Week Four, The 21st Century Arrives!!!

If you haven't heard about the excitement in our classroom this week you must either be really sick or living in a cave. The laptops are here! I know I've been telling you they were coming since September. We thought maybe by December, we hoped for January, we crossed our fingers in February, we despaired that it might be March before we saw them, but now they have arrived on our desks! With the computers comes a new huge "To Do" list, but we'll take it one step at a time.

1. Make sure you have an e-mail account. If you do not have an e-mail account you can get one from g-mail with this link. You will all probably eventually get a g-mail account anyway so we can use Google Docs.

2. Make sure you can login to your weblocker. If you can not remember your login or password send me an e-mail and I will look them up for you.

We are still reading Huck Finn. Keep bringing your book and read when you are absent. Most periods are almost to chapter 36. We are almost done. Hang in there. Get ready to do more writing. The link to the book above has the full text of all the chapters. You can read it on-line if you need to.

Second Semester Week Two!

Some astute readers may be wondering what happened to Second Semester Week One. Well the obvoius answer is that I forgot to put up a post for last week. Sick children can be awfully distracting. Mostly we read a lot of Huck Finn, chapters 15-19, and took a quiz. I was out Wednesday and Friday due to the sick baby. On those days you read more of the book and probably also watched some of the documentary about Mark Twain.

This week is shaping up to be equally disasterous. I am home today (Monday) with the baby because another child in his daycare came down with measels. My son will get a shot this afternoon so that he can go back to school tomorrow. I will be out again on Thursday for a technology training about the new laptops we are going to get some day. (The revised delivery schedule gets them to PLHS on February 25th and they won't make it to our classroom for several days after that as they need to get barcoded. Are you surprised?) Friday we have no school. So with luck I will see you Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

If my sub follows instructions, and I expect he will, then you should be reading ch 20 as I write this. Actually you're probably having lunch as I write this, but you get the idea. Tuesday and Wednesday we will cover ch 21-23 or 24 and you'll have another chapter to read with another sub on Thursday.

PS To the mysterious poem poster, you had some spelling errors I'd like you to fix before I put your poem in the coments section. See me for more details.

First Semester Finals!

Well kids we've made it to finals week. The first half of your junior year is nearly over. You just have to get through a bunch of hard tests and hopefully pass all of your classes. The final for your English class is 50 multiple choice and two short (three paragraph) essays. To help you out I'll add some questions from our final to this blog post. Here are a few other study tips too.

• Review all your previous tests and quizzes especially those on The Crucible and Civil Disobedience.
• Finish the chart you started in class on Monday. The one with the list of things we read, a theme for each thing and a test question you created for each reading.
• Re-read stories and essays you don't remember well.
• Figure out the answers to the leaked test questions below.
• Bring your notes, your books, a pen and a pencil to the test.

Leaked Test Questions!!!!

1. He was always an ethical person.
a. miserly

b. thoughtful

c. moral

d. stubborn

2. Which of the following Biblical items is NOT alluded to in “The World on the Turtle’s Back?”
a. The immaculate conception
b. A sacred tree that may not be touched
c. Argumentative twin brothers
d. The transformation of water into wine

3. Thoreau says that the only obligation he has to assume is to:
a. Support the government b. obey all laws
c. do what he thinks is right d. accept the majority rule

4. Which description of Rodrick Usher best foreshadows his death?
a. "His air appalled me. . . ."
b. ". . . an eye large, liquid, and luminous. . . ."
c. "The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow. . . ."
d. "His countenance was . . . cadaverously wan. . . ."

5. Which of the following sentences would make the most effective thesis for an essay?
a. Huckleberry Finn and his father faced conflicts few families deal with today.
b. This essay is going to be about Huckleberry Finn and the troubles he had with his dad.
c. Huckleberry Finn is an amazing book written by Mark Twain.
d. Pap Finn and his son Huck are a model parent child relationship.

Don't forget to vote in the poll about grades. Study hard and good luck!

PS Have you seen the 8th grade Final from Kansas in 1895?

The Home Strech

Thought you'd like this example of a steamboat.


So rather than a daily breakdown it seems better this week to sum up.

• We are currently up to Chapter 12 in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I expect we may make it to chapter 15 or 16 by Friday. More quizes are coming. Keep up with the reading.
  
• Second News Reports were due today. If you haven't turned yours in yet you should be working on that, not reading this blog entry.
  
• The progress reports I gave out in class today should give you a very accurate idea of what your grade is and how to keep it or improve it. Grades will still be affected by several assignments and the final exam before the end of the semester next week.
  
• I've started constructing your final exam. It will consist of 50 multiple choice questions and several short essays. Yes, it will take you at least and hour and probably more.
  
• I am available at lunch and most days after school if you need help. The exception to that is Fridays when I am not available at lunch or after school. Plan accordingly.
• Late work will be accepted until Tuesday 1/29.
  

Now I need to go read to my son.

Week 16 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

My apologies for the abbreviated nature of this week's post. I have a lot to do this afternoon.

Monday we took our first quiz on chapters 1-3. We worked on the vocabulary for chapters 4-7 and then read chapters 4, 5, and the beginning of 6. You were to read the rest of Chapter 6 on your own for homework.

Tuesday we worked on an organizer for your Second News Report. Kudos to all of you who had already started on your drafts. For those of you who had not started thank you for using your class time well as you worked your way through the questions on that organizer. (The organizer is available on weblockers if you lost yours or were absent.)

Wednesday you turned in your drafts of your Second News Report. We reviewed the geography of the Mississippi River and reviewed Pap's racist rant in chapter 6. Expect a question about that passage on your final. Then we read chapter 7 and took the quiz on chapters 4-7.

Thursday we will meet in our writing groups and possibly begin chapter 8.

Friday we will be working on an activity that will help you deepen your understanding of the characters in the book and also find evidence from the text to support your conclusions. The forecast also calls for the likely reading of chapter 8 or 9. Include a little light reading of Huck Finn in your weekend plans.

The Final draft of your Second News Report is due next Wednesday 1/23.

Week 15 Mark Twain, The Beginning...

Welcome back students,

Monday we began our study of Mark Twain with a look at the background information on pages 654-657. Take a look at those if you weren't with us in class. We also read the beginning of the excerpt from Twain's autobiography on page 659 about the mesmerizer.

Tuesday we completed the reading from the autobiography and in several periods we had time to take a look at the epigrams on page 678.

Wednesday I returned your tests from before break. (Not good people.) Then we read The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

Thursday we go to the textbook window to get you your very own (borrowed) copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. We will also review dialects and preview the vocabulary for the first three chapters.

Friday we'll be reading those first three chapters and taking our first chapter quiz.

Don't forget that a draft of your Second News Report is due Wednesday 1/16. Keep collecting articles about your news issue.

Week 14 Slavery and The Civil War

Test Friday 12/21! Leaked Test Questions!
1. Once they have retreated to Prince Prospero's abbey, the general attitude of the courtiers toward the Red Death is one of
a. guilt.
b. terror.
c. mild fear.
d. carefree disregard.

2. The narrator's first glimpse of the House of Usher gives him a feeling of
a. excitement.
b. numbness.
c. depression.
d. anticipation.

3. When the smell developed around Miss Emily's home, the older aldermen were reluctant to ask her about it because they
a. were afraid of her temper.
b. were afraid of what they might discover.
c. didn't want to embarrass or humiliate her.
d. knew she would be too ill to do anything about it.

There are 22 more questions like these on your test on Friday. Bring your book and your notes.


Essay #3 Was Due Thursday 12/20 Did you turn your's in?

Test Friday 12/21. This will be a comprehension check on all of the stories we have read since Thanksgiving break. (Weeks 11-14 on this blog.) If you have been here and paying attention it should not be a problem for you. You can use your textbook and your notes, but you will need to be familiar with the following already:

Poe: The Raven, The Oval Portrait, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death

Faulkner: A Rose for Emily

O'Connor: The Life You Save May Be Your Own.

Douglass: The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass. (Chapter X covers the portion we read in class. Chapter XI talks about his escape from slavery if you are interested.)

Bierce: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Week 13 Writing Writing Writing

Sorry this blog post is a little late. This week has been all about Essay #3 (or The Poe Project as I like to call it.) Here's a brief run down on our activities.

Monday we enjoyed the bloopers from your news reports. Highlights included large chunks of plagiarism, cars that run on cars, toys assimilated in China, confusion about there, there and there, and really inadequate citations. All mistakes I am confident we will not see again.

Tuesday we worked with a chart for organizing Essay #3, (option 2) and then had time for drafting.

Wednesday was a short day and we spent more class time on the drafting.

Thursday you turned in your drafts and read The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor.

Friday we have writing groups. If you failed to turn in your draft on Thursday bring your own copies for your group on Friday.

Next week bring your textbook.

Week 12

Monday we finished reading The Fall of The House of Usher.
Tuesday we brainstormed things that most Poe stories have in common and then read The Oval Portrait to search for more examples of those features.
Wednesday we talked about Essay #3 and then began reading the Faulkner story A Rose for Emily. This site has some interesting questions and answers about the story. I recommend visiting it if you were not here to read the story with us in class.
Thursday we will see an model of a section of one of the essay choices and work on our drafts.
Friday will be a short day. We will probably look at another Faulkner story.

Note: Draft of Essay #3 is due Thursday 12/13. Assignment sheets are available now in your weblocker.

Extra credit: As we approach the end of the semester a lot of people are asking me about extra credit.
1. You CAN NOT get extra credit unless you have turned in ALL of your major assignments. For example you can not do extra credit if you are missing Essay #2 or your News Report. Do the assigned work first.
2. Each of the essays I've assigned this year came with three or four choices. If you are looking for an extra credit assignment simply do one of the essay options that you did not chose before.
3. Because of the way the computer calculates grade averages extra credit points have a slightly different effect for each student. If you have a very low grade extra credit will help you more than if you already have a high grade.
4. See me first if you are considering doing an extra credit essay.

Go Pointers!

Week 11 All Things Poe

www.freerice.com

So, I had just logged in to update this blog at school today when the power went out in several buildings on campus, including mine of course. What a great excuse for not doing my homework, but such is not in the spirit (or the title) of this blog. Thus I update from home, but the baby is not cooperating. Either he crawls everywhere, forcing me to constantly get up and redirect him away from things he should not be near, or he cries in the playpen.

Unfortunately for you my dear students, the maternal pull is too strong. You'll have to Google Poe for yourself and try to read, The Masque of The Red Death, The Raven, Anabelle Lee and The Fall of The House of Usher. A little background information is also recommended.

Hmm... now the miracle of time has placed my children in bed and I have the leisure to look up the links you need. Hence those titles above now link to the texts you should be familiar with.