Finishing Strong - Final Reminders for A Day Students

This will be the final post for the 2018-2019 Academic Year. It's been a real pleasure this year; challenging at times, but that just makes it a bit sweeter in my book. Here are your reminders to close out the quarter and for your final examination.

AP English III

There are two assignments left to complete for the quarter. The first is our movie review of The Grapes of Wrath. Your assignment and rubric are posted on Google Classroom. Please submit a hard copy to me or an electronic copy to the space on Google Classroom by the end of the day on Friday for it to be scored as on-time. Late assignments will be accepted.

The final day to do any changes to grades with rubles or Falcon Feathers is Tuesday. The final day to submit any missing work is Friday of this week - the last day of class.

On Friday we will have our classroom celebration/party/review for the final examination. Remember to bring your item, your character, and your entry ticket. The entry ticket (Character Sheet) is your final grade of the year.

Your examination will consist of ten identifications and two essays. A1 will have their exam in the morning on May 29. A4 will have their exam on the afternoon of May 31. I'll review exemptions on Friday, you can also email if you are curious.

English IV

Due to the fact that we are running low on time in the end of the year, I have changed your final essay to a final slide show. In this slide show you'll be comparing yourself and at least one character from our study in this final unit. The topic is maturity - specifically what makes us into adults. You'll have almost all of class on Friday to work on and submit this final assignment to me.

Your examination is a computer-based NCFE. Your exam will happen on May 31 in the morning and we will test in room 204. Please be early.

Any work to be scored by me needs to be turned in on Friday. Especially if you are missing anything. If you would like to use rubles or Falcon Feathers on your grade for extra credit, you will have time to do that on Tuesday as well.

All grades for Quarter 4 will be finalized by the end of the day on Tuesday. Do not come to me on Wednesday for extra credit as it will be too late for that.

Happy Victory Day! 8 May 2018

Happy Victory Day! May the freedom we have from fascism never fade! I'm very proud of the work that you all did today to celebrate our Russian holiday. Hopefully you enjoyed the пельмени and квас today in class. Here are your reminders about what you accomplish.

Russian I

Remember that next class you're going to have your Unit Three examination. You have a study guide for this exam. Remember that the main skills in Unit Three was creating and using adverbs as well as creating plurals in the nominative case. You will also see questions related to cases, verb conjugation, and some other fundamental skills.

Don't forget to study your culture notes related to the Former Soviet Republics. There will be several questions related to that on the exam too!

Advanced Russian

On Thursday we're going to start finishing the final elements of our grammar units before we start preparing for our final speaking activity. The final speaking activity will fall on Wednesday the 23rd which is our last A-Day of the year. Be sure that you've watched the film and that you've considered which of the characters you feel like being for the final speaking.

I would also spend some time reviewing your new grammar topics and vocabulary. Many of you did much better on your double negation work, but there is still some work to do related to the cases.

English IV

I'm very proud of the fact that almost all of you are ready to go with Week Two. Many people got everything checked off today. If you are still lingering with your novel project I would ask that you start to spend time at home to make up for lost time. Remember that for each week you only have to show me one reading log (except week three), one vocabulary card, and then the one required project.

Next class we will have time for our Practice NCFE. For this you'll get an accuracy score as well as an effort score. Be ready for this practice for our final examination. We will also spend time in the library to work on our novel projects and complete our close reading tasks.

Homework for Monday - B Day - 7 May 2018

With the conclusion of today's class you only have FIVE remaining classes with me. Just a reminder that every minute counts!

AP English III

Today's class focused on "The Shot" by Alexander Pushkin as a look at how war can change the way that people view themselves and others. It is clear that Silvio has a very different outlook on life in the end of his life versus the beginning. I would contend that his experiences in war and as a veteran contribute to this change. Tonight, we'll be looking at another person who undergoes a significant change due to his experience with "war".

For Wednesday, read and annotate "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell. This text is located within 50 Essays or it is available at this link. As you read and annotate, consider the following ideas and questions:

1. What does the elephant symbolize? How is it both itself as well as something greater?
2. Who has the power in Orwell's life? Why is this important considering the larger point that he is making about power?
3. How does this text relate to our larger ideas around war and its effects on people?

For Friday we'll be looking at "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong". It's a longer story, so I'm posting it here in case you want to get a head start on your assignment. 

English IV

Today we started to look at some choice literary devices which you may see on your NCFE before getting back to Young Frankenstein and our novel projects. During this week we should all be finishing the required task for Week Two and getting started on the close reading and author style analysis for Week Three. At the beginning of next week I'll be collecting your paragraphs on Author's Style as well as your annotated passages. Be sure that you are actively working on this!

On Friday we'll have our practice NCFE. Be sure that you are preparing by using your study guide and your review sheet. Hopefully after we take our practice test on Friday you will see how prepared you are!

Homework for A Day Students - 2 May 2018

Russian I

Today we had some fun in class singing a great folk song to get into the spirit of the Spring Holiday in Russia! Hopefully the song got stuck in your head and you're singing it through the day. After that we spent our time reviewing our adjective and noun declensions to go into plurals from singulars.

For tonight, stay focused on the study guide as we are preparing for the unit examination on Thursday of next week. Make sure that you can do all of the tasks on the study guide, and make sure that you can do them well.

Furthermore, today if you saw missing work on your progress report make sure that this is done this week! You will not have a chance to make up assignments after the unit examination.

Russian II/III

We also spent time getting in the holiday spirit today! Good job my русский хор! Tonight, focus on finishing your exercises. We were able to work through a good review of prepositions as well as a good review of using genitive case in the singular versus in the plural.

For tonight make sure that you are ready for Friday! We will reassess on the double negative in Russian and we will be checking exercises. Be sure that this most recent set is complete before we take our reassessment on Friday!

English IV

Many of you are moving through week two and three now! Good! I think that everyone is really done with Week One. There are a few exceptions, however. Right now you should all be focused on reading your books in order to discover your important passages as well as information about the characters.

I gave you several great resources today to help you work through project three - the style guide as well as the literary devices list. Be sure that you are using this to review for the NCFE and prepare your project work.

Lastly, remember that we will take a practice NCFE next week on Thursday.