December 16 - 20, last week of 2019!

During this final week of 2019, we'll finish the Rhetorical Historical research paper. I'm impressed by the drafts I've seen so far, and I'm excited to read the final product.

Note: there is no quiz this week. 

MONDAY: Journal warm-up. Receive revision packet and view final rubric for paper. View sample and discuss revision steps. Time to work on Chromebooks with individual help. Last part of class: healthy kids survey.

Due: Full ROUGH draft to Turnitin.com.

Homework: Continue revising the Rhetorical Historical paper - the due date is Friday.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Peer review of Rhetorical Historical paper in rounds. Receive final checklist for paper.

Due: N/A

Homework: Finish the Rhetorical Historical paper.


FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. How to insert pictures and other visuals into the final draft. Time to put the finishing touches on the final draft of the paper, and to upload to Turnitin.com.

Due: Please upload the final draft of the Rhetorical Historical term paper to Turnitin.com. Please click back into the assignment and/or wait for the confirmation e-mail to make sure it's there. No hard copy is necessary.

Homework:

Have a wonderful Winter Break. 

I look forward to seeing you in 2020!

December 9 - 13

I'm really enjoying reading what you've uncovered so far about your Rhetorical Historical event in all of your research. Sources have been interesting and very high quality. This week, we'll work on constructing the rough body paragraphs and finishing a full rough draft. 

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. How to turn SOAPS + Tone notes into body paragraphs, examples. Time to work on Chromebooks and ask for individual help.

Due: Step 4/5 - Rough introductory paragraph uploaded to Turnitin.com

Homework:Study TheWeek.com e-mails from Sunday, December 8 through Wednesday, December 11 for current events quiz. (Here is the current event e-mail information for the quiz.)

Continue working on rough draft of paper.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering current events e-mails. Conclusions for the Rhetorical Historical paper. Time to work on Chromebooks and ask for individual help.

Due: N/A

Homework: Finish full rough draft of paper, submit it to Turnitin.com before class on Monday, December 16.

OPTIONAL: A student in fifth period is asking if any classmates would like to participate in a survey about social media use. To participate, please return the signed consent form, and click here for the survey link. 

December 2 - 6

Happy December! 

During this short month, we will work in steps to finish the Rhetorical Historical paper. We will also learn the basics of argument including logical fallacies, and practice multiple choice reading passages.

MONDAY: Journal warm-up. Receive AP vocab sheet for the week. Pass back comments for Step 2 of the Rhetorical Historical paper. Go over Step 3 requirements, Search tips sheet, bias. Show example of completed Step 3 source in class. Citing sources: why it's important and how to do it. Time on Chromebooks to begin research for sources for Step 3.

Due: n/a

Homework: Continue work on Step 3, which is due on Friday, December 6.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over a source example for Step 3. Visual argument analysis. Time on Chromebooks to continue working on Step 3.

Due: n/a

Homework: Complete Step 3 for Friday, December 6. Have printed copies ready to turn in with your thesis questions and working Works Cited section.

(Note: see me any lunch beforehand if you don't have access to a printer, and I'm happy to help print them out so you can annotate.) 

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Turn in Step 3. Quiz covering vocabulary list, "me vs. I" grammar, and apostrophe grammar. Step #4: how to write thesis statements for the Rhetorical Historical paper, and Step #5: the introductory paragraph.

Due: Completed Step 3. Have printed copies ready to turn in for check-off with your thesis questions and working Works Cited section.

Homework: Step 4 - type up a rough introductory paragraph for the Rhetorical Historical paper, including a hook, background information, and thesis. Please upload to Turnitin.com before Tuesday's class on December 10. 

For those of you asking for homework...(!)

Yes, it's true and I have witnesses.

I'm posting Step 3 instructions for the Rhetorical Historical paper, along with a Step 3: Search Tips Sheet under "Class Handouts." Two notes of caution: 1. you may want to request notes back on your Step 2 paper through e-mail if you're going to work on this, and 2. it's important to note this is NOT an informational research paper about your chosen event. It is an analysis of the rhetoric or persuasive language surrounding an event. Typically, there are two different perspectives that are each trying to persuade, or the prevailing attitude about an event at the time is very different than it is later in time.

If you insist on starting this over the break you may, though it is absolutely not expected in any way. It's important to have a real break so you're rested for three more solid weeks of school.

If you're clamoring for more to do, check out the article below for inspiration, and then go online and reserve a book at your local library about a topic that interests you and pick it up...for free!
The Greatest Shortcut for Leaders is Reading Books

November 18-22

Welcome to our last week before Thanksgiving! It's been quite a stretch without much of a break, I know. This week, we'll just get started on the longer rhetorical analysis paper we'll be writing. You'll be researching and writing about the rhetoric surrounding an event of your choice. We'll be completing this paper in steps. Since you'll be writing papers of similar length and with a similar process at university, I believe the experience will be valuable.

No quiz this week. We'll start back fresh in December with a vocabulary quiz at the end of that week. Here's the agenda:

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over Frederick Douglass essays. Group activity: rhetorical analysis, ranking several contemporary apologies, defending your choices. Topic selection for Rhetorical Historical Research Paper. Go over Step 2 of the Rhetorical Historical Research Paper.  

Due: Read through Rhetorical Historical Step One: Overview and Topic Selection and come to class on Tuesday with 3 topics of interest.

Homework: Please complete Step 2 of the Rhetorical Historical Research Paper, with a 300-500 word write-up.

Make sure warm-up journals are ready to turn in. 

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Multiple choice exercise: individual, group, whole class. Visual analysis, what to look for, how to analyze visual arguments. Cumulative sentences: creative group activity.

Due: Please complete Step 2 of the Rhetorical Historical Research Paper, with a 300-500 word write-up.

Homework: None. Get plenty of rest and have some fun! Explore topics of interest and keep up with current events.

Have a terrific Thanksgiving week.

I look forward to seeing everyone in December!

November 11 - 15

This week, we'll practice reading and interpreting legal documents and language (per the 11th/12th grade standards), and get familiar with landmark cases that affect many areas of American life. These cases make high-quality examples for argument and synthesis essays as well as good reference points for introductions and conclusions in rhetorical analysis.

NOTE: There won't be a vocabulary quiz this week. The open-note Supreme Court Case quiz on Friday will take its place. Next week, there will be a vocabulary quiz.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Begin work on the Supreme Court cases in groups on Chromebooks. Each person will have his/her own individual assignment, and discuss their portion in groups.

Due: Albert i.o. multiple choice: The Gettysburg Address (1863), and "Shopping for Knowledge" (more modern). Note: I can see how much time was spent on the passages. Please do your best, and spend more than 20 minutes on Gettysburg and 15 minutes on "Shopping" for full credit. (See the Albert i.o. instructions on the right-hand sidebar for more info.)


Homework: Complete the written portion of your chosen section of the group work for your Supreme Court case and upload it to Turnitin.com. Be sure to cite your sources.


FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Supreme Court Case group presentations. No need to dress up, and each person shares their own portion of the group work in under one minute while the class takes notes. Open note quiz immediately following. Intro: Rhetorical Historical Fall Paper, overview and Step One Topic Selection.

Due: The written portion of your chosen section of the group work for your Supreme Court case and upload to Turnitin.com before the beginning of Friday's class. Be sure to cite your sources.

Homework: Read through Rhetorical Historical Step One: Overview and Topic Selection and come to class on Tuesday with 3 topics of interest.

Make sure journals are ready to turn in on Thursday of next week.

November 4 - 8

Hopefully everyone had a chance to sign up and pay for the AP exam before the regular due date. If not, you can still sign up with a late fee. This week, we'll continue with more advanced rhetorical analysis terms and examples.

MONDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over "On Laziness" and "Killing an Elephant." (5th period only notes: paradox). Oxymoron, hyperbole notes. Rhetorical analysis of Disney songs -short video for fun. Satire notes, how to write about the effects of satire, video examples as a whole class. If time: cumulative sentences and group activity.

Due: Please read "Killing an Elephant" by George Orwell.

Homework: Please read "Death of the Moth" and annotate for rhetorical devices. What is the speaker's purpose in the short story? How does Woolf make her point?

Keep up with current event e-mails.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Play preview - 4th Period: 9:50-10:20, 5th Period: 11:25-11:55.
Sign up for Albert i.o. multiple choice practice on Chromebooks. Discuss "Death of the Moth" and share annotations. Debate watch and analysis.

Due: Read "Death of the Moth" and annotate for rhetorical devices.

Homework: Study for Current Events and reading quiz covering "Killing an Elephant" and "Death of the Moth."Click here for current events e-mail information for the quiz on Friday, November 8.

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Current events/reading quiz. Notes: Parallelism/parallel structure. Current event discussion/debate. Analyze debate answers with rhetorical devices. 

Due:  n/a

Homework: Albert i.o. multiple choice: The Gettysburg Address (1863), and "Shopping for Knowledge" (more modern). Note: I can see how much time was spent on the passages. Please do your best, and spend more than 20 minutes on Gettysburg and 15 minutes on "Shopping" for full credit. (See the Albert i.o. instructions on the right-hand sidebar for more info.)

Enjoy the three-day holiday for Veteran's Day! 

I look forward to seeing you next week. 

October 28 - November 1

Welcome! The class worked really hard last week on the in-class Douglass essay, and I'm excited to go through them. We'll work on some extension activities this week after reading Douglass, and then work on a special mini-unit covering impactful Supreme Court cases next week.

This is the last week to sign up and pay for the AP exam. Be sure to finish the process if you haven't already, and contact me if you have any questions.

Here's what's on the agenda for the week:

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Discussion about Wesley Yang's "Paper Tigers." Race in the classroom: video about types of books in high school vs. college, discussion. Notes: paradox, irony, videos covering irony.

Due: Finish reading Wesley Yang's "Paper Tigers."

Homework: Please read "On Laziness" on pages 32-33 in the Rhetorical Analysis Packet.

Study for vocab quiz on Thursday.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocabulary, grammar, and "Paper Tigers" reading. Special Halloween activities.

Due: Read "On Laziness" on pages 32-33 in the Rhetorical Analysis Packet.

Homework: Please read George Orwell's "Killing an Elephant" from the Rhetorical Analysis Packet, pages 34-37 and note any rhetorical devices utilized by Orwell to support his main point.

October 21 - 25

Welcome! Here's what's on the agenda for the week:

MONDAY: Journal warm-up. Go through the steps of the entire 2018 Albright prompt to "calibrate," then use the new rubric to score actual student rhetorical analysis responses and see how the College Board scored them.

Due: Please read and outline the 2018 Albright rhetorical analysis prompt. 

Please read pages 19-22 in the Rhetorical Analysis Packet. 

Homework: Bring your copy of Frederick Douglass with you, if you have a book copy.

Go over the steps to writing a rhetorical analysis essay.

Keep up with the current event e-mails for the week.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Write an in-class rhetorical analysis essay prompt. (You will have a full hour, the material has to do with Frederick Douglass so you are familiar with it, and there will be notes all over the board to help.)

Due: Bring a book copy of Frederick Douglass with you, if you have one.

Homework: Study for the current event quiz on Friday. (Please click here for the e-mails covering Sunday through Wednesday.)

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Current event quiz. Receive AP Vocab List for next week. Notes: Irony, hyperbole, oxymoron. Go over the ending of Frederick Douglass. Read "Letter to My Old Master." Discussion questions and current day extensions. Begin reading Wesley Yang's "Paper Tigers."

Due: n/a

Homework: Finish reading Wesley Yang's "Paper Tigers" and be ready to discuss the questions at the end of the article.

October 14 - 18

It's mid-October already! Please be sure to sign up for the AP exam using the two-step process on the right-hand sidebar by midnight on November 3. Here's what's on the agenda:

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Ralph Ellison passage - syntax. Notes: figurative language and its effect in persuasion. Review and read Frederick Douglass. 

Due: Read Frederick Douglass, Chapters 9 and 10.

Homework: Finish Frederick Douglass for Thursday, (Chapter 11).

Study for the vocab/grammar quiz covering the AP Vocab for the week. 

WEDNESDAY: No late start - come in for the PSAT at 7:45 a.m.

THURSDAY: NOTE: 5th period earthquake drill, shortened classes. Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Go over Kelley rhetorical analysis essay. 

Due: Finish Frederick Douglass, (Chapter 11). 

Homework: Please read and outline a rhetorical analysis prompt. 

Please read pages 19-22 in the Rhetorical Analysis Packet. 

October 7 - 11

It's another four-day week! You've turned in your first rhetorical analysis essay, and while I'm grading it, we'll practice deciphering tone from a variety of passages and get back into Frederick Douglass.

Please sign up for the AP exam on the College Board website at myap.collegeboard. org, using the join codes on the right-hand sidebar of this website, then 2. Pay at the Total Registration Website.
Please complete this signup process by 11:59 on November 3 for regular prices with no late fees.


TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Frederick Douglass review, reading. Songs of slavery and their meaning. Tone activities: exercises and examples as a whole class and in groups.

Due:  Revise and edit the Kelley rhetorical analysis passage and upload the final draft to Turnitin.com by Monday, October 7 at 11:00 p.m. 

Homework: Study for Current Events Quiz covering TheWeek.com e-mails from Sunday, October 6, through Wednesday, October 9. (Click here for a Word doc with all of the e-mails for the quiz.)

WEDNESDAY: Holiday - Yom Kippur. No school.

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Current Events Quiz. Class analysis of Queen Elizabeth I's Speech to the Troops at Tilbury. Notes: figurative language, syntax. Reading: Ralph Ellison passage.  

Due: n/a

Homework: Please read the rest of Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of Frederick Douglass. We're almost done with the book!

September 30 - October 4

I hope everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend! Please sign up for the AP exam using the two-step process that is detailed on the right-hand sidebar of this website by 11:59 p.m. on November 3rd!

Here's what's on the agenda for this week:

MONDAY: No school for students, staff development day.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Review rhetorical analysis essay process, Kelley passage, and work on first paragraph of Kelley essay in class on Chromebooks. Introductions/thesis statements.

Due:  Type out the full rough draft response to the prompt and upload to Turnitin.com by Monday night, September 30th, at 10:00 p.m. This should be very rough - just put the outline into sentences and include examples of each rhetorical device (what) and how it adds to the effectiveness of the passage (how). A simple intro and conclusion is fine, and the entire essay should be 4-6 paragraphs. We will work with these drafts next week.

Homework: Study for the Tone Vocabulary quiz on Friday. 

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering Tone Vocabulary sheet. Notes: body paragraphs and conclusions in rhetorical analysis essays.  Work on sample conclusions in groups, then work on your own Kelley draft on Chromebooks. Musical tone activity in groups.

Due: n/a

Homework: Revise and edit the Kelley rhetorical analysis passage and upload it to Turnitin.com by Monday, October 7 at 11:00 p.m.  

(We'll get back into Frederick Douglass next week!)

September 23-27

This week, we'll continue exploring rhetorical devices, the rhetorical situation, and Frederick Douglass. It's also Open House on Thursday night, so please ask parents and guardians to come out and walk through your schedule and meet your teachers.

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over homework in class. Notes: steps to writing a rhetorical analysis essay. Notes: Diction and connotation/denotation. Connotation exercise in groups.

Due: Read and annotate pages 15 - 20 in the Rhetorical Analysis Packet (the "Culminating Activity") and write out a SOAPS analysis for the 3 articles in your packet in the margins. 

Read the Rhetorical Analysis Packet from the bottom of page 9 through the top of page 13. Annotate as you go along right there in the packet. 

Make sure you can get into the College Board website to sign up for the AP exam, and then pay through the Total Registration website. 

Homework: Study for current events quiz. Click here for a Word doc with all of this week's current events e-mails.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Current events quiz covering TheWeek.com e-mails from Sunday, Sept. 22 - Wednesday, September 26. (The material will also be posted to this website on Wednesday.) Receive special Tone Vocabulary list for next week's quiz. Finish connotation exercise. Notes: rhetorical analysis outline blueprint and working rubric. Go through a practice Rhetorical Analysis prompt example (see sample Alfred M. Green essays under Class Handouts on the right-hand sidebar).

Due: n/a

Homework:  Read and annotate the provided Florence Kelley Rhetorical Analysis passage. Write a rough outline and be ready to share it and have it logged in for credit. 

FRIDAY: (Minimum Day, all classes) Special tone practice activity in groups, have outline checked off for credit.

Due: Outline of Kelley rhetorical analysis passage on paper.

Homework: Type out the full rough draft response to the prompt and upload to Turnitin.com by Monday night, September 30th, at 10:00 p.m. This should be very rough - just put the outline into sentences and include examples of each rhetorical device (what) and how it adds to the effectiveness of the passage (how). A simple intro and conclusion is fine, and the entire essay should be 4-6 paragraphs. We will work with these drafts next week.