December is coming and I'll be sending home progress reports with students during the next week for your signature.
I am available for extra help on Thursday after school and by appointment.
The remaining early dismissal days for this semester is December 12.
Some of the on-going assignments in my English classes include:
- Word Study (spelling and vocabulary),
- Literary terms,
- Independent reading,
- Journaling each day, and
- Grammar.
Pre-A/P English Classes (1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th periods)
The Giver - We've started the novel in all classes. Most classes are through with Chapter 1 and we'll be moving quickly through the novel. If students are absent, they may check out a copy of the novel from me for short term use.
Word Study #5
adversary ruse
embroil contradictory
belligerent skirmish
haggle discord
chide strife
Word Study #4
Quiz over these words 11/ 28 & 29 Word Study #4 (2nd, 3rd, 5th & 6th period templates due 11/1 & 11/2, except 1st period, due 10/30)
anguish disgruntled
blithe disillusion
congenial despondent
defiant exuberant
desolate gratification
Word Study #3 (templates due 10/12 & 10/15, quiz 10/24 & 25)
amenable slander
partisanship objective
deception subjective
preconceived partiality
forbearance tolerate
Word Study #2 (test dates 10/8 & 9)
abet refurbish
intercede haven
bestow sanctuary
deliverance offset
pacify expedite
G/T English (4th Period)
Word Study #4 (templates due 12/6)
apprehensive precarious
categorical unequivocal
dubious qualm
indeterminate vacillate
conclusive tentative
Word Study #3 (templates due 11/5
aggrandize profligate
multifarious gratuitous
exorbitance satiate
opulence intemperate
grandiose surfeit
Word Study #2 (templates due 10/12, quiz on 10/24)
melancholy olfactory
trajectory cacophony
tactile antisocial
skepticism insidious
Word Study #1 (test on 10/8)
abnegate brusque
askance chasten
atonement conscript
benign conflagration
Scholastic Creative Writing Assignment - Final typed copy due 11/1.
Fahrenheit 451 - The final test over the novel will be 12/4. It will include an essay in addition to mutliple choice questions.
We'll be reading the ground-breaking play, A Raisin the Sun as the next major work.
Students have book project presentations beginning on 12/6 and the written portion of the project is due on 12/12.
I always welcome your comments and suggestions and am available via e-mail at cdinneen@houstonisd.org.
Respectfully,
C. Dinneen
cdinneen@houstonisd.org
P.S. Periodically I will include a brief book reviews for Young Adult literature that I have particularly enjoyed at the end of my Schoolnotes.
Book Reviews
Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick
This is a great book, told in the wonderfully realistic voice of Alex, a 16 year old jazz guitar player, who is angry at his parents for divorcing. In the course of the book, Alex drives his mother's car under the influence, beheads a neighbor's lawn gnome, is arrested, sentenced to community service with a crotchety old man named Sol Lewis. Terms of the community service involve Alex's learning a life lesson and teaching a life lesson to Mr. Lewis (who is fond of cursing Alex in Yiddish). Added into the mix are Laura, Alex's best friend, Judge Judy, who refuses to re-assign Alex to a more compatible client, and Alex's parents, who contribute to the humor, poignancy and realism of this very fun book.
So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Heidi, So B. It, her mentally retarded mother, and Bernadette, the agoraphobic neighbor make an unlikely family. This book touches on Heidi's insatiable desire to know her background, her frustration with her mother's inability to communicate and her adverturesome spirit as she travels across the country to discover the truth about her roots. The journey is often funny, filled with irony and sadness, and leaves the reader applauding Heidi's courage and insight.
The Island by Gary Paulsen
Will, a teenager forced to move with his family to a rural area in Wisconsin, discovers an island near his new home. His curiosity about the island leads him on a quest for understanding of nature, past relationships, human nature and understanding his parents. Occasionally, the book is “laugh out loud” funny but more often leads the reader to consider the introspection of Will. Very well written and inspiring – sharing Will’s interior journey makes one hunger for the time and place to enjoy nature as he has done.
The Hidden Arrow of Maether by Aiden Beaverson
I certainly hope the author is planning a sequel because this novel left me wanting more. Set in a mythical time and place, the hero leads the reader on a suspenseful journey as she escapes a wicked stepfather, is rescued from drowning by small bear-like creatures called kjaerdyr, and meets a people to which she hopes she belongs.
The Man Who Wasn't There by Pat Barker
Set in post-WWII Britain, the main character, Collin, thirsts for information about his father, whom he has never met and whom his mother refuses to speak about. His quest for knowledge takes him to the fantasy world of film, séances and his mother's friends. An interesting book, though the author's use of flashback is confusing at times.
On-Line Vocabulary workbook This doesn't match the words we're learningn in class, but is a good resource for vocabulary building.
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