Mrs. Kenyon's Blog

Honors American Literature

Please note that students have an opportunity to complete an extra credit project to replace a major grade.  See the left side of the blog to download the project.  It is due April 18th.

Honors British Literature

Important Reminders:  Students have an objective test on Frankenstein on Wednesday and an in-class essay on Frankenstein on Thursday.

On Monday we looked over the latest quiz and discussed Frankenstein.  Students were then given time to read.  On Tuesday students will receive their new vocabulary unit and exercises to complete in class.  On Wednesday we have the test.  On Thursday we have the in class essay.  On Friday we will watch the movie Frankenstein.

Honors American Literature

On Monday students received their new vocabulary unit and exercises, and did these in class.  On Tuesday students will have a"pop" quiz (at least for those that do not look at the blog) on The Things They Carried.  I am having trouble with students not obtaining the book to begin with or not bringing it to class.  They need to bring the book to class daily until we finish it.  Students were asked to read through the "Friends" chapter by tomorrow.  On Wednesday we will discuss the chapters we have read so far and do an activity with "How to Tell a True War Story."  Assuming I can make the streaming work correctly, we will also be watching an interview with the author Tim O'Brien.  On Thursday and Friday we will watch a documentary on the Vietnam War.

Honors American Literature

Upcoming dates:  Vocabulary quiz on Gatsby terms on Friday; Imagist poem and image due on Friday.  Students have been asked to read through chapter 3 of The Things They Carried by Friday.

On Monday immersion class students made up the Gatsby test from last week.  All students have been asked to complete the in-class essay by the end of the week either before or after school.  I am generally here by 7:30 a.m. and will stay after school if students make arrangements with me ahead of time.  Other students began our new novel The Things They Carried (TTTC).  On Tuesday we will discuss the first chapter of The Things They Carried and look at a slide show of soldiers in the Iraq war and discuss what they carried into war with them.   We will also look at another example of imagist poetry in preparation for the original poems and images students have due on Friday.  Finally, we will review our vocabulary in preparation for the quiz on Friday.  On Wednesday we will analyze a couple of passages from TTTC closely and students will answer multiple choice questions about those passages.  Students will also be given a copy of the words for the next Wordmaster's Challenge, which will take place after we return from Spring Break.  On Thursday we will go over the Gatsby tests together and participate in a review game for the vocabulary quiz on Friday.  On Friday students will take their vocabulary quizzes and then present their imagist poetry.

Honors British Literature

Reminders for students:  We will have a cumulative vocabulary quiz on units 8-10 on Friday.  Students should be through chapter 20 of Frankenstein by Friday.  The test on Frankenstein will take place on 3/30 and the in-class essay will take place on 3/31.  At the time of the test, chapter questions will be collected.  Students can earn extra credit for completing the questions (but all must be complete and accurate).

On Monday students will be taking the quiz on Frankenstein (through chapter 15).  We will also review vocabulary for unit 10.

On Tuesday we will review the thesis statements students have written together and talk about ways we can improve them.  We will also review MLA formatting and documentation of passages and paraphrases from the novel.  We will also review and discuss chapters 16 and 17 in class. 

On Wednesday students will participate in a grammar mini-lesson.  We will  also go over chapter 18 and 19 questions.  Students will be given time to read their novels, time allowing.

On Thursday students will meet in their theme groups to discuss new passages that are relevant to their theme.

On Friday students will take the vocabulary quiz and we will watch a spoof on Frankenstein entitled Frankenthumb.

Honors British Literature

The Frankenstein quiz has been moved to Monday.  I had car trouble this morning and did not get in until late.  What a week! The quiz will cover through chapters 15, but students should keep reading at least two chapters a night and take advantage of the weekends to get ahead.  Our goal is to finish the book by Spring Break.

Have a great weekend!

Honors British Literature

In light of the sad events from last week, I postponed the quiz through chapter of 11 of Frankenstein to Monday.  Because I was called away unexpectedly, a substitute had to administer the quiz and there were three instances of cheating, making it necessary for me to throw out the quiz.  In an effort to re-assess students' knowledge of the novel, we held a Socratic seminar on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  This will be the primary indication I will use for the quiz grade.  On Tuesday, students conducted the conversation largely themselves and on Wednesday I directed the conversation to attempt to encourage quieter students to participate.  On Thursday students met in their theme groups to share passages with one another related to the theme their particular group is tracking.  They were asked to narrow the focus of their topic and create a thesis statement, supported by three cited passages from the novel.  We are building up to an in-class essay that will take place after we complete the novel.  The vocabulary quiz has once again been postponed in order to assess students' understanding of the novel on Friday (through chapter 15).

Honors American Literature

I apologize for the delay of this week's post.  I unexpectedly had to miss Monday's classes.  On Monday students reviewed poetry elements in preparation for the GHSGT.  Students defined terms and found examples using Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."  The Gatsby in class essay and objective test shifted to Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.  Students participating in the immersion classes Tuesday through Thursday will need to make up the essay and test by the end of next week.  We had some time on Wednesday to begin reading about the imagist poets, and on Thursday we will read examples of imagist poetry by Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams.  Students will be asked to create an imagist poem of their own.  On Friday we will watch the movie "The Great Gatsby."

Honors British Literature

On Monday students completed the exercises for unit 10 vocabulary in class.  Students were asked to continue reading Frankenstein with the goal of completing chapter 11 by Friday.

On Tuesday we will review answers to the vocabulary exercises.  We will also discuss chapters four and five of the novel.  Time allowing, students will work on their notecards for the theme tracking they have been asked to do.  BRING YOUR NOVEL TO CLASS!

On Wednesday we will look at some of Percy Shelley's poetry, particularly poems that are alluded to in the novel.  We will also discuss chapters six and seven of the novel.

On Thursday students will meet in theme tracking groups and share passages they have collected through chapter ten. 

On Friday students will participate in a goldfish bowl discussion of the novel through chapter 11.

 

Honors American Literature

Reminder for students:  Please obtain a copy of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien by March 16th; in class writing on The Great Gatsby on Monday using passage notecards; objective test on The Great Gatsby on Tuesday, March 15th.

On Monday we reviewed the vocabulary words distributed at the beginning of our Gatsby unit.  Students were given a "words in context" exercise to work through and allowed to work with partners.  For students not attending class, the words are: feign, levity, plagiaristic, impressionability, elated, proximity, anticlimax, supercilious, fractiousness, compulsion, incredulously, reciprocal, contemptuous, unobtrusively, inconsequence, extemporize, peremptorily, intimation, transcendent, contiguous, indeterminate, apathetic, incessant, strident.  Students have been asked to read through chapter eight by tomorrow.

On Tuesday we will discuss chapters seven and eight of Gatsby.  Students will then work in their theme groups to continue collecting passages related to their themes.  Students will be asked to read the last chapter tonight.  We will also review literary elements in preparation for the GHSGT by reading and analyzing some modernist poetry.

On Wednesday students will do a "tracking poster" exercise in which they craft a thesis related to their themes and write three supporting passages for the thesis statement.  We will review correct citation formats.

On Thursday students will continue sharing the results to their "tracking poster" exercise if this is needed.  Students will also have a vocabulary quiz on the words for Gatsby listed above.

On Friday students will participate in a socratic seminar to discuss the novel.