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.