Homework: January 30

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Write a page--10-15 minutes. It can be about anything from your Territories of Writing list.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Essay drafts due Monday--we'll start typing up final drafts next week.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Complete the Connotation handout, including the paragraph at the bottom. Make sure your paragraph is thoughtful, detailed and specific. You can find the audio here if you want to re-listen to the sections we heard today (or if you were absent).

Homework: January 29

English 11 (A block)

• Finish up your essay draft. You'll need to have a full draft with you in class on Monday.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study those vocab words! Quiz tomorrow.
• Complete the first 4 questions on the handout you received in class. We'll talk about them in class tomorrow. If you want to re-listen to the episode (first 10 minutes), you can find it here.

English 12 (E block)

• Study your vocab words! Quiz on Monday.
• Finish up your essay draft. You'll need to have it with you in class Monday!
• If you missed class today, go to this link and listen to the first 10 minutes. 

Homework: January 26

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study your vocabulary! You'll have a quiz on Friday.

English 12 (E block)

• Spend some time working on your writing assignment--you have the handout!
• Study your vocabulary--you'll have a quiz on Friday.

CWII (F block)

• Write something--"snow day" is your prompt. We read a personal narrative (David Sedaris "Let it Snow") in class, but your piece can take any form (narrative, short story, poem, play...)

English 11 (G block)

• Study your vocabulary--you'll have a quiz on Friday.

All classes--midterm prep

Here's the run down, folks, of what you need to do to be ready for midterms.

A block: Tuesday

• Portfolio completed by the time you arrive at 7:30.
• Bring your Things They Carried book, character chart, blue sheets, test prep work, motif map.

C block: Wednesday

• Due at the end of the block:
• Portfolio
• Literary analysis revision, uploaded to Turnitin
• Synthesis essay, uploaded to Turnitin

E block: Thursday

• Portfolio completed by the time you arrive at 7:30.
• Prepare for seminar by making notes and marking up texts--see handout for directions.

F block: Thursday:

• Writing portfolio, either electronic or hard copy (binder), must be completed by the end of the block. See handout for instructions.

G block: Friday

• Portfolio completed by the time you arrive at 7:30.
• Bring your Things They Carried book, character chart, blue sheets, test prep work, motif map.

Homework: January 15

English 11 (G and A block)

• Today, you took a test on The Things They Carried. Tomorrow, you'll work on your portfolios in class, so...make sure you've started, and get ready to work!

Honors English 11 (C block)

• You know what you're working on--check earlier posts if you need clarification. See you on Wednesday!

Homework: January 14

Honors English 11 (C block)

You all know what you're working on. Work on it! (check earlier posts if you need clarification)

English 12 (E block)

Work on your portfolios and prepare for book club!

Homework: January 13

English 12 (E block)

• Finish reading "Recitatif" and noticing the ways develops each of the characters. Remember, too, that Maggie's situation is a significant consideration in the story--follow it!
• Keep reading your IR book--book club Friday!
• Study those 5 vocab words--quiz Friday!

Readers/Writers Workshop 8 (F block)

• Finish up your found poem and create a final copy. Make sure to include your poem's title and your name at the top, and write " A found poem from  Book Title , pages ..."

English 11 (G and A block)

• Study for your test! Do so by:
• Making sure you've carefully read the whole book!
• Completing a MOTIF web.
• Completing a CHARACTER chart.
• Working on the practice questions.
• I'm around after school tomorrow...please come and work with me if you have questions!
• Here are the models we did in class today:

Homework: January 12

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

Work on your independent reading found poem. Make sure you come in tomorrow with a full page of lines pulled from your IR book!

English 11 (G and A block)

• You have a test on Thursday, on The Things They Carried.
• Complete your motif map, if you haven't already.
• Work on the character chart.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• You have three things you're working diligently on. Spend some time tonight, and make sure you've planned out a schedule for yourself.
• Figurative language essay
• "They Say/I Say" figurative language essay
• Portfolio

Homework: January 9

English 11 (A block)

• See yesterday's post for homework instructions.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Continue to work on your Gatsby synthesis essay and your portfolio.

English 12 (E block)

• Read and annotate the next two sections of the story "Recitatif." After each section, pause and jot down observations and questions. You should read to page 219.
• Here are our initial notes, after reading the first section. Remember to keep an eye out for the questions and observations we discussed. The cat is not relevant at all to this discussion.

Homework: January 7

English 12 (E block)

• Complete the response handout for today's discussion.

Readers/Writers Workshop 8 (F block)

• Finish your profile!

English 11 (G block)

• If you didn't already complete your Restrepo/"The Lives of the Dead" comparison, do so! You may reference other TTTC stories, but you need to focus on "Lives of the Dead."

English 11 (A block)

• Write a response to the end of The Things They Carried. First, tell what the purpose of the story is; then, tell what you think of it.
• Complete a mind map for your motif.

Homework: January 8

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Work on your portfolio and/or your synthesis essay. Remember, you have 3 big things, all due on Wednesday, January 21. They are:
• Your portfolio
• Your synthesis essay
• Your literary analysis essay final (we'll review your drafts in class on Monday)

English 12 (E block)

• If you were in class today, finish the section of "Recitatif," if you need to. Then, read your IR, or book club book.
• If you weren't in class today, read your book club book to get ahead. You'll have some reading to do in class tomorrow.

RWW 8 (F block)

• If you want to complete your blackout poem, go for it! Or, "write" another!

English 11 (G block)

• Complete a mind map for the motif you picked in class. If you weren't in class today, stop by and get a motif from me tomorrow.

Homework: January 6

English 11 (G and A block)

• Today in class, we finished watching Restrepo. Tonight, please take about 10-15 minutes to do some thinking and writing in which you JUXTAPOSE Restrepo and The Things They Carried (focusing especially on the story "The Lives of the Dead.") Make connections, identify common experiences, themes, motifs, etc. You can create a web, a chart, a mind map, and/or a freewrite. Make sure you have a lot of ideas written down.
• If you missed part of Restrepo, you can find it on Netflix and/or YouTube.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Complete your Gatsby lit. crit. chart (see yesterday's post for information).
• Start your portfolio?

Homework: January 5

Welcome back from break, everyone! You may have noticed that the clocks have changed--we're not on HHS time anymore, so plan accordingly!

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Tonight, spend about 20 minutes either reading essay #2 in your packet (if you haven't already done so), or working on organizing your information as directed below.

To prepare for your writing assignment, you'll need to cull some information about your potential topics. So, pick 2 topics from each column. Identify what each essay in your packet has to say about that topic. Create a chart, web, or some other means to organize your information: 

*Gatsby *Nick *Tom *Daisy *Jordan *Other characters

*The 1920s *The American Dream/American-ness *How the novel links to the present *Language (tone, imagery, symbols, description, momentum...) *What the novel is “about”: the theme, moral or central argument

English 12 (E block)

Book club meets on Wednesday! In preparation, you should write your Reader Response. Please see guidelines on the handout you received in class. I have posted a copy in the Google Classroom as well, if you need to find it. Remember, if you don't have your RR with you AT THE START OF CLASS on Wednesday, you will not participate in your book club discussion. So: make sure you print it out ahead of time. If you need to print it at school, make sure to arrive to school early. Save an electronic copy in Google Drive--if printing is problematic, an electronic version will suffice.

Readers/Writers Workshop (F block)

Today in class we spent some time responding to each other's profiles. We'll continue that work on Wednesday.