Sunday, February 26, 2012

APENGLISH 12: February 27-March 2, 2012

Greetings APEs!

This is a B week, so we get to meet three times! And we have so much to do during those meetings. On Tuesday, we will have our final allusions quiz. On Wednesday, we will have our quiz on the N and O words from your SAT word list. On both those days, we will read and discuss as much of Hamlet as is humanly possible.

As you know, I will be absent on Friday because I will be learning how to produce podcasts. I hope to incorporate this new skill into our classes in some way, either by making instructive podcasts or by having YOU make informative ones...or BOTH. While I am out, you will watch the first two acts of Hamlet produced by Kenneth Branagh. This version, in my opinion, while lengthy, is the best for AP students because it is complete, and unlike most other versions, does not cut the Fortinbras story line, which I consider invaluable in understanding Hamlet's shift in....oops, no spoilers. We'll discuss that in class!

See you soon!

Mrs. SO

PreAPENGLISH 10: February 27-March 2, 2012

Greetings young APEs!

I can hardly believe that March is upon us! We have so little time to do so much! This week, I will be away on Thursday and Friday for podcast production training, which I hope to implement in our class this year. Some of you have learned this skill in Mrs. Jones' class this year, so you can help me teach those who don't have her class. I am considering using the format for research presentations, but may also incorporate in in some other way. 

Since graduation exams are just a few weeks away, in addition to our study of Age of Reason literature, including Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention and Thomas Paine's The Crisis, No. 1, we will continue with our language usage review. Expect a practice grad exam on the day I am out. I will grade the practice exam, so do your best. I will also use the results to find the areas that need more reinforcement before the real test. Last week we reviewed capitalization, apostrophe, comma, colon and semicolon rules. This week we will tackle misplaced modifiers, parallel structure, sequencing, and active/passive voice, most of which is review.

So much to do, so little time....

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

English 12: February 27-March 2, 2012

Greetings Seniors!

This is a B week, so we will meet twice. As you know, on Monday you have the test for which we reviewed last week. It covers the historical background for the British Renaissance period and the shorter works, including poetry, essays, and speeches from that period.

On Thursday, while I am away getting podcast production training, you will view Hamlet, and upon my return next week we will discuss the play and begin our study of Milton's Paradise Lost.

Next week I will also give you the information you need for your research papers.

No vocabulary quiz this week. You will have one next week.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

English 12: February 21-24

Greetings Seniors!

This year is FLYING by!

Here we are nearing the end of February, and we still have so much to do. This week we meet twice, and both days are full.

On Wednesday, we will review vocabulary for the quiz on lesson 18 on Thursday.
We will also read the excerpts from Margaret Cavendish's "Female Orations." If time permits, we will review for a test on the shorter works from the Renaissance period that we have read, and the test will be Thursday. If time does not permit, the review will be Thursday, and the test will be Monday of next week.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

English 10: February 21-24

Hello Sophomores!

I hope you had a fine holiday weekend. Now that we are back, we really must focus our attention on preparing for the fast-approaching graduation exams. I particularly would like to focus on comma rules, semicolon rules, and colon rules this week. Be sure to bring your workbooks.

We also will be reviewing the vocabulary for lesson 17, and we will have a quiz on that lesson on Friday.

In reading, we will focus on finding main ideas and reading for details, patterns of ideas, and word meaning in from context clues.

In literature, we will read Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention and, if time permits, Thomas Paine's The Crisis No.1.  After reading both texts, we will create a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

APENGLISH 12: February 21-24

Greetings APEs!

I sit here, near the end of February, amazed at how much we've accomplished and startled at how much yet remains to do.

This week we will meet twice. On Tuesday, we will read and analyze various poems by Langston Hughes. You may consider any of the poems we discuss in class for your research/synthesis papers. Do NOT forget that BY Friday you will be expected to have selected the outside critical source for your paper and will be expected to participate in a "roundtable" discussion of your research idea. Tell us what your article is, give a brief synopsis of it, and tell us what you plan to write about specifically. This is the time for you to get feedback from me and your classmates. I do not expect you to have completed a paper, but you DO need a working thesis statement. In other words, what IS your argument. Your thesis MUST be an argument, and not merely a fact. Take a stance, and in your paper, with the help of Hughes' texts and your outside source, defend that stance.

I'm very excited for that session.

Next week, you will have a quiz on the N and O words from your list. Your quiz will be on Wednesday of next week.


See you in class!

Mrs. SO

PreAPENGLISH 10: February 21-24

Greetings Young APEs,

Can you believe that February is almost over? That's a rhetorical, question, of course.
February is indeed almost over, and graduation exams are fast approaching. For that reason, we will be adding and intensive grammar review to our literature/reading studies. Please make sure you bring your grammar workbooks to classI if you have not stored them in the class crate. Most of them are in the room.

This week, in addition to reading Franklin's conversation with the Gout...yes, he "spoke" to his gout....we will examine Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention and excerpts from Thomas Paine's The Crisis No. 1. 

In grammar we will review the rules for commas, semicolons and colons. If you miss class, you will need to review those on your own for a quiz on either Thursday or Friday, depending on your class schedule. No new vocabulary this week. Next week you will have a quiz on lesson 15. I will distribute the study guides in class.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

Monday, February 13, 2012

English 10: February 13-17

Hello Sophomores!

This week and next week are shortened. We will meet only on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, since students have a holiday on Friday.

Now that you have finished the unit on Puritan and related writing, it's time to move on to the Revolutionary War period...called the Age of Reason because of people's turning away from religion for answers and seeking answers in science and observation. This marks a very different style of writing from what we have recently read. In this unit, we will read excerpts from Franklin, speeches and pamphlets from the American founding fathers, discover the trend towards Deism as a new view of God, and read what the first "Americans" felt about their newly formed country.

We are also nearing graduation exam time....so....we will be boning up on our grammar and reading skills.  Be prepared over the next weeks to practice reading comprehension and correcting sentences with various errors.


See you in class!

Mrs. SO

English 12: February 13-17

Greetings Seniors!

We are still in the midst of our study or British Renaissance literature. This week we will discuss several of the literary artists from the period and read the excerpts from the following:
Two Shakespearean soliloquies from Hamlet and Macbeth
The background information of Ben Johnson and his poem "On my First Son"
The background of Francis Bacon and his essay "On Studies"
The background of Margaret Cavendish and her "Female Orations"
and Queen Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury

All of this will culminate in a test on the period, after which we will read excerpts from Milton's Paradise Lost, which depicts the fall of Satan from heaven, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, which is an allegory of Christian life.

Don't forget we also have a quiz on vocabulary lesson17.

It is unlikely that we will have time to complete everything in one week...but we will go as far as time allows.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

PreAPENGLISH 10: February 13-17

Greetings Young APEs!

I hope you had a restful weekend.

This week, Friday is a holiday for students, so I will see you all twice. For A day, we will start Monday with an new unit: The Age of Reason. Please bring your books. This period, like all literary movements, reflects a shift away from the previous set of beliefs that molded the writing of that time. Instead of a focus on religious or spiritual matters, this era reflects a focus on science, and the independent spirit. This is an excellent unit for analyzing rhetorical strategies. Among the texts we will examine are excerpts from Ben Franklin's autobiography and Revolutionary War speeches and pamphlets. They are quite interesting, and show clearly the aforementioned shift in interest and impetus. We will have a quiz on lesson 14 vocabulary on Thursday, and I will distribute the study guides on Monday.

We are also nearing graduation exam time, so for the next several weeks we will review and practice our grammar and reading skills.

B Day classes still have a test to take on the Puritan era. You will take that test on Tuesday and begin the unit on the Age of Reason on Wednesday. Your quiz on lesson 14 vocabulary will be Wednesday.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

Friday, February 10, 2012

AP Literature and Composition: February 13-17

Hello APEs!
This week we actually WILL have a quiz on the remaining P words from your SAT vocabulary list!
Also, since Friday is a student holiday, we will only get to meet twice. :'(

Therefore, we must use our time wisely. On Tuesday we will complete our Socratic discussion of the three essays by Langston Hughes that I gave you.  On Wednesday we will read a number of Hughes' poems under the lens of his various essays. How do his poems compare with his essays? Can you see the same progression in his poems that is evident in his essays? What really is the significance of social poetry?

Your "big" paper for the year will be a synthesis/research paper on Hughes' essays, poetry, and an outside source of your choosing. You should utilize the Alabama Virtual Library's Infotrac database to find your critical essay on either Hughes or his works. I will review this resource with you in class.

Here is a link to the essay requirements.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

Monday, February 6, 2012

PreAPEnglish 10: January 6-10

Greetings Jr. APEs!

We have lots to do as we finish our unit on Puritan and related literature. This week we will review for and take a test on the literature we have read. A day people will have their test on Wednesday, and will write an in-class journal on Thursday. B day classes will write the journals on Tuesday and review for the test on Friday. On Thursday, A day classes will discuss the novel The Scarlet Letter and will be given a take home writing assignment based on that text. Next week B day classes will complete the The Scarlet Letter assignment.

As you can see...we have lots to do!

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

English 10: January 6-10

Hello Sophomores!

I'm really looking forward to our week together. We have FINALLY finished the daunting unit on Puritan literature and will have our test on that unit on Monday.

Bring your vocabulary workbooks to review lesson 17 for next week. We will not meet Friday, since we will be attending the school-wide Star Test activity.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO

English 12: January 6-10

Greetings Senior!

We are still in the midst of our study or British Renaissance literature. As you know, we have learned a great deal about John Donne and his varied works. We will finish with his poem "The Canonization" and his "Meditation 17" on Monday. The latter is probably his most quoted work, wherein he asserts that "no man is an island" and that we should "ask not for whom the bell tolls," since it tolls for us all.  I'm sure you have at least heard those phrases, and we will discuss their meaning in some depth.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will continue reading from our textbooks. We will discuss several of the literary artists from the period and read the excerpts from the following:
Two Shakespearean soliloquies from Hamlet and Macbeth
The background of William Shakespeare and sonnets 73 and 130
The background information of Ben Johnson and his poem "On my First Son"
The background of Francis Bacon and his essay "On Studies"
The background of Margaret Cavendish and her "Female Orations"
and Queen Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury

All of this will culminate in a test on the period, after which we will read excerpts from Milton's Paradise Lost, which depicts the fall of Satan from heaven, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, which is an allegory of Christian life.

It is unlikely that we will have time to complete everything in one week...but we will go as far as time allows.

See you in class!

Mrs. SO