Friday, August 28, 2009

First Week Observations

So we made it through the first week of school and have the weekend to take a breath.
I must say that I am pleased overall with what I have seen in class. However, I must warn that this first week my assignments were just a springboard to get the juices flowing again. With each passing week I expect to see improvement in your writing and reading analysis.
Some upcoming assignments, lessons, homework, etc. will be:
**Weekly "SAT Question of the Day" starting the week of August 31st
**SAT Vocabulary words A-D has been issued and will be collected the week of September 7th
**Family Tree Project will be issued the week of August 31st (due around the week of September 14th)
**Test on the Native Americans (short/long response questions) You will be able to use notes.
**Don't forget about the Summer Reading Projects due week of September 28th or anytime before.

You should have your binder with dividers by next week. Dividers should be labeled as follows:
1. Native/Colonial Americans (notes)
2. SAT Vocabulary
3. Misc. (dittos, worksheets)

We will continue reading Native American literature this coming week.
I hope you enjoy the music selections. As we go through the year I will try to find music that connects with what we are studying. If you have any songs that relate to the topic or can be connected in some way please email me the title and artist name.
Take care and see you all next week.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Selected Novel Choices

Thanks to our democratic process these are the novels that each class has voted on to read from cover to cover. I will let you know when to obtain them during the course of this school year.

Period 1 -

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Period 3 -

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Period 4 -

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Period 5 -

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Welcome to English III Honors

As we begin this school year in our new building I look forward to teaching you American Literature. I hope you are ready to increase your English skills and become exceptional writers and readers. We will begin the year studying the American colonial writers and work our way to modern American authors by the end of the year. There will be several papers, projects and novels to read along the way, but I am here to make the process as smooth as possible. I want you to set high expectations for yourselves because you are all capable of succeeding.

Materials needed:
*Three ring binder with three dividers
*Paper
*Pens (Blue or black only)
*Highlighter

Grading scale:
Your grade will be based on a 100 point scale, therefore, every point counts.
A= 100-90
B= 89-80
C= 79-70
D= 69-60
F= 59-0