I Have a Dream

Today we did the quickwrite on page 600 as our warm-up. After going through the vocab and collecting the unit 6 notes, we read MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and watched in on video. We'll continue working with it on Monday.

Rhetoric. Lots of It.

We began the day by analyzing an advertisement, looking for the persuasive techniques explained on page 596 of the textbook. By the time we finished that and talked about the rhetorical devices on the following pages, the period was over.

Persuasion and Lots of Talking

Today we finished the grammar page we began yesterday and then spent the rest of the period talking about persuasive techniques (from the notes) and the state of the union address as an example of a persuasive speech. Students who didn't finish the homework last night should finish it tonight.

The Art of Persuasion

WU: Grammar p. 86A
After that, we talked about the first couple pages of unit 6 notes. Students are to finish reading and taking notes through page 599 for tomorrow.

Extra Credit: Watch some or all of tonight's State of the Union address and/or the Republican response. Watch for and note and of the persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices mentioned in the opening section of Unit 6.

And So It Begins... Again

We began the period reflecting on the first semester and talking a bit about the start of the second semester. After I collected warm-ups (the final score in the S1 grade), we got started on the Unit Six Workshop Notes (pp. 594-599). Students should be through page 595 by the start of class tomorrow.

Assessment Fever

Today we took the unit 5 assessment on pages 586 to 589 in the textbook. Remember that final exams start tomorrow, following teh bell schedule below:
Finals Bell Schedule

• Period 1/2/3: 8:30 – 10:35
• BREAK: 10:35 – 10:45
• Period 4/5/6: 10:51 – 12:56

And next week the second semester starts with a new bell schedule too:
2nd Semester Bell Schedule

• 1st Period: 8:25 - 9:22
• 2nd Period: 9:28 - 10:24
• Break:     10:24 – 10:34
• 3rd Period: 10:40 - 11:36
• 4th Period: 11:42 - 12:38
• Lunch: 12:38 – 1:11
• 5th Period: 1:17 - 2:13
• 6th Period: 2:19 - 3:15

Open and Shut

Today I collected late paragraph revisions, we discussed and turned in last night's homework, and then we read Saki's "The Open Window" on page 562 of the textbook. Partners did questions 1,2,3,4 and 7 after the story and I collected them at the end of the period.

Today we did the grammar on page 85 and finished "The Lost Boys." Students had the remaining 20 minutes of class to start the home work.
Homework: The Lost Boys" Questions, 1,3, 5, & 7 on page 554 and all the vocabulary work on page 555.

Combining Sentences with "The Lost Boys"

Today we did page 81A in the grammar book, followed by a look at the vocabulary on page 547, and then we began the the story on the following page.

Finally, Paragraphs

Today we spent the first half of the period on sentence types and sentence combining. In period 5, we then wrapped up the in-class portion of the paragraph activity and I finally assigned the paragraph revision assignment. This is due, typed, on Thursday along with the original draft of the Of Mice and Men essay. Period one got about halfway through "Lost Boys" in the text book.

Paragraphs, etc.

Today we started with a warm-up in preparation for tomorrow's story, then went over the "Who Killed the Iceman"/"Skeletal Sculptures" homework from last week (which I collected) and then continued the paragraph assignment we started last week.

Paragraph Revision

Today we worked on paragraph revision, starting by editing and revising a paragraph from an Of Mice and Men essay as a group. 5th period students then moved on to a similar activity on their own with a different paragraph, while 1st period students began working on revising a paragraph from their own paper (which they should finish for homework).  The students' Of Mice and Men essays were handed back at the end of the period; they need to bring these with them to class on Monday.

We May Never Know...

We started with page 79 in the grammar book today, continuing our review of sentence types. After that, we finished the notes for "Who Killed the Iceman?" (p. 536) and read "Skeletal Sculptures" (p. 540).

Homework p. 544: #s 2, 3, & 5 and p. 545: Vocab Practice and Vocabulary in Writing

More Sentence Types and the Iceman

Today we continued our review of sentence types and then read and took notes on the article, "Who Killed the Iceman?" in the textbook (p. 536).

Sentence Types & Forensics

Today we began by reviewing the four sentence types--simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex-- and then wrapped up by doing the preliminary work for "Who Killed the Iceman?" on page 535 of the textbook.

Welcome Back with Burns

Today we got back into the swing of things with a short look at Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse." After reading it aloud and discussing it, students addressed the prompt below in their warm-ups.

Question:  What “prospects dreary” do you foresee as the semester comes to a close?  Name at least one fear you have about the future (can be about school or some other part of your life), and then suggest at least two practical ways that you can overcome this obstacle.