Compare and Heroes

Compare and Heroes

English 8 students continued working on text structures focusing today on the compare/contrast structure. We’ll be finishing up the short unit this week. English 8 students began working on their culminating project, which is a game based on the Odyssey....
Wrapped and Text Structures

Wrapped and Text Structures

English I students finished with The Police song “Wrapped Around Your Finger” as we covered allusions and introduced motifs. And that song is an excellent exemplar of them all. This quarter’s major extra credit option comes from the past two...
First Assessment and a Reward

First Assessment and a Reward

English 8 students worked on their first assessment for the text structure lesson we’ve been working on. The results were fantastic — a good start to the new unit. English I students were a little ahead of my schedule (about 1.5 days), so we rewarded their...
Test and Short Project

Test and Short Project

English 8 students completed their Flowers for Algernon unit with a short test. We’ll begin a new short unit on text structures tomorrow. English I students worked on their article of the week looking at the word “entrepôt” in the AOW. We also went...
Socratic Seminar and Final Source

Socratic Seminar and Final Source

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? What did he gain? What did he lose? What are the moral responsibilities...
Algernon and the Opening

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. English 8 students continued with Flowers for Algernon....
Gerunds and Final Writing

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. HomeworkEnglish 8: complete your theme/development Algernon...
Participial Themes

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 topics to work on the question of how writers develop a theme....
Test and Short Project

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 the fist step of understanding what it means for a writer to develop...