Week at a glance May 16 - 20, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

During this last full week of the semester, we'll finish our essay over F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and prepare for the semester final. Students will receive their rough drafts back to them on Monday, as well as a final exam review packet. We'll meet in the computer lab to type, revise, edit, revise again, and print final drafts Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, our last official day of meeting, we'll finish the final exam review packet.

• Mon: The Great Gatsby - hand back rough drafts. Begin final exam review packet.
  
• Tues: The Great Gatsby -meet in the computer lab to begin typing the final draft.
  
• Wed: The Great Gatsby -Final Draft due by the end of the hour.
  
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby -finish final exam review
  
• Fri: Semester finals - 4th and 6th hour finals.
  

Week at a glance May 9 - 13, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

Root Words Exam this Friday - students will receive a study guide on Monday. We'll review throughout the week.

During this last full week of school before finals, we'll apply we've read from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and begin creating an essay. The essay will be done entirely in class. Students will receive topic choices on Monday. By Wednesday, they will complete an informal outline of their essay. A handwritten rough draft of the Gatsby essay will be due by the end of the hour on Friday. This essay is the last writing assessment of the school year. The grade on the final draft will count as half of the student's 2nd Semester Final Exam.

• Mon: Pass back papers and current grades. Root Words Review handed out. The Great Gatsby Essay - discuss assignment, parameters, timeline, and potential topics.
• Tues: The Great Gatsby Essay - brainstorming and shaping the essay. Shaping packet checked in class on Wednesday.
  
• Wed: The Great Gatsby Essay - Shaping packet checked and graded. Pass out and discuss guidelines for the rough draft.
  
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby Essay - Continue writing and shaping the rough draft.
  
• Fri: Root Words Exam. The Great Gatsby Essay - handwritten rough draft due by the end of the hour.

Week at a glance May 3 - 7, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

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

1. endo - internal - endocrine, endorse
   
2. exo - external - exoskeleton, exonym
   
3. tact/tang - touch - contact, intangible
   
4. veloc - quick - velocity, velociraptor
   
5. vers/vert - turn - invert, conversion
   

This week we'll finish reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Last Friday we read over the climax as Daisy made her choice and Myrtle Wilson met her tragic end. This week we'll analyze the falling action and the consequences. Do Daisy and Gatsby still have a chance to be together? Who are the other two characters who will die before the end of the novel? What was it that made Nick tell us in the beginning, "When I came back from the East last autumn I felt I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart" (2)? We will read and discuss the answers this week.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. The Great Gatsby - Chapter VII quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Tues: The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter VIII. For Wed: finish reading Chapter VIII.
  
• Wed: The Great Gatsby - Chapter VIII quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby -read and discuss Chapter IX. For Fri: finish reading Chapter IX.
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. The Great Gatsby - Chapter IX quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.

Week at a glance April 25 - 29, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

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

1. anni/enni - year - annual, bicentennial
   
2. giga - billion - gigajoule, gigavolt
   
3. kilo - thousand - kilogram, kilometer
   
4. mega - million - megabyte, megawatt
   
5. proto - first - prototype, protein
   

This week we'll continue reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In the first half of the novel, we discover that Gatsby has moved to Long Island and held these expensive, elaborate parties in the hopes of being reunited with his lost love, Daisy. As we read Chapters V - VII this week, students may wish to reflect on the quote from Fitzgerald that heads our class website. Think of a time when we have returned to a friend or a place we enjoyed in the past -- is our return ever as joyful or wonderful as the happy memories?

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter V. For Tues: finish reading Chapter V.
  
• Tues: The Great Gatsby - Chapter V quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
• Wed: The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter VI. For Thurs: finish reading Chapter VI.
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby -Chapter VI quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
• Fri: Root words quiz. The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter VII. For Mon: finish reading Chapter VII.

Week at a glance April 18 - 22, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

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

1. ambi/amphi - both- amphibian, ambidextrous
   
2. dom - house/home - domain, domestic
   
3. hema/hemo - blood- hemoglobin, hematoma
   
4. paleo - ancient - paleontology, paleoanthropology
   
5. xeno - foreign/alien - xenophobia, xenobiology
   

This week we'll continue reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Students have already met Nick, Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and Gatsby. They've encountered some of the most enduring symbols in all of literature: the valley of ashes, the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, and Gatsby reaching out to the green light across the bay. We'll continue on with readings and discussion over chapters 2 - 4. During these chapters, students will come to understand who Gatsby actually is and why he was reaching out across the bay.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. The Great Gatsby - Chapter II quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Tues: The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter III. For Wed: finish reading Chapter III.
  
• Wed: The Great Gatsby - Chapter III quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby -read and discuss Chapter IV. For Fri: finish reading Chapter IV.
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. The Great Gatsby - Chapter IV quiz, study guide due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance April 11 - 15, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes figurative language including: idiom, imagery, and symbolism (11.1.2.K4), 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), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting and their influence on characters and events in the story including the contexts of history, society, and culture (11.2.1.K2a-c).

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

1. leuc/leuk - white - leukemia, leukocyte
   
2. mela/melo - old - melanin, melancholy
   
3. neuro - nerve - neurologist, neurosis
   
4. osis - diseased condition of - metamorphosis, tuberculosis
   
5. pneumo - breathing/lungs - pneumonia, pneumatic
   

This week we'll begin our last unit of the school year over F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American classic, The Great Gatsby. We'll focus on the historical, cultural, and social context of Fitzgerald's work as we have an overview of the Roaring 20's, Prohibition, and the Jazz Age--a name for the era given by Fitzgerald himself. Students will meet Nick Carraway, our narrator, and see life through his young and and a bit innocent perspective. Since we are studying the opening chapters of the novel this week, our focus will be on shaping our first impressions of the characters and learning what we can from them. Students will check out books on Tuesday and will need to bring them to class from now on for the rest of the semester.

• Mon: New root words. The Great Gatsby - background and slang, notes and discussion.
• Tues: The Great Gatsby - finish background and slang, notes and discussion. Check out books.
• Wed: The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter I. For Thursday: finish Chapter I, pages 1-21.
  
• Thurs: The Great Gatsby - Chapter I quiz; Chapter I study guide due by the end of the hour.
• Fri: Root words quiz. The Great Gatsby - read and discuss Chapter II. For Monday: finish Chapter 2, pages 23-38.
  

Week at a glance April 4 - 8, 2011

Curriculum focus: generates ideas from personal experience, prior knowledge, observation applying appropriate strategies (11.7.1.1), selects a topic and relevant details for form, purpose, and audience (11.7.1.2), organizes and plans a written piece and develops a thesis statement in response to a prompt (11.7.1.3b), edits and polishes final revision to improve fluency and clarity (11.7.1.7), composes and meets the needs of the audience when creating persuasive writing (11.7.2.1c), builds a focused argument in the persuasive mode that uses logical thinking and appeals to reason, authority, and/or emotion using persuasive techniques (11.7.3.1c), the arguments opposing the writer's position are anticipated and effectively refuted (11.7.3.1g)--these are the primary indicators we are covering. We are also covering a broad range of other local indicators that, if all were listed, would be our entire writing curriculum.

The Local Writing Assessment

Although the state of KS does not require us to complete a writing assessment every year, WRHS's English 11 teachers are dedicated to tracking our students' progress and checking our own teaching practices. The Local Writing Assessment is a persuasive essay test developed by the English 11 team given during years when we are not required to do the KS Writing Assessment. The test is an in-class essay, meaning that students will not have any homework and will not be able to take materials home. Each day has a prescribed purpose. As long as students are focused, using their time wisely, and working through the writing process, we expect each student to pass without worry.

• Mon: LWA - Select a topic and begin the brainstorming process.
• Tues: LWA - Use the shaping packet to help shape the essay.
• Wed: LWA - Use the shaping packet to create a rough draft.
• Thurs: LWA - Meet in the IMC Lab C. Type the rough draft.
• Fri: LWA - Revise and edit the draft. LWA Final Draft and all materials due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance March 28 - April 1, 2011

Curriculum focus: generates ideas from personal experience, prior knowledge, observation applying appropriate strategies (11.7.1.1), selects a topic and relevant details for form, purpose, and audience (11.7.1.2), organizes and plans a written piece and develops a thesis statement in response to a prompt (11.7.1.3b), edits and polishes final revision to improve fluency and clarity (11.7.1.7), composes and meets the needs of the audience when creating persuasive writing (11.7.2.1c), builds a focused argument in the persuasive mode that uses logical thinking and appeals to reason, authority, and/or emotion using persuasive techniques (11.7.3.1c), the arguments opposing the writer's position are anticipated and effectively refuted (11.7.3.1g)--these are the primary indicators we are covering. We are also covering a broad range of other local indicators that, if all were listed, would be our entire writing curriculum.

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

1. fid - faith - fidelity, confident, bona fide
   
2. ger - old - geriatric, gerontology, gerontophobia
   
3. nat - birth - neonatal, natural, nation
   
4. phyt - plant, growth - neophyte, geophyte, phytobiology
   
5. spir - breathe - inspire, perspire, spirit
   

This week we'll be preparing for the Local Writing Assessment, an in-class essay assignment students will complete next week. To make sure we are prepared for the LWA, this week will be a review of persuasive writing basics that we've learned throughout the year and applied to our recent Death of a Salesman Essay. Students will wrap up this week of review with a practice outline and reflection, due by the end of the hour on Friday.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. Persuasive Writing Basics - notes in class.
  
• Tues: Persuasive Voices - notes and discussion. Practice paragraph due Wednesday.
  
• Wed: Persuasive paragraph due. The Thesis Statement - practice and evaluation.
  
• Thurs: Responding to a writing prompt - informal outline due Friday.
  
• Fri: Root Words Quiz. Informal outline and paragraph response due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance March 14 - 18, 2011

Curriculum focus: analyzing and interpreting figurative language: simile, metaphor, and symbol (11.1.3.K4a, b, i), identifying and analyzing the development of theme in a narrative text (11.1.4.K10d), identifying and analyzing the author's style: flashback, symbolism, tone, and mood (11.1.4.K11), comparing and contrasting narrative elements: character traits and character motives (11.1.4.K7), identifying and analyzing types of characters: flat, round, static, and dynamic (11.2.1.K1), and contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, and cultural (11.2.1.K2).

Assessments this week:

• Death of a Salesman Essay due Wednesday
• Death of a Salesman Exam Thursday
• 3rd quarter Root Words Exam Friday

As one can see above, the week before we leave for Spring Break will be filled with us wrapping up units and completing assessments. Students will receive their Death of a Salesman rough drafts on Monday. It will then be up to them to revise the essays and get them handed back in by the end of the hour on Wednesday. We will be reviewing key events, character traits, and symbols throughout the week in preparation for an exam over the play on Thursday. Finally, we'll close the week with an exam over our 3rd quarter root words. Students will not have homework over Spring Break.

• Mon: DoaS - pass back essay rough drafts. Begin working on the Exam Review Guide. Pass out 3rd Qtr Roots Review.
• Tues: DoaS - revise and edit the essay. DoaS Exam Review Guide due by the end of the hour.
• Wed: Death of a Salesman Essay due. Go over DoaS Exam Review Guide. Go over 3rd Qtr Roots Review.
• Thurs: Death of a Salesman Exam
• Fri: 3rd Qtr Root Words Exam. Pass back and go over the results of the Death of a Salesman Essay and Exam, as well as current grades. Preview the 4th Qtr.
  

Week at a glance March 7 - 11, 2011

Curriculum focus: analyzing and interpreting figurative language: simile, metaphor, and symbol (11.1.3.K4a, b, i), identifying and analyzing the development of theme in a narrative text (11.1.4.K10d), identifying and analyzing the author's style: flashback, symbolism, tone, and mood (11.1.4.K11), comparing and contrasting narrative elements: character traits and character motives (11.1.4.K7), identifying and analyzing types of characters: flat, round, static, and dynamic (11.2.1.K1), and contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, and cultural (11.2.1.K2).

Root Words - 3rd quarter quiz next week. Details on Monday, 3/14.

After reading Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, this week our focus will shift to creating an essay analyzing the primary theme or lesson of the play. We'll go over the essay assignment on Monday. Students will complete an assignment for each step of the writing process. Students who use their time in class wisely should not have any homework during the week. A typed rough draft of the essay will be due by the end of the hour on Friday.

• Mon: Pass back papers and grades. DoaS Essay - assignment, expectations, and brainstorm. Brainstorm/web checked on Tuesday.
  
• Tues: DoaS Essay- Brainstorm/web due. Shaping the essay. Essay shaping sheet graded in class on Wednesday.
  
• Wed: DoaS Essay - essay shaping sheet due. Structuring the essay. Begin creating a rough draft.
  
• Thurs: DoaS Essay - Continue creating a rough draft of the essay.
  
• Fri: DoaS Essay - rough draft due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance Feb 28 - March 4, 2011

Curriculum focus: analyzing and interpreting figurative language: simile, metaphor, and symbol (11.1.3.K4a, b, i), identifying and analyzing the development of theme in a narrative text (11.1.4.K10d), identifying and analyzing the author's style: flashback, symbolism, tone, and mood (11.1.4.K11), comparing and contrasting narrative elements: character traits and character motives (11.1.4.K7), identifying and analyzing types of characters: flat, round, static, and dynamic (11.2.1.K1), and contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, and cultural (11.2.1.K2).

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

1. caust - fire/burn - caustic, cauterize, holocaust
   
2. grav - heavy - gravity, grave, grief
   
3. lite/ite/lith - rock - monolith, lithium, coprolite
   
4. son - sound - sonar, consonant, supersonic
   
5. terra - earth - terrain, territory, extraterrestrial
   

"Attention must be paid..." This week we'll finish the reading portion of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Act One ended on a bit of a high note, with the potential of good things ahead for Willy and his sons. However, questions remain: what caused Willy to kick Biff out of the house, why can't Biff hold down a job, and what will happen to Willy? As we read we'll also analyze Miller's use of symbols and tone to enhance the events of the play.

• Mon: New root words; quiz on Friday. DoaS - Begin reading and discussing Act Two
  
• Tues: DoaS - Continue reading and discussing Act Two
  
• Wed: DoaS - Finish reading and discussing Act Two. Begin working on the Act Two study guide. Pass back papers and current grades.
  
• Thurs: DoaS - Act Two review
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. DoaS - Act Two study guide due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance February 21 - 25, 2011

Curriculum focus: analyzing and interpreting figurative language: simile, metaphor, and symbol (11.1.3.K4a, b, i), identifying and analyzing the development of theme in a narrative text (11.1.4.K10d), identifying and analyzing the author's style: flashback, symbolism, tone, and mood (11.1.4.K11), comparing and contrasting narrative elements: character traits and character motives (11.1.4.K7), identifying and analyzing types of characters: flat, round, static, and dynamic (11.2.1.K1), and contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, and cultural (11.2.1.K2).

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

1. cis/cide - cut or kill- precise, homicide
   
2. crypto - secret/hidden - crypt, cryptography
   
3. lud/lus - play/tease - delusion, illusion, allude
   
4. necro - death - necropsy, necropolis
   
5. nihil - nothing - annihilate, nil, nihilism
   

This week we'll continue reading and discussing Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. We've read enough to know that all is neither right nor well with the Loman family. As we complete Act One, we'll see more clues regarding Willy's madness, Biff's distance from his father, and Linda's resignation to their fate. We'll wrap up the week with various reviews for Act One.

• Mon: No school - professional learning day
  
• Tues: New root words. DoaS - continue reading and discussing Act One.
  
• Wed:DoaS - wrap up reading and Act One discussion.
  
• Thurs: DoaS - Act One study guide due by the end of the hour. Begin Act One review.
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. Doas - finish Act One review.
  

Week at a glance Feb 14 - 18, 2011

Curriculum focus: analyzing and interpreting figurative language: simile, metaphor, and symbol (11.1.3.K4a, b, i), identifying and analyzing the development of theme in a narrative text (11.1.4.K10d), identifying and analyzing the author's style: flashback, symbolism, tone, and mood (11.1.4.K11), comparing and contrasting narrative elements: character traits and character motives (11.1.4.K7), identifying and analyzing types of characters: flat, round, static, and dynamic (11.2.1.K1), and contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, and cultural (11.2.1.K2).

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

1. cardio - heart - cardiac, cardiologist
   
2. cerb - brain - cerebral, cerebellum
   
3. gastr - stomach - gastric, gastritis
   
4. osteo - bone - osteoporosis, osteopathy
   
5. rhin - nose - rhinoceros, rhinoplasty
   

"Attention must be paid..." This week we begin reading Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. It's a tale of a salesman desperately aiming for the American dream brought down by his own tragic flaws. As we read the play in class, we'll be focusing on the relationships between the characters and how Miller shows how events in the past inescapably shape our future. We'll also pull from the five American themes we studied during our American Poetry Unit and analyze how the themes are developed in the play.

• Mon: New root words. Finish Career Project Presentations. DoaS - introductory activity and discussion. Volunteer for parts.
  
• Tues: DoaS - Begin reading and discussing Act One.
  
• Wed: DoaS - continue reading and discussing Act One. Unpacking questions due by the end of the hour.
• Thurs: Root Words quiz. DoaS - finish reading and discussing Act One.
  
• Fri: No school due to Parent/Teacher Conferences
  

Week at a glance Feb 7 -11, 2011

Curriculum focus: organizing and planning a written piece (11.7.1.3), 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), and 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)

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

1. chrom - color - chromosome, monochromatic, chromograph
   
2. -cracy - rule by - democracy, aristocracy, bureaucrat
   
3. esth/aesth - sensation or feeling - aesthetic, anesthesiology, kinesthetic
   
4. flor - flower - flour, floral, Florida, fleur de lis
   
5. plas/plast - to form - plasma, plastic, protoplasm
   

After a brief hiccup with snow days, this week we'll come back to the root words unit and wrap up the Career Project. By now students should have completed their research. This week students will put together their presentations either in poster or PowerPoint form. We will have our last day in the computer lab on Wednesday. Students will do oral presentations of their projects on Thursday and Friday.

• Mon: New root words. Begin assembling the Career Project poster/PowerPoint
• Tues: Continue assembling the Career Project poster/PowerPoint
• Wed: Finish Career Project poster/PowerPoint
  
• Thurs: Career Project due. Begin presentations.
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. Career Project presentations.
  

Week at a glance Jan 31 - Feb 4, 2011

Curriculum focus: organizing and planning a written piece (11.7.1.3), 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), and 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)

This week we will start working on the Career Project. The Career Project is a presentation students will assemble and create using research they gather this week in the library. The assignment, guidelines, rubric, and resources are all posted under the Course Materials section to the right. The main thing that students should keep in mind is that our time with computers is limited. Students will need to be focused and working efficiently in order to be successful with this project. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

• Mon: Career Project - overview, expectations, rubric, and guidelines. Begin research for the Annotated Bibliography.
  
• Tues: Career Project - meet in the Library. Continue the Annotated Bibliography. Aim to have at least one source and five facts by the end of the hour. Writing process grade assessed at the end of the hour for the first source.
  
• Wed: Career Project - meet in the Library. Wrap up the Annotated Bibliography.
  
• Thurs: Career Project - meet in the Library - annotated bibliography with a minimum of three sources with five citations each (15 citations total) due. Begin synthesizing the researched information into pieces to be on the presentation . Type facts with citations, headers, and Works Cited page.
  
• Fri: Career Project - Last day in the computer lab! Finish synthesizing the researched information into pieces to be on the Career Project presentation. Search for relevant graphics or pictures to enhance the presentation.

Week at a glance Jan 24 - 28, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes the use of figurative language (11.1.K3), uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions (11.1.4.K5), compares/contrasts themes in texts (11.1.4.K7b), compares/contrasts author's use of literary devices (11.1.4.K7k), uses paraphrasing and organizational skills to summarize underlying meaning of the text (11.1.4.K9e), analyzes and evaluates how an author's style work together to achieve purpose: irony, symbolism, tone, mood, imagery, allusion (11.1.4.K11c, d, e, f, h, and j), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, cultural (11.2.1.K2).

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

1. cad/cide - to fall - accident, coincidence, deciduous
   
2. geno - creation - genesis, genetics, genocide
   
3. meta/muta - change - mutate, metamorphosis, metabolism
   
4. somn - sleep - insomnia, somnolent, somniloquacious
   
5. vor - eat - voracious, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore

This week is a transition week. We finally begin our 2nd semester root words, we wrap up our unit over American poetry, and we preview our next major unit: the Career Project. We'll start the week with a look at modernism and surrealism in American poetry. We'll analyze how writers like Pound, Williams, and Eliot used free verse to show us their ideas. On Wednesday, we'll begin the American Poem assignment, in which students will compose their own free verse American Poem. We'll wrap up the week with a root words quiz, an opportunity to share students' American Poems, and a preview of the Career Project.

• Mon: New root words - quiz on Friday. American Poetry - Modernism and Surrealism. Read and discuss Pound and Williams; begin discussing Eliot.
  
• Tues: American Poetry - finish Eliot discussion. Begin Modernism and Surrealism assignment.
  
• Wed: American Poetry - Modernism and Surrealism assignment due by the end of the hour. American Poem assigned, due Friday.
  
• Thurs: American Poem - workday in class.
  
• Fri: Root words quiz. American Poem final draft due by the end of the hour. Preview Career Project assignment.
  

Week at a glance Jan 17 - 24, 2011

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes the use of figurative language (11.1.K3), uses information from the text to make inferences and draw conclusions (11.1.4.K5), compares/contrasts themes in texts (11.1.4.K7b), compares/contrasts author's use of literary devices (11.1.4.K7k), uses paraphrasing and organizational skills to summarize underlying meaning of the text (11.1.4.K9e), analyzes and evaluates how an author's style work together to achieve purpose: irony, symbolism, tone, mood, imagery, allusion (11.1.4.K11c, d, e, f, h, and j), and analyzes contextual aspects of setting: historical, social, cultural (11.2.1.K2).

This week we'll continue on with our American Poetry unit and finally wrap up our Definition Essay unit. It may be a bit bumpy at first as it turns out I do indeed have Jury Duty on Tuesday. Jury duty will unfortunately postpone our 2nd semester root words for one more week. I will hopefully be back in class for the rest of the week as we continue to analyze the unique qualities of American Poetry.

• Mon: No school - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
  
• Tues: American Poetry - The Search for Identity. Study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Wed: American Poetry - The Great American Melting Pot? Study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Thurs: American Poetry - American Dreams - readings and discussion. Pass back Definition Essay rough drafts and discussion issues to revise.
  
• Fri: Definition Essay - Meet in the computer lab. Typed rough draft due by the end of the hour.
  

Week at a glance Jan 10 - 14, 2011

Curriculum focus: differentiates between connotation and denotation, determines meaning of words based on context clues (11.1.3.K1), generates ideas from personal experience (11.7.1.1), selects a topic and relevant details for form, purpose, and audience (11.7.1.2), composes narrative writing (11.7.2.1a), writes using descriptive text structure (11.7.2.4a), develops clear and purposeful ideas with sufficient evidence and/or relevant details (11.7.1.1c), organizes ideas in a logical structure (11.7.3.2), writes with energy and enthusiasm using appropriate tone and word choice (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), and produces final written products that are of a quality to present to others (11.7.3.7).

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

1. cad/cide - to fall - accident, coincidence, deciduous
   
2. geno - creation - genesis, genetics, genocide
   
3. meta/muta - change - mutate, metamorphosis, metabolism
   
4. somn - sleep - insomnia, somnolent, somniloquacious
   
5. vor - eat - voracious, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore
   

This week, we launch into the second semester of our root words unit. Students will be learn five new roots, definitions, and examples, review them throughout the week, and have a quiz on Thursday. We'll also begin a brief poetry unit that highlights many famous poets in American literature and challenges students to analyze and interpret their poems. The purpose of the unit is to do a study of five themes common and unique to American literature, as well as to study American free verse as a poetic style. Our unit will eventually wrap up with students writing their own free verse poem centered around one of the five American themes. This week, however, will wrap up with students typing their Definition Essay in the computer lab.

• Mon: American Poetry - unit overview. Songs of America: Whitman and Hughes. Study guide due by the end of the hour.
• Tues: American Poetry - Free verse: Whitman and Frost. Study guide due by the end of the hour.
• Wed: American Poetry - Modernism and Surrealism: Pound, Williams, and Eliot. Begin discussion of poems.
  
• Thurs: Root Words quiz. Finish American Poetry - Modernism and Surrealism: Pound, Williams, and Eliot. Study guide due Friday.
• Fri: Meet in the computer lab and type the Definition Essay. Typed final draft due by the end of the hour.

Week at a glance Jan 3 - 7, 2011

Curriculum focus: differentiates between connotation and denotation, determines meaning of words based on context clues (11.1.3.K1), generates ideas from personal experience (11.7.1.1), selects a topic and relevant details for form, purpose, and audience (11.7.1.2), composes narrative writing (11.7.2.1a), writes using descriptive text structure (11.7.2.4a), develops clear and purposeful ideas with sufficient evidence and/or relevant details (11.7.1.1c), organizes ideas in a logical structure (11.7.3.2), writes with energy and enthusiasm using appropriate tone and word choice (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), and produces final written products that are of a quality to present to others (11.7.3.7).

Welcome back! This week we'll hit the ground running with our first essay of the semester: a definition essay. A definition essay in an essay in which we thoroughly explain a word or phrase, including connotations, denotations, and personal connections. This may sound vague and abstract now, but it will make much more sense as we work step-by-step together in class. Look for a copy of the assignment and rubric to be posted on this site by Wednesday.

• Mon: No school - staff workday
  
• Tues: Course overview and review. Definition Essay - assignment overview and expectations. Graphic organizer due Wednesday.
  
• Wed: Definition Essay - check graphic organizer. Creating and informal outline and first paragraph. Informal outline checked by the end of the hour.
  
• Thurs: Definition Essay - creating a rough draft. Use time in class wisely to generate a handwritten rough draft of the essay.
  
• Fri: Definition Essay - peer review and student/teacher conferences. Rough draft due by the end of the hour.