English 8 Strategies, it being Wednesday, returned to the sentence, looking again at sentences that begin with participial phrases. We completed the sentence-combining work we began in class Thursday.

1. Mr. Jones was yelling at his neighbor. He looked like he was going to pop.
2. The salesperson glared at Sandra. He was tapping his foot.
3. Trenell looked at Marvella. His face was etched with concern.
4. Sally reached into her purse. She was looking for her sunglasses.
5. The woman fed the pigeons. The woman was sitting on the park bench.
6. Natasha wandered along the seashore. She found a cowrie shell that had washed up on the sand.
7. The tiny little dog yipped at the package delivery man. The dog scratched at the gravel that lined the fence.
8. Karana walks along the cliff in her best clothes. She hoped to see Tutok’s ship.
9. Saint Nick sat in his upholstered chair at the mall. He waved and smiled at the children who walked by.
10. Karana dropped her worldly belongings. She began to swim ashore
11. The student waved his hand wildly in the air at the assembly. The student tried to get the guest speaker’s attention.
12. Swen was hoping his instructor would be lenient. He tried to look repentant.
13. Inez rode her bicycle to the store. She was pedaling furiously.
14. I reached into the water. I grabbed the fish by the tail.
15. Rhinos graze only on tough grasses and scrubby bushes. Rhinos are devout vegetarians.
16. Policemen and firemen combed the smoking rubble. They found guns. They found spent cartridges. They found a charred corpse.
17. Rhino horns can grow up to 5 feet long. The horns are made of densely matted hair.
18. He gulped the cool, clear liquid from the container. He threw back his head as he drank.
19. Swen stood alone in front of the class. His eyes were bulging from their sockets. His jaw was hanging limp.
20. Captain Lewis allowed his men to make important decisions in a democratic manner. This democratic attitude encouraged a spirit of togetherness and commitment on the part of Lewis’s fellow explorers.

English I Honors students had half a day of planning for their paragraphs on “The Gift of the Magi” or “The Necklace.” The second half of the class we spent going over the final project for the unit, reading Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Creative writing students stepped out of the week’s lesson plans due to an unexpected availability of the computer lab. We worked on setting up accounts for the blog we will be using to publish our work and Google Drive, which we will be using to collaborate.

Homework

• English I Honors: 
  • complete the analytic paragraph on “The Gift of the Magi” or “The Necklace” by 8:30 tomorrow morning;
  • students who have the necessary resources, please download and print a copy of “The Tell-Tale Heart” for tomorrow’s preparation time.