Homework: October 31

Happy Halloween. Thank you for your gratuitous laughter and understanding of my "Hey, Viiiiccctttooorrrr-ino" costume! :)

Here's what's in store for you tonight!

English 12 (B)

• Read Room! You have time tonight, time in class tomorrow, and time over the weekend to finish the "Dying" section of the story.
• In class tomorrow, you'll have some work to do to identify character development moments for Jack.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Finish reading "Hell-Heaven" and complete a 3-paragraph reflection: 
• Summarize
• Respond--"I noticed," "I think," "I like/dislike..."
• Connect--This text reminds me of..., This character is dealing with the same issues as...
• Read your independent book!

English 11 (F)

• Write a 3-paragraph response to Smoke Signals:
• Summarize
• Respond--"I noticed," "I think," "I like/dislike..."
• Connect--This text reminds me of..., This character is dealing with the same issues as...
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 29

English 11 (F)

• Annotate the last chapter of True Diary on the handout provided today in class. Make notes of your OBSERVATIONS, QUESTIONS and CONNECTIONS, as demonstrated in class today.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 12 (G)

• Complete your "St. Lucy's"/Pleasantville essay! You should have the final with you in class tomorrow.
• Finish Room!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Using the questions you developed in class today to keep guiding you through "Hell-Heaven." Finish reading to the bottom of page 10 for tomorrow.
• Some of the reading questions we developed today were:
• Which character does Pranab consider more of a father figure: Pranab, or her own father?
• What are Pranab's intentions? What is his character?
• What is the balance of Bengali culture and American culture for this family?
• Study your vocab!
• Read your independent book.

English 12 (B)

• Complete section 2 ("Unlying") of Room.
• Use sticky notes to mark places where you notice repetitions, contrasts/contradictions, memories, questions, etc., as explained in class. 
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 28

Honors English 11 (A and D)

• We're reading a short story over the next couple of days. It's called "Hell-Heaven" by Jhumpa Lahiri. If you lose your copy, you can find one here.
• In class, we identified some vocabulary words. Keep an eye out for them as you read!
• Tonight, please read to the middle of page 6 in the story. Make notes about your QUESTIONS, OBSERVATIONS and CONNECTIONS.
• Read your independent book!

English 12 (B)

• We've had some great conversations about Room. As you keep reading, keep some of those questions and big ideas in mind.
• For tomorrow, read to page 74. There are two section breaks on that page; please read to the second section break.
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 25

Honors English 11 (D)

• Complete your response to the article you read in class regarding the Washington Redskins mascot debate. Use this template, from They Say/I Say to help: 

• Read your independent reading book!

English 11 (F)

• Finish reading True Diary!
• Add items to your bubble sheet: at least 20 events/facts and at least 10 quotations. Make sure to include page numbers!
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 12 (G)

• Work on those essays! I gave you back your drafts, with feedback. Now, use that feedback to make your essay the best! (If you gave me your essay today, come get it on Monday. If you haven't given me your essay yet...GIMME!) Finals are due on Wednesday.
• Continue reading Room.
• After our discussion of Room earlier this week, I was reminded of these two posts by a blogger who is very talented, and funny, and open about her experiences with depression. Please read the following blog posts, keeping the character of Ma in mind. Perhaps they'll help you to understand her struggles.
• Adventures in Depression
• Depression part two
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 24

English 11 (F)

• Tonight, you're reading and you're adding to your topics organizer. 
• You should finish through 198, and you should add a whole lot of information to your organizer. Good work today in class--you accomplished a lot!

Honors English 12 (G)

• Read Room--you'll finish the book for next Wednesday.
• Read your independent book, too!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Complete your response to the CNN article about the Redskins logo controversy. Here's the template, from They Say/I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein:

In recent discussions of ___________________, a controversial issue has been whether _______________________. On the one hand, some argue that_______________________. From this perspective, _______________________. On the other hand, however, some argue that _______________________. In the words of one of this view’s main proponents, __________________. According to this view, _______________________. In sum, then, the issue is whether _______________ or  ________________________.

     My own view is that_______________________. Though I concede that_______________________,  I still maintain that _______________________. For example, _______________________. Although some might object that_______________________, I would reply that_______________________. The issue is important because_______________________.

English 12 (B) 

• Complete a three-paragraph response to the first section of Room (pages 1-56). Your response should follow this structure:
• Paragraph 1: Summarize
• Paragraph 2: Reader Response--what do you think of the book so far? What do you like, what questions do you have? What do you notice as you read?
• Paragraph 3: Connections--What connections can you make between this book and other texts/real world experiences?

Go Sox!

I took this photo when I went to Fenway for the 100th anniversary celebration a year ago. These seats are psyched to watch the Series. Go Sox!

English 12: Room questions

On Tuesday, we had a great conversation in English 12 about the opening pages (1-42) of the novel Room by Emma Donoghue. These five big questions have provided a PURPOSE for us as we keep reading the story. Check them out here!

Homework: October 23

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary to page 168--make sure you read the cartoon!
• Remember, you're looking at those 10 topics you chose today in class--make notes on your paper of events, quotations, and/or details that are connected to those topics. Look to add at least five!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 12 (G)

• Your essays are due tomorrow! Make 'em good!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 22

Whew! This post is later than usual--there were so many people here after school to work on essays! We had some good conversations, and I'm interested to learn a lot from your essays!

Honors English 12 (G)

• Keep working on those analytical essays. Finals are due Thursday.
• We'll talk about Room tomorrow...through that 4th section.
• Read your independent reading book!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Your essay is due tomorrow! Make sure it's printed out. Bring your drafts, too.
• Read your independent book!

English 12 (B)

• You did some great work today with Room. Keep those questions in mind, and read to the end of the first section of the book--page 56.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Read your independent reading book!
• (If you didn't pass in your essay today, remember that you'll need to drop it off to me. I don't see you folks again until Friday!)

Writing resources: Citing poetry

Here's a great resource for citing poetry:

http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/eng/resources/how-to-quote-poetry-in-english-papers/

Resources for writing: Blending quotations

Here's a quick video that talks about three main ways to blend quotations into your writing:

Homework: October 21

English 12 (B)

• Read Room! Up to page 42. We'll talk about it in class tomorrow.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Your essay is due tomorrow! Make sure it's printed out. Bring your drafts, too.
• Read your independent book!

English 11 (F)

• Write a revision of your "Reservation Mathematics" analytical paragraph. Use the notes we made in class today to help!
• Read your independent book.

Homework: October 18

GO SOX! GO PATS! GO B's! GO CELTS!

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary. You should read to page 158. We'll be finishing the book next week; if you know you have a busy week coming up, read a little extra this weekend. Remember, you'll need to be able to summarize your reading, and determine important quotations, patterns and signposts. Be ready to write and discuss!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (A and D) AND Honors English 12 (G)

• Work on those essays! Revisit the feedback you've received, and consider the clarity and depth of your analysis. Specifically, work on the following things:
• Revisit your thesis, after reading your full essay and your writing group's comments. Does your essay really develop the idea that's presented in your thesis? If yes, hooray! If no: 
• Consider revising your thesis. It may be the case that you developed a more interesting/nuanced idea as you wrote your essay. Your thesis should reflect that.
• Consider revising your proof and analysis to better develop your thesis. 
• Check out your proof. Have you analyzed it enough? Does the analysis help connect your proof to your thesis, and does your essay develop a clear and interesting analytical argument?
• Take some time to consider your transitions. REMEMBER: Transitions guide your readers through your essay. If your essay has moments that are confusing for readers, use transitions to develop your idea. There are some resources to check out in this post.
• Finally, would a part of your essay benefit from a counterargument? Remember, sometimes it helps to recognize a different interpretation of evidence as you present your own. I used Dynazya and Kate's example in class: In Sherman Alexie's poem "Influences," he describes children stealing beer from their parents in order to prevent the parents from drinking. Kate presented this action as a sign of role reversal (the children taking on the protective role), while Dynazya took it as a sign of rebellion by the kids. You might write: "The children steal beer from their parents. Though this act might be viewed as rebellion, on closer examination it becomes clear that their intent is protective..." You'd then go on to talk about the role of protection in the poem, including other examples from the poem to develop your idea. 
• Next class, we'll review the following:
• Your transitions!
• Blending evidence/quotations.
• Citing your sources.
• Read your independent books. Enjoy!

Resources for writing--TRANSITIONS

Here are a couple of great resources for using transitions within your essays. Remember, transitions are about more than just "making it flow and sound nice"! They help link sections of your analysis, making sure that you're building the strongest argument possible.

This handout does a great job of explaining the function of transitions.

This one does too, and has A LOT of transition words broken up into categories.

Homework: October 17

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary! You should finish through page 149 tonight. Tomorrow, you'll be writing summaries and reflecting, so make sure you read carefully!
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 12 (G)

• Prepare a draft college/personal essay. Tomorrow, you'll get some feedback. You should come to class with a PRINTED OUT draft.
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 11 (A)

• Today, we spent some time looking at first drafts of your essays. You got some initial feedback from your classmates. BRING THOSE DRAFTS, with sticky notes, with you on Friday, so we can continue to talk about them. 
• Spend some time to start reading through the notes, and make some revisions to your paper. Build your introduction, revise your thesis, and dig into the language/examples any more.
• Study those vocab words--we'll do an activity to practice them on Friday.
• Read your independent book!

English 12 (B)

• Read Room, to the end of page 31. We'll continue to address the question: What PURPOSE does telling the story from Jack's perspective serve?
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 16

Honors English 11 (A)

• You have an essay draft due tomorrow! Hooray!
• Remember, do the very best you can, and bring in a HARD COPY of your paper tomorrow. We'll look at some model work, and we'll do some peer/group work. It's going to be great!
• Study your vocab words--we'll do an activity with them on Friday.
• Read your independent book.

English 12 (B)

• Start reading Room. You're reading up to the point that we marked in class, on page 13. Pay attention to the narrative voice...we're going to be talking a lot about our narrator, as well as his experiences and understanding.
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 11 (D)

• Today, we spent some time looking at first drafts of your essays. You got some initial feedback from your classmates. BRING THOSE DRAFTS, with sticky notes, with you on Friday, so we can continue to talk about them. 
• Spend some time to start reading through the notes, and make some revisions to your paper. Build your introduction, revise your thesis, and dig into the language/examples any more.
• Study those vocab words--we'll do an activity to practice them on Friday.

Honors English 12: important upcoming dates!

Homework: October 16

Go Sox! 

Honors English 11 (D)

• You folks have a draft essay due tomorrow! Hooray! Do your very best, pay careful attention to the assignment sheet, and put together a strong argument. Tomorrow in class, we'll do some workshopping--make sure you bring a copy of your essay to class with you!
• Read your independent book!

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary to page 129. Make sure you come to class ready to write tomorrow!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 12 (G)

• Next class, you have a draft essay due! Write something interesting, and make sure you back up your idea with a lot of proof and analysis. We'll workshop them in class--you'll get some good feedback!
• Read your independent book!

"On Turning Eighteen"

In our Coming of Age Literature course, we wrote poems that were modeled after Billy Collins's poem "On Turning Ten." Ours were called "On Turning Eighteen," and they mimicked the structure of Collins's poem, while focusing on important coming-of-age moments that we find when we're on the brink of the adulthood suggested by the BIG birthday of eighteen.

Here's Emily Metivier's poem:

The whole idea of it makes me feel excited but sad,

A crazy feeling that isn’t pleasing,

Worse than an anxiety attack,

like going to Disney Land with the flu,

or going to the beach with no bathing suit.

You tell me to be independent and mature,

but I still need to go to my mom for help,

I remember my childhood,

going outside and playing games,

crying over a broken plate,

watching Spongebob,

in middle school a pre-teen,

in high school a young woman.

But now it is time to be an adult,

join all of my adult idols and figures.

As a child the little things were a big deal,

now going to the mall and buying shoes,

crying over a broken heart,

watching R- rated movies.

In college a young adult,

yet in the working world a fully grown woman.

This is the beginning of adulthood,

a clean slate,

unaware of what's to come next,

It’s time to say goodbye to high school gossip,

time to be an independent college student.

It only seems yesterday it was my first day of kindergarten,

there was only the fear of getting tagged during recess,

I could run around for hours,

but now i want to go to bed at 8pm,

I am tired,

exausted.

Link: Alexie and Bill Moyers interview

Some of you Honors English 11 folks were hoping to use Sherman Alexie's interview with Bill Moyers to help you develop your essay. Here's the link!

Homework: October 11

Happy long weekend! Enjoy the beautiful fall weather! Read a book outside, or something awesome like that.

English 11 (F)

• Complete Steps 1, 2 and 3 of the Writing about "Reservation Mathematics" handout.
• Study your vocabulary!
• Read your independent book! 

Honors English 12 (G)

• You should be working on your analytical essay, and on your college/personal essay. Drafts of those essays are due next week.
• Keep reading Room! We had a great conversation about it today, and you're noticing a lot of important things. You jotted down some things you want to watch for as you read the next section--make sure you're looking for them!
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 11 (A)

• Work on your essay! Drafts are due next week.
• Study your vocabulary words!
• Upcoming important dates:
• Full first draft of Alexie essay, due 10/17
• Vocabulary quiz-through "disdain", 10/18
• Final Alexie essay, due 10/23
• Read your independent book! Study your vocab!

English 12 (B)

• Work on your college/personal essays.
• Study your vocab!
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 10

Honors English 12 (G)

• Work on your essay!
• Make sure you've read through the section "Dying" in Room.
• Upcoming Dates:
• Full draft of analytical essay, due 10/17
• Draft of college/personal essay, due 10/18
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Work on your essay! Spend 20-30 minutes tonight, at least, working on developing your ideas, and deepening your thinking. You should be identifying a theme...remember, that's different from a topic. (For example, a topic might be "identity," but that's not a theme. To find your theme, answer this question: What does Alexie SAY about the topic?) 
• If you need some guidance, here are a couple of resources:
• This site lists a WHOLE LOT of potential topics/motifs that are present in a lot of literary texts. These aren't themes yet, but if one stands out, you should ask yourself, "What does Alexie SAY about this topic?"
• This page contains some common themes found in literature. Check yours against the examples given here. It's not going to be the same as any of these, but it should have the same features. It should make a statement about Alexie's main idea or message, but shouldn't be story-specific (meaning, it's not the plot, and it can apply to more than one text if another text has the same message).
• Read your independent book.

English 12 (B)

• Personal essay work: Do some brainstorming and/or drafting of your personal essay (otherwise known as your college essay). Be ready, in class tomorrow, to work on writing and revising!
• Start reviewing for your vocab quiz--it's on 10/16.
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 11 (D)

• Work on your essay! Drafts are due next week.
• Upcoming important dates:
• Full first draft of Alexie essay, due 10/16
• Vocabulary quiz-through "disdain", 10/17
• Final Alexie essay, due 10/22
• Read your independent book! Study your vocab!

Homework: October 9

English 12 (B)

• Write a response in which you compare Pleasantville and "St. Lucy's"--it should be about a page, 20 minutes.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Work on your essay! Spend 20-30 minutes tonight, at least, working on developing your ideas, and deepening your thinking. You should be identifying a theme...remember, that's different from a topic. (For example, a topic might be "identity," but that's not a theme. To find your theme, answer this question: What does Alexie SAY about the topic?) 
• If you need some guidance, here are a couple of resources:
• This site lists a WHOLE LOT of potential topics/motifs that are present in a lot of literary texts. These aren't themes yet, but if one stands out, you should ask yourself, "What does Alexie SAY about this topic?"
• This page contains some common themes found in literature. Check yours against the examples given here. It's not going to be the same as any of these, but it should have the same features. It should make a statement about Alexie's main idea or message, but shouldn't be story-specific (meaning, it's not the plot, and it can apply to more than one text if another text has the same message).
• Read your independent book.

English 11 (F)

• Complete the poetry organizer from class today.
• Read True Diary to page 113--be ready to write about it on Friday!
• Read your independent book.

Homework: October 8

English 11 (F)

• Tonight, complete the handout you received in class today in order to "research" in order to research for tomorrow's poetry study.
• By Friday, read to page 113 in True Diary.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 12 (G)

• "St. Lucy's"/Pleasantville essay work!
• Read Room--we'll discuss section 3 (Dying) on Friday.
• Work on those college essays!

Honors English 11 (Block A and D)

• Spend 20-30 minutes starting your essay. Start with your working thesis, and start building your argument. It might be just writing/freewriting for 20-30 minutes, it might be mapping/planning/organizing, it might be pulling and analyzing evidence. Spend 20-30 FOCUSED, thoughtful minutes starting your process. 
• Remember, I showed you an example of how I might do this. You can check out the screenshot below from today's class:

Are you a writer?

Bennington College, over in Vermont, runs a prestigious writing competition for high school students called the Young Writer's Awards. You can submit fiction (short story or one-act play), poetry, or nonfiction (personal or academic essay). If you're interested in checking it out, click here and read about the contest. You can read past winners, too--there's some good stuff there.

Did I mention that the prizes are $500 or $250? Not bad.

If you're interested in working on an entry, see me!

Homework: October 7

Celtics pre-season starts tonight! Go Celts!

And, obviously, GO SOX!

English 11

• Complete the "30 Days" response handout
• If you haven't read through p. 98 in True Diary, do it!
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 12

• You have your Room reading schedule, so read!
• Tomorrow we work on Pleasantville/"St. Lucy's" essays, so be ready for that! 
• Start brainstorming for your college essay, if you haven't already.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11

• Today in class, we identified some "working themes" that you might examine for your essay. You are all in different places in the process--some of you might have a full idea, while others might still be working to develop a topic. Wherever you are, here's your homework:
• Choose a passage from one of the Sherman Alexie poems that you think might be useful for you in developing your topic.
• Look at it closely--annotate it, look up words, focus on word choice and order. Use the yellow sheet from class to give you ideas of what to look for.
• Write about how the passage connects to your thesis idea.
• Remember, this assignment should take you about 15-20 minutes. If you're done in two, go back and look for more! Look at smaller details! Look up more words! And/or, pick a new passage to work with.
• Read your independent book!

English 12

• Read your independent book!
• Start brainstorming and working on your college essay, if you haven't already done so. 

Homework: October 4

Have a great weekend, everyone! Go Sox!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Essay prep: Today in class, we identified topics of Sherman Alexie's writing. Your job tonight is to choose 3 topics from your list. FOR EACH, write a 5-minute brainstorm: What does Sherman Alexie say about this topic? Include details from specific texts, and make sure your answer is as nuanced as possible!
• Read your independent book!

English 12 (B)

• Finish the last section of the Reading Notes handout.
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Today in class, we identified some "working themes" that you might examine for your essay. You are all in different places in the process--some of you might have a full idea, while others might still be working to develop a topic. Wherever you are, here's your homework:
• Choose a passage from one of the Sherman Alexie poems that you think might be useful for you in developing your topic.
• Look at it closely--annotate it, look up words, focus on word choice and order. Use the yellow sheet from class to give you ideas of what to look for.
• Write about how the passage connects to your thesis idea.
• Remember, this assignment should take you about 15-20 minutes. If you're done in two, go back and look for more! Look at smaller details! Look up more words! And/or, pick a new passage to work with.
• Read your independent book!

Homework: October 3

Honors English 11 (D)

• Essay prep: Today in class, we identified topics of Sherman Alexie's writing. Your job tonight is to choose 3 topics from your list. FOR EACH, write a 5-minute brainstorm: What does Sherman Alexie say about this topic? Include details from specific texts, and make sure your answer is as nuanced as possible!
• Read your independent book!

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary to page 98 (the chapter "Slouching Towards Thanksgiving")--read carefully, so you're ready to write about it in class on Monday. Complete 3 sticky notes. On each sticky note, you might identify:
• A significant quotation from the book, with a reason for choosing it.
• A "signpost" from the green sheet (A-ha moment, Again and Again, etc...) and the significance of it.
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 12 (G)

• Read Room.
• Begin essay prep as described in class.
• Read your independent book!

A timely video for tonight...

Homework: October 2

English 11 (F)

• Read True Diary, to page 81.
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 12 (G)

• Read Room. You have the reading schedule--it's published in an earlier post if you need to refresh your memory!
• Read your independent book.

Honors English 11 (A)

• Write a 2-paragraph reflection on your mind map:
• Process: What worked for you (or didn't) about the mind map process? How did your group work together?
• Product: Describe your mind map. What does it include, and what did you learn by completing it?
• Read your independent book.

English 12 (B)

• Complete the first 2 sections of the Reading Notes handout for Pleasantville. Remember, I know you might not have direct quotations for the first part--you could include scenes, general conversations, or paraphrases. (If you don't have your copy of the handout, you can download one by clicking "Reading Notes" above.
• Read your independent book!

Smoke Signals--H English 11 (A)

Pleasantville notes--Honors English 12

Homework: October 1

Honors English 12 (G)

• Read Room! You should be through the second section of the book by tomorrow--be ready to write and discuss!
• Read your independent book!

Honors English 11 (A)

• Write up a 1-page (20 minutes) analytical response to Smoke Signals, connected to our conversation in class today.
• Read for 15 minutes!

English 12 (B)

• Read your independent reading book!

Honors English 11 (D)

• Write a 2-paragraph reflection on your mind map:
• Process: What worked for you (or didn't) about the mind map process? How did your group work together?
• Product: Describe your mind map. What does it include, and what did you learn by completing it?