Finals Week!

The final for Honors will include the following parts:

Part I. Contains 50 multiple choice questions covering the information in the study guide
Part II. Students will view sets of outlines, and will choose the most effective, logical argument outline out of 4 options.
Part III.  Students will write a 2-3 paragraph response to a prompt about their independent reading book...OPEN BOOK.  Feel free to bring your copy.  No electronic versions allowed, just paper copies.

Here is the schedule:

MONDAY: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, no school.

TUESDAY: All classes, review day.  We will play review baseball to practice for the first part of the final.

Homework: Please bring pencils and your independent reading book, as well as materials to study or a book to read in case you finish early.

WEDNESDAY:
8:00- 9:55 - First period final
10:05 - 12:00 - Second period final

THURSDAY:
8:00- 9:55 - Fourth period final
10:05 - 12:00 - Third period final

FRIDAY:
8:00- 9:55 - Fifth period final
10:05 - 12:00 - Sixth period final

It's been a great semester.  I am truly looking forward to more reading, discussion, debates, and even essays (!) with you during Spring Semester.  Thanks for all that you do!

January 8-12

It's our only full week in January, and the week before finals.  Please bring your study guides with you to class and note that the last day to turn in any make-up work is Friday, January 12.  Here's what's on the agenda:

MONDAY: Journal warm-up.  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech - context, SOAPS.  Listen/watch speech and perform rhetorical analysis on speech.  Small groups: outline response to rhetorical analysis prompt (just like what will be on the final).  Compare outlines as a whole class.

Due: Huckleberry Finn through the end of Chapter 20.

Homework: Please read Huckleberry Finn Chapters 21-22.

Read through the study guide and fill out the SOAPS and outline sections.

WEDNESDAY: Current events day - Journal warm-up.

Due: n/a

Homework: (same as Monday) Please read Huckleberry Finn Chapters 21-22.

Read through the study guide and fill out the SOAPS and outline sections.

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocabulary list #13, grammar, and Huckleberry Finn reading. Contest/activity: fill in rhetorical analysis terms on the Study Guide. Play Vocab Story Rounds with full Study Guide list.

Due: Huckleberry Finn Chapters 21-22.

Read through the study guide and fill out the SOAPS and outline sections.

Homework: Go through the Study Guide and fill in the Grammar rules and any empty sections.

Here is a link to the Study Guide with all of the rhetorical analysis definitions filled in.  I would suggest you re-copy them into the handout from class. 

Review your independent reading book (the first book of your category) and have it ready to bring to class for the final next week.

Happy 2018!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable break and despite all of your activities, had a chance to sleep in many of the mornings. Highlights for me were going to the Nutcracker, going to San Francisco, eating my first Korean BBQ burrito, watching the new season of Black Mirror, catching up on my Atlantic subscription, and of course reading all of your journals. :-)

Here's what's on the agenda for our short week:

MONDAY: New Year's Day!  No school, unfortunately.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY: Overview of the next 5 months in 2018.  New Year's/Benjamin Franklin-themed journal warm-up.  Receive Vocabulary/Grammar #12. Receive Paper Tigers article and begin reading it in class. Answer discussion questions, discuss in small groups.  If time, play Vocab Story Rounds.

Due: n/a

Homework: Finish reading Paper Tigers and answering the discussion questions for next class.

Study for quiz.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocabulary, grammar, and Paper Tigers reading assignment. Receive Vocab #13, study guide for final. Share Paper Tigers discussion question responses spiderweb-style.  Review Huckleberry Finn and act out Chapter 18. 

Due: Finish reading Paper Tigers and answering the discussion questions.

Homework: Read Huck Finn, through the end of Chapter 20.  

December 11-15

It's the last week of school in 2017!  Please note that journals are due in the bin by the end of the class period on Thursday/Friday. 

Optional: A couple of students have put together a fund for helping the horses that have been displaced due to the recent fires in Southern California.  If you'd like to go to their gofundme page, please click here.

Here's what's on the agenda on our last week before Winter Break:

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Collect Huckleberry Finn rafts.  Notes: definition of claim. Claim vs. fact activity. Read and act out Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 15.

Due: Huckleberry Finn Raft Project

Homework: Please read Huckleberry Finn through the end of Chapter 17 for Thursday/Friday.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Current event day - read and annotate two opposing viewpoints and perform an SAT-style rhetorical analysis as a class.  Discuss and debate, vote.  Outline the majority opinion in a synthesis/ACT-style outline response based on the discussion.

Due: n/a

Homework:  (Same as Monday/Tuesday)

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz. Read and act out Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 18 in class.

Due: Read Huckleberry Finn through the end of Chapter 17.

Journals are due in the bin by the end of the class period on Thursday/Friday.

Homework: Please finish the first independent reading book in the category you chose at the beginning of the year.

Please answer discussion post #4 in Turnitin.com before Wednesday, January 3. 

Have a wonderful, well-deserved Winter Break.   I look forward to seeing everyone in 2018!

December 6-10

December is here! Two more weeks until the long break.  We will continue with Huckleberry Finn, and with our argument unit. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Notes: line graph of possible responses to an argument prompt. Universal outline for argument essays. Read and act out Huck Finn Chapter 9, 10 if time. View "Bike Thief: What Would You Do?" video and discuss.

Due: read Chapters 6-8 of Huckleberry Finn.

Homework: Please read Huckleberry Finn Chapters 10-12 for Thursday/Friday.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Current event day - read and annotate two opposing viewpoints and perform an SAT-style rhetorical analysis as a class.  Discuss and debate, vote.  Outline the majority opinion in a synthesis/ACT-style outline response based on the discussion.

Due: n/a

Homework:  (Same as Monday/Tuesday)

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocabulary #10, grammar, and reading.  Read Huckleberry Finn Chapter 13 and 14 in class and act it out. Intro Huck Finn Raft Project, view samples. 

Due: Read Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 10-12.

Homework:  Huck Finn Raft Project for next class.

Read another 10 pages of your Independent Reading book.

November 27 - December 1

At the end of this week, it's December already! I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving. This week, we'll launch the argument writing unit and begin The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Receive vocabulary list #9.  Notes: "Civil arguments", types of evidence and examples.  Discuss the "Content Warnings" articles, group activity.  Intro: the setting, language of Huckleberry Finn.  Pick up the book from the library.

Due:  Please read and annotate these three articles about content warnings for school books (1 against written by Gen X'ers, 2 for, written by millennials), for November 20/November 21 (the first class after Thanksgiving).  Come to class with annotations and opinions and be ready to discuss.

Homework: Please read Chapters 1-3 of Huckleberry Finn for Thursday/Friday.

WEDNESDAY: (2nd period only) Journal warm-up. Current event day - read and annotate two opposing viewpoints and perform an SAT-style rhetorical analysis as a class.  Discuss and debate, vote.  Outline the majority opinion in a synthesis/ACT-style outline response based on the discussion.

Due: n/a

Homework:  (Same as Monday/Tuesday) Please read Chapters 1-3 of Huckleberry Finn for Friday.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz. Read and act out Chapters 4 and 5 of Huckleberry Finn in class.

Due: Read Chapters 1- 3 of Huckleberry Finn.

Homework: Please read Chapters 6 - 8 of Huckleberry Finn.

Thanksgiving Week

It's a short week, and we'll enjoy a roundtable discussion, city council-style, about a proposal about how to combat homelessness that was debated in the San Pedro City Council. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. View statistics about the homeless population in the Los Angeles area.  Read/watch opposing viewpoints about a proposal in San Pedro and then discuss it, roundtable-style.

Due: Please read another 20 pages of your independent reading book and post a response to the Independent Reading Turnitin.com Discussion Board, Post #3.  You should be up to about 180 - 200 pages in the Independent Reading Book

Homework: Please read and annotate these three articles about content warnings for school books for November 20/November 21 (the first class after Thanksgiving.  Come to class with annotations and opinions and be ready to discuss.

Read and annotate 10 pages of your Independent Reading book.

WEDNESDAY: (4th and 6th periods only) Journal warm-up - think, pair, share: getting to know classmates with personal anecdotes. Six word story creative exercise in groups with themes.   

Due: n/a

Homework: (Same as Monday/Tuesday)  Please read and annotate these three articles about content warnings for school books (1 against written by Gen X'ers, 2 for, written by millennials), for November 20/November 21 (the first class after Thanksgiving).  Come to class with annotations and opinions and be ready to discuss.

Read and annotate 10 pages of your Independent Reading book.