Week at a glance Nov 1 - 5, 2010

Curriculum focus: determines meaning of words through knowledge of word structure (11.1.3.K3), generating writing based on personal experience (11.7.1.1), organizing and planning a written piece (11.7.1.3), shares a draft with others to elicit feedback (11.7.1.5), revises the draft (11.7.1.6), edits the draft (11.7.1.7), composes persuasive writing (11.7.2.1c), adapts writing by identifying, analyzing, and understanding audience (11.7.2.2), writes using one or more text structures when appropriate to a achieve a specific purpose or to address a specific audience: problem/solution (11.7.2.4d), develops clear and purposeful ideas with sufficient evidence and/or relevant detail to satisfy purpose using sufficient evidence, examples, anecdotes, quotations, expert opinions, and/or statistics (11.7.2.1d), organizes ideas in a logical structure (11.7.3.2), writes with energy and enthusiasm (11.7.3.3), selects and employs words to convey message in an interesting, precise, and natural way (11.7.3.4), creates text that flows easily with a variety of sentence structures (11.7.3.5), uses standard writing conventions effectively to enhance readability (11.7.3.6)

Root words for this week (root - definition - examples):

1. anthrop - people,human - anthropology, philanthropist, misanthrope
   
2. ego - I or self - egotistical, egomaniac, egotheistic
   
3. humus - of the earth - human, humble, exhume
   
4. mater/matr - mother - maternal, matron, matriarch
   
5. pater/patr - father - paternal, patron, patriot
   
6. vir - man or manly - virtue, virile, triumvirate
   

We will spend the entire week this week working on creating the Problem/Solution Research Essay. Each day will require students to move along a new step of the writing process. Students will have plenty of time to complete each step. As long as students are using their time in class wisely, students should not have any homework and should have a completed rough draft of their essay by the end of the week.

• Mon: New root words. Problem/Solution Research Essay: pass back Annotated Bibliography. Begin working on Informal Outline.
  
• Tues: Problem/Solution Research Essay: Informal Outline due by the end of the hour.
  
• Wed: Problem/Solution Research Essay: Citing sources in the essay. Practice citations. Create the first paragraph of the essay.
  
• Thurs: Problem/Solution Research Essay: Rough draft checklist. Write the rough draft.
  
• Fri: Root Words quiz. Problem/Solution Research Essay: handwritten rough draft due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance Oct 25 - 28, 2010

Curriculum focus: determines meaning of words through knowledge of word structure (11.1.3.K3), generating writing based on personal experience (11.7.1.1), organizing and planning a written piece (11.7.1.3), shares a draft with others to elicit feedback (11.7.1.5), revises the draft (11.7.1.6), edits the draft (11.7.1.7), composes persuasive writing (11.7.2.1c), adapts writing by identifying, analyzing, and understanding audience (11.7.2.2), writes using one or more text structures when appropriate to a achieve a specific purpose or to address a specific audience: problem/solution (11.7.2.4d), develops clear and purposeful ideas with sufficient evidence and/or relevant detail to satisfy purpose using sufficient evidence, examples, anecdotes, quotations, expert opinions, and/or statistics (11.7.2.1d), organizes ideas in a logical structure (11.7.3.2), writes with energy and enthusiasm (11.7.3.3), selects and employs words to convey message in an interesting, precise, and natural way (11.7.3.4), creates text that flows easily with a variety of sentence structures (11.7.3.5), uses standard writing conventions effectively to enhance readability (11.7.3.6)

No new root words this week because we are in the computer lab doing research.

Parent/Teacher Conferences - WRHS will be hosting Parent/Teacher Conferences Wednesday, Oct 27, and Thursday, Oct 28, after school from 4 - 8 pm.

This week we are meeting all week in the library as we complete research for the Problem/Solution Research Essay. The assignment for the Annotated Bibliography, due Thursday, is available to download under the Course Materials section of this website.

• Mon: Begin Annotated Bibliography for the Problem/Solution Essay
  
• Tues: Continue working on the Annotated Bibliography for the Problem/Solution Essay
• Wed: Continue working on the Annotated Bibliography for the Problem/Solution Essay
• Thurs: Annotated Bibliography due by the end of the hour
• Fri: No school
  

Week at a glance Oct 18 - 22, 2010

Curriculum focus: determines word meanings through knowledge of word structure: Greek and Latin roots and prefixes and suffixes (11.1.3.k3), uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions (11.1.4.K5), identifies persuasive techniques (11.1.4.K14a-f), distinguishes between fact and opinion and recognizes propaganda (11.1.4.K15a), analyzes how the author’s use of irony contributes to his/her purpose (11.1.4.K11c), contextual aspects of setting: how history, society, and culture influence events in the text (11.2.1.K2), and analyzes how the problem or conflict advances the plot of a narrative (11.2.1.K3a).

Root words for this week (root - definition - examples):

1. bene - well - benefit, benediction, benefactor
   
2. cred - believe - credit, creed, incredible
   
3. cres, cret, cru - rise or grow - crescendo, increase, concrete
   
4. luc, lum - light - lucid, lucrative, luminescent, illuminate
   
5. phil - strong love for - philosophy, philanthropy, bibliophile
   
6. sopho - wisdom - sophisticated, philosophy, sophomore

This week we finally finish our unit over Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Our unit was interrupted by the need to review for last week's state assessment. We've already finished the play; however, The Crucible is an allegory. An allegory is a metaphorical story in which issues or themes represent ideas and a message the author hopes to convey. In this case, although the Salem Witch Trials actually happened, Arthur Miller was using them allegorically to portray the terror and atrocities of the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s. We'll take a look at the allegorical context for The Crucible and show how a writer may use a text as a mirror for his/her own time period. Toward the end of the week, we'll move on to pre-writing work for our Problem/Solution Research Essay by selecting topics that will guide our research in the computer lab the following week.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. Decoding The Crucible as Allegory: Miller and McCarthyism - discussion in class.
  
• Tues: The Crucible as Allegory: Good Night, and Good Luck - notes in class.
  
• Wed: The Crucible as Allegory: Good Night, and Good Luck - complete short reflection essay for Thursday.
  
• Thurs: Problem/Solution Research Essay - pick two topics and write a topic proposal, due Friday.
  
• Fri: Root Words quiz. Problem/Solution Research Essay - topic proposal due. Discussion over topic possibilities. Preview the annotated bibliography.
  

Week at a glance Oct 11 - 15, 2010

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), determines word meanings through knowledge of word structure: Greek and Latin roots and prefixes and suffixes (11.1.3.k3), uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions (11.1.4.K5), compares/contrasts textual aspects: character traits, themes, character motives, and author's purpose (11.1.4.K7), analyzes and evaluates how the author's style (word choice and sentence structure) and use of literary devices work together to achieve his/her purpose by using tone, mood, and imagery (11.1.4.K11d, e, and h).

End of the 1st quarter on Thursday - Any student having a question about his/her grade should stop by and see me before or after school. Let's get things taken care of before anything becomes official.

Root words for this week (root - definition - examples):

1. derm - skin - dermatologist, epidermis, taxidermy
   
2. micro - small - microscope, microcosm, microbiology
   
3. ocu - eye - binoculars, inoculate, ocular
   
4. sci - knowledge - science, conscious, omniscient
   
5. therm - heat - thermometer, thermostat, endothermic
   
6. vis, vid - to see - video, visual, revise, review
   

This week is a week of reviewing, testing, and previewing. We'll review expository and poetic text structures Monday and Tuesday. We're doing all of this review in preparation for our district-wide testing day on Wednesday. Students will either report for the PSAT (if they signed up for it) or the KS Reading Assessment. Students will receive their room assignments on Tuesday during Advisory. On Thursday, we'll discuss the end of the 1st quarter and preview our next major essay unit: the Problem/Solution Research Essay. We'll wrap up the week with a much-deserved three-day weekend.

• Mon: New root words. Debrief from last week. Expository review: "Did Chess Make Him Go Crazy?" Read, discuss, and complete in-class assignment.
  
• Tues: Poetry review - read and discuss Poe's "The Raven." Complete in-class assignment by the end of the hour.
  
• Wed: District testing day - report to assigned room and take either the PSAT or the KSRA
  
• Thurs: Root Words quiz. Preview the Problem/Solution Research Essay
  
• Fri: No school - end of the 1st Quarter
  

Week at a glance Oct 4 - 8, 2010

Curriculum focus: determines word meanings through knowledge of word structure: Greek and Latin roots and prefixes and suffixes (11.1.3.k3), uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions (11.1.4.K5), identifies persuasive techniques (11.1.4.K14a-f), distinguishes between fact and opinion and recognizes propaganda (11.1.4.K15a), analyzes how the author’s use of irony contributes to his/her purpose (11.1.4.K11c), contextual aspects of setting: how history, society, and culture influence events in the text (11.2.1.K2), and analyzes how the problem or conflict advances the plot of a narrative (11.2.1.K3a).

Root words for this week (root - definition - examples):

1. belli - war - rebellion, belligerent, bellicose
   
2. fac - do or make - factory, facilitate, manufacture
   
3. mort - death - mortal, morbid, mortician
   
4. poeia, poie, peia - make/create - poem, onomatopoeia, mythopoeic
   
5. the, theo - god - atheist, theology, monotheism
   
6. tox - poison - toxicology, toxic, botox

Mr. Ritchie will be gone Oct 6 - Oct 8. I will be gone for the last three days this week because I will be attending, presenting at, and helping to run the 2010 Kansas Association of Teachers of English Conference. I am sorry to miss any time with my students. However, KATE is a strong and worthwhile professional organization. I will be exchanging ideas with more than 200 English teachers from across our state. I am confident that I will return bursting with enthusiasm and fresh ideas for our class for the rest of the year. If you are curious to know more about the conference, my presentation, and my role in KATE, visit the conference program at http://web.jccc.net/orgs/kate/Conf%20Program%202010.pdf

This week, we'll be doing some quick review as students prepare to take the KS Reading Assessment on Wednesday, Oct 13th. We'll begin the week with some review notes over figurative language and text structure. On Tuesday we'll do some review notes over persuasive techniques. Students will then have a chance to practice with their notes for the rest of the week. We'll wrap up the week, as usual, with a Root Words Quiz.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. Discuss last week's exams and pass out progress reports. KSRA Review - Figurative Language and Text Structure notes.
  
• Tues: KSRA Review - Persuasive Techniques notes. Discuss lesson plans and expectations for Wed - Fri.
  
• Wed: KSRA Narrative structure review - read and discuss Irving, "The Devil and Tom Walker," pages 242 - 252.
  
• Thurs: KSRA Narrative structure review - complete questions over "The Devil and Tom Walker by the end of the hour. For Friday, read "Rethinking Race in the Classroom" (class handout)
  
• Fri: KSRA Persuasive structure review - complete questions over "Rethinking Race in the Classroom" by the end of the hour.