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Class Notebook Wiki
Put a Book on Trial
Book Review/Test Outline
Grammar Punk
Thompson's Textbook
Word Cells
Word Cells Biglist
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April 6-10, 2015: Fourth Term Begins!

For this final term, you will learn....
  • ...more word cells...lots more!
  • ...how to torture a confession out of a poem.
  • ...Poetry Out Loud: More poems o' the day! (Your turn!)
  • ...connotation vs. denotation of words.
  • ...advanced strategies for close reading literary and informational text.
  • ...writing in various genres for a multitude of purposes: memoirs, letters, analysis, argumentation, exposition.
  • ...Voice/Word Choice.
  • ...what the SAGE has in store: April 20-24.
  • ...more cartoon analysis.
  • ...the Argument Clinic: Lagoon Day or No Lagoon Day? (It's up to you!)

April 6-10, 2015

Monday, April 6: A Day
Tuesday, April 7: B Day

  • Welcome to the beginning of the end!
  • Hall Passes, Handouts, and Return to Routines
  • Writintg Notebook: What did you do over Spring Break? (Fill the page with narrative writing!)
  • Spoon River Anthology Packet
  • Finish Voices of Spoon River Review
  • Complete the Purkapile Epitaphs
  • Writintg Notebook: Plan and Write a set of paired epitaphs for two characters out of literature, movies, or TV (facing pages).
  • Tear off the last page of the packet and keep it with your assigned poem....
  • Poetry Out Loud Assignments: You will be assigned a poem that you will read aloud at some point during this term. By the time that happens, you will become an expert on every nuance of the poem -- no simile will escape you, and no descriptive image will go undissected. Also, you will practice reading the poem aloud mutliple times, so you master the pronunciation of all the words and the rhythm of all the lines. When you read it, you will command the attention of everyone in the room, and we will be completely blown away by your presence and performance. For a minute, we will forget we are in a classroom doing an assignment, and we will be swept away to the world of your poem. Start by torturing the confession from your poem using the handout. This does not have to be done until next week, but bring the poem and the handout next time!
  • Word Cells List #1 Assignment
    (Turn in finished assignment and take quiz next time!)
  • Homework: Study Word Cells Set #1 + Finish List #1 Assignment.


Wednesday, April 8: A Day
Thursday, April 9: B Day

  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #1 + Turn in Word Cells List #1 Assignment.
  • Writintg Notebook 1: Read over your Poetry Out Loud poem assignment. Write a half a page on your first impressions of your own poem. Include the title of the poem in your reflection.
  • Poem o' the Day: "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
  • Handout: How to Torture a Confession Out of a Poem
  • Here's a model! (Do this with your poem by next Thursday.)
  • Writintg Notebook 2: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost (MPT, p. 315)
    • Quickwrite (p. 314): Think of a time you made a significant choice in your life. Now imagine you had made a different choice. How would your life be different? (Identify the choice and write three sentences in response.)
    • Answer questions 1 - 5 on page 318.
    • Tone: Copy line 16, but insert an adjective that describes your interpretation of the tone of the poem:
      "I shall be telling this with a __________ sigh...."
    • Here's a cartoon that illustrates two possible readings.
    • Explain your choice: What did you see in the text of the poem that indicates that tone?
  • Word Cells List #2 Assignment (Quiz on April 14/15)
  • Some of you will be reading your poems next time! Be ready!



Friday, April 10: A Day


April 13-17, 2015

Monday, April 13: B Day


Tuesday, April 14: A Day
Wednesday, April 15: B Day

  • [AP Geo Field Trip: Make up/Turn in everything ASAP.]
  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #2
  • Poetry Out Loud: Poems o' the Day
  • "Tuesday, 9:00 A.M." by Denver Butson
  • "Today" by Billy Collins
  • "Dandelion" by Julie Lechevsky
  • "My Life" by Joe Wenderoth
  • "Immortatlity" by Lisel Mueller
  • Speaking of Poetry: Notice how many of the elements of poetry make their way into other kinds of writing...
  • ..."A Sound of Thunder" (pp. 499-509, ) MPT
  • Honors Students: Pay careful attention to Bradbury's style! Hint hint!)
  • Writing Notebook/Discussion: This will be the first in 30 or more years that ninth graders do not get "Lagoon Day" on the day before the summer break. Following the essay format on page 323 of the Massive Purple Text as well as your now working knowledge of this basic format, write an essay in which you choose a side and develop your argument. Your primary claim should answer this question: Should 9th graders have a Lagoon Day? (Not a formal essay, just a reflection: No time!)
  • Word Cells List #3 Assignment (Quiz next time!)


Thursday, April 16: A Day (Writing Lab)
Friday, April 17: B Day (Writing Lab)


April 20-24, 2015

Poem o' the Week: "A Student's Prayer"

Monday, April 20: A Day -- SAGE
Tuesday, April 21: B Day -- SAGE
Wednesday, April 22: A Day -- SAGE
Thursday, April 23: B Day -- SAGE


Friday, April 24: A Day


April 27 - May 1, 2015

Monday, April 27: B Day


Tuesday, April 28: A Day
Wednesday, April 29: B Day



Thursday, April 30: A Day
Friday, May 1: B Day


May 4-8, 2015

Monday, May 4: A Day [May the Fourth Be With You!]
Tuesday, May 5: B Day


Wednesday, May 6: A Day
Thursday, May 7: B Day


Friday, May 8: A Day


May 11-15, 2015

Monday, May 11: B Day


Tuesday, May 12: A Day
Wednesday, May 13: B Day


Thursday, May 14: A Day
Friday, May 15: B Day

  • 8
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand
  • "God Says Yes to Me" by Kaylin Haught
  • GIANT WORD CELLS TEST
  • Grammar Punk Review: Semicolon Rule 3
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • B-Day Classes: Start at Chapter 17
  • A-Day Classes: Start at Chapter 16
  • More Poetry Out Loud: "The Way to Start a Day" by Byrd Baylor
  • While out in the desert with Leo (Chapter 17), Stargirl seems to find special insight and inner peace by "erasing herself" through meditation. Consider an activity you are especially familiar with in which you find peace and insight into Life and the world. Write a non-literal poem describing the way to do that activity. Instead of just listing the steps involved, describe the process from the inside. Create metaphors to explain the thoughts and emotions that the activity conjures in you. This fill-in-the-blank outline is only for those who aren't creative enough to come up with all the lines on their own. Don't use it if you don't absolutely need to. You may create a decorated final draft that is suitable for classroom display. Here's an example. Here's another. Be creative!


May 18-22, 2015

Monday, May 18: A Day
Tuesday, May 19: B Day

  • 7
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • "The Poetry of Bad Weather" by Debra Greger
  • Poem o' the Day: "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
  • Neil's Solo: Think of the state of mind one must be in to perform a task this well. Imagine the thousands of hours of thought and practice that went into it. Then consider how he has to put all that aside for the eight minutes in which it all coalesces. He can't stop to think about each of the basic mechanics that make up his craft; he has to "get in the zone" where it all comes together without thinking. Your "The Way to _________" poem should focus on this zone, this state of mind, not on the literal how-to instructions of the activity you describe.
  • Speaking of music...
  • Life Soundtrack: Final Draft (with Intro & Conclusion) due on Wiki by May 25th @ 6:00 P.M.
  • (Return First Drafts; models)
  • Grammar Punk Review: Colons + Final Paragraph Assignment
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • And what about those final projects?
  • Cards, Rocks, Serenades
  • Homework: Log in to the class wiki from home. Visit your page. Get it ready for your Life Soundtrack.
    You do remember how, right?


Wednesday, May 20: A Day
Thursday, May 21: B Day


Friday, May 22: A Day

  • 5
  • Poetry Out Loud: "The Psalm of Life"
  • Stargirl Order of Operations
  • How's it coming? You 'bout done?


May 25-29, 2015

Monday, May 25: Memorial Day

  • No School


Tuesday, May 26: B Day
Wednesday, May 27: A Day

  • 4
  • Life Soundtrack Final Draft (with Intro & Conclusion) was due yesterday. Many of you did not include an introduction or a conclusion. You have until tomorrow to do so. Let me know when you would like it rescored.
    • Introduction—Explanation of yourself (one paragraph): This is basically a brief autobiography, and it will serve as your introduction. Introductions are important because they give the reader a frame of reference. Who are you? Where have you been and where are you going in life? What do you think this Life Soundtrack says about you?
    • Conclusion—Final remarks and reflection on the soundtrack as a whole (one paragraph): This is your conclusion. Thank your reader for listening and offer any final reflections upon this project as a whole: What does it tell people about you? Is it truthful? What do you want listeners of your Life Soundtrack to think about? What did you learn about yourself while putting this together?
  • Finish if you can: Stargirl Order of Operations
  • Show me your notebook when you are finished!
  • Writing Notebook: Earlier in the year (Jan 22nd or so), you wrote a letter to yourself. Go read that letter to see how things have changed. Now write back to the person you were then. What would you like to tell that younger version of youself? (Fill the page!)



Thursday, May 28: B Day [Falcon Finale: 7:00 P.M.]
Friday, May 29: A Day [The Kardiac Kid: Last Chance Extra Credit]

  • 3
  • Serenades, Anyone?
  • Finish: Stargirl Order of Operations
  • WN - The Final Entry: Last time you wrote to a past you. This time you will write to the future. Write a letter to yourself in ten years. Keep the journal until then and read it. Then write me a letter or an e-mail (or whatever the latest communication technology is by then) to tell me if things turned out as you planned.
  • Copy this on the last page:
    Thompson's Words of Wisdom as You Head to High School
    Life is Short: Don't be a George Gray!
    Be Nice: We're all in this together, and nobody gets out alive!
  • When all of the above is finished, show the notebooks to me for a score.
  • Then take 'em home.
  • Hide 'em somewhere safe.
  • You'll be glad you did.


June 1-5, 2015

Monday, June 1: B Day (49)
Tuesday, June 2: A Day [Talent Assembly*]


Wednesday, June 3: B Day (Sub)

  • 2
  • Homeroom: Locker Cleanout, etc.
  • Final Assignment: Genie Cartoon & Following Instructions



Thursday, June 4: A/B Day

  • 1
  • Yearbook Day: Sign mine before you go!
  • You know where to find me. Stay in touch.



Friday, June 5


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