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 To see all the weeks, scroll all the way down!


March 19-23, 2018: Fourth Term Begins!

For this final term, you will learn....
  • ...what the SAGE has in store: April 11-16
  • ...more word cells...lots more!
  • ...how to torture a confession out of a poem.
  • ...Poetry Out Loud: More poems o' the day! (Your turn!)
  • ...why literacy matters.
  • ...writing in various genres for a multitude of purposes: memoirs, letters, analysis, argumentation, exposition.
  • ...Voice/Word Choice.
  • ...more cartoon analysis.
  • ...the Argument Clinic

Monday, March 19: Professional Day (No School for Students)

  • Mondee-Go-to-Meetin'


Tuesday, March 20: B Day


Wednesday, March 21: A Day
Thursday, March 22: B Day


Friday, March 23: A Day



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

March 26-30, 2018

Monday, March 26: B Day


Tuesday, March 27: A Day
Wednesday, March 28: B Day


Thursday, March 29: A Day
Friday, March 30: B Day



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

April 2-6, 2018

Spring Break
Fahrenheit 451: Stay on Schedule!

Quiz Schedule: Page # depends on which version of the novel you have.
Read to page 73/77 & take quiz #4.
Read to page 89/93.
Read to page 97/100.
Stay on the Reading Schedule!


Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

April 9-13, 2018

Monday, April 9: A Day
Tuesday, April 10: B Day


Wednesday, April 11: A Day [SAGE: ELA]
Thursday, April 12: B Day [SAGE: ELA]


Friday, April 13: A Day [SAGE: ELA] -- Judas Priest - Firepower

  • Finish SAGE: View results, if possible
  • Reading Schedule: Read to page 129 by next time! Finish quizzes! (See above.)



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

April 16-20, 2018

Monday, April 16: B Day [SAGE: ELA]

Tuesday, April 17: A Day [JSSC]
Wednesday, April 18: B Day

  • Fahrenheit 451: Stay on Schedule!
  • F451 Review: Turn in/Score quizzes!
  • By reviewing these in class, we are going over everything that has happened so far. Even those who didn't do the assigned reading should know what has happened in the first two sections! After today, the quizzes are not worth anything because we have reviewed all the correct answers in class, and that would not be fair to those who did the reading on time. Turn in what you have NOW!
  • F451 Quiz: Burning Bright (to page 129) -- This is where you are supposed to have read by today!
  • Word Cells List #1 Assignment -- Finish this!
  • Homework: Study Word Cells Set #1 + Finish List #1 Assignment.
  • "Dover Beach" Close Read/Assignment [Enrichment]
  • 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 Poetry Out Loud 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. Study the poem carefully and bring it back next time! Readings will begin on April 25/26.
  • Do you realize how much poetry we have read this year?
  • (Including many of these!)
  • Fahrenheit 451: Stay on Schedule!
  • Homework: Read 129-145 (On the Track)


Thursday, April 19: A Day
Friday, April 20: B Day




Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

April 23-27, 2018

Monday, April 23: A Day
Tuesday, April 24: B Day



Wednesday , April 25: A Day
Thursday, April 26: B Day [National Poem in Your Pocket Day]

  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #2
  • Poetry Out Loud:
  • This assignment is due now. Presentations begin next time!
  • Narrative Writing: Tell me a story!
  • Define & Model (Hey, Magoo!)
  • Assignment: Now it's your turn! Tell me a story of your own!
  • Rules:
  • Personal Narrative: First-person
  • Short Time Frame: Two hours or less in real time
  • Plot: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Resolution
  • Dialogue: People talk to each other. Include at least one coversation.
  • Description: Specific imagery so your readers experience sights, sounds, textures, tastes, smells
  • Word Cells List #3 Assignment (Work together!)
  • Return lots of old work...
  • Get the English Binder ready for the final month!


Friday, April 27: A Day



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

April 30-May 4, 2018

Monday, April 30: B Day


Tuesday, May 1: A Day
Wednesday, May 2: B Day


Thursday, May 3: A Day
Friday, May 4: B Day [May the Fourth be with you!]



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

May 7-11, 2018

Monday, May 7: A Day
Tuesday, May 8: B Day [Sub]


Wednesday, May 9: A Day [SoM Breakfast]
Thursday, May 10: B Day


Friday, May 11: A Day [Huntsman]

  • 7
  • Book Fines: If you have not returned any book you checked out from me, you need to do it by next week. Fines for unreturned books will be posted in one week.
  • English Binder: Time to organize this sucker! When you complete the Stargirl assignments, you will turn in the entire notebook for a huge score!
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poem o' the Day for the young women:
    "For a Girl I Know About to Be a Woman" by Miller Williams
  • ...and for the young men: "If--" by Rudyard Kipling
  • Poem o' the Day: "Free Verses" by Sarah Kirsch
    (The verses are you! The speaker is me.)
  • Poem o' the Day: "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • Do the math: Will you have time to finish at your current rate of reading?
    • If not, stop by for Intervention a couple times to read.
  • Word Cells List #6 Assignment Last one! (Quiz next time!)



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

May 14-18, 2018

Sunday, May 13 [Mother's Day]
Monday, May 14: B Day

  • 7
  • Book Fines: If you have not returned any book you checked out from me, you need to do it by next week. Fines for unreturned books will be posted in one week.
  • English Binder: Time to organize this sucker! When you complete the Stargirl assignments, you will turn in the entire notebook for a huge score!
  • Poetry Out Loud
  • Poem o' the Day for the young women:
    "For a Girl I Know About to Be a Woman" by Miller Williams
  • ...and for the young men: "If--" by Rudyard Kipling
  • Poem o' the Day: "Free Verses" by Sarah Kirsch
    (The verses are you! The speaker is me.)
  • Poem o' the Day: "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • Do the math: Will you have time to finish at your current rate of reading?
    • If not, stop by for Intervention a couple times to read.
  • Word Cells List #6 Assignment Last one! (Quiz next time!)


Tuesday, May 15: A Day
Wednesday, May 16: B Day

  • 6
  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #6
  • GIANT WORD CELLS TEST will be next time.
  • Collect/Return all Word Cells Lists
  • Homework: Study every list you have had all year!
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... Chapter 17 (?)
  • Vocabulary #3
  • "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. 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. 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!
  • Life Soundtrack Final Drafts due May 23/24!

Thursday, May 17: A Day
Friday, May 18: B Day



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

May 21-25, 2018

Monday, May 21: A Day
Tuesday, May 22: B Day


Wednesday, May 23: A Day [Falcon Finale, 7:00 P.M.]
Thursday, May 24: B Day

  • 3
  • Life Soundtrack due!
  • Theme o' the Day: "The Psalm of Life" ("Learn to labor....")
  • Put this at the front of your English Binder.
  • You're still not special, but there's hope for you yet! It's all about the things you care enough to practice and work for. You make yourself special with the things you DO during your life.
  • Finish if you can: Stargirl Order of Operations
  • "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
  • Here is a cartoon that illustrates possible readings.
  • Last Chance Extra Credit: The Kardiac Kid
  • Since I will spend part of this holiday weekend reading all of the stories in your Life Soundtracks, why don't you spend part of it reading my story about the time I almost died. (Really!) Even if you don't need the extra credit, you ought to read it and share it with anyone you think it might help.



Friday, May 25: A Day

  • 2
  • The Last Day in Room 198
  • English Binder - The Final Entry: Write a one-page 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.
  • Add this post script to (P.S.) to your letter:
    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!
  • Finish: Stargirl Order of Operations
  • When all of the above is finished and the completed final self-evaluation, is inside the front cover, show me the entire English Binder.
  • When it is scored, take 'em home.
  • Hide 'em somewhere safe.
  • You'll be glad you did.
  • Rocks & Cards
  • Serenades, Anyone?
  • Last Chance Extra Credit: The Kardiac Kid
  • Since I will spend part of this holiday weekend reading all of the stories in your Life Soundtracks, why don't you spend part of it reading my story about the time I almost died. (Really!) Even if you don't need the extra credit, you ought to read it and share it with anyone you think it might help.



Sections of English Binder: Journal, Word Study, Composition, Reading/Literature, Grammar/Conventions

May 28 - June 1, 2018

Monday, May 28: Memorial Day


Tuesday, May 29: B Day [Best of Davis Award, 5:30 P.M.]

  • 2
  • The Last Day in Room 198
  • English Binder - The Final Entry: Write a one-page 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.
  • Add this post script to (P.S.) to your letter:
    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!
  • Finish: Stargirl Order of Operations
  • When all of the above is finished and the completed final self-evaluation, is inside the front cover, show me the entire English Binder.
  • When it is scored, take 'em home.
  • Hide 'em somewhere safe.
  • You'll be glad you did.
  • Rocks & Cards
  • Serenades, Anyone?
  • Last Chance Extra Credit: The Kardiac Kid
  • Even if you don't need the extra credit, you ought to read this story about the time I almost died (yes, really!) and share it with anyone it might help.


Wednesday, May 30: A Day [Lab 202]
Thursday, May 31: B Day [Lab 202 / Talent Show Assembly]



Friday, June 1: A/B Day [52]

  • School's Out for Summer!
  • What are you still doing here?
    Go enjoy your summer!
  • "Will you remember me?"
  • You know where to find me. Stay in touch.


To see previous weeks, scroll ALL THE WAY up!

Poetry Out Loud

Poems o' the Day

That's All, Folks!


To see previous weeks, scroll ALL THE WAY up!
Q: "Did I miss anything?"
A: Yes.
^ Scroll up to find it. ^
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