June 19

Dear students,

I am very sorry that I had to miss your exams on Tuesday and Wednesday (today). As many of you have heard by now, I was in a car accident before school yesterday. I was assessed at the hospital and released and am doing okay!! Thank you to those who sent messages of support. I appreciate it very much! 

Thank you for a great semester. I hope that you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer and a great year next year! I hope to have the chance to see you when I pop in for a visit with the baby! 

June 17 - Exam tips/hints

How to study for an English exam?


The exam consists of 2 parts: sight passage(s) (take about 1 hour for this) and essay (use about 1
hours for this).


For the exam, it is expected that you understand and are able to either define or apply (find an example of it in the text) the following terms:


- All points of view - 1st, 3rd objective, omniscient, limited
- All aspects of setting: time/place/atmosphere
- All forms of conflict
              internal conflict: person vs. self
              external conflict: person vs. person/society/nature

Other terms to know and be able to apply:

-theme
-character (protagonist/antagonist)
-tone (happy, sad, gloomy, anxious, tense, exciting, nervous, awkward, uncomfortable, etc).
- irony - situational, verbal, dramatic
-symbolism/symbol

-simile
- metaphor

- personification
- soliloquy
- tragedy
- imagery
- paradox
- oxymoron

- foreshadowing

- flashback

- pun


Part A: Sight Passage

You will be asked to read a selection or selections and answer a series of related questions. The selection
 will reflect a prominent theme. If the question asks for “direct reference” or “evidence” or “proof,” remember that you are expected to use a quotation from the selection. The more specific and precise, the better.

“Literary devices” or “figurative language” refers to similes, metaphors, personification, irony, paradox, etc. 

Remember that STYLE refers to how the author writes (i.e., what literary devices he/she uses, sentence types, vocabulary, etc.). 

Watch your time, and watch your spelling and grammar.

The theme is the MESSAGE, not subject of the story.

Highlight/underline as you go! Key ideas, messages, literary devices, characters etc. 

Part B: Essay
You will be marked on Knowledge (of the book) and structure of the essay), Thinking (specific references,
focus on the topic, thesis statement), Communication (topic/summary sentences, transitions, spelling and
grammar, third person, formal diction, present verb tense), and Application (making connections between ideas in the book and your argument and use of MLA).


Read the questions carefully. Choose ONE. 

Make a strong, clear, thesis statement that answers the question. It must be argumentative!

Remember, never "list off" points in your thesis. A proper thesis will not say: "Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet and the feud led to Romeo and Juliet's deaths".  

To begin, create a thesis and then one sentence per point (3 points) then get writing! 

June 16

Today we took up the mock exam from last week - the sight passage and the essay. We discussed all of the correct answers to all the sight passage questions and discussed good thesis statements/points for the prompts from the mock essay.

Due to the change to tomorrow's schedule (afternoon classes), it may not be possible to have CPTs marked in time for the exam the next day. They will, however, be counted on the final report card (10% of the mark).

Happy Studying! Review those notes about elements of stories/literary devices and review your knowledge of both works we studied!

May 30

We took up the corrected unit test in depth today. I collected RJ books: students who did not have them are asked to return them on Monday. 

We discussed the CPT and exam preparation extensively. 

May 28

We watched the rest of the movie and did theme reviews on chart paper. 

Test tomorrow! 

May 27

We finished the play today!!

Due to extended period 1 we did not do questions or watch video. That will be tomorrow. Test is still on Thursday!! We did our review last week for the test! 

May 23

Act 4 Questions

1. What does Juliet threaten to do in her speech to Friar Lawrence after Paris leaves? How is this similar to Act 3, Scene 3?
2. Do you think Friar Lawrence is doing the right thing by deceiving the Capulets and Paris? Explain your opinion.
3. What do you think of Juliet in this scene (scene 2)? Capulet? How are they similar?
4. What doubts enter Juliet’s mind as she prepares for bed? List one of the fears that she reveals in this scene.

Quotation Analysis Practice:

Find 2 important quotes in the play. Write them down. Swap with a partner. Individually, write down the name of the speaker, who he/she is speaking to or about (your choice) and the significance. Then share and see if you got all 4 points! 

May 22

Today we read Act 4, Sc 2, 3 and 4.

Tomorrow is Act 4, Sc 5.

ALL roles for rest of play assigned. Check here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VBNBCITntEnX3GseIjFodPJ8wudkA3Rn6fBn4nahhYo/edit?usp=sharing

Extra help session at lunch TODAY for quotation analysis!

May 21

May 21 - Act 3 movie, Act 3 discussion questions, quotation analysis.
Today we also reviewed for the unit test.  Hmwk: Act 4, Sc 1

May 22- Act 4, Sc 2, 3 and 4

NEW ASSIGNED ROLES! Practice them! The roles are not too long!

Act 4, Sc 2:

Capulet: Nic

Second Servant: Haesal

Nurse: Olivia S

Juliet: Olivia B

Lady Capulet: Catherine

Act 4, Sc 3:

Lady Capulet: Jenni

Juliet: Ms V

Act 4, Sc 4:

Lady C:  Mica

Nurse: Melissa

Capulet: Shaughnessy

First Servant: Nahomy

Second Servant: Maggie


May 23 - Act 4, Sc 5, movie and group work     Homework: studying for test 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VBNBCITntEnX3GseIjFodPJ8wudkA3Rn6fBn4nahhYo/edit?usp=sharing

May 20

Today we read Act 3 - Scenes 3, 4, 5.

Tomorrow: May 21 - Act 3 movie, Act 3 discussion questions, quotation analysis.  Homework: Act 4, Sc 1.

Happy Weekend!!

The only homework is your ISU reading and journal! :)

Enjoy the weekend!

Let's hope it doesn't rain!

Updated schedule due to technical difficulties

For homework tonight -

Read (or listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlRe8QH2oqw) Act 3, Sc 1. The audio reading on Youtube for Scene 1 is about 13 minutes long.

Then we will watch Act 2 tomorrow and read Act 3, Sc 2.

Act 2 questions

Romeo and Juliet timeline

May 12 - Act 1 activities               Homework: Act 2, Sc 1

May 13- Act 2, Sc 2 and 3

May 14 - Act 1, Sc 4 and 5           Homework: Act 2, Sc 6

May 15 - Act 2 discussion/q's and movie clip

May 16 - Act 3, Sc 1 and 2

May 20- Act 3, Sc 3 and 4, 5

May 21 - Act 3 movie, Act 3 discussion questions, quotation analysis  Hmwk: Act 4, Sc 1

May 22- Act 4, Sc 2, 3 and 4

May 23 - Act 4, Sc 5, movie and group work     Homework: studying for test 

May 26 - Act 5, Sc 1 and 2

May 27 - Act 5, Sc 3, finish movie, full play discussion

May 28 - full play activities

May 29 - TEST 


ANY day that we do not finish the assigned readings (as above), finishing that scene will be for HOMEWORK. 

May 7

Act 1 Roles:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VBNBCITntEnX3GseIjFodPJ8wudkA3Rn6fBn4nahhYo/edit?usp=sharing

April 30, May 1-6

While I was away, students worked on some introduction to Romeo and Juliet and had a full work period for the ISU.

Yesterday and today we continued with our Romeo and Juliet introduction.

Yesterday we did silent reading, recapped Shakespeare's history and time period and spent the rest of class translating the prologue into modern English.

Today, books and roles were assigned. We talked about key figures in the play, how to read a play and what makes a play different from a novel and key criteria for good oral reading.

We begin with Act 1, Scene 1 tomorrow.

Students are asked to bring a PRINTED copy of their redone essay paragraph on FRIDAY for a peer activity.

April 29

We did self-assessment for our essays today (they were handed back with extensive teacher corrections and feedback) and each student had the opportunity to conference with me about their strengths and areas for improvement, and ask any questions he/she had.

We begin Romeo and Juliet tomorrow. Please bring a device with internet access if possible!!

April 25

We finished watching the hunger games movie. We also completed our lesson on common errors in essay writing. Student should be diligently reviewing these notes in preparation for the final exam. 

Don't forget to be reading away for your independent novel study because the first journal is due on May 5. 

Essays

Essays are being assessed. 8 down, 26 to go! My goal is to have them back to you by April 29, as each essay takes about 15 minutes to mark and give feedback on.

You will have a self assessment sheet for the essay like you did for your short story test. We will discuss how this will work on Tuesday. 

Have a good Easter weekend! 

ISU UPDATE and April 15

Please note date of first journal has changed to May 5th.

All proposals are APPROVED. Students may begin to start reading novels!


In class literary essay due April 17. April 17th at lunch is the work period for students who missed a class. All essays will be collected at 12:05 on that day for assessment.