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.