river oaks [english]

Seniors Please continue to work on your papers throughout the next two weeks. We will begin the "problem" portion of the paper next week, so you need to be thinking of possible topics -- anything that you would be "solving" as a professional in that field. I have linked the works cited page we worked in class HERE . Please save all documents with your last name and the topic (ryland-career.docx) when you send me files. That way the files can be arranged alphabetically.

Seniors We are writing tomorrow in class, so bring your USB thumb drives! You should be working on annotating your sources - highlighting them for content and working out an outline. We will finish up on Friday and print the final draft, which will include a works cited page. Don't forget to start asking people about an interview. Sophomores Read p45-51 and answer #1-5 on p51. We will have a quiz on the poem on Friday. We will have an exam on the Anglo-Saxon period, including Beowulf and other poems, next Wednesday . Honors students have an assignment due on Monday -- reading and summarizing an article on the Staffordshire Hoard . Your summary should be around 250 words and formatted according to MLA. Summaries may include quotes, but only when the wording is unique to the author. Use the following for instructions regarding summaries (from the University of Washington): How to Write a Summary .

Seniors Print out and bring the following to class: College Board - description of major and/or career Occupational Outlook Handbook - info from at least two of the tabs Something from a degree program you are considering Sophomores Read pages 33-44 of Beowulf and do #1-4 p44. You must give me 3-4 complete sentences and direct references to the text in each answer to receive credit.

Seniors Take a personality/career test to determine your major, and then go to College Board 's site to explore possible career paths. Print something out from College Board and bring it to class. For Wednesday, visit the Occupational Outlook Handbook for more specific information. Look for your career and then navigate through the tabs and print out what you find. Finally, go to the university of your choice and find the department's home page. Look for details on your program of study and print. We will look through these sources Wednesday in class and plan your essay. Your "Career Search" essay will be written in class on Thursday and Friday. Sophomores Quiz on Celtic/Roman/Anglo-Saxon historical context tomorrow! We are also discussing Beowulf.

Seniors We will start working on your Career Research Project next week, starting with an investigation into your possible career. A good place to get information on careers and majors is College Board . For those of you who have no idea where to start, try a personality or career test. Sophomores We will start Beowulf next week, so you will need your books in class. We will have a QUIZ on Tuesday over Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon historical context.

Seniors, you will all write the "This I Believe" essay in class on Thursday and Friday. The assignment, as outlined on the site , follows:   Tell a story : Be specific. Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events of your life. Consider moments when belief was formed or tested or changed. Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real . Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.   Be brief : Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words. That’s about three minutes when read aloud at your natural pace.   Name your belief : If you can’t name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief. Also, rather than writing a list, consider focusing on one core belief, because three minute...

Seniors Your synthesis papers are due tomorrow morning. Bring all stages of your draft to staple together. Sophomores Due to our "sudden meeting," your schedule has been changed by a day. Come tomorrow prepared to type.

Most of you got a good start on your essay today. We will finish those up tomorrow and print at the end of class. I am emphasizing the whole writing process on these first papers (and throughout), so I require you to turn every stage of the draft. For tomorrow, that means you will staple all of your handwritten work with your printed draft. Seniors On Wednesday, we'll get started on planning your own "This I Believe" paper. That paper will be written in class on Thursday and Friday. Sophomores On Wednesday, I will pass out books and start lecturing on the origins of the English language and British literature.

Seniors Your essay on Monday will be a synthesis using four of the "This I Believe" essays - three from your book and one from the website (http://thisibelieve.org/). Your essay should be centered around a clear, arguable thesis, and each paragraph should connect to that central purpose. You must cite all four essays according to MLA guidelines - found here - and the essay will be written in class. In other words, come prepared on Monday to write by outlining your paper and marking your book for content. Sophomores Your essay on Monday is a literary analysis of Hound of the Baskervilles . I have given you five general topics to choose from, and we talked about turning one of those topics into a thesis question and statement. Your thesis should be included in the first paragraph, as well as the title of the novel and the author. Your support should come in the form of direct reference to the novel. This is NOT merely a summary of the plot; rather, it is a detailed look a...

English 8 Diagnostic

Hello everyone, and welcome back! I'm looking forward to another great year of teaching sophomores and seniors, and this year I will be teaching 8th grade as well. Your summer reading assignments are due on the first full day of classes, Thursday the 14th. Eighth graders will be tested in their Reading class. The schedule for the first few days (sophomores and seniors) follows: Wednesday - half day - introduce course and receive syllabus Thursday - full day - turn in reports and discuss in-class essay Friday - pep rally schedule - flag day ceremony - prepare outlines Monday - in-class essays The 8th grade English class will get started right away with a diagnostic grammar quiz and essay on Friday and Monday, respectively. Your syllabus will include all of my contact information, but please feel free to contact me via email any time: aryland@gmail.com .

Your summer reading list is posted on the school's website - SUMMER READING - and the required works are listed below: To Kill A Mockingbird (9th) Hound of the Baskervilles (10th) The Glass Menagerie (11th) This I Believ e (12th) In addition to the required texts, all students must read ONE (non-honors) or TWO (honors/DE/AP) books of their own choosing. Books must be grade-level appropriate and should be books the students have not already read, obviously.  The goal is to keep you reading, but I would like for you to have some choice in the matter. Visit your local bookstore or go online to see what looks interesting!

Sophomores Your final exam will 100-150 questions, including multiple choice and matching. We will be going over the study guide for the rest of the week, so review your notes and come with questions. I will hand out copies of the review in class, but I've also linked a copy HERE . Honors students, I will post your essay and presentation grades as soon as I have finished grading.

Read "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer and answer questions #2-7 for Tuesday. First hour students must turn in homework for the short stories by Wednesday in order to receive credit.

Sophomores have some more optional homework - this time on the short stories "Araby" and "At The Pitt-Rivers." The questions are due Monday, and we will continue discussion then. Remember to use specific examples from the stories in your answers: Araby - Comp Check, #2-4, and 6 At the Pitt-Rivers - #2-8 You have one more story for the final: " Once Upon a Time ," by  Nadine Gordimer. I've linked it in case you'd like to go ahead and read it this weekend.

Sophomore Honors have PowerPoint presentations due on Monday. The late penalty is TEN POINTS PER DAY. Next week is our last week of class, so it must be turned in and presented to be counted. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me this weekend. Again, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. I will have to give you a zero. Use the following form for an article from a website: If no author is listed, then the title of the short work goes first in the entry. Here is a  SAMPLE PAGE  for creating a citation from a web page.

The final Honors assignment for the year is a PowerPoint presentation on two 20 th century British authors. To view which authors you have selected, download the Word document . The assignment is to create and deliver a presentation of at least twelve slides – one for a title, five for each author, and one for resources. For each author, include the following: A picture of the author  Short biography  Images and text related to major works  Major themes, settings, genre Focus on most important work, or the most important aspect of their work Your title page should include your name, class and date. Your resources slide should use MLA citations. Consider the quality of a source before you use it, and remember that the best way to avoid plagiarism is clear documentation. Avoid Wikipedia , and cite ALL information and photos. Looking deeper than Wikipedia (or to the page's references) will reveal the many sources behind that single, heavily-plagiarized pag...

Sophomores Your quiz has been moved to Monday, and your homework is to answer questions #2-8 following "Mark of the Beast." Seniors Your end-of-term grades have been posted on Edline. In order to determine if you have to take the final, average the first and second semester grades. This should include all nine weeks and the semester exam. AP students are automatically exempt from the final. Please email me if you are uncertain about your grade. Finals will take place during your normally scheduled period, in my room. The essay will be written in class and should be at least 500 words.

Read Kipling's " Mark of the Beast " tonight, and we will discuss tomorrow. Your quiz on Friday will include questions from both the poems and the short story.

Seniors Again, your assignments for the week are all due on Friday: Letter to yourself in five years (in sealed, addressed envelope) One page update on your plans (in MLA format)   Scrapbook with title page and at least 16 pages (four for each year) Sophomores Your homework for tonight is to answer the following questions concerning poems by Housman, Arnold, and Hardy: #1-4 on 964 #2-4 on 967 #1-4 on 943 #2-3 on 961 Honors students will write their papers next Friday. This Friday, in addition to your quiz, honors students will choose from a list of 20th century authors for presentations.