| Syllabus
| Fourth Quarter's Assignments | Revised:
Oct. 22, 2009 |
|
Week
of August 24 to 28 (Beginning of first quarter and first semester) |
| Mon | First
day of class: Class introductions. Distribute copies of course
syllabus. Discuss who should take Honors English 11/12 and why. Journal
Writing #1:- What was the
BEST part of your summer?
- Brag
on yourself about something you've done in the last 12 months of which you are
very proud.
- What I need
to accomplish this school year . . .
- This
year will be the same . . .
- This
year will be different . . .
Reading
survey (on board). Finish reading course syllabus.
Decide on partners for writing bulletin re-make as review of the stages in the
writing process. No hmwk. [SA Handshake and POP Back-to-School supper tonight!] |
| Tues | Finish
reading surveys. Research components for writing process bulletin board. Look
for options, ideas, processes, etc. that make each step in the process come alive
and seem real. Turn in sketch of your section of the bulletin board by the end
of class.
Hmwk: Continue researching components for writing process
bulletin board. Be ready to start assembling bulletin board in class tomorrow. |
| Wed | Continue
working on writing process bulletin board. Do rough layout for design. No hmwk.
Leave
notebooks in classroom for initial check. (For full credit, you need
to have a notebook, five tabs--correctly labelled and in right order, a syllabus
in "Handouts" section, Writing #1 in the "Journal" section,
and your name on the front cover and/or spine.) |
| Thurs | Finish
(?) bulletin board. Check out Reading
List for guidelines. Working together, begin making book choices for this
year.
Hmwk: Refine your book list started in class. Generate list of
10 books (5 British, 5 American) to propose to class tomorrow. Have reasons for
your choices. |
| Fri | Finish
bulletin board. Review book options with copies of possibilities in class. Refine
the lists that you began last night for homework. Research, browse, discuss, read.
. . . Figure out what YOU want to read in class this year. We'll pull things together
next week. No hmwk. |
| Week
of August 31 to Sept. 4 |
| Mon | Discuss
book choices. Come up with a list of 10 books (5 British, 5 American) that will
be this year's course of study.
Hmwk: Finalize your list before class
tomorrow. |
| Tues | Finish
book selection. Click here to see the Proposal
for this year.
Hmwk: Research notes on Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight. (One page of handwritten notes, in your own words. Document all sources
with complete URLs) |
| Wed | Due:
Research notes. Begin Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Read Part One.
Hmwk:
Check out this
1869 edition of the Middle English original text from Project Gutenberg. There's
an introduction included that you may want to browse in--if you're interested.
However, be sure to scroll down to the text of the poem so that you can see what
the text from the original manuscript looks like. Notice the unusual letters,
words that are similar to Modern English, and words that are very different than
Modern English. You may even want to compare sections of text to your copy of
the Modern English translation. |
| Thurs | Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight. Reading quiz (Part One). Begin viewing "Mother
Tongue," The Story of English.
Hmwk: Read Part Two. |
| Fri | Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight. Reading quiz? Finish viewing "Mother Tongue,"
The Story of English. No hmwk. |
| Week
of September 7 to 11 |
| Mon | No
school: Labor Day. |
| Tues | Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight. View King Arthur: The Legend & the Land,
Pt. 1 & 2
Hmwk: Read Part Three. [View The History of English
Literature: Old & Middle English?] |
| Wed | [Publication
Workshop] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Reading quiz (Part Three) Distribute
Reading Questions
(This is a resource to help with reading the poem for details. The page numbers
don't work for our edition, but the line numbers should be fine.). Discuss vivid
visual imagery of the poem. Discuss examples. Read Part Four. Reading should be
complete before class on Friday.
Hmwk: Finish reading before Friday's
class. Work on an illustration of your visual imagery scene--to be included in
the classroom collection of Sir Gawain essays. |
| Thurs | [Publication
Workshop] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Distribute essay
questions and class discussion of essay options. Finish reading and/or work
on visual imagery illustration.
Hmwk: Finish reading before class tomorrow.
|
| Fri | Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight. Due: Finish reading before class. Reading quiz.
[Journal Writing (Which character would you change place with? The green girdle:
significance? How does it change? What about the wife: pawn? complicit?)] Work
on illustration. Have it complete by Monday. No hmwk (unless you have not finished
your illustration). |
| Week
of September 14 to 18 |
| Mon | [ITED/CogAt
Testing] Due: Sir Gawain illustration. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Work on essay questions. Discuss and
make selection. Thinking stage of the writing process. Journal Writing
#2 (Sir Gawain essay thinking/pre-writing). New piece of paper: write down
line numbers in the poem that support any/all ideas you had in your journal writing.
Look for EVIDENCE in the poem.
Hmwk: Think, think, think! Write down
the thinking stage of the writing process for this essay. Next time we
have class, I'll check this off for credit. Go for several pages
of thoughts, answers, notes, research, diagrams, lists, sketches, quotes, twiddles,
poetry, free writing, etc. Don't say "No" to ANY idea that might be
useful. Go for quantity. (We'll work on quality later). Think: more thoughts and
more pages of evidence of thought = more points! |
| Tues | [ITED/CogAt
Testing] No class.
Hmwk: Continue with thinking stage of the
writing process for your essay. (See
Hmwk for yesterday.) |
| Wed | [ITED/CogAt
Testing] Due: Lots of evidence of the thinking stage of the writing process.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Check off thinking stage evidence
for credit. Organizing stage of the writing process. Concept mapping. Cluster
sheets. Outlines. Scissors method. The early part of the organizing
stage can be very messy! This is the beginning of the "Just say, No"
part of the writing process. But, don't say "No" to too much at this
point. You can vote stuff off the island later on, too. Keep EVERYTHING that looks
like it addresses your essay question.
Hmwk: Organize, organize, organize.
Create a controlling thesis statement. Be prepared to have the organizing process
completed by the end of class on Thurs. |
| Thurs | Due:
thesis statement for your essay. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Essay
questions. Organize, organize, organize. Do NOT throw anything away until
AFTER you have submitted your final draft. (You get permission to hoard!)
Hmwk:
Bring the process and the result of your organizing to our next class meeting
to be checked off for credit. |
| Fri
A | [Paradise
Volleyball Tournament] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Essay
questions. Due by end of class: organizing stage of your essay. Include line
numbers and/or quotes, examples, illustrations, etc. Be READY to draft by end
of class. Begin drafting. No hmwk. [Prep Church and Prep Football this weekend]
|
| Week
of September 21 to 25 |
| Mon |
Essay questions. Check off organizing
stage for volleyball ladies. Discuss drafting stage of the writing process. Draft!
Hmwk:
Have rough-rough draft completed. (A "rough-rough" draft may not have
an introduction--other than a thesis statement, and it may not have a conclusion.
But the body paragraphs should be all there.) |
| Tues |
Essay questions. Check off rough-rough
drafts. Assess your first draft: - Print
out your rough-rough draft. (Football people: I'll initial this tomorrow.)
- Underline
the thesis statement (the sentence that tells the reader what your essay
is about). This should be the last sentence of the introductory paragraph--eventually.
- Underline
the topic sentence of EACH paragraph. (The topic sentence is the sentence that
tells the reader what the paragraph is about.)
- Does
each topic sentence support a part of the thesis? (Each topic sentence SHOULD
support a part of your thesis statement.) Need to make changes?
- Underline
the concluding sentence of EACH paragraph. (This is the sentence that draws the
paragraph to a close, recaps it, and can include a transition to the next paragraph.)
Need to add them?
- Read
your essay to make sure you are avoiding excessive summarizing. Use only enough
to get your points across.
- Now,
save your rough-rough draft with a NEW file name, and begin your next draft.
- Double
space this next draft. Use Times, New
Roman, 12 pt. font, 1" margins all around, your name, class, assignment
in upper-right corner (standard academic font).
- Add
items that your assessment showed were missing in your rough-rough draft.
- Revise
sections that were revealed as weak in your assessment above.
- Continue
working on your essay to make it stronger/better. Intro? Conclusion? Examples?
- Print
out a NEW draft to bring to class tomorrow. (This should be a DIFFERENT draft
than the rough-rough draft that I initialled in class today.)
Hmwk:
Complete a rough draft. (Your whole essay should now be present in draft form.)
Print out a copy of this second draft to bring to class tomorrow. This is a DIFFERENT
draft than the draft I initialled in class today. (Football people will have TWO
drafts to show me: the rough-rough draft AND the new, second draft.) |
| Wed |
Essay questions. Check off second drafts
that incorporate all of the changes suggested by yesterday's in-class essay self-assessment.
Peer reviewing: - Read
your partner's essay straight through, carefully, and without commenting..
- Now
discuss. Does the essay address the question?
- Does
the essay break the subject into parts and discuss these parts? Does the essay
just summarize the poem--rather than discuss the parts of the subject?
- What
about the opening? Talk about info that needs to be in the intro.
- Is
there a clear thesis statement? Does it predict what will be in the essay? Is
there anything in the body that is not predicted by the thesis?
- Look
at each individual body paragraph:
- Is
there a clear topic sentence?
- Does
the paragraph develop that topic?
- Is
there a concluding sentence?
- What
about the ending? Does the essay draw to a close satisfactorily? Does it end by
concluding the subject that was introduced? Does it conclude a different topic?
|
| Thurs | [Leadership
Conference] Essay questions. Discuss
introductions and conclusions. Continue with revision and peer review--as useful
to you. I'll continue reading rough drafts--as students are ready for this. No
hmwk. ("Introductions
& Conclusions" hndt from Princeton Writing Program) |
| Fri
B | No
class. |
| Week
of September 28 to Oct. 2 |
| Mon | Proofreading
tactics. Work on essays. I'll continue reading drafts--as students are ready for
this.
Hmwk: Complete another draft of Sir Gawain essay--incorporating
proofreading changes. |
| Tues | Discuss
Sir Gawain and Biblical parallels. Four levels of meaning. Journal writing
#3 (Examine the Biblical passages and references on the board and consider deeper
levels of meaning for Sir Gawain. Be prepared to discuss on Wed and/or
Thurs).
Hmwk: Finish final draft of Sir Gawain essay. Print out
hard copy and assemble in a folder (with all previous drafts) to submit at the
beginning of class tomorrow. |
| Wed | Due:
Final draft of Sir Gawain essays. Read essays aloud in class. Continue
discussions about meaning started on Tuesday (Journal writing #3).
Hmwk:
Submit essay to Turnitin.com before midnight today. Study for Sir Gawain
test. |
| Thurs | Test
review and discussion. Continue discussions about meaning started on Tuesday (Journal
writing #3).
Hmwk: Study for Sir Gawain test. |
| Fri
A | Test:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. No hmwk. |
| Week
of October 5 to 9 |
| Mon | Begin
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. Intro study approach. Intro Lambs'
Tales from Shakespeare. Project Gutenberg: A
Midsummer Night's Dream. Work on classical
allusions. Write notes as Journal Writing #4 (Explain the allusion so that
you understand the passage better.)
Hmwk: Read Lambs'
Tales from Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream. |
| Tues | A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. Reading quiz. Continue with classical
allusions (Put your explanation of the allusion assigned to you in Journal Writing
#4).
Hmwk: Read "Enjoying
'A Midsummer Night's Dream', by William Shakespeare" (by Ed Friedlander)
as a lighthearted introduction to the play. (Read down to "Productions."
There are some lovely images below this section, but Friedlander's introduction
to AMND finishes with "Productions." The rest is unrelated, other stuff.)
Do you agree with the author? What do you want to know more about--now that you've
read this intro? |
| Wed | A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. Share research on classical allusions.
Choose parts in Act I, Scene 1 and 2. Prepare to read your parts.
Hmwk:
Prepare to read your parts in Act I, Scenes 1 and 2. Pay close attention to phrasing,
expression, word meaning, pronunciation, and clarity. Practice reading so that
you HELP your classmates understand the lines. (Imagine you are a professional
actor/actress preparing for this role. What do you need to know to be able to
read the lines well?) |
| Thurs | A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. Re-do classical allusion presentations
by students not prepared yesterday (half credit if no excused absence involved
in lack of preparation). Read aloud: Act I. Return and go over Sir Gawain
tests. No hmwk. |
| Fri
B | No
class. |
| Week
of October 12 to 16 |
| Mon | Begin
viewing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare.
Hmwk: Read A
Note on Shakespeare's Grammar. Take the short
quiz. (Use this URL: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/tchg/quiz/shak/quiz.html
rather than the link at the bottom of the handout.) Try your hand at "Will's
Words," a "Masterpiece word game about Shakespeare and his way with
words". (The explanations are interesting--even if you don't always get the
answers right.) |
| Tues | Continue
viewing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare.
Hmwk: Read "The
Language of Shakespeare" and spend about half an hour following some
of the interesting links at the bottom of the page. Browse to learn more. |
| Wed | Continue
viewing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare.
Hmwk: Read the
"Language" section in the Folger
website about "Teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream." Select
two different passages in AMND (one involving Helena, Hermia, and co., and the
other involving Nick Bottom and his working friends). Look for several examples
in each section of -
"unfamiliar words or words whose meanings have changed" AND
-
"unfamiliar word order."
Be
prepared to share and explain what you have discovered in class tomorrow. |
| Thurs | Return
essays and discuss re-write option. (Conference required for all students choosing
the re-write option.) Share on classroom board what you discovered last night.
AMND
essay options.
Hmwk: Work on Sir Gawain essay re-write. Due
Monday. |
| Fri
A | A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. AMND
essay options. (Re-write conferences, as necessary)
[WOPAM this weekend] |
| Week
of October 19 to 23 (End of first quarter) |
| Mon | Due:
Sir Gawain essay re-write. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare.
Students divide into pairs. Randomly assign AMND
essay option. Activity: - Identify
the problem/question your group has been assigned.
- Come
up with 3-5 solutions/explanations and/or discussion points.
- Design
and create a visual that serves as a discussion prompt about your question.
Hmwk:
Do individually assigned research for your group's discussion board. |
| Tues | A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare. Distribute poster board. Continue working
on AMND
essay option group activity (see above). Consolidate homework findings and
work on discussion board.
Hmwk: Choose which essay you want to write.
Work on the Thinking stage of the writing process. Bring notes, free writing,
lists, etc., to give evidence of the thinking. Submit Sir Gawain RE-WRITE
to Turnitin.com before midnight tomorrow night. |
| Wed | Due:
evidence of the Thinking stage of the writing process. A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Shakespeare. Finish up discussion boards.
Hmwk: Submit Sir
Gawain RE-WRITE to Turnitin.com before midnight tonight. Organize your essay.
What is your thesis? What will you have in EACH paragraph? Write out a detailed
sentence outline OR create a detailed cluster
sheet. [Link
to cluster sheet file] |
| Thurs | AMND
essays: Check off organization stage of the writing process. (Half of class
members gone for a volleyball game in SF. Discussion postponed.) Those remaining:
continue working on essay. No hmwk. |
| Fri
B | No
class. |