Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we had a brief introduction to the Romantic Period and Frankenstein.

Poetry Out Loud

Today students had the period to work on their POL poems, finishing their annotations and SOAPSTones, drafting and posting CRAs (now due 11/22), etc. We also watched this short video with tips on memorizing poems.

The Candide Timed Essay

We began by discussing the first formal, revised essay assignment of the year (available at Google Classroom), and then students spent the remainder of the period on the Candide timed essay.
New Due Dates:

• Essay Topics, 12/1
• Drafts @ Classroom, 12/8
• Printed Drafts in class, 12/10
• Final Drafts at TurnItIn, 12/17

POL SOAPSTone Time

After talking a bit more about Candide, students spent the rest of the period working on their poetry analyses. By Thursday, they should have their initial annotations and SOAPSTones done and be ready to start CRAs if they have not already done so.

The Candide Wrap Up

After our final presentation from Friday, we spent the period writing about and discussing some major themes of the text.

PCs and Poetry

We began the day with the final piece in our look at the Antigone timed essays, using the rubric (available under the "About" tab at Google Classroom) to score the essays. Students had the rest of the period to work on their Poetry Out Loud annotations and SOAPSTones.

PCs & POL

We started the day with a self-analysis of the last timed writing (below). We will continue this Thursday.

The second half of the period was spent annotating and doing draft SOAPSTones on students chosen POL poems.

CRA Prep

We began with some discussion of Voltaire's overall point, and then groups had some more time to annotate and discuss passages for the CRA assignment. Students should complete draft CRAs for HW in their writer's notebooks.

The Garden

We began by discussing the end of the book, which moved into a discussion of El Dorado, and then we started on a more focused looked at student-chosen sections (basically, #1 on the handout below).

Candide: Day 1

What, with the quiz, some discussion of the play (Taming of the Shrew, go see it) and the resurrection of the Redwood Bark in print form, we didn't have much time to talk about Candide, but we did. A bit.

Q2 and Poetry Out Loud

We began the day with a quick discussion self-assessment and then introduced the Poetry Out Loud Unit. Handouts will be available at Google Classroom tomorrow.

The Raven with Half the Class

Today we read Poe's "The Raven." It was excellent.

A Bit More Sound & Sense

Today we wrapped up the sound and sense activity from yesterday and also revisited the Reading Self Evaluation from the beginning of the year.

More Fun w/ Meter

Today we continued our meter practice, with a short quiz, a few more examples, and a poem by Coleridge. We wrapped up the period talking a bit about how sound should echo sense in poetry.

Fun with Meter

Today we began our introduction to meter and scansion with a look at syllables, stress and some common metrical feet. Absent students should get the notes from a peer (make them teach you the mnemonic devices for the metrical feet as well).

A Reprieve

Groups worked for a bit on their posters and then presented them today. Tomorrow we will wrap up our discussion of Antigone and prepare for the timed writing on Thursday.

Term Hunt, Part 2

After a quickwrite and discussion of who had the better claim to "rightness" in the play, students worked for the rest of the period in groups to make term posters which they will share tomorrow in class.

Richard Cory and Tragic Heroes

We began the day with a short paragraph about "Richard Cory," wrote about and discussed the tragic hero status of Antigone and Creon, and wrapped up with a short homework assignment (below).

Circle Time

We started with a review of sonic devices, using "Richard Cory" of course. We then had some discussion in circles.

Rhyme and Antigone

Today we started with a quick review of rhyme in poetry and then had a quiz on Antigone.