Week of May 3-7

This Week--

Literature: Continuing our reading of Oedipus Rex.
Grammar: Work on and Practice with Phrases
Vocabulary: Vocab Lesson 14--last quiz before final, cumulative test on words of the year

finish background notes
discuss literary elements and character development in the play

April 26-30

This week--
Grammar: Phrases
Intro to Oedipus Rex
--intro slides and discussions
--Tom Lehrer

Monday HW: Vocab 12 workbook
Tuesday HW: Read Oedipus pages _________ (note from class)
Thursday: "Embracing our Differences" papers are due today! HW: Reading Oedipus and study for quiz
Friday: Vocab quiz today and first Oedipus quiz

March 22-26

Final Drafts of Research Papers due by 8:00 a.m. Wednesday morning! Plan on turning your paper in during class time on Tuesday. Use Wednesday morning for emergency only!

Pay attention to submission requirements. We will use Turnitin, a software program that guards against plagiarism. You will also be required to submit a hard copy of your paper.

Papers will include, in this order:
1) cover page
2) outline
3) paper (3-5 pages)
4) works cited

Work through Romeo and Juliet. Goal: get through Act IV before break, finishing over break as needed.

March 8-12

This Week
Reading Romeo and Juliet
understanding story, literary devices, and identifying quote-worthy passages.

Research Paper
Intros due Monday
Returned Tuesday

Homework
Full rough draft of your paper is due Tuesday March 16th!
Reading in Romeo and Juliet as assigned.

Week of March 1-5

We'll continue this week to work though our reading of Romeo and Juliet. Our focus at present is on understanding the action of the play and identifying literary devices in the text. These include personification, metaphors, similes, apostrophe, symbol, hyperbole, and allusions.

We continue to explore character development as we discuss Romeo and Juliet's interactions.

Our research into the Elizabethan world continues with our work this week on making notecards, refining our searches, and making outlines.

Please be sure to consider our list of due dates on the research project handout. Introduction drafts are due Monday the 8th!

Working Bibliography: Tips and Model

Today in Class--
--quiz on parts of the sentence
--quiz on Act I

Homework Over Break
Finish your working bibliography.
Tips and Model available as downloadable documents on Edmodo and http://drop.io/cgiraud#

Working Bibliography due Monday after break. You will lose 1 point for every formatting error. Use the model and your MLA handbook to guide you. Don't forget these key points.

1. Center your title: Working Bibliography
2. Have 10 or more sources cited. Should be mostly books you have found on Questia or in the library (ours or another local library)
3. Alphabetize your entries
4. Do not number your entries
5. Each entry should have a "hanging indent"
6. No extra spaces between entries
7. no heading needed. Write your name in pencil at the top.

For Thurday's Class

We will meet in the library to work on research projects. Be prepared to boogie as you find sources for your "working bibliography." If you are focused during class time, you should have no trouble building a working bib in class. If you don't finish, you will have to work over break to collect and document those sources.

Homework from Tuesday night:
You should be through Act I, scene iv.
For Thursday night, read Act I, scene v.

Quiz on Friday on all of Act I.
Quiz on Parts of Sentence on Friday.

Thursday's Class

For class on Thursday, please make sure you have your Romeo write ups. You were to look back again at Ii at lines 150-233. Characterize Romeo. What's his problem? What can you infer about him as a character from this opening scene?

Be prepared to give me your research topic in class on Thursday. We'll have class in the library where Ms. Mandel will give you a tour of our research resources and get you signed up and oriented to Questia, our on-line database of scholarly works.

Upcoming Work
--looking at a play clip
--beginning research
--parts of the sentence for weekend homework

Sunday January 31

Your weekend homework is to read Act I, scene i in Romeo and Juliet.
Don't forget to answer your study guide questions. I will check these for credit on Monday.

As you read, pay attention to the aspects of Shakespeare's language that we discussed in class. These are apostrophe (often to maintain meter), puns (play on words, double meanings), archaic language (use side notes to help you), and unusual word order (find the subject and verb when confused).

Next week, we'll continue to delve in Romeo and Juliet. We'll finish our intro film, discuss Elizabethan England, flesh out your research assignment and due dates, and continue our work with grammar.

I look forward to helping you get excited about this play and the rich world it emerged from.

Monday January 25th

In Class
Discuss "Perfect Mate" assignment
Do Grammar Gorilla exercise together (prep for POS test, FRIDAY)
Review Vocab Words for quiz tomorrow (see study bulb)

Discuss intro pages 125-130 from weekend reading.

Homework
Prep for Vocab quiz tomorrow, lesson 9
Bring Romeo and Juliet to class this week!

Upcoming
POS full test on Friday
Vocab quiz on Tuesday
Intro to Research Process and topics (next week)

Friday January 22

In Class
Grammar quiz, part II
"Perfect Mate" handed in

Homework

--Prep for Vocab Quiz (Tuesday)

--Read introductory/background material in your Romeo and Juliet book, pages 125-130. For the section on Elizabethan England, write one quiz style question for each section under the headings. This question should be a "big picture" question that you glean from your reading and active reading notes.

--For the section on Shakespeare, write 2 questions that you feel address important details of the reading.

We'll talk about your questions in class on Monday.

Next week
--working to understand Shakespearean language (puns, archaic language, syntax, meter, and apostrophes). Work through meaning in the prologue.

--introduce research project and begin reading the play

--rewrite conferences and rewrites are due by the end of the week

Tuesday January 19

In Class
--handed out Preposition Song. If you would like to remaster a version of the song for extra credit points in grammar, please have your performance ready for Friday

--Reviewed grammar work from packet

--Answered questions 1-10 on practice test from Adverb packet.

Homework
Do Vocab Lesson 9 in workbook
Finish the practice test from the adverb packet.

For Friday

--Final drafts of your papers are due

In Class for Friday
We'll work through some new grammar concepts and learn the preposition song!

Weekend Homework
Finish worksheet pages in your new grammar packet

Next Week
Beginning research and work on Romeo and Juliet.

Thursday January 8, 2010

In Class
Reviewed work on parts of speech.
Continued discussion of grammar.

Discussed literary analysis, form and structure.
Began analysis of a text for writing.

Homework
Practice exercises on Adjectives and Verbs
Finish reading "Pyramus and Thisbe"
Actively mark for details you will include in an outline for your paper.

For Friday
--Parts of Speech Practice
--Outlining the Essay

Next Week (January 12-16)
--Parts of Speech
--Rough Drafts
--Test on Parts of Speech (Tuesday= Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives)