January 26/27(?)

English 1 -- Today in class, students worked on creating the protagonist in their Literary Journey stories by playing a "20 Questions" writing game.  Next, students learned a bit about conflict and characteristics for surviving a conflict before reading "The Most Dangerous Game" (pg. 13 in textbook).  Next class students will take a quiz over the story, and begin to write about the conflicts that their protagonists will face on their literary journies.

English 1 Homework

-- Finish reading "The Most Dangerous Game" and prepare for a quiz next class

-- Think about your protagonist's motivation for the journey, and the problems he/she could encounter along the way

English 2 -- Today in class, students read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and talked about how MLK Jr.'s practice of civil disobedience is was similar/different from that of Antigone.  Next, students perfected their thesis statements for their literary analysis papers and began thinking of and constructing the main points of their argument/analysis of the play.  We also began watching a modernized film version of Antigone which we will continue to watch over the next couple class periods.

English 2 Homework

Bring a rough outline of the thesis and main points (topic sentences for body paragraphs) to next class.  We will be adding textual support to back up our claims.

January 22/23

English 1 -- Today in class, students discussed the differences in the story version and the film version of "The Birds".  Next, students learned about indirect and direct characterization, then identified examples of each kind of characterization found in the short story "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.  Students were then introduced to the Literary Journey short story project they will be working on for the next few weeks.

English 1 Homework

Come to class with your story's protagonist in mind

Remember your textbook for next class

English 2 -- Today in class, students read the Exodos of Antigone to finish the play.  Next, students read about and identified Aristotle's characteristics of a tragic hero, and also discussed people in history who have engaged in civil disobedience.  These two topics will help students formulate a thesis for the literary analysis paper they are writing over Antigone.  To end class, students got a mini-lesson on how to identify, label, and write independent and dependent clauses.

English 2 Homework

Finish independent/dependent clauses worksheet

Bring a written thesis statement for your literary analysis to class Monday 

January 20/21

English 1 -- Today in class, students watched the rest of The Birds film and continued taking notes over differences between the story and the movie.  Next class, students will discuss those differences, read another short story called "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes, and receive an overview of the short story writing project on which they will be working over the next couple weeks.

English 1 Homework

Be sure to bring your textbooks to our next class!

English 2 -- Today in class, students in scene groups 4 & 5 performed and taught their classmates about their respective scenes.  Students also got a grammar mini-lesson over the difference between clauses and phrases.  Next class, students will read the Exodos of the play (which is the end) and begin working on a literary analysis paper over the play.

English 2 Homework

Be sure to bring your textbooks to our next class!

January 15/16

English 1 -- Today in class, students took a reading check quiz over the story "The Birds" which we began reading last class.  The quiz, which consisted of only one "question" took on the form of creative writing as the students wrote a summary of the story from the point of view of one of the attack-birds in the story.  After the quiz, students began watching the movie "The Birds".  Since the story and the movie are quite different, students kept a two column chart in which they recorded aspects of the movie that were added to the original plot of the story and aspects of the story that were subtracted from the movie.  We will finish up the movie and discuss the differences next class.

English 1 Homework

Remember to bring your textbooks to class so you don't have to spend your A Day lunch periods with me!

English 2 -- Today in class, the students in scene groups 2 & 3 performed and taught their scenes.  The collection of "Greek" masks displayed on the back wall of the classroom is growing larger and more interesting as we move quickly through the play of Antigone.  Next class, scene groups 4 & 5 will be performing and teaching the rest of the class.

English 2 Homework

Scene groups 4 & 5, make sure I have your discussion question worksheets by the end of the day Friday (1-16) so that I can make copies for you -- if you are unable to drop the sheet by my room or print it off, emailing the document to me is also an option.  Also, make sure you are familiar with your lines and prepared to teach your scene.  Your grade and your classmates' knowledge depends on you!

January 13/14th

English 1 -- Today in class, students shared the nursery rhymes that they created last class period.  After that, students began reading "The Birds" (pg. 51 in textbook) aloud with a few student playing the roles of "Vocabulary Master" and "Foreshadowing Bird."  Next class students will complete a creative writing assignment corresponding with the short story, and we will begin watching "The Birds" film.

English 1 Homework

Finish reading "The Birds" -- you will have a quiz over the story at the beginning of next class

English 2 -- Today in class, students in the groups for the Prologue and Scene 1 of Antigone performed and taught their scenes with the rest of the class.  Using their homemade "Greek" masks as costumes, the group members recited their lines for their classmates, who followed along in their books.  The performers then became teachers as their classmates discussed and answered critical thinking questions over the current scene.  Next class period, the groups for Scene 2 and Scene 3 will be the performers/teachers.

English 2 Homework

All groups have a typed copy of your discussion questions ready for me to copy for next class period

January 9/12

English 1 -- Today in class, students created a Parts of Speech Cheat Sheet from the video notesheet that was completed last class.  Students will be able to use this Cheat Sheet to help them with numerous activities throughout the semester.  Next, students used nursery rhymes to practice identifying the parts of speech in sentences, and they even created their own nursery rhymes modeled after the ones they dissected. 

English 1 Homework

Finish writing and illustrating your nursery rhymes

English 2 -- Today in class, students worked with their groups on the scenes they will perform and teach in upcoming class sessions.  Students finished learning their lines, creating masks for their characters, and coming up with discussion questions to help their classmates learn about their particular scene.  The groups who are assigned the Prologue and Scene 1 will present next class.

English 2 Homework

Have your group discussion questions typed for next class

January 7/8

English 1 -- Today in class, students read a short story called "The Interlopers" by Saki.  After reading, they completed a graphic organizer illustrating the changing relationship between the characters during the story.  Next students watched a video on Standard Edited American English and parts of speech, and they filled out a notesheet that they will use to help them complete a fun activity next class.

English 1 Homework

Finish the chart over "The Interlopers" if you did not already turn it in

English 2 -- Today students took a brief quiz over elements of Greek Drama that were learned last class.  They then finished reading a summary of the play Antigone and chose scenes to perform and teach in groups next week.  Students worked on reading and understanding their scenes, writing their lines on notecards, and making masks that will serve as costumes for their characters.  Students will have next class to work with their groups on their scenes, and performances/lessons will begin next Tuesday.

English 2 Homework

Finish transfering lines to notecards

January 5/6, 2009

Welcome back from break everybody!  I hope you are all as excited about this new semester as I am!  If you are not excited about once again having to get up at the crack of dawn every morning, you can always bear in mind that now the school year is half over, and summer is getting closer with every passing day.  Until then....here's what's going on in class:

English 1 -- Today in class, students wrote journal entries about their most prized possessions (many wrote about items they received over the holiday) in preparation for the short story we read, called "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.  After reading this story about the love and generosity that should go into gift giving, students completed a "picture write" based on a painting that is featured in their textbook.  This creative writing activity is the first of many that students will be working on during this short fiction unit that will eventually lead to students writing short stories of their own.

English 1 Homework 

Finish your picture writing if you have not turned it in already

English 2 -- Today in class, students began a unit on Greek Drama.  After taking notes over important elements of Greek drama, students learned about the myth of Oedipus, which provided them with background knowledge for the play we will be reading.  While reading Antigone by Spohocles, students will make Greek masks for the characters, perform scenes in groups, and lead the class in a discussion of the the scenes.  Next class, students will finish reading a summary of Antigone and begin working in their groups on their scene performances.

English 2 Homework

Bring your text books to class