Well, that changes everything...

Students spent the period working on the body of their Of Mice and Men essay. With the cancelation of school for the rest of the week, we will postpone the rest of the essay until the week after break. Students may certainly work on their essays over vacation (and should if they are not finished with the body). Students who finish the essays may send an email and ask for feedback over break.

The Body Begins

Students had today to work on the body of their essays. Slides and handouts are at Google Classroom, and students should continue to work on their essay at home.

PODs & Introductions

Today we worked on planning our essays. Students used the thesis they wrote Wednesday to chunk out their paper, write a plan of development (POD) and start their introduction. Models and the handout are at Google Classroom.

Students should finish the introductory paragraph for homework!

Essay Planning: Part 1

A Compare/Contrast Essay

Today we spent the period on an in-class essay comparing and contrasting the film version of Of Mice and Men and the movie version we watched in class.

The End... Almost

Today, after a bit of writing in the warm-up, we nearly finished the movie.

More Movie Notes

Today we continued taking notes on the film version of Of Mice and Men. We'll finish it tomorrow.

Movie Time!

We began by wrapping up our look at "To a Mouse," and then started a short compare/contrast unit, focusing on Sinise's film version of Of Mice and Men.

Back to Of Mice and Men

Today we returned to Of Mice and Men with a look at Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse," which sheds some light on the novel's title.

Poetry Out Loud, Day 3

Tuesday & Wednesday

On these days, students began presenting the poems they have been working on for the past two weeks. We did the first round and started the second. We'll wrap up the project tomorrow.

Tone, Pacing, & Work Time

Today we reviewed the idea of adding tone and pacing to our recitations, and then students had some time to work on their own poem scripts.

Practice & Work Time

The SOAPSTone

Today we started by doing a model annotation and SOAPSTone of Gwendolyn Brooks' poem, "We Real Cool." Students had the rest of the period to work on SOAPSTones for their own poems.

A Reading Model & Work Time

Today we started by looking a model of what a good presentation might look like if students read their poems.

Students then had the rest of the period to print poems and start their annotation assignment.

Poem Work

After watching a model poetry recitation, students had time to work on their own.

The End of OMM

Today we took a quick quiz and then finished Of Mice and Men.

Readings F & G

We started with a short quiz on Reading F, shared SMMs, and discussed a few things about Crooks' chapter. We wrapped up the period with a chunk of Reading G. Students should finish Reading G (through the end of the chapter, about 5 pages) and do two SMMS and two vocab words for HW. We'll finish the book tomorrow.

Reading F & Essay Scores

We started with a short quiz on Reading E, shared SMMs, and the read a chunk of Reading F. Students should finish Reading F and do two SMMS and two vocab words for HW.At the end of the period, students spent a few moments reflecting on their personal narrative grades.

Reading E and More POL

We began with a quick quiz on last night's reading, went over some of the students analytical writing from the homework, and then read a good bit of Reading E in class. Students should finish the chapter tonight and write two SMMs and look up two vocab words.
We spent the last part of the period choosing poems for Poetry Out Loud.

Poetry Out Loud and Reading D

We began the day reviewing the characters we looked at on Thursday, and we wrapped up the day reading some of Reading D (through p. 51).
In between, I briefly introduced the Poetry Out Loud project, which is posted at Google Classroom and which will be our focus after Thanksgiving. Students who want to get a head start certainly may.
Students should finish reading D and do two SMMs and two vocab words for homework.

Reading C

Today we discussed reading B and then read reading C. Add the homework below to your DJ.

Reading B (pp. 16-27)

Chapter 1

Today we finished chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men and just touched on the first DJ entry. The unit handout is here.

Q2 Goals and Of Mice and Men

We began the period reviewing growth mindset and writing a new quarter 2 goal. We then read the first few pages of Of Mice and Men.

Q2 Begins with Reflection!

We spent a few moments thinking about class discussion today, reviewing and marking the class discussion rubric and writing a discussion goal for quarter 2.

Essays Due

Freshmen worked hard today to turn in their essays. A few may still need to polish them up and get them in over the weekend.

More Revision

After a bit of practice with showing language, students had the rest of the period to type and revise.
Here is the short story from today.

Synonyms for Said & Typing Time

Drafting

We began with a few possible ways to start, and then students had the rest of the period to work on their drafts at Google Classroom.

Friday & Monday

Friday, we managed a bit of work despite the Homecoming distractions. Students organized their notebooks and prepared for the personal narrative.

Monday, students planned their personal narrative drafts (handouts are at Google Classroom) and many got started typing.

Q1 Benchmark Essay

Today we spent the period planning and writing the Q1 benchmark timed essay. These will be blind-scored by the English Department on Monday.

"Fish Cheeks"

Today we preread Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks" in preparation for the timed essay freshmen will write tomorrow.

Final Thoughts

Today we discussed the end of the book and tied it to the article, "Healing 'Brick City'" at CommonLit.org.

Mango Says Goodbye

Not the Most Uplifting Friday...

A Bit of Writing & "A Smart Cookie"

A Bit of Nonfiction

And... the Internet is Back!

Monday, we continued our SMM practice and I collected one as an exit ticket. We also read a bit more.

Tuesday, groups worked through four chapters of the book. Students also should have worked on their 5th personal narrative for homework.