Physically but not Mentally.

Heeeyyy guys, I'm here, in case you didn't notice. :-)

Bellwork? Okay, but only because you asked soooo nicely. 

To freewrite, you must write without stopping for a designated period of time. While freewriting, don’t pause to think of the perfect word or to get your thoughts in order. Don’t even  worry about spelling or punctuation. Just write whatever pops into your head.

Freewrite for 5 minutes on the topic of love. 

After the bell work, work on your final draft, you needed to make 10 changes and add a metaphor or simile. We need to hand write the essay for grading :-) 

Sick Days

Hey kiddos, I'm sick today, the kind of sick that makes you feel like death when you wake up. I figured that rather than subjecting you to an hour of me coughing and blowing my nose while heavily medicated, I'd stay home and write you a blog instead. Although, to be fair, I'm really entertaining on cold meds.

Today don't worry abut bell work, let's have some silent reading time instead. I'm a little worried that it won't be so silent because you already have the laptops, but once you read this, go grab and book and do your best. Read for about 10 minutes, ok? Ready? Go.

Are you back? Good. Today we are editing your rough draft. Editing isn't just about fixing the grammar and spelling mistakes, it's about really making your paper better. To make sure you really put some effort into this, I'd like you to change 10 sentences in your paper, and add either a simile or a metaphor. You don't have to completely change each sentence, you can change just a part of it, but 10 sentences must be different. A simile or metaphor will add imagery to your paper, and Cambridge loves imagery.

Ok, stay busy, be good, and hopefully I will see you tomorrow.

Love,

Your about to be heavily drugged English teacher.

It's Thursday!!!

Bellwork today? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Here you go:

 If you’re tired of conveying emotion with sentences like Randy was frightened or Sandy was happy, try describing body language: Randy cowered under his blanket or A grin lit up Sandy’s face, for example.

Write a short story (2 paragraphs) about your first day of kindergarten and express the emotions you felt by describing your body language. 

After the bell work we get to work on our papers! Yay! I'll ask you if you'd like me to read and edit it. You don't have to, but I'd suggest it. Rough drafts are due tomorrow. 

Wednesday

Is this racist? 

Happy Wednesday!

Bellwork:

What’s you favorite commercial? Suppose you work in advertising, and you've been assigned to write a “sequel” to this commercial. Write a short summary of this new ad. If you have time, write a script for it too. 

Today we are continuing to edit and rewrite our papers. When you read someone's paper, make sure that you aren't just reading it to check for grammar and spelling, but really look at the content, what they are writing. Cambridge doesn't care as much about commas or paragraphs as we do here in America, they want to see your writing and ideas. There should be significant changes in your rough and first draft papers.

Holla!

Ok, here is your bell work today:

Onomatopoeia refers to words that sound like their meaning. For instance, fizz sounds fizzy, and languid sounds lazy and relaxed. Try to come up with ten onomatopoeic words on your own. 

When you are finished with that, have a peer read and edit your paper. Work on revisions. Really try to make your paper full of vivid imagery. 

Post-Thanksgiving

I NEED SLEEP. Just so you guys know, you should appreciate your lack of responsibility, youth of America, because being an adult is lame. 

Bell work: 

Quick, name the eight parts of speech! If you need a little help, check out the list below:

Noun: a person, place, thing, or idea

Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, him, we, they)

Adjective: describes a noun or pronoun

Verb: an action word

Adverb: describes or modifies a verb, adjective or other adverb

Preposition: links nouns and pronouns to phrases (in, on, under, around)

Conjunction: links lists, phrases, and clauses (and, or, when, while)

Interjection: conveys emotion (hey, wow, ouch, yeah)

Write two sentences. Between the two of them, use every single part of speech. 

After you finish that, work on your 600 word descriptive essay. 

Monday Monday

Today we are going to finish the speeches.

Then we are going to start a creative writing project. Getting ready for the Cambridge exam :-) This will take us past Thanksgiving, but I promise you won't have to work on it over the holiday, because I'm not Mr. Kazanas. I'm nice.

30 Minutes!

Don't worry about bell work today, just finish your closing argument :-)

Monday? Tuesday? What's Happening?

Hey guys!

It's Tuesday, but it feels like a Monday. I don't know about you, but I felt like this today:

I feel you dog. 

But the nice thing about today is that we can be nice and relaxed. Here is your bell work assignment:

If you could be any celebrity for one day, who would you be? Write  a paragraph explaining why you would want to be this person. Write  a second paragraph about what you’d do if you got to be this person for a day.

 When you are finished with that, you can continue to work on your closing argument. We will be presenting these tomorrow (unless you beg and bribe me to extend the due date). So make sure you and your partner are ready to battle it out in front of the class. 

And, just because:

PS: We have a late start tomorrow, so don't come to school until 10:30 or you'll be chilling in the cafeteria all morning with other super cool kids. 

PPS: Writing this blog post made me want a nap and a taco. 

Tuesday: Are We All Ok?

Many of our classmates will be gone today at ASU, so our numbers will be few.

But it's an easy day!

Bell work is on the board. When you are finished with it, you can start working on your closing argument with your partner. If your partner is gone you can still work on your side of the argument. Read the instructions to see how long it should be.

Happy Monday!

Did you survive the weekend? I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for a nice chill day here.

Bell Work is on the Promethean Board.

When you are done with that, you can continue working on gathering evidence from the story to prove Montressor is guilty, or defend him by saying he is criminally insane. When you have found your three pieces of evidence on both sides you should raise your hand, I'll check your work and you can start working on writing your closing argument as a lawyer.

And, just because: 

It's Friday and We Have Company!

Let's make Mr. Jones feel welcome in class today and let's show him what an awesome class you guys really are!

Today's bell work is on the board. Today we are talking about conditionals. It might look like a long assignment, but it's really not. All you need to do is write 5 sentences. :-)

I will give you until 10:50 to complete this.

After you finish, log on to the online textbook.

Here is the website again:

www.classzone.com

When you go there, you should see a shortcut with a picture of our book. Click "Go"
Then on the next page scroll down and click on the online textbook. This should open a new window.
If your computer doesn't have flash, just look on with someone sitting next to you. 
You won't need to register again, you should just be able to log in. 

We are on page 347

Montressor has just started leading Fortunado down to his family crypt where he keeps his wine. Yup, dead bodies and wine, makes sense, right? Actually the climate to keep wine so it lasts a long time and keeps its flavor makes the crypt a perfect place for it. Cool and damp. But it's still creepy. They are about to see Montressor's family crest, which has a Latin phrase on it that means "No one injures me without impunity." Basically his whole family crest is about getting revenge on people who have insulted them. This family takes revenge seriously! 

When we finish the story, I am going to give you a handout. We are going to put Montressor on trial! You will look for evidence to see if he is guilty or innocent. We are doing this because it's a fun way for you to look for details by the author, and find evidence to back up a claim. This is a very key skill to have for passing the Cambridge exams. 

After putting the laptops away, I'm asking you to return to your desks so we can do a little closing assignment. :-)

Happy Thursday -- Don't Smoke.

Today we are not going to have a writing assignment. Because of the assembly and some time constraints, we are going to get started on our work.

So this is exciting: There is an online edition of the textbook! Here is how to access it. Please follow these directions.

Directions for accessing the online textbook:

Go Here: www.classzone.com

1. Select HS Lang Arts, Arizona, and "Go"

2. Locate and click on the book you would like to use. For this class, you need McDougal Littell Literature, Grade 9. It is an orange book. 

3. Scroll down and locate "online book" and click on the icon

4. A new window will pop up. Click "continue"

5. Under "new visitors" click on "Create Student Account"

6. Enter this activation code: 3711163-10. The dash is already there; make sure to put the 10 in the second box.

7. Follow the prompts to create a username and password. Remember to write this down, this is how you will access the online book as a "returning visitor" from now on.

We are going to start reading Cask of Amontillado on page 344. 

Happy Wednesday

It's Wednesday y'all!

Halfway through the week. Today's bell work is poetic, let's call it a celebration of making it this far.

Today we are going to work on a little grammar. Adjectives!

Once you are done writing your poem, you can close your laptop and I will hand out the grammar for the day.

Finishing Poe Bio

Hello! Today's writing assignment is on the board. You will have about 10 minutes to work on it.

When you finish the daily writing, make sure to save your paper, then you should finish the research on Edgar Allan Poe. At 11:10, I'm going to stop the class and will have a discussion about the research you have done. I will add my own knowledge and we will plot out his life together.

By the end of today, I want you to know about Edgar Allan Poe's life through researching and a teacher led discussion.

Day One

Hello my dear 4th hour class! 

Today is day one of the great laptop trial of 2012. You can come here to see what we are working on for the day, find the bell work and ask questions. 

Today's bell work is on the board. You should write about a paragraph. Because we are going all technologically advanced you will not be handwriting this. Open up Microsoft Word and start a document. You will add to this every day with daily writing then at the end of the week you will put it in the shared folder so I can check it. 

You will have about 10 minutes to write this assignment. Ready?

Set... Go!

Done? Ok. 

Next we I be introducing Edgar Allan Poe to you. You are going to do some research and find 10 interesting things about his life. Use google.com to search for information about his life. Remember that websites ending in .org and .edu are the best for research. After you are done we are going to talk about his life as a class. You will have to share something that no one else has shared, so make sure to find lots of interesting information about him, not just the general stuff. :-)