Monday, September 28 through Friday, October 2

 Please refer to Canvas for this week's assignments. Freshmen will meet online twice this week (Tuesday and Thursday) and seniors will meet on Wednesday. There is info about this on Canvas and in a Canvas Announcement.  

Friday, September 25

 Please refer to Canvas for our online learning content. I will post daily updates here starting next week.

Letter to Freshman Regarding Online Learning

 Students and Parents –

First, I would like to compliment this year’s freshmen. Thus far they have been wonderful to work with – bright, diligent, hard-working, and kind. I’m really bummed out we’re going to have to spend the next two weeks learning online, especially because were just about to enter a really critical part of our trimester and I have enjoyed the day to day interaction with the students very much. 

Second, I want to emphasize to the students that they are responsible for what we do the next two weeks. While it is less than ideal circumstances, they are expected to work daily, turn stuff in on time, and be completely caught up when school begins back up after October 9. Do not treat this like a two week fall break. Due dates will be adhered to and important content will be covered. Remember, I am always here to help you. Call the school or email me if you need help.

Third, we will have a class meeting on Friday, September 25 on google meet to discuss the end of trimester final project. Join via your csddocs account. Period 3 will meet at 11:00 AM. Your meeting code is bairdenglishperiod3. Period 5 will meet at 1:30 PM. Your meeting code is bairdenglishperiod5. Both of these meetings occur during time we would normally be having class. I think these meetings will last around 20 minutes. It’s important you attend so that you understand the expectations for this project. Please read through the material and do the assignments on Canvas on Thursday in order to prepare.

Lastly, we will begin To Kill a Mockingbird on Monday. If you need a copy of the book, please come into school and get a copy from the library. This is also true of those of you that still need a Chromebook. 

Thank you for your efforts thus far. Please let me know if there’s something I can do to help you during this time.

Thank you -

Mr. Baird

Tuesday, September 22

 Happy Hobbit Day! This is the day we celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays. Hey, if you don't know, now you know.

English 12A: Today our focus was on using short, one-syllable words. We read the essay "The Case for Short Words" and put this writer's advice into practice by crafting a composition ourselves that's composed of monosyllabic words. We'll complete and share the pieces in class tomorrow. Work on it tonight if you're going to need more than 20 minutes to complete it tomorrow and read for 20 minutes tonight. 

English Honors 9A: Today we read the short story "The Necklace" and took an exam on the literary concepts we have studied and applied thus far to short fiction. We also went to the library and checked out copies of To Kill a Mockingbird. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

Friday, September 18

 English 12A: Today our focus was on exploring the This I Believe website https://thisibelieve.org Your task is to read five essays from the website and write a reflection on each one as a way to gain an understanding of what an effective This I Believe essay looks like. This is due Monday. You can find this assignment on Canvas. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes as well. 

English Honors 9A: Today our focus was two-fold: one, we practice ironing out some issues the class is having with citing textual evidence; two, we covered different conclusion techniques to try. Take the quiz on conclusions this weekend and read for 20 minutes for homework.

Thursday, September 17

 English 12A: Today our focus was on our end of the trimester This I Believe final project. Go to Canvas and find the This I Believe module that is below this week's module. Today our focus was on reflecting back on people, events, and things that have shaped an influenced a personal belief or core value that we hold. We then crafted a dozen or so potential belief statements that may be the seed of a future essay.

English Honors 9A: Today we did an activity called Think/Write/Talk, which we used as a vehicle for practicing academic discourse while discussing the two most recent short stories we read. You can find the questions we used in a PowerPoint on Canvas. Read for 20 minutes for homework tonight.

Tuesday, September 15

 English 12A: Today we spent time editing your college application essays using The 10% Solution. We will continue this tomorrow in class before submitting your final draft to Canvas tomorrow. Read for 20 minutes as well. 

English Honors 9A: Today we focused on how an author will use multiple literary devices and concepts to develop a story by reading Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." You can find it on Canvas. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

Monday, September 14

 English 12A: Today we learned how to edit using The 10% Solution. The notes and the powerpoint we used in class are on Canvas. Tomorrow in class we will apply this editing technique to our essays as we finish up the essay project and finalize our drafts. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

English Honors 9A: Today we focused on using textual evidence in a body paragraph to support a thesis. We read Chapter 3 of the book They Say I Say, took notes on how to quote, and then did some practice. We then worked on an assignment in Canvas for "Raymond's Run." It is due Tuesday. Read for 20 minutes tonight. 

Friday, September 11

 English 12A: Today we engaged in a peer review. Your task is to take your peer's feedback and improve your essay. You should bring two copies of your essay to class Monday: The copy you brought to class today and had marked up by a peer, and the improved essay you produce this weekend. You'll be asked to compare the two on Monday.

English Honors 9A: Today we read the short story "Raymond's Run" and focused on implicit and explicit themes emerging in the text. You should read for 20 minutes and come to class Monday ready to write about a theme you saw develop in "Raymond's Run."

Wednesday, September 9

English 12A: We decided everyone needed one final day to complete their drafts of their reflective memoir college application essay assignment. We will do this tomorrow and you need to bring a printed copy of your essay to class on Friday for a peer review. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

English Honors 9A: Today we combined what we learned about introductions, hook techniques, and our reading of the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" by writing a couple of sample intro paragraphs to the prompt "Was Mary's killing of her husband justified?" The Canvas assignment is due tonight. Read for 20 minutes as well.

Tuesday, September 8

English 12A: Today we continued to work on your essay. We will take some time to focus on this in class tomorrow as well. You should have a finished, printed final copy for class on Thursday. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes.

English Honors 9A: Today we continued to focus on introductions, particularly different hooks to try in an introduction. You took a Introduction Hook Technique Quiz in groups during class (you do have two attempts at this, so if you have one left you're welcome to take it again) and need to take the Follow Up Quiz for homework (you only get one attempt at this, and should take it by yourself without the aid of any notes). Both of these are on Canvas. Read for 20 minutes tonight as well.

Friday, September 4

English 12A: Today our focus was on conclusion techniques. You are to identify the conclusion technique that best fits your essay and eventually craft one that fits its parameters. You should read for 20 minutes twice over the long weekend and, if you are not at least at the halfway point of your essay, work on it for half an hour or so. We will have Tuesday and Wednesday next week to continue to draft in class.

English Honors 9A: Today our focus was on learning the four ingredients of the introduction and a focused study of hook techniques to try. We will continue this focus next week. Read for 20 minutes at least twice over the long weekend.

Thursday, September 3

English 12A: Today we continued to work on drafting your essays; tomorrow we will talk about conclusion techniques as you start to build toward your finish. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

English Honors 9A: Today we had a Socratic Seminar which focused on your questions and observations about the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Wednesday, September 2

English 12A: Today our focus was on drafting the body of your essay, building upon the introduction you wrote. Use your notes, especially your story arc, to help you do this. We will have about 30 minutes to work on it tomorrow in class. If you haven't shared it with me yet, do so, so that I can begin to give you some feed back: jeffrey.baird@csddocs.org. Read for 20 minutes tonight.

English Honors 9A: Today we read a short story called "Lamb to the Slaughter" and used it as an opportunity to learn how to "show our work" as we read through annotation. In class, we studied the different kinds of ways readers might express their thoughts using questions and annotated the text for a minimum of five questions. Your homework tonight is to reread the story and, rather than asking questions, move to observation and annotate it for Dahl's use of the various literary devices we studied the past two days. You should have a minimum of seven annotations regarding his use of literary devices for class tomorrow. Use your flip books to help you.

Tuesday, September 1

English 12A: Today our focus was on assessing whether or not we have mastery of the introduction hook techniques we covered this week in class. We took one quiz in groups in class today, which elicited some terrific discussions about writing (which was my main goal, rather than quizzing you: I cared way more about the conversation than the quiz, what you might call a Jedi Mind Trick). You're are to take the Introduction Hook Technique Follow Up Quiz tonight on Canvas. We also shared our introductions with the teacher (jeffrey.baird@csddocs.org) for credit and with a classmate for some feedback regarding these two questions: Does the writer use the stated hook technique effectively? And, which of the three introductions is the best? Finish this for your classmate tonight and decide what you think for about your own introductions before class tomorrow. Finally, read for 20 minutes tonight.

English Honors 9A: Today we completed our overview of literary terms via Nearpod as we completed the flip book we began earlier this week. Your homework is to read for 20 minutes and to identify as many literary concepts or terms in your reading as you can tonight.