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March 27-31, 2017: Fourth Term Begins!

For this final term, you will learn....
  • ...what the SAGE has in store: March 28-31 & April 7-11.
  • ...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 27: Professional Day (No School for Students) [204]

  • Students: I'm going to miss you for the next three weeks. For the entirety of this week, you will be taking a "year-end" writing test. (Yes, I KNOW it isn't really the end of the year, but this is entirely outside of my control.) The exam requires you to write two essays: one argumentative and one informational. We've practiced both in the last couple weeks, and I know you can all do it. On the days of the test, I will not be able to provide any guidance (I just have to "monitor" you), but I know you CAN do it. The question is WILL you show them that you can. I can't answer that one, but I hope you will do your best. After the writing test, we will have a week of Spring Break, which will be nice, but I will want you to do some reading because even when we get back from the break, there will be another week of testing on reading and language. Again, I just have to watch you take it. That's three weeks when we will not be in our classroom doing the usual stuff. I'll miss you! See you in the middle of April!
  • Last Time: Quiz on the pages you were supposed to read
  • F451: Clarisse @ School [+ performance assessment (#2)]
  • How does this cartoon: How does relate to what Clarisse and Jerome S. say?
  • "What They Learn in School" / Issues to Consider


Wednesday, March 29: B Day [SAGE Writing: Argumentative]


Friday, March 31: B Day [SAGE Writing: Informational]



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

April 3-7, 2017

Spring Break
Fahrenheit 451: Stay on Schedule!

Quiz Schedule: Page # depends on which version of the novel you have.
Read to page 51/53 & take quiz #2.
Read to page 60/63 & take quiz #3.
Read to page 73/77 & take quiz #4.
Read to page 89/93 & take quiz #5.
Read to page 97/100 & take quiz #6.


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

April 10-14, 2017

Tuesday, April 11: B Day [SAGE: ELA]


Thursday, April 13: B Day [SAGE: ELA]


Friday, April 14: A Day

  • Good Friday


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

April 17-21, 2017

Monday, April 17: B Day [206]


Wednesday, April 19: B Day

  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #1 + Turn in Word Cells List #1 Assignment.
  • (On the back of the quiz, answer some F451 questions.)
  • F451: In-Class Discussion/Writing
  • Faber's Lecture Essay (What's wrong with media? Tablets, devices, and phones! Oh, my!)
  • "Dover Beach" Close Read/Assignment
  • 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 _______________.
  • Finish Fahrenheit 451 by next time!


Friday, April 21: B Day

  • Fahrenheit 451 Objective Test (10-15 minutes, no book)
  • Constructed Response: Using quotations from at least three different passages from the text, write a 1-2 page response explaining how the portrayal of fire reflects Montag's change from a destroyer to a rebuilder. (20-25 minutes, with book)
  • Turn in tests and books.
  • Word Cells Set #2 & Word Cells List #2 Assignment
  • (Quiz next time!)
  • Poetry: Read. Write. Repeat.
  • Poetry Out Loud: This assignment is due April 26/27! Don't forget!
  • Writing Personal Poetry:
  • Find the "Where I'm From" template that you did as a journal back on Dec. 21/Jan. 3. You'll need it next time!
  • Here's the original.
  • You are going to turn it into a poetic piece about you, your family traditions, and your life, using appropriate elements of poetry and non-literal language to make your figurative poem powerful and purposeful. (Models)




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

April 24-28, 2017

Monday, April 24: A Day [205]
Tuesday, April 25: B Day



Thursday, April 27: B Day

  • Poetry Out Loud:
  • This assignment is due now.
  • Poems o' the Day: Presentations
  • Narrative Writing: 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


Friday, April 28: A Day



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

May 1-5, 2017

Monday, May 1: B Day [198]


Wednesday, May 3: B Day

Friday, El Cinco de Mayo: B Day



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

May 8-12, 2017

Tuesday, May 9: B Day


Thursday, May 11: B Day

  • 8
  • Quiz on Word Cells Set #6
  • GIANT WORD CELLS TEST will be on May 16/17.
  • Study every list you have had all year!
  • Poetry Out Loud Presentations
  • "Turtle" by Kay Ryan
  • "Do You Love Me?" by Robert Wrigley
  • "In the Well" by Andrew Hudgins
  • "Sister Cat" by Frances Mayes
  • "White Eyes" by Mary Oliver
  • "Eagle Plain" by Robert Francis
  • "The Bear" by Susan Mitchell
  • "Traveling Through the Dark" by William E. Stafford
  • "Snake Oil, Snake Bite" by Dilruba Ahmed
  • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
  • And what about those final projects?
  • Cards, Rocks, Serenades


  • Friday, May 12: A Day

    • Hello, Mr. Huntsman!



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

    May 15-19, 2017

    Sunday, May 14 (Mother's Day) [198 @ noon]
    Monday, May 15: B Day [200]

    • 7
    • Are you going on the 9th grade field trip on May 31st?
    • Turn in your permission slips and receipts (stapled together) as soon as possible!
    • 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.


    Wednesday, May 17: B Day

    • 6
    • GIANT WORD CELLS TEST
    • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ? (30 minutes)
    • Vocab. #2 or #3
    • Homework: Log in to the class wiki from home. Visit your page. Get it ready for your Life Soundtrack.
      You do remember how, right?

    Friday, May 19: B Day

    • 5
    • Theme o' the Day: "The Psalm of Life" ("Learn to labor....")
    • 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 are not special just because you are alive. You make yourself special with the things you DO during your life.
    • Neil's Solo: Imagine the thousands of hours of thought and practice that went into this exhibition. 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. No one gets to this level of excellence without work. The things we care enough about to work at are the things that make us special.
    • Writing assignment: If you were here on the first day of school, you wrote about yourself. We didn't know each other then. Now we do. Look at what you said about yourself on that day. How have you changed this year? How would you respond to these questions now? Write me an informal letter about your experience in this class, and "Tell me, what is it you plan to DO/with your one wild and precious life?" (Thank you, Mary Oliver!)
    • Speaking of music...
    • Life Soundtrack: Final Draft (with Intro & Conclusion) due on Wiki by May 25th @ 11:59 P.M.
    • Here are all the specifications and suggestions for the final drafts.
    • I enjoyed reading your Rough Drafts! (Here's mine!)
    • "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. Remember that drum solo? 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!
    • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
    • And what about those final projects?
    • Cards, Rocks, Serenades
    • How's it coming? You 'bout done?




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

    May 22-26, 2017

    Tuesday, May 23: B Day [199]

    • 4
    • Writing Assignment: "The End of the End": Earlier in the year (Jan 20/23), you wrote a reflection called "The Beginning of the End," in which you wrote about what you were planning to do for the last five months of the school year. Go read that to see if you lived up to your intentions. How'd things turn out? Write back to the person you were then. What would you like to tell that younger version of youself? (Fill the page!)
    • Stargirl: Continue the Order of Operations to .... ?
    • And what about those final projects?
    • Cards, Rocks, Serenades
    • How's it coming? You 'bout done?
    • Start getting those notebooks in order!



    Wednesday, May 24: A Day [Falcon Finale]
    Thursday, May 25: B Day

    • 3
    • English Binder - 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 of your English Binder:
      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 if you can: Stargirl Order of Operations
    • When all of the above is finished, show the notebooks to me for a score.
    • Life Soundtracks due on wiki tonight!



    Friday, May 26: A Day

    • It's time for extra credit, right?
    • The Kardiac Kid is here to provide some!



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

    May 29- June 2, 2017

    Monday, May 29: Memorial Day [200]

    • No School
    • It's time for extra credit, right?
    • The Kardiac Kid is here to provide some!
    • Today is his 24th Anniversary!


    Tuesday, May 30: B Day

    • 2
    • Finish: Stargirl Order of Operations
    • 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.
    • Rocks & Cards
    • Serenades, Anyone?


    Wednesday, May 31: A Day [9th Grade Field Trip -- You'll all be there!]
    Thursday, June 1 [51]: B Day



    Friday, June 2: A/B Day

    • 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!
    Q: "Did I miss anything?"
    A: Yes.
    ^ Scroll up to find it. ^
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    ©2017 M. Wolfman Thompson - All rights reserved.
    *<%^)