November 9-13
We continue reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" this week. Tuesday we don't have class because of our Veteran's Day activities, so I've asked all students to read through chapter 11 by Wednesday. This ends the first half of the novel, and there will be a short quiz over some of the themes in the novel, ones we've discussed in class. All students were told that they can come in early Tuesday and Wednesday before school begins to ask questions.
having finished chapter 12 we are slowing down and focusing on identifying the primary characters, their traits and motivations. This is an ongoing assignment done almost entirely in class. They will likely have this on them (their binder) but again, this is what we will work on in class as we read. Thursday they received another handout asking them to cite specific examples directly from the text as part of some short answer responses. This is due Monday at the beginning of class. As always, they can come in the morning to see me if they need help. Friday we are reading chapter 13-14.
November 16-20
Monday we read chapters 15, and a portion of 16. They need to read through 17 by Friday. Tuesday through Thursday they will be working on L.A. District Benchmarks.
November 23rd and 24th
We've had to extend the district benchmarks longer than anticipated. Round Rock gave a test this year that is (I'm not kidding) 15 pages long. This includes answering short-answer essays, as well as writing a multi-paragraph essay based on a given prompt. We are finishing it today and reading some more of To Kill a Mockingbird on Tuesday.
November 30th through December 4th
Monday- Reading TKAM through chapter 23 (finish for homework), and studying words for Spelling Bee on Wednesday.
Tuesday- journaling, brief quiz and review of same covering through 23. Read chapter 24.
Wednesday- Spelling Bee and read chapter 25
Thursday- journaling, and Persuasion Game- I offer a cheap, relatively useless prize. In groups they create 10 or more reasons why their group should be awarded this prize. They argue (debate) trying to convince other students (and me). Winning team gets prize(s). This is part of a couple of things we are doing leading into our final unit of this semester.
Friday- Continue reading TKAM, chapters 26-27.
Sorry about the odd formatting on this page. This program drives me a little crazy.
If you have any questions please e-mail me.
Reading Logs are due Fridays, every two weeks. The next is due November 20th. This is always written on my class agenda well in advance of the due date. The instructions are written in the back of their agendas on the July 1st-2nd page.