English 8 worked on two things: first, we took the graphic organizer we made yesterday:

Sixth period’s graphic organizer

Seventh period’s graphic organizer

We first needed to add the commentary for our paragraph. We wrote it as a class, but in our graphic organizers, we only put phrases and general ideas. It’s best to use the graphic organizer only as a roadmap for what you’re going to write, and we’re trying to master that skill as it makes writing a lot easier.

Afterward, we simply had to turn the phrases in to paragraphs. Seventh period’s paragraph looked like this:

The narrator and his family in “Under the Wire” are stuck in poverty. For example, when they leave for California they put all their “belongings in a suitcase.” This shows that they have very few belongings. If they weren’t so poor, they’d need more than one suitcase. In addition, when they arrived in California, they had to look for “wild verdolagas” to eat. Most people would go to a store, but they didn’t, which shows they can’t afford it. The narrator and his family are clearly poor.

Sixth period’s paragraph was similar:

The narrator’s family is in poverty. For example, when they left for California, they put all of their “belongings in a suitcase.” It shows that they don’t have a lot of stuff. If they had more stuff, they would need more suitcases. In addition, when they arrive in California, they have to eat “wild verdolagas” because they don’t have work yet. If they weren’t poor, they would have just gone to a restaurant. No one just picks wild vegetables for the fun of it. The narrator’s family clearly doesn’t make much money.

English I students finished up gerunds and participles by practicing how to tell them apart since they are so similar. We made two tests we can run:

Afterward, students had time in class (about ten minutes) to read the next two sections of the Odyssey.

Homework

• English 8: prepare for the test on Tuesday using the extra practice we received today.
• English I Honors: complete the “Sirens” and “Scylla and Charybdis” sections of the Odyssey.