Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is already over?  It's one of my favorite holidays because it's just about getting together with friends and family, with no pressure for gifts.  Since I hate shopping, it's always a great holiday for me.  Now on to the next holiday, which stresses me out immensely!  Until then, however, we have lots to accomplish.  So here goes -

Last week we only had two days, yet quite a bit was turned in.  So far, I'm caught up on grading through the 11/19 - so quizzes, study guides for Act I, and basic work is all graded.  On Monday they turned in their book projects and on Tuesday they turned in their Mid-unit Assessment Essays.  I'm still working on those, so hopefully by the end of the week, I'll have them graded.

This week we have lots going on, but one of my main goals is to finish reading Romeo and Juliet through Act III.  Here's what's on deck:

• Monday - we have a small group activity, then we'll finish reading Act II
• Tuesday - quiz over Act II - turn in study guide; rhythm activities; watch Act III, Scene i on video
• Wednesday - read Act III, scene ii and analyze tension and Juliet's first soliloquy
• Thursday - analyze Act III by comparing a film clip to a visual print
• Friday - finish Act III reading and discussion

So that's the plan.  I'm hoping we can stick to it so that we can finish the play before Christmas!  That would be nice. 

I hope everyone has a great week going back to routine.  As always, please contact me if you need me.  Ciao!

Happy Post-Thanksgiving! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at laurastubbs.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving Week

Ah!  We've made it to the holidays!  I hope everyone is going to get a chance to relax with a little family time by the end of this week.  I also hope you enjoyed the snowstorm!  Here are some pictures from our house:

 My kids with the neighbor kids in the back yards

 She's standing on one of their giant snowballs

 The Day After

Oops!  I forgot to take down the humingbird feeder!

At least it's gloriously sunny now, and by Thursday I hear we're supposed to be in the mid-50's again. 

So with our shortened week, here's where we were last week, and where we're going next:

• Last week we finished Act I of Romeo and Juliet.  They took a quiz (which I'm still grading) and did some activities, including one where we dismantled the sonnet where the two main characters meet, and they acted it out.  As a side note, all of the classes but one had male volunteers for both roles.  Since this is actually authentic, we let it ride:

 1st Hour

 2nd Hour

 4th Hour

 5th Hour

6th Hour

They seemed to enjoy the activities, and we've now moved on through Act II and the balcony scene, which we did not act out.  So this week we have the following:

• Monday - independent book projects are due.  We will begin the hour by submitting them and making sure everything is labeled.  After that they will begin the mid-unit assessment.  This is an essay which will be completed in class over the course of the two days, except for some in 6th Hour (see Tuesday's schedule).
• Tuesday - we will finish the mid-unit assessment and turn it in.  During 6th Hour there is a charity volleyball game, so if they choose to buy a ticket and attend, they will need to come to 6th Hour with their completed essay in hand, and then they can be released to go.  Therefore, if they choose to finish it at home Monday night, I'm OK with that.

My goal is that they go to their vacations this year with NO HOMEWORK FROM ME!  I need a break, and so do they!

I hope everyone has a great week, and I'll see you on the other side of Thanksgiving!  Ciao!

Thanksgiving Week by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

We're Working Hard, Now!

Good morning!  What a busy weekend this is, and what beautiful weather for it!  I'm so glad I graded a bunch of papers last week and got them entered, because all of my plans for grading this weekend have gone out the window.  Friday night I went with my son to see his high school's production of Grease, which was fabulous!  I love seeing kids I've known for years grow up and do things like sing, dance, act, play sports; it's the fun part of life, isn't it?  Saturday morning I got roped into scoring and filling out ribbons for my younger son's gymnastics demonstration.  Then I got roped into doing the same for the next two groups.  I really had not planned to spend five hours there, but when you love your kids you'll do anything for them, right?  Of course, we had all the grandparents at the house, and so we had to do dinner before all going to the boys' soccer games last night, so that was the end of Saturday.  Today I'm managing to take a few minutes writing this blog before heading off to Lansing for a family wedding shower and then a trip to Sparrow Hospital to visit my sister who is having a serious medical issue.  In other words, I will try to get some papers graded today, but no promises.  I haven't even managed to grocery shop or do laundry!

Anyway, here's what we did last week.  We finally started Romeo and Juliet and have read, watched, and dissected Act I, Scene i.  They wrote three paragraphs using quotes and citations, annotating the text as they went.  They also did 10 vocabulary cards, picking words from their annotations.

This week, here's what we've got:

• We'll read the rest of Act I, continuing with study guides, notes, and writings
• There will be a quiz at the end of Act I - they will be allowed to use notes
• We will analyze the language and do some kinesthetic activities to help with comprehension
• We'll try to read through Act II, scene ii, with notes and study guide by the end of the week.

In the meantime, I'm trying to keep the homework limited to the Independent Book Project.  It is due on Monday 11/23 (one week!), so they need to finish reading and work on the project.  We have gone over the directions and options in class, and I've suggested that if they have questions they come get help this week.

So, that's it!  I hope everyone has a fabulous week and enjoys this glorious weather as long as it continues.  Ciao!

We're Working Hard, Now! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Shakespeare!

We're finally on to Romeo and Juliet!  It seems like we've been prepping for this forever!  We've looked at the history of Elizabethan England, looked at Shakespeare's biography (the little that we know of him), and played around with the plot line since (I believe) going in blind just makes the task 100 times more difficult.  Here are many, MANY, MANY pictures I took of their tableaux they made to represent different plot points in the text.  You'll notice lots of death, but there's also love and friendship, too.  They were very funny with this activity.

 

 

We also played games with words and pictures.  This is second hour playing as a group.

 



Phew!  It was a busy day on Friday!  So here's what's coming next:

• Monday we'll start working on the Act I Prologue, using both Engage NY and establishing notes for the play with characters, settings, conflicts, and literary devices.
• Tuesday - Preposition Test; we'll continue reading Act I and taking notes
• Wednesday - We'll use EngageNY to do a close reading of some lines from Act I
• Thursday - Another close reading of Act I
• Friday - We'll read through more of Act I and do some vocabulary cards.

It's going to be a busy week with lots of Shakespeare!  I can't wait!  I hope everyone has a good week.  Ciao!

Shakespeare! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at laurastubbs.blogspot.com.