Wednesday, November 30

English 9A (periods 1, 2, and 4): Today we took a district assessment. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes tonight and bring that book with you to class tomorrow.

English 9B (period 3): Today we took a district assessment. However, your homework tonight is a continuation of last night's: Go home and write a page to night, and let that page come out of you, then it will be true. In other words, your task is to write your own "Theme for English B." It is a poem that reveals something about yourself. You should model your poem upon Hughes's - your first two stanzas should be similar to his, and your third stanza should contain a sense of movement as his does. Your fourth (or more) stanzas should teach the reader many different things about you, your personality, and the things you like. Your poem is due on Friday and should be typed and follow standard format: Single space within your stanzas, use a hard left margin (do not center your poem), and use standard capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Additionally, read for 20 minutes tonight and bring your book with you to class tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 29

Welcome to the first day of the new trimester. Use this blog to help you keep up with what we do each day in class as well as to stay updated on what the homework is and when it is due.

English 9A (periods 1, 2, and 4): Today we went over our class disclosure, learned a little bit about each other, and most importantly, read the following poem:

Valedictorian

I shall reject

the curve

and fail

with an A.

The table of elements

will not be

memorized by me.

And I will not

regurgitate facts

like an outdated

spreadsheet.

I will remember

what is pertinent,

not for the test,

but for life

and become

the valedictorian

of me.

-Laura Menssen, Brighton High School ‘94

What I am asking you to do is to sign in and comment on today's post by answering the following question: Of all the poems we could have read the first day of class, why do you think I picked this one? Your answer should be a complete paragraph, use standard capitalization and spelling, and you should sign it with your first name, last initial, and the period you have English. It's worth 25 points and is due by midnight tonight for credit. One thing I would like you to do is read through some of your classmates' comments and respond to what they have to say. If, for some reason, the blog will not save your comment, type it up and bring that to class tomorrow.

You also need to return your disclosure statement on Wednesday, read for 20 minutes tonight, and bring that book with you to class on Wednesday.



English 9B (period 3): Today we went over our class disclosure, learned a little bit about each other, and most importantly, read Langston Hughes's poem "Theme for English B," which can be found here: https://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/English_B.html

Your task is to write your own "Theme for English B." It is a poem that reveals something about yourself. You should model your poem upon Hughes's - your first two stanzas should be similar to his, and your third stanza should contain a sense of movement as his does. Your fourth (or more) stanzas should teach the reader many different things about you, your personality, and the things you like. Your poem is due on Friday and should be typed and follow standard format: Single space within your stanzas, use a hard left margin (do not center your poem), and use standard capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Additionally, you need to have your parents sign the disclosure and return it on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday you should have a book to read from in class and at home.

Tuesday, November 22

Thank you for a good first Trimester. I hope you have a great Thankgsiving break.

Today we finished watching To Kill a Mockingbird. If you wish to do the evaluative essay on Canvas, you can get extra credit for it.

Monday, November 21

Today we continued to view, analyze, and evaluate the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird. If you are interested, there's an extra credit assignment on Canvas.

Friday, November 18

The Utes are going to smash the Ducks on Saturday - Utah 45, Oregon 28.

Today we had a very good seminar discussion about To Kill a Mockingbird, and we began watching a film version of it. An extra credit assignment related to this will be available on Canvas on Monday, for those of you wishing to improve your grade through a little extra effort.

Thursday, November 17

First off - game prediction: Faculty 101, Students 36...

Second, today we finished To Kill a Mockingbird and did some preparation for tomorrow's seminar, which you can do at home if you were not here. The prompt was to formulate 7 questions or comments with specific page references related to how the following literary elements are used in the novel: theme, characterization, setting, plot, conflict, ideas or topics, irony, symbolism, or anything else you need clarified.

Extra credit option: Write a poem about an event in To Kill a Mockingbird from the perspective of a specific character. Don't identify explicitly whose point of view you're writing from, but it should be clear from the voice and content of the poem. It must be typed and adhere to standard poetic form, and must be handed in by Monday. You can earn up to 25 points extra credit.

Wednesday, November 16

Today we focused on Chapter 28 in To Kill a Mockingbird, and also wrote a short response to the prompt "Is Atticus Finch a hero?" Please be ready to start Chapter 29 tomorrow in class, when we will finish the book. I will collect your annotated texts on Friday.

Tuesday, November 15

Today we focused on applying our knowledge of the Hero's Journey by completing our essays about Scout and her progression through the four stages of the hero. You should also read through page 340 in To Kill a Mockingbird for tomorrow's class.

Extra Credit Opportunity

Theatre III class is culminating their class with a showcase of staged readings of original, student-written 5-minute plays they wrote in class. It will begin at 3 pm this Friday, November 18, in the auditorium and last for about 45 minutes. Attend, display proper theatre etiquette, and write a 1/2 page typed review and earn up to 25 points extra credit. This is due in class Monday, November 21.

Monday, November 14

Today we focused on the fourth stage of The Hero's Journey, the Resolution Stage. You can find the powerpoint we used in class on my Canvas page. We also read "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" and discussed and read much of To Kill a Mockingbird. For Tuesday's class, please read through page 323 (Chapters 24 and 25).

Basketball, you should be here at 4:30 today and practice will run 4:45-6:45.

Thursday, November 10

First off, Utah is going to beat ASU 35-24. Let's go, UTES!

Second, in class today we continued to study the four stages of the hero, focusing today on the Chaos Stage. You can find the powerpoint we used on my Canvas page under Lessons. We then read more about the Tom Robinson trial in To Kill a Mockingbird. Your homework tonight is to read everything through Chapter 21 (page 283).

Basketball: Meet in the hallway at 4:30. Be sure to have a white shirt and a water bottle.

Wednesday, November 9

Today our focus was on The Hero's Journey, or, The Four Stages of the Hero, particularly on the Initiation stage. The powerpoint we used in class today can be found on my Canvas homepage.

Your homework is to read everything through page 253, which is the end of Chapter 18.

Basketball: We have tryouts in the smaller gym today from 5:00 to 6:30.

Tuesday, November 8

Today our focus was on one way of understanding the pattern of stories and the cycle characters go through called The Hero's Journey, or The Four Stages of the Hero. Today our focus was on the stage of Innocence. More information can be found on my Canvas page. Click on Modules, and look under Lessons.

Read everything through the end of Chapter 17 for homework tonight.

Monday, November 7

Freshman English: Today we had a Socratic Seminar on the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird. Read through page 221 for homework tonight and continue to annotate your text. We also read the poem "Cartoon Physics, Part I," which you can find online, and compared the speaker's changing perspective to Jem and Scout's.

Basketball: Tryouts will continue tomorrow from 5-7 PM.

Friday, November 4

Today our focus was on the various literary elements present in To Kill a Mockingbird, specifically theme. Remember, if you want to improve your Argument Essay grade, there is instructions for that on the blog.

Wednesday, November 2

Today our focus was on some of the essential literary elements present in To Kill a Mockingbird, namely setting, theme, symbol, and conflict. We will continue this activity tomorrow. You should read through page 160 for Thursday's class.

The poem we read in class is one of many animated Billy Collins poems you can find on youtube. You can find the one for today here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xovLpim_1s

If you are in period 3 and watched this, leave a comment on the blog describing what you liked about the poem and its animation, and you will earn 10 points extra credit.

What To Do If You Want to Improve Your Argument Essay Grade

If you did not turn in your argument essay to Canvas and would still like to earn some credit, you may share your essay with me at jeffrey.baird@csddocs.org. This must be done by midnight Friday, November 4. Any essays not shared with me by then will remain a zero and a "missing" assignment.

If you turned your essay in to Canvas, but are not satisfied with your grade, you may do the following to improve your grade. Based on the rubric, and any comments you may have received, either from me or a classmate, improve your essay.

After your essay, print it.

After printing your essay, annotate (write on your essay) the changes that you made. Any essay without annotations or MAJOR improvements will not earn an improved score.

Revisions to the essay are due no later than Monday, November 7 (you have this long because it is expected that the revision process will take multiple days and entail some hard work, deep thinking, and good writing on your part).

Tuesday, November 1

Today we continued to try to build up your background knowledge about the time and place of To Kill a Mockingbird by studying one important moment from the Civil Rights Movement, the murder of Emmett Till. Though the murder of Till occurred 20 years after the events of Mockingbird, we viewed it because the documentary exposed the same kinds of attitudes and structures that are held by many of the characters in the book we're reading. If you missed it, go to youtube, and watch Eyes on the Prize Episode 1, from the 5:30 minute mark up through 25:50. Also, read everything up through page 140 in To Kill a Mockingbird.