Week of November 29, 2010

English 10 students will enjoy movies and popcorn this week! They will also compare and contrast the To Kill a Mockingbird movie with the novel they recently finished reading. Then, before we begin Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, students will watch Remember the Titans and complete an assignment which focuses on comparing themes and characters with To Kill a Mockingbird. Next week, we will begin reading A Raisin in the Sun which includes several writing assignments. We will also continue to study Grammar and Parts of Speech (Verbs are next) before Winter break. Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving break!

Week of November 15, 2010

Our nine week unit on To Kill a Mockingbird culminates with a 100-point Unit Test this week (Test Dates Below). Before we begin our two-day test review, students also have two additional TKAM assignments due earlier in the week (Due Dates Listed Below).

Study Guide #3 (27 points) + Vocab Words (20 points) Due Dates

Blocks 3,5,+7 - Monday November 15
Blocks 2 + 6 - Tuesday November 16

100-point TKAM UNIT TEST DATES

Blocks 3,5,+7 - Thursday November 18
Blocks 2 + 6 - Friday November 19

Week of November 8, 2010

Perspective Essay (50 points) - DUE MONDAY November 8th

Students will read the final 7 chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird this week and begin to review major themes, characters, and events from the novel in preparation for next week's 100-point Unit test. There will be a 20-point "pop" Quiz sometime this week... so make sure you take your time and read closely!

Week of October 25 2010

Students in English 10 will begin the week by taking a 50-point Adjectives Quiz (dates listed below). All students will also receive their second list of vocabulary words and complete a 20-point Vocabulary Quiz during the final class period of the week (dates listed below). We will also continue to read and discuss the Tom Robinson trial in To Kill a Mockingbird. Students will also participate in an open forum during class time in which they respond to a quote about racism/discrimination which is a major theme in the novel.

ADJECTIVES QUIZ (50 points)
Blocks 3 + 7 - Monday October 25th
Blocks 2, 4, + 6 - Tuesday October 26th

VOCABULARY QUIZ #2 (20 points)
Blocks 3, 5, + 7 - Thursday October 28th
Blocks 2 + 6 - Friday October 29th

MOODLE RESPONSE - "Invisible Backpack"(20 points)
Assignment Dates
Blocks 3-5-7 Thursday October 28th
Blocks 2 + 6 Friday October 29th
DUE DATE for ALL BLOCKS ---- Monday November 2nd @ 7 a.m.

Week of October 18th, 2010

This week, English 10 students will continue to read and discuss To Kill a Mockingbird. By the beginning of next week, all students should have read through Chapter 19. We will continue to explore different types of adjectives and how they function in effective writing. Students will create their own personal "Mad Lib" with the sole emphasis being adjectives. We will have a practice quiz on adjectives later in the week and an Adjectives Quiz during the first class meeting next week.

Assignment Due Dates:

TKAM Study Guide#2 Questions 1-25 (25 points) Due Date
Blocks 3 + 7 - Monday October 18th
Blocks 2,5, + 6 - Tuesday October 19th

"Mad Lib" (10 point Writing Assignment) Due Date
Blocks 3,5 + 7 - Wednesday October 20th
Blocks 2 + 6 - Thursday October 21st

Week of October 11, 2010

Three of my English 10 classes will wrap up their unit on Pronoun Usage by taking a 40-point Quiz on Monday (see schedule below). Later this week, sophomores will begin to learn why adjectives are a vital component of the writing process. We will also continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird and complete our chapter-by-chapter study guide questions. Students will also take a 25-point Quiz covering chapters 12-15 (see schedule below).

Pronouns Usage Quiz (40 points)
Blocks 2, 5, + 6 - Monday October 11

TKAM Quiz Chapters 12-15 (25 points)
Blocks 3 + 7 - Wednesday October 13
Blocks 2, 5, + 6 - Thursday October 14

Week of October 4, 2010

This week, students in English 10 will finish reading Part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird and receive their second Study Guide which covers chapters 11-22. Students will also receive their vocabulary words during the first class meeting of the week and take a 20-point Vocab Quiz during the last class meeting of the week. We will also continue our pronoun usage unit and students will take a Pronouns Usage Quiz either late this week or early next week depending on what block they have English 10.

Vocab Quiz #1 (20 points)
Blocks 3,5,+7 - Thursday October 7
Blocks 2+6 - Friday October 8

Pronouns Usage Quiz (40 points)
Blocks 3+7 - Friday October 8
Blocks 2,5, +6 - Monday October 11

Week of Sept 27, 2010

English 10 students will continue to read To Kill a Mockingbird and should be through Chapter 9 by the end of the week. Students will also take a 20-point quiz on Chapters 8+9. We will also continue to examine common errors in English grammar with a focus on pronoun usage.

To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 8+9 Quiz Dates:

Blocks 3 + 7 - Thursday September 30

Blocks 2, 5, + 6 - Friday October 1

Week of Sept. 20, 2010

We will continue reading To Kill a Mockingbird this week and complete a written response (on Moodle)to a follow up question from the Study Guide. Also - we will focus on Pronouns and Common Errors in English Grammar such as the use of ("there," "their," and "they're")... ("your" and "you're")... ("where," "we're," and "were")...("to" and "too")... and ("then" vs. "than").

The first 11 questions from the To Kill a Mockingbird Study guide are due the first class we meet...
Blocks 3,5,+7 - Monday Sept. 20
Blocks 2+6 Tuesday Sept. 21

Moodle Response Due Dates:
Blocks 3,5,+7 - Monday Sept. 20 by MIDNIGHT
Blocks 2 + 6 - Tuesday Sept. 21 by MIDNIGHT

Common Errors Quiz:
Blocks 3,5,7 - Thursday Sept. 23
Blocks 2+6 - Monday Sept. 27

Welcome Back!!! Week of Sept. 13, 2010

This week in English 10, students will be reading the early chapters of Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird. We will also review nouns (concrete vs. abstract - collective vs. plural etc.) and students will be required to find an online article of their choice, choose one paragraph from that article, and identify different nouns within the paragraph. Later in the week, students will take a 25 point Nouns Quiz.

Blocks 2+6 -
Monday - Read Chap 1 from TKAM + 20 point Quiz on Chap. 1
Tuesday - Nouns Review + Article Assignment (10 pts.) + Read Chap 2 TKAM
Thursday - Nouns Article Due- Practice Quiz - Read Chap 3 TKAM - Study Questions 1-11 Due Fri.
Friday - Study Questions 1-11 due - Discuss Chaps. 1-3 TKAM - Nouns Quiz (25 pts.)

Blocks 3+7
Monday - Nouns Review + Article Assignment (10 pts.) + Read Chap 2 TKAM
Wednesday -Nouns Article Due- Practice Quiz - Read Chap 3 TKAM - Study Questions 1-11 Due Thurs.
Thursday - Study Questions 1-11 due - Discuss Chaps. 1-3 TKAM - Nouns Quiz (25 pts.)

Block 5 -

Tuesday - Nouns Review + Article Assignment (10 pts.) + Read Chap 2 TKAM
Wednesday -Nouns Article Due- Practice Quiz - Read Chap 3 TKAM - Study Questions 1-11 Due Thurs.
Friday - Study Questions 1-11 due - Discuss Chaps. 1-3 TKAM - Nouns Quiz (25 pts.)

Week of June 1, 2010

During our final week prior to final exams, students will draft, compose, edit, and revise an essay (worth 100 points) which examines one of the major themes from John Steinbeck's classic, Of Mice and Men. Students received the assignment before the Memorial Day weekend to begin brainstorming ideas and will have two full class periods in the computer lab - plus this coming weekend - to complete the assignment. Due dates for the Of Mice and Men essay are listed below.

Blocks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6/7
DUE DATE
2:30 p.m. - Monday, June 7

Week of May 24, 2010

Students in English 10 will finish reading John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men this week. They will then watch the 1992 film adaptation of Steinbeck's novel starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Students will examine the themes of Friendship/Loyalty, Loneliness and Isolation, The American Dream, Discrimination, Power/Powerlessness, and Euthanasia (mercy killing). During the week prior to final exams, students will draft and compose an essay which focuses on one of the novel's major themes. In lieu of a standard Unit Test, this essay will be worth 100 points and will have a major impact on your student's 4th quarter grade. Furthermore, much of the information students are compiling in their Of Mice and Men study guide will make up a significant portion of their final exam.

Week of May 3, 2010

English 10 students begin the "Writing Process" this week. We will cover Brainstorming - Introductions - Thesis Statements - Sentence Fluency - and Paragraph Construction over the next 6-8 class periods. Most of the work will be done in class although there will be a couple of graded writing assignments which will require students to complete some work at home.

Week of April 26, 2010

We will continue to work on independent and subordinate clauses, punctuation, and sentence types this week. Students have a Sentence Types worksheet/writing assignment and a Clauses/Sentence Types quiz later in the week. Due Dates are listed below.

Sentence Types Worksheet/Writing Assignment Due Dates:
Blocks 1 + 5 - Monday April 26
Blocks 2 + 3 - Tuesday April 27

Clauses/Sentence Types Quiz (50 points) dates
Blocks 1 + 5 - Thursday April 29
Blocks 2 + 3 - Friday April 30

English 10B - 6/7 Block
Into the Wild Quiz (35 points)- Monday April 26

***NOTE 4th Quarter progress grades will be posted on Infinite Campus on Thursday April 29.

Week of April 12

We will be working on Conjunctions and Interjections in English 10 this week. Students will learn how conjunctions function within simple, compound and complex sentences. We will also discuss independent and subordinate clauses which we will delve into further next week. Students will complete a worksheet on Conjunctions this week and will have a 35-point QUIZ on Conjunctions early next week. Due Dates are below.

Conjunctions Worksheet (10 POINTS) Due Dates

Blocks 1 + 5 - Friday April 16
Blocks 2 + 3 - Monday April 19

CONJUNCTIONS QUIZ (35 POINTS)

Blocks 1,2, + 5 Tuesday, April 20
Block 3 Wednesday, April 21

Week of March 29

We will finish reading The Crucible this week and students will take the Unit Test before Spring Break.

Act 4 Study Guide (42 points)
DUE DATES:
Block 1,2,+ 5 - Tuesday March 30
Block 3 - Wednesday March 31

Crucible Unit Test (65 points)
Blocks 1 + 5 - Wednesday March 31
Blocks 2 + 3 - Thursday, April 1

Week of March 22, 2010

English 10 -

Students have two more opportunities to improve their grade for the 3rd Quarter marking period which ends on Friday March 26.

Act 3 Study Questions (53 points)
Due Dates:
Blocks 1, 3, + 5 - Tuesday March 23
Block 2 - Wednesday March 24

Act 3 Quiz (40 points)
Blocks 1, 2, + 5 - Thursday March 25
Block 3 - Friday March 26

Week of March 15, 2010

Sophomores in my English 10 classes will be working exclusively on The Crucible this week. Assignments and due dates are as follows:

Act 1 Quiz - 20 points
Blocks 1 + 5 - Monday 3/15
Block 3 - Tuesday 3/16
Block 2 - Wednesday 3/17

Act 2 Study Guide Due Dates
Blocks 1 + 5 - Wednesday 3/17
Block 2 - Friday 3/19
Block 3 - Thursday 3/18

Week of March 8, 2010

Sophomores in my English 10 classes have begun reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible. They are required to read Act I and complete the study guide questions which are due on the following dates:

Act I Study Guide Due Dates:
Blocks 1+5 - Wednesday March 10
Block 3 - Thursday March 11
Block 2 - Friday March 12

We will review and discuss the answers to these questions the following class and students will take a 20-point quiz on Act I early next week.

Week of March 1, 2010

Sophomore English students will complete and submit their 100-point EDP assignment this week.
Blocks 1,2,+5 will spend one more day (Monday) in the computer lab. Double block students (English 10B Blocks 6/7) will have two more days. 3rd block has already had three full days in computer lab.
DUE DATES for EDP:
Blocks 1,3, +5 - Due Tuesday, March 2
Blocks 2, 6/7 - Due Wed. March 3

On Wed./Thurs we will begin discussing The Crucible which we will begin reading next week. Before we begin reading, students will be given a List of Characters and will take a 20-point quiz on the characters.
Crucible Characters Quiz:
Blocks 1,3, +5 - Friday, March 5
Block 2 - Monday, March 8

English 10B students will continue to read Tuesdays with Morrie and complete in-class Journal responses.

Week of February 22

Sophomore English students will be taking a bit of a hiatus from the standard English 10 curriculum this week. Students will be focused solely on completing their Educational Development Plan (EDP). Much of the assignment can be (and will be) completed in the computer lab throughout the week. However, the creative aspect of the project (creating a 10-year "lifeline") is something students must work on at home. There are many different options as to how students will present their lifeline and many examples were shown in class.

This assignment is worth 100 points and will have a huge impact on a student's 3rd quarter grade.

The "lifeline" portion of the assignment is worth 40 points and will be entered in my gradebook under "Assignments."

The three-paragraph Journal/Refelction Essay is worth 60 points and will be entered in my gradebook under "Writing."
NOTE: Students were given a rubric with specific requirements for each part of the assignment.

We (Mrs. Arteaga and I) encourage all parents to discuss this assignment with your son/daughter. The EDP is designed to help your child develop the skills to research colleges and a potential career they may be interested in pursuing, as well as developing a strategic plan that will prepare them to achieve their academic and career-oriented goals.

Week of February 15, 2010

This week, all sophomore English students will view the movie Good Night and Good Luck which recounts the story of legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow's unrelenting quest to expose U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. McCarthy's false accusations of communists infiltrating the U.S. government caused widespread paranoia among the American people. Murrow delivered a series of TV reports revealing McCarthy's bogus claims and Mccarthy was eventually censured. Students will complete a study guide that accompanies the movie in preparation for reading Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, which we will begin reading in two weeks. Miller wrote The Crucible to tell the story of "McCarthyism" and the communist "witch hunt" known as the Second Red Scare. The Crucible is an allegory which uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a basis to tell the story of Mccarthyism in the 1950's.

On Friday, sophomores begin a 10-day Educational Development Plan led by school counselor, Mrs. Arteaga. This project requires students to explore potential career opportunities, colleges, requirements for admission, occupational fields they are interested in, and more. This is a 100-point assignment that will be part of their English 10 grade for the 3rd quarter marking period.

Week of February 8, 2010

Sophomores in my English 10 classes have three assignments to focus on this week. First we will finish learning how to indentify and use prepositions and prepositional phrases and then students will take a 25 point quiz.

Prepositions Quiz -
Blocks 1,3,+5 - Wednesday, Feb. 10
Block 2 - Thursday, Feb. 11

Students will also begin to do some preliminary work for the next piece of literature we will be reading - Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, which is an allegory focusing on the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's as they parallel the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism of the 1950's. Students will perform research to discover background information and complete a 20-point worksheet in the computer lab.
Blocks 1,3,+5 - Wednesday Feb. 10
Block 2 - Thursday Feb. 11

Then - they will finish the week by completing another 30-point worksheet that accompanies a 30-minute documentary about the Salem Witch Trials. This worksheet MUST be completed WHILE students watch the video in class. It will be due at the end of class on the day they watch the video.
Block 3- Thursday Feb. 11
Blocks 1,2,+5- Friday Feb. 12

Local Weather

The Famous Final Scene

Thanks for visiting!!! This week, all sophomores in my English 10 classes will begin the second semester by preparing to write their own personal dramatic conclusion to A Raisin in the Sun. Students have already read the play and this week they will watch the movie to develop a deeper understanding for characters' attitudes, personalities, characteristics etc.

The goal of this assignment - "Act 3 Scene 2" - is for students to take on the role of a playwright and express themselves creatively and imaginatively while demonstrating their understanding of particular characters and themes from A Raisin in the Sun.
The assignment will be worth 100 points and assessed on three separate aspects:

• How realistic and believable it is considering the original story. (50 pts.) This includes keeping characters "in character," considering societal ills such as racial tension, and understanding the possibilities (or lack thereof) for a poor African American family like the Youngers.
• Level of creativity and imagination. (30 pts.) This is where students are challenged to amaze me with their ability to create a unique final scene, often with a twist, yet avoid a Hollywood, "happily ever after" ending - which simply did not happen for African Americans in the early 1950's.
• Dramatic Conclusion (20 pts.) This is the most difficult aspect of the assignment. Students must provide closure/finality to one particular issue/theme from the play.

In preparation for this assignment, students will first "pitch" their scene to me - (10 pts.) - and I will either "approve" the pitch or offer suggestions/feedback/advice as to which direction they should go with their ideas. Students will then spend an entire class period brainstorming, pre-writing, and compiling rough drafts. Then, next week they will spend two full class periods in the Media Center typing their final drafts. Talk to your kids about this and get them excited. It is amazing what kids can do when you hand them the ball and tell them they can run anywhere they want with it. This kind of freedom resulted in several students producing some absolutely amazing work last year and I expect much of the same this year.

DUE DATE for The "Pitch" (10 pts.)

Blocks 1,3,5, 6/7 - Thursday Jan. 28

Block 2 - Friday Jan 29