12/20

Warm-up:  Do you think that The Scarlet Letter is an important book and that it should be widely taught in schools?  Why or why not?  What did you learn by reading this book?


Classwork:  final quiz on Scarlet Letter; discuss independent reading assignment; start reading and discussing books; give back education essays (optional revisions due 1/2)

Homework:  Read first 3rd of book (check the checkpoints under Wednesday's blog entry); complete PSAT registration (also under Wednesday)

12/19

Warm-up:  Evaluate the ending of the Scarlet Letter.  Why do you think that the author chose to end the story the way he did?  What point about sin and/or human nature does the author seem to be making?  Would an escape ending have been better?  Why or why not?

Classwork:  Discuss and review Scarlet Letter; create charts/skits/drawings of the 8 most important plot points of SL

Homework:  Study for final Scarlet Letter quiz tomorrow; get independent book and bring it to class tomorrow

12/18

Warm-up:  What bad news does the sea captain give to Hester?  Predict what you think will happen.

What is the significance of Pearl’s remarks about Dimmesdale?

Classwork:  discuss Scarlet Letter and PSAT results

Homework:  Finish Scarlet Letter

Winter Break Assignment

1. Read through the first checkpoint of your independent book.  I strongly recommend annotating or at least taking a few notes about important moments.
2. If you took the PSAT (seniors exempt), spend time looking at your results.  Log onto the website using the code on your booklet.  Look at which skills they recommend that you practice, then complete a reflection that answers these questions for EACH of the 3 sections on the PSAT.  

1. What score did I get on the section?
2. What skills did I master best?
3. What skills do I most need to improve?
4. What plan for improvement can I follow to improve my score in this section?
5. Choose at least six questions that you initially got wrong (at least two from each section), and EXPLAIN why the correct answer is correct, and also why you initially got the question wrong.

3. Rest and be kind to your families and friends.  

	1st checkpoint 1/2	2nd checkpoint 1/9	3rd checkpoint 1/15
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks	Chapters 1-16 (pg 126)	Chapters 17-28 (pg 231)	Chapters 29-Afterword 328  (pg 203)
Being a Black Man	to end of “His Last, Best Cause” (pg 109)	To end of “Meaning of Work” (pg 193)	From “In or Out…” to end of book (pg 288)
The Other Wes Moore	Part 1 – Chap 1-3 (62)	Part 2 – Chap 4-6 (122)	Part 3 – chap 7- Epilogue (180)
Nickel and Dimed	Pg 86 to “The Superwoman mood….”	Pg 169 to “On the Day of my Move….”	To the end of the afterword
The Winter of Our Disconnect	To the end of Chapter 3 (around pg 99)	Chapters 4-5 (around pg 181)	Finish the book
Quiet: The Power of Introverts … Stop Talking	Introduction and Part One (pg 96)	Part 2: Chapter 4-7 (pg 180)	Finish the book

12/17

Warm-up:  What role does nature play in The Scarlet Letter.

Classwork:  discuss Chapter 19 and read chapter 20 of SL

Homework:  read Chapter 20-21; get independent book

12/16

Warm-up:  Select 3 important moments from Chapters 16-18 and explain importance.

Classwork:  Write a quiz for chapters 16-18.  5 multiple choice questions with 4 answer stems and indicate correct answer.  Then select 10 quotations and explain the context and importance of each.

Homework:  Read Chapter 19; get independent books (and hats and gloves)

12/13

Warm-up:  Identify the 2 most important scenes/quotes/moments of Chapters 13-15, and explain the significance. 

Classwork:  Discuss Chapters 13-15 and take quiz on them; start 16-18

Homework:  Read Chapters 16-18 (study guide optional); obtain your independent reading book by next Friday, and donate hats and gloves by Tuesday

12/12

Warm-up: none

Classwork:  read Chapter 14-15 and complete study guide questions

Homework:  review Chapter 13-15 for quiz on 12/13

12/11

Warm-up:  Why would Hawthorne end Chapter 8 with the scene between Hester and Mistress Hibbins?

Explain the significance of the 2nd scaffold scene.

Classwork:  Discuss SL chap 8-12; quiz on 7-12; give back A-O tests and discuss

Homework:  Read Chapter 13 and complete study guide (quiz on 13-15 on 12/13)

12/9

Warm-up:  Copy the quote and explain the context and importance.

“It had reached her ears, that there was a design on the part of some of the leading inhabitants, cherishing the more rigid order of principles in religion and government, to deprive her of her child.”

“No my little Pearl!  Thou must gather thine own sunshine.  I have none to give thee!”

“..the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance.” 

Classwork:  Discuss Chapter 7 and 8 of Scarlet Letter

Homework: Due 12/10 - Chapter 8-9 study guide; Due 12/11 Chapter 10-12 study guide

12/6

Warm-up:  Select at least one quote that you think best describes each of the following characters (Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth, Dimmesdale), and explain what you learn about the character from the quote.

Classwork:  Quiz on SL Chapter 1-6; introduce independent books

Homework:  Read Chap 7 and complete Study guide questions, get independent book by 12/20

12/5

Warm-up:  What does Hester remember on her flashback on the scaffold?

Who does Hester recognize and feel afraid of in the crowd around the scaffold?

What does Hester’s minister urge her to do during his speech?

Why doesn’t Hester reveal the name of Pearl’s father?

Classwork:  Discuss Scarlet Letter Chap 1-3; start reading 4-5

Homework:  Finish chapter 5 & 6 and complete study guide questions

12/4

Warm-up:  Take a packet of introductory info about The Scarlet Letter from the table.  Read it and take notes in your notebook.  Do not write on the packet.

Classwork:  Discuss background of Scarlet Letter, distribute books and study guides, read Chapter 1 and part of 2

Homework:  Finish Chapters 2+3 of Scarlet Letter; write Chap 3 study guide questions on looseleaf paper

12/2

Warm-up:  Review for A-O test

Classwork:  Take A-O test

Homework:  Bring copy of Scarlet Letter if you have one or want to write in it

12/2

Warm-up:  Nominalize the word secure.

Identify the mood of the verb in the following sentence:  If I were a bird, I wouldn’t look at people with my beady eyes.

Give an example of metonymy that people use to describe their cars.

Invert the following sentence:  The girl wore green shoes.

Classwork:  A-O vocab review; jeopardy games are under classroom documents link

Homework:  study A-O

11/26

Warm-up:  Write a reflection about your essay.  What score do you expect to earn?  Why?  What challenges or pleasures does writing argumentative essays provide?

Classwork: turn in essays and check glossaries; group project designing an ideal education system

Designing a Perfect Education System

Objective:  To design a flawless system of education that will meet the needs of students and accomplish the goals of society.

Process:

1.  As a group, discuss what flaws in our current education system you identified in your essays and come up with solutions for fixing those problems.

2.  Discuss what you think the goals of education are and what student needs you think education must meet.

3.  Come up with a plan to meet these needs and accomplish these goals.

4.  Write, draw, create a chart, or draft an outline, etc. that reveals the major tenets of your educational system.

Rubric:

Your project must include

1.  A statement of the goals that your system will accomplish.

2.  An explanation of what your schools will look like, do, teach, provide, etc.  You must have at least 6 distinct ideas that clarify how your system will operate differently than the current system.

3.  At least 3 of your ideas about education must be designed to help solve the problems you addressed in your essays.

4.  Your ideas should be presented in writing/drawing/etc. in a way that is appealing and understandable.

Scoring

6 distinct traits         (4 pts each, need at least 6)             _________________/24 pts

3 fixed problems       (4 pts each, need 3)                         _________________/12 pts

statement of goals                                                                 _________________/5 pts

pleasing presentation                                                           _________________/4 pts

Total                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ________________/45pts  

Homework:  Study A-O terms; test on 12/3

11/25

Warm-up:  From the draft of your essay, write at least 3 reasons/explanations you present about why your problems are dangerous and the worst.

Classwork:  work on essay drafts and glossaries; went over A-D test

Homework:  Final Draft of essay and E-O glossaries with examples due tomorrow

11/22

Warm-up:  Take an introduction and conclusion handout from the front table.  In your notebooks, write some ideas about how you could improve your introduction or conclusion.

Classwork:  discuss intros and conclusions, templates and checklists, worked on argumentative essay drafts

Homework:  Final Draft of essay and E-O glossaries with examples are due on 11/26

11/21

Warm-up:  Take an argumentative body paragraph handout from front table.  Complete steps 2 and 3 of station directions in notebook.  (The document can be found in classroom docs link under argumentative essays)

Classwork:  finish discussion of conversation documents, discuss argumentative essay directions and body paragraphs, start draft of argumentative essay

Homework:  Revise essay draft; work on E-O glossaries with examples

10/20

Warm-up:  Which text 4-6 squares most with your beliefs about education?  Explain what you agree with in the essay/visual

Classwork:  discuss conversation texts 4-6; work on E-O definitions and examples; watched Poetry Out Loud

Homework:  E-O glossaries with definitions due 11/26

11/19

Warm-up:  Choose one claim from each of the first 3 essays in the conversation and explain why you agree or disagree with the claim.

Classwork:  discuss conversation essays 1-3; start 5 and 6

Homework:  finish reading and answering questions for texts 4-6 in LOC pg 158-163

11/18

Warm-up:  Write a clear assertion about the primary purpose of education.  Write another assertion about the largest problem facing education.  Under each assertion, write 3 bullet points that you might use as evidence or reasons for each assertion.

Classwork:  read the first 3 essays in the education conversation - LOC pg 150-157 and answer the questions for each of the first 3 essays

Homework:  finish the first 3 essays and questions for each

11/15

Warm-up:  Review for A-D test

Classwork:  A-D test

Homework:  look at sample argumentative essays on apcentral.collegeboard.org  

11/14

Warm-up:  Which of the following statements is an ALLUSION made by King.
a.  “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence.”
b.  “A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that as a result of being denied the right to vote, has no part in enacting or devising the law.”
c.  “So, I have not said to my people ‘Get rid of your discontent.’ Rather, I have tried to say that this is normal and healthy discontent…”
d.  It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake.”

Classwork:  read Talbot's Best in Class and answer questions 1-8 on pg 122

Homework:  finish Talbot's essay and questions, study A-D terms

11/13

Warm-up:  1.  Explain the difference between antimetabole and antithesis? 
2.  Write a sentence that is declarative, complex, and cumulative at the same time.
3. Identify the strategy(s) at work in the following sentence:  “I like big burgers with everything on ‘em: pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce, plenty of mustard.”

Classwork:  review for A-D test, gave back book essays and discussed optional revision due 11/18 - talked about the analytical essay that will be on the A-D test and how to apply the comments from the last essay to that experience

Homework:  study A-D for test Friday - due Friday, read "Best in Class" and do questions 1-8 on LOC pg 122

11/12

Warm-up:  Choose one quote from Alexie and one from Baldwin, and explain why you think those quotes are significant to each text’s central argument.

Classwork:  discuss Baldwin and Alexie

Homework:  study A-D vocabulary

11/8

Warm-up:  Finish writing definitions and examples of A-D words from the Readings for Writers books

Classwork:  work on glossaries and read 2 essays Alexie and Baldwin

Homework:  Finish A-D glossaries with examples for each - Finish reading Alexie's "Superman and Me" and answer 1-8 on pg 112 and finish Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" and answer questions 1-12 on pg 129

11/8

Warm-up: Review for vocab quiz

Classwork:  vocabulary quiz, discuss argumentative essays in groups with teacher feedback on one essay, started copying A-D definitions and examples from RFW

Homework:  finish A-D definitions & examples from LOC and RFW (due Tues) and start studying the terms (test on Thurs 11/14)

11/6

Warm-up:  What are the differences between analytical and argumentative essays?  Explain how you will know which type of essay to write based on the prompts and how your essay format will change.

Classwork:  argumentative essays on Emerson - practice taking both sides

Homework: study vocabulary - quiz tomorrow