Seniors: Final grades will hopefully be entered into Skyward tomorrow depending on time.

10H: Final grades will be entered as I get everything finalized (memoirs, projects, extra credit)
Use this narrative rubric for more detailed feedback on your memoir grade.

Grades will not be posted in print outside of classroom as in years past.  You will need to check Skyward for your final grade.

English 10H GC Short Answer General Feedback/Explanations:
1.  Had to emphasize the fact that the "border between turbulence and order" was THEIR LIFE and that it was a product of Rose Mary and Rex.  She realizes this as an adult but also acknowledges how it prepared her for her own independence.  A good answer will make the direct correlation (symbolically) between this aspect of fire and the life of the Walls family.  It will also reference the uncertainty of going back and forth and how eventually that becomes motivation for the children, as they get older, to make a change.

2.  Had to include reference to JW realizing that she didn't want to completely abandon who she was and that New York was too much of a departure, but the farm in Virginia represents a blend of who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be.  Answers should also contain acknowledgment of the fact that despite the hardship, her childhood and experience with her family did truly shape her as a person.

3.  Tragic Hero is the key element.  You can't just talk about Rex's alcoholism or the fact that he keeps disappointing JW.  Why can't he stop doing it?  A tragic flaw is something that brings a hero down despite their best efforts to combat it.  Why can't Rex stop drinking, or get a normal job, or just stop dragging his family through the mud?

4.  Although the whipping did affect the bond between Rex and JW, it really served as a realization to JW that she had to GET OUT.  Not just out of Welch, but out of the cycle (turbulence and order) of her life at that point.  This point marks the end of the "adventure" of growing up in her family.  It's not a game anymore, and she's going to get stuck if she doesn't do something about it.  This provides the jolt of reality that she needs.  Additionally, if Rex had backed JW rather than Rose Mary, it would basically been an admission that he was also in the wrong because he is also a lousy parent in the traditional sense.

Finals Preparation.  

Open note/open book for all. As Gandalf would say, 

"STUDY, OR YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!"

English 12: Vocabulary Test 8.  Begin preparing your finals notes.  Final exam will be over the following material: Canterbury Tales General Prologue, Pardoner's Tale, Wife of Bath's Tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d'Arthur.  There will also be 2 cold reads on the test.

English 10H: Art Replication Project Presentations.  Reminder on the semester exam material:  Objective questions will come from the 5 listed pieces of literature.  Constructed written response will come from the 2 cold reads.

English 12:
Read The Wife of Bath's Tale.  Vocabulary test tomorrow.  Sentences will be over the purpose/message of each of the two CT tales read this week.  Focus on the satire, the character and how they are presented, and the difference between the author (Chaucer) and the narrator (Pardoner/WOB).  You will have access to your notes, but not to the text.

English 10H:
Initial finals information.  The following works will be the source material for your semester exam and can be found in the text book:  Ode to My Socks, We Real Cool, Same Song, And of Clay Are We Created, Into Thin Air.  There will also be several cold reads on the test.

In class today: Meet with groups to finalize your presentation details.  You must show me a basic written outline of the structure of your presentation (basically, what are you planning your in class time to look like?) by the end of the hour.

Monday 12/8

English 12: Read and discuss The Pardoner's Tale.

English 10H: Wordwright 2

English 12: CT general prologue part 2 identification quiz and discussion.

English 10H: Hand back and discuss close reading element of Vocabulary Test 6.  Patterns and close reading in Wordwright 2 word list.  We will take Wordwright 2 on Monday.

English 12: Hand back Vocabulary 7 test.  Vocabulary List 8.  These words are Canterbury Tales GP specific, so you need to develop a contextual familiarity with them that can be applied to the characters, the traits, and the descriptions of the GP.  Finish reading the GP (starting with The Skipper) and take notes over the remaining characters.  There will be a quiz on Friday on which you will be given a description of the character and must identify them.

English 10H: GC test. Wordwright 2 will be on Monday 12/8. Here are the words:

From the poems (2 poems):
shire, pall, supple, drawn

From the questions:
onomatopoeia, iambic, feminine rhyme, personification, anthem, patter, orison, pallor, rhetorical question, fulcrum, wry, bayonet, elegiac, alliteration, consonance,keen, villanelle, Shakespearean sonnet, ode, epic, Petrarchan sonnet, tone, talon, brusque, acerbic, cynical, blithe, sage, flippant, heroic couplet, slant rhyme, connotation, irony, halcyon, verb mood, masculine rhyme

Don't forget, the deadline for submissions to the JOCO Library's teen literary magazine Elementia (submit here) is this week.  As of 3:10 pm on Tuesday 12/2 the submission clock on their website is at 3 days 8 hrs.  If you want to submit to this magazine, get it done.  If you want extra credit to go with it, check in with me and a draft of your submission before the deadline.  Submissions are electronic.

English 12: Read first half of the Canterbury Tales General Prologue (GP) in class.  Take notes over each character.  Focus on physical description, personality, and character traits.  Quick ID quiz after reading.

English 10H: Due to confusion regarding the testing schedule over The Glass Castle and how it is configured regarding block scheduling this week, the test dates have been moved to Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  GC test will be Wed/Thurs Dec. 3 and 4.  It will be open book and open note.

English 10H: Turn in memoirs electronically by submitting them to the Memoir Assignment from Nov. 18th in Google Classroom.

English 12: Vocabulary Test 7

English 10H: Writing titles.  Memoir discussions.  "I am..." turn-ins.

English 10H Students!!! Please refer back to this passage while writing, and especially while revising, your memoir. Do not just write a summary of an "important" event in your life. It is about YOU!

William Zinsser: Excerpt from interview on writing memoirs

Most people embarking on a memoir are paralyzed by the size of the task. What to put in? What to leave out? Where to start? Where to stop? How to shape the story? The past looms over them in a thousand fragments, defying them to impose on it some kind of order. Because of that anxiety, many memoirs linger for years half written, or never get written at all.

What can be done?

You must make a series of reducing decisions. For example: in a family history, one big decision would be to write about only one branch of the family. Families are complex organisms, especially if you trace them back several generations. Decide to write about your mother's side of the family or your father's side, but not both. Return to the other one later and make it a separate project.

Remember that you are the protagonist in your own memoir, the tour guide. You must find a narrative trajectory for the story you want to tell and never relinquish control. This means leaving out of your memoir many people who don't need to be there. Like siblings.


My final reducing advice can be summed up in two words: think small. Don't rummage around in your past — or your family's past — to find episodes that you think are "important" enough to be worthy of including in your memoir. Look for small self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you still remember them it's because they contain a universal truth that your readers will recognize from their own life.

English 12: Read the introduction to the Canterbury Tales prologue and discuss the purpose and general background.  For Monday's vocabulary test, each of your 5 written sentences needs to be about one of the characters from the CT prologue.  The focus of the sentence needs to be about what element of that character is being made fun of or is different than you would expect.  For instance, we talked about the knight in class and how he is the opposite of Beowulf.  He doesn't brag or boast or think highly of himself.  Instead, he is humble and chivalrous and he even "lowers" himself socially by mingling with the other pilgrims.

English 10H: Individual meetings regarding memoir.  Read this article about writing titles for Monday.  We will discuss it then.  "I am..." statement portion of memoir assignment due Monday Nov. 24.  For Monday, bring 3 potential titles for your memoir.

English 12: Vocabulary 7- abstain, lobby (verb), scrutinize, suppress, recluse, prudent, emulate, digress, camaraderie, aesthetic.  Read and discussed the Human Nature satire piece from yesterday.  Vocabulary test 7 will be Monday Nov. 24th.

English 10H: Vocabulary test 6.  Discuss source material for sentences after test.  Discussed memoir (Due Monday the 24th and Monday Dec. 1st) so check the assignment sheet.

English 12: Introductory responses and notes over Satire/Parody on Google Classroom.  First satire piece we will look at is posted here and on classroom.  Human Nature Satire

English 10H: Group work on Section 2 of Glass Castle (50-125) chapter endings.  Assigned and discussed the 2 part memoir assignment.  Remember that Vocabulary 6 test is Wed/Thurs of this week.

Monday 11/17

English 12: Study Hall.  Will begin Satire/Parody tomorrow.

English 10: Finish memoir brainstorming 2 sentence responses on Google Classroom.  Revisit the chapter endings in GC through pg. 125.  Remember that last week's Vocabulary 6 Test has been moved to this Wed/Thurs.

Students and families,

I would appreciate your help on this one.  My dad is the director of shelter services at Wayside Waifs.  As you can imagine, this time of year can be pretty tough on animal shelters due to the weather and the intake of animals that comes as a result.  Spin Pizza is donating money to a local charity and all you need to do is click on this link, click the red "vote for your charity" button,  and then type Wayside Waifs.  No sign up, no email needed, no money from you.  Vote for Wayside Waifs.  Thanks, and this little guy appreciates it too.  (Votes must be in by 4pm on Sunday 11/16)

English 12: Just to make sure you're ready for the Grendel test on Friday 11/14.  8-9 Reading Guide and 10-12 Reading Guide.  Vocabulary 6 Test was today so make sure you get it done if you were absent.

English 10H: ACT Plan Test rest of week.  Vocabulary pushed to next week.  Read through 125 in GC for Monday.

English 10H: Schedule Update-  It was just brought to my attention that we will be taking the ACT Plan test in class this week.  We will take two sections on the block day and two on Friday.  This will push our vocabulary test to Wed/Thurs of next week.

English 12: Grendel test will be Friday 11/14. The following material will be directly referenced:

You will need to identify and explain specific instances from the novel where the following quote is applicable:

The novel Grendel, it seems to me, is essentially a novel about faith and reason. Grendel is again and again given the opportunity of believing something which western civilization has held up as a value. For instance, heroism is one of the subjects taken up in the book very explicitly. A young man named Hrothgar decides he is going to be a hero. Just on faith he believes in heroes--he hasn't really thought about it--and he's willing to die for this principle. Grendel, who doesn't believe in anything, that's why he's a monster, makes fun of him and makes him doubt the idea of heroism. He gives you all the good arguments, like, only the young are heroic, they go out because they're stupid and they run up the hill at the machine gun. Or, heroism is a knee-jerk response, it's not a free will response, and so on . . . Grendel is given the opportunity to believe in love. Freud can prove to you, if you are willing to listen to proof, that love does not exist, that it's an illusion. It's mutual need or something like this. Any value that we have can be rationalized out of existence, reasoned out of existence. At some point you just have to say I don't care, here I stand. But until that last moment of the novel Grendel is unable to make that leap, and then he makes it because he's sort of pushed over the ledge and driven to it. So that's a book of faith.

-John Gardner
You will need to be familiar with the general theme of the poem Cartoon Physics and how it relates to Grendel.

You will need to pay special attention to the "young Shaper" on page 165 and his words. Juxtapose this against what Grendel says from the middle of 173 to the end.

The irony in Grendel and Beowulf's battle at the end and how it serves as a reflection of the entire novel's philosophies.

Be able to explain how one of the philosophies is fully realized through the course of the novel.

English 10H: Glass Castle/Memoir discussion. Individual project group meetings.

Friday, November 7

English 12: Covered Ch. 8 reading guide questions.  Senior paper topic discussion.

English 10H: Glass Castle chapter endings discussion.

English 12: Vocabulary 6.  Death by Treacle for Friday.  This article will play a major role on your Grendel test next week as well as be part of your vocabulary test sentence material.  We will spend some time on it in class, but use time in class today to read and take notes/annotate.  I will give specific elements and sections of it that you will need to focus on.  Senior paper discussion/fact finding in class.

English 10H: Vocabulary 6. Glass Castle part 1 (pg. 1-41) open book short answer quiz.

Tuesday 11/4

English 12: Grendel Ch. 6 & 7 discussion in class using reading guide questions.  8&9 for Friday of this week.  Finish Grendel by next Wednesday 11/12.  Grendel test will be Friday 11/14.

English 10H: Circle discussion using "A Heartbreaking Work..." by Dave Eggers.

English 12: Grendel 5-7 Essay Response on Classroom. Will discuss tomorrow.

English 10H: Read the excerpt from Dave Eggers' memoir and then, as a group, work on formulating a question specific to the text for each of the following categories. The questions will be used tomorrow in a Socratic style seminar.

1. Class connection question connecting the text to our class discussion about writing memoir.
2. Close-ended question that will allow class to come to agreement about events or the author and his experience. There should be a "correct" answer or answers.
3. Open-ended question that will require proof, group discussion, and a "construction of logic" based on what we have to work with that will allow us to discover or explore possible answers.
4. Core issue question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage group discussion about the universal aspect of the text.

For Wednesday/Thursday these are the following concepts from section 1 (pg.-1-41 of The Glass Castle that you will need to focus on: Checking out Rex Walls style. Rose Mary's pride at staying resilient despite adversity. The Joshua Tree. Stars as Christmas Presents. The Glass Castle (the structure) and The Prospector. Fire.

Due to the unreliability of Apple TV, I am asking all students to acquire or locate a set of headphones to have with you any time you are in English class (10H and 12) for the purpose of watching/listening to material if I am not able to play it for the class as a whole.  I recognize that this is just "one more thing" but it is a reality that we must deal with.  Thanks.

English 12: Watch the following TED talk in class: Are we in control of our own decisions?  Grendel Reading Guide for Ch. 8-9.  Update: Apple TV didn't work...again, so we will try to watch the video next week.  Feel free to watch on your own.

English 10H: Hand out The Glass Castle to begin reading for next week.  More discussion on memoir. Truth and purpose in memoir.  Little Halloween lesson: Dia de los Muertos

English 12: Vocabulary test 5.  Full discussion of Nihilism and how Grendel's meeting with the dragon changes his perspective on the idea of "finding a place" in the world.  Ch. 5 study questions.

English 10H: Art submissions were due yesterday (Wednesday) and I will be going through them today/tomorrow.  Please make sure that you start planning/scheduling with your group as soon as possible.  Don't waste weekends, starting now!  Vocabulary test 5 and walkthrough of old projects.  This will pretty much be it for in-class work on the project, other than a couple of progress checks that I will do at various times.  I will announce a final project due date early next week.

English 10H: Submissions of your group's art is due by midnight.  Make sure you include all necessary information.

English 12: Graded and discussed strategies on ACT/Wordwright practice cold read and quiz.  Discussion of "Pretending" connection to Grendel.  Introduced the philosophy of Nihilism.  Tomorrow's vocabulary sentences will be over Grendel's meeting with the dragon in Ch. 5.  You can use a half sheet of notes over Ch. 5.  I will check your notes during the test, make sure there is absolutely nothing vocabulary specific on them or you get a 0.

English 10: How to Write Your Own Memoir.  This will be your source material for vocabulary test sentences this week.  You will write about the critical elements needed to successfully write about yourself and your own experiences.  We also discussed "Typhoid Fever" using the dialectical journal categories given in class yesterday.

English 12: ACT practice.  For tomorrow, annotate "Pretending" using the following guidelines in comparison to Grendel: How do both approach the concept of Nature vs. Nurture?  How are the "homes" of Roxanne, the narrator, and Grendel instrumental in who they are as characters?  How does the "pretending" theme function?  We will also start talking about Ch. 5 & 6 tomorrow and Wednesday.  Finish Evil collages.

English 10H: In class enrichment.  Group project discussion.  Final choice of original art must be submitted by the end of the day (11:59 pm) on Wednesday with all corresponding required information.  Read "Typhoid Fever" on pg. 485 in textbook.  Dialectical journal style notes over the following: Paradox involving Frank and Patricia meeting.  Irony in F and P discussing their ages.  Juxtaposition of the nuns' attitudes compared to the kids.  Seamus as a foil to both the nuns and the children.  Symbolic attributes of literature and poetry to Frank's life experience.  Why does Frank continue the story past Patricia's death?  How do the seemingly contradictory mood and tone work in conjunction with each other?

English 12: Vocabulary List 5.  Full discussion of  Ch. 4 Grendel using the reading guide questions.  Work on the Evil Wall to complement the Hero Wall.

English 10H: Vocabulary List 5.  Discussed additions/changes to the Details Replication Project.  Continued group work: work on deciding on your original piece choice.

English 12: Discussed Ch. 3 Reading Questions for Grendel.  Initial discussions on the Klosterman preface with corresponding questions.

English 10H: Details: Art Replication Project. Changes have been made to the assignment sheet, please note and re-save these changes if you saved this already.

English 12: Went over 1-3 questions.  Read the Klosterman preface and annotate.  We will discuss in class tomorrow.

English 10H: Comparison of American Gothic painting and AG photo.  Work into discussion of Choice of Weapons dialectical journals.

Conference Schedule Change- Wednesday night conferences will now be from 4-7 pm rather than 5-8.  Wednesday October 22nd: Conferences from 4-7 pm.

English 12: Grendel Ch. 1-3 Quiz. Ch. 4-7 Reading Guide

English 10H: Read "A Choice of Weapons" in textbook.  Response assignment on GC.  Be impressive.

Skyward and Q1 Grades Note:

First quarter grades are currently locked by Skyward.  This is supposed to be changed shortly, which will allow me to continue to update grades that are changed due to makeup work, revisions, and grade entry for Q1 assignments that had not been entered yet. Thanks for the patience as this issue is fixed.

English 12: Vocabulary Test 4.  Reminder of Grendel quiz over Ch. 1-3 on Friday.  All quizzes/tests over Grendel will be open note.  Quizzes and tests will focus heavily on the philosophical elements specific to each chapter.  So far, these have been in discussion: Ch. 1- General philosophy/Orphism.  Ch. 2- Solipsism and Plato's Cave (the Matrix)

English 10H: Vocabulary Test 4.  Discussion over My Two Lives as we transition to memoirs/biographical works.

Tuesday October 14

English 12: In class analysis of Chapter 1 of Grendel.  Further look at Solipsism and Plato's Cave.  Announced quiz over Ch. 1-3 will take place on Friday, October 17.  

English 10- Wordwright 1

English 12:  Begin Grendel.  Discuss the 5 Colors philosophy from last week's vocabulary test in conjunction with the philosophies of Grendel. Watch The Matrix/The Cave Allegory and discuss comparisons to the beginning of Grendel.  Grendel Reading and Philosophy Guide Ch. 1-3.

5 Colors: Discussing the philosophy of the Tao, Alan Watts explains what he believes Lao-tzu means by the line, "The five colours will blind a man's sight." "[T]he eye's sensitivity to color," Watts writes, "is impaired by the fixed idea that there are just five true colors. There is an infinite continuity of shading, and breaking it down into divisions with names distracts the attention from its subtlety." Similarly, the mind's sensitivity to the meaning of life is impaired by fixed notions or perspectives on what it means to be human. There is an infinite continuity of meaning that can be comprehended only by seeing again, for ourselves. We read stories -- and reading is a kind of re-telling -- not to learn what is known but to know what cannot be known, for it is ongoing and we are in the middle of it.

English 10H: In class work on GC.  Essays on 438 and 448 in textbook. (Writers on Writing: Nonfiction, My Two Lives)

Skyward note:  Skyward is not currently functioning, at least not accurately, due to a 30 hour window of time that the program needs in order to update/upload.  Also, I am still trying to figure out the best way to manage the notification system connected to "missing" grades.  Sorry for the inconvenience and any misunderstandings or confusion on missing assignments.

English 12: Vocabulary List 4.  Makeup vocabulary tests.  Senior paper brainstorming session #1 on GC.  Please view and contribute.  This is your opportunity to have a say in what you spend a large portion of your time and effort on when we start our research paper.

English 10H: Vocabulary List 4.  Wordwright #1 word list.  We will take Wordwright #1 on Tuesday next week.  Extra credit discussions.  Key reminder on extra credit.  IT HAS TO BE INTERACTIVE AND OUTSIDE OF YOUR NORMAL, EVERYDAY TYPE OF ACTIVITY. This means that going to a play, a movie, a museum, a restaurant, etc. alone is not enough.  Going to a curator led museum exhibition talk, a Day of the Dead festival, or attending a meet the author event does count because of the interaction factor.

Another possible extra credit opportunity courtesy of Olivia Mark.  See her for details and for a ticket discount code.  Code Day KC

English 12: Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Epic Hero Unit Test.

English 10H: Short Story/Poetry Unit Test.  Great extra credit opportunity coming up this Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Johnson County Central Resource Library from 7-8:30 pm.  Meet the Author: Tanner Colby, author of "Some of My Best Friends are Black"

Friday 10/3

English 12: Finished "You Don't Know Bo" in class.  Anglo-Saxon Poetry/Epic Hero test on Monday.  The Seafarer, The Wife's Lament, The Wanderer, The Iliad, Gilgamesh, Bo.

English 10H: The poem "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota" was our focus today.  It is the final addition to the material that will be covered on the unit test on Monday/Tuesday.  We analyzed it using the 4S strategy.

Thursday 10/2

English 12: Started "You Don't Know Bo" in class.

English 10H: Analysis/discussion of "Gic to Har"

English 12: Vocabulary Test 3.  Read the excerpt from Gilgamesh (pg. 90 in textbook) and answer the response questions on GC.  On Monday of next week, we will take our 2nd unit test.  It will test on the 3 Anglo Saxon poems, Iliad, Gilgamesh, and a third work that we will add in tomorrow and Friday.  If you are absent today, tomorrow, and/or Friday you will still take the test on Monday, so make sure you are keeping up or have communicated with me.

ROYALS!!!!!!!!!

Here's a great opportunity for teen writers: Elementia Literary Magazine submissions and information.  Submitting to Elementia will count for extra credit, however you must meet with me to discuss your writing/art before you submit it.

Another extra credit opportunity:  Be chosen as one of the 3-5 winners, and you will have one of your extra credit opportunities fulfilled.  Johnson County Writing Contest

English 10H: Vocabulary test 3.  Kenneth Rexroth's poem "Gic to Har" is the source material for the vocabulary sentences. It will also be included on the poetry/short story/unit 1 test that we will take next week.  Next week's schedule is Odd-Even-Odd-Even, so the test will be on Monday for 5 and 7, Tuesday for 4 and 6.  Vocabulary List 4 will be Wednesday and Thursday.  There is no school next Friday, October 10.

Reminder that next week's schedule is weird.  No school Monday.  Late start (9:40) Tuesday and it's an even block day with no seminar.  Wednesday is odd block.  Th/F are traditional days.  VOCABULARY TESTS WILL STILL BE ON BLOCK DAYS.  Hours 4 and 6 will have Vocab on Tuesday.  3,5,7 will have Vocab test on Wednesday.

English 12: Illiad excerpt assignment on GC.

English 10H: Watch The Surprising Need for Strangeness and respond to prompt on GC.

English 12: Anglo-Saxon poetry presentations.  Vocabulary list 3

English 10H: Hand back and go over Vocab test 2.  Vocabulary list 3.  Final thoughts on "Opportunity" and the presentations.  Begin analysis of Nabokov lecture both as a class and then in groups.  For each numbered paragraph/section  (1-11), identify and briefly explain Nabokov's fundamental point.

English 12: Beowulf test hand back and explanation.  Group work on Anglo-Saxon poetry.  Presentations tomorrow.

English 10H: Poetry presentations.  Read Nabokov lecture "Good Readers and Good Writers" for tomorrow.  Come to class with a list of 5 key elements that you take away from the lecture and a brief explanation for each.

English 12: Monday-Anglo-Saxon poetry group work.  Character, situation/setting, theme/lesson are your group's focal points.

English 10H: Monday-Presentation work. I had to leave for a district meeting after 4th hour.  Present tomorrow (Tuesday)

English 12: Each 1/3 of the class has one poem.  The Seafarer, The Wife's Lament, The Wanderer.  For your group's poem (based on which 1/3 you sit in typically) give an overall analysis of the character/narrator, the situation/setting, and the theme/bigger picture.  We will work in groups next week with these poems.  Watched TED about succeeding at life through video games in class.  Start thinking about/constructing ideas for your own story involving: heroic cycle and traits, a modern twist, and a universal experience.

English 10H: Turn in 5 Step Paragraph Final Copy on GC.  Group work over "Opportunity" poem from yesterday.  If you were not here today, you have a couple of options: 1.  Link up with a group from your hour over the weekend and collaborate on the presentation with them.  2.  Analyze the poem for one of the literary elements (syntax, diction, imagery, symbolism, theme/bigger picture application) and put together a brief presentation identifying and analyzing Sill's use of that particular element in the poem.

English 12: Vocabulary Test 2.  Written assignment over universal experiences on GC.  Turn in by Friday.  Read "The Seafarer" for Friday and complete the GC assignment for stanza analysis.  This is due by Friday as well.

English 10H: Vocabulary Test 2.  Wrap up final questions on the 5 step paragraph (due Friday) in class.  Close read the poem "Opportunity" by Edward Rowland Sill for Friday.  Annotate using the 4S strategy for Friday.  Your focus should be on syntax, diction, and imagery but do not discount the other literary elements.  Be as thorough and as complete as you can.  No limits on number of annotations, but I want you to take this poem apart line by line and word by word.  On Friday we will work with it in small groups, but you need to be prepared individually. You can do this on your computer or in your notes.

Passage- Robert and Shana Parkeharrison

Kindred Spirits- Asher Durand

Sentences about the spirit of adventure, the quest for knowledge and discovery, the points of no return that we all face in life and other shared/universal experiences that all people encounter.  You do not have to address the short stories specifically, but there must be a universal experience aspect to your sentences related directly to the artwork pictured above.

Tuesday:

English 12: Beowulf test.  Upcoming reading: The Seafarer, The Wanderer, The Wife's Lament.  Vocabulary Test 2 is tomorrow (Wednesday 9/17)

English 10H: Discuss and look at some examples of step 5 in the paragraph writing process.  Make this final addition to your two practice paragraphs.  Then complete a self assessment of each step of the process using the following questions.  You will choose one of these as your final submission through GC.  Your final submission needs to follow the same format as the 5 Step Paragraph handout.  What this means is that I want each step's sentence(s) followed by your answer to the self-assessment questions. Then, I want the complete paragraph.  On Friday, you will submit a stand-alone paragraph that is your final draft.  Whether you edit as you go on today's assignment, or simply go through the steps and then edit your final submission is up to you.  I will be grading the final paragraph using the assessment questions, but I will not grade your assessments or your edits.

1.  Do I use a controlling idea, or simply state an unarguable fact?  Is there a clear sense of development and mapping in my introduction?

2.  Do I address the relevance of the controlling idea/topic?  Is there a universal importance/bigger picture element to the topic?

3.  Do I adequately explain and describe the example, or is it simply identified?  Are enough details present that will allow the reader to begin to see the connection before I explain its relevance?

4.  Do I explain the example and its relevance as well as connect it to both the immediate task at hand (specific topic) as well as relating it back to the bigger picture/universal experience?

5.  Do I bring the controlling idea full circle in terms of philosophy, bigger picture, and overall relevance to the topic? 

I was absent Monday, but here are the sub plans:

Hour 3: English 12.  Finish Beowulf (pg 43) in class.  The reading guide for 12-17 is on Google Classroom.  After finishing the reading, work on reading guides for use on test.  Beowulf test is Tuesday and is open note with the reading guides.

Hour 4-7: English 10H- Have students work in partners through google drive (they can share back and forth that way) to peer edit their practice paragraphs from Friday 9/12.  They should have two.  Ask them to “suggest” on drive comments and feedback on how each step matches up to the model.  Take 15 minutes or so on this.  Then have them spend the remaining time working on a polished version of each of the two paragraphs.  For Tuesday, they need to bring a polished version of two paragraphs through step 4, with a working version of step 5 for each (the concluding sentence/sentences)

English 12: Why We Fight: Anglo Saxon Values vs. The Cult of the Uniform

Read "Why We Fight"  and respond to the following on Google Classroom:
1. Define your interpretation of the "cult of the uniform" and whether or not you think it is real.
2. How is the view of the "hero" in Why We Fight different from how heroes would have been viewed in Anglo Saxon times?
3. Do you agree or disagree with the overall point of the essay? Emotional connections aside (family/friends in military, etc.) how would you respond, especially to paragraphs 3 and 4?
4. How do you think this author would explain/respond to the Beowulf/Epic Hero archetype? How would he differentiate between the mythological "hero" and the real-life hero?
5. Kind of a bonus question, but... see if you can find a good song about heroes, or a specific hero. I mean actually good. Case in point, I just looked up the lyrics to Mariah Carey's song "Hero" and it is awful. It reads like a poem written by an 8 year old. See if you can find something better.

English 10H: Went over Fahrenheit short answer test.  No makeups on Monday if you haven't taken it yet.  I think one person asked about that (AC?) but it's not going to work, sorry.  Respond to prompt on Google Classroom and turn in.  For Monday, pick two of the practice paragraphs you have done steps 1 and 2 for, one from the character side and one from the theme side.  Complete steps 3 and 4 for each.  You must use two examples and explain each (123434/ Idea-explain-example-explain-example-explain)

English 12:  Hand back and go over Vocabulary Test 1.  Vocabulary List 2.  Finish reading Beowulf through Part 13.  Beowulf Reading Guide 12-17

English 10H: Hand back and go over Vocabulary Test 1.  Vocabulary List 2.  Continue with the 5 Step Paragraph work.  Add Step 2 to the practice sentences we did on Monday (Step 1) and continue to think about how to apply the stories from class to steps 3 and 4.  PATSY CLINE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING (Tuesday's extra credit option is closed)

English 10H:  Off day extra credit!!!!  The first 10 people who respond to this by emailing me (sobarand@smsd.org) will get a 5 point bonus (that's a letter grade) added to their Fahrenheit test.  The next 10 responses will earn a 2.5 point bonus. Here you go:  As many of you know by now, I love to listen to music.  One of my favorite singers is Patsy Cline.  Her voice is beautiful and her songs are so poetic that it is almost as if she is singing to me directly sometimes.  In singing directly to me, Patsy isn't just singing to Drew Baranowski the person, she is also singing to Drew Baranowski the teacher.  Naturally, that means that she is singing about elements of our lives here at school too.  Find lyrics to any Patsy Cline song and make a thematic comparison to any of the stories we have read in class.  In an email, identify and briefly explain the song/lyrics that you chose and how they are actually Patsy Cline's veiled attempt to sing about literature that we are reading here in English 10H.  Your analysis must make sense, and should impress me, for credit.

5 point bonus winners: Alissa M, Gillian B, Emma J, Olivia L, Lauren A, Trisha O, Addie N, Sunny H.  Good job ladies! Andrew A, Cameron M.  The 5 pointers are spoken for.

2.5 point bonus winners: Emma Kate S, Zack R, Amelia H, Julie J, Rakeya M, Emily F, Rachel A, Natalie P, Stella S, Sarah P.

This Extra Credit Option Is Closed

English 12: Read and discuss through part 7 of Beowulf in class.  Quiz over 1-7.  For Wednesday, read through part 11 and complete the reading guide.

English 10H: Writing concerns prompt on Google Classroom.  Open/download the Paragraph Writing Template.  We practiced step 1 in class with the following starters: Authors use symbolic characters...  The conflicts that literary characters face... Authors achieve purpose in literature by... It is critical to make a bigger picture connection in literature because...  Complete each of those sentences.

English 12:  Read and discuss through section 6 in Beowulf.  Answer and go over the reading guide questions that correspond.

English 10H: Response journal on Google Class.  Used the prompt for basis of in-class discussion.  Incorporated the Ice Storm comparison chart as well.

English 12: Vocabulary test 1.  Work on Hero Collage (DUE FRIDAY) and finish the Opportunity In Real Life assignment (for partial credit now) if you want some points for it.  Read Beowulf parts 1-3 in class.  Complete the front page (1-3) of the Beowulf reading guide for Friday. Beowulf 1-11 Reading Guide

English 10H: Vocabulary test 1.  Discuss In the Shadow of Man on its own, then comparatively with other stories.  Begin short story comparison chart in conjunction with reading What Happened During the Ice Storm on your own.  Chart should have rows for the first four stories and columns for Character-Symbolism, Character-Conflicts, Theme-Purpose/Message, and Theme-Big Picture.  In each grid square, compare the designated aspect of that story to the corresponding aspect of Ice Storm.

Monday Sept 1- No school for Labor Day

English 12: Remember that Vocabulary test 1 is tomorrow.  Begin Hero Grid/Collage.  We will continue to work on it after vocab tomorrow.

English 10H: Read "Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy" in class.  Begin constructing thoughts/discussion on common literary threads of our 4 short stories (specifically Theme and Character related) The Pedestrian, By the Waters..., Charming Billy, and In the Shadow of Man.  Read ITSOM for tomorrow/Thursday. Vocabulary 1 Test Wed/Thurs.

Just in case any of you thought I was making this up, here's your science lesson: Handwritten vs. Laptop Notes

English 12: Google classroom "cleanup" and finalization.  No more freebies.  It's part of our way of life now, so we need to get it right.  Finish the two "Opportunity" assignments in Classroom.  

English 10H: F451 test.

English 12: Vocabulary schedule and format. Vocabulary List 1 test will be Wednesday 9/3. Sentence construction practice for our test format.  Begin Opportunity discussion in conjunction with hero cycle.

English 10H: Vocabulary schedule and format. Vocabulary List 1 test Wednesday 9/3 and Thursday 9/4. Sentence construction practice for our test format.  Fahrenheit review/discuss

English 12: Read the excerpt from The Lord of the Rings in the textbook.  Class discussion of LOR and how Sam fits the hero cycle even within a short excerpt.  Discuss Dialectical Journal/4S Close Reading Strategies.  For tomorrow, apply these strategies to Edward Rowland Sill's poem  "Opportunity" in Google Classroom.  Find and briefly analyze 2 examples of each of the 4S strategy and complete 2 dialectical journal entries.

English 10H: Discuss extra credit options.  Dialectical/4S breakdown of By the Waters.  Fahrenheit 451 test on Friday the 29th.  Don't forget!!!

English 12:  Epic hero cycle notes.  Revise and resubmit the real-life hero assignment from Friday.  Apply the 12 step hero cycle to your hero.  If you can't get most/all of the categories filled for your hero, you might need to rethink your choice.  Vocabulary starts this week, so if you are absent Wednesday, make sure you get the words.  We will go over them in class, and they will be posted on this site.

English 10H: Finish The Pedestrian discussion using the 4S close reading strategy.  For tomorrow, reread By the Waters of Babylon.  Finish two dialectical journal entries and two of each of the 4S categories in your notes.  (2 key sentences, 2 speaker observations, 2 situation, 2 shifts, 2 dialectical journals)

English 12:  Fun with computers!!!  Watched "What Makes a Hero" while making specific note of the 12 step "hero cycle" that is common in most hero stories, especially mythology and the epic form.  Applied the 12 step cycle to a character of your choice from film or literature.  We will expand on this Monday.

English 10H: Online submission through Google Classroom of 10 minute journal prompt.  It is posted, so if you were absent, go to GC and complete. Make sure you create it in Google (not Pages) and click the "turn in" button. Discussion of responses to prompt.  Discussion of dialectical journal as a close reading strategy.  Application of Pedestrian/Fahrenheit themes to the 10 minute prompt.  Samples of Pedestrian dialectical journals.  For Monday, read By the Waters of Babylon.  We will be using both the 4S and Dialectical model on this story, so feel free to get ahead over the weekend.  Don't forget that the Fahrenheit 451 test is next Friday the 29th.

English 12: Anglo-Saxon/Middle Ages introduction.  Politics, structure of time period.  Literary traits of period.  Epics, heroes, archetypes, common themes and structures.  Logged into Google Classroom.  Assignment posted through classroom: Identify a modern day hero who meets some/all of the criteria of a classic literary hero.  Submit response through GC.

English 10H: Discuss "The Pedestrian" in conjunction with the identified literary/discussion terms.  Close reading strategies.  Reread "The Pedestrian" and apply both the 4S (find one of each) and Dialectical Journal (2 entries) for tomorrow. Strategies on 10H page.

English 12: Introductory writing sample in class.  We also went over discussion terminology/literary terms.  We will begin our Middle Ages/Anglo Saxon unit later this week.

English 10H: Discussion terminology/literary terms with examples.  Introductory writing sample (Morally ambiguous literary character).  For Thursday, read Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian" in the text book.  In your English notebook, identify and briefly explain the use of 3 literary terms from discussion in the story. The Pedestrian

I will begin to use this site to post updates, links, files, and other items that are relevant to class in the near future.  In the meantime, I will continue to give you specific locations of items, but eventually this blog will be the primary platform for information related to class.