2/27/04- Class 2- Vocab/spelling test given. Vocab sheets from #5 turned in. Analogies #5 done in class together. Finished half of Act IV of "The Crucible", students again read aloud in class from Act IV, choosing parts to read from. Remind students that exam for Puritan era is on Tuesday, 3/2/04, review session on Monday, 3/1/04.

3/1/04- Class 2- Jeopardy! review session for the exam done in class. Exam on 3/2/04 on The Crucible or The Scarlet Letter, depending on which text is being read. Also handed out vocabulary review sheets for the week. The sheets are due on 3/4/04- there will be NO spelling/vocabulary test this week.

3/2/04- Class 2- Examination taken on The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. Finished watching the last 20 minutes of the movie, "The Crucible" in class. Homework: Students are to read from pp.138-145 in the text, "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". Students are to be prepared for a quiz on 3/3/04.

3/3/04- Class 2- Reviewed corrected examinations with students from 3/2/04. Reviewed in class "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin", quiz was postponed until 3/4/04 due to the difficulty of the material. Read aloud from the text, p. 147 "Poor Richard's Almanck". For 3/4/04, students are to choose a virtue, and write 7 aphorisms to support/persuade others on the values of that virtue. Students can use modern language, they do not have to use 18th Century semantics.

3/4/04- Class 2-Quiz given on "The Autobiography of Ben Franklin". Also collected aphorisms from the students, read some aloud in class. Also reviewed/turned in vocabulary sheets for the week. Read from Ben Franklin's speech to the Convention advocating ratification of the Constitution. Also conducted extemperaneous speaking exercise in class to begin introduction for public speaking. Assigned to read Patrick Henry's speech before the Virginia Convention on p. 187 in the text for Monday.

3/8/04- Class 2-Students assigned to write a summary of the Henry speech to demonstrate understanding/reading of the text. Discussed the text to a small degree. Vocabulary sheets given out for the week to all students (due on Thursday). Introduced the next major paper as a persuasive argument-type paper. Group work in class, with students working to identify the pros and cons of a particular topic (in this case, the "no passes" policy put forth by the administration). Students worked together and came up with lists. Paper assignment to be given out later in the week, rubric will be provided. Assigned students to read the first 5 pages of "The Devil and Tom Walker" for class on Wednesday.

3/9/04- Class 2- No class today due to state mathematics exams eliminating 2nd hour.

3/10/04- Class 2- Took quiz on "The Devil and Tom Walker". Watched part of the movie of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" in class. Discussed in class some of the themes/ideas in the "Webster" piece. Reminded students to continue to consider/think of topic for their persuasive writing essay. Homework for 3/11/04- Completed vocabulary sheets are due. Also, students are to finish reading "The Devil and Tom Walker" pp. 242-252 in the text. Then a one page paper is due that compares and contrasts "Tom Walker" and "Daniel Webster". Due in class on 3/11/04.

3/11/04- Class 2- Students turned in compare/contrasts on "Walker" and "Webster". Finished watching video of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" in class. Corrected vocabulary sheets in class. Assigned reading of "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant for homework.

3/12/04- Class 2- Took vocabulary/spelling test in class. Students were to have their pro/con list for their persuasive papers ready to be checked in class by teacher today. In addition, rough draft for persuasive essay due on Tuesday. 3/16/04, final draft due 3/19/04. Did group work in class to help understand "Thanatopsis", reviewed group reports in class. Students to paraphrase the last 8 lines of the poem, have ready to turn in on Monday, 3/15/04.

3/15/04- Class 2- Started poetry unit. Handed out vocabulary sheets for the week- all poetry terms. Students given time in class to work on finding definitions for the terms and providing examples on sheets provided. Reviewed student answers for interpretation of last 8 lines of "Thanatopsis". Gave students a sheet listing all the poems in the text. Students are to pick 7 of the poems, and write a reaction paragraph on each one, due in class on Thursday, 3/18/04. Read "What is Poetry?" aloud in class. Finally, reviewed constructing an argument exercise with the class, provided examples from editorial pages of Star Tribune to help in visualizing how to construct an effective argument.

3/16/04-  Class 2- Had student volunteers read poems aloud in class. Poems included "Nikki-Rosa", "Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question", and "Sweaters That Go Over Your Head". Had class discussions on each of these poems. Also, students turned in rough drafts of their persuasive essay- discussed some of the issues facing the writing of these papers during class time. Students are to continue working on their poem vocab sheets and their 7 paragraph reactions.

3/17/04- Class 2- Had more student volunteers read poems aloud in class. Today class read "Deciding", "My Papa's Waltz", and "Nuclear Family". Again, discussed meanings of the poems in class. Teacher met individually with students who had turned in a rough draft of the persuasive essay and provided them with comments/feedback. Class discussion/debate exercise on how to frame the arguments in their paper- class wished to debate some of the topics being written on, chose one had class debate, wrote arguments on the board and discussed how to place/work in the arguments in a paper format.

3/18/04- Class 2- Reviewed poetic vocabulary term sheets in class. Also collected 7 reaction paragraphs on 7 poems homework. Asked students to share in class any of the poems that they particularly enjoyed. Students shared a couple aloud, class discussion on the subject matter of the poems. Began discussion of Edgar Allan Poe. Class watched part of a video portraying Poe's life, students to fill out worksheets on Poe during video. Final draft of persuasive essays due on 3/19/04, also spelling/vocabulary quiz on poetic terms to be done on 3/19/04.

3/19/04- Class 2- Students turned in final drafts of persuasive essays. Completed worksheet in class to help prepare for poetry vocabulary test. Turned in poetry vocabulary worksheets, took test. Went to the library, all students checked out The Edgar Allan Poe Reader. Assignment for Monday, 3/22/04; complete reading the "The Gold Bug", pp.1-26 in Poe. Completed analogy #9 in class.

3/22/04- Class 2-  Class given 10-15 minutes at the start of class to do quiet reading/work time. Class then watched the remainder of the video biography of Edgar Allan Poe, turned in worksheets on the video when done. Discussed briefly in class some of the themes of Poe, specifically his narrow lines between life/death, sanity/insanity, joy/sorrow. Discussed "The Gold Bug" in class, especially some more of those themes/lines present in the story. Gave class a "Gold Bug" worksheet, where students worked together in groups to complete the sheet. Students had to use the same techniques used by Legrand in the story to break the code on the worksheet. Homework for 3/23/04: Read "The Cask of Amontillado" for class, there will be a quiz. Also, if code sheet from "The Gold Bug" was not completed in class, turn it in on 3/23/04, fully completed.

3/23/04- Class 2-  Class provided vocabulary sheets for Unit 7. Sheets and spelling test will both be on Friday, 3/26/04. These scores will be included in the final quarter grade. Class took quiz on "The Cask of Amantillado". Class discussion on the story, specifically on the lines/themes that Poe sets up in the story. Class also provided with sheets on short story elements/terms. Students need to fill in the term sheet for Friday, 3/26/04. Students will be given a short story writing assignment over Spring break, more details to come later. Class read "The Raven" aloud in class, writing assignment for 3/24/04 is to compose two paragraphs on what the meaning of the poem is, and what the Raven is meant to represent in the story. Due on 3/24/04.

3/24/04- Class 2- Class turned in writing assignment on "The Raven", discussed what things that the Raven could represent in the poem. Watched video on "The Cask of Amantillado", students were to pick similarities/differences between the movie and the text, discussed after the movie is complete. Assignment sheet/rubric passed out for the short story writing assignment, due April 5th (first day after break). See rubric/assignment sheet for specifics on assignment. Assignment for 3/25/04 is to read "The Spectacles" on pages 163-178 in the Poe text. This is a humorous story, look for the differences between the humor stories and the horror stories.

3/25/04- Class 2- Class was given time to read "The Spectacles" at the beginning of class time. After, the students worked independently to answer questions on page 223 of the Poe text in regards to the story. Class discussed the story and the differences between the humorous Poe and the horror/thriller-type Poe stories that were covered earlier in the class. Discussed the short story assignment that is due at the start of the 4th Quarter further. Teacher requested that students indicate on their paper whether or not their story may be read aloud to the class after turning them in. Teacher distributed grade sheets to the class, answered any questions, covered what would be included in the quarter grades that was not on the sheet. Today is the final day for late work, by the end of the day. Completed Analogies #7 in class. Homework for 3/26/04: Complete vocabulary sheets #7, vocabulary test on 3/26/04. Have short story sheets completed, and read "William Wilson" pp.124-134 in the Poe text.

3/26/04- Class 2- Last day of Quarter 3. Students reviewed and turned in vocabulary sheets for Unit #7. Spelling/vocabulary test then taken for Unit #7. Reviewed short story terms sheet in class, answered specific student questions in regards to creative short story assignment due when back from break. Reviewed final grades (not including the Unit #7 information) with students. Watched biography movie on Mark Twain, distributed humorous Twain quotes as an introduction to the brief lessons that are coming up after the break on Twain. Homework for the break- students are to read "William Wilson", pp. 124-134 in the text, if they have not already done so. Students need to read "The Jumping Frog of Calveras County", pp. 569-580 in the text. Students need to turn in their assigned short story the first day back from break, April 5th.

4/5/04- Class 2- First day of Quarter 4. Collected short story writing assignments that were due today in class. Will read some aloud tomorrow (4/6/04) in class. Distributed Vocabulary sheets #8. Sheets and spelling test will both be on Thursday, 4/8/04, as there is no school on Friday. Discussed "William Wilson" by Edgar Allan Poe in class. Also read the first part of "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" aloud in class. Students assigned to read the rest of the story for class on 4/6/04. In addition, class was informed that examination on the 4 Poe stories (Amontillado, Gold Bug, Spectacles, and William Wilson), Ben Franklin/Patrick Henry, and "The Devil and Tom Walker" would be taken on Wednesday, 4/7/04. Review to take place on 4/6/04.

4/6/04- Class 2- Read three short stories aloud in class that were written by the students. Class discussion about the elements that made those stories good examples of short stories. Discussed with the class new policy for late assignment turn in (attach explanation to late homework when turned in). Teacher passed out small sheet detailing what will be covered on the examination on 4/7/04. In addition, class played a game of answering questions as a review for the examination.  Homework- prepare for examination on 4/7/04.

4/7/04- Class 2- Shortened class due to special advisory for registration. Class took examination on Poe, Franklin, Henry, Irving, and poetry (60 points total). This took up the majority of the class time. Also, vocabulary sheets/spelling test will not be held on 4/8/04 as originally scheduled. Rather, they will happen on 4/12/04. Tomorrow, class will attend the theater's production of "Bye, Bye Birdie" during class time.

4/8/04- Class 2- No regular class. Students attended JHS' theatre version of "Bye, Bye Birdie". Reminded students that vocabulary sheets #8 and spelling/vocab quiz will be on 4/12/04.

4/12/04- Class 2-  Students turned in vocabulary sheets #8 and took spelling/vocab quiz for the words in that unit. Students turned in their Poe texts and got copies of Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Discussed "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in class- especially the plot highlights and use of dialect. Also, discussed the use of dialect in daily lives as well as in the writing. Read aloud in class the first 3 pages of Huckleberry Finn, students to read through page 27 for class on 4/10/04. Discussed the difficulty of understanding the dialect as well as some of the controversial elements of the book.

4/13/04- Class 2- Brief review in class of the first 27 pages of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Students are to read up to page 54 for class tomorrow (4/14/04). Teacher answered student questions as to what has been read to this point, reviewed some common southern superstitions of the time, gave the class a worksheet to help them read/see those superstitions. Teacher gave brief introduction to movie, "The Story of English: Black on White", gave students a worksheet to complete during the film. Students turned in worksheets at the end of class for points. No other homework other than to read the novel, prepare for in class on the novel to be given on 4/14/04.

4/14/04- Class 2- Reviewed with students examinations from last week- gave feedback and constructive criticism on how to better excel at future examinations. Class took a quiz on the first 8 chapters of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Class discussion over answers on quiz, and reviewed what occurred in the novel to this point. Class then divided into small groups and began working with a piece of dialect from the text. Students needed to translate the heavy southern dialect into modern standard English. Last part of class was spent watching the first part of the 1939 film version of Huckleberry Finn.  Homework for the class was to finish and turn in the dialect translation exercise if it was not completed in class.

4/15/04- Class 2-  Corrected dialect translation exercise done in class on 4/14/04. Also discussed slang as part of dialect. Students provided a whole list of slang terms that they use- important to note the slang is very transitive in terms of time and can vary based upon ethnicity, location, occupation, and socio-economic status. Finished watching 10-15 minutes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, up to the point where students had read in the text. Students are done with Huck Finn at this point, and may return it to the library. Students may also finish reading the text, do a book report, and get 20-25 extra crediet points. Finally, teacher introduced "To Build a Fire" by Jack London and gave students time in class to read. Homeowrk- Finish reading "To Build a Fire" for class on 4/16/04, students should be looking for conflict (both internal and external).

4/16/04-  Class 2-Students watched "American Tongues", a PBS film dealing with differences in dialect, accent and vocabulary in current American society. Students completed a small handout with questions to accompany the film, followed by a short in-class discussion. Class then had a discussion on "To Build a Fire", which they should have read for today. Specifically talked about conflict between man/nature and internal conflict of the main character. Also discussed the relationship with the dog, and the isolation felt by the man. Assigned student to read "Cats" by Anna Quindlen from the textbook, pp. 688-691 for Monday, 4/19/04- and think about how this reading correlates with the London text. Class completed analogies #8 during the last part of the hour.

4/19/04- Class 2- Began class with new vocabulary sheet, Unit #9 for the week. Reviewed words with the class, sheet is due on Thursday 4/22/04, quiz on Friday 4/23/04. Class held discussion on the text, "Cats" and the similarites and differences between it and "To Build a Fire". Briefly introduced the major research project for the rest of the quarter. Students will need to research and write a paper on a famous American author, artist, musician or artistic movement. This will also involve a presentation to the rest of the class. The class was given a copy of a short story, "Zelzah: A Tale From Long Ago", they were given 25 minutes in class to read, need to read the rest for class on Tuesday, 4/20/04. A quiz on the story will be given at that time.

4/20/04- Class 2-  Students were given a few minutes to finish reading (if they had not already done so) their short story, "Zelzah: A Tale From Long Ago". Class took a quiz on which they could use notes or their story (strictly timed quiz). Reviewed quiz answers in class, discussed the significance of the story, specifically with the immigration of the late 19th Century, labor conditions, and women's rights. Students given time in class to read a short story by Kate Chopin on pp.634-636 in the text. Discussed the meaning of the story and part of the American women's suffrage movement of this time and why Chopin was considered controversial. Finally, class did analogy assignment #10 at the end of the period.

4/21/04-  Class 2-Students used class time to begin exploring topics for their research paper while using the portable computer lab. Students were provided a list of famous American authors, artists, etc. Students were then able to pick 4 people off of certain portions of the list to research using the internet. Students will need to give a small presentation on all 4 of the individuals that they have chosen to reasearch in class tomorrow, 4/22/04. This will acquaint students with a wide variety of authors/artists to pick from, as well as giving them an introduction into how to do research.

4/22/04- Class 2- Students had their vocabulary sheets on Lesson #9 (due today) checked and reviewed in class. Spelling/vocabulary test on these words tomorrow (4/23/04). Class spent some time again using the computer lab to finish preliminary research topics for their paper. Students spent time sharing a brief part of what their selected authors/artists had done and who they were. This exposed the rest of the class to  a wide variety of options available for their paper. On 4/23/04- class will receive a great deal more specific information/calendar for the research paper, as well as a discussion on how to take appropriate notes. Students must pick their topic sometime next week, Wednesady, 4/28/04 is the last date to pick a topic.

4/23/04- Class 2- Students took Unit #9 vocabulary/spelling test in class, and turned in worksheets for Unit #9 as well. Basic outline for the parameters of the research project were given to all students in class. Also provided class with a calendar as to when due dates for aspects of the process will be need to be handed in. Reviewed with class the process for note-taking on note cards- which will be done on Monday, 4/26/04 during library research time. Also identified for class that no one topic may be covered by more than 3 students, first-come, first-serve. Finally, took down on list topics by students who have already chosen their subject.

4/26/04-  Class 2-  Students used the class period in the library, beginning research for their research papers. Students must have the topic for their paper chosen by Wednesday, 4/28/04. Students also encouraged to take notes/cite sources on their notecards- 75 cards due in class on next Tuesday, May 4th.

4/27/04- Class 2- Students again used the class period in the library continuing research for their papers. Again, final selection of topic must be done by 4/28/04; 75 note cards in by 5/4/04.

4/28/04- Class 2- Final day in the library for students to do research for their projects. Also, students had to select the next novel that they do in class (will not be much homework assigned with the novel). Students have seven novels to pick from: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Red Pony by John Steinbeck,   The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,  Out of Dust by Karen Hesse, and Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Students should bring the novel of their choice to class on 4/29/04.

4/29/04- Class 2- Class had quiet reading time for most of the class period today. Students were to read the first part of their respective novels and complete a worksheet identifying various elements of their stories. Teacher also distributed grade sheets; any work to be done for the rest of the mid-quarter needs to be in by 4/30/04. Teacher also checked with each student on their progress on the research paper, making sure all students understand what is expected and when their first parts of the assignment are due.

4/30/04- Class was given vocabulary sheets with terms relevant to the research paper on them. Students were to look up the terms in the dictionary and provide the definitions based upon which definition was relevant to the research paper. Class was also given time to read from their novels again (no written assignment done during the class). Analogies #11 done during class time.

5/3/04- Class 2- Class was given an exercise in bibliography/MLA style to be done in class. Students were to take information from a text and compile the source information in MLA style. Students also were given time to ask questions about their 75 note cards (which are due on 5/4/04). Students then were provided time to read their novels in class for the last 15 minutes or so. 

5/4/04- Class 2- Class was given the first hour or so of time to read their novels in class and complete a written assignment on what they have read so far. Meanwhile, the teacher individually checked in with each student to check their note card/research project process. Each student received a point for each note card correctly filled out with notes for their research project. Teacher then spent time going over how to correctly complete the note cards as well as the source cards (due on 5/5/04) for the project.

5/5/04- Class 2- Class was given the guidelines for how to complete a book review for their novels (which will be done early next week). Students then read novels, while teacher checked in with individual students on the progress of their source note cards. Class then reviewed the calendar for the research project (rough drafts due the week of May 17-21); outines and thesis statements due on Friday, 5/7/04. Teacher reviewed and had class discussion/interaction on how to do outlines/thesis statements. Will do more work on them in class on 5/6/04.