Homework for A-Day Students - Weekend Edition - 10/8/2015

Students - Here are your reminders for the weekend.  Make sure that you complete these tasks below to get you ready for next week.

Russian II and III

This weekend focus on some specific verb pairs within chapter four to develop your lexicon in Russian.  Study the pairs located on page 141-142 and 157-165.  As you complete the exercises on pages 164-165 complete only the ODD sentences (1, 3, 5, etc.)  Make sure to write out the sentences.  Think about which verb is needed and in which form - use the clues in the sentences.

Russian I

For the weekend you should spend time making sure that your project is complete and shared with me in advance of Tuesday's class.  Please send it/share it to me at mrmillerjhs [at] gmail [dot] com.  In addition, make sure that you continue to study and review your notes and work this weekend.  By this point in the class you should be confident and comfortable with all of the Russian letters and the sounds they make - if not, things will only continue to be difficult.

ALL RUSSIAN LANGUAGE STUDENTS:  Start preparing for the OLYMPIADA!  Study your packets!  Begin to prepare!

English II

You have no homework to complete this weekend since we had a major project due in class.  If you have any missing assignments from our Russian literature unit (project, quiz, etc.) - make sure that it is completed no later than Wednesday the 14th to receive credit.  We'll be starting our next unit soon, and we need to account for all missing work before we move on.

Homework for B-Day Students: 10/7/2015

Apologies B-Day Students for not getting this posted yesterday.  Here is what you have coming up for Friday:

English II

Your projects are due on Friday.  I'm so proud that a few of you were able to finish up during the workshop in class and get your worked turned in.  We will present our projects and then wrap up our unit on Russian literature for Friday.

AP English III

For Friday you will have your timed writing and it will be an argument.  Make sure that you know your bootcamp notes as well as your DADS notes and your rules for good writing.  All of these will help you as you complete your timed writing on Friday.  In addition, remember that your final drafts are due on Tuesday of next week.  We'll go over all of the elements that you'll need to submit on Friday as well as how.  Lastly, if you haven't already purchased your copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn do so soon as we will likely be starting the text toward the end of next week.

Homework for A-Day Students: 6 October 2015

Russian II/III

I forgot to collect your journals today so I will definitely collect them on Thursday.  Make sure that you have your writing ready for me to check.  On Thursday you'll have your quiz on the one-stem verb system.  Make sure that you have reviewed your notes as well as the information in the textbook.  On this quiz you will need to:

1. identify the stem of a given verb based on its conjugation
2. apply stems and endings
3. write in structural transcription and in Russian
4. account for consonant mutations

Please make sure to check out the exercises in the back of the chapter as they can be helpful for you in preparing.

Russian I

You also have a quiz next class on your vocabulary and grammar so far in the unit.  Based on the dialogues in class I can tell that some of you are still struggling a bit too much with the alphabet.  Practice and prepare and ask for help when needed.  It's clear that some aren't spending enough time at home getting ready.  Remember that you'll need your vocabulary as well as your notes on possessive pronouns and gender.  Study and be prepared!

English II

Next class your projects are due.  Some of you were even able to finish them today in class.  Make sure that your project shows your best work and that it is either typed or written in blue or black ink.  Follow the instructions on your rubric sheet for your individual project.

Homework for B-Day students: October 5

AP English III:

• For Wednesday, read the "Forethought" and "Chapter 1" of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois. I have copies now for those who did not get theirs in class. You can also access the entire text for free here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm
• Obtain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by the weekend.
• Final drafts of essays are due Tuesday, October 13. Writing conference slots are still available, and we will post a schedule for Thursday and Friday meetings soon.
• There will be an AP-style Timed Writing on Friday. We will be writing argumentative essays, so review your "Rules for Good Writing" notes about DADS and arguments.

English II:

• Be working on your projects. We will have library time next class to work on these.

Russian Students Only

I want to have a Russian club and Olympiada meeting on Thursday afternoon. Russian snacks will be provided!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 10/3/2015

Sorry for not getting this up before now; I didn't realized that I'd forgotten.  Here are your reminders:

Students of Russian/Дорогие мои студенты русского языка!

I wanted to post a few things for you to use as you are writing your journals (Russian II/III) and working on your grammar homework and preparing for your first major quiz (Russian I).  First for II/III -

• Your homework this weekend is one double-spaced page in your journal using the phrase "Ни пуха, ни пера! К черту!".  Remember as you write to apply your knowledge of stems and the one-stem system.  I want you to edit and revise.  Read and consider - use your knowledge and your notes.
• If you need a dictionary there's this wonderful online resource from Duke - A grammatical dictionary of the Russian language.
• If you would like a reference guide for grammar you can use this - also from Duke and actually from one of the authors of our textbook.  

Russian I Students - You should continue working through the exercises on gender as well as studying your vocabulary words in chapter one.  In addition to the nouns you should know the possessive pronouns (моя, твое, его, их, наша, ваш) and the question words that we have learned in connection to the intonation patterns.  All of these things will be part of your vocabulary quiz on Thursday.  Don't forget too that you will have your project presentations on Thursday - is anyone bringing Russian food?

For all of you - here's our video about Кострома which we started in Russian II/III for the warm up - feel free to watch it to the end.  Remember our guests will be visiting in about a month!

English II:

If you didn't turn in your viewing guide from the Bulgakov film today then you will need to finish that for homework to turn in on Tuesday.  In addition, we'll be working on our projects on Tuesday before the due date and presentation on Thursday.  Feel free to work on your projects this weekend in preparation for our library workshop on Tuesday.  If you do research online, try to save the website addresses so that Ms. Ginocchio and I can show you how to complete your bibliography. 

Video about Refugee Crisis from AP III

For the sake of the several students who were absent on Thursday, here's a link to the video we watched:

https://youtu.be/ubGhzVdnhQw

As you watch, consider 1) strategies that the filmmakers use to communicate a message to you and 2) similarities and differences between the video and Grapes of Wrath, both in terms of content/themes and strategies used by the Guardian journalists and John Steinbeck. 

For context, this video was produced by The Guardian, a large British newspaper. John Steinbeck was a journalist too; he published articles in a San Francisco newspaper about the Dust Bowl and migrant crisis before writing The Grapes of Wrath. Think about methods of storytelling and what different modes can accomplish. 

Have a great weekend! 

Homework for the Weekend - B Day Students - 10/1/2015

English II

You had a major quiz today so you don't have any official homework for tonight.  You should focus on your projects so that you are ready for the workshop we'll have in the library on Monday.  Try to do some work to select the project you want to do for your final test grade.  We'll have time to work as a class on Monday and Wednesday next week to put these projects together.

AP English III

Your homework this weekend is to read an annotate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" - it's available in 50 Essays as well as at this link.  As you read, pay attention to the ideas of Transcendentalism that we have been talking about in class.  In addition, pay attention to King's ideas of morality versus immorality and the concept of justice versus injustice.  Where do King's morals come from in this text?  This piece is rich in rhetoric and meaning and we'll have a lot to discuss with it.

Looking to the horizon, you'll have your first timed writing on Friday - it will be an argumentative piece.  Study your notes as you are preparing.  Your final drafts will be collected on the 13th of October - for these make sure that you have all of the supporting documents that have come together to make your final draft (outlines, rough drafts) so that I can see the whole development process.  Lastly, get your copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - make sure that it is complete and unabridged.

Homework for A-Day Students: 30 September 2015

English II

Today since we had our quiz on Russian literature we have no official homework to complete.  However, I have given you your final project for our Russian literature unit, and it would be a good idea to start working on your project tonight.  Next class we'll spend some time in the library working on these projects - make sure that the time in the library is useful by starting tonight.  Remember you have to select one of the four projects to complete.  Consider what you think will give you your strongest work.  Your projects are due on October 8th.

Russian I

Tonight for homework I want you to complete the reinforcement exercises from my Russian grammar textbook.  You're completing exercises 51, 52, 53, and 54.  For most of these you need to review your notes on gender and possessive pronouns.  Remember to select the appropriate pronoun based on the gender of the item.  We'll continue working on this and phonetics for Friday's class.

Make sure that with the homework that you write out all of your answers and sentences.  Don't just fill in the blank or write the word - writing the whole sentence will help you with your handwriting and your grammar knowledge.

Russian II/III

Tonight you'll continue working on questions and answers as you work through exercise one in chapter four.  There are fifteen questions there.  I want you to select ten and then complete the example where you give answers to the questions.  Make sure that you follow the model.  Use this as a chance to check in with verbs and to practice your knowledge of the one-stem verb system in Russian.  This is also a good chance for you to review your intonation patterns as we'll be doing some speaking related to questions and answers next class.

Homework for B-Day Students: 29 September 2015

AP English III

For tonight you have two major things to accomplish and bring with you to class on Thursday.  First you have your rough drafts of your argumentative essay.  The rough drafts should be approximately half of your final draft.  The final draft is five to six pages, so this should be two to three pages.  For the rough draft workshop make sure that you have your introduction, conclusion, and one whole topic written out in paragraphs.  As we have spent several days discussing, one topic does not equal one paragraph.  Consider your transitions between different elements of your topic and make a point to me.

Secondly for Thursday you have your vocabulary cards.  Remember that these come from your vocabulary bookmark.  Use the resources in the previous post to complete this assignment.  If you can't find a part of the card, then say so - don't leave anything blank on your cards.

Lastly, make sure that you have reviewed the final two chapters of Grapes of Wrath to finish our discussion that we started today.  You'll need to purchase/find a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the next few classes, so go ahead and get one sooner rather than later.

English II

For homework tonight you should be preparing for your quiz on Gogol's "The Overcoat" and the poetry of Anna Akhmatova.  The topics you need to study are in the previous post.  Make sure that you are highly prepared - remember that I pushed this back so that you could get yourself more ready.

Homework for A-Day Students: 28 September 2015

English II

Your homework for tonight is to finish the preparation for your major quiz on "The Overcoat" and the poetry of Anna Akhmatova.  The poetry is available on your handouts and the whole text of "The Overcoat" is at this link.  Make sure that you've read over the story and the poetry as you prepare.  For the quiz you will have questions on:

• characters, symbols, conflicts, literary devices in "The Overcoat"
• themes and literary devices for Akhmatova's poetry

The test will also look at your knowledge of vocabulary from these pieces, so make sure that you have defined all of the words on your bookmark.  The final part of the test will be a short answer question, make sure you remember the key parts of your effective paragraphs!

Lastly, don't forget your opportunity to earn back extra points - revise your writing based on our workshop today and turn that in no later than Friday to earn a new grade.

Russian I

For homework tonight you should be working on your vocabulary studying of chapter one.  Begin by focusing on the nouns.  You should work on the spelling, the reading, and the gender knowledge of the nouns in your chapter one vocabulary list.  You'll have a vocabulary quiz next Thursday - so it is important to start to prepare now!

Russian II/III

For tonight I want you to select five of the verbs from which you made your verb cards and I want you to work on writing questions and answers using these verbs.  For example:

О чем разговаривают Таня и Виктор?

Они разговаривают о классе.

You need to create five question/answer pairs.  Make sure that as you do this you work with the conjugation of the verbs as well as the case governance that occurs with these verbs as well.

 

Homework for B-Day Students - 25 September 2015 - Weekend Edition

AP English III

This weekend you have two things to complete and a few things to take care of which will move you on into Thursday.  First, let's deal with Tuesday.  On Tuesday you'll be turning in your journals (both the Transcendental daily reflections and your warm-ups) as well as your personal reflection on the week.  For the personal reflection consider the week as a whole - What did you learn about yourself through this experiment?  What have you learned about others?  Have you transcended?  Why or why not?  The idea in this reflection is to focus on one key idea and explain thoroughly - show us that you can focus your writing.

For Thursday, you will have your rough draft workshop on your argumentative essays as well as your first vocabulary cards due.  Use http://www.merriamwebster.com or http://www.dictionary.com or http://www.etymonline.com to look up definitions, word parts, and meanings.  Remember to account for all of the information needed on the cards.

Remember that for the rough drafts you need to have fifty percent of your final draft - focus on presenting your introduction with argument, two body paragraphs and your conclusion.  This is a good frame that will allow us to deal with the essay as a whole.  After our draft workshop in class, Ms. Ginocchio and I will be available for individual conferences.

English II

Even though some of you were not in class today we will still have our overall quiz on Gogol's "The Overcoat" on Tuesday.  Use the link in the previous post to access the full text and to begin preparing yourself using the tips below to study.  If you've taken good notes and read the whole story you will be in good shape for this quiz.

Homework for A-Day Students - Weekend Edition - 24 September 2015

Russian II/III

This weekend you are making verb cards from chapters one through three.  For your verb cards I am looking for a few things - here's your list:

1. the verb in its infinitive form with the translation into English
2. the stem of the verb
3. the structural transcription of the verb
4. the present and past tense conjugation (use structural transcription if you need to)
5. case governance of the verb
6. Russian III ONLY - Aspectual pair of the verb.

You should focus on commonly used verbs - don't look at vague verbs, try to look at ones you actually use.

Russian I

You have your list of words to analyze for gender this weekend.  Remember to practice your handwriting, your reading, and to identify the gender, the hardness or softness of the ending, and the pronoun (he/she/it) you would use to discuss the item.

English II

On Monday you'll be having a big quiz on "The Overcoat" - sections one through five.  Here is a link to the online version of the text if you want to look at the whole thing.  Here's how you should prepare for your quiz this weekend:

1. Reread the whole story from beginning to end - we read it over several classes.  This will help you to keep everything in order.
2. Review your notes - pay attention to notes on the characters, the situation/plot, the conflict, and the main symbol.
3. Prepare any questions about things you don't understand.
4. Know any and all vocabulary from the story.

This will be a large quiz on Monday and will greatly affect your grades.  Make sure that you are prepared.

Russian Nursery Rhymes

Russian I Students:

Here's the video I mentioned today in class about the rooster poem.  Try to practice your reading and follow along!

The character of the goat (коза) uses the beginning to sing the rooster's (петушок) praises and then lure him with a potato (картошка).  Try to see how much of the cartoon you understand.  You'll hear the rhyme a few times in it.

Russian II and III - Have some fun with this.  Listen for the case endings and verb endings - they're clearly in there!

Writing Help for AP English III

This information is mostly useful for the AP English III students, but it could be helpful to English II also. As I have told many of you, I’m happy to look at revised outlines and rough drafts as you work on your argumentative essays. The best way to do this is to send me your work electronically (via email or Google Doc) or give me a hard copy to mark-up. Then, I can give back the draft with comments, or we can meet to discuss it. I can give you the best feedback if I have time to read your work carefully. It is also very helpful if you have specific questions or alert me to specific challenges you are facing, e.g. having trouble with the conclusion or transitions, you’re not sure you have adequate explanation of evidence, etc… This will help me help you.

My email address is jg239 [at] duke [dot] edu. I generally won’t answer any work- or school-related emails after 7 pm. Also, because I am a graduate student and have assignments of my own to complete, do not send me your work the night before it’s due and expect me to drop everything to get you same-day feedback. On rare occasions I may be able to do this, but don’t plan on it!



Helpful writing resources for you: 

UNC Writing Center: This website has loads of helpful handouts that can help you with many aspects of the writing process, from grammar issues, to specific parts of a writing assignment, to writing for specific academic fields. http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/ 

Purdue OWL: Website run and updated by Purdue University. This is a great reference for styles, such as the MLA style we use in our course, and it also has resources similar to the UNC writing center above. I cannot recommend this site enough; I still refer to it every time I have to write a paper for graduate school. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Grammar Girl: Simple, clear explanations of common grammar and usage quandaries. Don't depress your teachers; if you don't know the right way to punctuate something or the right word to use, look it up! If you're still not sure, ask us! http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

Homework for All Classes - A and B Day - 22 and 23 September

I'll be out tomorrow in observance of Yom Kippur, so I wanted to go ahead and make this post now to everyone.

Russian II and III

On Thursday you will have a vocabulary quiz on your nouns in Chapter Four.  I will ask you to put these nouns into several cases and they may be paired with possessive pronouns in some areas.  This is a reminder to continue to study and review your case endings - the results of the test showed me that this is still needed.

Russian I

You should begin to review and study the vocabulary words in Chapter One of our textbook.  Begin your work on the nouns because that's where we'll start on Thursday.  In addition, you have some new readings that you can use to help you study and review the alphabet.  If you are still feeling behind on the alphabet or anything from the first test, please make time to see me and build in extra practice - you'll need to get this down pat!

English II

Tonight you'll be reading the fourth part of "The Overcoat" - it's when things really start to go downhill for Akaky.  As you read, pay attention to your new vocabulary and do your definitions - we will likely check vocabulary in the next few days.  Also, think about and take note of the following ideas as you read:

• How do the police/government officials treat Akaky?  Why?
• What generally happens to Akaky in this section?
• Is there any irony in this section?  Where?

We'll review things on Thursday/Friday and start wrapping up this story and our unit on Russian literature.

AP English III

You should now have your journals to keep working on your Transcendentalist for a Week reflections.  Feel free to staple the previous entries into your journal instead of simply recopying them.  For tonight, you should spend time working on your vocabulary cards - remember that you need to do cards for five words.  Follow the instructions on the cards and ask if you have questions.  I also recommend using www.dictionary.com for this assignment as well as the website in your assignment sheet.

Additionally tonight you should begin drafting and working on your rough drafts.  The drafts will be workshopped in class on October 1 (the same day that your cards are due).  You need to have fifty percent of your final draft to get credit - my recommendation is that you do (at least) your introduction, two body paragraphs, and your conclusion.  After our workshop, Ms. Ginocchio and I will be available for conferences.

Have Thoreau and Emerson as well as Steinbeck in class on Friday - we'll be pulling a lot of ideas together.

Homework for Monday - B Day Students - 9/21/2015

English II

Tonight you'll be writing your Personal Reflection #2 - this will be on the story "The Overcoat".  Here is your prompt, make sure that you answer the question clearly using a solid paragraph.  You may want to write more than one paragraph.

Have you ever had an object that you wanted the way that Akaky wants his overcoat?  What was the object?  What did it symbolize for you?  What happened to you once you got the object?  Did you change like Akaky is changing in the story?

AP English III

Today we started to crack the surface on Emerson and "The Over Soul".  The next few classes are going to be key in helping you really make sense of what he is saying and what he means.  For tonight, start your project on being a Transcendentalist for a week.  Remember the idea is to transcend your everyday experience, so think about something you can give up to accomplish this goal.  Have fun with this assignment and discover something about yourself.  Remember that you will write one page a day about your experience for five days and then complete a final reflection on the week, due on the 29th of September.

For tonight as well, read Thoreau's "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" - while you work on Wednesday there will be a reading guide which will help you to get through the main ideas of this piece.  Continue to draw connections to Emerson - it'll make things a lot clearer.  Here's the link to Thoreau's piece if you don't have 50 Essays.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Edition - 18 September

Russian II/III

Today you survived your first exam.  Congratulations.  If there were areas of the exam which were difficult for you then I would suggest studying over the weekend to review while it's still fresh in your minds.  Over the weekend begin to study the nouns in chapter four.  We will have a spelling test on Thursday covering these nouns.

Russian I

From the reading performance I think that many of you were not totally prepared for today's test.  I will grade your tests this weekend and prepare you for corrections on Tuesday during the first half of class.  Be prepared to move forward.  Make sure that you are ready for Tuesday and that you can correct anything that you missed today.

English II

This weekend you'll be writing your Personal Reflection #2 - this will be on the story "The Overcoat".  Here is your prompt, make sure that you answer the question clearly using a solid paragraph.  You may want to write more than one paragraph.

Have you ever had an object that you wanted the way that Akaky wants his overcoat?  What was the object?  What did it symbolize for you?  What happened to you once you got the object?  Did you change like Akaky is changing in the story?

Homework for B-Day Students, Weekend Edition, 17 September 2015

English II:

Tonight you need to read section two of Gogol's "The Overcoat".  As you read, make sure to complete the following tasks:

1. Collect five new vocabulary words.  Collect more if you want, but five is the minimum.
2. Take notes on the symbol of Akaky's coat.  Why do you think it is important?  What does it symbolize?
3. Take notes on how Akaky changes as a person - go back to what we've discussed in section one and compare how he is now in section two.  What causes these changes?

Don't forget we will have a quiz on Monday to start class on section two.  If you take good notes you'll do well on the quiz!

AP English III:

Over the weekend you'll be reading one of the most difficult things of the entire year, Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Over Soul".  I'm telling you now that it's difficult to encourage you to work hard on this.  As you read - here are some tips:

1. Use paragraph three as his argument.  In this piece he is defining an abstract concept.  Use the later paragraphs as examples of the concept.
2. Consider the purpose of each paragraph.  What is it telling you?  How does it help to clarify the argument he is presenting about "The Over Soul"?
3. Use the five traits of Transcendentalism to help you make sense of this - How do you see him working these ideas into his article?
4. Use Jim Casy to help you make sense of all of this.  Remember that Steinbeck is putting a lot of this philosophy into practice with Ma, Casy and Tom.  Use Grapes of Wrath to help you make sense of this piece.
5. Develop questions - if you want you can post them as a comment here and I'll try to respond through the weekend.

Russian Students Post

https://open.spotify.com/user/djmiller01/playlist/54mDUxWvfmhL4dZBHtCVY8

Here's the link to my Spotify Russian Music playlist.  There's a bit of everything, so have some fun.  A great activity is following along with the lyrics as you listen, it'll help you train your ears.  You'll need to copy and paste the link.