English 8 students had a Socratic seminar today about Flowers for Algernon and some moral implications from the story. We discussed two things: Should Charlie have gone through with the operation?...
Archive
What our classroom did in previous days, weeks, months, even years…
Algernon Text Evidence and Calypso in Art
English I students worked on an examination of how various artists throughout history have represented the story of Calypso in the Odyssey. We began by examining the etymology of the word and came...
Algernon and the Opening
English I students went over the opening of the Odyssey, examining the things that make the piece a challenging passage to read. We finished up the prologue and will move to the first part tomorrow....
Infinitives, Epic, and the Diner Incident
English I students worked on the start of the new unit covering briefly the elements of an epic and what an epic simile looks like (very briefly). We then turned to infinitive phrases in order to...
Gerunds and Final Writing
English I students completed work on gerund phrases in today's short post-test session. English 8 students had a final day to work on their final Schaffer paragraph about Flowers for Algernon.
Participial Themes
English I went over participial phrases today. Participles and their phrases are some of the trickiest elements of grammar, but we'll master it soon enough. English 8 students combined two of last...
Villanelles and Development
English I students finished up their poetry unit with a look at the rules for creating a villanelle: Afterward, we had a Gimkit session to help prepare for tomorrow. English 8 students finished up...
Villanelle and Development
English I students worked on their last poem before the test, "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. It's a villanelle, and tomorrow students will spend a little time at the start of the lesson determining...
Parts of Speech Practice, Sonnet Conclusion, Algernon Annotations
English 8 students continued with Flowers for Algernon, looking today at how Charlie's increasing intelligence is affecting his relationships. We made some predictions and then read the next section...
New Sonnets and Charlie’s Change
English I students continued with sonnets. We also did some practice with parts of speech. We'll have the parts of speech test on Friday. English 8 students continued with Flowers for Algernon....
First Sonnet and Final Writing
English I students finished their first sonnet, Shakespeare's "Sonnet 25." English 8 worked on their culminating analytic project for the quarter, writing about how Charlie's writing demonstrates...
Shakespeare and Schaffer
English I students began a two-poem study of Shakespeare to finish our poetry unit. English 8 students worked on their analytic paragraphs about Charlie in Flowers for Algernon.