English 8 students worked on embedding quotes in our CDs. We have be using a very simple format: "For example, the text says 'here is the quote.'" This is acceptable but not optimal. Today we worked...
Archive
What our classroom did in previous days, weeks, months, even years…
Socratic Reading
English 8 students began working on the first of three selections from The Circuit, Francisco Jiménez's memoir of life as a migrant child. We read "Under the Wire," the first chapter of the book,...
Parts of Speech Review and Views of Calypso
English 8 students worked on a parts of speech review covering nouns, verbs, and adjectives. This is the last of our review: we'll have a test on those three parts of speech late next week. English...
Opening Unit and Opening Lines
English 8 students began our new unit, which is about the search for home. We'll be starting with some selections about immigration, so we prepared for those selections by watching 10 minutes from...
Adjectives, Test Completion, and Participial Phrases
English 8 continued with the brief parts of speech review, going over adjectives today: English I students had time to finish their test and then went over participial phrases.
Psychological Analysis and Participial Phrases (And Test Review)
English 8 students continued with "The Tell-Tale Heart," shifting to some character analysis. We looked at psychological factors behind the story. We looked at questions like: What motivates the...
Tell-Tale Conclusion and Participles
Notes and homework only
Further “Heart” Annotations and the Final Sonnet
English 8 students continued with "The Tell-Tale Heart," reaching the climax of the story: when the narrator commits the awful dead. We continued marking the text for use of repetition, specifically...
Parts of Speech and Sonnets
English 8 unexpectedly moved Friday to Tuesday: due to the number of absent students (nine students absent out of thirty) in seventh period (now meeting during fourth period) , we elected to hold...
Tell-Tale Heart and Sonnets
English 8 students worked on their Halloween story, "The Tell-Tale Heart." We made it through the first four paragraphs: we're working on annotations and a summary, so it takes a bit of time to go...
Figurative Language, Meter, and Poe Writing
English I students finished up the work on figurative language, examining metaphors, similies, personification, hyperbole, and idioms to determine the tenor and the vehicle. We then went over meter...
Quarter 1 Benchmark Testing and the Effects
All students began the day with the first benchmark of the quarter. We'll go over the results at some point next week, but since the test is proprietary, we won't be able to look at or discuss the...