Archive

What our classroom did in previous days, weeks, months, even years…

Socratic Paradox

Socratic Paradox

English I students conducted a Socratic seminar about the short stories "The Necklace" and "The Gift of the Magi." We used the more formal paired alignment of the Socratic seminar, which we will use...

Irony TS and Friday Work on a Thursday

Irony TS and Friday Work on a Thursday

English I students went over their first major writing assignment on “The Cask of Amontillado” and whether or not we can trust the narrative despite the narrator being a confessed murderer. (We can...

IGP Prep

IGP Prep

All classes took a bit of a break from English while Mrs. Torlay, one of our counselors, explained to everyone what the IGP (Individual Graduation Plan) will look like.

No Tech Tuesday Socratic Seminar

No Tech Tuesday Socratic Seminar

All classes conducted their first Socratic Seminars today. Fourth and fifth periods discussed the story "The Blue Stones" while sixth and seventh periods talked about the role technology plays in...

Workshop and Inference

Workshop and Inference

English 8 students worked on their Friday inferring writing work. We're still on the same text about Paul and Alice, this time focusing on the nature of their relationship. English I students...

Major Grades and CFAs

Major Grades and CFAs

English 8 students took their first district-required (or perhaps it's just school-required -- I'm not sure) CFA today on summarizing. Since we're not using Mastery Connect exclusively for the CFAs...

Plot Analysis and Ephipanies

Plot Analysis and Ephipanies

English 8 students finished up "There Will Come Soft Rains" and did a plot analysis of the story. Tomorrow we'll finish up with practice creating a summary. English I students continued discussing...

Reading Rains and Casks

Reading Rains and Casks

English 8 students finished up reading "There Will Come Soft Rains" as the second story in our first unit. We'll be analyzing its plot and working to summarize it tomorrow and Thursday. English I...

Soft Rains and Sentence Parsing

Soft Rains and Sentence Parsing

English 8 students began their second short story, which they will be analyzing on their own as opposed to the class version we did with the first short story. Today students began a two-day period...

Parsing Sentences and Inference Work

Parsing Sentences and Inference Work

English I students worked on parsing long sentences in confusing texts as we began reading "The Cask of Amontillado" We'll be using this for the second story in our short story analytic writing...

Second Story Cycle Planning and Participles

Second Story Cycle Planning and Participles

English I students worked on their second cycle of short stories and analytic paragraphs. Today we read "In the Family," an odd story about a seemingly magic mirror that everyone seems just to...

Participles and Feedback

Participles and Feedback

English 8 students finished, in accordance with the district pacing guide, a couple of lessons covering participles and participial phrases. We worked on materials from the workbook -- practice with...