Homework: December 17

English 11

• Work on your essay. It's due Wednesday.
• You should come to class tomorrow with an introduction (including thesis), as well as your topic statements and proof identified.

Honors English 12

• Work on your essay. It's due Thursday. (Check in with me if you'd like to discuss an extension.)

Creative Writing 

• By Wednesday, you should go to the 3-Minute Fiction site (linked in an earlier post), read and annotate 3 stories of your choice (based on the same prompt you did in class).
• Then, you'll write a response. The response should include: 
• A response that discusses the approaches each writer took to the same prompt...compare/contrast/discuss...
• Which is your favorite of the three, and why?
• 1 quotation with response from each of the 3 stories.

Homework: December 14

English 11

• We have folks in different places right now. Here's what you need to make sure you've done for Monday:
• Finish reading "How to Tell a True War Story."
• Complete your Mind Map for "True War Story."
• Write the introduction for your essay (check the bright pink sheet for specific instructions) and plan out your essay.

Honors English 12

• Work on your essay! You should check out some of the resources online (check the blog post from earlier today), and do some thinking and planning. 
• Remember, it's due on Thursday of next week. In that time, you need to discern a topic, develop an idea, make some connections between Hamlet and another text, and work in a critical text. You don't want to wait to get started, because you'll want to figure out what your problems are early...

Creative Writing

• Read three short stories on the Three Minute Fiction website (check yesterday's homework post for details).

Looking for a new book? Check out this great chart!

The folks at the Lawrence (Kansas) public library did a whole lot of work to put together charts of book suggestions. There are a bunch more pages...it's a great resource!

CLICK HERE to go to the rest of the charts...

Hamlet resources--Honors English 12

Kenneth B. says, "It's time for YOU
to write something great!"

You're writing an essay! Hooray!

In order to complete this essay, you need to:

• Identify a topic and argument.
• Incorporate another text to compare, contrast, develop or inform your main argument.
• Use at least one piece of literary criticism to help build your argument.

Here are some resources for you:

You can go to this page, which is the HHS Lib Guide scholarly resources page. See over on the left, where it says "Literary Criticism"? Use the search features to look for articles that might help you. You can also use JSTOR from this page.

Before you do that, you might want to check out this site, called Hamlet Haven. A LOT of work has been put into this site, and it presents a massive annotated bibliography of Hamlet resources on all kinds of topics, characters, schools of thought, etc. If you find an article that looks interesting, you'll have to make note of it, then perhaps search through that "Literary Criticism" link on the Lib Guide to access it.

Another useful site might be this one. It has a few articles that are linked from the site, with annotations to tell you what you're looking at.

I also have a few books available in the classroom for you to use; they are collections of critical essays. 

If you find other resources, or have questions about what you've found, please let me know! Happy researching, scholars!

Homework: December 13

English 11

• Work on your Mind Map assignment: You should include content for parts 1-6, at least. (Check the numbered content on the bright green assignment sheet.)

Honors English 12

• Write a 1-page freewrite, in which you examine some of the ideas/topics/etc. that you might write about for your synthesis essay. Remember that you'll need to discern a big idea, a connecting text and a critical essay view. In your freewrite, you can write about one idea in some depth, looking for potential evidence, etc. Or, you might write about a couple of different things you're thinking about.

Creative Writing

• Read and annotate Junot Diaz's short memoir "The Money" (handout from Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2012). Here is is online, in case you forgot your copy somewhere.
• By next Wednesday, you'll need to read, annotate, and write about three of the "Three-Minute Fiction" stories. You can find them at this website.

Homework: December 12

English 11

• Read and take notes on "How to Tell a True War Story" in The Things They Carried--read to the first break on page 76.

Honors English 12

• Finish Act 5, Scene 1 of Hamlet.
• Choose 3 important quotations and respond to them in your journal

Creative Writing

• You're off the hook tonight...we start a new assignment tomorrow.

Homework: December 11

English 11

• If you haven't updated your website yet, that's your homework for tonight! Directions, once again, are here. 
• Make sure you've completed the green sheet on "On the Rainy River," and that you've read "Enemies" and "Friends."

Honors English 12

• Finish reading Hamlet, Act 4.
• Annotate it.
• Write a one-page response about your Act 4 character. Use the Character Focus handout to guide you.

Creative Writing

• We'll discuss The Laramie Project in class tomorrow. Thank you all for being a great audience, and thanks to Krystal and Brooke for getting involved in this important production.
• You have a Reader Response due tomorrow!

Homework: December 10

English 11

• Read "Enemies" and "Friends"
• Complete the Close Reading organizer. Don't forget to respond to one of the prompts from the Making Connections section of your reading response handout on the back!

Honors English 12

• Read Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 1-4. Annotate, and write a reflection based on the Character Focus handout. If you character doesn't show up at all yet, use the regular Reading Log handout for your reflection.
• Keep an eye out for possible topics for your essay--you'll want to start narrowing down a topic as we finish the story this week.

Creative Writing

• Your Reader Response on something funny that you've chosen is due on Wednesday (you have an extra day!)--check previous posts for the directions...

Homework: December 7

English 11

• Finish your character map. You were doing a great job with them in class--make them awesome! Use the guidelines on the handout to make sure that you're meeting all the requirements.

Honors English 12

• Finish reading Act 3, Scene 2 of Hamlet, and read Act 3, Scene 3.
• Write a Reading Log.

Creative Writing

• You have a Reading Response due on Tuesday. Remember, you're picking the text yourself! It should be something humorous, and scripted. You need to annotate it (either writing on a paper text, or writing notes about a video/film/TV text). You should choose and annotate your text by Monday.

Homework: December 6

English 11

• Plan out your character map--you'll do the artwork in class tomorrow!
• Planning involves reading the assignment sheet (it's the second page in your bright green handout) and writing down the information that will need to go on your map. Remember, this task involves pulling quotations that will help explain O'Brien's mental and physical journey.

Honors English 12

• Read and annotate Act 3, Scene 2, up until the break noted in class today. 

Creative Writing

• Your project is due tomorrow! Hooray!

Homework: December 5

English 11

• Read the story "On the Rainy River" from the book The Things They Carried from where we finished reading in class today until the break on page 55. Be prepared for a quiz!
• Take notes on that green sheet...it's how you'll show your growth, and it's prep for the final assessment.

Honors English 12

• Write a response using the Character Traits handout you received in class. If you need another copy, click here.
• Here's the question: Which of the words on that list BEST describes Hamlet? And, which LEAST describes him? Write a justification for each choice.

Creative Writing

• Projects due Friday! 
• Reader Response due Monday.
• If you're going on the field trip Tuesday, spend some time reading the excerpt from The Grief of Others.

Homework: December 4

English 11

• Catch up on any work you need to finish: read through the story "Spin" in The Things They Carried (that's through page 38).
• Work on your Jimmy Cross paragraph if it's not done.
• Write your response in your journal about today's questioning activity (remember, in small groups you asked questions about the statement: Making decisions is easy). The prompt for this journal response is: How did you feel about today's questioning activity? 

Honors English 12

• Thank your folks for writing advice letters to you! (If you're a parent and you don't know what this means, feel free to check in with your student!)
• Read Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1, and write a Reading Log response.

Creative Writing

• Work on your project! It's due Friday, remember?

Homework: November 30

English 11

• Finish reading the first story in The Things They Carried, which is called "The Things They Carried." It ends on page 26.
• Complete the Character Chart.

Honors English 12

• Read to the end of Act 2, Scene 2.
• Complete a reading log assignment--the instructions are on your handout.
• Remind your parents that they have a little "assignment," too! (Parents, if you don't know what this is, check in with your kid!) The letter is due Tuesday.

Creative Writing

• Project work: projects are due next week!

Homework: November 29

English 11

• Read The Things They Carried, just up to the break on page 3 (essentially, just finish the paragraph we were reading in class).
• Then, go through the section we've already read (again, it's only pages 1-3) and fill in the chart that I gave you in class.
• Remember, your portfolio should be updated by tomorrow. Remember we worked on this in class last week. The directions are here if you need them...

Honors English 12

• Read Act 2, Scene 1 and Act 2, Scene 2 (up to the bottom of page 8).
• Write a Reading Log.

Creative Writing

• Work on your Multigenre project.
• You should be able to show half of the project complete--about 5-6 hours (each, if you're working with a partner).

Homework: November 28

English 11

• Read the article provided in class today, and answer the question on the handout.

Honors English 12

• Read Hamlet Act 1, Scene 3
• Complete a Reader's Log entry--use the handout, and make sure you write a response, identify questions, and choose and respond to 3 quotations.

Creative Writing

• Write a response to the film Finding Neverland--use the Reader Response Notebook assignment sheet.

Helpful Hamlet resources!

http://stickfigurehamlet.com/graphics/pages/1-1/page09.gif

Alright, English 12 folks...we're reading Hamlet! You can handle it, I promise. And, it's a pretty interesting and important play. Here are some resources to help you out:

The full text is here. If you ever forget your text at school you can find it here.

This site has some summaries of the scenes. It can help to read the text, then read a summary to check your understanding. Remember, summaries and other study aids should be used to ENHANCE your reading of the play, not REPLACE your reading of the play.

This might be my favorite resource--Stick Figure Hamlet. It's the full text of the play, done as a stick-figure novel. It's fantastic, and a great aid to understanding. Check it out!

Additionally, here's that "Insider's Guide" video. It takes you through the main points of the story--it's helpful!

Homework: November 26

English 11

• For Wednesday: Read "The Things I Carry" handout, then write your own version! It should be 2-3 paragraphs.
• For Friday: Update your portfolio website. We worked in class last Wednesday to start this project--you can look back at the earlier blog post for instructions.

Honors English 12

• For Wednesday: Read Hamlet--Act 1, Scene 1 and Act 1, Scene 2 (up to the point we marked in class). Make notes, and write a response as noted on the Reading Log handout. 
• Check out the blog post about resources! Try to watch the Insider's Guide video by Wednesday--it will help A LOT!

Creative Writing

• Reader's Response due Thursday on Finding Neverland (film).
• Half of your project (about 5 hours worth of work!) due on Friday...check in with me if you have questions.

Today in English 11: Portfolio work

Here's what you'll do today in class...

Go to your portfolio website...remember that? Check it out!

You're going to spend a little time reflecting on your work so far this year. So, here's how you'll do that:
You'll go to each of the 5 indicator on your English 11 portfolio (Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Independence, Creativity and Communication). You'll consider the definitions and questions for each, and then you'll reflect on each, by ADDING A COMMENT to the bottom of each page. You'll talk about what you've done well so far with each indicator, and what you'd like to work on before the course ends in January.

Then, you'll reconsider your goals. Never set any? Do it now. Want to revise them, or add a goal? That's cool, too. Remember that you have a goal posted in the classroom--do you want to swap that out for a new one, or redouble your efforts to make progress?

Here's the original link.

IF you finish all this work in 45 minutes, you can use the rest of the time to make a hand turkey. If you don't finish all the work, you should complete it on your own by Friday, November 30.

Homework: November 20

English 11

• Rest that writing hand of yours! It's probably sore after all that writing you did on your test today...

Honors English 12

• Write a reflection on today's presentations...what did you learn? What was interesting?

Creative Writing

• I won't see you folks tomorrow...have a nice Thanksgiving!

Homework: November 19

English 11

• You have a test tomorrow! On Frederick Douglass's Narrative! So, study for it!

Honors English 12

• Presentations continue tomorrow.
• Write a reflection on what you learned in today's presentations.
• Write about: 
• Ideas that stuck out to you.
• Questions about the arguments being made.
• Connections that you might have seen between your own article and these.
• This reflection can be informal...but it should show nuanced thinking.

Creative Writing

• Spend 20-30 minutes working on your project.