NOTE TO PARENTS (OCT 6, 2008) I AM NOT RECEIVING EMAIL FOR SOME REASON FROM THIS SITE. PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT hartera@duvalschools.org
The program was using an old default on an email It should be working now, or you can email me directly as above.
Hello. I am Andrea Harter, an English/Language Arts teacher at Robert E. Lee. I currently teach, for the 2008-2009 school year, AP English Language & Comp., English III, and Drama, all courses. Below, you'll find the general syllabus and course guides for each class. When school starts, there will be a daily guide for the class detailing our general activities. I'll add other things as we go along, and if I can manage it, some links to helpful sites. You can email me from here, or call the school to reach me. My home number is detailed in the syllabus. Cheers! Go Generals!
Robert E. Lee High School 2008-2009
Mrs. Harter
AP English Language & Composition Syllabus
Course Overview
The purpose of the AP Language & Composition is for students to receive an intensive, college-level study of both non-fiction and fiction texts to prepare them to think, read, and write clearly, analytically and effectively. Teaching this course in high school will always be a challenge, yet students who are motivated can be successful in this class and will come out of the experience with a very strong vocabulary, refined thinking and argument skills that are showcased in their writing. It is a work-intensive class. The student MUST take the responsibility of completing his homework assignments and doing the exercises to enlarge his/her vocabulary at home, as class time is precious and is used to practice, discuss and simulate the AP test conditions and the product (essays, etc.)
Students will read essays, editorials, speeches, plays, poems and novels as they examine and practice writing different types of texts. The emphasis is on non-fiction, supported by fiction. Students will write frequently and be constantly pushed to a higher level. Access to a computer is essential, as they need to cite their material in MLA (Modern Language Association) format. Our media center has computers as do all Jacksonville public libraries. No time in class is allotted to write papers on computer.
Students who are well acquainted with world and national events do well on the AP test. Close reading of the daily paper, Time Magazine or Newsweek, will greatly increase a student’s chance of success.
The course is aimed towards an intensive test give by CollegeBoard at the end of the year. This test consists of multiple choice items and THREE essays. Passing this test with a score of 3 or higher may net the student college credit (or an exemption) from freshman English Composition, which will save parents and students money. The going cost for a three-hour course (for example, Eng. 1 first semester) at UNF is $690, plus books. The test costs more than $80 to administer; a cost which is borne by Duval County. Please take this opportunity seriously.
A failing grade on the test does not mean students necessarily will fail the course. However, failing the course almost guarantees students are not prepared to take the test. The course is designed to take students to the level to pass or exceed the test expectations.
Core Texts
Prose Models, and your blue text book. I will also be handing out MANY examples of non-fiction texts. You can expect to read many novel excerpts, in addition to four novels during the year, including The Scarlet Letter, Into the Wild (non-Fiction), The Crucible (a play), The Great Gatsby (summer reading) and Alas, Babylon.
Supplies
-- A three-ring binder, and lots of loose leaf paper. I have no preference on which type. (college or regular)
-- Dividers
-- A paper folder with prongs, pockets optional (Duo-Tang, they cost about 20 cents this time of the year.
-- Highlighters, pens and pencils
-- A dictionary for your home use
-- Composition notebook. It has a marbled design on it, any color is fine. No spiral.
Portfolios – You will generate work which will be kept in a portfolio which should showcase your growth as a writer.
Grading scale: The basic grading scale for knowledge-based items is
90-100 – A
80-89 – B
70-79 – C
60-69 – D
Below 60 – F
A different sort of grading is applied to your essays. Essays are scored on a 1-9 scale, in accordance with AP standards. For the FIRST QUARTER ONLY, essays receiving a 5 or higher will receive an A, 4 a B, 3 a C, 2 a D, 1 an F, based on a four-point scale.
The second quarter, the essays will tick up a notch on the grading scale: A is 6, B is a 5, C is a 4, D is a 3, F is a 2.
The scale continues to climb in the third quarter: A=7, B=6, C=5, D=4, F=3.
Final quarter, one more tick up the scale. A=8, B=7, C=6, D=5, F=4.
Students who take advantage of every opportunity to raise their grade and stretch their vocabulary and writing can carry an A all the way through the end and pass the AP test, but as you can see, there is no room or time for languishing.
First Quarter – The Basics and the Question : What is An American?
• Course orientation.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Annotation skills
• SOAPStone strategy
• Rhetorical Triangle
• Commonly Confused Words – students will become aware of words commonly confused and take a test on usage.
• Parts of speech review with emphasis on pronouns – especially predicate nominative usage.
• Ongoing vocabulary study through the Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop, Level F. THIS IS AVAILABLE ON-LINE and you can download it to an I-Pod or MP3, but you may want to order it from a bookstore if computer access is spotty. http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/levels_a2h.cfm
VOCABULARY TESTS WILL BE GIVEN FREQUENTLY!
Second Quarter – Continuing the question of What is an American? and how that is reflected in non-fiction and fiction/Rhetorical devices and rhetorical appeals
Third Quarter – Continued rhetorical devices and strategies/argumentation/research paper and looking at America’s development as reflected in literature
Fourth Quarter -- Continued rhetorical devices and strategies/argumentation/research paper and looking at America’s development as reflected in literature
Specific coursework can be found at schoolnotes.com. Type in the ZIP code for the school, 32205.
A communication plan:
Students will receive progress reports a minimum of once a quarter, and report cards approximately a week after the end of the nine-week grading period.
I can be reached at the school at 381-3930. Robert E. Lee’s mailing address is:
1200 McDuff Ave. South
Jacksonville, FL 32205
My extension is 141. I have planning during second period, which is from approximately 8:50 to 10:20 on a normal bell schedule day, and I can return your call then. I can’t answer the phone during class, but I check my email often.
I can be reached by email at hartera@duvalschools.org, or through the schoolnotes.com site, or you may call me at home. My home number is 751-3095. If you have a problem, I’d rather you call, then just guess or give up because you can’t reach me. Please leave a message if I am not in, and I will return your call as soon as I can.
I will call parents periodically if the student appears to be struggling, experiencing frequent absences or not turning in work. I also call with “Good News” praise. If parents or guardians do not hear from me, either my phone or email, chances are I do not have a valid contact number for you. Please email me and provide it. I encourage you to call at anytime just to see how students are doing. If you desire a face-to-face conference, please call the school at set up an appointment. Students I teach in English are in the Liberal Arts Community.
Rituals, Routines and Expectations:
1) Come to class, on time, ready to learn and work
2) Please do not disrupt the class after the bell has rung.
3) Books are necessary and readiness if PARAMOUNT – Do your reading and writing at home and come ready to talk about the assignment.
4) Respect for property: Yours, mine and ours!!
5) Follow the rules in the student handbook. No electronics. Food is allowed in my classroom on a privilege basis as long as it is consumed discreetly and trash is removed. This is allowed at my discretion.
Class Attendance and missed work: COME to class! Students missing more than four classes have to pass the comprehensive exam to receive credit for the class, in addition to any makeup work that might be graded. It is the student’s responsibility to get their makeup work, which will be posted on schoolnotes.com. There is no time to reteach a lesson for absenteeism, so it is vital that the student be in class to learn the skill and information. Essays will not be graded late. The next essay will double in grade and be held in the same standard as if the student was present. E.g. Essay one, not turned in – 0; Essay 2, turned in, received a 70. Doubling that score, 70 x 2 = 140, divided by 2 equals a 70 percent. However, it’s important to remember if you miss an essay, chances are slim you’ll be able to make a 70 on the next one.
If you fail an essay, you may redo it as many times as you need to, to bring it up to a 70, within a two-week window.
One final note, the students will be taking the PSAT, which is also a qualifying test this year for the National Merit Scholarship. The test is given early, September or October, so please encourage them now to be preparing. They should take the SAT again in the Spring to qualify for college entrance, and give themselves enough time to retake if necessary. We’ll talk about this as the year goes on.
We’re going to have a tremendous year. Please contact me if I can be of assistance. A rare extra credit opportunity is being offered for the first week of school only: If you’d like to send tissue or hand sanitizer, it will garner 10 extra credit points for your child. There will be other opportunities to participate academically, if you do not want this option.
Please keep this information for your records. Sign and have the student return the signature portion of this sheet.
It is your first grade and is worth 25 points. (see next page)
I have read and understand the general rules and course outline for AP English Language Composition for Mrs. Harter’s class.
Student _________________________
Parent name, signature and PHONE NUMBER(s)____________________________
¬___________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Robert E. Lee High School 2008-2009
Mrs. Harter – English III
Syllabus and Course Guide
Course: All Standard English classes in Duval County, at the high school level are aligned and follow the SpringBoard program, which was designed by CollegeBoard. The idea of Springboard is just what it sounds like: a platform to dive off into all sorts of creative and intellectual ways to communicate effectively. The program is based on higher-order thinking, mind-stretching and questioning. There are many components that make this an interesting and effective puzzle, that, when solved shows the amazing things our students can do with the background knowledge, skills and literature they’ve been able to work with and digest and re-create in their own understandings.
Your student will be given a SpringBoard book at the beginning of the year, and they will sign for this book. If it is lost, the student must pay $5 to receive another book. Many of the activities in class require the book, and the standards and instructions for success on the projects are included in the book.
We start the year with an American Dream project and pursue American themes throughout the year. Access to a newspaper is essential to the class – they have to create their own editorial pages at some point. With an important election coming up, please save your newspaper and encourage your child to read at least one or two articles daily.
Supplies: Basic supplies are called for:
1. Your child will need a lot of loose-leaf paper, something to keep it in (a binder or even a folder with prongs,) and their own writing utensils, highlighters. I keep some supplies in the classroom, but often they are exhausted by the end of the first nine weeks.
2. Your student will also need at least one Composition Notebook. They are marbled (black and white, or other colors) and have the pages sewn in. They have NO spirals. You might consider buying two during the school-supply sales, when they are generally about $1 each; later in the year they cost much more.
3. For extra credit, your child may bring in a box of tissue with their name on the bottom of it for 10 extra points. If you don’t want to participate in this option, other extra point academic opportunities are available during the year. This is only good for the first week of school.
The Springboard book is a soft-cover book. Students were also issued a blue Literature book. They will need them at times during the year, but not on a regular basis. They should be kept in their locker for access. Springboard books and the Composition books are needed EVERY DAY.
Students will keep their work in portfolios, which are kept in the classroom. If you’d like to see your child’s work, please call the school at 381-3930 and set up an appointment. My students are in the Liberal Arts Community, and their guidance counselor is Mrs. Owens. The Dean of the Community is Mrs. Pat Barker.
A communication plan: How to reach me
You can reach me in a number of ways. Call the school at 381-3930, my extension is 141. I can’t answer the phone during class, but I am on planning during second period, approximately 8:50 until 10:20. If you will leave a message I will call you back during that time slot of when I return home or before/after school. There is another teacher in my room during my planning period, so it might be easier to reach my by email during that hour or so. My email is hartera@duvalschools.org. I check it frequently. My home number is 751-3095. Feel free to call. If I am not at home, leave a message and I will get back with you as soon as possible.
I will call you with good news and if I see signs your students is experiencing absences, not turning in their work, general disinterest or superior work. It is essential that I have a way to contact you. Please provide me with a good phone number, a backup number (things change) and an email address. If you haven’t heard from me during the year, chances are I don’t have a good number for you.
You may also keep up with what’s happening in class by logging on to the internet and going to schoolnotes.com. Type in the ZIP code for the school, 32205 and find my name on the list. I teach three different types of classes, so you’ll have to search for Eng III or Drama, specifically. Generally, every few days I update what exactly we did for that day.
Missed/Make-up work: It is the student’s responsibility to secure makeup work. Students should follow the guidelines in the student handbook on the time allowed to turn in the work. It is not a large window of time. Students missing more than four days must pass a comprehensive test, in addition to their classwork to receive credit for the course. No late work is accepted a week before the end of the term.
Grade Recovery: Students who fail a nine-weeks (We hope that will be NO ONE!) have a computer-based option available to them for grade recovery. It is very work heavy without teacher support, but it can be navigated by a motivated student; there are no grade-recovery “packets” anymore. This is a safety net, but it should not be Plan B for students who are falling behind. Plan B should be to reorganize their focus by PROGRESS REPORTS, teacher and parents meeting to see how to help the student and student self-help to save their grade and master learning goals for the semester. THERE IS NO GRADE RECOVERY IN THE FOURTH NINE WEEKS.
Progress reports will be sent home every four and a half weeks. Students sign for these and teachers keep copies of the receipt and the progress report. Report cards go out about a week after the end of the term.
School address: Robert E. Lee High School
1200 McDuff St. S
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 381-3930
Mrs. Denise Hall is the principal; Mrs. Pat Barker is the dean of the Liberal Arts Community, a small learning community where your student attends classes.
Rituals, Routines and Expectations
Students will be writing every day at the beginning of class in their composition books. This is a grade and part of their portfolios. It is a timed assignment and tardies will hinder their ability to complete the assignment.
I expect students to come to class ready to work and with an open mind. I believe they can all be wonderful writers and readers. If they need specific help, now is the time to get that help in vocabulary and writing and speaking.
Respect for property: Yours, mine and ours is a high priority. Do not bring something into my classroom that you would be heartbroken if it were lost. You are responsible for your own property. If you use my equipment, please use it with care and respect.
Almost all of the major projects are called “Embedded Assessments.” These are comprehensive, multi-faceted projects (they require reading, writing, drawing, thinking, planning, drafts, etc.) Generally, they are work 500 points, with 100 points devoted to each category of the rubric. Rubrics are in the SpringBoard book. How to do the project is always in the book and we will go over it at the beginning of EACH project, with directions posted on the wall until the project is due. Occassionally, these are group projects, but not often.
All knowledge-based questions are graded on this scale. Writing will be graded on a rubric, provided to students, which is also in their Springboard books. This is a pre-Advanced Placement type of curriculum, which means it is demanding.
Attendance: Come to class: It’s easy to get behind. Be sure you bring your book every day. No hall passes are allowed, no returning to your locker to retrieve your book.
Students should read Their Eyes were Watching God during the Winter break. We do not have enough books for Student to have their own copy, but they are responsible for the entire text. Check out a book from your local library early in November, or purchase one (best option) if you can. Additionally, they will work on another text, Into the Wild, which is non-fiction in the Spring.
Please keep this for your reference. Sign the attached sheet and have your student return it the first week of school. It is their first graded assignment. It is worth 25 points.
I have read and understand the basic course outline and guide for Mrs. Harter’s English III class.
Student name ______________________ Student Signature _____________________
Date ____________________________
Parent name ________________________________________(please print)
Parent Signature _____________________________________
Parent contact
Email _______________________________________
Phone ________________________________________
Backup phone number ___________________________
Robert E. Lee High School 2008-2009
Mrs. Harter – Drama Courses
Syllabus and Course Guide
Course: There are four different Drama Classes. Introduction to Drama is a half-year course and is a general overview of dramatic techniques, authors, plays, and musicals. Drama 1 and the progression classes (Drama II, Drama III, and higher) are sometimes combined classes, meaning there will be students with a variety of knowledge and background and enthusiasm for Drama. In these classes, dramatic performance is stressed, stage presence, directions, the business parts of the Theatrical Industry, and, of course, plays. We’ll read them, write them, act in them, watch some performances on film, critique them – in general have an immersion experience. Drama books for both courses are classroom sets.
Supplies: Basic supplies are called for:
1. Students will need a lot of loose-leaf paper, something to keep it in (a binder or even a folder with prongs,) and their own writing utensils, highlighters. I keep some supplies in the classroom, but often they are exhausted by the end of the first nine weeks.
2. Your student will also need at least one Composition Notebook. They are marbled (black and white, or other colors) and have the pages sewn in. They have NO spirals. You might consider buying two during the school-supply sales, when they are generally about $1 each; later in the year they cost much more.
3. For extra credit, your child may bring in a box of tissue with their name on the bottom of it for 10 extra points. If you don’t want to participate in this option, other extra point academic opportunities are available during the year. This is only good for the first week of school.
They will write a drama journal in the composition notebook. Students should bring this every day. Drama Journals will only be graded in a notebook; no loose paper for this daily assignment. They will be taken up approximately weekly and checked.
A communication plan: How to reach me
You can reach me in a number of ways. Call the school at 381-3930, my extension is 141. I can’t answer the phone during class, but I am planning during second period, approximately 8:50 until 10:20. If you will leave a message I will call you back during that time slot of when I return home or before/after school. There is another teacher in my room during my planning period, so it might be easier to reach my by email during that hour or so. My email is hartera@duvalschools.org. I check it frequently. My home number is 751-3095. Feel free to call. If I am not at home, leave a message and I will get back with you as soon as possible.
I will call you with good news and if I see signs your students is experiencing absences, not turning in their work, general disinterest or superior work. It is essential that I have a way to contact you. Please provide me with a good phone number, a backup number (things change) and an email address. If you haven’t heard from me during the year, chances are I don’t have a good number for you.
You may also keep up with what’s happening in class by logging on to the internet and going to schoolnotes.com. Type in the ZIP code for the school, 32205 and find my name on the list. I teach three different types of classes, so you’ll have to search for Eng III or Drama, specifically. Generally, every few days I update what exactly we did for that day.
Missed/Make-up work: It is the student’s responsibility to secure makeup work. Students should follow the guidelines in the student handbook on the time allowed to turn in the work. It is not a large window of time. Students missing more than four days must pass a comprehensive test, in addition to their classwork to receive credit for the course. No late work is accepted a week before the end of the term.
Grade Recovery: Students who fail a nine-weeks (We hope that will be NO ONE!) have a computer-based option available to them for grade recovery for core subjects only. It is very work heavy without teacher support, but it can be navigated by a motivated student; there are no grade-recovery “packets” anymore. This is a safety net, but it should not be Plan B for students who are falling behind. Plan B should be to reorganize their focus by PROGRESS REPORTS, teacher and parents meeting to see how to help the student and student self-help to save their grade and master learning goals for the semester. THERE IS NO GRADE RECOVERY IN THE FOURTH NINE WEEKS. – DRAMA students have a performance grade component and they should not expect grade recovery for this, it’s to be done during class only.
Progress reports will be sent home every four and a half weeks. Students sign for these and teachers keep copies of the receipt and the progress report. Report cards go out about a week after the end of the term.
School address: Robert E. Lee High School
1200 McDuff St. S
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 381-3930
Mrs. Denise Hall is the principal; Mrs. Pat Barker is the dean of the Liberal Arts Community, a small learning community where your student attends Drama classes.
Rituals, Routines and Expectations
Students will be writing every day at the beginning of class in their composition books. This is a grade. It is a timed assignment and tardies will hinder their ability to complete the assignment.
I expect students to come to class ready to work and with an open mind. I believe they can all be wonderful writers and readers. If they need specific help, now is the time to get that help in vocabulary and writing and speaking. Reading and performing dramatic works is proven to give students higher grades in other core academic areas.
Respect for property: Yours, mine and ours is a high priority. Do not bring something into my classroom that you would be heartbroken if it were lost. You are responsible for your own property. If you use my equipment, please use it with care and respect.
All knowledge-based questions are graded on this scale. Students will have quarterly projects. For example, they will build a miniature drama set for their mid-term project, and it will be worth 500 points. Information about the set will sent home at the beginning of that nine weeks. This is a requirement for Intro to Drama as well, except it will be 50 percent of their “final,” in addition to a standard test.
Attendance: Come to class: It’s easy to get behind. Be sure you bring your book every day. No hall passes are allowed, no returning to your locker to retrieve your book.
We put on two productions annually and also participate in other dramatic performances when called up. Students interested in auditioning for the fall play, can expect to receive information in early September. All drama students are expected to attend the performance, which is in November; additionally other teachers often award extra credit for attending the play, so you get points for other classes, too.
Auditioning information for other performances around town is available through Mrs. Harter. For example, at Halloween, Adventure Landing usually requests some of our students to come out and dress up for service hours to perform for the children. Students who are college bound need service hours to be considered for scholarships, including Florida Bright Futures.
Drama Club, which is almost exclusively made up of Drama students, participates in many service projects, including serving for the Chorus concert in the spring.
Students who are active in Drama Club and do fund raising and service projects are the first choice to go on drama-related field trips. We’d like to see two performances coming to Jacksonville this year, if funds permit – Fiddler on the Roof and Wicked. Students will need to fund raise for this. I expect we will probably sell candy.
Please keep this for your reference. Sign the attached sheet and have your student return it the first week of school. It is their first graded assignment. It is worth 25 points.
I have read and understand the basic course outline and guide for Mrs. Harter’s Drama class.
Student name ______________________ Student Signature _____________________
Date ____________________________
Parent name ________________________________________(please print)
Parent Signature _____________________________________
Parent contact
Email _______________________________________
Phone ________________________________________
Backup phone number ___________________________
IMPORTANT - This is where the work starts. We do vocabulary words at the beginning of each class. AP and English III have the same basic words. We define them as a class, and then you have six minutes to write a short story using the words correctly. This is done in your composition notebook. If you are absent, you are still responsible for the words. Find your class. The words are always listed first, then the assignment or activity for the day.
Aug 25& 26 - petulant, innuendo, lurid, simulated, elicit - AP and English III - vocabulary practice and introduction of pacing with short stories and writing on demand. Class discussion of employing words and expectations of such. Eng. III worked on the American Dream project; we agreed as a class on five common questions. The Embedded Assessment, which was unpacked on the first two days of school before Tropical Storm Fay, is still due Sept. 15. It is a survey of the American dream. See pages 67-68 in your Springboard book for more details. We have completed making our portfolios.
Aug. 27 & 28 - nimble, hideous, intolerable, perplexing, oppressed. AP had an additional 15 words to look up/ Get them from a classmate. AP - read Shooting an Elephant and worked with dialectical journaling and dissecting text. Expansion of the text They come from Shooting an Elephant in your Prose Models book, but they are not listed individually in the book. There is an assignment with that for AP. You are to look them up, write the definition and also use (employ) the words in a sentence that makes sense. Eng. III - difference between connotative and denotative words and useage, conveying tone in poems. Read and do work on pages 11-14 in Springboard, taking special note of word power and how to translate and author's meaning. Bio sketch inside of portfolios.
AP: Skill's assessment on 1990 practice test. There was an assembly this day, but students were still introduced to the muliple choice format of the test and told to complete questions 1-27 for a pretest. They were allowed to take it home. Gatsby assignment is due Sept. 3. No late work is accepted.
Aug. 29 & Sept. 2 - cower, formidable, tranquility, fallacy, boisterous. Eng. III took a district timed writing prompt and watched a film clip about Ellis Island. The prompt was based off of poems in Springboard, pages 11 & 12. Time was given in Eng. III to work on the Am Dream project.
Sept. 3 & 4 - NOTE, THERE ARE SIX WORDS HERE! jaded, hackneyed,coalition,hiatus, meritorious, transcend
AP: A look at the practice test and scoring for baseline. A look at what's expected on essay writing. Friday (Sept. 5) will be a timed writing prompt. Eng. III comparisons of the evolution of the American dream from the Puritans to the Transcendentalists. Consult your Springboard book.
Drama: Drama Journal: Name 8 different emotions and how they are portrayed on stage, with hands, face, vocal and body movements (step.) Discuss and some practice.
Sept 5&8 - Words: Aplomb, decadent, epitome, bombastic, prerogative. AP practiced with thesis writing on the AP timed writing prompt for baseline score. Eng. III, worked Tri-bond game with word association and discussed thesis definition and analogy, before breaking into groups to complete the mini-project on Puritans, Revolutionaries and Transcendentalists. Presentations due on the mini-projects starting Sept. 9 for A day, Sept. 10 for B day. Vocab test for A day is Thursday with comp books collected, B day test if Friday with books collected.
Drama both days, vocal exercises and improv skit with policeman and theft suspect. DRAMA TRYOUTS FOR THE PLAY BEGIN ON Sept. 9 & Sept. 11. Drama Journal: If you were stopped by a policeman for speeding, what would you be able to say to him on the spot to get out of the ticket?
Sept. 9 &10 - words - stringent, infringe, surmise, intrinsic, permeate. AP will need books in class this day (Glencoe) Read The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor. More exploration into thesis. Begin Diction: Matters of Style, what to use and when to use it. Eng III - Presentation of different stages of the American Dream by three different groups. A historical comparison must be in your embedded assessment report on the project due on SEPT. 15. No late work is accepted. It
Drama Journal Sept 9 and 10 - What are in a movie or play were your BORN to play? Be specific. Intro did a read through of the try-out play; Drama 1 began fairy-tale conversions for improv on stage.
Sept. 11 &12 - Vocab test for all classes. Root words in Eng Lang workbook will be on your next vocab test along with vocab words start studying now. District testing begins, and final time is given for Embedded Assessment projects which are due on Mon and Tuesday. AP will read Being Cool in Prose Models and finish, The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor.
Homework discussion on pop culture references in lyrics on American Pie by Don McLean.
Drama Journal - Think of actors for the following fairy tales. Why did you pick them? Be specific. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid, The Three Pigs, The Gingerbread Man.
Intro to Drama will do fairy-tale conversion for improv on stage and practice stage direction, in preparation for Karaoke project, which begins on Monday/ Tuesday in auditorium for all classes. Time is permitted to practice today only. (Sept. 11 and 12)
Sept. 15-16 - AP and Eng. III No vocab. Students were issued vocabulary cards and thold to write down everything they knew about the American Dream in the 1970s. Then, classes on the 15th were shown parts of the movie "Miracle" to show the American Dream culture influences in this decade. This was to show a perspective of the American Dream 200 years after the Revolutionaires. Majority of the classes were affected by MAP testing, benchmark and district testing on these days, which carried over to Wed and Thursday. LOOK -- All projects on the American dream were due and since the teacher was out on Sept 15, they were accepted on the 16th and 17.
Sept. 17-18 - AP and Eng. III - Map testing continues. Formative assessments were also given and make-up tests. Short lesson on the use of a semi-colon test-to-text connection. Post-test lesson -- what is a test destractor? Examples given, strategy and practice for future testing. NO vocab. Teacher administered test(s) on Thursday, but was also in a workshop for ELA on campus.
Sept. 19 & 22 - AP and Eng. III - short story -- Academic vocab - drivel, expedite, ingratiate, commiserate, inadvertent. AP did an in-depth analysis on the their homework asssignment of an essay on the topic of the need for baseline testing in schools. Peer analysis in class. We talked about how to score. Both classes: Grammar lesson: Lesson 2 and 3 in grammar book and a think-pair-share discussion. Emergency lesson on the use of "seen." Embedded Assessment #2 - Creating an Op-Ed. page. What is an OP-Ed page? The project is due Oct. 22 or 23, depending on your class date. Workbook class share-out lesson on simile, metaphor review and idioms took longer than budgeted for, but it was an intensive review.
Sept. 23 & 24 - AP and Eng. III - words - usurp, acumen, epiphany, locquacious. AP: Identifying a thesis statement in your personal work. Being cool is? We write an in-class essay on the reading assignment and update it for Being Cool today. Students for homework had to revise it. They scored their own papers and provided a rationale to justify their grade. Peer review by AP rubric, scale of 1-9. Eng. III - Read vignettes on the American dream and jigsaw for share-out. One sentence to sum up all of the vignettes on pages 35-38 was required from each group. Teacher modeled how to organize those sentences into a paragraph and draw a thesis statement from it. A thesis statement is a position on a topic that can be proven in a paper. B- Day progress reports were issued.
Sept. 25 & 26 - AP and Eng. III words: ostentatious, tentative, oblivlious, affluent, hypnotic. Progress reports were issued for A day. AP: identification of Tone words in three songs by Nat King Cole. Think-pair-share and develop a list of tone words for academic vocabulary. Special note on separating the event that takes place in the poem or song, from the tone of the acutal words used and inflection. Read aloud: students read their examples of revised essays to the class on Being Cool, the modern version, and listened to criticism and verbal review on suggested grade. Teacher modeled how to recieve a 9 on an essay, same topic. ENG III - Surveying attitudes about work. Students have homework to interview their parent or another significant adult to determine 1) what sort of job they have, 2) how much that sort of job pays 3) any special training required 4) advice, 5) education 6) regrets. Also, class read Poem on Page 80 in Springboard on the Perfection of Paper. and talked about the difference between blue and white collar workers. A dedicated portion of class time was taken out to discuss VALID topics for the Op-Ed pages project. Note to parents: this can be a single-student assignment, but it is large and is intended for group work. All group work is dependent on the final project, so if your child commits to a group, then they are held accountable for that product, whether someone turns in another portion or not. You have the option to "opt out" of the group work up until one week before it is due.
Drama Intro and Combo - Karaoke performances continue. Mirror drill and monologue peroformances will begin next week. 2 minutes for mirror drill; three minutes for monologue. No journal entries this week.
Parents: We have begun learning the Thriller Dance, in anticipation of a field trip to Orlando to Halloween Horror nights. Look for information soon. Cost of the trip, which is not required, and is tentatively planned for Oct. 23, is about $36 per student.
Mon, Sept. 29 - AP and Eng. III words: icon, dominate, animate, conciliatory, concession (not the food). AP and Eng III on Monday watched the opening of Akeelah and the Bee movie. AP had an essay assignment: Do we really need spelling bees now that we have electronic spell check? If spelling bees are so important in younger grades and middle school, why don't we have them past middle school? What about text messaging? Is that degrading our spelling skills? Five paragraph essay.
Eng. III - same words and could write about the same topic, but they were also told to read Nickel and Dimed, on Not Getting by in America and make a vocabulary list for class discussion p. 82-85 in Springboard book.
Intro to Drama and Adv. Drama watched The Making of Akeelah and the Bee on the technical aspects of actor selection, film concerns and scheduling and rewrite and financing. Adv. Drama continued presenting monologues on Tuesday; Teacher was out at a Foundations Workshop on Monday.
Tues. Sept. 30, 2008 - Creative Writing - Answer the folling opening prompt: To Write Creatively, you must be able to ___________ _____________. We learned the importance of a good vocabulary as we compared some phrases from Akeelah and the Bee and prepared posters for schoolwide distribution with Greek and Latin root words for student help. We did a free write poem on the following topic: The Last Day of September in the composition books and talked about the different types of creative writing and ranked them in order or difficulty and length. They are: poem, greeting cards, jingles, songs, commercials, games, short stories and novels & movie scripts. Homework assigned: Bring in one beautiful sentence and cite the source 20 points.
Eng. III (see Sept. 29 assignment) Teacher also demonstrates mini-lesson on use of quotes and models how to write a letter to the editor. Students practice. Mini project due Thursday for thsi class.
Wed. Oct. 1 - AP & Eng. III - No words, vocab review for Thurs/Fri test. Class review by groups. Ap: class discussion and mini-lesson on what is an euphemism and jargon. Euphemism is basically code words for something that would be too rough or politically incorrect or just rude to say, but conveys the came meaning. Example: A rigorous, arduous summative assessment ( a really hard test). Also, Jargon was discussed. Jargon is vocabulary for a specific industry. The medical industry uses CAT scan, MRI and such, the teaching industry uses FCAT, referrals, NRT, etc. It's vocab you wouldn't know unless you were involved in that industry ...it's not necessarily a good thing, but it's used to save time and communicate wordy items in code. Pygmalion was handed out and assigned to be read; Also, reading and questions in Prose Models on pages 296 & 274 and the accompanying questions and text (261 and 271.)
Eng. III - Mini lesson on quotes and how to use them, modeling of Letters to the editor, class discussion on troubling vocab in Nickel and Dimed, and review for vocab test. Think-pair-share on living within one's means. Mini-project due on Fri for this class (budget worksheet)
Thursday, Oct. 2 - Creative Writing - Poem topic of the day - Pillows. (teacher models and students share out.) We made a synomyn list of the following words and their double meaning and had a round-robin discussion/share: hard, fat and good. Discussion on using the right word at the right time. Began posters on suffixes and prefixes for school. Finished Akeelah and the Bee during vocab progression and words listed on the board the students did not know: truculent, dictatorial, impale, impulse, (these were shared with all classes). Candy reward for sharing out on word lists.
Eng. III - District Assessment Day 18 and Vocab test, Mini project on budgeting was due.
Drama - monologues continue
Fri, Oct. 3 - homecoming, shortened sked. AP and Eng. III - District assessments and vocab test. Eng. III had a mini-project due on budgeting.
Intro to drama -- in the spirit of homecoming, write 10 things each of the following actors playing the parts would say : cheerleader, coach, doctor, parent, school administrator. Graded in class.
Monday, Oct. 6, - Creative Writing. What is a query letter? Class lesson and practice on an imaginary book and homework assigned to write a letter to a pretend publisher to sell one of the following books. Cinderella, Holes, Golilocks and The Three Bears, and/or The Cat in the Hat. Homework assigned and checked from last class: Bring in one beautiful sentence and cite the source 20 points.
Teacher models an effective query letter and explains what SASE is (self-addressed stamped envelope). How to use quote marks was the mini-lesson, with punctuation. Letter practice continues for homework.
Eng. III (Oct 6 b day and Oct 7 A day) - Vocab - procure, behoove, ethnicity, dissenter, superficial - In groups, the students will take the media survey and they will come up with a thesis sentence to describe their findings. Anticipation Guide, 104 and Survey 105-113. Chart completed on 113. Vocab tests were returned. The scores were not good overall. Please study.
Advanced Drama (1-4)- Final day for monologues. Mirror drills start this week and music is suggested. These are two minute drills per person, one is the main person, the other is the "image." This is a performance grade.
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