Let Summer Begin (Sort of)!

It feels strange to say "Happy" Memorial Day, since it's not really a happy event, but I hope everyone has enjoyed a longer weekend and is looking forward to summer. I'm trying to enjoy it, but I'm also trying to stay on top of grading papers, planning the end of the year, and...oh yeah...prepare for my son's graduation from high school.  I usually wait to prepare my house for summer until school lets out, but we've had to jump in early this year since his grad party is in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I am preparing for the end of the school year. In English 9 we've begun reading Of Mice and Men. They will have a short exam at the end of it to cover all of semester 2, but most of the test will be over this book. I'll pull things together to get them prepared and it won't be until the end of that last full week.  In English 10 we're reading Tuesdays with Morrie, and I have pulled together their final exam.  I have a study guide and will give that to them on Monday so that they're well aware and have time to study. I have the exam set for Wednesday, 6/5.  It's also not overly strenuous, but it's a little heftier than the English 9: I need to get them ready for 11th grade!

So here's the schedule for this week:

English 9

• Tuesday, 5/28 - Academic Advisory - 2nd Hour: quiz for ch. 1; Blackish episode to address the n-word; start ch. 2; 5th Hour: Blackish episode; work on ch. 2
• Wednesday, 5/29 - ch. 2 and activities; quiz
• Thursday, 5/30 - no advisory - read ch. 3 and do activities
• Friday, 5/31 - finish ch. 3; group poster for theme and symbolism

English 10

• Tuesday, 5/28 - Academic Advisory - read pp. 26-61; study guide; read pp. 62-99 and prepare for Socratic Seminar
• Wednesday, 5/29 - Socratic Seminar for pp. 62-99; read pp. 100-29; study guide
• Thursday, 5/30 - no advisory - bucket list assignment; read pp. 130-59; prepare for Socratic Seminar #2
• Friday, 5/31 - Socratic Seminar #2; finish bucket list assignment

And that's the plan! I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and a fabulous week!

Let Summer Begin (sort of)! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Arrivedirce, Seniors!

Seniors are walking into school for their final Monday, and we'll send them on their way on Friday.  I have a lot of positive memories about this group, so this week is nostalgic.  My own senior, the one I live with, has two weeks left to go, but because of Memorial Day, this will be his last Monday. Please forgive my sentimentality; it's really kicking right now. Speaking of that, here's a picture from my son's final band concert with the Pioneer Symphony Band at Picnic Pops yesterday:

They played Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and the end of The 1812 Overture.  If you are on Instagram or Facebook with me, I posted a clip of that there. I will miss being a Pioneer Band Parent.

Anyway, back to your kids.  We're cruising along and finishing up papers, ready to head for the last units of the year. Last week English 9 got through the process of how to draft the research paper, so we'll be submitting final copies this week. English 10 finished Macbeth, took the objective test, and they're now writing the final essay which will be turned in early this week.

Here's the schedule as I see it now:

English 9

• Monday, 5/20 - finish drafting the papers; self edit; peer edit; submit
• Tuesday, 5/21 - Academic Advisory - get Of Mice and Men books; preview; start Ch. 1
• Wednesday, 5/22 - bell work (verbs); finish Ch. 1; quiz for Ch. 1?
• Thursday, 5/23 - Academic Advisory (A.P. Computer/Psychology Meetings) - bell work (verbs); quiz for Ch. 1? Start Ch. 2
• Friday, 5/24 - bell work (verbs); finish Ch. 2

English 10

• Monday, 5/20 - finish essays; submit; work on symbolic shields
• Tuesday, 5/21 - Academic Advisory - finish shields; write paragraph; turn in
• Wednesday, 5/22 - go get Tuesdays with Morrie book; start reading "The Curriculum" and get study guide.
• Thursday, 5/23 - Academic Advisory (A.P. Computer/Psychology Meetings) - continue reading "The Curriculum"
• Friday, 5/24 - finish "The Curriculum" section; write letters

In addition to all this, we have an exciting event with a Notable Author. Here is a flyer for the event:

If anyone chooses to attend and takes a picture with the author, I'll bet Extra Credit could be arranged!

So there's the week. If you need me, you know where to find me. Ciao!

Arrivedirce, Seniors! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and your children cleaning your home. Make them do it: it's good for them!

I'll make this short and sweet because I'm as busy as you are, so here goes:

Last week English 9 started the research paper and they've had two days in class to take notes and we're now working on the Works Cited. This week we'll outline, do the rough draft, and revise and edit.  In English 10 we have gotten through Act III of Macbeth, and now we'll finish the play.

Here's the plan:

English 9

• Monday, 5/13 - finish and submit Works Cited; form thesis statements; outline the paper.
• Tuesday, 5/14 - Academic Advisory - check in thesis statements and outlines
• Wednesday, 5/15 - create Rough Draft with Parenthetical Citations
• Thursday, 5/16 - Academic Advisory - continue to create Rough Drafts with Parenthetical Citations
• Friday, 5/17 - attach Works Cited pages, revise and edit papers - Final Copy of Research Paper is due on Tuesday, 5/21!

English 10

• Monday, 5/13 - read Act IV of Macbeth
• Tuesday, 5/14 - Academic Advisory - finish Act IV of Macbeth; begin Act V
• Wednesday, 5/15 - finish Act V
• Thursday, 5/16 - Academic Advisory - objective test for Macbeth
• Friday, 5/17 - pull together essay for Macbeth - final copy is due Monday, 5/20.

That's the plan! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.  Ciao!

Happy Mother's Day! by Laura Stubbsis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https:://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

April Showers Brought May Flowers

Another week down, another one on deck.  We're cruising along now, fighting the distraction of it being May, though the rainy weather is helping us fight through it since the outdoors isn't calling to us to come play.  Speaking of playing, though, English 10 has been able to do some fun activities with Macbeth, including making statues, or tableaux, for each scene of Act II.  I've included a link to a video of the pictures I took; I hope you can see it:

Video of Tableaux Pictures for Macbeth, Act II

We also managed to cruise about halfway through Act III, so I'm sure we'll finish the play in the next couple of weeks. 

In English 9 we finished reading Chapter 1 of Animals in Translation and we wrote our analytical paragraphs for each section. I'm in the middle of grading them right now. Now they are ready to start a two-week unit on writing MLA research papers.

Here's the schedule for the week:

English 9

• Monday, 5/6 - finish and submit paragraph for Animals in Translation; introduction for research unit; start note taking
• Tuesday, 5/7 - Academic Advisory - notes - 25 facts due by end of hour Wednesday
• Wednesday, 5/8 - finish taking notes; build Works Cited - submit
• Thursday, 5/9 - Academic Advisory - form thesis - check in; create outline for paper
• Friday, 5/10 - Half Day - finish outlines for paper - due for check in Monday

English 10

• Monday, 5/6 - finish verb packet; act out Scene iii; continue Macbeth Act III
• Tuesday, 5/7 - Academic Advisory - adverbs; finish Act III; add to notes; Act III assessment - analytical paragraph
• Wednesday, 5/8 - adverbs; finish Act III analytical paragraph and submit
• Thursday, 5/9 - Academic Advisory - adverb; read Act IV of Macbeth
• Friday, 5/10 - Half Day - Act IV of Macbeth

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (June), so even though everyone is tired, we just keep plugging away.  I know I'm exhausted, so I'm sure they are, too.  My son is in AA Pioneer's production of Fame this weekend and next, so I'm volunteering a lot with that; he also turned 16 so we tried to squeak in a birthday; my older one turns 18 in a couple of weeks, so I'm trying to prepare for that, along with all the senior activities since he graduates in June.  I also like to come watch my students in their activities, so trying to fit in all this extra stuff is something else.  At least we're done with testing, right?

Last week all of my hours got off schedule from each other, so my calendar for the week is rather generic.  Add to it that there's an assembly during 3rd Hour this week and I can't tell if there are any advisories this week, and it will continue to be off schedule for the time being.  English 9 is in the middle of reading Chapter 1 of Animals in Translation; English 10 is in the middle of Macbeth. Both continue to write analytical paragraphs for assessment, so I'm bogged down in grading.

Here's the schedule for this week:

English 9

• Monday, 4/29 - work on the second paragraph assessment - 5th Hour due today; 2nd Hour due Tuesday
• Tuesday, 4/30 - NO ADVISORY - finish working on the second assessment; continue reading pp. 17-26
• Wednesday, 5/1 - continue reading pp. 17-26; annotations and study guide
• Thursday, 5/2 - NO ADVISORY ON SCHEDULE - finish reading pp. 17-26; start final paragraph assessment
• Friday, 5/3 - finish final paragraph assessment

English 10

• Monday, 4/29 - finish Act II; watch movie
• Tuesday, 4/30 - 3rd HOUR ASSEMBLY - finish movie; tableaux
• Wednesday, 5/1 - finish tableaux; start Act III; study guide
• Thursday, 5/2 - NO ADVISORY ON SCHEDULE - continue Act III; study guide
• Friday, 5/3 - continue Act III; study guide

That's the plan. Have a great week everyone. 

Busy, Busy, Busy by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

I See Spring!

Time sure moves quickly, especially at this time of year.  I see buds on all the trees, so warm weather is on the way! I think this is my favorite time of year: I love flowers, birds, bugs, sunshine, warmth - all of it! My allergies go nuts, but I don't care.

We're cruising right along in our curriculum. Last week English 9 finished reading the first section of Animals in Translation, Chapter 1; English 10 read Act I of Macbeth.  Both groups will be writing this week and using the Turnitin.com platform for submitting the writing. I'm getting better at using it, and hopefully they'll see the benefits of using this, too. Unfortunately, this also means that I'm getting behind on grading again because it's all writing, but I'll work on that.

This week here is what we have in store:

English 9

• Monday, 4/22 - semicolons; pre-write and write analytical paragraph for pp. 1-8
• Tuesday, 4/23 - Academic Advisory - type and read aloud paragraph; revise and edit; move on to pp. 9-16
• Wednesday, 4/24 - semicolons; read and annotate pp. 9-16; study guide
• Thursday, 4/25 - Extended Advisory - colons; finish pp. 9-16; pre-write paragraph
• Friday, 4/26 - Extended Advisory - finish pre-writing; type paragraph

English 10

• Monday, 4/22 - finish themes; Act I quiz
• Tuesday, 4/23 - Academic Advisory - verb tense; notes for literary devices; move on to Act II
• Wednesday, 4/24 - verb tense; continue Act II
• Thursday, 4/25 - Extended Advisory - verb tense; finish Act II; statues
• Friday, 4/26 - Extended Advisory - finish statues; watch Act II

That's my plan, and I'll do my best to stick to it.  I hope everyone has a great week!

I See Spring! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.

Four Day Week

April showers are definitely at work today. April ice? Maybe that's more accurate.  The only thing that makes it okay in my book is that I know nicer weather is coming, so I can deal with it.

We're now solidly into the fourth term of the year, and we're plenty busy.  Last week was brutal with SAT/PSAT testing in the middle of everything, but we made it through. English 9 has begun our research unit which is based around Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation (chapter 1). This year we timed it out perfectly since Temple Grandin is autistic and this is Autism Awareness Month. English 10 has begun Macbeth and will finish Act I this week.

Here's this week's schedule:

English 9

• Monday, 4/15 - finish the Temple Grandin movie; do the vocab. packet
• Tuesday, 4/16 - Academic Advisory - Type 1's commas; read pp. 1-8 of chapter 1; study guide
• Wednesday, 4/17 - Type 1's semicolons; finish pp. 1-8; TIQA paragraph quiz
• Thursday, 4/18 - NO ADVISORY - Type 1's semicolons - turn in; finish TIQA paragraph quiz and turn in
• Friday, 4/19 - NO SCHOOL

English 10

• Monday, 4/15 - watch Act I of Macbeth; work on character analysis in packet - all characters
• Tuesday, 4/16 - Academic Advisory - Verb Tense packet; Type 1 Ambition; finish study guide and characters in packet
• Wednesday, 4/17 - Verb Tense packet; Type 1 Themes; finish Act I packet
• Thursday, 4/18 - NO ADVISORY - Verb Tense packet; Type 1's - Theme and Character; Quiz for Act I - TIQA Paragraph
• Friday 4/19 - NO SCHOOL

That's the plan.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Four Day Week by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.laurastubbs.blogspot.com.