MrEverson.com Archive

Today was the last day of the semester. Students used the abbreviated class period to review their notes as well as the vocabulary in the text book in preparation for this week's final exam. Homework: review all literary elements!

Period 2 class will take its final from 9:00-10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 12/18; Period 3 class will take its final from 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, 12/18; Period 4 class will take its final from 7:20-8:50 a.m. on Wednesday, 12/19. 

Today we took the test over Animal Farm. Student need to return their copies of the novel as soon as possible to avoid their report cards being held by the office. Homework: None.

Today was a shortened day due to late start. I re-iterated that the Animal Farm test will be next Tuesday, we took a quiz, and then we talked briefly about the perversion of Old Major's vision for the farm from his speech in ch. 1 to what is now happening in ch. 8 & 9. Homework: finish the novel for Friday.

We spent the first half of class going over the short story test as well as progress reports for the first semester so far. If you missed class today, please come talk to me to see your test and get your grades.

Afterwards, we used C. 6 of Animal Farm to practice finding examples from the text, quoting them, and citing them with a page number; for this exercise, students looked for examples that things are starting to go badly on Animal Farm, and particularly that Napoleon and Squealer are manipulating the situation to their own benefit. Homework: is to read Ch. 7 for Monday.

Today we took a quiz on and discussed Ch. 3 of Animal Farm. Have a good Thanksgiving break!

We started class today playing a game with paperclips to try and illustrate capitalist and socialist systems, which led into our introduction to Animal Farm, and the history and literary background and importance of the novel. We then briefly discussed the first chapter. Homework: read ch. 2 of Animal Farm for Wednesday.

I was absent today for the review of the short story unit using "The Scarlet Ibis." Please come to class Thursday prepared for the short story test (open book, open note, entire class period). 

Today we started with a quiz on "The Gift of the Magi." Next were notes on irony and ambiguity, followed by a worksheet for "Magi," which I collected then we discussed. Afterwards, I assigned the homework: read "The Lady or the Tiger," p. 298, and then complete the paragraph from the prompt on this worksheet.

Today we spent a lot of time reviewing Theme and talking about how it relates to human nature and the human condition. We will continue this conversation over the next class period or two, as it's a more complex topic than some of the others we've covered previously. We also did some practice in paragraph organization/writing, building off the homework for today on Theme.

Homework: read "Liberty," p. 246, and answer questions 1-4 at the end of the story; due Monday.

Today we started class with a quiz on “The Interlopers.” Then we talked a little bit about using the Web site and my expectations of students when they are absent (check the site at least before you’re back in class, whether it was excused or not). Afterwards we had a short discussion of “The Interlopers,” introduced the three different types of narrator point of view, identified the POV of “The Interlopers” with examples, and then the class split into groups to do the same for the other four stories we’ve read in this unit. Homework: Please read “The Sniper.” There will likely be a quiz on Tuesday.

We began today’s class with a quiz on “Thank You, M’am.” Then we discussed the story, hitting the main plot points (exposition, complications, climax, resolution) as well as reviewing different details about the setting (time and place). After taking some notes on character and characterization, and discussing the information in the notes in the context of “The Most Dangerous Game,” I had the class create a chart of things the characters in “Thank You, M’am” said, didn't say, and did, and what could be inferred about their personalities from those details in the story (see #2 on p. 94).

Homework: read “Helen on Eighty-Sixth Street,” p. 105; then answer questions 1-6 on p. 114. Due on Wednesday, the next Red day.

Today we started our short story unit. We took a quiz on “The Most Dangerous Game,” took notes on elements of plot, and then identified those elements in the story. Homework: read “Dog Star,” p. 33-38 in the text book, and complete a plot diagram for the story. You should also identify what the conflict(s) is/are as well as any flash-forward, flash-back, and/or foreshadowing in the story.

Part 6 of the Poetry Project was due today. If you have not turned it in, and otherwise don’t have some sort of extension arranged with me, it is late. This means it will count as a zero until you turn it in (likely dropping you to an F in the class); but once you do turn it in, you can still receive full credit for the assignment, you just may not revise it for a better grade later on.

We will have a test over our poetry unit on Thursday, 10/4. This will cover imagery, figures of speech, and sounds of poetry as reviewed in class today with “Boy at the Window” on p. 451. Please make sure not to forget your notes and/or textbook on Thursday as it is an open-note/open-book test.

Today, more exciting writing review. We first talked about clauses (independent and dependent), and what to do when they’re fragments. Then, we reviewed different types of run-on sentences. Afterwards, students did some practice in the language text while I finalized poetry project part 5 grades and conferenced with everyone individually. Friday will be a work day for poetry project part 6 (the final piece), which won’t actually be due until the start of class next Tuesday. Homework: begin preparation for your final piece of the poetry project — a paper outlining everything you did and learned through the project, along with an examination of your chosen poem’s imagery, figurative language (simile, metaphor, etc.), and sound (rhyme, rhythm, etc.).

Today we started by reviewing the homework on “The Gift.” I then gave out the assignment for part 5 of the poetry project — this is due at the end of class on Monday, which will be work day (at least in part). Then we practiced with another poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” on p. 457. Homework: is to begin work on part 5 of the poetry project in preparation for Monday.

Part 4 of your poetry project was due today. If you did not turn it in, or didn't turn it in with the rest of the project, please do so next week (you will not receive full credit). Many of you have been asking me about your grades — I hope to have more information for you next week.

Today, we took notes on the sounds of poetry (overhead notes) and applied them to a Shakespearean sonnet. Specifically, we looked at the number and pattern of syllables (stressed and unstressed) as well as the rhyme scheme. Homework: Write a sonnet of your own. You must use the rhyme scheme as determined in class today. Each line must have 10 syllables each. Try to keep each line to the pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (you may not be able to do so all the way through the poem). In Period 4, I had some students leave early for the assembly, so here is the rhyme scheme for your class:

A - apple 

B - cat 

A - Snapple™      

B - rat 

C - bag 

D - banana       

C - snag   

D - Anna 

Today every class was put in a seating chart. If you were absent today, please check with me on Wednesday to see where you sit. Everyone then responded to a writing prompt to practice sentence writing. Afterwards, we began our study of sentence completeness by reading about sentence fragments in the Elements of Language text. The text identifies a 3-part test for determining whether a phrase is a sentence or a fragment: 1.) Does the phrase contain a subject? 2.) Does the phrase contain a verb? 3.) Does the phrase state a complete thought. After discussing and practicing some examples, students traded their warm up writing with a partner and tried to identify sentence fragments (or, in the absence of any, the subjects, verbs, and completeness of the first few sentences). Students shared some of these sentences, and I put them on the projector to talk about whether or not they were complete. Toward the end of class, I handed back parts 1-3 of the poetry project and gave out the assignment for part 4, which is due Friday. You will have a small amount of time Wednesday to work on part 4 in class.

Today was a bit disrupted because of yearbook/ID photos. I gave everyone two assignments to work on in class, which are homework if you don’t get them finished — we will review them Thursday. First, you needed to read and paraphrase “in Just—” by e.e. cummings; it’s a weird poem, so do the best you can with the paraphrase. After that, please answer questions 1-7 on p. 416. The paraphrase will help. Second, read and take notes on “Figures of Speech,” p. 428-429. Then read “Tiburón” on p. 430. Paraphrase this short poem and then identify any figurative language you find.

While students were working on this homework, I tried to conference with everyone on their poetry projects to make sure everyone understood the assignment. A few of you finished up during class — others will turn it in late on Thursday.

I introduced the poetry project today. I will update the PDF as I add pieces to the project. Periods R3 and R4 did library orientation (period R2 will catch up with that next week). All students practiced logging into the computers so Thursday’s work day will go more smoothly. I also distributed textbooks — if you were absent, please make sure to get one the next time you are in class. Homework: Read and paraphrase “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou on p. 409. You must also identify 5 examples of imagery and describe which sense each appeals to; you must mention at least 2 different senses with your 5 images.

We reviewed the class norms and guidelines and began practicing paraphrasing poetry. The homework for today is to get the bottom of page 2 of the guidelines signed by a parent. It is due on Friday and is for a grade.