January 28 - February 1

Welcome to the end of January and our mini-unit featuring Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn. We will also be continuing to master the argument essay.

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up featuring the 13 Virtues from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. Read from "Paper Tigers". Discussion: "Paper Tigers". Pick up the novel from the library.

Due: Please read and annotate "Paper Tigers" pages 1-6.

Homework: Please read and annotate "Paper Tigers" pages 7-12 and jot down ideas for discussion questions 2-9 at the end. 

Bring Huckleberrry Finn to class with you. 

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Current event day - read and annotate two opposing viewpoints. Discuss and debate, vote. Outline the majority opinion in a synthesis/ACT-style outline response based on the discussion.

Due: n/a

Homework: Please read and annotate "Paper Tigers" pages 7-12 and jot down ideas for discussion questions 2-9 at the end. 

Bring Huckleberrry Finn to class with you. 

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering Vocab 12, grammar, and "Paper Tigers". "Paper Tigers" discussion. Intro: Huckleberry Finn, raft project.

Due:  Read and annotate "Paper Tigers" pages 7-12 and jot down ideas for discussion questions 2-9 at the end. 

Homework: Huckleberry Finn, Chapters 1 - 3.

Decide who you'll pick for the raft project, and begin working on it. It's due February 12 for B day, and February 13 for A day classes.

January 21 - 25: Spring Semester!

I've really enjoyed getting to know you over the last semester, and looking forward to the variety of shorter units we'll cover in the spring. I'm so impressed by the debates and discussions we've been able to have, and I'm excited for the next four months (!) we'll spend together until you're seniors.

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over finals. Current event topic - the textalyzer. Read arguments for and against, simulate the California State Senate and discuss in committees, vote.

Due: n/a

Homework: Get a jump on the reading for next week with "Paper Tigers".

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up. Go over finals. Interim reading comprehension practice (all 11th graders will complete a practice passage and multiple choice this week). Goodreads vote. Receive "Paper Tigers" article. Receive Vocab #12 for next week.

Due: n/a

Homework: Please read pages 1-6 of "Paper Tigers" by Wesley Yang. Annotate with your own reactions, questions, and ideas. What is Yang's thesis? What types of examples and evidence does he use?

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Interim reading comprehension practice (all 11th graders will complete a practice passage and multiple choice this week). Receive "Paper Tigers" article. Goodreads vote. Receive vocab #12 for next week.

Due: n/a

Homework: Please read pages 1-6 of "Paper Tigers" by Wesley Yang. Annotate with your own reactions, questions, and ideas. What is Yang's thesis? What types of examples and evidence does he use?  

January 14 - 18 Finals Week!

It's finals week! We'll continue reviewing, take the final, and then enjoy a three-day weekend. As noted in the special post below, there is a Study Guide with all of the answers/notes filled in posted on the right-hand sidebar of this website under "class handouts".

MONDAY: (B-day) Journal warm-up. Context and SOAPS for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech, which is generally rated the #1 speech in the United States in the 20th Century. We'll look at it with a rhetorical analysis lens, reading the text and watching the speech. Next, we'll get into groups and do exactly what you'll do for Part II of the final: pick out rhetorical devices and outline a response to a prompt about which rhetorical strategies King utilizes in the speech to make an effective argument for the audience to join the fight for civil rights.

Due: Study the Study Guide and fill in any blank spaces, and bring it with you to class.   

Homework: Study for the final.

TUESDAY: (0 period final, special schedule, all periods meet) Journal warm-up. Review "baseball" in teams.

Due: Study for the final using the Study Guide.

Homework: Study for the final using the Study Guide.

WEDNESDAY: 8:00 - 9:55 First period final, 10:05 - 12:00 Second period final.  

THURSDAY: 8:00 - 9:55 Fourth period final, 10:05 - 12:00 Third period final.

FRIDAY: 8:00 - 9:55 Fifth period final, 10:05 - 12:00 Sixth period final. 

Enjoy the three-day Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday!
I'm looking forward to Spring Semester with you.

FULL Study Guide now available

We filled out the Study Guides last week in class, (because the more you handwrite notes, the more likely you are to remember them). To supplement that, feel free to check out the filled-out version of the study guide here. (I've also replaced the full version under Class Handouts on the right-hand sidebar of this website.)

One note: we will only cover the first six fallacies in argument, since that's how far we got in class. 

See you next week!

January 7 - 14, 2019 - Happy New Year!

Hello, and welcome back!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. I read Just Mercy, In the Country We Love, and started Calypso by David Sedaris. I saw Wreck it Ralph with my family and enjoyed watching the results of my apparently horrible choices on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the choose-your-own-adventure movie written by Charlie Booker. I also enjoyed finally getting caught up on my subscription of Wired magazine - and the grading, of course. 

I know it's a tough sell to go from two weeks off to preparing for finals, but you'll make it! Here are some notes, and the agenda:


NOTES: 

• No vocabulary quiz this week.
• Please bring your Grapes of Wrath library book in to turn in. 
• Last day to turn in any late work for partial credit: Friday, January 11th at 11:59 p.m. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Journal warm-up. Receive Study Guide and go over the format of the final. Fallacies notes and practice exercises in groups. Satire notes, videos. Grammar practice.

Due: n/a

Homework: Work on Study Guide for next class. 

Please bring your Grapes of Wrath book if you haven't already turned it in. 

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY: Journal warm-up. Sample passage from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: read and annotate, rhetorical analysis practice. Last fallacies notes and group practice. Contest: rhetorical analysis terms.

Due: Please bring Study Guide with you to class. Please bring your Grapes of Wrath book if you haven't already turned it in.

Homework: Continue filling out Study Guide with your class notes.

FRIDAY/MONDAY, January 14: Journal warm-up. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. SOAPS. Read and annotate, rhetorical analysis practice. Watch speech. Vocab story rounds with words on the Study Guide.

Due: Study Guide in progress.

Homework: Go over the information on the Study Guide.