Friday, January 30, 2009

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Reading Quiz
Present Current Events
PRESENTATIONS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Review Part One
Archetypes

Period 3:
A River Runs Through It test
Discuss scenes from Citizen Kane

Period 5:
Finish conferencing
Begin reviewing and revising - revision due Tuesday

Thought for the day...

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Snow delay - No Period 1. Keep reading you should be at page 207 for tomorrow.

Period 2:
Present current events
Discuss Don Quixote
Continue archetype notes

Period 3:
What/Who is "Rosebud" and why?
Looking at mise-en-scene in Citizen Kane
FINISH A River Runs Through It

Period 5:
My day - from your shoes' persepective
Peer conferences on short story

Thought for the day...
For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.
— Ingrid Bengis

January 28, 2009

Period 1:
Review vocabulary
Reading Quiz and discussion
Letter to Robin...

Period 2:
Review vocabulary
Reading quiz and discussion
Archetype notes

Period 3:
Viewing Citizen Kane

Period 5:
Conference Protocol
Conferencing Mrs. Tyler's story

Thought for the day...
Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.
- Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Period 1:
Sunrise quiz & discussion
Work on presentations

Period 2:
Don Quixote quiz & discussion
A Hero's Journey notes
Begin literary archetype notes

Period 3:
Who are the essential characters?
Mise-en-scene
Viewing Citizen Kane

Period 5:
Writing short story

Thought for the day...
"The man who has no imagination has no wings. "
-Muhammad Ali

Monday, January 26, 2009

Period 1:
Sunrise over Fallujah Quiz
In-class reading time
Work on War Presentations - Due Thurs.

Period 2:
Don Quixote Quiz & Review
Reviewing and identifying steps in a Hero's Journey: Departure & Initiation Stages
Work on presentations - Due Wed.

Period 3:
Why does identity matter? Perception?
Viewing Citizen Kane

Period 5:
Identifying point of view
What is a short story?
Working on short story

Thought for the day...

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities." - Dr. Seuss

January 23, 2009

Period 1:
Sunrise quiz
Review expectations for current events & academic honor policy
Distributed vocabulary
Finish war research and use Noodletools accounts

Period 2:
Don Quixote quiz
Review expectations for current events & academic honor policy
Distribute vocabulary
Work on DQ research and using Noodletools accounts

Period 3: Literally Film
Continue reviewing film terms and vocabulary
Understanding camera angles and shots
Begin active viewing of Citizen Kane

Period 5: Creative Writing
Sharing setting and character informations
Building a scene
Begin story arc

Thought for the day...
The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Period 1:
Sunrise over Fallujah quiz
Discuss novel, characters
Continue war research

Period 2:
Don Quixote quiz
Discuss novel, characters, events
Begin hero notes
Continue period research

Period 3:
Film & elements of fiction vocabulary
Camera angles...
Skits

Period 5:
Working with a character
Setting up a conflict... what if?

Thought for the day...
"The more you read
The more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go."
- Dr. Seuss, I CAN READ WITH MY EYES SHUT!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I am out today, but I know you will have a great day with my fabulous, fantastic substitute! See you tomorrow!

Period 1:
Class will be held in the library...
Quiz on Sunrise and begin war research

Period 2:
Class in the library
Quiz on Don Quixote and begin related research

Period 3:
Writing a script for a show debating movie vs. book

Period 5:
Reading "Desiree's Baby" and answering related questions
Creating a character and a setting

Thought for the day...
Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forward a ripple of hope.
— Robert F. Kennedy

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today is the inauguration of our 44th President: Barack Obama!

We have a modified schedule due to Jodi Picoult's visit and the viewing of Obama's inaugural address.

Period 1:
Intro to the class
Sunrise over Fallujah

Period 2:
Intro to the class
Don Quixote

Period 3:
Intro to the class

Period 5:
Intro to the class
Character sheets

Thought for the day...
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
- Martin Luther King

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Wow, can you believe the first semester is over? And what a great semester it was! We read LOTS of books and many of you received your college acceptances. Have a great second semester and I will see you at graduation (or in the halls).

For the remainder of this week I will be entering your final grades in, and preparing for next semester's classes. I hope you all enjoy the long weekend.

Remember Tuesday we will have mini-classes as we host the author of Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult, and take part in our country's inauguration and celebration of our first African American President, Barack Obama on the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

And a thought for the day....
What is important is to keep learning, to enjoy challenge, and to tolerate ambiguity. In the end there are no certain answers.
- Martina Horner

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Finals begin today!

Period 1 & Period 6....
Finals

Thought for the day...
Seven days without laughter makes one weak.
- Mort Walker

and for those of you needing a laugh...
Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.
- Tommy Cooper

Monday, January 12, 2009

Final Exams start tomorrow!! Period 1 & 6 are Tuesday & Period 2 will be Wednesday. Make sure you have returned ALL your books!

Period 1:
Finish publishing sonnets
Review for Final

Period 2:
Their Eyes Were Watching God test
Review for Final

Period 6:
Finish The Stranger Test
Review for Final

Thought for the day...
"When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." - Carol Burnett

Friday, January 9, 2009

Can you believe finals are next week? Be prepared to review on Monday and/or finish up your book discussions.

Period 1:
Ethan Frome test
Publish and comment on sonnets

Period 2:
Discuss Their Eyes Were Watching God
Continue passage quilt
Begin developing review sheets

Period 6:
The Stranger Test
Begin reviewing

Thought for the day...
A man's mind, stretched by new ideas, may never return to its original dimensions.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Period 1:
Review Ethan Frome
Work on Light, Winter, Death Sonnets
Click below to read the sonnets & comment...

Period 2:
Discuss Their Eyes Were Watching God

Period 6:
Discuss/Review The Stranger
& Myth....

Thought for the day...
Ideas without action are worthless.
- Harvey Mackay

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Period 1:
Ethan Frome Quiz
Review novel
Work with images - create haiku & begin poem

Period 2:
Discuss Their Eyes Were Watching God
Finish Tartuffe

Period 6:
Discuss The Stranger & The Myth
What is absurd?

Thought for the day...
While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die --- whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness.
— Gilda Radner

Tuesday, January 6, 2008

Period 1:
Discuss/Review Ethan Frome
Work on Winter, Light & Death imagery
Floorplans

Period 2:
Their Eyes Were Watching God Quiz
Discussion of novel & letter from Nanny
Reading Tartuffe

Period 6:
The Stranger Quiz & Discussion
Documenting the Murder
Myth of Sisyphus

Thought for the day...
"...we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential."
- Ellen Goodman

Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy New Year!!

Period 1:
Ethan Frome Quiz
Exploring Wharton's images of: winter, light, and death
Creating our own images
Begin floorplans

Period 2:
Peer & Teacher Conferences

Period 6:
Stranger Quiz
Discussion of novel

Thought for the day...
"Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal." - E. Joseph Cossman