Dec 18 - WINTER BREAK WORK!

Congratulations!

You've finished your first semester at PMSA!

I know that you'll miss having class for the next two weeks...so I've assigned some work for you to do over the break.

Winter Break Work

1. Read and annotate "The Most Dangerous Game"
2. Answer The Most Dangerous Game Questions on a separate piece of paper.

Dec 10

Classwork

Today was an action packed day.  We started off with a warm-up that forced us to go back and use vocabulary from Units 1-6.  After reviewing some of our work on the warm-up, students began analyzing epic similes on their own.  Then we dove into excerpts from Book 13, looking for their connection to themes present in The Odyssey.  For today's powerpoint, click here.

Homework

Finish Levels 1-4 for your epic simile analysis (see powerpoint or notes from class)

Works on Book 13 excerpt theme analysis (see powerpoint or below)

Book 23 due Friday

Study Vocabulary Units 1-6 for next week's final

Today's Powerpoint

Dec 9

Classwork

Today the juniors took their practice ACT and the rest of the school followed a special schedule.  This meant that only periods 1 and 7 had class with me today.  In class students were given time to work on Book 22 and Book 23 handouts.

Homework

Book 22 handout due Wednesday

Book 23 handout due Friday

Study Units 1-6 Vocabulary for the Final next week

Dec 8

Classwork

Today in class we continued our work with similes and epic similes.  Using the definition of epic simile we transformed our own similes in to epic similes by adding more details and points of comparison.  We also reviewed the plot of book 13.  Click here for today's power point, so scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Homework

The Book 22 Handout is due Wednesday, Dec. 10

Study Units 1-6 Vocabulary to prepare for our final next week

Today's Powerpoint

Dec 5

Classwork

Today I forgot my laptop at home and we went 'old school'!  There was no powerpoint used for today's notes on similes and epic similes, but if you need a refresher check out the post for Dec 8.  In class we created our own similes and compared our understanding of what a simile is to examples of epic similes in The Odyssey.  We also started to work through a four step process to help us deeply analyze a simile or epic simile.

Homework

Epithets for Books 13, 16, and 17 due Monday.

Unit 7 Vocabulary Test is Monday

Dec 3 & 4

Classwork

Wednesday and Thursday were mostly spent taking a 132 question test on Books 1-12 of the Odyssey.  On Thursday, once we were done with the test, we took sometime to analyze the mistakes we made on our Unit 7 vocabulary homework.  We pushed ourselves to think metacognitively - asking, "What about the definition of the word and the sentence would have made someone pick this word instead of the correct one," "What clues are there in the sentence that could help point me to the correct word," and "What do my incorrect answers show me about how I can better study for Monday's Test?"

Homework

• Epithets in Books 13, 16, and 17 worksheet due Friday, 12/5
• Unit 7 Vocabulary Test on Monday, 12/8

Dec 2

Classwork

Today we moved our discussion to analyzing what kind of leader Odysseus was.  We focused on evidence that we could find Book 12.  To shape our discussion, we created two T-Charts.   One focused on what Odysseus told his crew and what he didn't tell his crew.  The other focused on evidence that he was a good, trusted leader versus a untrusted manipulator.  Click here to see today's powerpoint or scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Homework

• Study for the Odyssey Books 1-12 Test
• Study for the Unit 7 Vocabulary Test

Today's PowerPoint

Dec 1

Classwork

Today in class we focused on irregular verbs and Book 11 of the Odyssey.  Our warm-up was Irregular Verbs Exercise 2.  We also got a list of (almost) all the irregular verbs in the English language.  

After working with irregular verbs, we focused on how Odysseus interacted with two different ghosts - his mother Anticlea and a crew-mate Elpenor.  We asked ourselves what Odysseus's treatment of these two ghosts revealed about his character.  Click here to see today's powerpoint or scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Homework and Important Dates

• Irregular Verbs Exercise 3 due 12/2
• Unit 7 Vocabulary Worksheet due 12/3
• Odyssey Test on 12/3
• Unit 7 Vocabulary Test on 12/8
• Irregular Verbs List

Today's PowerPoint

Nov. 25

Classwork

Today we paused our analysis of The Odyssey to have difficult conversations about the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on any of the charges related to the death of Michael Brown.  I decided to provide a space for my students to process the decision and for us as a class to talk about larger societal issues at hand.  To see the powerpoint that I put together to help guide our conversation, scroll to the bottom of the page.  Today was just the beginning of a difficult conversation, we reached no conclusions, nor did we find any easy solutions.  What we decided to do as a class was look at and talk about things in our society and country that aren't pretty and aren't easy to talk about.  I challenged each of my students to continue these conversations with others in their lives.

Homework

See Monday's post

Grand Jury Verdict Difficult Conversation Powerpoint

Nov. 24

Classwork

Today we took our Unit 6 vocabulary test.  When we finished the test, we worked on creating a timeline of Odysseus's journey from Troy back home to Ithaca.

Homework

• Books 11-13 Packet due Monday, Dec. 1
• Book 16-17 Packet due Monday, Dec. 1
• Study for The Odyssey test on Books 1-12 on Wednesday, Dec. 4
• Study for Unit 7 Vocabulary Test on Monday, Dec. 8