I hope that all of you had a productive day while I was away at jury duty! As some reminders:

1. Your This I Believe essay is due on Monday. (Not a draft! The final thing. Please make sure to bring your rubric to turn in with it.)
2. We’ll be taking a vocabulary quiz over the first Dracula list. You must have completed the practice quiz on the back of the list and have it ready to show to me for a grade.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Here is what I have been told to have you try:

1. Reboot the computer.
2. Open a different browser (Chrome, Explorer, Firefox, etc.).

If something funky is still happening, please do the following:

1. Take a screenshot of the problem (you can do this by using the “snipping tool” – search for it by clicking the Windows button in the bottom left corner of your screen and then searching for “snipping tool”).
2. Email the screenshot to me along with a clear, concise, professionally-worded explanation of what the problem is.

I’ll relay this information to the powers-that-be to try to get them to resolve the problems.

Today in class, we began brainstorming and pre-writing for an essay we will finish later this week. If you were absent, this is what you need to do:

1. Generate a list of statements starting with “I believe…”
2. Create a chart with two columns titled “Evidence From My Life” and “Evidence From The World” and fill it out to explain why you believe one particular statement.
3. Come up with a list of specific, high-impact words you could use in your essay.

There is no homework due on Thursday, but I do want you to master the Dracula 1 list on Vocabulary.com so that I know which words we need to focus on.

Happy Fall Holiday!

As I announced in class, students have the opportunity to earn some extra credit by taking the mock PSAT this weekend at Bellaire. You can sign up at this link. If you take the test, I will either replace your lowest quiz grade with a 70 (if you scored below a 70) or add 10 points to your quiz (if you scored above a 70).

We started today with a quiz (if you were absent, please come make it up during lunch). Afterwards, students annotated a graphic of the Hero’s Cycle with the story of the Little Prince and began practicing for the Dracula 1 quiz using Vocabulary.com. Please make sure that you do your best to complete Dracula 1 on Vocabulary.com ASAP – that will help me figure out which words we need to focus on.

We continued discussing the words from the Odyssey 1 vocabulary list – afterwards, students had time to study using Vocabulary.com and the practice quizzes. Please remember that your quiz on Monday will be over both Odyssey Lists 1 and 2 as well as verbs.

We finished up our lesson on verbs today – please make sure that you have completed the verb notes and practice pages by Monday (I know it looks like a lot of paper, but it really shouldn’t take a long time; if you find yourself struggling, please talk to me).

Next, we started talking about the Odyssey 2 words. We’ll finish that up tomorrow.

Homework for tonight is to finish reading The Little Prince and complete the mini-essay page (you do not need to type a separate document – just answer the questions on this page): TLP Mini-Essay

We started today with a discussion of the first 13 pages of The Little Prince. Homework for tonight was to read the next 13 pages and complete the following page: Allegory and Parable in TLP

Next, we started to talk about verbs. Both the PowerPoint and Notes/Practice sheet are under the Grammar section of the website. We’ll finish up on that tomorrow.

Today in class, we will:

1. Turn in and highlight Hunger Games essays.
2. Take the Scholastic Reading Inventory to determine your reading level.
3. Talk about homework, which is to read the first 13 pages of The Little Prince.

Here is a pdf of The Little Prince: The Little Prince

And here is your homework for tonight: The Little Prince Rose Metaphors

If you were absent today or did not have your computer, you need to make up the Scholastic Reading Inventory on your own time. Here are instructions for how to do it:

How to Take the Scholastic Reading Inventory:

1. Open Chrome.
2. Go to https://houston.itslearning.com
3. Log in using your student ID (a long number with an S at the beginning – if you do not know this, see me). If you have a Gradespeed account, your password will be the same thing. If you do not have a Gradespeed account, your password will be your birthday – MMDDYYYY. (*Note – it will be all four digits of the year.)
4. Go to More.
5. Go to Digital Resources.
6. Go to ELA.
7. Click “Scholastic Reading Inventory.”
8. You will need to log in again. This time, your ID will be the same, but your password will be your birthday in the form of MMDDYY (only the last two digits of your birth year).
9. Begin taking the test. It is very important that you do your best job on this test. Students who score poorly may need extra tutorials and work.

Make sure that you complete it entirely on your own – no parent assistance allowed!

We spent most of today taking the vocab/nouns quiz, and then students had time to finish their Hunger Games projects. A few important announcements/reminders:

1. Students must bring their laptops to class tomorrow! We are taking an online test, and you will not be able to complete it without one.
2. Your Hunger Games project is due tomorrow. You need to make sure that you have a printed copy of the story when you arrive in class (please don’t ask to bring it to me at lunch or after school) so that you can participate in the highlighting, to make sure that I give you full credit for your work.
3. If you were absent today, you must come in on Friday during lunch to make up your quiz.
4. Please remind your parents that Thursday night is Parent Night! They can come to the school and meet me and hear all kinds of good things about how you are doing. 🙂