March 1

I want to quiz you on the Vacation Reading so we'll begin with that then I'll give you time to work on research papers and Station to Station.

At the suggestion of a brilliant student I have a sign up sheet for help. If you need my assistance and don't want to raise your hand you can sign up on the clipboard and I'll get to you as quickly as I can. Please be patient and polite.

February 28

We'll do the usual silent reading today, then discuss some rule changes (see my post on February 23).
We will then introduce the 'Response to Literature' standard that the state wishes you to accomplish. We will begin this writing tomorrow. See to your right for the details of the standard.

Sitting in groups, but with each person doing their own paper, we'll work through the a, b, c & d that you see to the right--using the book you have been reading. I'll lead you through it. You'll need a piece of paper and something to write with. Put your full name at the top. Title it RESPONSE TO LITERATURE.

HOMEWORK: 3rd please read "The Long Trail". I'll be testing you tomorrow on pages 212 to 292. This is the equivalent of four quizzes so this one will be worth 80 pts. Under the new rules if you fail this one you will have only until Monday, March 7 at 4pm to make it up. As always you make up failed quizzes orally with me before school, after school or during lunch.
4th there is no reading but you will have a quiz tomorrow on pages 230 to the end of the book. This will be worth 60 pts. Makeup rules are the same as for 3rd period.

February 25

I spent the week going through Google docs and your assignments on the school computers but the district must be doing some kind of maintenance on the ABI because I can't enter anything right now. I'll get the work in as soon as possible.

February 23

I have received some instructions from my boss to change a few things about my teaching. This will, of course, affect you as well. Here are the specifics:
1. I must add more oral discussions. We'll do more of that roundtable type thing we did in early February.
2. Tell you in advance about what we are going to be doing:
--in March 3rd, 5th and 6th periods will read The Odyssey in the blue book. This means everyone must take their blue book home and bring it to school each day. I will post a schedule in room 151 when we return from President's Week. 4th period will read another novel while the other classes do The Odyssey. I'm debating between two or three books.
--in late March or early April we will start Romeo and Juliet.
--in April we will have STAR testing which will take up more than half our school day.
3. Give you firm deadlines for assignments. That means I must establish a firm time when your Station to Station and Research Projects are due. I hereby declare that I will not accept either of these assignments after 4pm on Wednesday, March 2nd.

To give you some idea where you stand I'm gradually putting in partial grades for the Research Project based upon where you are in the process.

February 18

Silent reading for twenty minutes then to lab to work on Research or Station to Station. If I see a bunch of people off task I'll come up with some kind of assignment to bring order to the room.

However! I'm going to ask you to do some reading over the President's Week. (Bring your book to Tahoe or Anaheim or wherever).
3rd please read up to page 284.
4th please finish the book. (Be sure to read the Epilogue.)

I'll quiz both classes the day we come back on this reading.

February 17

We'll be in the lab all period. We'll begin with a quiz.

My main goal is for everyone to finish STATION to STATION and the RESEARCH REPORT. There is also the crossword to complete. I will circulate and try to help as many folks as possible one on one. Please ask for help.

Check you email and Google docs accounts for feedback from me.

HOMEWORK: 3rd read "The Mad God"; 4th read "The Rice Harvest".

February 16

I'm in an all-day meeting today.
Please begin with 25 minutes of SSR.

Now I have a challenge for you. I'd like you to go to the lab and make a crossword puzzle about the book you are reading (White Fang or Red Scarf). Here is a short puzzle I made:
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2011.02/1516/15160728.087.html
(You may not use any of my clues.)

To make your own puzzle look at the link on the right side of the page.
Remember these tips:
1. Answers should not have spaces (JACKLONDON not JACK LONDON)
2. Have a mixture of short answers (WOLF) and long answers (MACKENZIERIVER)
3. 35 clues required for this project now, but we will add more clues later.
4. Give your puzzle a title, author's name and description.
5. To see your puzzle go to the bottom of the page and hit "Make Puzzle"
6. Share your puzzle with the public at the bottom (otherwise you will lose all your work.)

HOMEWORK: 3rd read: "The Enemy of His King". Likely quiz tomorrow.
4th read: "The Class Education Exhibition".

February 15

We'll begin with a quiz, then proceed to type your letters of appreciation.

Before you type your Business Letters please see me about getting your yellow copies proofread.

(A note to you and myself: it is always confusing to me to come up with good items for the Final Exam--which is still months away. Two likely items would be; 1. an MLA Works Cited using www.easybib.com and, 2. a personal business letter like the one you are typing today.)

(Second note to myself): I see on the bulletin board that there is a "College Night" tonight. I know nothing about it--probably got an email that I ignored--so somebody remind me to find out more about this!!)

HOMEWORK: 3rd read: "The Famine"; 4th read "Half-City Jiangs"

February 14

The next state standard is the business letter. Actually this format is good for business or personal letters. We'll use it for both.

But first we'll do our 20 minutes of SSR.

Then I have a handout that takes you through the letter-writing process.

HOMEWORK: 3rd read: "The Covenant"; 4th read: "An Educable Child"

February 11

Silent reading for twenty minutes.
I have short film to show in both classes. We'll then discuss some issues connected to the novels you are reading.

Next I'll explain the rules for writing a business letter.





HOMEWORK: 3rd read "The Trail of the Gods"; 4th read "Locked Up".

February 10

I'm ill. I hope you can treat me with some consideration today.

3rd period,we'll begin with a different kind of warmup: I'd like you to open a WORD document and hit F12. Save it as WOLFDOG. Now do some research and learn the difference between a wild dog and a wolf. Summarize what you learned on your document. When you finish raise your hand and I'll check your work for credit.

4th period, your warmup concerns Ji Li Jiang. What happened to her after she wrote this book? Save your file as LastNameJiLi.

After the warmup we'll do a quiz.

Then:
My sense is that many of you are finished with the two activities for the week: The Research Project and Station to Station. If this is true we will move on to the next state standard, the Business Letter. I'll show you how to do this.

HOMEWORK: 3rd read: "The Outcast". 4th read: "Junior High School At Last".

February 9

We'll begin with Silent Reading for 20 minutes.
Then resume work on Station to Station and your Reseach Papers.

HOMEWORK: 3rd period read "The Bondage". There's a good chance there will be a quiz tomorrow. 4th period read "Fate".

February 8

3rd period will start with a quiz, then I will show you a short film. Finally I'll ask you to work on Station to Station and your research reports. By Friday here's what I expect on the reports:

a proper MLA heading (do the date correctly)
a Works Cited with five or more entries including at least one book and one magazine.
A long quote
Two short quotes; one from a book, one from a magazine.
All quotes cited correctly using a parenthetical reference as per MLA style
No spelling errors, no red squiggly lines
1,500 words (includes heading and quotes)
For Korematsu speech folks you need three sources, 500 words total but other requirements stay the same.

4th period will have a quiz then do the Station to Station and Research reports.

HOMEWORK: 3rd read "The Makers of Fire"; 4th read "A Search in Passing"

February 7

Silent reading.
Then I'll show you how to cite a short quote on your research papers.
Then you'll resume work on Station to Station.

My goal for the week is for you to finish your research papers by Friday. By that date you will need Works Cited with 5 sources (3 for those of you who did the Korematsu speech). You will also need a single quote from a book and a magazine, cited properly. I'll explain today.

HOMEWORK:
3rd period read "The Law of Meat"
4th period read "The Propaganda Wall"

I'll quiz two or three times this week to keep you on your toes, but I don't know what days I'll do it.

February 4

Simple today:
Quiz
Silent Reading
Continue with Station to Station.

Next week we will pick up the research papers where we left off. The next step is to learn how to cite a source from a short quote or long quote. I'll show you how.

HOMEWORK:
3rd period: read The Wall of the World
4th period: read The Sound of Drums and Gongs

February 3

3rd period will begin with a quiz then do the STATION to STATION exercise that we didn't get to Tuesday.
4th period will be making da zi bao then doing STATION to STATION.

HOMEWORK: read the next chapter in the book.
3rd period: The Gray Cub
4th period: Graduation

Quizzes in both classes tomorrow.

NOTE: look to the right. 3rd period you will find the full text of White Fang on the internet. If you are ever caught without your book you can do your reading online.

February 2

We'll start with silent reading. Then I'd like to take some time to discuss the books you are reading.

HOMEWORK:
3rd period: read The Lair
4th period: read The Red Successors