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