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

11/5

Warm-up:  What makes Emerson’s essay an argument?  Does it follow the typical structure that you expect an argument to follow?  Why or why not?

Classwork:  Discuss Emerson; start learning about argumentative essays - read 5 Steps to a 5 about how to write them and take notes, discuss the Toulmin model

Homework:  study vocab

11/4

Warm-up:  Are the following pairs of words more synonymous or antonymous?  Explain your answer.
1.  sophomoric … canonical
2.  fervent … ardent
3.  trifling … canonical
4. iconoclast … martinet

Classwork: Emerson rhetoric and style questions

Homework:  finish emerson rhetoric and style questions

11/1

Fetterolf out

Read Emerson on LoC pg 102-108 and answer discussion questions on pg 108.

Keep studying vocab.

10/31

Warm-up:  Finish making your paragraph about the figurative language of Prose SEXI.  Make sure you have fully explained and interpreted the figurative language.  Underline or highlight any of your essay that connects HOW her figurative language to the purpose of her essay.  If you don’t have anything to underline, write more.

Classwork: discuss paragraphs about Prose's use of figurative language - complete and discuss rhetoric and style questions #4 and 7 about Prose - distribute vocabulary lists and talk about how to figure out vocabulary in context

Homework:  work on Prose/Emerson vocab for quiz on 7th

body paragraph example for #6

Prose compares Angelou’s writing to malpractice in order to convince readers that schools are promoting “trash and semi-trash” instead of quality literature.  Doctors convicted of malpractice would never be entrusted with the education of medical students because they would teach ineffective medical practices.  Prose argues that teaching Angelou’s book is the same type of inappropriate modeling because “many of the terrible mysteries” found in college students’ writing stem from the imprecise usage of language they read in Angelou’s text.  Though the comparison may seem far-fetched, Prose must over-exaggerate her claim to criticize a beloved American author.  Readers’ instincts are to protect and defend authors they are familiar with, but by using examples that reveal Angelou’s “opaque prose,” readers are convinced that Angelou is not the best model of clear writing.  Prose draws a connection between what students read and how they write to criticize the choices made by schools and blame educators for the current state of bad writing. 

10/30

Warm-up:  Answer discussion questions 2 and 4 on pg 99-100 of LOC.

Classwork:  quiz on Prose, discuss "Caged Bird", answer rhetoric and style questions in the form of analytical essay paragraphs

Homework:  finish paragraph about a piece of figurative language

10/29

Warm-up:  What are the biggest issues facing education?  To what extent is the system of education successful at meeting its goals?  What are the goals of education?

Classwork:  finish discussing Aria and transition to education unit by reading "I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read" on LOC pg 89-99

Homework:  Finish reading "Caged Bird" pg 89-99

10/25

Warm-up:  List at least 3 claims Rodriguez makes in his essay and what evidence he uses to back up each claim. 

Classwork:  book talks; Rodriguez quiz; answer rhetoric and style ?s 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, &13 on pg 527

Homework:  finish Aria rhetoric and style ?s

10/24

Warm-up:  How is your language at home different from your language at school?  Do you think that schools have a responsibility to make sure that they are speaking the same “language” of a student’s home?

Classwork:  present songs and art about books; read "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" on LOC pg

Homework:  finish reading "Aria" on pg 509

10/23

Warm-up:  Write the sentence and choices and choose the best word to complete the sentence.
Paradoxically, this successful entrepreneur is sometimes ------- and at other times reclusive.

A. autonomous  B. dispassionate

C. solitary  D. unthinking

E. gregarious

Classwork:  book talks and work on art/music interpretations of books

Homework:  finish art/music interpretations to present tomorrow morning; bring LOC

10/22

Warm-up:  Which underlined part contains the error?  Copy the sentence and explain the error.

Most  of the world’s sharks, living  in temperate and tropical regions, though the Greenland shark lives in the cold Arctic waters, and the huge basking shark is at home in the seas around Antarctica.   

  

Classwork:  finish independent book essays,  alone or with a partner create visual or musical interpretation of independent book (rubric below)

Art/Visual or Musical Performance Analysis -

-Analysis of text – Project moves beyond mere summary, proves the student’s mastery of the topic, and shows that student thoroughly understood and effectively analyzed the content of the text(s) in a creative way.  (C-grade: Project shows an understanding of the text (you get it), but it doesn’t move beyond the obvious or superficial.)

-Written Explanation – The writing explains how the art/song analyzes the text(s) completely, thoughtfully, and clearly.  This goes beyond the literal to show insight into the content of the text(s). (C-grade: Explanation explains the connection to text, but it is on a more literal level)

-Creativity and Presentation – The idea is professional, creative and well executed.

-Connection to text – The artwork connects to the text as a whole, not just a small part.  It represents what is important about the work.

Homework:  bring in any other supplies you might need to finish art/song

10/21

Warm-up: What did you learn from reading this independent book?  Did it change your thinking about the topic or about reading non-fiction?  Why or why not?

Classwork:  Independent book essays and book talks

Homework:  finish edmodo responses to other posts

10/17

Warm-up:  Copy the sentence and explain which underlined part is incorrect and what is wrong with it.
Every day, millions of tiny stony bits falling quietly into the atmosphere, burning briefly as meteors, and leaving behind a vaporized residue that filters slowly to Earth.                              

Classwork:  I gave back visual rhetoric essays - write a reflection about what score you think that you earned based on the comments and switch with a friend and write another reflection about how you think that they compare.  Then we discussed revisions and I gave students time to work on Independent reading or revise essays.

Copy these revision directions:
Look carefully at each element of the checklist, rubric and the score you received.  Address any weakness of that element in your essay and rework it in your revision.  Address each and every mark and comment your teacher made on your essay.

Revisit the specific directions for the assignment to clarify your understanding of the prompt and task.

After revising your essay, ask a peer or parent to look it over and discuss the paper with you.  Consider what they said and make any additional corrections.

Once you have made the changes in your newly revised, typed essay, highlight each change and explain why you made that change.  Your explanations can be in the margins, or you can number your highlighted passages and attach a separate sheet of explanations.  Some of these highlighted passages might just need you to explain a grammar rule that you learned, but the majority of them will be serious revisions to your content or organization and will require you to elaborate on how making that correction fixed a problem of your essay.

At the end of your typed, revised draft, include a reflection on why this essay is now more effective and why it would earn a top score (7-9).  If you don’t honestly think and cannot defend why it now deserves a 7,8, or 9, please do not submit it. 

Attach original, graded essay to your final revision (paper clip, please).

Homework:  Optional - essay revisions due Monday; Finish independent reading books and complete Edmodo questions by midnight 10/20 - be ready for in class essay on Monday (BRING YOUR BOOK)

10/16

PSAT day - no class

Bring your independent reading books to class the next few days.  

10/15

Warm-up: Write the sentence and select the best way to revise the underlined part.
The reason the film’s stream-of-consciousness imagery is so successful is because of its capture of the sensorial experience of childhood.
A. because of its capture of       B. capturing of
C. because of capturing          D. because it captures
E. for its capturing

Classwork:  PSAT practice and review

Homework:  study for PSAT (bring calculators); work on independent reading