The Last Regular Day of Class

Today I collected warm-ups and students had the period to work on final essays.

More Essay Time

We began the day with grade reports (all late/incomplete work is due Monday) and then students had the period to work on their essays. Students with complete drafts worked through a guided peer response activity. Most others spent the period typing.

Work Day

Students had the whole period to work on their essays. Many got a good start typing. Ideally, they will come to class tomorrow with a completed draft.

The Essay Begins in Earnest

Today we spent the day working on the essay. Most students finished the introduction boxes on the handout and started the body paragraphs. The goal should be to have the whole handout complete for class tomorrow. Students also handed in Act Recap #5 which they will get back tomorrow.

Exeunt R & J

Today we finished the play and students had 25 minutes or so to work on their Act 5 Recap. Near the period's end, we talked about the final paper and students were given the essay assignment and planning handouts. They should have the Act 5 Recap and page 1 of the essay handouts complete at the beginning of class tomorrow.

5-2 and 5.3

Today, after a short warm-up, we nearly finished the play. Students should start their Act 5 Recap for HW.

4.4 through 5.1

Today we finished Act Four and students had some time to work on their Act Four Recap which they should finish for homework. We wrapped up the period reading Act Five, Scene One.

4.1-3

After reviewing the thematic quotations from last night's homework, students handed in their HW, and we read 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. Students could be working on their Act 4 Recap for HW.

3.4 & 3.5

After a brief review of events so far in the play, we finished Act Three, and students had the opportunity to work on their Act Three Recap, which should be completed for HW.

3.2 & 3.3

Today, after a brief review of oxymoron and antithesis in the warm-up, we read 3.2. and 3.3. Students could be working on their Act Three Recap for homework.

3.1 & 3.2

After a short warm-up on character motive, we shared and collected the homework and read 3.1 and part of 3.2.

2.4, 2.5, 2.6

Today, after a quick warm-up, we finished Act Two of the play and students got to work on their second Act Recap. They should finish these for HW.

2.2 through 2.4

Today we read through 2.2, 2.3 and much of 2.4. Students looked for thematic quotations along the way.

1.5 and the Act 1 Recap

Today we had a quick imagery warm-up, finished up Act 1, and then students had the rest of the period to finish up the Act 1 Recap, which we have been working on together. These should be completed for HW. See the handout for details.

1.5

Today we worked through the Queen Mab speech, doing the assignment below, and then read most of 1.5.

1.3-1.4

Today we added characters from 1.2 and 1.3 to the notes, listened to 1.3 and then watched it on film. We wrapped up the day reading 1.4.

1.2

Today we started with a bit of quotation analysis in the warm up, continued our Act One recap with a sample headline summary, and the first Says/Means/Matters, and wrapped up the day reading 1.2.

1.1

After a warm-up about foil characters, Benvolio and Tybalt, we talked a bit about the Academic Fair and students turned in their introductory work from last week (including the unit close reads, the Shakespeare's syntax work, and the prologue annotation). We then finished Act1, Scene 1 and started the recap assignment.

Act 1. Scene 1.

Today, after reviewing the theme paragraph homework (below), we finally started the actual play, reading the first few pages aloud. More tomorrow!

Finally, Some Homework

Today we added the final two themes to our theme lists and discussed the last two polls. We also briefly reviewed the prologue and then spent the rest of the period working with Shakespeare's insults.
Opinion paragraphs based on the theme polls are due Monday.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday, we added a couple more theme statements to our notes (and took the corresponding polls). We also had a little fun acting out lines during an overview of the whole play.
Thursday, we began the day with another theme poll, reviewed Allusion and Word Play, did the close reads on page 993, and spent the rest of the period annotating the prologue to the play.

More Shakespeare Intro

Today we added two more themes to our theme list (and voted in the corresponding polls). We also did the close reads on page 931, took some notes on page 932 (allusion and word play), and had a bit of fun with Shakespeare's syntax (add this to your CRs).

Into Shakespeare

Today we talked a bit about Shakespeare, took the notes on page 930, and started took our first poll on the play's themes.

Poetry Wrap Up

Today we wrapped up the poetry unit, recapping "The Seven Ages of Man" and taking a final assessment on Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."

Wednesday

Today we finished sharing the second copy poems (which were then collected) and then moved on the some work with Shakespeare's "The Seven Ages of Man." The slides are below.

New Seats and More Poetry

We began the day with new seats, warmed up with a review of the unit 6 test, and spent the rest of the period on the poem copy assignment. These are due on Wednesday.

CST & Poetry

Today we wrapped up the Language Arts portion of the CSTs and spent the rest of the period on the second part of the poetry copy assignment.

More CST and Poetry

We talked a bit more about the CST and how we can be prepared, then continued our poetry work.

CSTs & Poetry

After some discussion of next week's CST testing, we continued the poetry work from yesterday.

So Much Poetry!

Today we began by sharing our pocket poems and then spent the rest of the day on our "We Real Cool" imitations.

Fun with "We Real Cool"

We began the day with a short review quiz on the poetry terms we've been working with, and then we spent the rest of the day writing poetry inspired by "We Real Cool."

More Poetry & Some Essay Reflection

Today we continued our poetry review with a look at some Jay Z lyrics and a few more notes. Then I returned research papers and students spend the remainder of the period working on the reflection assignment. This is due Wednesday.

Q4 Begins: Poetry Intro

Today we spent the day looking at Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool" and taking notes on some poetic terms.

Q3 Benchmark Essay

Today, after collecting final draft research papers, we spent the period on the Q3 benchmark essay.

Unit 6 Test

Today we spent the day on the Unit 6 Test.

Revision

Today we spent the day revising papers. Final drafts are due Friday, typed in MLA format, with a works cited, the self-evaluation, and the peer-evaluation. Unit 6 test tomorrow. Bring textbooks.

Self-Evaluations & Peer Response

Today we talked a bit about the poetry extra credit and students had the period to work on their essays.

National Poetry Month

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

The Works Cited & Self-Evaluation

Today we spent most of the period on the works cited, and a few students got to the self evaluation at the end of the period. Typed drafts are due for revision on Monday.

The Conclusion

Today, after a quick review of citation, we looked at a sample conclusion and students had the period to write. Complete first drafts should be ready for class tomorrow.

2013 Redwood Writing Contest

Here's the link to the writing contest I mentioned in class.
https://sites.google.com/site/humboldtcountywritingcontest/

Countering the Opposition

Today we looked at examples of the opposition paragraph, took a few notes, and had writing time. By tomorrow, students should be done with the body of their persuasive essay.

The Body Paragraphs

The Introduction

PODs

Today we revisited parallel structure (parallelism) as students prepared to write Plans of Development (PODs) for their essays.

Reasons

Today students started considering reasons to back up their claims. After the warm-up, we talked a bit about the PE handout and then started (and mostly finished) the persuasive essay graphic organizer (below).