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 the legendary 1960 documentary Harvest of Shame. We also watched a follow-up report about migrant farm workers in 2010. Conditions have improved, but they’re still tough.

English I students continued with the Odyssey. We made some discoveries about the opening lines:

1. It’s a prayer to a Muse for inspiration.
2. It summarizes most of the Odyssey.

We’ll be discussing what we learned about cultural ideals (a characteristic of epics) during our homework.

(Today’s featured image was after school, when students could have their phones out.)

Homework

• English 8: continue working on the No Red Ink adjective work (as needed).
• English I Honors: complete the three required responses for the “Ideals” forum on the Courses site.

Class Notes

Notes for the day's classes are available here.

Please note that this is a composite file including notes from all classes, though occasionally it might only be one or two classes. I don't differentiate in the file; that is up to you to do.