February 25/26

English 1 -- Today in class, students completed a collaborative activity called "character pyramids" which helped them analyze the main characters in The Miracle Worker.  Afterward, students began reading Act Two of the play.

English 1 Homework

Be sure to give your parents the letter regarding The Miracle Worker performance

Remember to bring your books to class

English 2 -- Today in class, students took a reading check quiz over chapters 8 and 9 of The Kite Runner which they read for homework.  Next they read chapter 10 of the novel either with a partner or silently to themselves, and then we read chapter 11 together as a class.  We discussed the events that have defined the life of the main characters, Amir, thus far, and we learned Amir and Baba's struggle to make it to their new home in America after saying a painful goodbye to their servants/friends, Hassan and Ali.

English 2 Homework

Read chapter 12 of The Kite Runner

February 23/24

English 1 -- Today in class, students finished reading Act One of The Miracle Worker.  They discussed the play as they read, and they also finished filling in the critical thinking and analysis questions on the Act One notesheet.  Next class, students will create character pyramids for each of the main characters that we meet in the first act.

English 1 Homework

Finish filling in the Act One notesheet if you didn't do so in class

Remember to bring your textbooks to class

English 2 -- Today in class, students turned in their Power of One analysis papers and took a reading check quiz over chapter 6 of The Kite Runner.  Next students listened to chapter 7 of the novel being read aloud.  While reading, students had a chance to taste pomegranate juice since pomegranates (and their trees) play an interesting role in the book.  After reading, students read three different poems and chose one to imitate based on their own lives.

English 2 Homework

Read chapters 8 & 9 of The Kite Runner

Finish writing the imitation poem if you haven't already done so

February 19/20

English 1 -- Today in class, students continued reading Act One of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.  They saw how what Helen Keller's life was like before Annie Sullivan came into her life.  Next class, students will complete an activity that will help them analyze all the main characters in the play.

English 1 Homework

Remember to bring your textbooks to class!

English 2 -- Today in class, students began by taking a reading check quiz over chapters 3 and 4 of The Kite Runner.  After the quiz, I read chapter 5 of the novel aloud, and then students worked in groups to answer and discuss questions about the first five chapters.  Next students viewed a poem called We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, and began their Poetry Terms Journal with the term "internal rhyme".  To end class, students had a chance to conference with me over their literary analysis essay for Power of One.  The final copy of the essay is due next class (Monday).

English 2 Homework

Final Draft of Power of One essay due next class

Read chapter 6 of The Kite Runner

February 17/18

English 1 -- Today in class, students turned in their Literary Journey short stories, took their first parts of speech quiz, and began reading The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.  Students learned that even though the play tells the story of how Helen Keller began her education and influence on the world, Annie Sullivan is "the miracle worker" who made that education possible.  After reading a short biography of the rough beginning of Annie's life, students began reading Act One of the play.

English 2 Homework

Bring textbooks to class

English 2 -- Today in class, students finished their Afghanistan topics presentations and began reading The Kite Runner.  They also worked on the rough drafts of their Power of One essays, which are due next Monday.

English 2 Homework

Read chapters 3 & 4 of The Kite Runner

4th block -- rough draft of essay due next class

February 11/12

English 1 -- Today in class, students in 2nd and 8th blocks went to the computer lab to work on their short story projects that are due next time we meet.  Students could type their stories, create their maps, but together their appendix of literary elements, type their table of contents, and/or create their story cover pages.  Since last class 7th block got to see some College Composition students do Shakespeare performances, they will not have time in the computer lab before they turn in their stories.  However, students are still working on peer critiques in class, and they will also have time to make their maps and cover pages by hand.

English 1 Homework

Literary Journey projects are due next class 

Be sure to bring your textbooks to class -- we will be beginning The Miracle Worker

English 2 -- Today in class, students used the summaries of their Afghanistan-related articles to put together a poster and a group presenation about the various topics, such as Kite Flying, Sunni Muslims, Shi'a Muslims, Pashtun, Hazara, Taliban, etc.  Students took notes over their peers' presentations, and everyone will take a quiz over the topics after the presentations are over.  These presentations provide students will the background knowledge necessary for reading The Kite Runner, the novel we will begin next week.

English 2 Homework

Rough draft of The Power of One essay due next class

February 9/10

English 1 -- Today in class, students completed an activity that let them practice identifying pronouns in sentences.  Recognizing pronouns was a skill that this year's freshman class had major problems with on the MAP test they took last school year.  After this activity, students who had the rough draft of their short stories completed participated in a peer critque activity that helped them to identify revisions that they may need to make before turning in the stories next week.  Next class, students will be putting the finishing touches on all elements of the literary journey project, including the actual story, the appendix of literary terms in the story, the map of the journey, the table of contents, and the cover.

English 1 Homework

Finish your rough draft if you have not done so already.  Bring the story and your completed packet to class.

English 2 -- Today in class, students turned in their Antigone analysis papers.  They then finished the film The Power of One and discussed the themes presented in the movie.  Students will begin writing their last essay of the school year next class over a chosen theme from the film.  In class, students also worked on completing their summaries of their articles about various "Afghanistan" topics.  Next class, students will work with their groups to synthesize the information they found on their topic and present that information to the rest of the class.  This group project is being done to prepare for reading The Kite Runner which will begin next week.

English 2 Homework

Bring your completed summaries to class

February 5/6, 2009

English 1 -- Today in class, students speculated about how our society would change if there were no more competition, if everyone was equal in every way, and if we had the ability to read each other's minds.  Afterward, they read the story "Harrison Bergeron" where they learned of Kurt Vonnegut's satirical view of the world in the year 2081. Next students worked on adding to and revising the rough drafts of their Literary Journey short stories which will be due in just a few class periods.

English 1 Homework

Continue to work on your short stories -- making sure you meet the length requirement, your story includes dialogue, and includes all of the settings and required literary elements

English 2 -- Today in class, 1st block worked on writing and peer editing the rough drafts of their literary analyses of Antigone and then began watching the film The Power of One which taught them about the apartheid the plaugued South Africa for years.  Next class, students will turn in their literary analysis papers, finish watching the film, and work with their groups to craft a presentation on their Afghanistan topic.  Today the 4th block students went to the library to find articles about their chosen Afghanistan topics, worked on their Antigone papers, and watched a bit more of The Power of One.  Next class, 4th block will turn in their papers, finish the film, and write the summaries of the Afghanistan articles.

English 2 Homework

Antigone papers due next class

1st block -- Afghanistan project summaries also due next class