Friday, March 30

Freshmen: Today we finished looking at lead techniques and took a vocab quiz. You are to use one of the lead techniques we covered in your essay on Romeo and Juliet; you are also to search "leads and conclusions" on this blog, study the info about conclusions, and use one of those techniques in your essay. You must identify which type of lead and conclusion you are using in your header. Your essay is due Monday. Read for 20 minutes over the weekend, and honors students, don't forget to respond to the Monte Cristo prompt #1.

Sophomores: Due Monday is Book III for the seminar. Your vocab exam will be next block period. Also due next block period is an "I Remember..." essay about a male figure in your life modeled after what we saw in House's essay. This essay should show rather than tell, use specific memories to support general ideas and statements, reveal something about this person's personality and your relationship with him, and reveal something about your understanding of yourself. It should be typed, totally awesome, and is due Wednesday.

CNF: We had a seminar on Part IV. Get Season of Life ASAP.

Thursday, March 29

Freshmen: Today we reviewed/introduced a variety of lead and conclusion techniques to try when writing an essay; you are to use one of them with your essay about Romeo and Juliet. Indicate which type of technique you are using in your header; the essay is due Modnay. Read for 20 minutes and remember vocab Chapter 12 is due tomorrow. Honors students, read The Count of Monte Cristo and respond to the prompt on the blog.

Sophomores: Today we focused on completing the list of twelve memories about our father. We will have a seminar on Friday about Book III of The Poisonwood Bible. Vocab Chapter 12 will be due Monday.

CNF: Today we finished Part IV of The World Without Us and will have a seminar on it on Friday.

The Count of Monte Cristo Honors Blog Prompt 1

Hello. Please respond to the following prompt - twice. I would like you to log in and respond twice: once to the prompt, and once to someone else's prompt. If you would like to respond more than that, that's fine. Please complete all responses by 8 AM on Monday, April 2. Please sign your first name with the period you're in. The prompt has several different aspects to it - respond to what you feel or think most strongly about.

Prompt: Imagine everything you really care about is unjustly taken from you - your family, your friends, your reputation, your freedom. To what extent are you obligated to forgive those who took these precious things from you? To what extent would you go to seek revenge?

Tuesday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 28

Freshmen: Today we did a final wrap up of Romeo and Juliet. We read and discussed an essay about the play, took a quiz, and started preparations for an essay. The essay prompts you have to choose from are the following:

1. Reflect on your experiences with romantic love and compare and contrast your feelings with those experienced by either (or both) Romeo and Juliet. Or, Perhaps, like Mercutio, you are skeptical about all this dreaming and love and romance stuff. If that’s the case, express your cynical attitude towards love and romance using examples from the play and your life as your illustrative proof.
2. At the beginning of the play, we find Romeo in love with love. When he meets Juliet, however, he is convinced that he loves her, not merely the abstract emotion. Juliet, also, believes she loves Romeo, the person. How do we know that Juliet is indeed in love with Romeo, and not merely experiencing her first infatuation?
3. Loyalty is often an admired value in a friend, relative, or mentor. On the other hand, the lack of loyalty can lead to conflict. Choose one or more characters in Romeo and Juliet and discuss how loyalty (or the lack thereof) is a driving force in their lives.
4. From the beginning of the play, we are told that Romeo and Juliet are victims of fate, star-crossed lovers whose deaths are unavoidable. Do you agree? Use the situations of the play to prove or disprove this theory of doom. In the process, reveal your philosophy of life in terms of the idea of fate.
5. What is the theme of Romeo and Juliet? That is, what are we to learn about life from the play?
6. (Encouraged for Honors students): Examine Shakespeare’s use of pairs, opposites, and contrasts in the play. What effect does this have on the reader and how does it help reinforce the themes of the play?

Your essay is due on Monday, April 2. It should be typed, double spaced, and in good condition. Your essay should have an interesting title, be free of conventions errors, and have at least three citations from the text. In addition, you must use one of the lead and conclusion techniques we studied and list those in your header.

Read for 20 minutes Tuesday and Wednesday, and remember vocab is due on Friday.

Sophomores: Today we focused on generating a list of memories about our father/father figure. You should have 10. They should be about a specific, exact time, and reveal something of his personality and your relationship. Due Friday is Book III with seven seminar notes.

CNF: Today we explored the Voyager project and it's many elements that apply to our book. Due for Friday is Part IV and a dozen notes for seminar. Get a copy of Season of Life ASAP.

Monday, March 26

Freshmen: Today we had our final seminar on Romeo and Juliet. Please bring your copy of the play on the block day as we will do some final wrap-up activities with it. Your homework is to get a book to read (honors students need to get The Count of Monte Cristo and begin reading - we meet Thursday at 7:35 this week) and read for 20 minutes each night. Vocab is due on Thursday.

Sophomores: Today our focus was on reading. We made an adjustment to the schedule: Book III is due Friday; Books IV, V, and VI are due after the break.

CNF: Today we began Part IV or The World Without Us. You need Season of Life for after the break.

Thursday, March 21

Freshmen: Today we discussed the Bloom essay. Remember Romeo and Juliet are due Monday with seminar notes.

Sophomores: Today we continued the "I Remember..." exercise. Book III is due on Wednesday with seminar notes.

CNF: Today we discussed Part III with the attendant films.

Tuesday, March 20 and Wednesday, March 21

Freshmen: Today we took a vocab quiz and read an essay by Harold Bloom on Romeo and Juliet. You need to finish Romeo and Juliet for Monday's seminar (seven notes on both Acts IV and V).

Sophomores: Today we had a seminar on Book II. Book III and seven seminar notes are due next block period. We also continued our exercise on memory.

CNF: Today we viewed An Inconvenient Truth; we will have a seminar on Part III if quite convenient tomorrow.

Monday, March 19

Freshmen: Today we had a seminar on Acts II and III of Romeo and Juliet. Acts IV and V, along with seven notes each for seminar (14 total), are due on Monday; we will have the vocab exam on the block day.

Sophomores: Book II and seven notes for seminar are due Wednesday.

CNF: We finished up Part III today and will discuss it Thursday.

Tuesday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 14

Freshmen: Today we did a close reading of 2.1 and 2.2. Read all of Acts 2 and 3 for Monday, with seven seminar notes per Act. Your Letter to the Editor is due Thursday. Due Friday is Chapter 11 Vocab.

Sophomores: Today we had a seminar on The Poisonwood Bible; check the schedule for the next due date. Due Friday is Chapter 11 Vocab.

CNF: Today we watched The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Monday, March 12

Freshmen: Today we had a seminar on Act I of Romeo and Juliet. This week, read Acts II and III and take seven notes for seminar on each act (that means 14 total). Comments and observations are great; even better are questions designed using the Question Stems that Facilitate Dialogue sheet I gave you. Due Thursday is your Letter to the Editor (typed, with contact info, in an addressed, stamped, unsealed envelope). Due Friday is Chapter 11 Vocabulary.

Sophomores: Today we talked about ways of knowing characters and did some reading. Book I from The Poisonwood Bible is due Wednesday with seven seminar prep items. Due Friday is Chapter 11 Vocabulary.

CNF: Today we began reading Part III, which we're going to finish for next week.

Thursday, March 8

**Freshman Honors: We are moving our next seminar up one day to Wednesday, 3/14, at 7:35.

Freshmen: We took the Chapter 10 vocab exam. Chapter 11 is due next Friday. Due Monday is Act I from Romeo and Juliet with seven notes for seminar. Remember, these notes are supposed to capture what you are thinking about as you read. Use the question stem notes I gave you to help you craft these.

Sophomores: We took the Chapter 10 vocab exam. Chapter 11 is due next Friday. Due Wednesday is Book I from The Poisonwood Bible. You should have 7 notes for seminar on this date.

CNF: Today we had a seminar on Part II and the recent documentaries we have seen.

The Poisonwood Bible Reading Schedule 2012

Hi. Here is your reading schedule for The Poisonwood Bible. For each Seminar date, you need to have completed the reading and also have seven notes for the seminar. Your notes should reflect what you are thinking about as you read - ideas, questions, connections, opinions, and so on.

March 14: Book One due. Seminar on this date.
March 21: Book Two due. Seminar on this date.
March 30: Book Three due. Seminar on this date.
April 16 (first day back after spring break): Books Four and Five, due. Seminar on this date. Seven notes per chapter due.
April 20: Books Six and Seven; the whole The Poisonwood Bible due; final Seminar on this date. Seven notes per chapter due.

Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7

Freshmen: Today we finished the Romeo and Juliet film and resumed reading Act I. Your homework is to reread Act I for next Monday and have seven notes for the seminar on that date. Vocab is due tomorrow.

Sophomores: Today we had our final seminar on The Kite Runner and began The Poisonwood Bible. Check the schedule on the blog for reading and seminar dates. Vocab is due tomorrow.

CNF: Today we viewed Addicted to Plastic; we will have a seminar on it, Rivers and Tides, and Part II tomorrow.

Monday, March 5

Freshmen: Today we began reading Romeo and Juliet. Periods 3 and 4 should reread 1.1 Monday night. Period 7 should reread 1.1 Monday night and read 1.2 Tuesday night. Vocab Chapter 10 is due Thursday.

Sophomores: Today we focused on the Hero Catch-Phrase Project and read; finish The Kite Runner for Wednesday and get a copy of The Poisonwood Bible. Vocab is due Thursday.

CNF: Today we focused on finishing up Part II for Thursday.

Thursday, March 1

Freshmen: Today we read the sonnets of Shakespeare's that you found as well as the ones you wrote and saw a little more of the film Romeo and Juliet. For Monday, have the essays at the front of your Folger's Library edition of Romeo and Juliet read (they are listed on an earlier post), and have 10 notes total on the most important things to know. We will discuss this Monday. Honors students, check the other post I wrote this day regarding your assignment for The Language of Life. We will meet on March 15th at 7:35. Chapter 10 vocab is due on Thursday, 3/8.

Sophomores: Today we discussed the hero cycle as it relates to the characters in Into the Woods that you wrote about. Finish The Kite Runner and your seminar notes for Wednesday, 3/7. Chapter 10 vocab is due on Thursday, 3/8.

CNF: We are going to finish Part II on Monday and discuss it Thursday.

Freshman Honors Language of Life Prompts

Hi. As you know, your assignment is to read at least two chapters about different poets (feel free to read more if you want). We will meet next on March 15, and that day I would like to talk about what you read, focusing on the following questions:
1. What was the most interesting thing about poetry that you learned from a poet's response to a question?
2. What was the most interesting question about poetry that Moyers asked?
3. Was there a poem, or fragment of poem, that you really liked?
You don't need to write anything down for this seminar, though some brief notes might be helpful. Bring your book with you to the seminar.