The End of the Second Quarter: What You Need To Know

The second quarter ends after Mid Terms Week  (1/27-1/31).  Our last class will be on Friday 1/24, when all work will be due and complete for the 2nd Quarter.  Any late or missing work must be turned in by Tuesday Jan. 21st!!

Writing Piece #4

Friday 1/17, periods 1 and 2 will be in A206; periods 5, 6, and 8 will be in the library.  We will be working on Writing Piece #4.

9th Grade classes will be working on the Question 27 short essay (Due Tuesday 1/21, on Kidblog).

10th Grade classes will be writing their critical lens essay (Due Tuesday 1/21, on Kidblog), using any of the following quotes (you must use a different quote than the one you used last Friday):

• ”Fear always springs from ignorance” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• “The real hero is always a hero by mistake…” —Umberto Eco.
•  “In this world goodness is destined to be defeated.” —Walker Percy.
• “Good people … are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.”—William Saroyan.

Upcoming Important Dates!

• Tuesday January 21st Writing Piece 4 is due, on Kidblog.
• Tuesday January 21st, our notebooks are due!  Remember, notebooks are worth 20 points on your average.  You are graded by quantity only! For every 3 pages you write, you earn two points.  So if you write 30 pages, you earn all 20 points.
• Monday January 27th at 8 am is our Midterm exam.

Grammar Work

Today we began with a new vocabulary word (9th Grade: oblivious and 10th Grade: benign).  Next you were asked to write a paragraph about something you did over the weekend, without saying what it was (descriptive writing!) and using the vocabulary word.

Next 9th grade worked on Subject Verb Agreement using this handout subject_verb_agreement

10th grade worked on Active and Passive Voice using this handout Active – Passive Voice.

What’s been going on in Class?!

Welcome back from vacation; I hope your holidays were great!

Before break, we had two major assignments.

• Reading Reaction 2: Research the author of your independent reading book.  Write a paragraph about that author’s life.  Write another paragraph about what you think made the author write the book.  Was there anything in his/her life that may have inspired the author to write about the topic of your book?
• Writing Piece- Tribute Piece.  Write a tribute to a person who is important to your life.  Be sure to explain why that person is important using specific examples and events.

Now that we are back, there have been a few more!

9th Grade:

• Write a paragraph about something you did over break, without saying what it was (describe it, show don’t tell!).  Use the word “undermine” in that paragraph.
• Reading Reaction 3 (in class Friday 1/10/14)- Identify a literary device in the book you are reading, and explain how it helps develop the book.

10th Grade

• Write a paragraph about something you did over break, without saying what it was (describe it, show don’t tell!).  Use the word “ambivalent” in that paragraph.
• Using the quote “Fear always springs from ignorance” -Ralph Waldo Emerson: Interpret the quote, state whether you agree or disagree, and connect to literature.
• Write a critical lens essay (in class Friday 1/10/14) using any of the following 4 quotes: “Fear always springs from ignorance” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.  “The real hero is always a hero by mistake…” —Umberto Eco. “In this world goodness is destined to be defeated.” —Walker Percy.  “Good people … are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.”—William Saroyan.

Here’s what’s coming up

• Tuesday January 21st, our notebooks are due!  Remember, notebooks are worth 20 points on your average.  You are graded by quantity only! For every 3 pages you write, you earn two points.  So if you write 30 pages, you earn all 20 points.
• Monday January 27th at 8 am is our Midterm exam.