English 10: Oct. 25-29

Hello Students!
Hope your day with the substitute went well. I was, of course, getting much needed ActivBoard training, and now I can annotate what is being displayed from my Elmo! I also learned where to get some great resourses.

This week will be busy and fun. Now that we've finished with Native American literature, we'll be looking at some comparative colonial literature. Just what is the difference between a journal and a history? You'll find out.
And what makes Puritan writing distinctive? That we will learn as well. And just what is SATIRE? Well, you should know by the time we read and discuss excerpts from William Byrd's History of the Dividing Line. We may not get to all of this in one week, but it is all coming up soon.
Don't forget that your narrative essays for the Monaco Holiday Short Story Contest are due Thursday. I'll be both grading and submitting them, so do your best. Some of you will get to read your stories in class on Thursday.
Oh, and since we will be pretty busy on Thursday, plan to take your next vocabulary quiz on Monday, November 1. 

See you soon!
Mrs. SO

Attention 10th Grade Students (and anyone else interested)

Hey everyone,

I have put the criteria for a special narrative competition on my GoogleDocs site. I am requiring all my sophomores to enter. I will grade your essays as well as submit them, so make your stories good.

As you may know, I have an October tradition of assigning short stories and reading them aloud in the last class. Sometimes the stories are "scary narratives" but scariness is not a requirement or even suggested.

This year, I would like the narratives to be suitable for submission to the Monaco Holiday Narrative Contest. So, whatever you choose to write, remember that it must have a character or characters and a significant holiday action or experience. Remember, if you are in my A Day classes, you will need your stories by next Thursday, October 28. B Day stories are due October 29.

You must bring two copies, one for me to grade and one without your name on it and with the appropriate information attached on a note card for mailing to the competition judges.

You do not have to be in my tenth grade classes to submit an entry, but tenth grade will be graded.

For complete contest rules and information, click on the link highlighted above.

Have fun writing! I cannot wait to hear your stories!

Mrs. SO

English 12: Oct. 18-22

Well, one quarter is already passed. Grades come out soon. If they aren't what you were hoping, it's not to late to change the end result. Remember, participate in class, turn in every assignment, study, and try not to procrastinate, and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

This will prove another busy week. My A Day classes will only see me once, since I have Promethean Board training on Thursday, so we'll have to work extra fast to get all our goals accomplished. Wish our winners luck in preparing for the regional competition in November!

• We'll continue our study of Anglo-Saxon literature by reading and discussing Beowulf.
• On the day I am away, you'll have a reading review and open book quiz on the epic The Illiad, so bring your text book. 
• You'll also begin working on your own epic BOAST, so get creative and prepare to brag about yourselves. We'll present our boasts upon my return next week.
• Don't forget the Beowulf/Mead-hall Intruder Song extra credit opportunity. You can do this in groups with your friends. I think it could be a lot of fun. If you make a video, we can watch it in class.
• Also, don't forget that October is my tradition narrative-writing month. I'll be talking to you soon about a holiday narrative competition.

See you soon! 

APEnglish Literature 12: Oct. 18-22

Well, one quarter is already passed. Grades come out soon. If they aren't what you were hoping, it's not to late to change the end result. Remember, participate in class, turn in every assignment, study, and try not to procrastinate, and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

This will prove another busy week. You will lose a day, with me, since Friday is the Poetry Out Loud Workshop. Wish our winners luck in preparing for the regional competition in November!

• We'll continue our study of Hamlet and watch some film clips from the Branagh production.
  
• We'll review the best methods for embedding quotations into our writing. Remember, snips or chunks of text flow more smoothly within your own sentences than a complete sentence "dropped" in the mix does.
  
• On the days I am away, you'll have another AP-style multiple choice practice with questions based on the play Hamlet.
• Also, don't forget that October is my tradition narrative-writing month. I'll be talking to you soon about an optional holiday narrative competition.

See you soon! 

English 10 PreAP English: Oct. 18-22

Well, one quarter is already passed. Grades come out soon. If they aren't what you were hoping, it's not to late to change the end result. Remember, participate in class, turn in every assignment, study, and try not to procrastinate, and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

This will prove another busy week. My students will lose a day, with me, since Friday is the Poetry Out Loud Workshop. Wish our winners luck in preparing for the regional competition in November!

• We'll finish up our Julius Caesar presentations and take a test on the parts of speech.
• I'll be reviewing sentence structure with all my tenth grade classes.
  
• We'll also read a number of Native American myths and compare them with other familiar stories.
• On the days I am away, you'll have your first AP-style multiple choice practice with questions based on the play Julius Caesar.
• Also, don't forget that October is my tradition narrative-writing month. I'll be talking to you soon about a holiday narrative competition.

See you soon!