First Week! August 31-September 4

Welcome to the first week of school!  This week, we'll get to know each other and discuss our goals for the year, including the SAT, ACT, SBAC, and, of course, the get an overview of the AP exam you'll take on May 11, 2016.  We'll also get familiar with routines and procedures in the class, and warm up for an engaging, productive year ahead.

MONDAY:  (minimum day - all classes, 35 minutes per class) Find seats, welcome and introduction, journals passed out and started, share.  Receive syllabus, begin work on Interest Inventory Worksheet.  DUE: First journal entry, completed in class.  HW (Homework): Completed Interest Inventory Worksheet for next class.  Read syllabus and ask parents/guardians to read it, sign it and return it by Thursday.

TUESDAY: Journal, share.  Interest Inventory Worksheet activity. Overview of SAT changes, details about AP Language and Composition exam in May.  Discuss syllabus, including upcoming units, procedures and routines.  Instructions for summer homework assignment upload (please upload Scarlet Letter homework to Turnitin.com, see column to the right for codes).  Writing activity - write a letter to yourself as a freshman.   DUE: Interest Inventory Worksheet.  HW: For Thursday, finish letter assignment, bring signed syllabus to class.  By Saturday, please sign up for TheWeek.com's daily "Top 10" current events e-mail subscription.  (See sidebar for step-by-step instructions.)

THURSDAY: Journal, share.  Turn in letter.  Sign up instructions for TheWeek.com free current events newsletter.  Gallery Walk/Grapes of Wrath introduction.  Pick up a copy of The Grapes of Wrath for next week. (Students should consider buying their own copy so they can mark it while reading.)  Notes: Intro to rhetoric - definition.  Aristotle's rhetorical triangle.  Intro to SOAPS (mnemonic).  DUE: letter, signed syllabus. 

Homework:

• Get supplies for class (notebook with tabs per syllabus), 
• read Chapters 1-4 of The Grapes of Wrath and answer questions for chapter 1.  Be ready to discuss your first impressions.  
• Consider buying your own copy of The Grapes of Wrath for annotation.   
• By Saturday, please sign up for TheWeek.com's daily "Top 10" current events e-mail subscription.  (See sidebar for step-by-step instructions.) There will be a quiz next week on Thursday covering the e-mails from Sunday through Wednesday's daily e-mail (4 total). 

Have an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend!  I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday. 

Welcome!

I'm Ms. Mogilefsky (also known as Ms. M).  I'm excited to work with you this year as we work hard to prep for the AP Language and Composition exam and explore a variety of well-known books, short stories, nonfiction articles and essays that are an important part of the conversation about the nature of American life, past and present. 

In this highly interactive class, we will read American literature, as well as a wide range of nonfiction pieces – essays, memoirs, letters, speeches, articles about current events, literary criticism, and even scientific passages.   You'll also read books and articles of your choice as you work on research-based pieces, independent reading, current events assignments, debates, and other activities.  Themes from classic texts will be read and discussed alongside related current events, and you'll have a lot of opportunities to express yourselves verbally and in writing.  

I know junior year can be stressful: SATs, ACTs, extracurriculars, SBAC testing, and of course the AP exam on Wednesday, May 11, 2016.  All of the activities we'll work on will help you succeed and I look forward to a productive and enjoyable year with you!