This week, CAASPP testing will take place in English class. Please follow the link for additional information:
http://pvhigh.com/california-assessment-of-student-performance-and-progress-caaspp/
MONDAY: CAASPP testing.
WEDNESDAY: (no late start) CAASPP testing.
FRIDAY: CAASPP testing.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
May 9-13 Exam Week!
As you are all aware, Wednesday, May 11 is the AP English Language and Composition exam date. Our class has written 10 challenging essays (take home and in-class) and completed a term paper so far this year. I truly believe that the class is more than ready to tackle the exam this Wednesday morning.
Here's what we have for the week:
TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Review homework. Calibrate argument essay from practice exam, peer grading. Last portion of class: AP exam review baseball.
Due: Read Scoring Guidelines (rubric) and College Board samples of the Monument prompt and finish self-scoring. Bring your Monuments prompt to class with you on Tuesday with a score.
Complete one multiple choice passage and its questions.
Generate an outline and some examples for this argument prompt (ownership).
Read the rhetorical analysis prompt and SOAPS it. Pick 1-2 words that describe its tone, and come up with 2-3 rhetorical devices you could write about.
Homework: Review your notes, the AP exam essay tips on this website, and most importantly, get a good night's sleep.
WEDNESDAY: Join your classmates at 7:00 a.m. in Room 509 for coffee, snacks and a little camaraderie before the exam. I promise to limit the number of times I draw the linear AGREE/DISAGREE graph and nag you about outlining. We will walk over to the AP exam area at 7:25ish and be there on time.
THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Discuss/reflect on the exam and the year so far. Last 30 minutes of class will be spent listening to the performance lesson for CAASP beginning next Monday.
Due: n/a
Homework: n/a. I'd suggest making sure you have a journal entry for each of the days you were in class and we weren't having a current events quiz. I'll collect the journals the week after CAASP.
Here's what we have for the week:
TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Review homework. Calibrate argument essay from practice exam, peer grading. Last portion of class: AP exam review baseball.
Due: Read Scoring Guidelines (rubric) and College Board samples of the Monument prompt and finish self-scoring. Bring your Monuments prompt to class with you on Tuesday with a score.
Complete one multiple choice passage and its questions.
Generate an outline and some examples for this argument prompt (ownership).
Read the rhetorical analysis prompt and SOAPS it. Pick 1-2 words that describe its tone, and come up with 2-3 rhetorical devices you could write about.
Homework: Review your notes, the AP exam essay tips on this website, and most importantly, get a good night's sleep.
WEDNESDAY: Join your classmates at 7:00 a.m. in Room 509 for coffee, snacks and a little camaraderie before the exam. I promise to limit the number of times I draw the linear AGREE/DISAGREE graph and nag you about outlining. We will walk over to the AP exam area at 7:25ish and be there on time.
THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Discuss/reflect on the exam and the year so far. Last 30 minutes of class will be spent listening to the performance lesson for CAASP beginning next Monday.
Due: n/a
Homework: n/a. I'd suggest making sure you have a journal entry for each of the days you were in class and we weren't having a current events quiz. I'll collect the journals the week after CAASP.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
May 2-6
Take a deep breath...a lot of you are really feeling the pressure and intensity of junior year AP exam season. I can't speak for all of your classes, but most of you are well equipped for the AP English Language & Composition exam.
Many of you will be out on Monday for other AP exams, so we'll cover the full practice exam we took on Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY: Journal warm-up. View previous multiple choice passage by William Faulkner and answer the questions together as a class. Current event - view videos, read and analyze article by a Maryland lawmaker arguing for legal injection site to combat heroin overdose deaths in the Northeast. Discuss pros and cons of this idea, class vote. If time, vocab story round activity in groups.
Due: Learnerator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
Section 1: Rhetoric
Section 2: Author's Meaning and Purpose
Homework: n/a - too many people out today.
WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over Flamingo rhetorical analysis essay in detail, viewing College Board samples and anonymous excerpts from previous classes as well. Go over the multiple choice from the homework and on the practice exam.
Due: Multiple choice - 1 passage, read and answer questions.
Homework: Read government/green living synthesis prompt and draft an outline about how you would respond.
FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Vocab quiz (last weekly quiz of the year!) Go over synthesis homework in groups, then share responses with the whole class. Begin self-scoring Monuments prompt.
Due: Read government/green living synthesis prompt and draft an outline about how you would respond.
Homework: Read Scoring Guidelines (rubric) and College Board samples of the Monument prompt and finish self-scoring. Bring your Monuments prompt to class with you on Tuesday with a score.
Complete one multiple choice passage and its questions.
Generate an outline and some examples for this argument prompt (ownership).
Read the rhetorical analysis prompt and SOAPS it. Pick 1-2 words that describe its tone, and come up with 2-3 rhetorical devices you could write about.
Many of you will be out on Monday for other AP exams, so we'll cover the full practice exam we took on Wednesday and Friday.
MONDAY: Journal warm-up. View previous multiple choice passage by William Faulkner and answer the questions together as a class. Current event - view videos, read and analyze article by a Maryland lawmaker arguing for legal injection site to combat heroin overdose deaths in the Northeast. Discuss pros and cons of this idea, class vote. If time, vocab story round activity in groups.
Due: Learnerator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
Section 1: Rhetoric
Section 2: Author's Meaning and Purpose
Homework: n/a - too many people out today.
WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over Flamingo rhetorical analysis essay in detail, viewing College Board samples and anonymous excerpts from previous classes as well. Go over the multiple choice from the homework and on the practice exam.
Due: Multiple choice - 1 passage, read and answer questions.
Homework: Read government/green living synthesis prompt and draft an outline about how you would respond.
FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Vocab quiz (last weekly quiz of the year!) Go over synthesis homework in groups, then share responses with the whole class. Begin self-scoring Monuments prompt.
Due: Read government/green living synthesis prompt and draft an outline about how you would respond.
Homework: Read Scoring Guidelines (rubric) and College Board samples of the Monument prompt and finish self-scoring. Bring your Monuments prompt to class with you on Tuesday with a score.
Complete one multiple choice passage and its questions.
Generate an outline and some examples for this argument prompt (ownership).
Read the rhetorical analysis prompt and SOAPS it. Pick 1-2 words that describe its tone, and come up with 2-3 rhetorical devices you could write about.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Reminder: Please fill out AP Packs
Students need to complete the AP student pack in person outside the Associate Principals' offices anytime between now and end-of-day Thursday, April 28th.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
April 25 - 29: Full Practice Exam
This week, we'll complete a full practice AP exam. I'll grade one of the essays (but I'm not going to tell you which one) :-) and you'll peer-grade and self-grade the other two when we review next week.
I'm not giving out a lot of homework this week so that you can focus your energy in class during our two sessions.
TUESDAY: Timed, multiple choice practice exam for one hour. After a short break, you'll then read and annotate a rhetorical analysis prompt and write that out next.
Due: Read and review AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
Review your own rhetorical analysis terms/rhetorical analysis essay notes before Tuesday's class.
Learnerator:
1. Section One - Rhetoric, please complete "A Meditation Upon a Broomstick" by Jonathan Swift, 1-10.
2. Section Two - Author's Meaning and Purpose, please complete "On the Origin of Species" (excerpt) by Charles Darwin, 1-10.
Homework: rest and go over your own notes for argument and synthesis essays, as well as the AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
THURSDAY: Timed argument essay prompt in-class, followed by the synthesis prompt. You'll have the entire period to read, annotate, and write these out (113 minutes, minus about 5 minutes to set up and get everybody going.)
During the actual exam, you'll have 15 minutes to read and annotate the synthesis prompt plus 40 minutes to write out each essay (95 minutes). Here, I'll call time after 95 minutes so you know about how long you'll have on the exam, but you'll have the remainder of the class period to finish (about 10 - 15 extra minutes). Receive vocab sheet for next week.
Due: n/a
Homework: Reflect upon your performance on the practice exam, be ready to discuss next week.
Learnerator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
Section 1: Rhetoric
Section 2: Author's Meaning and Purpose
I'm not giving out a lot of homework this week so that you can focus your energy in class during our two sessions.
TUESDAY: Timed, multiple choice practice exam for one hour. After a short break, you'll then read and annotate a rhetorical analysis prompt and write that out next.
Due: Read and review AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
Review your own rhetorical analysis terms/rhetorical analysis essay notes before Tuesday's class.
Learnerator:
1. Section One - Rhetoric, please complete "A Meditation Upon a Broomstick" by Jonathan Swift, 1-10.
2. Section Two - Author's Meaning and Purpose, please complete "On the Origin of Species" (excerpt) by Charles Darwin, 1-10.
Homework: rest and go over your own notes for argument and synthesis essays, as well as the AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
THURSDAY: Timed argument essay prompt in-class, followed by the synthesis prompt. You'll have the entire period to read, annotate, and write these out (113 minutes, minus about 5 minutes to set up and get everybody going.)
During the actual exam, you'll have 15 minutes to read and annotate the synthesis prompt plus 40 minutes to write out each essay (95 minutes). Here, I'll call time after 95 minutes so you know about how long you'll have on the exam, but you'll have the remainder of the class period to finish (about 10 - 15 extra minutes). Receive vocab sheet for next week.
Due: n/a
Homework: Reflect upon your performance on the practice exam, be ready to discuss next week.
Learnerator: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
Section 1: Rhetoric
Section 2: Author's Meaning and Purpose
Sunday, April 17, 2016
April 18 - 22
I had a couple of students stop by after writing out the essay on Thursday and ask about the schedule for the rest of the semester. FYI, we have 3.5 weeks where we will be reading, annotating, discussing, and writing to get ready for the AP exam on Wednesday, May 11.
This week, we will meet three days and will continue with our environmentally-themed unit and begin to review all three types of essay prompts and the mindset and skills you'll need to successfully navigate each. Next week, the class will complete a full practice exam on Tuesday and Thursday: a full one-hour multiple choice followed by rhetorical analysis essay on Tuesday, and one argument and one synthesis prompt on Thursday to get a feel for timing and to build up stamina. Those will be the last in-class essays you'll write this year.
Hang in there. We have almost "scaled the mountain." You guys are doing a great job! :-)
MONDAY: Journal warm-up: packaged oranges at Whole Foods tweet. View Peter Menzel's photo essay from the book Hungry Planet that goes along with the other articles you read over the weekend about sustainable eating. Analyze the photo essay as a class and then review a student essay about the photos. Including this extra source, discuss the weekend reading and annotations and work in small groups to address the prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
Due: Read and annotate a variety of articles about sustainable eating. Be prepared for class on Monday with your annotated packet and some opinions and ideas about how to answer the following prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
Homework: Read through "environmentalists vs." rhetorical analysis prompt and annotate it. Try to identify rhetorical strategies that the author uses from memory of our rhetorical analysis lessons in the fall.
Keep up with current events e-mails in advance of the quiz this week.
WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Review rhetorical analysis prompt from homework and go over rhetorical analysis terms. Look at Crumb's "A Short History of America" and analyze. Periodic sentences: definition and group activity.
Due: Read through "environmentalists vs." rhetorical analysis prompt and annotate it. Try to identify rhetorical strategies that the author uses.
Homework: Study for current events quiz on Friday.
FRIDAY: Current events quiz. Go over last in-class synthesis essay results. Periodic sentences - share, go over effects of syntax choice. Multiple choice tips. Activity: deconstruct prompts and note exactly what is being asked. Rhetorical analysis of a satirical piece (review) - how to approach.
Due: n/a.
Homework: Read and review AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
Review your own rhetorical analysis terms/rhetorical analysis essay notes before Tuesday's class.
Learnerator:
1. Section One - Rhetoric, please complete "A Meditation Upon a Broomstick" by Jonathan Swift, 1-10.
2. Section Two - Author's Meaning and Purpose, please complete "On the Origin of Species" (excerpt) by Charles Darwin, 1-10.
This week, we will meet three days and will continue with our environmentally-themed unit and begin to review all three types of essay prompts and the mindset and skills you'll need to successfully navigate each. Next week, the class will complete a full practice exam on Tuesday and Thursday: a full one-hour multiple choice followed by rhetorical analysis essay on Tuesday, and one argument and one synthesis prompt on Thursday to get a feel for timing and to build up stamina. Those will be the last in-class essays you'll write this year.
Hang in there. We have almost "scaled the mountain." You guys are doing a great job! :-)
MONDAY: Journal warm-up: packaged oranges at Whole Foods tweet. View Peter Menzel's photo essay from the book Hungry Planet that goes along with the other articles you read over the weekend about sustainable eating. Analyze the photo essay as a class and then review a student essay about the photos. Including this extra source, discuss the weekend reading and annotations and work in small groups to address the prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
Due: Read and annotate a variety of articles about sustainable eating. Be prepared for class on Monday with your annotated packet and some opinions and ideas about how to answer the following prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
Homework: Read through "environmentalists vs." rhetorical analysis prompt and annotate it. Try to identify rhetorical strategies that the author uses from memory of our rhetorical analysis lessons in the fall.
Keep up with current events e-mails in advance of the quiz this week.
WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Review rhetorical analysis prompt from homework and go over rhetorical analysis terms. Look at Crumb's "A Short History of America" and analyze. Periodic sentences: definition and group activity.
Due: Read through "environmentalists vs." rhetorical analysis prompt and annotate it. Try to identify rhetorical strategies that the author uses.
Homework: Study for current events quiz on Friday.
FRIDAY: Current events quiz. Go over last in-class synthesis essay results. Periodic sentences - share, go over effects of syntax choice. Multiple choice tips. Activity: deconstruct prompts and note exactly what is being asked. Rhetorical analysis of a satirical piece (review) - how to approach.
Due: n/a.
Homework: Read and review AP exam essay tips and tricks sheet.
Review your own rhetorical analysis terms/rhetorical analysis essay notes before Tuesday's class.
Learnerator:
1. Section One - Rhetoric, please complete "A Meditation Upon a Broomstick" by Jonathan Swift, 1-10.
2. Section Two - Author's Meaning and Purpose, please complete "On the Origin of Species" (excerpt) by Charles Darwin, 1-10.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
April 11-15
Welcome back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and rejuvenating break. (I can definitely say I'm feeling much better than I was the week before break!)
As you know, the AP exam is on May 11 and it is now just one month away. We're in a really good place as far as our timeline for the year. There is a slightly more complex version of the synthesis essay that we'll cover this week, and then you'll have practiced all of the variations of essay prompts and multiple choice questions that you could receive on the exam itself.
NOTE: All of the take-home college synthesis essays are in Aeries and also there are many notes for each essay on Turnitin.com. (Comments within the essay and also detailed comments under the "Comments" tab on the right next to the essay.)
This week also is the official beginning of a brief unit with shorter readings and prompts with the theme of "Man's Relationship with Nature" including Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, and others.
TUESDAY: Journal warm-up/review. Cover schedule for next month. Go over Walden reading, "discussion web" style activity about the reading. Go over results of first take-home synthesis essay, review steps. Discuss slightly more complex variation on the synthesis essay and how to approach it. (Instead of "take a position" the prompt asks "discuss the most important factors.") Analyzing visual texts: Robert Crumb's A Short History of America (cartoon) as a class.
Due: Read Walden excerpt posted here on the website and bring answers to the questions to class.
Homework: Read and annotate the environmentally-themed synthesis prompt and be ready to write the essay out synthesis-style on Thursday.
THURSDAY: 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Special preview: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Brief review of the process of tackling a synthesis prompt and things to remember. Take out prompt and notes from Tuesday's handout and spend the rest of the period writing out the essay.
Due: Synthesis prompt read and annotated.
Homework: Read and annotate this packet of articles about sustainable eating. (Don't answer the questions after each article, just be ready to discuss.) Be prepared for class on Monday with your annotated packet and some opinions and ideas about how to answer the following prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
As you know, the AP exam is on May 11 and it is now just one month away. We're in a really good place as far as our timeline for the year. There is a slightly more complex version of the synthesis essay that we'll cover this week, and then you'll have practiced all of the variations of essay prompts and multiple choice questions that you could receive on the exam itself.
NOTE: All of the take-home college synthesis essays are in Aeries and also there are many notes for each essay on Turnitin.com. (Comments within the essay and also detailed comments under the "Comments" tab on the right next to the essay.)
This week also is the official beginning of a brief unit with shorter readings and prompts with the theme of "Man's Relationship with Nature" including Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, and others.
TUESDAY: Journal warm-up/review. Cover schedule for next month. Go over Walden reading, "discussion web" style activity about the reading. Go over results of first take-home synthesis essay, review steps. Discuss slightly more complex variation on the synthesis essay and how to approach it. (Instead of "take a position" the prompt asks "discuss the most important factors.") Analyzing visual texts: Robert Crumb's A Short History of America (cartoon) as a class.
Due: Read Walden excerpt posted here on the website and bring answers to the questions to class.
Homework: Read and annotate the environmentally-themed synthesis prompt and be ready to write the essay out synthesis-style on Thursday.
THURSDAY: 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Special preview: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Brief review of the process of tackling a synthesis prompt and things to remember. Take out prompt and notes from Tuesday's handout and spend the rest of the period writing out the essay.
Due: Synthesis prompt read and annotated.
Homework: Read and annotate this packet of articles about sustainable eating. (Don't answer the questions after each article, just be ready to discuss.) Be prepared for class on Monday with your annotated packet and some opinions and ideas about how to answer the following prompt:
Imagine that there is a grassroots campaign developing that wants Congress to legislate against in-vitro meat production. Write an editorial for your school newspaper that supports or challenges this proposed ban. Refer to three of the sources in the packet as you support your argument.
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