Wednesday, December 18

Writing Prompt 1.3:
Choose a paragon in your life. Who is someone you admire? Diligently describe them. Be verbose and use lots of details. Avoid circumlocution. 

Today:
Review vocab
Review SOAPSTone

Assignments:
Latent Talent Show on Thursday. Extra Credit to all who perform. 
Vocab Quiz on Friday! Start studying now. 

Tuesday, December 17

Writing Prompt 1.2
Yesterday, we read an excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston's autobiography where she thought she was going to get in trouble in school, but was instead praised for her meritorious reading. Write about a time in school when you either got in trouble, or earned acclaim for what you did. Describe what you did, and the reaction of your peers and teachers. 

Today:
Review vocabulary
Finish excerpt
SOAPSTone

Assignments:
Latent Talent Show on Thursday. Extra Credit to all who perform. 
Vocab Quiz on Friday! You will get your word maps back tomorrow. Start studying now. 

Monday, December 16

Do Now: Get a vocab handout from the back desk. You can use your word maps to help you fill in the blanks. I will collect your word maps after the Do Now. 

Today:
Review vocabulary
Discuss AOTW
TKAM background

Assignments:
Latent Talent Show on Thursday. Extra Credit to all who perform. 
Vocab Quiz on Friday! You will get your word maps back tomorrow. Start studying now. 

Friday, December 13

Writing Prompt 1.1
Look at the cartoons on the handout. Explain what you think each cartoon means. Then, explain whether or not you agree with the cartoons. Can these cartoons apply to any groups or people other than the Taliban?

Today:
Review vocab
AOTW #2

Assignments:
Word maps due Monday!
AOTW #2 response due Monday

Thursday, December 12

Make-up Vocabulary Tests Thursday or Friday afterschool!!!

Assignments:
Word Maps due Monday
vocabulary word
part of speech
definition 
1 antonym
1 synonym
1 original sentence

AOTW #2 due Monday

Response Questions:

Paragraph 1: Why do you think Malala's story has captured the world's attention? Do you think here quest to share her story will help improve education for all?

Paragraph 2: When speaking to the United Nations, Malala called books and pens "powerful weapons." What do you think she meant? Do you agree?

Wednesday, December 11

Do Now: 
Get a new vocabulary handout from the desk by the door. Find your new assigned seat. 

Today:
New vocabulary!

Assignments:

Make-up Vocabulary Tests Thursday or Friday afterschool!!!

word maps due Monday
AOTW #2 due Monday


Word Maps
vocabulary word
part of speech
definition 
1 antonym
1 synonym
1 original sentence

Monday, December 9

Vocabulary Test today! 

Make-up test will be held after school on Wednesday, 12/11. 

Friday, December 6

Do Now:
Get a handout from the back desk. Write your name on it! This is your first AOTW!! :)

Today:
Begin AOTW
Review for test 

AOTW: 
assigned each friday
responses should be written in your writer's notebook
responses should be at least two paragraphs (15-20 lines total)
responses should include textual evidence from the article

Assignments:
Vocabulary Test on Monday
AOTW #1 due Tuesday

Thursday, December 4

Do Now: Get your magazine page from the pile. Be ready to share it with the class. 

Today:
Share magazine pages
Swat That! Vocab review

Assignments:
Vocab Test on Monday! STUDY :) 

Wednesday, December 4

Today:
Finish your vocabulary magazine pages! They are due at the end of the period today. You will be sharing them in class tomorrow.

Keep the room clean. No one is leaving until all art supplies are put away, and all trash is thrown out. 

If you finished your magazine pages, come and see me for another assignment. 

Tuesday, December 3

Do Now: Get into teams of 4-5 people. 

Today: 
Vocab review puzzle
Vocab Magazine Pages

Assignments:
Vocab Magazine Page due Wed, 12/4
Vocabulary Test on Monday, 12/7

Vocab Magazine Page:
Use images from magazines to illustrate the meaning of your assigned vocabulary word. Include a sentence that connects the word to your illustration, and uses the vocabulary word correctly. 

Examples:

The hair on Shaq's head is sparse.

Maurice received acclaim for his new invention. 

Monday, Dec 2

Happy December! I'm so happy to see all 

of your smiling faces. :)

On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions. I will be collecting them!

1. What is something you learned during the first marking report?
2. What is an activity or assignment you enjoyed during the first marking report?
3. What is something you would like to do or learn throughout the rest of the year?

Today:
Review classroom norms and policies. 
Hall passes!
Vocab review. 

Assignments:
Vocab Test on Monday, 12/7

Monday, June 3

Do Now: Get a handout from the back desk. Use evidence from the reading to answer the question. These will be collected.

Today:
review chapter 4
loneliness mind map

Assignments and Important Dates:

• Tuesday, 6/4: review for final exam in school
• Wednesday, 6/5: final exam
• Thursday, 6/6: reading response for pgs 84-98 due
• Friday, 6/7: last day for any late or missing work
• Monday, 6/10: finish reading Of Mice and Men
• Wednesday, 6/12: grades end at 11:59pm

Friday, May 31

audio recording of Of Mice and Men
Review English 1 Vocabulary online here

Monday, 6/3

• read pages 66-83 and complete reader response

Tuesday, 6/4

• review for final exam

Wednesday, 6/5

• final exam

Friday, 6/7

• last day to hand in late or missing work

Wednesday, 6/12

• grades end at 11:59pm

Thursday, May 30

Today:

Review characterization Of Mice and Men

Concept cards

Upcoming Dates and Assignments:

Fri, 5/31

• read pages 53-65 and complete reader response

• word maps due

Monday, 6/3

• read pages 66-83 and complete reader response

Tuesday, 6/4

• review for final exam

Wednesday, 6/5

• final exam

Fri, 6/7

• last day to hand in late or missing work

Tuesday, May 28

Today:
last new vocabulary

Final Exam Review

Assignments and Due Dates

Thurs, 5/30

• read pages 38-52 and complete reader response
• concept cards due

Fri, 5/31

• read pages 53-65 and complete reader response

• word maps due

Monday, 6/3

• read pages 66-83 and complete reader response

Tuesday, 6/4

• review for final exam

Wednesday, 6/5

• final exam

Fri, 6/7

• last day to hand in late or missing work

Friday, May 24

Today:
Quiz on Vocab 16&17
Photo Analysis and Of Mice and Men

Assignments:
Read pages 24-37 for Tuesday. Complete 1 Reading Response.

If you'd like to listen to Of Mice and Men as you read, this website has audio recordings of each chapter. 

Thursday, May 23

Do Now: Vocab Review

Today:
Dicuss Of Mice and Men reading
finish chapter 1

Assignments:
Vocab 16&17 quiz Friday
read pages 17-23 and complete a reading response for Friday
for Tuesday, read pages 24-37 and complete one reading response

Wednesday, May 22

Do Now: Vocab Review

Today:

Finish Romeo & Juliet projects

Start Of Mice and Men

Assignments:

Read pages 1-12 in OMAM and complete one reader response

Vocab quiz on chapters 16&17 this Friday

Friday, May 17

Do Now: Put your word maps in the homework bin!

Today:
Finish R&J presentations
Start Of Mice and Men

Assignments:
Read pages 1-16 for Monday and complete one Reader Repsonse page

Announcements:
Missing Vocabulary Quizzes from Friday, May 10:

• Make these after school on Monday, or during lunch and after school on Wednesday. Wednesday, 5/22 will be the last day for make-up quizzes. 
• Louis, Alexis, Antonia, Francis, Janitza, Tania, Mohit, Lillian, Janae

The LAST DAY to complete the R&J project for half credit is Wednesday, 5/22. Any projects submitted after this date will not be accepted. Your grade will be a 0. 

Presentations:

Tamia, Shawna, Jade, Julianne, Alaida – film

Daniel - monologue

Leah, Tania, Imani – video

Dymere – eulogy

Alexis – eulogy

Travis - eulogy

Thursday, May 16

Today:
Review vocabulary
Presentations
Preview Of Mice and Men

Thursday, 5/16

Drew, Angelo, Zaire – live performance

Jamar - eulogy

Thursday, 5/16

Shedwal, Zimere, AJ – video

James - poetry presentation

Assignments:
Word maps due tomorrow!

Get excited! You are getting new books to read tomorrow!

Today:
Review vocabulary
R&J Presentations
Of Mice and Men

Assignments
word maps due Friday (all 20)
Be ready for your presentation days!

Wednesday, 5/15

Tiona – eulogy

Isaiah – eulogy

Hadiyah – eulogy

Wednesday, 5/15

Nasir – eulogy

Jimerr – eulogy

Tuesday, May 14

Do Now: Get two vocab sheets (16 & 17) and begin completing them. Put your R&J projects in the homework bin. 

Today: 
New vocab
R&J presentations
review Great Depression photos
share out friend posters

Assignments:
Word maps for 16&17 are due on Friday
we get Of Mice and Men books tomorrow!

Romeo and Juliet - Project Performance Schedule

Period 2

Tuesday, 5/14

Tyray, Leroy – live performance
Lillian - eulogy

Thursday, 5/16

Drew, Angelo, Zaire – live performance

Jamar - eulogy

Friday, 5/17

Tamia, Shawna, Jade, Julianne, Alaida – film

Daniel - monologue

Period 3

Tuesday, 5/14

Mizani, Ranisha, Sedia – live performance

Dom - eulogy

Thursday, 5/16

Shedwal, Zimere, AJ – video

James - poetry presentation

Friday, 5/17

Leah, Tania, Imani – video

Period 7

Tuesday, 5/14

Patrick, George – film

Keira – eulogy

Deneya - monologue

Wednesday, 5/15

Tiona – eulogy

Isaiah – eulogy

Hadiyah – eulogy

Friday, 5/17

Dymere – eulogy

Alexis – eulogy

Period 8

Tuesday, 5/14

Yamir, Louis, Dushawn – live performance

Wednesday, 5/15

Nasir – eulogy

Jimerr – eulogy

Friday, May 10

Do Now:
Study!! You have a vocab test!!

Assignments: 
Romeo & Juliet project!!

Wednesday, May 8

Do Now: Vocabulary Review

Today:
review vocabulary
Great Depression photo analysis

Assignments:

• Vocab Test on chapter 11, 13, 14 & 15 on Friday! Review your words now!
• Romeo and Juliet projects due Tuesday, May 14 - see the post following this one for project rubrics and the online link to the whole play

Romeo & Juliet Project Rubric

Click here to view the grading rubrics for each R&J project. In order to save paper, I will not be distributing indvidiual copies to students. 

Full online text of Romeo and Juliet is available here. For those of you completing the Alternate Scene project choice, this is also a good example of how your scripts should be formatted. 

Monday, May 6

Hi awesome ninth graders -

I'm sorry I'm not in today, but I promise I'll be back tomorrow. Use class time to work on your Romeo and Juliet projects. (Click here to view the project choices). If you need to use R&J text at home, you can also visit this website to read the whole play. 

I will collect all your word maps tomorrow! 

Be good. :) 

Wednesday, May 1

Today:
Project Detail
Finish Act IV

Assignments:

• word maps due Friday
• Click here for the Romeo and Juliet Final Project - due Tuesday, May 14 at the beginning of class

Monday, April 29

Do Now: Vocab #15!!

Today:
New Vocab
Act IV & V Rewrites

Assignments:
word maps due Friday

Wednesday, April 25

Periods 3 & 8:
Writing Prompt 5.5: 
Read following quotes from III.1:
Mercutio: A plague on both your houses! (and then he dies)

Romeo: Oh, I am fortune's fool! (right after killing Tybalt)

What do you think these characters mean? What role do you think fate is playing in this story? Do R&J have a chance, or were they cursed all along? 


Today:
review vocabulary
finish Act III
dramatic monologues

Assignments:
review vocabulary
Romeo letters
Act III film comparison


Periods 2 & 7:
Do Now: Prepare your freeze frames in groups. 


Today:
present scenes and discuss III.1
review vocabulary
continue Act III


Assignments:
Romeo letter:  

• Pretend you are Romeo. Write a letter to Juliet explaining what happened with Tybalt. Did you try to stop the fight? Why did you react so violently? Explain your actions and thoughts, and express any concerns about how this may affect your new marriage.
• At least one full side of notebook paper.

Vocab quiz on Friday

Tuesday, April 23

A merry birthday to William Shakespeare wish we!

Periods 3 & 8:
Do Now: Prepare your freeze frames in groups. 
Today:
present scenes and discuss III.1
review vocabulary
continue Act III
Assignments:
Romeo letter: 

• Pretend you are Romeo. Write a letter to Juliet explaining what happened with Tybalt. Did you try to stop the fight? Why did you react so violently? Explain your actions and thoughts, and express any concerns about how this may affect your new marriage.
• At least one full side of notebook paper.

Vocab quiz on Friday

Periods 2 & 7:Do Now: Get our your viewing guides from yesterday
Today:
finish Viewing Guide and Act II
review vocabulary
begin Act III freeze frame groups
Assignments:

• Finish summarizing your scene. You will need this at the beginning of class tomorrow. 
• Vocab Quiz on Friday

Monday, April 22

Do Now: 
Vocab review!!

Today:
Periods 3 & 8:
Finish marriage rules
Start Act III snapshots

Periods 2 & 7:
Act II viewing guide

Assignments:
Vocab quiz on Friday


Periods 3 & 8:
read and summarize scene and be ready to make your snapshots for tomorrow!

Friday, April 12

No Do Now: Study for your quiz!!


Today:

Vocab quiz
Finish Act I
Lovers' sonnet
Lit Terms

Assignments:
AOTW #23 due Monday - "We've Got the Power" pgs 14-15
GRADES END TUESDAY

Thursday, April 11

Writing Prompt 5.3: Write about a time you had to curtail a bad habit. What was the habit? Did you provide incentives for yourself if you broke the habit? Or, did you succumb to the habit? Explain.

Today:
Review vocab
finish Love Connection
return Night essays - context
Video of Act 1


Assignments:
vocab quiz tomorrow
extra credit options due Tuesday
GRADES END TUESDAY, 4/16 

Monday, April 8

Writing Prompt 5.2
Do you think that it is ever possible to truly "get over" a love interest? What do you think is the best way to "get over" someone? What advice would you give to a friend experiencing a break-up or rejection? Explain your answer.

Today:
review vocabulary
discuss AOTW #21
read Act 1, Scenes 1-3


Assignments:
vocabulary quiz on Friday
GRADES CLOSE TUESDAY, 4/16!!!! 

Tuesday, April 2

Do Now: New Vocabulary 

Today:
Finish Shakespearean Language Notes
Begin reading Prologue

Assignments:
Word maps due Friday
Period 3 - Shakespear-ize modern sentences and annotate the Prologue

Monday, April 1

Writing Prompt 5.1 - Shakespearean Insults! Create five insults using the list of Shakespearean words. 

Today:
Shakespearean Language Intro

Assignments:
Period 3 - Finish reorganizing inverted sentences

Friday, March 15

Writing Prompt 4.10: 

Elie Wiesel's orignal ending to Night with the following statement:

"Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow."

What do you think he means by this? How could it apply to his experiences? Why do you think he changed it? Explain your response.

Today:

review vocabulary

discuss end of Night

essay questions

Never Again? AOTW #21

Assignments:

AOTW #21 due Monday

• read two articles about genocide
• answer the questions on the back side of the articles

Writer's Notebooks collected Monday 

• writing prompts 4.1-4.10
• AOTWs #16-21

Night in-class essay on Tuesday

Vocab Test on Wednesday

Pi Day! 3.14

Writing Prompt 4.9:
Reread Juliek's death on pages 94-95. I will play a recording of a Beethoven violin concerto.

Why do you think this memory stands out to Elie? How does his description of the scene and the music make you feel? Are there any lines or phrases that stand out to you?

Today:
Discuss reading
Vocabulary review

Assignments:

• Finish Night for Friday!
• Writer's Notebooks collected Monday
• Night essay - Tuesday in class
• Vocab test - Wednesday in class

Wednesday, March 13

Assignments:

• read pages 86-103 for Thursday. 2 pages of notes.
• Monday - collect Writer's Notebooks
• Vocab Test - 100 words next week
• In-class essay on Night next week

Tuesday, March 12

Today:

Review vocabulary

Prepare for presentation tomorrow

Discuss reading

Assignments:

• read pages 86-103 for Thursday. 2 pages of notes.
• Monday - collect Writer's Notebooks
• Vocab Test - 100 words next week
• In-class essay on Night next week

Monday, March 11

Do Now: Vocab Practice

Today:
Review vocabulary
Prepare for presentation tomorrow
Discuss reading

Assignments:

• read pages 86-103 for Thursday. 2 pages of notes.
• Monday - collect Writer's Notebooks
• Vocab Test - 100 words next week
• In-class essay on Night next week

Friday, March 8

Writing Prompt 4.8 Akiba Drumer believes that God is testing the Jews and that this punishment they are enduring is actually a sign of love (pg 45). What does Elie think of this theory? What do you think? Explain your response.


Word maps can go in the homework bin. 

Today:
review vocab
characterization
violence


Assignments:
read pages 65-85 for Monday (and notes)
AOTW #20 for Monday

Wednesday, March 6

Writing Prompt 4.7:
What items or concepts are absolutely necessary for survival? What can you absolutely not live without? Explain your responses.

Today:

• Vocab
• propaganda group share out

Assignments:

• Read pages 37-65 for Thursday. Complete 2 full pages of notes.
• Word maps due Friday