Independent Book Assignment (Freshman)

Independent Book Requirements
PowerPoint Handouts are due Monday, January 5th. Students will be given 2 class periods to work on the project (December 18th and December 19th). What is not finished must be completed over Winter Break. Presentations will be given by each student in class from January 5th - January 9th.

Rubric

The Odyssey (Freshman)

English 9 will be reading The Odyssey beginning in late November and ending right before Winter Break.


Students will be tested on the Background Info PowerPoint.

Here's a timeline of the story.
Cyclops Picture
Odyssey Projects - Due Wednesday, December 17th (Same day as the unit test!!)
Greek Mythology Internet Scavenger Hunt

Go Ask Alice and Other Assignments (Basic 10)

The English Basic 10 class will be reading Go Ask Alice in November and December. Here's some handouts from class:

"White Rabbit" Lyrics and Questions

Indirect and Direct Characterization Worksheet

Common Mistakes List
Quiz is on Friday, 10-31-08

Personal Narrative Requirements and Rubric
Due Friday, 10-31-08

Poetry (Freshman)

The next unit for English 9 is poetry.

~ Click here to find out some myths of poetry!
~ How to Read Poetry Handout

~ November, December, and January Schedule

Short Stories (Sophomores)

Our 10th grade Short Stories Unit will consist of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Folklore, and Realistic Fiction.

Science Fiction:
~ Intro Notes
~ "There Will Come Soft Rains" Worksheet

Fantasy and Folklore:
~ Intro Notes
~ Foreign Folklore Project

Realistic Fiction:
~ Intro Notes
~ "Initiation" Worksheet
~ Horror Powerpoint Notes

As a culminating activity to the unit, each student will be writing their own short story! Here are the requirements.

Test is on Tuesday, 10-28-08!

Speak (Freshman)

Each student received a schedule of our Speak Unit. There may be some changes but the basic outline will remain the same.

Here are some other important files for the unit.
~Journal Entries
~Tree Quote Illustration and Explanation
~Discussion Questions
~Cubism Extra Credit
~Post Reading Discussion Questions
~ Teen Depression Article Essay
~ Compare OR Contrast Essay: Compare or contrast the book to movie
~ Rubric for Compare or Contrast Essay
~ Editing Checklist for Compare or Contrast Essay

Journals and Articles (Basic 10)

If you are absent, you must complete what you missed on your own time! Here's the list to keep you on track!

Journals
1: Goals for the year
2: What makes a person successful?
3: What is your best personality trait? How can you use it to help others?
4: Equality: Disadvantages and Advantages of acting like someone you aren't
5: If I were a teacher, I would...explain.
6: Time Travel
7: What is Jealousy? Where does it come from? Why do we experience it? Provide examples and explain.

We have had 5 articles so far.

Article Discussion Assignment (Sophomores)

Every Friday we will be discussing an article of a student's choice. You can get the guidelines of the assignment here. The list of 'who goes on what day' is posted in the classroom...so check it if you forgot your day!

Grammar and Words to Know

Here's notes we took in class.
Nouns
Pronouns

These are charts with words we will be referring to all year. There will not necessarily be a test covering each word but success in class is dependent on knowing the words in each chart.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Literary Terms
Types of Literature and Other Terms

Welcome Back!

Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year! Below are the Course Expectations for each of my classes. Your student should return the signed portion and have all class materials by Wednesday, September 3rd!

English 9
English 10
English 10 Basic
Classroom Philosophies

9th Grade: On Tuesday, 9-2 we created our own "I Am From..." Poems in class. Here is an example and instructions!

PARENTS: Open House is Wednesday, September 3rd from 6:45pm - 8:50pm. Hope to see you there!!

Summer!

Thanks to all of my outstanding students for all of your hard work this year! You guys were patient, understanding, and taught me tons of valuable lessons whether you realize it or not! You were also lots of fun (and interesting at times...) and I couldn't have asked for a better first year!
Thanks to the parents for all their advice and the staff for helping me whenever I needed it!!
HAVE A WONDERFUL, RELAXING SUMMER!!

Review for Final Exams (9th and 10th)

Final Exams are almost here! It's not time to relax yet!! STUDY and end the year on a positive note!


10th Grade Review Sheet

10th Grade Final Exam Speech Requirements

9th Grade Review Packet

The House on Mango Steet (Freshman)

Journal Entries for The House on Mango Street

Each class will be creating their own version of The House on Mango Street by reflecting on freshman year. Click here for the requirements!

The test for The House on Mango Street will be on Friday 5-23. It will be combined with Unit 2 Vocab so be prepared!

Schedules for the Rest of the Year! (9th and 10th)

Schedule for English 10
Schedule for English 9

Research Paper (Sophomores)

--Submission to turnitin.com: Due by Tuesday at Midnight
--Final Draft: Due Wednesday 4-30
Click here for final draft reminders.

Rough Drafts are due Monday 4-21!! Here is the rubric for the final paper but remember your rough draft should also contain all of these requirements!
Here is the outline review guided notes from class on Tuesday 4-1! Typed outlines are due Monday 4-7-08 at the beginning of class!

REMEMBER = over Spring Break you need to complete 20 notecards on Noodletools and share them with me! Class Name: Smalley English 10 Period 1 (or Period 2 if you are in 2nd or Period 5 if you are in 5th.) Any questions? Email me at Smalley@strongnet.org


Posted 3-10-08: In addition to the Media Literacy Unit we will be completing our 10th grade requirement of writing a research paper. The topic is a current controversial issue of the student's choice. A formal speech will also be given at the end of May covering the same topic and will be 1/3 of the final exam grade. Parents, please make sure your child is keeping up with the assignments and due dates as this is a large portion of their 4th quarter and final exam grade.
For more information, download the schedule/checklist and the requirements sheet.

Book Talks! (sophomores)

After reading your independent novel, you will be giving a book talk for the class. Click here for the requirements! Book Talks will take place Wednesday 4-23 through Friday 4-25.

Julius Caesar Group Scenes!

Here are the instructions for our group performances of Julius Caesar!

OGT Study Island Extra Credit (Sophomores)

In preparation for the OGT Tests (March 3rd - March 10th), I am offering extra credit to all my sophomore students. You must use Study Island, which there is a link to on the right side of the page. Read all about it here!

Julius Caesar (Sophomores)

Click here for the discussion questions from class. Use them to study for your test which is Monday 2-25-08!

Here is the Analogies Vocabulary Activity. We started this in class on Wednesday 2-6 and completed it for homework.

Click here for the Act 2 Worksheet (5th period--homework over the weekend)

Dialogue Writing Assignment: We completed this Monday 2-4-08 in class.

Snow Day!!

Because of our Snow Day on Monday February 11th, we will be pushing back the speech dates. In addition to that, we will be in the Media Center scheduling classes for next year on Thursday. So...we need to do some revising to our schedule:

~Monday: No School!!! Enjoy!
~Tuesday: Persuasive Speech Notes Quiz (which was supposed to be on Monday! No excuses for being unprepared!!!) And conferences to aid you in last minute questions about speeches.
~Wednesday: Speeches scheduled for Tuesday
~Thursday: Media Center for scheduling and a small Valentine's Day Activity. NO speeches will be presented
~Friday: Speeches scheduled for Wednesday
~Monday: President's Day! No School!!
~Tuesday: Speeches scheduled for Thursday
~Wednesday: Speeches scheduled for Friday

New Semester!

The new semester has begun! Here are a few quotes to think about (and write a paragraph explaining what one means and apply it to your life at school) as we start off fresh!

** "Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence."

** "Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us."

Midterm exam Study Guide (Sophomores)

I posted the midterm study guide for the sophomores. If you forgot to bring it home, you can thank me later for being nice and posting it up here :)
Good luck on your Mid-terms!!

Poetry Essay and Presentation

Here are the requirements for your 5 paragraph song analysis essay. It is due January 7th. Presentations start January 7th and will continue through January 10th.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
* Click here for the notes we took in class!
* Use the Bright Green Media Center Database sheet to find a reliable source!

Any questions...email me! smalley@strongnet.org

Grammar Notes!

Adverbs
Verbs
Linking Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs