Happy mid-point everyone!  We are just about half way through the 1st quarter of the year. Hasn’t it just flown by already?  Back to School night was a moderate success, especially in the Junior class.  My fourth period earned 90 extra credit points!  Woot!!  That was 18 students represented in that class.  Nice to see all you parents in support of your child.

I am updating grades as fast as I can, but I still have not created my on-line gradebook.  I DO have grades fairly updated in my other gradebook, so please feel free to contact me if you would like to know how you/your child is doing in class.

In other news, we have launched The Histories of Our Families project to the class of 2012!  Sophies are busy gathering photos and avoiding their parents, er, I mean talking to their parents about their fascinating pasts.  The family interview is due on Monday 10/5.  See the project wiki for more details.

Hope you all have a great week and remember if you’ve gone half way you might as well just finish!  I know adjusting to life in the DSA can be difficult at times, both for new Sophomores and Juniors balancing the new workload from Fontanilla.  Hang in there and don’t go it alone.  Here’s to a strong finish boys and girls.  : D

Now for the homework:

Sophomores/English II (these dates reflect the day the assignment is DUE)

*Not a lot of homework this week.  Take advantage of this and get your Family Interview done!  Remember you have one more week until is is due.

Monday:  Zip

Tuesday: Zilch

Wednesday: 1) Finish reading “A Walk To The Jetty” 2) Homework Handout Review and Assess Q’s #1-5

Thursday:  Nada

Friday:  BIG TEST on the last 3 readings:  ”The Monkey’s Paw,” “The Bridegroom,” and “A Walk To The Jetty” — study plot for “Monkey’s Paw”, foreshadowing, flashback, point of view, and vocabulary.

Juniors/English III

Daily HW:  100 days of Journaling continues;  Read your memoir

Honors English!  We are starting up again.  See www.digitalsafari.org/honors for more details.

Monday:  Nada;  New SAT Vocab List introduced today.

Tuesday:  Nothing

Wednesday: More of the same.

Thursday:  Post to your blog, any topic or subject matter, using all 20 SAT (Quack!) vocabulary words from this week.  Make your sentences “showing” sentences as discussed in class.  This will be your assessment, 20 points.

Friday:  Literature Circle Day!  Be a great group member by filling out your Role Sheets thoughtfully and thoroughly.  50 points (30 for Role Sheet/20 for participation in discussion).

Weekend Work (due Mon.) — Read Memoir, Journal!

English II:  Homework is listed for the date assigned.  Due following day.

Monday:  Our first “real” test is today!  No Homework.  Rest up!

Tuesday:  Read “The  Monkey’s Paw” pp. 50 – 58;  R&A Q’s page 58 #1, 2, 6

Wednesday:  Read “The Bridegroom”;  Foreshadowing Handout (due Thursday)

Thursday:  Bring your parents to Back To School Night!

Friday/Weekend HW:  None.  Have a nice weekend!

English III:  Bring memoir books every day from now and for the next 4 weeks.

Monday:  Journal at Home;  Read Memoir

Tuesday:  Journal at Home;  Read Memoir

Wednesday:

Thursday:  Vocab Quiz Today;  Finish Role Sheet for Literature Circle Discussion

Friday:  Literature Circle Discussion;  Role Sheets Due (50 points!)

Weekend:  Reading Memoir, Journaling Saturday & Sunday

Juniors will be getting their memoir books this week and forming book groups (a.k.a. “Literature Circles”).  Each week each student will read a section of their chosen memoir and then weekly will meet with their group to discuss the story, with each member adopting a “role” to play in the group (Discussion Director, Summarizer, Connecter, and Passage Finder).

English II Homework (Due Dates)

9/15 – None

9/16 – 1) Read “View From The Summit” pp. 31-36;  2) Review and Assess Q’s page 36 #2,3,4

9/17 – 1) Read “The Dream Comes True” pp. 39 – 44 2) R&A Q’s page 44 #1, 3, 5, 7

9/18 – Study Packet for “View From The Summit” and “The Dream Comes True”

Weekend HW (due Mon):  Study for Test on Monday (Dead Man’s Pocket, View From Summit and Dream Comes True)

English III Homework (Due Dates)

**Continue 100 days of Journaling:  Journal every day (Mon. – Sun.) in your English notebook (red or blue)

9/14 — Write a short memoir in your English Notebook about a time when you were reunited with someone or people after a long time.  Focus on your emotions and how the reunion made you feel, using the taxonomy of emotions as a resource. (15 pts.)

9/15 – Extended time to finish Reunion memoir in English Notebook (15 pts.)

9/16 – Finish Emotion Collage:  Include a) 3 overlapping images, b)  a unique title, c) On the back write a paragraph explaining why you chose your images and what emotions they represent from your memoir. (10 pts.)

9/17 – 1) Finish “The Names” pp 1040 – 1044, 2) Review & Asses Q’s page 1046 #1 & 6

9/18 – 1) Finish “Mint Snowball” and “Suspended” pp.1047 – 1050, 2) R&A Q’s page 1051 #7

Weekend HW (due Mon): Start reading your memoir book!  1st section of pages due next Thursday

Monday, 9/7 – Labor Day Holiday;  Have a safe and fun long weekend everybody!

Alright everyone, we’re getting to the business of learning this week!  Remember to bring your books daily and have them covered.  Sophomores will be reading short stories and discussing elements of plot.  These discussions will provide a foundation of knowledge for writing their own short stories soon.  Juniors, we are delayed in starting the reading of the memoirs, but will get back on track next week (hopefully).

English II Homework

9/8 – Textbook Survey Due (25 pts.)

9/9 – None

9/10 – Read “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” pp. 4-20, Answer Q’s 5 & 6, page 21

9/11 – Plot Diagram:  diagram the plot of “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” (handout)

Weekend:  No Weekend Homework this week

English III Homework

9/8 – Textbook Survey Due (25 pts)

9/9 – Begin 100 days of Journaling:  Journal every day (Mon. – Sun.) in your English notebook (red or blue)

9/10 – Read “Woman Warrior” excerpt from Prentice Hall textbook.  Answer Q’s 1-3 page 1077.

9/11 – None

Weekend HW:   Write a short story of a reunion you have had that was memorable.  Use your taxonomy of emotions as a resource for describing how you felt meeting up with this person/the people with whom you were reunited.  BTW (By the way), this writing should be entered into your English Notebook and will count as both a journal for the weekend and as a homework assignment.  Be prepared to share your writing on Monday.