Daily Annoucements
I post here daily about what we accomplished in class each day, including handouts and links available to students on my CANVAS site.
Apologies for not posting an update yesterday. Because of the ACT testing schedule, I did not have any time during the day to post!
Let's start with today and work backwards to keep the flow of this blog: Wednesday, 2/28 Semester 2, Day 25 We took about 15 minutes for reading today, and then moved directly into notes on compound-complex sentences. After noting all the possible combinations of main and dependent clauses to create compound-complex sentences, students created their own for each of the different formulas and practiced punctuating them correctly. They also practiced identifying all types of sentences in preparation for Friday's quiz (page 4 of unit packet). Next, we read through Scene I in Oedipus -- kudos to my volunteers who read with passion and intensity the argument between Oedipus and Teiresias! Groups had to list the arguments (claims) that each character made and supporting evidence for those arguments in preparation for a silent debate in class tomorrow. Groups also combed through Scene I for strong and thorough evidence for each of the 5 claims on their Tracking Evidence handout. HW: Study for Grammar 1 quiz by practicing with the various resources on Canvas. Read reviews of your ACES paragraph and begin working on revisions. Revisions are due in the Google Portfolio document Friday PM with changes indicated in bold. Tuesday, 2/27 Semester 2, Day 24 Tuesday's schedule was different because of the ACT testing of all juniors on campus today. We met in Periods 1-3 before lunch, and all of those classes were longer than usual. Period 4 met after lunch and was more than 50% shorter than usual, so they only completed the activities in bold below: Extended reading time at the beginning of class, and then we discussed the topic of fixing fragments and run-on sentences. Both of these skills depend on a person's understanding of sentence types and clauses. Next, I gave all students a copy of Oedipus's monologue that opens Scene I in our text. They had to divide up the lines equally among group members and paraphrase their section (4th period had to complete the paraphrasing for homework). Then, group members read their paraphrased lines aloud to each other as their "reading" of the monologue and looked for evidence of our main claims for Part I: Oedipus is a good and noble king who has a tragic flaw; Sophocles creates dramatic irony in the play and uses figurative language to lay out the play's meaning.
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Monday, 2/26
Semester 2, Day 23 All English II classes tested with a Benchmark test today. Students had four passages to read and answer questions about; the reading selections and questions were all aligned to skills we have worked on in this first part of the quarter. They were allowed to use the entire class period to complete the test; students who finished early read independently. Homework: Log in to Turnitin.com and open the PeerMark assignment. Click on "Write Reviews" and complete at least one review tonight. It's important to begin at least one review tonight so we can fix any technical difficulties that you encounter during class tomorrow before both reviews are due Tuesday night (11:59 pm). Friday, 2/23
Semester 2, Day 22 At the beginning of class, I demonstrated how to copy/paste text from the ACES portfolio to Turnitin.com. Students were supposed to have a complete draft for the paragraph about the best definition of a hero ready in class today, so after the demonstration, students took the vocabulary quiz and then uploaded their paragraphs into Turnitin.com when finished. Because the vocabulary quiz had a writing section, it took a bit longer to complete than our previous quizzes. By the time everyone had finished and used the laptops to submit paragraphs to Turnitin.com, we only had time to review noun clauses and for me to explain the homework for this weekend. Homework: 1. Upload paragraph (copy & paste) to Turnitin.com by Saturday 11:59pm. Starting Sunday am, you will have access to the 2 paragraphs shared with you and can work on the peer reviews due Tuesday night. 2 Complete the Fixing Fragments and Run-ons handout picked up in class on Friday. 3. Read the rest of the Prologue in Oedipus (see Part I on Canvas), focusing on the same close reading skill you were responsible for in class this week (characterization, conflict, figurative language, significance/questions/predictions) and adding relevant evidence FOR YOUR SKILL to the Tracking Evidence handout. Upcoming next week: 1. Benchmark assessment on Monday 2. ACT altered schedule on Tuesday. Peer reviews due Tues. by 11:59 pm. 3. Classroom Guidance counselor visit on Thursday re: registration 4. Early release schedule on Friday. Thursday, 2/22
Semester 2, Day 21 After 10 minutes of reading, we launched right into vocabulary review using Quizlet Live. Then, I had students write sentences using some of the vocabulary words with context clues, because that's a new requirement on the quiz tomorrow. I encouraged them to use context clues that use synonyms, antonyms, examples, or general setting appropriate for the word (like a king issuing a ruling for scepter and edict). We spent the rest of our class time disssecting the prologue text for evidence of specific ideas such as tragic hero characteristics, motifs, and the building of irony in the play Oedipus Rex. Homework: Type draft of Hero Definition ACES into portfolio before class tomorrow. Study for vocabulary/writing quiz. Wednesday, 2/21
Semester 2, Day 20 After 10 minutes of reading, we discussed and took notes on the final 5 words of this week's list. The quiz on Friday will include these words and those from last week's list as well as occasional words from our first vocabulary list of the semester that can be synonyms or antonyms of current words. Next, we reviewed adjective clauses in sentences 6-10 on page 7 in our grammar unit packet and then looked at the final type of dependent clause, the noun clause. There are 5 exercise sentences on page 8 of the unit packet that students should have marked up by class tomorrow. Finally, we started to dig into the prologue of Oedipus Rex to practice the kinds of close reading skills students will need to use throughout the reading of the play. Groups members volunteered to take one one of the close reading practices (finding characterization, conflict, figurative language) and annotated the text, preparing to teach the other group members their topic in class tomorrow. Homework: Finish OTK close reading assignment (your chosen topic) and annotate text. Review vocab. words from last week's list to prepare for Friday's quiz. Write hero definition ACES draft in the appropriate section of the ACES portfolio by class on Friday. Tuesday, 2/20
Semester 2, Day 19 Independent reading, vocabulary (OTK list 2), and grammar (2nd type of dependent clause -- adjective clause). After getting through these necessities, students worked together to evaluate and change argument and citation ideas on their ACES plan for the Best Definition of a Hero writing assignment. I gave suggestions and answered questions as needed to help everyone feel ready to complete the plan (homework for tonight) with explanations and a summary sentence. For the final 10-15 minutes of class, students read the Prologue to Oedipus Rex in their groups and identified unfamiliar vocabulary words in the text. We will continue tomorrow, discussing the Prologue and working in groups to complete the steps on the "Close Reading" instructions. Homework: Follow the same steps we used in class today to mark up sentences 6-10 on the Adjective Clause page in the grammar packet (highlight the adjective clause, draw an arrow to the noun it describes, then underline the subject and circle the verb within the highlighted clause). Add notes to the ACES plan for E1, E2, and S sentences. Monday, 2/19/18
Semester 2, Day 18 After 10 minutes of reading, students shared examples of complex sentences from their books using the PollEverywhere website application. Then, we reviewed and took notes for the first five words on the new (Oedipus) vocabulary list. Finally, we discussed the articles students read last week/weekend about heroes/heroism and identified all the definitions and claims about heroes in the Zimbardo article "What makes a hero?" Students then had some work time in class to write their Argument for a new ACES paragraph assignment about the best definition (from the Zimbardo article) of heroism and to find strong textual evidence from the Zimbardo article that supports that defintion and to find one other piece of textual evidence from their 2nd hero article that ALSO supports Zimbardo's definition. In addition, those who needed some guidance or just a few minutes to finalize their Gilgamesh ACES revisions (due today) had the time/laptop availability to do so. Homework: Fill in the A, C1, and C2 sections of the planning guide for the Hero Definition ACES following the instructions from today's class (key words to include in Answer, how to phrase the Argument so it isn't factual but does make a claim, evidence that SHOWS a person or group as examples of the definition, etc.). Friday, 2/16
Semester 2, Day 17 Students took the vocabulary quiz at the beginning of class, followed by independent reading time. Those who finished early had extra reading time, which means that most students read close to an hour in class this week! Next, I introduced the topic of complex sentences created with ADVERB dependent clauses. Students practiced creating and punctuating this type of complex sentence using pairs of main clauses and a variety of subordinate conjunctions (pg 6 in the Grammar Packet picked up in Monday's class). For the final part of class, groups worked to complete their Tragic Hero illustrations. During this time, I invited students to check in with me to get answers to questions they may have from the feedback I gave them on the Gilgamesh ACES paragraph. Revisions to those paragraphs are due (in the Google Portfolio document) on Monday. Homework: Finish revisions to Gilgamesh ACES paragraph in Google Portfolio. Format all changes from the draft paragraph in bold. Read the 2nd "hero" article you selected from the 3 offered in class on Friday. Annotate evidence that suppports claims/definitions from the Zimbardo article. Thursday, 2/15 Semester 2, Day 16 After 10 minutes of reading time, 1st and 4th period used Quizlet Live and a crossword puzzle to review vocabulary in advance of tomorrow's vocabulary quiz. 3rd Period needed more time to finalize Greek Drama notes after yesterday's class, so they chose to review vocabulary on their own and use class time to finish the project. After vocabulary review, we began our discussion about the qualities of a tragic hero (according to Aristotle's Poetics). First, students read about the six qualities on our notes handout. Then, we watched a video that summarized the basic story of Oedipus Rex and reviewed the tragic hero characteristics using Oedipus as an example. I asked students to take notes from both the video and my explanations on the handout to help explain and understand Aristotle's writing on the topic. Finally, each group brainstormed and began drawing an illustration that represented characteristics 1-5 without the use of words. They will finish their illustration in class tomorrow. Homework: Study for vocabulary quiz (there will be a word bank but you need to know definitions, synonyms and antonyms this time and once again figure out how the word fits into a sentence using context clues). Read the "What Makes a Hero?" article and annotate for 3+ definitions of a hero and the supporting evidence for each definition/quality. Coming Soon: Gilgamesh ACES draft and revisions entered into Portfolio Doc and shared with me -- due Monday. All changes made for the revision paragraph should be in bold type font. Wednesday, 2/14
Semester 2, Day 15 In addition to 10 minutes of independent reading, we reviewed the final 5 words on our vocabulary list and punctuation rules for compound sentences. We also discussed the two errors in compound sentence punctuation that result in run-on sentences: comma splices (only a comma between the 2 main clauses) and fused sentences (no punctuation). Students who need additional practice with compound sentence punctuation can use the Grammar Bytes website to complete 2 exercises and turn them in for an extra Smart Lunch credit.* In the remaining class time (35-40 min .) students worked with their groups to create the "textbook pages" for the Introduction to Greek Drama research project. These are due tomorrow (no class time to work on them tomorrow) for a quiz grade. Homework: Finalize "your" part of the textbook pages (due tomorrow). Recheck instruction #4 on the assignment sheet to make sure you have met expectations. |