TDA Prep and Lit Circles

TDA Prep and Lit Circles

17 school days left All classes had a last-minute strategy session for tomorrow’s TDA SC-Ready test. A few pointers: Everyone’s goal is a minimum of 1 Schaffer body paragraph. Two body paragraphs would be better, and three would be best. Students must...
TDA 1 Example

TDA 1 Example

Prewriting: The Graphic Organizers As you look at the graphic organizers I created, notice that I never really write a complete sentence. I just write enough to help me remember what my original thoughts were. Writing the whole thing in the GO is not necessary, and...
Lit Circles All Around

Lit Circles All Around

18 school days left All classes worked on literature circles today, which meant the classroom looked quite different than it normally looks: English 8 students (above and below) worked on The Diary of Anne Frank. We’ll be reading all of act 2 in literature...
Thursday Before the Long Weekend

Thursday Before the Long Weekend

23 school days left English 8 students worked on active/passive as well as some inference work from The Diary of Anne Frank. The comprehension questions from act 1 scene 3 are due Monday. English I students finished up work on the trial and will move on to the...
More Acting and More Drawing

More Acting and More Drawing

25 school days left English 8 students continued with their Anne Frank acting presentations. We’ve done two out of the four groups. We also have been working on active/passive verbs this week, trying to tie up some final loose ends before the SC-Ready test,...
Presentations and Drawing

Presentations and Drawing

26 school days left English 8 students had their first day of presentations for The Diary of Anne Frank. The first group in both classes did a good job. English I students continued with their lit circles for To Kill a Mockingbird. Today they worked on tracing...
Indirect Characterization and

Indirect Characterization and

English 8 students began the second part of their fourth-quarter major project: we looked at indirect characterization and the role it plays in drama (since all direct characterization would be in the stage directions to which the audience wouldn’t have access)....
Staging and Voice

Staging and Voice

English 8 students began acting out The Diary of Anne Frank today. We worked on all the thought and preparation we have to go through to make sure our presentation will be accurate. We explored ideas about staging, props, and blocking. English I students finished up...
First Day Back

First Day Back

Students in English 8 began their last unit on The Diary of Anne Frank. We went through an anticipation guide to help put students in Anne’s place to see what she was facing. English I students began To Kill a Mockingbird, which will likely be our last unit. We...
Socratic Seminars

Socratic Seminars

All classes conducted Socratic Seminars today. English I students discussed which character is ultimately responsible for the “death” of Juliet at the end of act 4. English 8 students discussed the reasons for changing the start time for high school...
Research and Last Soliloquy

Research and Last Soliloquy

English 8 students continued working on their research for the argumentative essay we will be writing next week. Students should be finishing the research tomorrow. The next TDA will take place on Thursday, so we will have a shortened lesson then. We won’t begin...