Homework: April 30

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Work on your story!
• Read your independent reading book.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Finish the first body paragraph for your "connecting songs to Gatsby" essay, and write another one. Remember, this is draft writing, so don't worry about every single word. Get your ideas down on paper, and revise later. Check out the model we wrote in class, but remember, this model is just the quick beginning of a draft. It's not perfect yet, and that's ok.
• Read your independent reading book.
  

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study all 80 of those words! 
• Start reading "The Things They Carried"--pay attention to those three essential questions (check the earlier post). Try to read to at least page 14...you'll have chance on Monday to finish the story.
• Read your independent reading book.

Homework: April 29

English 11 (A block)

• If you didn't already annotate your songs, do so tonight. We'll start discussing the essay requirements tomorrow.
• Write a 2-paragraph response to the film version of The Great Gatsby. Address:
• Paragraph One: Your reaction, observations about similarities between the film and book
• Paragraph Two: Differences between film and book (and purpose for the change...for example, in the novel, Gatsby's floating on a mattress in the pool when he's shot by Wilson. In the film, Gatsby's standing at the edge of the pool, gazing at Daisy's house. When Wilson shoots him in the back, Gatsby falls backward into the pool, reaching for Daisy's house but falling away from it. Symbolic, eh?)
• Study your vocab!

Honors English 11 (C block)

• If you missed part of class today, you'll want to spend about 15 minutes today using the yellow paper to map out some of the big moments, quotations, etc. from Big Fish that address these essential questions. We'll finish this map in class tomorrow. 
  
• Write your own version of "The Things I Carry" using the model I gave you as a guide, but feeling free to vary that format to make it your own.
• Study that vocabulary! We'll have a 1-80 word unit test on Tuesday next week.

English 12 (E block)

• Write up a response to today's seminar. Use the prompts below. Due: Friday.
  
• Vocab quiz on Friday! Be ready.
• Complete the Stranger in the Photo prep sheet. 

Homework: April 28

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study your vocabulary--you're reviewing the first 80 words we've studied this year. 
• And, read your independent book!

English 12 (E block)

• Prepare for your seminar discussion tomorrow by writing/planning out your ideas for the Frankenstein/Juno text comparison discussion. Remember, connections aren't necessarily obvious, but they are there. Similarities and differences are significant--remember you're looking for common themes. Make sure you spend at least 20 minutes writing and/or mapping out specific details--find quotations from Frankenstein if you can, and be ready to talk about specific moments/details from each text.
• Study your vocabulary!

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Work on your current piece--short story, nonfiction, etc...

English 11 (G block)

• Make sure you've completed your three songs, annotated with notes. See yesterday's post for more details and a model.
• Study your vocabulary, and read your independent reading book. 

Homework: April 27

English 12 (E block)

• Write your Reader Response for your book club book--it's the final one!
• Find a picture (or, some pictures) of you as a small child (3-10 ish years old?). You'll use it for a final narrative essay.
• Start studying your vocabulary.

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Work on your short story!

English 11 (A and G block)

• Print out the lyrics to 3 of the songs you've chosen to write about for your "connecting Gatsby to modern songs" essay, and annotate them. (If you can't print, do a double entry notebook where you write quotations from the song on the left side and make notes about those quotations on the right side.)
• Here are the notes we did in class:
  

Homework: April 16

Honors English 11 (C block)

• You took a test today. Hooray! Enjoy today's beautiful weather. Read your IR book under a tree or something lovely like that.

English 12 (E block)

• You took a test today, too! Yippee! 
• Over break:
• Enjoy yourself!
• Read your book club book. Our final book club meeting will be on Tuesday when we return from break.
• If you want some basic portfolio information, stop by tomorrow and get it!
• Finally, watch The Lion King over break. Really. Do it.

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Enjoy your breaks, ladies! Read your books, and writer your stories.

Homework: April 15

English 12 (E block)

Study for your test! Here are the slides we reviewed in class.

Creative Writing II (F block)

Keep working on your short story!

English 11 (G and A block)

You took a big test today, so relax. Enjoy the nice day! Read your book!

C block folks, 

here are the slides from yesterday, in case you want to review them!

Here are a couple of websites that might prompt you, Creative Writers!

http://psychology.about.com/od/phobias/a/phobialist.htm

http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/

Homework: April 14

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Work on your short story!

English 11 (G and A block)

• Study for your Gatsby test! We talked in class about the types of questions you'll find, and we also went over study strategies. Review characters and plot, and review your annotations. Open up your book to random pages, pick a passage, and practice analyzing it.
• Here are some practice questions...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Study for your Strength in What Remains test. We talked in class about the types of questions you'll find, and we also went over study strategies. Review characters and plot, and review your notes. Open up your book to random pages, pick a passage, and practice analyzing it. I'll be around after school if you want to come practice--I'll be in F204.

Homework: April 13

English 11 (A block)

• Work on finding those song connections!
• Here are some of my connections--we'll talk more in class tomorrow. Don't take mine...(I'm not sure you would anyway...)
• The song "Float On" by Modest Mouse reminds me of the general attitude that many of the West Egg partygoers have--"Oh well, it's all fine, whatever..."
• The song "The Boy in the Well" connects to Gatsby himself. There's a line about being pinned to a wall, like a fly, for inspection--something about the lyrics of that song really connect to Gatsby, I think.

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Finish reading Strength in What Remains--and then consider these questions:

English 12 (E block)

• Your schedule is posted earlier--scroll down the page. Complete the reading of Frankenstein, and get ready for a test on Thursday!

Homework: April 9

English 12 (E block)

• Check the earlier post for the full schedule of the next few days. Get it done!!!

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Check the earlier post for the link I showed you in class today. Complete that assignment,
• Spend some time writing the short story you started in class today.

English 11 (G and A block)

• Your opinionnaire is due next class. Make sure you have completed the whole assignment, with a quotation as evidence in each of the responses. Make sure you also have chosen a song for the last question on the opinionnaire...not from the Gatsby soundtrack!
• You have a quiz next class! Study those words...
• Your Gatsby test will be Wednesday. Make sure you've read and annotated the whole book!!!

Creative Writing links

Click here, and read the first few sentences of the most recent stories published in The New Yorker. Post a comment below, identifying which two you'd be most interested in reading, and why.

English 12--Schedule for April 9-17

OK, folks! We're coming upon April vacation, and we're also coming upon the end of your high school careers! Yikes!

Here's what's coming up:
Monday, April 13: Vocabulary test-- DIGRESSION-MUNDANE
Thursday, April 16: Frankenstein test

In order to be ready for the test on Thursday, you may have realized you'll need to finish reading Frankenstein! You should finish by Wednesday. Here's the suggested plan:

By FRIDAY, 4/10: Through chapter 19
By MONDAY, 4/13: Through chapter 22
By WEDNESDAY, 4/15: Finished!

On Thursday, you'll take a test, and then you'll go off on your merry way for vacation. (On Friday, you'll leave for vacation. Not Thursday. But I won't see you on Friday.)

Homework: April 8

English 11 (G and A block)

• Finish Gatsby! You should be keeping a close eye here on how this tale will end. 
• Study your vocabulary--you have a quiz next week. (Monday for A block, Tuesday for G block.)
• Included below are the directions from today's in-class activity. Finish it up if you didn't complete it in class:

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Finish reading chapter 16 and 17 for Friday. You can read ahead, if you have time, because you'll finish the book next week.
• Study your vocabulary. We'll have a quiz on Monday.

Homework: April 7

Honors English 11 (C block)

• For Friday, you'll need to finish reading chapters 16 and 17 of Strength. We've identified significant motifs, as well as patterns that have been developing throughout the book. Continue to follow these as you read, and keep track of their development.

English 12 (E block)

• If you haven't already done so, complete the thinking and writing exercise depicted below.
• Read chapter 18 and 19 for Friday--now that Victor has agreed to make a companion creature, what will he do next? Keep an eye on: his return to Geneva, his chat with dear old dad, and his travels!
  
• It's a book club day, so be ready for it! Make sure you have your RR with you.

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Tweet out a question, take one response and write a 1-2 page short story inspired by the response.

Homework: April 6

English 12 (E block)

• Here's what you should have completed by tomorrow! (Click on the picture to read it!) Go get 'em! (Remember the close reading includes a paragraph or so of freewriting.)

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Read your IR book! 
• Then, choose a word, phrase or sentence from your IR book, and write a 10-minute freewrite based on it. 

English 11 (G and A block)

• Finish reading chapter 8 in Gatsby! Remember, the question you're considering is: What is the FALL OUT from the events of chapter 7? As you mark up the text, make some notes--what do you notice? Are there patterns that are continuing? Any major contrasts?
• Start studying your new vocab!
• Read your IR book--we'll complete reading logs on Day 6 (Thursday).

Homework: April 2

Creative Writing II (F block)

• Choose 3 VERY DIFFERENT books (a textbook, a novel, a phone book, an instruction manual...anything!). In each, go to page 90, and copy down the 12th sentence. 
• Then, write a short story (take about 15 minutes)...use one of the 3 lines as the first line of your story, use the second one in the middle somewhere, and use the third as the last line of your story. Be creative and have fun!

English 11 (G and A block)

• If you didn't carefully read chapter 7...do that! Remember, it's "Spring cleaning/Get it together" time. Make sure you're putting time, thought and effort into your work.
• Complete your "power chart" for Chapter 7 of Gatsby. Check out the slides below for instructions, as well as the picture of our draft that we started in class. (Click on each to view it...)
• A block, you're completing your chart. G block, you're completing your chart AND writing the paragraph (2nd slide). Lucky you! :)

Honors English 11 (C block)

• Read and take notes on chapter 15 in Strength. We'll talk on Tuesday about PURPOSE--what does this chapter show us? What do we learn?
• Read your IR book!

Homework: April 1

English 12 (E block)

• Remember, some of you have quizzes to make up, and the term is ending! Soon! Come make up some quizzes.
• For MONDAY:
• Read chapter 15 in Frankenstein. The Creation has been telling his story--he's been lurking in a hovel, watching and learning from the cottagers. He mentions a desire to interact with them, and he has a plan...keep an eye on this!
• Complete the handout--Ignorance is bliss v. Knowledge is power.