Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Period 1:
Review "Trifles" and Breathing Underwater
Share character maps
Bus evacuation drills

Period 2:
Discuss the end of Things Fall Apart
Read and discuss "The Strong Breed"

Period 6:
Review "The Strong Breed" and end of Heart of Darkness
Work on hero essays

Thought for the day...
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
— Carl Sagan

Monday, September 29, 2008

I am out today, but will be back tomorrow. Be nice to the substitute.

Period 1:
Read "Trifles"

Period 2:
Things Fall Apart essays

Period 6:
Read "The Strong Breed"

Thought for the day...
Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.
- Eddie Rickenbacker

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Present Current Events
Work on Breathing Underwater Projects

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Present Current Events
Personal Narrative Work
Happy Birthday Jacquie & Liz

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Present Current Events
Personal Narrative Work
Discuss Heart of Darkness

Thought for the day...
Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
— Elizabeth Lawrence

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
Breathing Underwater Quiz & Review
Work on Maps...

Period 2:
Worked on literary essay introductions - finding the focus/thesis
Discussion of Things Fall Apart

Period 6:
Discuss Heart of Darkness
Work on literary essays

Thought for the day...
"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." Jean Jacques Rousseau

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Period 1:
NWEA testing...

Period 2:
Review Vocabulary
Discuss Things Fall Apart
The importance of a thesis discussion - reviewing literary essays

Period 6:
Discuss Heart of Darkness
Description activity
Review Vocabulary
Hero Journeys

Thought for the day...
"You want a deliberate belief." Joseph Conrad
What is a deliberate belief? Why is it so important?

Monday, September 22, 2008

This is a short week so don't forget vocabulary for Tuesday!!

Period 1:
Discussed Breathing Underwater
Collected Technology Papers
Worked on Nick Maps - tracing the key developments in Nick's story & relationship with Caitlin. Don't forget to include at least 3 quotes on your "map" and you need to include past & present!

Period 2:
Discussed changes at the end of Part One in Things Fall Apart
Worked on Yeats' poem: "The Second Coming"

Period 6:
Discuss Heart of Darkness
Defining and identifying irony

Thought for the day...
John Lennon - "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."
Apply this thought to your text under study.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Small Discussion Groups on Breathing Underwater
Technology Paper work

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discussion on Things Fall Apart
Personal Narrative Work

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discussion on Heart of Darkness
Literary Essay Revisions

Thought for the day...
"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
- James Thurber

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Period 1:
Breathing Underwater Quiz & Discussion
Present Current Events
Work on technology papers


Period 2:
Things Fall Apart Quiz
Passage Discussion
Present Current Events

Period 6:
Present Current Events
Share Judging Joe thoughts
Introduce Heart of Darkness
Revising Literary Essays

Thought for the day...
"Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting."
— Aldous Huxley
How has reading impacted you? Magnified you? Added to your life?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
College Fair

Period 2:
Pass a Passage Discussion
Worked on Narratives
Reviewed Vocabulary

Period 6:
Discussed All My Sons
Reviewed Vocabulary
Judging Joe Essays

Thought for the day...

Mary McCarthy - "We are the hero of our own story."

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Book orders are due today!!
AND... Yearbooks are on sale now. See a yearbook member to purchase one.

Period 1:
Discuss Breathing Underwater
Finish Passage Reviews

Period 2:
Discuss Things Fall Apart
Pass a Passage activity
Writing group conferences

Period 6:
Discuss All My Sons
Hero's Journey
How to critique personal narratives

Thought for the day...
"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
— Joan Borysenko
How will you choose to live?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Period 1:
Breathing Underwater Quiz
Passage Discussions

Period 2:
Things Fall Apart Quiz
Examining Personal Narratives

Period 6:
Ethics and All My Sons
Began Act II

Thought for the day...
"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it."
— Roald Dahl, BOY: TALES OF CHILDHOOD

September 12, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discussed Breathing Underwater
Worked on Technology Papers - Draft due Monday!


Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discussed Things Fall Apart
Worked on personal narratives

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Writing Conferences
Anthem Games

Thought for the day...
"The reading of all good books is like a conversation with all the finest men of past centuries."
— Rene Descartes
Who are you conversing with today?

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Period 1:
I, Robot Test
Present Current Events

Period 2:
Present Current Events
Discuss Metamorphosis
Work on Personal Narratives

Period 6:
Present Current Events
Discuss Anthem
Work on Personal Narratives

Today's thoughts for the day are in remembrance of our nation's tragedy seven years ago...

Moshe Dayan:

"If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies."

and

John Lennon:

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one."

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Period 1:
Honor Roll Assembly
Review of I, Robot
Review Vocabulary

Period 2:
Discuss Metamorphosis
Work on Personal Narratives
Review Vocabulary

Period 6:
Review Vocabulary
Discuss Anthem
Create Anthem Questions
Work on Personal Narratives

Thought for the day...
"Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones."
— Bertrand Russell
What does Russell mean? Do we need to believe in something? What do you believe in?

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Period 1:
Discussed "Evidence"
Created outlines for Technology papers

Period 2:
Discussed Metamorphosis
Reviewed Kafka's life & Philosophies of thought
Started Personal Narrative Work

Period 6:
Discuss Anthem
Write about Shimmering Moments

Thought of the day...
David Sarnoff - "Nobody can be successful unless he loves his work."
Do you think this is true? Why or why not?

Monday, September 8, 2008

Welcome to our first full week of school for the 2008-2009 school year.

Period 1:
I, Robot Quiz & Discussion
Finish Technology Research

NOTE: Tonight read: Evidence

Period 2:
Greek Tragedy Test
Begin Metamorphosis

Period 6:
Essay Drafts are due!!
Discussing Anthem
What is a Collectivist Society?
Begin Personal Narrative Writing

Thought of the day...
Abigail Van Buren - "The less you talk, the more you're listened to."
Do you agree? Why or why not? What is Ms. Van Buren really saying?

Friday, September 5, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss I, Robot & Cornell Notes
Work on Technology Paper

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss Antigone & Cornell Notes
Work on essays

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Metamorphosis Test

Thought for the day...

"We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What changes are you seeking in yourself? How will you accomplish them?

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Block 1:
Present Current Events
Discuss I, Robot
Work on technology papers
Vocabulary Review

Block 2:
Present Current Events
Quiz on Antigone
Work on essays
Vocabulary Review

Block 6:
Present Current Events
Discuss/Review Metamorphosis
Work on essays
Vocabulary Review

Thought to ponder...
"The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson." - Tom Bodett
What lessons or tests have you learned from?
What does this quote mean to you?

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Block 1:
Review Vocabulary
I, Robot Quiz
Work on Technology papers

Block 2:
Review Vocabulary
Discuss Oedipus Rex
Work on essays
Finish student/teacher conferences

Block 6:
Review Vocabulary
Discuss Metamorphosis
Work on essays
Finish student/teacher conferences

Thought for the day...
"The beginning is always today."
— Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

What are you beginning today?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

We have a very busy week, so I hope you rested up over the long weekend.

Block 1:
Discussed I, Robot
Wrote "I know" sections of technology paper
Established Noodletools accounts

Block 2:
Discussed Oedipus Rex
Worked on essays
Student/Teacher conferences on papers

Block 6:
Discussed Metamorphosis, Ch. 1
Worked on essays
Student/Teacher conferences on papers

Thought for the day....
Virgil - "Fortune favours the bold."

What does this quote mean to you?