Today in class, we discussed a class project that I think you will all enjoy greatly – making class recipe books! Here is the project information page – Narrative Recipe Project. Please see me for mentor texts to give you a sample of what to do. This project is due one week from today (November 18). One week later (November 25) I’ll distribute copies of your class cookbook, and we will celebrate with a class Thanksgiving party.

Homework for tonight was to do one page of prewriting for your project. That can be a layout, some research, an interview with a parent about the steps for your recipe, etc.

Also today, students took a diagnostic grammar test to see what we need to focus on in terms of instruction. If you were absent, please come make this up during Friday’s lunch tutorials.

A super special “thank you” to Jasmine for doing all the cutting and pasting for this survey! Now, please go vote for your 10 favorite stories!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RYHSCYL

Today in class we took our second test over the Odyssey. We also listened to Be the Bard performances – great job to all our presenters!

Homework for tonight was to master the vocabulary words (Glass Castle List 1) on Vocabulary.com. Please make sure you use MY list (it has Chapman in the title).

On Friday we read a speech from Barack Obama on fatherhood, and completed a reading guide connecting that to the Odyssey: Obama Father’s Day Speech with Odyssey Reading Guide

Homework was to read the essay “Solitude and Leadership” and highlight it (the entire thing) for Points, Illustrations, Explanations, and Transitions. Solitude and Leadership

We had fantastic conversations today about the Penelopiad, as our lesson!

Lots of important announcements:

1. An extra credit opportunity, due Monday: Be the Bard

2. Another extra credit/redemption opportunity – come after school tomorrow (3:30 to 5:30 PM) and we’ll watch O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which tells a story parallel to the Odyssey

3. This I Believe essay final copies are due tomorrow – the author of the best one from each class will be invited to a pizza party, and will have the opportunity to win a prize! (I don’t know what the prize is.)

Today in class, students read books 21, 22, and 23 from the Odyssey, and completed the following reading guide: Test Aligned Study Guide Books 21-23 This will be helpful for preparing for the exam over the second part of the Odyssey on Monday.

Homework was the Penelopiad, Part 22, along with a reading guide: The Penelopiad – The Maids The Penelopiad Part 2 Reading Guide

Also, your This I Believe essay final copy is due on Friday. Please come get a copy of the rubric from me if you didn’t get one today.

As a make-up opportunity for those of you who are looking to boost your grade – you can replace one of your HUB assignments with up to a 100 if you will create a mini-poster of the Hero’s Journey for your summer reading book. (If you did Joy Luck Club, pick one of the eight characters and follow her journey.)

Today in class, we wrote two PIE paragraphs about the Odyssey, which will count for a major grade. If you were absent, please come make those up during Friday’s lunch tutorials. (You must come in at that time – if you don’t, you will have a zero for your grade.)

We took our Odyssey test today. If you missed it, please make it up either tomorrow or Friday during tutorials.

Homework (due Wednesday) is to read an excerpt from the Penelopiad and answer a reading guide. Here are electronic copies: The Penelopiad – Penelope The Penelopiad Part 1 Reading Guide