April 13

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - John Dalberg-Acton

We wrapped up our work with Julius Caesar. Specific details about today's work can be found on Classroom. Students will have a quiz on Tuesday, 4/17 (see quiz review slides on Classroom). Students will hand in the "Funeral Speeches" chart on Tuesday, 4/17.

Coming Up
Tuesday, 4/17 - Julius Caesar quiz
Wednesday, 4/18 - 55 word stories due
Friday, 4/20 - No School!
Saturday, 4/21 - North Texas Teen Book Festival!

Today's Board

April 12

Students took the English II STAAR test today! We'll resume Julius Caesar tomorrow.

Boomer and Baxter know you did your best on the test today!

April 11

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: Outside Entry

We did an activity that walked through the essay planning process. Students worked individually or with a group to create an outline for one STAAR persuasive essay prompt.

Students received a section of the reading portion of the test. The key for this will be posted on Classroom at 7pm tonight.

We finished the day with some test day reminders and a Winnie the Pooh quote.

Good luck tomorrow! You are awesome!

Today's Board

April 10

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: Parallelism Practice - Make up in tutorials.

We wrapped up Act II Scene 2 of Julius Caesar with a jigsaw activity. We watched the funeral speeches in Act III Scene 2 and analyzed persuasive techniques that Brutus and Antony used to convince the crowd. We will wrap this up tomorrow. Specific details are on Classroom.

Coming Up
Thursday, April 12 - English II STAAR
Friday, April 20 - No School!
Saturday, April 21 - North Texas Teen Book Festival!

Today's Board

Updated Week-at-a-Glance

April 9

IRT: ~20 min
WNB: Choose 1 statement that you strongly agree or disagree with and explain: Too much ambition inevitably leads to disaster; Politicians are more concerned with power than with issues affecting people's lives; Violence leads to more violence; Crowds can be easily manipulated and moved to violence.

We recapped our previous reading of Julius Caesar before getting into Act II, Scene 2 today. Specific details are on Classroom.

Coming Up
Thursday, April 12 - English II STAAR
Friday, April 20 - No School!
Saturday, April 21 - North Texas Teen Book Festival

Today's Board

Week-at-a-Glance

April 6

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: "The most valuable thing you have is your attention." - Lynda Barry

We read Act II, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar and discussed 3 important developments. Specific details and a copy of the text are on Classroom.

Independent Reading Stats & Top Readers for Last 9 Weeks!

Coming Up
Thursday, April 12 - English II STAAR
Friday, April 20 - No School!
Saturday, April 21 - North Texas Teen Book Festival!

Today's Board

April 5

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: We're going to be reading student essays that respond to this prompt, so share your thoughts in your notebook: Write an essay stating your opinion on whether a person can choose to be happy.

We looked at the blueprint for the English II STAAR test and made a plan of attack.

We examined the rubric for the persuasive essay, then students scored student samples to check their understanding.

We will resume our work with Julius Caesar tomorrow.

Coming Up
Thursday, April 12 - English II STAAR
Friday, April 20 - No School
Saturday, April 21 - North Texas Teen Book Festival!

Today's Board