September 29

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: "There must be something in books, something we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing." - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Why do you think so many banned/challenged books have gone on to become curriculum-required reading (Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bluest Eye, Fahrenheit 451, etc)?

Students worked with their groups to finish the TPCASTT of their chosen poem.

We reviewed the grammar skills covered in the practice PSAT writing passage from yesterday.

We began discussing evaluating sources (notes on Classroom). We will continue this work on Monday.

Today's Board

September 28

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: Article of the Week - Two articles about the NFL player protests: CNN and Fox News

Students had about 15 minutes to finish the TPCASTT analysis of their chosen poem. We will have just a little more time tomorrow to complete this work.

We did a 12 minute drill with a PSAT writing passage. We'll discuss the answers and the different skills tomorrow. The PSAT test is Wednesday, October 11!

Students handed in a scored article of the week for an opportunity to add up to 5 bonus points to either the summer reading timed writing or the American teenager assignment. I'll add those points to the lower of those 2 grades.

Today's Board

September 27

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: Outside entry

Second period students had time to set up their district ePortfolios today.

We read the last poem in the packet, Daniel Beaty's "Knock Knock," and reviewed all of the poems once more. Students then chose one of the poems to analyze with their table, with a partner, or independently. We will finish this work tomorrow.

I passed back the summer reading timed writing assignment. Students who have questions about their grade should plan to attend tutorials B block on Thursday, 9/28.

Today's Board

September 26

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: A bucket list is full of things you want to do before you die. Some people want to travel the world; others want to go skydiving. But today's entry isn't about your bucket list. For your entry today, create your REVERSE bucket list: a list of things you hope you never have to do before you die, like being alone in nature for an extended period of time.

We finished our discussion of "The Fall of the House of Usher" with a written response.

We read 3 of the 4 poems in our packet, one of which was Sarah Kay's "Point B." We will continue this work tomorrow.

Second period--be sure to bring your iPad tomorrow!!!

Today's Board

Tomorrow's Schedule

September 25

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: It's Banned Books Week! The message this year is "Words have power." How can words be powerful? What words do you consider powerful?

In honor of Banned Books Week, we watched videos about Germany's Parthenon of Banned Books and Book Riot's Banned Book Recommendations.

We finished up a TWISTT analysis of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and completed a practice PSAT passage over the same excerpt.

Today's Board

Week-at-a-Glance

September 22

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: Students used various sentence starters to respond to their current book. (See me in tutorials A block Tuesday or B block Thursday if you need this info.)

We resumed our work of analyzing short pieces using the TWISTT strategy. Students worked in groups to craft answers to questions about diction, imagery, style, and tone for the excerpt from The Hobbit. We read the excerpt from "Fall of the House of Usher" and discussed mood. We will work more with this piece on Monday.

Today's Board

September 21

IRT: ~20 minutes
WNB: "I am a part of everything that I have read." - Theodore Roosevelt. After responding to the quote, students took 2 minutes to revise their writing to improve 3 words and make any other changes they needed.

Yesterday, we made a prediction about the title "Life in Caves" for the first step of the TWISTT analysis. We read the short piece today, focusing on word choice and how it reveals tone. We read one other piece using the TWISTT analysis. We will continue this work tomorrow.


(Apologies for the late post and missing board picture. I forgot to publish this on 9/21, and I've already changed the board for today.)