Thursday, March 28, 2013

Class and the American Dream

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

CHAPTER 6 QUIZ

Today we will be discussing the article of the week that you read and wrote about. We will use m.socrative.com. Enter room number 6867.

Hopefully we will have time for the beginning of chapter 7.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Party at Gatsby's

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

CHAPTER 5 QUIZ

Reminder see the post from yesterday about your AOW. Read it. Write about it and be ready for a quick quiz about it tomorrow.

Chapter 6

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ch 4 Quiz, AOW and Chapter 5

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

Last night your homework was to finish reading chapter 4
We will begin today with your CHAPTER 4 QUIZ.

You have an Article of the Week this week.  It is an editorial from the New York Times.
Class and The American Dream
Read and respond to the article in your English Journal before class on Thursday.
When you respond explain the point the author is making and explain the extent to which you agree or disagree with the author and why.  Also explain how this article relates to The Great Gatsby.

Today we will begin chapter 5.

HOMEWORK: Finish reading chapter 5

Monday, March 25, 2013

Continuing Ch 4

Good morning,

We will read at the bell. Make sure you have your book out when it rings.

Today we will be continuing with chapter 4.  Please have a tab open to m.socrative.com and join 6867 to get the questions I will be sending you.

If you need to read chapter 4 online you can find it here. CHAPTER 4.

You got these questions for chapter 4 last week. Here they are again. You quiz will include these and a few more.

  1. Who is Klipspringer?
  2. What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
  3. What "matter" did Gatsby have Jordan Baker discuss with Nick?
  4. Who is Wolfshiem?
  5. What does Wolfshiem tell Nick about Gatsby?
  6. What does Jordan tell Nick about Daisy, Gatsby and Tom?

Friday, March 22, 2013

Taking the EAP today...

Good morning,

Today we will be taking the first portion of the EAP test.  EAP stands for Early Assessment Program.  This test will assess your readiness for college level writing.  Based on the work you did on your Civil Disobedience essays and your performance overall on the essay on your final in January, I think you are all very prepared for this assessment.

Your essay will be scored according to the same scoring guide you used to evaluate your Civil Disobedience essay, which is also the same scoring guide I used to assess your final. Overall, you did well on both of those and so I expect you will do well on this test too.

Performing well on this test (and some extra multiple choice questions when you take the CST in April) may qualify you to be exempt from some college placement exams for English next year.

For more information about the Early Assessment Program please visit http://www.calstate.edu/eap/about.shtml

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby


Good morning,

If you did your homework then you need to take the CHAPTER 3 QUIZ.
If you did not do your homework then you will be getting a paper version of the quiz from me.

Questions for chapter 4:

  1. Who is Klipspringer?
  2. What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
  3. What "matter" did Gatsby have Jordan Baker discuss with Nick?
  4. Who is Wolfshiem?
  5. What does Wolfshiem tell Nick about Gatsby?
  6. What does Jordan tell Nick about Daisy, Gatsby and Tom?

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Starting Chapter 3

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

When your computer is ready take your CHAPTER 2 QUIZ.

Today we will start on chapter 3.


  1. Describe Gatsby's Wealth?
  2. What kind of people come to Gatsby's parties?
  3. Why did Nick Carraway go to the party?
  4. How does Nick meet Gatsby?
  5. What are some of the stories about Gatsby?
  6. Is Gatsby a "phony"?
  7. Describe Nick's relationship with Jordan?

Homework: Read the end of chapter 3 and write a half page summary in your own words about the events at the end of the chapter. (This summary is your ticket to the online quiz tomorrow. Without it you will have to take the quiz on paper, without your notes and without multiple choices.,)

Monday, March 18, 2013

Chapter 2 Questions


Good morning,

We will read at the bell. I am very glad to be back with you.  I learned so much at CUE that I can't wait to try in our class. 

Open another tab on your browser and go to m.socrative.com and join room 6867. Enter your first name and last initial. 

Get these questions for chapter 2 into your English Journal.  We will answer them as we read today. 
  1. What is the "valley of ashes"?
  2. What are the "eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg"?
  3. Who did Tom take Nick to meet?
  4. Who are George and Myrtle Wilson?
  5. What does Myrtle (Mrs. Wilson) buy when she was out with Tom and Nick?
  6. Where did they go? What was at 158th Street?
  7. Who is Catherine? Who are Mr. and Mrs. McKee?
  8. What does Catherine tell Nick about Gatsby?
  9. What reason did Myrtle give for marrying George Wilson?
  10. What did Tom do to Myrtle when she mentioned Daisy's name?

Friday, March 15, 2013

Friday, Expert Project Day

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

Today you return to your expert project. I know many of you have been thinking about it because you have been asking me some great questions.

Begin today by starting a post about your questions on your topic. Hit "new post" on your blog and make a list of as many questions as you can about your topic. Aim for at least five.

Then do some searching to see if you can answer one or more of those questions. Add your findings to the post. Include links to the sources of your information and add those sources to your expert project notes doc.

Remember to keep looking at your topic from all directions, consider all the aspects of it.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Thursday-Quiz and Research

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

Then you need to take your Gatsby Chapter 1 Quiz.  You can use your notes and the book, but no talking.

When you are done with your quiz use THIS PAGE to learn more about the 1920's and report your findings on the adjacent form.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Finishing Gatsby Chapter 1

Good morning,

We will read at the bell while your computers warm up.

Today we will finish reading chapter 1.  The part we do not finish in class will be your homework. You have a quiz tomorrow on chapter 1, so make sure you finish reading it.

Yesterday, I gave you the first six questions about chapter 1. Here are the next four. Add them to your English Journal and keep taking notes.

7. What kind of person is Daisy?
8. What did Jordan Baker tell Nick about Tom?
9. When asked about her daughter, what does Daisy say?
10. How is Gatsby introduced in the novel? When do we first "see" him?

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Gatsby Chapter 1


Today we begin reading The Great Gatsby. You have explored key questions related to the novel. You are ready.

We will start with Chapter 1. This link goes directly to it. When you are absent you need to use that to catch up on your reading.

Open your English Journal now and copy and paste the questions below into it. We will answer them as we read chapter one.

  1. How does the narrator describe Gatsby?
  2. From where does the narrator come and why?
  3. Describe the narrator's house.
  4. Describe the Buchannans' house.
  5. How does Nick know Tom and Daisy?
  6. Describe Tom. What is our impression of him in chapter 1?

Monday, March 11, 2013

Question Circles

Good morning,

We are reading at the bell.

You won't need the netbook today.

You WILL need:

  • Your independent reading book
  • Your copy of The Great Gatsby (to show me that you have checked it out)
  • A pen or pencil (No, you are not taking an essay test yet.)

We will be exploring some larger questions today as we prepare to read The Great Gatsby.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Catch up day...

We will read at the bell.

Today I want to give you a catch up day to finish submitting book reviews, catch up on expert project blog posts or anything else you need to do to improve your grade.

I haven't finished grading all of your Civil Disobedience essays, so that is still a blank score in Zangle. (Don't panic unless you know you didn't finish the paper, then you can panic and get it done.)

Book review links are due now.
You should have at least THREE posts on your expert blog FROM THIS WEEK.

CHECK TO SEE IF I HAVE THE LINK TO YOUR EXPERT BLOG.
Don't see it there? Add it here.

Make sure you check out a copy of The Great Gatsby by Monday.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Expert project, two more sources

We have another expert project day today. You have become very comfortable finding materials related to your topic.  Try today to find at least TWO MORE sources related to your issue for yet another angle. Post links to both on your blog and write a summary of both.  If the resources are very similar you can write about both in one post.  If they are very different you may prefer to write about them in separate posts.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Expert project day 2

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

Today I want you to begin by re-reading your last blog post.  Then continue searching for information on your topic.  This time try to find an article or resource that presents a different view of your topic from the last article.

Post a link to what you find today on your blog and use the rest of the post to summarize what you found out. Be specific and detailed. You will thank yourself later.

Also, use the link below to leave a comment on a post by one of your peers. To comment on a post click the link at the bottom of the post where it says “comment”. Comment nicely.

If you haven’t already shared the link to your blog please fill out this form.
Check out blogs being written by your peers.
Don’t forget to add a citation for the material you found today to your Expert Project Notes.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Expert project day

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

Coming back to your expert project...

You probably have not been keeping up with your expert project research. That’s okay, but it is time to get back to it.

Today you will be doing some searching on your topic. Destiny.Sandi.net

  • Find an article or resource closely related to your research question.
  • Post a link to what you found on your blog in a new post. (Forgot your blog address? Go to blogger.com and login.)
  • Use the rest of that blog post to explain and summarize what you found in the article. Do yourself a favor and be through, you will want to refer to this post later.
  • Add a citation for what you found to your expert project notes in Google Docs.

If you haven’t already shared the link to your blog please fill out this form.
Check out blogs being written by your peers.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Essays Due

Good morning,

We will read at the bell and then work on your final drafts.

Today you will score your essay using this SCORING GUIDE.

At the end of your essay add a section called "Reflection".
Start with, "I believe the score for my essay should be a ____ because....."
Make sure you explain your score using language from the scoring guide.
Then answer two or more of the following questions:
* Was it difficult for you to write this essay?  Explain why or why not.
*  Did you learn more about the subject of civil disobedience as you gathered your ideas and composed your essay?
*  What was a particular challenge in writing this essay?  Be specific about this challenge/difficulty.