Now that we have finished acting...

Today we finished acting!  There is a paragraph that you must complete on Moodle.  Please log into the English Moodle page to see the journal paragraph that is due Friday afternoon.  You will have access to the books for finding quotes during class tomorrow.

We have an essay to look forward to, which I'll discuss on Friday.

Acting out Twelve Angry Men

All this week, we are acting out the play in class.  With the snow day and delay, this means it might actually take us into next week to finish it.  Discussion of the play occurs throughout the acting in class.  While we discuss and act, you are responsible for filling out the "Why Did I Change My Vote?" sheet.  This is the only homework - it, and the small writing response will be due at the conclusion of the acting.

On Friday, super-challenge and extreme challenge will be getting an additional book to read.  More details to follow.

For your open note quiz - vote changes from Twelve Angry Men

Check out this link.

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Eric and Eli for spelling their way to being our pod's finalists!  They will compete against the rest of the school on Friday, January 28th during periods 1&2.

Block Day

Today in class we are doing phase ONE of the unit: close reading of the play. 

Homework:  Character Quote sheet and "Quiz Questions" due Monday.

Online version of the play

The following is a version of the play for our class-use only.  It varies in a few, slight ways from the in-class text, but if you need to find something or review something, it could be helpful.

Act 1
Act 2
Act 3

Spelling Bee Semifinalists!

We have our semifinalists for the spelling bee!

Period 2:  Mike and Eric
Period 3: Guin, Eli, and Courtney
Period 5: Stefan and Brendan
Period 6: Rachel, Meaghan, and Katie
Period 8: Caroline and Cam

Congratulations, kiddos....our pod semifinal will be this Thursday.  We will be narrowing the following 12 kids down to two finalists to compete against the rest of the school!

Today in class, we finished the spelling bee, and then began the first phase of the Twelve Angry Men unit:  We will be reading this play with partners in class over the rest of the week.  Quiz questions and character quote sheets have been handed out, and will need to be finished by Monday.  Be prepared to read on block day!

Homework:  Character quote sheet and quiz question sheet need to be completed by Monday.  Character costume items for bonus points are due block day.

Welcome back!

Hi kids,

Hope you enjoyed your vacation!  Today we are introducing the new unit on the classic play, 12 Angry Men.  We will be reading, then performing the play, and then we will watch the movie (one of Mr. Stowell's classic favorites).  View the trailer here!


Today in class, we are introducing the characters, and the expectations for the unit.

• There is a reading comprehension quiz after the reading.
• There is a compare/contrast essay at the end of the unit.
• There are small homework and project assignments throughout.
• Super-challenge and extreme-challenge will have to read an additional book.

The second portion of the class will start the double-elimination spelling bee!  A pod-wide spelling bee will occur later in the week.

Homework:  One bonus point per costume item used.  Due block day.

Cool link...

Listen to the week's news in rap.

What's coming up when you get back....

Hey kids,

We will be reading and acting out the play, 12 Angry Men.  It's a ton of fun.  Over vacation, if you can find a bunch of button-down shirts and ties to use for costumes, I will give you bonus points for everything we end up using.

Make sure you have your parents' permission.  The costumes need to fit everyone...so might as well go with XL.  If we use your costume or clothing item, 5-10 other people will be wearing it, and we will be using it for approximately two weeks.

Check out this character PowerPoint for inspiration.

Moo.

Happy Holidays!

Hi folks!

You did well on the test today.  The tests, along with some other grades will be updated over the break.  There is no homework, but I will be putting up an opportunity to gain some bonus points over the break, so check back after the 26th.

When we get back, we are starting to read, and act the CLASSIC play, 12 Angry Men.  It has been a student favorite every year.  We get to dress up.

Until then, rest up, take care, and have fun.

Anyone want to ask some questions?

If you want a question, comment to this post!  I'll be checking it until around 9pm.

Here are the answers to the questions asked so far....

• Yes, you can use any note that is hand-written.
• If you're looking for a Cask quote on symbolism, look anything that mentions how either one is dressed, or look for the "De Grave" wine, or even Fortunato's name.
• The primary conflict in LRotL is a person vs. person conflict between Kitty and Larry.
• There is, at this time, only a link to Cask....look below....the other three have no links that I can find.
• And "My God" is not an allusion...but there is a reference to Harrison looking like a Thor, the god of thunder....that is an allusion....and a simile as well!

Review for the Open-Note Test

Hi Kids,

Today your received the review packet for the open-note test on literary terms and short stories.  Again, there are three parts to the test:

Part 1:  Matching terms to definitions.

Part 2:  Matching terms to quotes from the short stories.

Part 3:  Short response and plot diagram.  You will need to draw the plot diagram for one or two stories (depending on what challenge-level you are), AND you will need to be able to describe the theme, and central conflict for them, and defend your responses.

I will open this blog for you to post responses and questions.  If you have questions, please post them, and I will be able to answer them later tonight.

Links to the short stories

FYI:  there is a link to some Quizlet flashcards for the literary terms, if you feel like it would be helpful (see last post).

Links to the short stories....

"The Cask of Amontillado"
"Harrison Bergeron"

"All Summer in a Day"

"The Pit and the Pendulum"

"The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds"  (check out this link to "Who Killed Cock Robin"....)

           (Four and Twenty Blackbirds)      (Humpty Dumpty)

"Flowers for Algernon"

More Literary Terms

Hi kids,

Today we discussed four more terms, some of them were review, some were new: antagonist, protagonist, foreshadowing, and flashback.

For a complete list of terms, that you will be tested on one week from this Wednesday are on quizlet.com right here!

Homework:  Harrison Bergeron response short story - due Tuesday for Extremers, due Wednesday for everyone else.

"The Dinner Party" and "Harrison Bergeron"

Hi Kids,

Today we are going over the short, short story "The Dinner Party" and discuss how it matches up to the plot diagram.  Afterward, we will go over the different types of irony and discuss how it applies to satire in the short story "Harrison Bergeron."

Read the short story here and answer the four questions that go along with it!

Irony Definitions

Sent on the run with my lovely iPhone!

Plot and Conflict Review

Today in class, we reviewed the plot line diagram, and the different types of conflict and how they applied to short story, "The Last Rung on the Ladder."






Homework: Read "The Dinner Party" and answer all eight questions on the back under "For Discussion" and "Plot" with at least one complete sentence each. Due Friday.

Quiz Day - "Harbinger"

Today you took the vocab quiz for the song, "Harbinger."  Grades are already in Powerschool.


Homework:  Worksheet for "The Last Rung on the Ladder" due in class on block day.