We're Almost Halfway Through Term One!

Another busy week has come and gone and we are firmly established in our routines. I had the worst cold I've ever endured last weekend, and I didn't really start to feel human again until about Wednesday, so if I made mistakes, I apologize.  It was both a head and chest cold, so it affected both my breathing and thinking, and I know I said and did some kind of weird things.  I just hope they weren't that weird.

So here's what we did:

In English 9, we did our weekly vocab. cards, activities, and quiz, and I've posted the results on HAC.  We also finished "Harrison Bergeron" and have now moved into Flowers for Algernon.  They all have a book signed out to them, a packet of study guide questions, and we're taking notes in class.  I start out by modeling how I expect them to take notes, then I begin to hand more and more of it to them.  I let them use notes on quizzes and tests, so the more they take, the better off they are.  We also worked a bit on grammar and prepositional phrases, so on Friday we played Preposition Bingo.  Here's a collage of pictures I took of them.  Please keep in mind that it's 1st Hour, so they look completely unenthusiastic.  They did perk up when the caramel apple suckers came out for the winners.

Coming up this week:  we will continue to read Flowers for Algernon so there will be many activities and quizzes; they will get this week's vocab. words on Monday, the worksheet is due Tuesday, and the quiz will be Friday; we will continue to work on prepositions; they will have their first 10% Summary for my class.  Please ask them frequently if they're keeping up with the reading for homework; they will have quite a bit!

In English 11, we did our second set of vocab. words and the worksheet and quiz grades are on HAC.  We also finished reading the poems from The Exeter Book, and then they wrote a heavy duty Compare/Contrast essay.  Mrs. VanWasshenova and I walked them through the entire process and they finished it and turned it in on Friday.  We also started diagramming sentences in order to review parts of speech.  I remember this as a stressful, difficult task, so we're trying to use it simply to supplement their knowledge, not test them to death on it.  Some hate it, but others find it helpful.  On Friday we finally started focusing on Beowulf and so we were able to take some words from the text and go outside to play a game with a ball.  It was a really nice way to end the week:

We have also asked them to come up with a book to read independently over the course of three weeks.  They should have it by now, and most have signed them up with us, so they need to bring it everyday.  We're reading Beowulf in class together, and if they complete something early, they can always work on their book-of-choice.  They should be reading every night for homework.
 
Coming up this week:  Beowulf - which includes reading, study guides, notes, quizzes, but also some fun activities such as creating blogs and comic strips; they'll get their next set of vocab. words on Monday, the worksheets are due Tuesday, the quiz is Friday; we will continue reviewing parts of speech; they need to read their books-of-choice for homework.

Exciting things are happening at AHS, as always, and I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful September weather.  Have a good one!



We're Almost Halfway Through Term One! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.