Mrs. Kenyon's Blog

AP Language

Week of 1/30-2/3

What a gorgeous weekend!  I know you must be sitting under a tree reading, right?

First thing Monday you will take your second vocabulary quiz.  Remember two words will come from this newest unit and one word from the first unit.  Have your cards ready to turn in to me.  We will then do more multiple choice practice using, you guessed it, "Letter From a Birmingham Jail."  I think with the focused study you have already done, you will be able to meet your goal of "one more right" on this MC practice.  

On Tuesday you will have the test on either The Scarlet Letter or The Last of the Mohicans from the Romantic period.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will take a closer look at the rhetorical strategies Dr. King uses in his letter.

On Friday, after all this study, you will do an in-class write on "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

Honors American Literature

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful weekend!

Week of 1/30-2/3

We have been studying the spiritual aspects of transcendental and romantic literature through our study of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.  We will now turn to more practical matters by looking at Henry David Thoreau's essay on "Civil Disobedience."  We will consider questions about the purpose of government and if there is ever a right time to break the law.  This will transition into a film study of Spike Lee's "4 Little Girls" about the 1963 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham.  We will analyze the argument made in the film and the techniques Lee uses to force us to look into the face of racism and its consequences.  Time allowing, we will end the week by beginning study of Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Don't forget you have a vocabulary quiz on unit 9 on Friday!

 

 

 

AP Language

I have made a minor adjustment to the plans for this week concerning "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  Students were given annotation guidelines and questions concerning this piece and will prepare for a graded discussion on Friday, instead of the groups I had originally planned.  You will turn in your annotations and questions at the end of the discussion on Friday.

Open House

As you know, open house takes place on Thursday evening.  Unfortunately, I will not be here.  Please feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions.  Parents who want to know more about what we are doing in AP Language can go to Ms. Gasaway in room 922, as we plan together and do many of the same things.

AP Language

Week of 1/23

Monday-Tuesday

Don't forget we will have our first vocabulary quiz today.  We will then discuss "4 Little Girls."  Students will be given a writing prompt regarding the documentary and asked to draft an answer.  

Annotations from "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail" will be returned and students will be grouped for a re-read and specific annotation guidelines.  Each group will prepare for presentations on Friday.

Wednesday

We will revisit the multiple choice practice on "The Secret Goldfish" by going over the answers.  Time allowing, "Birmingham Jail" groups will meet.

Thursday

I will give you feedback on your "Secret Goldfish" papers and time to re-write portions of them in class. Don't forget to do your vocabulary!

Friday

We will go over vocabulary for unit 2.  Have your definitions and sentences ready today.   We will continue our discussion about "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by having groups present and lead aspects of the discussion.

 

Honors American Literature

Week of 1/23

Mon-Wed

We will be looking at Emily Dickinson's style through studies of "The Soul Selects Her Own Society,"  "Tell all the truth but tell it slant," "Because I Could Not Stop For Death,"  and "I heard a fly buzz when I died."

Vocabulary words for unit 9 will be distributed and exercises completed.

Thursday

Students will write an in-class essay comparing and contrasting Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. 

Friday

We will read and discuss passages from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and Emerson's "Self-Reliance."  We will follow up with a documentary study beginning next week.

 

AP Language

A couple of you have gone AWOL on me and I have not received your paper, which was due on Tuesday!  Remember the policy is to email me the paper if you are not here; otherwise, a late penalty of 20% per day will be used.  This is for the first three days.  After three days you cannot make up the paper and will receive a zero.  Don't do this to yourself!

I also hope all of you are reading your first independent reading book -- either The Scarlet Letter or Last of the Mohicans.  Don't procrastinate any more!!  The test is January 31st.

Students have turned in their annotations for Letter From a Birmingham Jail, so if you are one of the students that has gone AWOL you need to remember to turn these into me as well.

We have talked a little bit about the letter and have begun watching 4 Little Girls about the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.   We are looking at the argument Spike Lee makes in the film and the rhetorical/persuasive strategies he uses.  Those of you who are out will need to make arrangements with me to make up viewing the film.

Don't forget that you should have your notecards done for the first vocabulary unit by Friday.  We will go over the words before finishing 4 Little Girls.  Your first quiz will be Monday.  Don't forget!

Honors American Literature

Week of January 16th

I hope you had a nice restful long weekend!  On Tuesday we began our study of Walt Whitman.  Students read his biography and Part I of Song of Myself.  Students also made connections between romantic and transcendental thought and the ideas expressed in this part of Whitman's poem. 

On Wednesday we looked at Part 10 of Song of Myself and discussed Whitman's observational style, clearly influenced by his days as a journalist, his optimistic, exuberant tone, and his use of cataloging.  We also read "I Hear America Singing," and students have been asked to model their own poem after Whitman's that indicates their own observations about their country.  Since students are emulating Whitman's style, they should catalog at least ten observations using long lines.  This is due on Friday, typewritten.

On Thursday we will look at additional sections of Song of Myself.  We will then review vocabulary for the quiz on Friday.

On Friday we will have a quiz over unit 8 vocabulary.  We will then read our "I Hear America Singing" poems for the rest of the class.  Students who read theirs will get bonus points on the assignment.

AP Language

As you know, I extended the deadline for your paper to Tuesday.  DON'T FORGET.  If you are not here, remember in order to avoid a late grade that you will need to email the paper to me.

Also remember to read and annotate King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  We will begin our study of this piece, along with the documentary "4 Little Girls" on Tuesday.

AP Language

Welcome back everyone!  I hope you had a relaxing break.

Monday 1/9

I had to be here, but not you!

Tues 1/10

We completed schedule verification forms today.  We also began "The Secret Goldfish."  I know it is an old Wordmaster's piece, but it really is a good story.  We began annotating the story in class.  It is important to read it carefully and finish annotating it before class tomorrow.

Wed 1/11

You will see today why it was a good idea to read the short story "The Secret Goldfish" carefully and annotate.  We will be doing a practice multiple choice with this story.  Make sure you have finished and you bring it to class today!  After completing the multiple choice, we will divide into five groups to look at some questions about the story.  Just one question, so don't stress :)  You will also be getting a writing prompt for the story -- we were planning to have you do this in class on Friday, but we forgot about tomorrow's PSAT day.  Anyway, we are going to have you write the prompt at home -- it's due (typed, MLA format, please) FRIDAY.

Thurs 1/12

It's all about the PSAT today.  We will look at most frequently missed questions and talk about how to arrive at the correct answer.

Time allowing, we will also revist "The Secret Goldfish" - this time with groups.  And, yes, you will be sharing with the whole class about your discoveries about the text.

Friday 1/13

I'll collect your paper on the story.  Make sure if you are not here that you email yours to me by 3:30 today and receive confirmation from me that I received it.

Today we will share what your group discovered about the story.

You will also have homework over the long weekend.  You will need to read and mark "A Letter From a Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  That unit will begin on Tuesday and you will need to read it in advance.