Beginning Quarter 4 - 6 April 2021

AP English Language

Today we started breaking open the AP English Exam to get at the ooey, gooey stuff inside. By understanding the structure and design of the exam, you can exploit this knowledge to your own benefit. Remember that you'll have AP MCQs assigned to you regularly on AP Classroom. You'll need to use the tracking document to track your progress and reflect. Remember that you can grab vocabulary from these sets - especially from the questions and answers - as you construct cards moving forward.

Next class we'll have time for Invisible Man. Tonight, enjoy Chapter 10 - The Liberty Paints Chapter. There are echoes of the beginning of the novel and several of our cycles come back into play. The video for Chapter 10 is uploaded. I look forward to our conversation and your thoughts.

English 10

We were going hard today and had some great outcomes as a group! I was glad to see a lot of great engagement and thinking with our poem "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself". We used the TP-CASTT method to unlock the meaning of the poem and make some great connections back to the novel we're studying as well as the contemporary world. Be sure that if you didn't submit the document from today, that you use the recording to catch what you missed and submit your work.

For tonight you should focus on reading pages 29-39 of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. You'll meet a lot of characters. Keep track of who they are and what you learn about them. We'll delve deep into the characters on Thursday. Also remember that you have an assignment due on Monday. We'll take more time to work on it after our work with the novel on Thursday.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 25 October

AP English III

Good work today finishing up our discussion on The Crucible and how some of the big changes in the play are indicative of Miller's overall arguments. I also think that many of you had some great breakthroughs today as you were working with your groups to develop your rhetorical analyses. Let's keep all of this moving forward as we consider the weekend's tasks.

First, continue your reading of Denisovich and be ready for some work on the text on Monday. You should be to the point when the men return to the prison from work. You will want to read the scene that involves the searching of the prisoners as they return. This is an important scene to consider the dehuminization and the injustice that Solzhenitsyn wants his reader to understand.

Second, keep working on your websites! Next week should really be the end of the work so that you are revising and editing in advance of the final due date. We'll present these websites on Thursday, November 8.

Lastly, remember that you have your final quiz on The Crucible on Wednesday. Vocabulary cards (11-15) will be collected no later than Tuesday, November 6.

English IV

We did a lot of good work today in class focused around the secrets that Nora is keeping from her husband. I was also really happy to see a lot of good vocabulary work going on at the end of class as you all investigated new words.

For this weekend, be sure that you go through and answer as many of the Act I questions that you can. We'll go over them on Monday as we prepare for our Act I Quiz. Also, remember we started to talk today about our adaptation for your final project. An adaptation is an update of a play or story for a new audience. As you consider this think about the soundtrack, the setting, the costumes, the movie poster, and how the people would talk. We'll start working on this more next week as we prepare for our final project and move on to the other acts.

Homework for A-Day Students: 17 October

Remember tomorrow is our field trip day to UNC Chapel Hill to see Skeleton Crew. Be sure that you are behind the school no later than 9:15 to board the buses that will take us over to UNC. All that you will need is yourself and some money for lunch while we are on the trip. You'll be back at school for the last part of fourth period.

AP English III

We all received our essays today as well as feedback on how to improve them as we begin the writing process. I think that the main takeaway from today's lesson is that this is a different type of English class than what you've had before, so it's important that you work differently for this class. Please be sure that you are using me, Ms. Coco, and your peers as resources as you are revising your essays. Final revisions will need to be submitted no later than October 25th in order to be graded.

Additionally, we have our first Denisovich day on Friday. Be sure that you've read to the work site. The guys have had lunch and they're working out in the cold. We're going to focus on the characters, the plot, and the elements of social commentary running through the text - I think that this will be very helpful as we approach our projects. I expect that you all have a lot of questions about Russia and what you're seeing in the text, so generate those for me.

We also have Zinn for Friday. Be sure that you've read and annotated that excerpt - pay attention to the appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos in the text.

English IV

Today we started to delve deeper into the complications of the Helmer family, and we met Mrs. Linde - Nora's friend. Next class we'll get to the film version of A Doll's House and probably spend more time looking at some vocabulary as well. Be ready for tomorrow and for the end of the week!

Homework for A Day Students - 9 October 2018

English IV

Today we all submitted rough drafts of our "This I Believe" Essays. Some of you were even able to work together in some small groups to edit and receive feedback on your essays before I collected them. Next week you'll get your drafts back and we'll move forward to presenting our essays and getting our final drafts together.

In the second part of class we began reading A Doll's House to connect to our research from last class and to kick off our new unit. As we are reading the play, make connections to the world around us and to your own lives - Do you think that things are fair between women and men? Why or why not?

For tonight's homework, engage in some interviewing. Talk to at least three different people and ask them what they think are the rules for men or women in relationships. Record their ideas. Next class we'll have a bit of a debate around these ideas before reading more of the play.

AP English III

Today you all did your first timed writing! Hooray! You'll get these back on Monday next week with your essays so that we can compare and contrast skills between the full length process essay and the quicker timed writing argument. Looking at both gives us a good idea of where our writing skills are.

Tonight you should put in some time moving forward on your work for The Crucible, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and your group projects.

• Be sure that you've thoroughly read and annotated Act II. We'll be discussing it on Thursday. We've looked at a lot of texts related to women and their roles in Puritan society. You will find it helpful to consider these texts as you look at Elizabeth Proctor.
• You should have determined your personal focus text for your group project by now. You should be annotating and analyzing with an eye toward social commentary. What is the comment that text is making about society? Which part of society? How is the commentary communicated?
• In terms of One Day, you should be at the worksite. We'll be discussing up to page 49/50 in the purple books on Wednesday's class next week. Again, keep an eye toward social commentary and don't forget all the work we did last week with Soviet Society.

The last day to turn in permission slips is Thursday. I must turn them in for audit, so Thursday really is the last day!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 5 October 2018

AP English III

Due to the fact that so many in 1A had to go to do PSAT pre-registration and coding it is very important that you all access our Google Classroom slides to see what was covered in your absence. You'll also want to go to see that your group website has been created and shared. Knowing that, the homework will begin to make sense. This weekend, make sure that you have:

1. Navigate to the team website in order to access your page. You'll also want to take a look at the instructions page and rubric (via Google Classroom). Now that we have discussed rhetorical analysis you have an idea of what you need to do. The individual aspect of the project should be done first - it contributes to the group task.
2. Select your text for the project - remember that you can pick an excerpt from our main unit texts, an image, another text, or a video. Begin the process of analysis and annotation.
3. Continue reading. We'll be discussing Act II on Thursday. Our first day to discuss Denisovich is Wednesday the 17th. You should have the first half read by then.
4. Prepare for your first timed writing! It'll be on Tuesday, and it'll be an argumentative prompt. Review your notes and skills around argumentative writing in order to prepare!

English IV

We'll be returning to the computer lab on Tuesday to finish and print our rough drafts. Some of you returned today after an extended absence - it's great to have you back. Be sure that you are trying hard to get caught up for lost time. It would be a good idea to make sure that your written rough draft is finished over the weekend so that you can type on Tuesday.

Homework for Monday - 1 October

We're on to October which means that the quarter will end at the end of the month! Keep staying focused and prepared as we move forward!

AP English III

Thank you to those of you who submitted your papers today on time. If you are submitting it late, please have it in to us ASAP as we should have them back to you all next week. You also received progress reports today. If you would like to use your rubles for extra credit, please do so. Come outside of class (A lunch, before or after school) with your rubles and progress report.

Extra point on classwork will cost 25 rubles. Extra point on major work will cost 50 rubles. There is a maximum of five points that you can put on any one assignment.

For tonight, you have a few things to settle -

1. Be sure that you have read and annotated Act I of The Crucible for next class. As you are reading, add to your cover annotations. Be sure that you are connecting the text to the larger background and context that we have been discussing in class.
2. Your next set of vocabulary cards will be due on Friday. This will be cards 6-10.
3. In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich you should have read the scene at breakfast and in the infirmary.
4. We'll be starting a group project soon around social commentary - consider what you think are some appropriate ways of commenting on society's flaws.

Be ready with your reading everyone! You never know when the coin toss won't be in your favor!

English IV

Today we began class by looking at gender roles and gender expectations from an excerpt of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The next unit is focused on gender roles and expectations, so it's a bit of a jumping off point for us. Then we went to the lab to begin typing our rough drafts of our "This I Believe" Essays. We will continue to work on these through the week. Be sure that you are keeping your belief at the core of the essay. How did you learn this? Why is it important? Where and when did you learn it?

Remember that with personal writing you really want to tell a story - so tell us a story, and describe it all!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 27 September

With that our lovely September has come to a close, be aware that we are now in the second half of Quarter One, and it will end at the end of October.

English IV 

Today we did a lot of good work in class including our first major unit test and then drafting for our "This I Believe" essays. I think that many of you have a good idea of what you'll be doing for these essays now - remember that we're investigating a belief that is important and explaining what it means and where we got the belief from.

Over the weekend, keep thinking about your belief. Next week we'll be writing in the computer lab for these writing assignments.

AP English III

Today in class we began our discussion of The Crucible and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by discussing allegory, 1950's America, McCarthyism, and Soviet Labor Camps. Quite the mix of ideas. We also finished working through our sample argumentative prompt, so our first timed writing will be coming soon!

For the weekend, there are a few things to accomplish.

1. Assemble your draft pack in your envelope. Be sure that you have your outlines, rough draft from peer editing, and final draft with cover sheet and rubric.
2. Begin reading and annotating The Crucible. I have copies in my room that you can check out. Remember that you should have Act I read by Wednesday.
3. Read and annotate "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d" for class on Monday. From it, understand how Puritans conceptualized G-d. By knowing this, you'll really understand how they viewed the whole world.

As always, if you have questions, let me know!

Homework for A Day - 25 September

Today we had a big assessment in AP English III and the preparation for one in English IV. Let's be ready for what awaits us as we march forward to next class.

AP English III

For tonight you have two texts to read from our two key authors - Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Arthur Miller - these are texts where the authors explore their reasons for writing. Read these texts carefully and consider their purpose for writing. Why do they write? What challenges are they overcoming? What do you understand about these men?

An understanding of these texts and these questions will help us to understand some of the larger context behind their works - a discussion we'll be having on Thursday.

Don't forget to prepare for the unit ahead by looking over the unit outline, purchasing or finding your texts, and sketching out your reading schedule so that you have accomplished your reading in advance of class.

English IV

Today we reviewed our grammar, vocabulary, and the story's we have read so far this unit ("Heartbeat," "I Go Along," and "Theme for English B"). Remember to look over the guided notes from today's class to help you study for the assessment on Thursday.

We also began brainstorming for your personal "This I Believe" statements. I saw some wonderful starts and cannot wait to see what you all come up with! If you are still thinking of a topic, look back to the identity wheel's we've been filling out in class as well as the graphic organizers from today to get you started. We'll be working on these throughout the next two weeks.

Good luck studying for your assessment, let us know if you have any questions.