Monday: Holiday. Mr. Brandt plays golf and shoots an all-time record 98 at Davis Muni. Roaring throngs of fans pursue him afterwards, demanding an autograph.
Tuesday: Back to school. Sentence diagrams were introduced. Maybe not as fun as golf, but close. Basic parts of speech, parts of a sentence, parts of a predicate, and types of phrase were discussed and diagrammed.
Wed: More diagramming, this time including compound subjects, compound verbs, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and direct objects.
Thurs: No grammar! Students instead began preparing their Odyssey group presentations. Groups divided up their sections by line number, and began planning their tableaux.
Fri: 2nd day of group preparation for Tuesday's due date.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Week 14: Nov. 16-20
Mon.Students received a copy of the Odyssey group project, which is a group oral presentation of section of the epic to be presented Dec. 8-10. Class practiced writing Homeric similes.
Tues. From the Odyssey, students read "The Land of the Dead" as well as "Scylla and Charybdis". Class once again practiced writing Homeric similes.
Wed. Preposition quizzes are coming this week! Classes wrote and shared Homeric similes for the third time, then read about the Cattle of the Sun God, Helios.
Thurs. Fourth round of Homeric similes, plus continued reading of the Odyssey. We're rapidly approaching the conclusion.
Fri. All 3 classes finished reading "The Odyssey". Odysseus and Penelope are reunited (and it feels so good!).
Tues. From the Odyssey, students read "The Land of the Dead" as well as "Scylla and Charybdis". Class once again practiced writing Homeric similes.
Wed. Preposition quizzes are coming this week! Classes wrote and shared Homeric similes for the third time, then read about the Cattle of the Sun God, Helios.
Thurs. Fourth round of Homeric similes, plus continued reading of the Odyssey. We're rapidly approaching the conclusion.
Fri. All 3 classes finished reading "The Odyssey". Odysseus and Penelope are reunited (and it feels so good!).
Monday, November 9, 2009
Week 13: Nov. 9-13
Mon. Assignments this week include posting outside reading comments to edublogger and memorizing prepositions on pg. 28 of HH (1st two columns). Also, the third draft of Autobiographical Narrative assignment is due on Friday for 1st period, on Monday for 2nd period.
Students checked in their outside reading choices today, and read pp. 651-654 in HA (Homer's Invocation and Calypso's Island). Questions were provided as well, which students worked on in class.
Tues. Class read Homer's account of Calypso's Island out loud, and prepared a drawing of 4 parts of the story. Details need to be included, with references to specific lines.
Wed. Happy Veteran's Day!
Thurs. Class read a lengthy chunk of the Odyssey, including Odysseus' self-introduction, his account of departure from Troy and troubles with Cicones, encounters with Lotus Eaters and Polyphemus the Cyclops.
Fri. Students demonstrated their prowess at memorizing and reciting preposition. I announced that Ch. 3 of Holt Handbook would be the grammar focus for the final exam.
Students worked on Ex. 1 on pg. 72, which dealt with Adjective Phrases.
Students checked in their outside reading choices today, and read pp. 651-654 in HA (Homer's Invocation and Calypso's Island). Questions were provided as well, which students worked on in class.
Tues. Class read Homer's account of Calypso's Island out loud, and prepared a drawing of 4 parts of the story. Details need to be included, with references to specific lines.
Wed. Happy Veteran's Day!
Thurs. Class read a lengthy chunk of the Odyssey, including Odysseus' self-introduction, his account of departure from Troy and troubles with Cicones, encounters with Lotus Eaters and Polyphemus the Cyclops.
Fri. Students demonstrated their prowess at memorizing and reciting preposition. I announced that Ch. 3 of Holt Handbook would be the grammar focus for the final exam.
Students worked on Ex. 1 on pg. 72, which dealt with Adjective Phrases.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Week 12: 11/2-6
Mon. Students will take a multiple choice/true-false test on Of Mice and Men, followed by trials.
Tues. As the test took a bit longer than expected, the final day of trials was today.
Wed. "Trial Writing Assignment" introduced and discussed. "Reporters" write the story of their trial. Format: 2 columns w/ headline and writer's name below that. In journalistic expository writing,
the "5 W's" are the key. Newspaper articles are characterized by multiple, short, informational paragraphs at the beginning, with longer "why" paragraphs appearing down below.
250-350 words
use at least 3 direct quotes from the trial.
Thurs. After discussing aspects of Steinbeck's style as preparation for the test tomorrow, the class moved forward to the Odyssey. Students read a 6-page overview of the Odyssey and answered questions about it. Key words and concepts, such as epic, myth, theme, the oral tradition, and Homer were introduced.
Fri. Class concluded its study of Steinbeck's novel with the second part of the test. Have a good weekend everybody!
Tues. As the test took a bit longer than expected, the final day of trials was today.
Wed. "Trial Writing Assignment" introduced and discussed. "Reporters" write the story of their trial. Format: 2 columns w/ headline and writer's name below that. In journalistic expository writing,
the "5 W's" are the key. Newspaper articles are characterized by multiple, short, informational paragraphs at the beginning, with longer "why" paragraphs appearing down below.
250-350 words
use at least 3 direct quotes from the trial.
Thurs. After discussing aspects of Steinbeck's style as preparation for the test tomorrow, the class moved forward to the Odyssey. Students read a 6-page overview of the Odyssey and answered questions about it. Key words and concepts, such as epic, myth, theme, the oral tradition, and Homer were introduced.
Fri. Class concluded its study of Steinbeck's novel with the second part of the test. Have a good weekend everybody!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Week 11: 10/26-30
Mon. Students continued preparations for Of Mice and Men trials. Lawyers met with same today to brainstorm witness lists and questions.
Of Mice and Men test will be Friday.
Tuesday: First Of Mice and Men trials!
Wed: Trials continue...
Thurs: Trials continue...Of Mice and Men postponed to Monday.
Fri: Trials almost completed.
Of Mice and Men test will be Friday.
Tuesday: First Of Mice and Men trials!
Wed: Trials continue...
Thurs: Trials continue...Of Mice and Men postponed to Monday.
Fri: Trials almost completed.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Week 10: 10/19-23
Mond. Whole book quiz on Of Mice and Men.
Tues. Class discussed patterns in the book, most notably those relating to "hands".
Wed. Of Mice and Men trial preparation has begun. Students were assigned to characters and to positions. The positions are as follows:
Curley a)should be charged with a crime, b) should not be charged with a crime.
George a) is a good friend, b) is not a good friend.
Lennie a) is responsible for the death of Curley's wife, b)is not responsible for her death.
Students must scour the book in search of evidence supporting their position. 10 "pieces of evidence" are required, and should be written down. Evidence should be a minimum of one sentence.
Also, OMM quizzes were returned, an OMM test was announced for next Friday (10/30), and draft #2 of the Autobiographical writing assignment is due on Friday, 10/23 along with draft #1.
Thurs. Students prepared for Of Mice and Men trials by searching for evidence in the book which supports their position. Evidence must also include 50 words of comment, which details how the evidence is supportive.
Friday: After submitting a draft of the Autobiographical Narrative assignment, students continued to prepare for Of Mice and Men trials by collecting evidence, preparing comments, witness lists, or questions.
Tues. Class discussed patterns in the book, most notably those relating to "hands".
Wed. Of Mice and Men trial preparation has begun. Students were assigned to characters and to positions. The positions are as follows:
Curley a)should be charged with a crime, b) should not be charged with a crime.
George a) is a good friend, b) is not a good friend.
Lennie a) is responsible for the death of Curley's wife, b)is not responsible for her death.
Students must scour the book in search of evidence supporting their position. 10 "pieces of evidence" are required, and should be written down. Evidence should be a minimum of one sentence.
Also, OMM quizzes were returned, an OMM test was announced for next Friday (10/30), and draft #2 of the Autobiographical writing assignment is due on Friday, 10/23 along with draft #1.
Thurs. Students prepared for Of Mice and Men trials by searching for evidence in the book which supports their position. Evidence must also include 50 words of comment, which details how the evidence is supportive.
Friday: After submitting a draft of the Autobiographical Narrative assignment, students continued to prepare for Of Mice and Men trials by collecting evidence, preparing comments, witness lists, or questions.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Week 9: 10/12-16
Mon. Notes were given on John Steinbeck's life. Students need to read through page 65 of Of Mice and Men by Wednesday, and should finish reading the whole book by next Monday (10/19). Expect a quiz!
Tues. Students received one handout on Word Choice and another handout on Sentence Fluency. We discussed these handouts quite a bit; students studied their drafts of the Autobiographical Narrative assignment and marked them up so they have ideas on how to improve them. The improved, second draft will be due next Wednesday.
Also, everyone was supposed to read Of Mice and Men through page 65 for today, and the book needs to be finished by Monday. Expect a quiz!
Tuesday and Wednesday we've been discussing the autobiographical narrative assignment.
Thursday: Class studied a story that appeared in a newspaper. Students examined sentence structures present throughout the article. This is an example of the "Journalistic Style," and its merits and shortcomings were discussed.
Students then received a two-sided handout containing the vocabulary from Of Mice and Men, and a poem. There will be a quiz in the next couple of weeks on the vocab.
Also, students received a poem titled " To a Mouse". A line in the poem matches the title of the current novel we're studying; students thus should answer the questions and be prepared to discuss this on Friday.
Finally, students received the second of three handouts on 6 Traits of Effective Writing. This handout covered Ideas and Organization.
Friday: Class reviewed chapters 1 and 2 in Of Mice and Men, and started working on questions from chapter 3. Additionally, the class's attention was drawn to the "hands" motif which appears most notably in the fourth chapter.
Assignment: All 3 classes are to revise their Autobiographical Narratives, with particular attention paid to verb choices and adjective choice (i.e. beware of
"nickel words.")
Tues. Students received one handout on Word Choice and another handout on Sentence Fluency. We discussed these handouts quite a bit; students studied their drafts of the Autobiographical Narrative assignment and marked them up so they have ideas on how to improve them. The improved, second draft will be due next Wednesday.
Also, everyone was supposed to read Of Mice and Men through page 65 for today, and the book needs to be finished by Monday. Expect a quiz!
Tuesday and Wednesday we've been discussing the autobiographical narrative assignment.
Thursday: Class studied a story that appeared in a newspaper. Students examined sentence structures present throughout the article. This is an example of the "Journalistic Style," and its merits and shortcomings were discussed.
Students then received a two-sided handout containing the vocabulary from Of Mice and Men, and a poem. There will be a quiz in the next couple of weeks on the vocab.
Also, students received a poem titled " To a Mouse". A line in the poem matches the title of the current novel we're studying; students thus should answer the questions and be prepared to discuss this on Friday.
Finally, students received the second of three handouts on 6 Traits of Effective Writing. This handout covered Ideas and Organization.
Friday: Class reviewed chapters 1 and 2 in Of Mice and Men, and started working on questions from chapter 3. Additionally, the class's attention was drawn to the "hands" motif which appears most notably in the fourth chapter.
Assignment: All 3 classes are to revise their Autobiographical Narratives, with particular attention paid to verb choices and adjective choice (i.e. beware of
"nickel words.")
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