Mr. Newman's Blog

Arsenic Medieval Cold

Drama (Period 1)

Film Friday: Began watching the classic suspense-comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Continued work on individual mini-research project about Medieval history and culture. We had a "laptop cart" in the classroom for students to do Internet research. Oral presentations for this assignment will be on Monday, November 3.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

From the individual time lines of events created a couple of days ago, the class shared their findings and we created a detailed time line from chapters 25-26 of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Film Friday: Began watching the classic suspense-comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Continued work on individual mini-research project about Medieval history and culture. We had a "laptop cart" in the classroom for students to do Internet research. Oral presentations for this assignment will be on Monday, November 3.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

From the individual time lines of events created a couple of days ago, the class shared their findings and we created a detailed time line from chapters 25-26 of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Film Friday: Began watching the classic suspense-comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

From the individual time lines of events created a couple of days ago, the class shared their findings and we created a detailed time line from chapters 25-26 of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Games Medieval Time Line

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with unit on improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze, Party Quirks, Death in a Minute (and a variation), Life in a Minute, and Press Conference.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Began work on individual mini-research project about Medieval history and culture. We had a "laptop cart" in the classroom for students to do Internet research. Oral presentations for this assignment will be on Monday, November 3. Download the assignment and the organizer below.

Download mini_research_project_student_directions.doc
Download research_presentation_organizer.doc

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

From the individual time lines of events created yesterday, the class shared their findings and we created a detailed time line from chapters 22-24 of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with unit on improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze, Party Quirks, Death in a Minute (and a variation), Life in a Minute, and Press Conference.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

From the individual time lines of events created yesterday, the class shared their findings and we created a detailed time line from chapters 22-24 of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Improv Stereotypes Spy

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

1. What is a stereotype?
2. Give an example of a stereotype you see everyday.
3. How are stereotypical characters used in modern satire (such as The Simpsons)?
4. When you think of the Middle Ages, what types of characters come to mind?
5. How might these characters be stereotypes?

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

1. What is a stereotype?
2. Give an example of a stereotype you see everyday.
3. How are stereotypical characters used in modern satire (such as The Simpsons)?
4. When you think of the Middle Ages, what types of characters come to mind?
5. How might these characters be stereotypes?

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

1. What is a stereotype?
2. Give an example of a stereotype you see everyday.
3. How are stereotypical characters used in modern satire (such as The Simpsons)?
4. When you think of the Middle Ages, what types of characters come to mind?
5. How might these characters be stereotypes?

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

1. What is a stereotype?
2. Give an example of a stereotype you see everyday.
3. How are stereotypical characters used in modern satire (such as The Simpsons)?
4. When you think of the Middle Ages, what types of characters come to mind?
5. How might these characters be stereotypes?

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

1. What is a stereotype?
2. Give an example of a stereotype you see everyday.
3. How are stereotypical characters used in modern satire (such as The Simpsons)?
4. When you think of the Middle Ages, what types of characters come to mind?
5. How might these characters be stereotypes?

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Whose Line?, Party Quirks, and Death in a Minute.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Quick review of yesterday's reading. Used the following questions to engender discussion on stereotypes in preparation to better understanding of the stock characters in The Canterbury Tales.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students worked individually on constructing a timeline of events from the last 5 chapters of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

PLEASE NOTE: Students should begin to obtain a copy of their next parallel reading: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. If the book is going to be ordered, it should be done NOW.

Improv Reading Cold

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze and Space Jump.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

I had other tasks during 2nd and 5th periods today, so I had a substitute for these periods. Here is what the students were supposed to do:

Students were to use their textbooks for the following reading assignment. This assignment concerns English literature between Beowulf and Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales is our next unit).

• Read pages 72-78
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 78
• Read pages 79-82
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 82
• Answer questions 1-3 & 6 on page 83

The students' work was collected at the end of the period for a classwork grade.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups who did not present yesterday shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes. Students had the rest of the class to catch up on reading of the novel.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze and Space Jump.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

I had other tasks during 2nd and 5th periods today, so I had a substitute for these periods. Here is what the students were supposed to do:

Students were to use their textbooks for the following reading assignment. This assignment concerns English literature between Beowulf and Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales is our next unit).

• Read pages 72-78
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 78
• Read pages 79-82
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 82
• Answer questions 1-3 & 6 on page 83

The students' work was collected at the end of the period for a classwork grade.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups who did not present yesterday shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes. Students had the rest of the class to catch up on reading of the novel.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze and Space Jump.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

I had other tasks during 2nd and 5th periods today, so I had a substitute for these periods. Here is what the students were supposed to do:

Students were to use their textbooks for the following reading assignment. This assignment concerns English literature between Beowulf and Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales is our next unit).

• Read pages 72-78
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 78
• Read pages 79-82
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 82
• Answer questions 1-3 & 6 on page 83

The students' work was collected at the end of the period for a classwork grade.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups who did not present yesterday shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes. Students had the rest of the class to catch up on reading of the novel.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze and Space Jump.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

I had other tasks during 2nd and 5th periods today, so I had a substitute for these periods. Here is what the students were supposed to do:

Students were to use their textbooks for the following reading assignment. This assignment concerns English literature between Beowulf and Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales is our next unit).

• Read pages 72-78
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 78
• Read pages 79-82
• Answer questions 1-6 on page 82
• Answer questions 1-3 & 6 on page 83

The students' work was collected at the end of the period for a classwork grade.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups who did not present yesterday shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes. Students had the rest of the class to catch up on reading of the novel.

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Freeze and Space Jump.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

I had other tasks during 2nd and 5th periods today, so I had a substitute for these periods. Here is what the students were supposed to do:

Students were to use their textbooks for the following reading assignment. This assignment concerns English literature between Beowulf and Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales is our next unit).

The students' work was collected at the end of the period for a classwork grade.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups who did not present yesterday shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes. Students had the rest of the class to catch up on reading of the novel.

Improv Test Spy

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Hitchhiker, Whose Line? and Party Quirks.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Test on Beowulf unit.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Hitchhiker, Whose Line? and Party Quirks.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Test on Beowulf unit.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Drama (Period 1)

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Hitchhiker, Whose Line? and Party Quirks.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Test on Beowulf unit.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Continued with learning about improvisational acting by playing more improv games: Hitchhiker, Whose Line? and Party Quirks.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Test on Beowulf unit.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Groups shared their analysis of their assigned topics from these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Performance Review Review

Drama (Period 1)

Had last radio play performance.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Continued review of Beowulf for test on Monday by reviewing various topics including history of the English language, literary devices, characters, plot timeline, etc.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Broke up into groups, and each group was responsible for one of these topics for a section of these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Drama (Period 1)

Had last radio play performance.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Continued review of Beowulf for test on Monday by reviewing various topics including history of the English language, literary devices, characters, plot timeline, etc.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Broke up into groups, and each group was responsible for one of these topics for a section of these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Had last radio play performance.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Continued review of Beowulf for test on Monday by reviewing various topics including history of the English language, literary devices, characters, plot timeline, etc.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Class review of chapters 16-21 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Broke up into groups, and each group was responsible for one of these topics for a section of these chapters: plot summary, characters and terms, and themes.

Wait Beowulf Review

Drama (Period 1)

Theatrical Thursday: Finished watching Wait Until Dark. Then played "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Began review of Beowulf for test on Monday. Download study guide below.

Download beowulf_essential_questions.doc

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Class review of chapters 13-15 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

Theatrical Thursday: Finished watching Wait Until Dark. Then played "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Began review of Beowulf for test on Monday. Download study guide below.

Download beowulf_essential_questions.doc

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Class review of chapters 13-15 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

Improvisation Storyboard Quiz

Drama (Period 1)

Introduction to improvisation unit. Played "What Cha Doin'?", "Questions," "Alphabet," and "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished pictures of group sections of final part of Beowulf. In both classes, used the pictures to make a storyboard and review the plot of this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Quiz on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class class review of chapters 13-15.

Download the final study guide for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold below.

Download StudyGuideforTheSpyChaps24-26.doc

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Introduction to improvisation unit. Played "What Cha Doin'?", "Questions," "Alphabet," and "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished pictures of group sections of final part of Beowulf. In both classes, used the pictures to make a storyboard and review the plot of this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Quiz on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class class review of chapters 13-15.

Download the final study guide for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold below.

Download StudyGuideforTheSpyChaps24-26.doc

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Introduction to improvisation unit. Played "What Cha Doin'?", "Questions," "Alphabet," and "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished pictures of group sections of final part of Beowulf. In both classes, used the pictures to make a storyboard and review the plot of this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Quiz on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class class review of chapters 13-15.

Download the final study guide for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold below.

Download StudyGuideforTheSpyChaps24-26.doc

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Introduction to improvisation unit. Played "What Cha Doin'?", "Questions," "Alphabet," and "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished pictures of group sections of final part of Beowulf. In both classes, used the pictures to make a storyboard and review the plot of this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Quiz on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class class review of chapters 13-15.

Download the final study guide for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold below.

Download StudyGuideforTheSpyChaps24-26.doc

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Introduction to improvisation unit. Played "What Cha Doin'?", "Questions," "Alphabet," and "Press Conference."

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Quiz on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class class review of chapters 13-15.

Download the final study guide for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold below.

Download StudyGuideforTheSpyChaps24-26.doc

Radio Monsters Summaries

Drama (Period 1)

Performance of radio play assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished monster presentations. In both classes, in groups chosen from yesterday, used plot summaries of their sections to create 4 frames to a storyboard for this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued small group presentations on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class discussion emphasizing certain aspects of those chapters.

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Performance of radio play assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished monster presentations. In both classes, in groups chosen from yesterday, used plot summaries of their sections to create 4 frames to a storyboard for this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued small group presentations on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class discussion emphasizing certain aspects of those chapters.

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Performance of radio play assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

In 2nd period, finished monster presentations. In both classes, in groups chosen from yesterday, used plot summaries of their sections to create 4 frames to a storyboard for this last part of Beowulf.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued small group presentations on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class discussion emphasizing certain aspects of those chapters.

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Performance of radio play assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Continued small group presentations on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then a class discussion emphasizing certain aspects of those chapters.

Back in Town

Drama (Period 1)

Performances of two day play writing assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Broke into groups to read aloud the last part of Beowulf from the literature textbook (pages 54-60). Each group was then assigned a section of this past part of Beowulf. Groups chose scribes and wrote character descriptions and plot summaries of their sections. They will be doing more in their groups with their sections tomorrow.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students had a little time to continue their work in small groups on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then we began group presentations of their chapters.

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Drama (Period 1)

Performances of two day play writing assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Broke into groups to read aloud the last part of Beowulf from the literature textbook (pages 54-60). Each group was then assigned a section of this past part of Beowulf. Groups chose scribes and wrote character descriptions and plot summaries of their sections. They will be doing more in their groups with their sections tomorrow.

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students had a little time to continue their work in small groups on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then we began group presentations of their chapters.

HW: Reading assignment for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: Chapter 23-26

Performances of two day play writing assignment.

Brit Lit (Periods 2 & 5)

Contemp Lit (Periods 3 & 7)

Students had a little time to continue their work in small groups on chapters 7-12 of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Then we began group presentations of their chapters.