English 8: Blocks 3/4

I apologize for not updating my blog this weekend!

During Friday's class, we played a Jeopardy game to review parts of speech, worked on the Descriptive Character Paragraph, and watched the Simpsons' version of "The Monkey's Paw".

Today, we had Course Selection in the library for the first half of class. After that, students wrote a quiz on Parts of Speech and completed a worksheet for "The Monkey's Paw". This is due for homework.

Reminders:

• "The Monkey's Paw" worksheet: Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2015
• Descriptive Character Paragraph: Thursday, Mar. 5, 2015
• Short Story Test: Friday, Mar. 6, 2015

English 11

I apologize for not updating the blog this weekend! Don't forget about the quiz on literary terminology tomorrow!

On Friday, we read the story "Paper" by Catherine Lim and students had a corresponding worksheet to complete. Today, I went over the structure of literary essays and I explained my expectations. Students will be writing an in-class synthesis essay on Wednesday, so we will be prepping for this during tomorrow's class.

I gave students a booklet containing resources for essay-writing. Firstly, we went over the topic choices for the synthesis essay. I then went through the structure of introductions, the structure of body paragraphs, and the structure of conclusions. We also looked at samples for thesis statements and samples for integrating quotations. In the booklet, there is also a writing rubric that we went over, as well as graphics for essay structure. The essay booklet is very valuable; don't loose it!

To prepare for the upcoming essays, we did a collaborative brainstorming session. I wrote the different essay topics on chart paper, students split up into groups of five and each group had to write down anything from the stories we studied that connected with that  particular essay topic. After about 5 minutes, we rotated the chart paper. Consequently, each group wrote down their ideas for all the essay topics. Many students took pictures of their ideas to help them plan for the essay.

Reminders:

• Literary Terminology Quiz: Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2015
• In-Class Synthesis Essay: Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2015
• Short Story Projects: Monday, Mar. 9, 2015

English 8: Block 7/8

Have a great weekend! You guys were great worker bees today!

We started off the day with silent reading. After that, we looked at the structure of paragraphs and students were assigned a Descriptive Character Paragraph. We looked at a variety of character traits and examples to complete the paragraph. Students were given time to complete the Paragraph Planner and a rough copy for this assignment. You guys worked so well on this!

We then watched the Simpsons version of "The Monkey's Paw", and finished off class with a Jeopardy game on Parts of Speech.

Reminders:

• Parts of Speech Quiz (open-book): Monday, Mar. 2, 2015
• Short Story Test: Friday, Mar. 6, 2015

English 8: Blocks 7/8

Tuesday Feb. 24- Thursday Feb. 26, 2015

Over the past few day, students continued with silent reading and completed two worksheets for identifying Parts of Speech. 

During Tuesday's class, we finished our notes on elements of short stories. We also read the story "The Street That Got Mislaid".

Today, we completed questions and a character sketch for "The Street That Got Mislaid". We also went over different types of point of view by looking at various excerpts from stories and novels. Additionally, we read the story "The Hockey Sweater", completed corresponding questions, and watched the N.F.B. video version of the story.

We finished off the day reading "The Monkey's Paw" and watched a video version of the story. Thank you to the students who read aloud!

Reminders:

• "The Street That Got Mislaid" questions: due Friday, Feb. 27, 2015
• "The Hockey Sweater" questions: due Friday, Feb. 27, 2015
• Parts of Speech Open-book Quiz: Monday, Mar. 2, 2015

English 11

Tuesday, Feb. 24 - Thursday Feb. 26, 2015

During Tuesday's class, we finished reading "The Yellow Wallpaper". I provided students with some background information on the author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and the historical context of the story. After that, students split up into groups and wrote out the literary analysis on chart paper; they did this by identifying the main story elements (theme, characters, conflict, etc. )

Today, I displayed the chart papers on the board and we went over the different elements of plot as a class. Great work! After that, we watched the 2014 short film "The Yellow Wallpaper" (30 mins). I then introduced the Short Story Project. Students (groups of one or two) were assigned a selected short story and they must prepare a literary analysis to present to the class. I am still working on getting us some library time, so I don't have a due date for this assignment yet. Students spent the rest of the period working on this project.

English 8: Blocks 3/4

Have fun skiing this afternoon!

Tuesday Feb. 24- Wednesday Feb. 25, 2015

Over the past few day, students continued with silent reading and completed two worksheets for identifying Parts of Speech. 

Yesterday, we read the story "The Street That Got Mislaid" and completed a character sketch for the story. We also finished our notes on irony.

Today, we went over different types of point of view by looking at various excerpts from stories and novels. Additionally, we read the story "The Hockey Sweater", completed corresponding questions, and watched the N.F.B. video version of the story.

After that, we looked at the structure of paragraphs and students were assigned a Descriptive Character Paragraph. We looked at a variety of character traits and examples to complete the paragraph. Students were given time to complete the Paragraph Planner for this assignment. 
We finished off the day reading "The Monkey's Paw". Thank you to the students who read aloud!

Reminders:

• "The Hockey Sweater" questions: due Friday, Feb. 27, 2015
• Paragraph Planner worksheet: due Friday, Feb. 27, 2015

English 11

Don't forget to hand in "The Lottery" questions and movie worksheet!

Today we read the short story "The Elephant" aloud. We then went over the historical context of the story, the reasons why it's a satirical allegory, the hidden meanings, and the themes. This included a small review of WWII events and communism. Students were then given a worksheet to complete.

We also started reading the story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and we will continue this next class.

Reminders:

• "The Lottery" questions and movie worksheet - due today!
• "The Elephant" worksheet: due Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015