HIRSUTE January 23, 2012

I will admit to being jealous of this hirsute man and his award-winning beard.

This week:

• Monday 1/23–
  • Word of the Week
  • Finish watching Eva Safferman’s testimony [ http://tc.usc.edu/vhiechoes/video.aspx?testimonyid=20160 ]
  • Quickwrite:  Why is memory important?
  • Writing Prompt
    • HW:
      • Reading Log due Wednesday
      • Final on Block Day
• Tuesday 1/24–
  • Model writing: Previous entries
  • In-class writing: Response to Eva Safferman (poetry or prose)
    • HW:
      • Reading Logs & Bathroom Tickets due tomorrow
      • Study for Final
• Wednesday 1/25–
  • Collect Reading Logs & Bathroom Tickets
  • New Reading Logs
  • Papers Back
  • Collect Writing: Response to Eva Safferman
  • Study Time
    • HW:
      • Study for Final
      • Bring SSR book
• Thursday 1/26 & Friday 1/27–(minimum block days)
  • Semester Finals
    • HW:
      • SSR time!

SOMNAMBULATE January 17, 2012

I’ve actually heard of someone making a sandwich while somnambulating, leaving it on the kitchen counter, and having no memory of how it got there when waking up the next morning. 

This week:

• Tuesday 1/17–
  • Word of the Week
  • Begin watching full testimony of Eva Safferman
  • Vocab Final study guide
  • Work on Found Poem
    • HW:
      • Finish Found Poem
      • Study Vocabulary
• Wednesday 1/18–
  • Collect Found Poems
  • Watch Testimony of Eva Safferman & take notes
    • HW:
      • Study Vocabulary
      • Bring SSR book
• Thursday 1/19 & Friday 1/20–
  • VOCABULARY & SPELLING FINAL
  • Study Guide for Part 2 of Final
  • continue watching Eva Safferman testimony
    • HW:
      • Read “Walking with Living Feet” pg. 312 in Holt Literature Book
      • Study for Final
      • Reading logs due Wednesday

**Here is the link to watch Eva Safferman’s testimony:  http://tc.usc.edu/vhiechoes/video.aspx?testimonyid=20160

KERFUFFLE January 9, 2012

Last night’s sky caused quite a kerfuffle among the town’s forty residents.  Luckily, the one school bus was gassed and ready for immediate evacuation, and within thirty minutes the town of Strikehere was abandoned.

This week:

• Monday 1/9–
  • Word of the Week
  • Compare terms: holocaust, Holocaust, Shoah ; primary/secondary sources
  • Read article “Kristallnacht” & take notes
  • Watch video testimony: “Kurt Messerschmidt”
  • Journal #2
    • HW:
      • L. 8 ex A,B,C due tomorrow
      • L. 8 test on block day
      • Begin studying for finals
• Tuesday 1/10–
  • Check & Review ex. A,B,C
  • Discuss Journal #2
  • discuss “anti-semitism” / Map: “Jewish Communities in Europe before the Nazis Rise to Power”
  • Video testimonies: “What was life like before Nazi control?”
  • Read article: “The Rise of Hitler”
  • Discussion: “What if?”
    • HW:
      • Read
      • Study L. 8
• Wednesday 1/11–
  • Video Testimony: “Life in the Ghettos”
  • Photo: “The Bridge Over Lodz”
  • Write Journal #3
  • Read article “The Ghetto” & answer questions
  • Read excerpts from The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak
    • HW:
      • Study Lesson 8
      • Bring SSR book
• Thursday 1/12 ; Friday 1/13–
  • Lesson 8 Test
  • SSR time
  • Read excerpt from Elie Wiesel’s Night
  • Read children’s poetry recovered from ghettos and concentration camps
  • Begin Writing a found poem (finish on Tuesday)
    • HW:
      • Study for Vocab Final
      • Reading Logs due Wednesday, 1/25

SOJOURN January 3, 2012

Sometimes what you thought would be a quick sojourn on a bike with your friends turns out to be an unexpected adventure. 

This week:

• Tuesday 1/3–
  • Word of the Week
  • Review punctuation classwork–work in pairs–Goal: 80% or better
    • HW:
      • Lesson 8 flashcards due tomorrow
• Wednesday 1/4–
  • Check Lesson 8 cards
  • Quiz–Punctuation / Dialogue:  work with a partner to create a dialogue using various punctuation marks
    • HW:
      • Study Vocabulary
      • Read
      • BRING SSR BOOK to class
• Thursday 1/5 & Friday 1/6–
  • SSR time
  • Holocaust Vocabulary
  • Define “catastrophe”
    • HW:
      • Study vocabulary
      • Read

Upcoming Due Dates:

• 1/10:  L. 8 ex. A,B,C
•  1/12-13:  L. 8 test
• 1/19-20:  Vocab & Spelling Final -lessons 1-8
• 1/25:  Reading Log due

AZURE December 12, 2011

Like a strange, azure eye, the moon watched over the creatures of the night.

This week:

• Monday–
• Word of the Week
• Highlight essays–opportunity for revision
• HW:
• L. 7 ex. A,B,C due tomorrow
• Final Revisions due tomorrow–STAPLE TO YOUR HIGHLIGHTED ESSAY
• Tuesday–
• Check and Review ex. A,B,C
• Turn in Essays (if revised)
• Review Punctuation Practice (underlining & quotation marks)
• HW:
• Study Vocabulary & Spelling
• Wednesday–
• Punctuation Practice (apostrophes, hyphens, parenthesis, brackets, dashes)
• Study Lesson 7 / SSR time
• HW:
• Bring SSR book
• Study Lesson 7 Spelling & Vocabulary
• Thursday/Friday–
• Lesson 7 test
• SSR time
• Quickwrite
• Video “The Eye of the Storm”
• Journal Write
• HW:
• READ!!!

PRESTIDIGITATOR December 6, 2011

A true prestidigitator makes anything seem possible!

This week:

• Monday–
• Finish writing 3 body paragraphs (TKAM essay)
• Independent time (read, vocab, etc.)
• HW:
• 3 body paragraphs finished
• L. 7 cards due tomorrow
• Read
• Tuesday–
• Check L. 7 cards
• Write Introduction & Conclusion paragraphs  [POWER POINT mockingbird essay]
• Pass back papers
• HW:
• Read
• Final Typed Draft due on Block Day
• Wednesday–
• Complete Introduction & Conclusion paragraphs
• Notes:–Underlining & Quotation Marks
• HW:
• Final Typed Draft due on Block Day
• Bring SSR book
• Thursday/Friday–
• Turn in Typed Essays
• Post-it note sheet
• Turn in TKAM books to the library
• SSR time
• Practice Underline & Quoation Marks
• HW:
• Read
• Study Lesson 7 Vocab & Spelling

RECAPITULATE November 28, 2011

This quote pretty much recapitulates one of  the novel’s main themes.  Of course, we understand that the mockingbird is symbolic for those characters who share its traits.

This week:

• Monday–
• Word of the Week
• Finish TKAM movie
• New Seats
• Vocabulary–Work on & Study
• HW:
• L. 6 ex. A,B,C due tomorrow
• L. 6 test on Block Day
• Reading Logs due Wednesday
• Tuesday–
• Check & Correct ex. A,B,C
• Benchmark–Punctuation
• Essay Graphic Organizer–Characters compared to a Mockingbird
• HW:
• Reading Logs & Bathroom Tickets due tomorrow!
• Study for Vocab & Spelling Test
• Wednesday–
• Collect Reading Logs & Bathroom Tickets
• Get new Reading Logs & Bathroom Tickets
• Finish Graphic Organizer
• Write Topic Sentences
• HW:
• Study Lesson 6 & previous lessons
• Bring SSR book
• Thursday/Friday–
• Lesson 6 Spelling & Vocab Test
• SSR time
• Draft 3 Body Paragraphs for TKAM essay
• HW:
• OPTIONAL:  Finish writing 3 body paragraphs if not finished in class
• Lesson 7 flashcards
• SSR time!

We will continue to draft essays in class on Monday.

VERBOSE November 21, 2011

Verbose seagull = lonely seagull.

This week:

• Monday–
• Word of the Week
• Check Lesson 6 flashcards
• Collect Storyboards
• Continue watching TKAM the movie
• HW
• Read
• Tuesday–
• Finish watching TKAM
• Discuss
• HW:
• READ!!!
• READING LOGS DUE 11/30
• Lesson 6 ex A,B,C due 11/29
• Lesson 6 test: 12/1 & 2

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

PUGILIST November 14, 2011

Two of the first intelligent pugilists.

This week:

• Monday–
• Word of the Week
• Storyboards–directions
• “How to Kill a Mockingbird”–video
• Papers back/Organize
• Independent time
• HW:
• Study for TKAM test: plot, theme, conflicts, characterization, quote identification, elements of fiction, Harper Lee
• BRING SSR BOOK
• Lesson 5 ex. A, B, C due tomorrow
• Storyboards due Monday
• Lesson 5 test on block day
• Tuesday–
• Check ex. A,B,C
• TKAM test
• SSR time
• HW:
• Study Lesson 5 spelling & vocab
• Storyboard due Monday
• Read and make sure you are filling out your Reading Log
• Wednesday–
• Notes:  The Mockingbird  [click here for notes]
• Characters symbolized as a Mockingbird
• HW:
• Study Lesson 5
• Bring SSR book
• Storyboard due Monday
• Thursday/Friday (minimum days)–
• Lesson 5 Spelling & Vocab Test
• SSR time
• Begin movie To Kill a Mockingbird
• HW:
• Storyboard due Monday
• Lesson 6 cards due Monday

PHILTRUM November 7, 2011

Right before his speech in front of the entire school, Jesse’s philtrum pooled in sweat. He didn’t have time to wipe it away before approaching the stage and every spoken consonant came with a spray of nerves.

This week:

• Monday–
• Words of the Week
• Check L. 5 flashcards
• Collect Atticus’s Closing Arguments paragraphs
• Check, Discuss, & Collect ch. 19-22 study guide
• Begin Reading ch. 23
• HW:
• Read TKAM ch. 23-24 (quiz tomorrow–surprise!)
• Tuesday–
• Quiz on chs. 23 & 24
• Read & Discuss ch. 25 & start ch. 26
• HW:
• Finish reading TKAM ch. 26
• Wednesday–
• Read & Discuss ch. 27-28
• HW:
• SSR time
• Thursday (not a block day)–
• Read & Discuss ch. 29-31
• HW:
• TKAM test Tuesday
• plot
• characters
• quotes
• conflict
• elements of fiction
• literary devices
• Harper Lee
• Lesson 5 ex. A,B,C due Tuesday
• SSR time