Week of September 23, 2013

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats

The goal of this English class is to produce critical thinkers. Students are not only reading for comprehension but for meaning and relevancy of the work as a whole. Literature is also an example of good writing. The writing improves when a student reads. Vocabulary also improves because the student is learning to read in context. We want successful students who can think critically and communicate effectively.

 Academic English 9:  Students will review Vocabulary Unit 2.  They will be required to apply vocabulary in context.  Students will also be identifying subject and verbs.  They will be able to identify phrases and subordinate clauses to aid them with the identification of subject and verb in the independent clause.  Through this identification they will be able to analyze sentence structure to help them with their writing.  The viewing of The Boy in Striped Pajamas will begin.  They will analyze and apply literary devices through the visual medium with teacher facilitation.  Students will be required to read and analyze Elie Wiesel's Night as they read on their own.  The novel due date is October 7th.

Practical 10:   Students will be required to complete an Annotated Bibliography.  Students will learn to research, validate, summarize, and critique their sources.  They will be required to use these sources to write an argumentative essay based on one of the articles from The New York Times Upfront Magazine.  The assignment is due by Friday, 9/27.

English 11:    Students will read and analyze an article on Manifest Destiny.  They will be required to identify and discuss the main points of the article.  They will be required to support a thesis through an essay based on the information in the article.  Students will be required to identify and apply the literary devices of denotation and connotation to understand the importance of perspective and word choice. They will then use the elements of the myth, the information from the article, and their analysis to create a unique myth to tell of the loss of their heritage. This narrative writing assignment transitions to the next unit on Puritanism.  Vocabulary Unit 2 worksheets due on Wednesday, 9/25.  Sentences and review will be on Friday, 9/27.

Public Speaking:  Students will be responsible for reading and analyzing the necessary elements of good speech writing.  They will be required to apply these to the Informative Speech.

Chapter 10 due Tuesday, 9/24
Chapter 11 due Thursday, 9/26
Chapters 12 & 13 due Monday, 9/30
Chapter 14 due Wednesday, 10/2
Chapter 15 due Friday 10/4
JFK Critique due Monday 10/7