Conclusions

Today we spent the day talking about and writing conclusion paragraphs. Final essays are due, revised and typed on January 10th, so students may want to work on them over vacation.

The Body

Today we reviewed introductory paragraphs and worked on the body of the essay. Students should be ready to write their conclusion when they come to class tomorrow.

Tuesday & Wednesday

Over these two days, we have continued to work on the OMM literary analysis essay, focusing on thesis statements, topic sentences, and introductory paragraphs. Students should have a complete thesis statement, topic sentences for all their body paragraphs, and an introduction by Thursday.

The Essay Begins

Using the theme work from Thursday and Friday, students began planning their Of Mice and Men essay today. They should complete step one for homework.

Friday

Today students worked on their theme-review posters for the whole period. Posters that weren't finished should be completed for HW.

Theme Focus

In preparation for the essay we will write next week, we started this project today:

After Reading

Today we worked through and discussed a few questions on the final chapter of Of Mice and Men (which I collected afterwards).

The End

Today, after a short look at theme and a visit from the counsellors reminding students that registration forms are due NOW, we finished Of Mice and Men, talked about the ending, and students had a chance to start on their final set of notes, which are due tomorrow.

Chapter 5

We started the short period today by finishing our discussion of the questions from Friday (which were then collected). We spent the rest of the period reading chapter 5. Notes, quotes, and a summary are due tomorrow.

Chapter 4

Today students worked on the chapter four questions below, and we discussed the first few before then end of class.

Some Silent Reading

We started the day with a warm-up about the symbolic importance of the ranch dream, and the students had the rest of the period to read chapter 4 silently and work on their notes, including quotations and a summary.

The Fight Scene!

After a warm-up focused on the symbolism of Candy's dog, we finished chapter three and students had the rest of the period to work on the notes, quotes, and summary for chapter three. This should be finished for HW.

Reading D

Today we finished reading D in class (the first half of chapter 3) and most students finished their notes as well.

Personal Narratives Returned

We began the day with a review of theme, and then spent the rest of the period reflecting on the newly-returned personal narrative essays. This reflection should be completed for HW.