HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!

Have a great time! See a good movie. Read a good book. Laugh.


See you in 2009!

Get ready for party on Friday!

Bring cups or games or food (treats for all) and good spirits! It's holiday time!

Finished work on mini-novels.

Final response due Thursday. No Pencil!

Fri: Spell test #9 and exercises.

PARTY! Bring food to share!!!!!!!

Nearly (!) finished mini-novel discussion

Period 2: In groups, discussed novel and then whole class discussion.
If you left class early for music activities, you must turn in the questions sheet on Weds. Kyra, Ricky, Khiana, Kiana, Riley, Jasmine.

Period 4: Handout -- pick the most effective and least effective character description from Old Man And The Sea. Did the ending make sense to you?

Per. 5: Be prepared on Weds. to write a new account of Gitano's visit to the ranch.



Final response assignment due Thursday.

HW: Thurs: Final response mini novel

Fri: Spelling post-test #9.

Holiday Party! Bring treats to share.

QW: Write about the hardest thing you have ever had to do in your life. Complete sentences. 5 min.

Per. 2: The Pearl: Discuss last 2 ?s in pre-read worksheet. Popcorn read opening, ch. 3, p. 27. Discuss.

Per. 4: Same QW and other choices: (1) Old age is to be feared more than death; (2) anyone over 40 is untrustworthy; (3) when going on an adventure, it is better to be lucky.

The Old Man And The Sea: Read from 1936 article by Hemingway and class discussion on second third of book.

Per. 5: QW as above. Can do any of the 4 choices. The Red Pony: Class discussion.

HW: Tues: Finish mini-novel

Thurs: Final response mini novel

Fri: Spelling post-test #9.

Holiday Party! Bring treats to share.

Took quiz on first part of mini-novel. Trade Grade.

Handed in writer's notebooks. Get yours in by Monday if absent.

Lots of papers returned, including group work projects/presentations.

HW:

Mon: Per 2: chs. 3/4 The Pearl
Per 4: pg. 70 The Old Man And The Sea
Per 5: chs 2/3 The Red Pony

Tues: All classes finish reading your mini-novels. You have no other English homework and two SSR periods to get it done.

"Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of the need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed..."
------John Steinbeck in his 1962 Nobel Prize Speech in Stockholm

Watched documentary on Steinbeck, one of America's greatest writers, author of The Red Pony and The Pearl. "The literary titan led a remarkable life, from his childhood in California's Salinas Valley to his later years in the coastal fishing town of Monterey. Toiling as a field hand during his youth, Steinbeck subsequently penned sensitive portrayals of poor laborers in his timeless novels."

HW: Expect quiz. By Friday read:
Period 2 -- The Pearl, chapters 1 &2, at least.
Period 4 -- The Old Man And The Sea, pg.34, at least
Period 5 -- The Red Pony, chapter 1, through pg. 37, at least.

WOD: compassion (n)-- a deep awareness or sympathy for another's suffering or feeling. (Nearly empathy, but not quite!) The class had great compassion and gave special gifts for the McGill family, adrift after losing their home in a great fire.

Mini -novel pre-reading work. Vocabulary and predicting on each novel and background on authors. (Click on their pictures on sidebar for more information)

By Friday read:
Period 2 -- The Pearl, chapters 1 &2, at least.
Period 4 -- The Old Man And The Sea, pg.34, at least
Period 5 -- The Red Pony, chapters, through pg. 37, at least.

Completed final quiz on mini-novel.
Returned books.

Books still out: Jacob, Simon, Ry, Norzin.
Need to take quizzes at lunch on Weds., Simon, Ry, Norzin.

Worked on pre-reading handout for next mini-novel.


On Weds, will get next mini-novel. Read at least the first third by Thursday.

Use your SSR time wisely on this!

Period 2 -- The Pearl, chapters 1 &2, at least.
Period 4 -- The Old Man And The Sea, pg.34, at least
Period 5 -- The Red Pony, chapters, through pg. 37, at least.

QW: Gain perspective, from another's point of view. Write a thank you note to the Twin Hills students who donated food and presents to your family this holiday season.

Finish group presentations on Grand Conversation of mini-novel

HW: Tuesday:

• 2nd response mini-novel.
• Bring in books to return and exchange for next mini-novel
• Final Quiz on mini-novel. If you have kept up with reading, you will do fine on the quiz.

Spelling Test # 8 trade/grade. Hand in exercises

"Grand Conversations." About Hemingway and Steinbeck. Your groups teach. Timed. Graded. 20 points. Engage your classmates. Finish on Monday.

All good books are alike in that they are truer
than if they had really happened
and after you are finished reading one
you will feel that all that happened
to you and afterwards it all belongs to you;
the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse,
and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

HW: Mon: Finish mini-novel

Tues: 2nd response due. Bring books to exchange for next mini novel. Quiz on book.

QW: On your mini-novel. Find the best sentence in the passage. Explain it in terms of plot, character, theme or symbol. (Each class has different passage -- on board)

Daily Grammar Day 5. Rewrite sentence to correct

Surprise pop quiz on No Excuses words

Group work on your mini-novel. Select a passage. Paraphrase. Read Out Loud. Say why great, moving or significant. Present to class. Each person must participate. Graded. Will continue on Friday and Monday, if needed.

HW: Fri: Spelling Quiz No. 8 and 1-20 questions
Mon: Finish mini-novel
Tues: 2nd response due, as well as your books. Turn in for next mini-novel.

Daily Grammar Edit, #4

Finished group mini novel quizzes. To take on Thursday.


Reminders: Review no excuses words.
Mini novel has to be finished (read) by Tuesday 12/09 Turn in book to get next one.
Mini novel #2 quiz on mini novel on Tues. along w/ 2nd response due

HW: Friday: spelling test # 8 and exercises
Tues. Dec 9: 2nd response mini-novel. If you did a graphic already, this one has to be a written one.

WOD-- THEME --The main idea or meaning in a literary work. The theme of a work is not the same as the works’ subject. The theme is the abstract concept that is made concrete through the images, characterization, and action of the text. The theme provides an answer to the question: What is the work about? Unlike plot, which deals with the action of a work, theme concerns itself with a work's message or contains the general idea of a work.

QW: If you had a really important test to take and could cheat by looking at someone else's paper, would you? Why or why not?

Daily Grammar Edit: Week 3, Day 2 & 3

Discussed theme in literature. What means. Notes from overhead. The theme of a fable is its moral. The theme of a parable is its teaching. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave.
For example, the subject of a story might be war while the theme might be the idea that war is useless. Or, the subject of a story could be about a great drought, while the theme is man against nature.

Group work: Mini Novel #1 Test Design:
Write three questions. Should be about plot, character, and theme. Answers must be in two to three sentences. Must turn in one sheet with the questions, and one sheet with the questions and the answer, with page #s in book, if appropriate.

First response mini novel due today, in basket.

Reminders: Review no excuses words.
Mini novel has to be finished (read) by Tuesday 12/09 Turn in book to get next one.
Mini novel #2 quiz on mini novel on Tues. along w/ 2nd response due

HW: Friday: spelling test # 8 and exercises
Tues. Dec 9: 2nd response mini-novel

QW: You have awakened as an inanimate object. Write a letter telling a human friend what your new life is like.

Spell #8 trade/grade exercises

Returned & explained & filed IOA essays

Discussed first response assignment due tomorrow, Tues. Check for plagiarism. Do not copy and paste from websites unless you put in quotation marks and say specifically where information comes from! Take care with plagiarism traps, passing someone else's work off as your own. Tips on avoiding plagiarism.

Work time: spelling sentences, first response -- mini-novel.

Check this website for links to Steinbeck, Hemingway, assignments, handouts, and rubrics.

HW: First response mini novel due Tues., BOP