Easter Break Fall out

Welcome back to school everybody! We have a lot to do in the next few weeks to get back on track. Speeches will be concluded in the next two days. A new date for the Speek-off has not been confirmed but it is on the horizon. Level 3s. .. You will be quizzed on Macbeth and A Catcher in the Rye both by next time this week. Please see a previous post regarding the assigned questions for the essay component of the Macbeth test.

ALSO, 3201 English be advised that We begin weekly public exam preparations starting May 5th. This will not take place during class time but instead will be extra-curricular. We will be dealing with thematic issues and getting practice with the exam format and its expectations. There isn;t much time left so please take each moment seriously.

URGENT UPDATE Easter Assigned Readings

URGENT
Many of you were dismissed on Wednesday fully expecting that you would be back Thursday to collect your things required for assigned reading and homework. The School announced over the radio Thursday noon time that I would be at the school from 3pm until 4pm letting students in to retrieve said items from their lockers. Reminder: ALL Grade 9s for both Ms. Kitchen's and my own classes are REQUIRED to read Forbidden City over the break. No Exceptions.

Due to the shortage of the novel Baltimore's Mansion, I am asking the level 3s to contact me ASAP via email to set up the distribution of the novels which are available at this time. As soon as you read this, please pass on the message.

In addition, to get things moving after Easter, any 3201 student who does not have a copy of the novel should begin reading the final two Greek Tragedies in their Theban Plays booklet. Let me4 guess...some of you have left them in your lockers....email me immediately to get a copy!!!
love, yer mudder.

Easter Break Assigned Work for my classes

Grade 9 ELA

• Read final novel for the year...yay! Forbidden City. You will enjoy it. You must also have completed the assigned China worksheet and have selected your Research Paper topic by your return from the break. You will be tested on your reading comprehension of the novel upon your return.
• Vowel Movements!!! Due upon our return from the Easter Break.

1201 English

• Complete your Midsummer Night's Dream Work booklet. It is due upon your return from the break.

3201 English

• Macbeth essay questions will be distributed prior to the break but are also posted here for quick reference:

1. A soliloquy is when a character in a play has a moment "out of time" within the framework of the script whereby he/she may address his or her own thoughts or the audience. Select one such piece in Macbeth and illustrate its importance to character and plot development.
2. Refresh your memory on what makes a Tragic Hero. Is Macbeth a tragic hero? Why or Why not? You must furnish your response with details and solid proof to support your answer.
3. Compare and contrast the character evolution of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
4. Define in your own words, "ambition". Illustrate, from the play Macbeth, a depiction of a variety of types of ambition from a variety of the play's characters.
5. Define in your own words, "supernatural". Demonstrate your knowledge of the significant elements of the supernatural found in the play Macbeth and explain the relevance of the supernatural to the plot.

Remember, you will have to write an essay on one of the above questions. You can craft one ahead of time and learn it or you can write an outline and prepare some choice quotes. Either way, you must have at least three quotations memorized to support your answer. I highly recommended that you check this blog regularly over the break in case I let fly with some hints or tidbits of info which you may find useful. Given that I have provided you with the test questions ahead of time, I fully expect ALL of you to pull your weight and come though on this test :]

• Baltimore's Mansion will be distributed before the break. You are to have it read over the Easter Break, it is an easy read, folks...no whining. Upon your return, you will have the following quizzes: Part II of A Catcher in the Rye; Part II of Macbeth ( about 20 selected response questions plus the above assigned essay question from which you will prepare ONE (1); and after a class of discussion on Johnston's novel, a test on it.

3203 Folk Lit

Your Field work assignment will be distributed before the break. You will be responsible for finding an informant and completing the biographical data section. This is your preliminary research and we will start stage two of it upon your return from the Easter Break.

2nd Annual Language Arts Fun & Fair a success!

Well done to all SMRH students who helped make this year's Language Arts Fun & Fair a great time! The calibre of the projects is phenominal. Keep up the GREAT work. Thanks also to your family members and friends who showed up to take in the event.

Keep watching for links from my webpage to the 3201 "Totally Macbeth Barbie" projects! Perhaps I could link them from this Blog...I could call it "Out Damned spot!" ;0

Attention 3201 Students & Load & Go Players: Blizzard Blows Speeches away!

Today's weather system has prevented the previously scheduled 3201 Speech presentations from happening this evening. Due to 3 missed days of school and now the blizzard today, the SMRH English Dept. has rescheduled the SMRH Speak-off for either the 3rd or 4th of April. Therefore, ALL speeches will have to be read in the days coming up before the Easter Break.

1201 Speeches will also have to be clued up in these next few days. Be ready to read in either the English 1201, 2200, or 3203 classes.

Load & Go Players...we are not meeting today...obviously. We will get together for a brief meeting recess time tomorrow (Monday).