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

Russian Online Resources

Russian I and Russian II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Link to Parent/Student Information Form.

And It's The End of Another Year

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

Grades Done!

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

Grades Complete

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

Textbooks

AP English III 

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

Grades Complete

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