Homework: December 22

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• Finish up your profile draft! Tomorrow in class, we do final edits.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Finish reading and marking up "The Ghost Soldiers."
• Over break, read and mark up "The Lives of the Dead."

Honors English 11 (C block)

• If you didn't do so over the weekend, you should read and mark up the articles in the critical essays packet. You're reading essays #1, 3, 4, and 5. Identify the main argument, and supporting details, of each.
• Read and mark up the profile "20 Minutes at Rucker Park." We'll have a Socratic seminar after break, in which your two texts will be Gatsby and this article.

Homework: December 19

English 11 (A block)

You have a vocabulary quiz on Monday--study study study! Use vocabulary.com to practice, too--Top 100 SAT words list, sorted easy to hard. We've done the first 40 (plus resonate and juxtapose).

Additionally, read "The Gost Soldiers" to the asterisk on page 6.

Honors English 11 (C block)

You have a vocab quiz on Monday. See above for the details regarding using vocabulary.com to study. 

Also, if you want to get a jump on reading those essays, you should! In the packet I gave you, it's essays 1, 3, 4 and 5. We'll be working with them after break.

English 12 (E block)

You should spend a good amount of time reading your book club book--which means you have to get your book club book! Check in with your group members if you don't have the page breakdown. 

Have a great vacation!

Homework: December 18

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Finish up your response for "A Whole Heap of Ashes."
• Study your vocabulary!

English 12 (E block)

• Study vocab!
• If you can, get a copy of your book club book to class tomorrow.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• Continue to work on your profile assignment.

English 11 (G block)

• Continue to read "The Ghost Soldiers"--read up to the asterisk on page 6.
• Study your vocabulary!

Homework: December 17

English 12 (E block)

• Read and mark up the story "Hell-Heaven." Use the handout that I gave you for "Death by Landscape" to guide you--keep an eye on characters, use of time, narration, etc.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Complete a thoughtful, detailed paragraph response to the story "In the Field." Remember, the prompt is on the handout, and we did a lot of prep work and discussion in class. Your paragraph should be 6-8 sentences long, at least. 

Homework: December 16

English 11 (G and A blocks)

• Read and mark up the story "In the Field." Just as we did when we started reading "The Man I Killed," you should spend a minute looking over that title, considering its meaning and identifying questions that could guide your reading. 
• Review your vocabulary words, 1-40. We'll have a unit test before break.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Finish your Gatsby essay--it's due Thursday. I'm around after school the next two afternoons if you have questions or need help. I'll magnet up a checklist for writing outside of F204 if you want to stop by and grab it. 

Here's the Gatsby writing I did in class today. Remember, this is just a quick bit of writing, off the cuff during class today as an example. I'd revise, edit, make sure my analysis was strong and my word choice was effective. But, it'll give you an idea of the type of analysis you're looking for as you identify and describe the use of figurative language in the novel.

Homework: December 15

English 11 (C block)

• Work on your draft of your analytic essay. Remember, I posted the link to the Writer's Guide if you need to review figurative language (figures of speech). Work on analysis, and be ready to work/discuss tomorrow.

English 12 (E block)

• Prepare for an in-class one pager on "Death by Landscape" tomorrow. You might want to consider: What are the big ideas/takeaways from the story? What is a major theme?
• Study your vocabulary words, 1-40, in preparation for a vocabulary Unit test on Friday.
• Start reading "Hell-Heaven"--due Thursday.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• Write your profile draft. It's due on Thursday!

HHS writing guide--

Here's the link to the HHS writing guide:

Check page 36 for more information regarding figurative language (figures of speech), if you need a review!

Homework: December 12

English 12 (E block)

• Finish reading the story "Death by Landscape" and complete the 10 observations handout. Make sure you read carefully. Make sure you complete the observations handout thoughtfully.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• This weekend, you should wrap up your interviews (unless you've already spoken with me). Start writing those profiles! Drafts are due on Thursday.

English 11 (G block)

• Complete the iceberg handout, front and back. 
• Study your vocabulary--you have a quiz on Tuesday!

English 11 (A block)

• Complete the iceberg handout--do the front, and the first question on the back.

Have a great weekend, says this dinosaur (who is also my new best friend).

Homework: December 11

Readers/Writers Workshop 8 (F block)

• Work on your profile! You might:
• Conduct your interview.
• Start writing your introduction.
• Write down all your notes and/or organize your information.

English 11 (G block)

• Start studying your vocabulary. Your quiz is TUESDAY.
• Complete blue sheets for "How to Tell a True War Story" and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong." Make sure you put in a lot of thought and detail.

English 11 (A block)

• Study your vocabulary. You have a quiz tomorrow.
• Fully complete the blue sheet for "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong."

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Start working on your essay! Complete the first couple of steps on the handout I gave you in class today--identify a couple of passages you will close read, type them up, mark them up, and identify the figurative language that you'll use to help develop your essay.

Book clubs: Senior English

Here are some of the book club ideas for senior English. Take a look over some of these books (recommended by your classmates...I haven't read them all!) and do a little research. Which one(s) might you be interested in?

Divergent/others in the series
The Lord of the Rings series
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Virgin Suicides
Thirteen Reasons Why
Awaken/Middle Ground
My Sister's Keeper
When She Woke
The Fault in Our Stars
Unbroken
Twelve
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Green Mile
The Stand
A Clockwork Orange
Apt Pupil/Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption/The Breathing Method
Cinder
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Shine
Ready Player One
To Kill a Mockingbird
In Cold Blood
The Catcher in the Rye
Columbine
The Enemy by Charlie Higson
Never Let Me Go
The Death of Bees
The Kite Runner
Reconstructing Amelia
The Circle
The Sea of Tranquility
The Yellow Birds
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Me Before You

Homework: December 10

Honors English 11 (C block)

• You have a number of things to be working on--check earlier posts and make sure you have all the pieces together and ready to go for Friday.

English 12 (E block)

• Read the first half of "Death by Landscape"--up to the break on the bottom of p. 106 (206?). Make sure you read and mark carefully.

Homework: December 9

English 12 (E block)

• Study your vocabulary.
• Research some potential book club books. What would you like to read? I'll post more resources later...check back.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• Work on your profile...develop questions! I'll post Buffy's advice in a later post.

English 11 (G block)

• Finish reading "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" and finish the chart you started in class today.

English 11 (A block)

• Finish reading "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" and finish the blue sheet you started in class today.

Homework: December 8

English 11 (G and A block)

• Read "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" to the STOP sign on page 6. Draw a picture, as directed!

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Complete the "Close reading--response" handout you received in class today. To do so, pick ONE passage from somewhere in chapter 7, 8, or 9, and perform a close reading, following the directions on the handout. You are welcome to choose any passage, but I'd suggest finding one that focuses on characterization of Gatsby, since that's what you'll be writing your essay on. I returned your first paragraphs, so you could refer to your original idea...remember, the characterization may have shifted substantially. That's ok--that's what you'll be writing about!
• For the 1-2 paragraph response, focus on how the passage helps us understand Gatsby, within the context of the story overall. Focus on the language specifically.

Homework: December 5

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Read and mark up the article, "A Whole Heap of Ashes." Remember to discern the main claims, as well as the evidence Thomas Foster uses to support his claims. Also, make note of places where you agree, and maybe where you disagree, with Foster's claims/analysis.
• Study those vocab words. You should know them SO WELL, after the extended time!

English 12 (E block)

• Complete your formal, 2-paragraph response to the Biddle article. You should type it.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• If you haven't already contacted your profile subject, make sure you do so!
• Set up an interview with your profile subject.
• If you are ready, complete your interview! Make sure you take careful notes. If you're going to record, make sure you ask permission first!
• (Check the post before this one for some notes on interviewing, along with the Couric video we watched in class today.)

Interviewing!

We watched Katie Couric's advice for interviewing. Now, her advice is meant for on camera interviews, but it's just as relevant to your work as profile writers. Here 7 pieces of advice, as identified by our class, that Ms. Couric shared about interviewing. Keep these in mind as you complete your own interview:

1. Adjust the way you speak and the questions you ask depending on the person you're interviewing. 
2. Don't ask yes/no questions or questions that are really obvious or off-topic.
3. Know who you're interviewing...do a little bit of research.
4. Have follow up questions--don't just read from a list.
5. Listen to the person you're interviewing--be engaged. And, make sure you sound engaged.
6. Be ready for anything/everything that might happen.
7. Make them feel comfortable--positive body language.

Homework: December 4

English 12 (E block)

• You've read the Biddle article, which analyzes elements of Stephen King's "The Body."
• Now, you're going to do some writing about it. For class tomorrow, you should write up thoughtful, formal notes, based on the assignment sheet you received in class. You may not do "mental notes"--create an organizer, or a purposeful method of marking and identifying evidence. No written work, no credit.
• Your final version of your response will be due on Monday.
• Study your vocab!

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• If you haven't asked your profile subject about the assignment, make sure you ask!
• Start developing some questions you might ask in your interview.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Write your "How to Tell a True ____ Story" assignment. You might write "true football stories" or "true babysitting stories." Use "How to Tell a True War Story" as an example. Just as O'Brien tells a story, then gives "instructions," you should do the same. 
• Study your vocabulary!

Homework: December 3

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• Identify 3 potential profile subjects! Be ready to make some decisions tomorrow, and to start writing up some questions.
• Here's the link to the Caine's Arcade profile, if you want to check it out. You can find the 2nd and 3rd part linked from this one.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Make sure you have carefully read and annotated the story "How to Tell a True War Story." Especially, make sure you know what's up with these three things:
• The buffalo
• The "cocktail party"
• Curt Lemon's death
• Study your vocabulary for Monday.
• Consider what topic you'll write your own "How to Tell a True ___________ Story" about. In the past, students have written true football stories, true dance stories, true childhood stories, true high school stories, true babysitting stories, true work stories...  Your task will be to write some "instructions," along with some illustrating vignettes, a la Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story."

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study your vocabulary! In order to maximize our ability to watch and analyze the film, I'M MOVING THE VOCABULARY TEST FROM FRIDAY TO MONDAY. Please meet in the minitheater at the beginning of class on Friday.
• Read the article "A Whole Heap of Ashes" and mark it up.
• Identify: The author's main argument, as well as connected arguments.
• Identify: Where do you agree with his argument and evidence, and where do you disagree with it?

Homework: December 2

English 11 (A block)

• Read and mark up the story "How to Tell a True War Story"--remember we talked about how we might expect "instructions" from a story with a title like that!

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Make sure you've fully completed the "opinionnaire" assignment.
• If you haven't carefully read and marked up Gatsby, make sure you do that!

English 12 (E block)

• Finish reading the Biddle article, and marking it up. Be ready to discuss it on Thursday!

Homework: December 1

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Some of you haven't finished reading Gatsby. Uh oh! Get on that! Make sure you have carefully read and marked up the text.
• Complete the "Opinionnaire" assignment you received in class today.

English 12 (E block)

• Start reading the "Biddle article" that you received in class today. We marked off a stopping point in class. Make sure you make careful annotations, and identify: 
• What's Biddle's argument?
• With what do you agree, and with what do you disagree?

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

• If you haven't already completed/shared your character profile, do so!
• Start thinking about who you'll write a profile on!

English 11 (G block)

• Finish reading and marking up the story "How to Tell a True War Story" in your The Things They Carried packet.