I Declare INDEPENDENCE!!!!

Today, we learned that the Declaration is now thought to have been performed to the people of Revolutionary America. After looking at the rhetorical SOAPS, the Declaration indeed seems to be an escalation of problems and wrongdoings by King George to convince the new nation to fight and secede from the Motherland, Great Britain. Below is the video reenacting the Declaration with many familiar faces from our modern Hollywood Era.

Comparing Creation Myths

Great job today, English IIIs! You identified some essential purposes to the two Native American legends. Tomorrow, we will continue to break up into smaller literature groups to compare creation myths from other cultures and the fiction genre. You can continue to look at the similarities and commonalities with the chart from class.

Remember: Bring a one inch binder and your parent acknowledgement form!

Purpose and Goals of THE BLOG

This year, I will be teaching more than just English 3 and 4, so I have re-oriented the blog to serve a few different features. I also want my work to be useful beyond my own classroom, so I have tried to make this site more accessible for other teachers looking for English classroom lesson ideas. From now on, I want to include my lesson plans here on the blog and plan to retroactively post my lessons to previous posts. I hope this will encourage relevant and engaging student learning locally and globally! Please give me any comments, questions, feedback, and your own ideas for ways to create meaningful learning!

NEW! Educator Resources links at the bottom of the left margin.

MOVED! English 3 and English 4 curriculum post labels are now at the following links:
     English 3 American Literature Assignments and Posts
     English 4 British/European Literature Assignments and Posts

NEW! Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Check out entire unit plans at my new, affordable TPT store!

Thanks for your support, willingness to learn, and collaboration!
Mrs. EGHeck

Continuing She's the Man

Complete the worksheet for She's the Man before we compare this Shakespearean adaptation to a traditional version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

As we continue with Shakespeare, prepare your paper presentation for your exam day (Thursday for 1st, Friday for 2nd). Remember I will add up to 10 points on your paper grade based on this presentation for your final exam grade.

Beginning Twelfth Night

The entire unit for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night will begin today. We will look at some famous quotes from the play to see their presence in modern times. (Even more Twelfth Night quotes can be found at the preceding link.)

I have gathered together several websites that have information about Shakespeare or his times. Use these websites to finish filling out your information guide to Shakespeare.

http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/shakespeare1

Check out this hilarious parody of Forrest Gump for the life of William Shakespeare!

Click here for a more extensive list of Shakespeare FAMOUS Quotes.

Gatsby Humor

Now that we've finished the novel, it is time for some dark humor and pop culture references you never understood before you read The Great Gatsby!

Great Gatsby Homework (SPOILER ALERT)

For tonight, read to page 137 to the break in the page after SPOILER ALERT: you read about the accident. 

Answer through question 47 on your Chapter Questions.

Enjoy! We will finish the BEST part of the novel tomorrow!

Gatsby Audiobook and Questions

As we continue to read Gatsby, you can always read your chapters with this handy alternate audiobook! The audiobook is even separated by bite-size bits within chapters! Enjoy the easy reading!

Reading Schedule (Subject to Change):
Chapter 3 due May 1
Chapter 4 due May 2
Chapter 5 due May 5
Chapter 6 due May 6
Chapter 7 due May 7
Chapter 8 due May 8
Chapter 9 due May 9

We will also continue with our theme trackers  (Honors courses) and chapter questions (standard-level courses).

Already by Chapter 3, we've seen a lot of drama. Can't wait to see the story unfold!

Finding Treasures in The Great Gatsby

Complete the following WebQuest to learn more about the background of The Great Gatsby. This web-based search will introduce you to the world of Gatsby and his fellows so you may better understand the development and significance of action in the novel.

2. After the War Link: after the jump below
7. Arnold Rothstein Link: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rothstein.html
8. Flapper Jane Link: http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/flapperjane.pdf

Here's a video giving you a headstart on analysis of The Great Gatsby:

An online text of The Great Gatsby is free to read and download at: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/

Listen to any section of the novel at this hyperlink audiobook.

The Suitor, Death

Today, we have finished looking at Whitman and Dickinson. I have attached some awesome extra stuff here on the blog if you want to study some more and practice analyzing poetry a little more.

If you are looking for more in-depth Emily Dickinson, check out this excellently thorough, line-by-line analysis of "Because I could not stop for Death."

Or, you can also check out this parody that uses modern cartoon gags to spruce up this traditional poem.

To review our thoughts on "I heard a Fly buzz," check out this college-level course lesson review. The professor thoroughly and accessibly identifies the main ideas and analysis of this death poem.

Remember your Whitman and Dickinson test is tomorrow. That means you need to make sure your Whitman and Dickinson handout and rotation is complete! You may even get to use it for reference!

Dashes, Short Lines, and Soul-Talk

Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman discuss similar topics of souls, nature, and the everyday life. Yet, each has a very distinctive voice and structure to their poetry. Comparatively, Whitman is much more descriptive and connective, while Dickinson expresses a literal and metaphorical meaning in very short lines and words. Check out the poems below to compare each poet's literary style.


Check out Emily Dickinson’s spider poems after the jump!
R. W. Franklin 1998 Edition

Connecting with Walt Whitman

So far, we have read the connectedness, nature, and American pride in Walt Whitman's various poetry. Monday, we will continue our Whitman and Dickinson worksheet with a foyer into Emily Dickinson's poetry. You will find that their themes and meanings are very similar even though their unique writing styles are extremely different.

After we read about Whitman's literary devices, we created poems in the style of Whitman. Here is a copy of my poem in homage and style to Whitman's "Song of Myself" (after the jump)

Transcendentalist Unit Projects

Everything for the Transcendentalist Unit is due at the end of class tomorrow! Remember to finish your Transcendentalist Project (below), Chart, Walden Packet, Instructional Book Page, and Research Paper Revisions. All of these assignments can be found on this blogpost.

Transcendentalist Project!

Instructions after the jump!

The Simple Life

Walden Pond

We began reading all our Transcendentalists today and are now on the journey be an independent, self-reliant soul who is in touch with the natural gifts of life, leaving behind all the material things in the world...

"Sell your clothes, keep your thoughts."

The Cabin at Walden Pond 

Here is the checklist for this unit, due November 20: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12QFrTZWiNsMFqtgySvA7PqNW86VMYSnJboAvtJSaUWk/edit?usp=sharing

Here is a copy of the chart that will be due on November 20:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByVKpn2OdpFAOHFvVnF6Wlh2TFU

Here is a Transcendentalist PowerPoint:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByVKpn2OdpFAYW1EcU41OGhwWm8

Here is your Poetry Independent Reading: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PA3j2jVtKIcEVJV1JnZ0lvcUk/edit?usp=sharing

Tomorrow we will begin your Transcendentalism Project!
http://egheck.blogspot.com/2012/11/transcendentalist-playlist.html

Outline --> First Draft!

Seniors! Remember the first draft of your research paper is due on Monday, March 3. Juniors, the first draft is due March 27. Key ideas to remember in order of importance:

1. Cite your sources! If you do not cite your sources in parentheses at the end of each notecard fact NOR include a Works Cited page, South View considers this PLAGIARISM!

2. Include analysis, which includes connecting facts together, commenting on facts, giving your opinion (without using first person ("I," "me," "we," "our")), and explaining significance.

3. Create a bang-up, awesome, totally insightful thesis.

4. Remove the outline format to create paragraphs.

Juniors: Adding a Thesis, Introduction, and Conclusion

Juniors,
Even though I am a few states away, you've still got a golden opportunity to work on your research paper. Follow these steps and watch my awesome instructional video for guidance on how to do your work today.

1. Log in to your CCS account and access your Drive. (CCS Email link above)
2. Open up your outline. You will be adding everything into this document.
3. For your thesis, use this formula:
1. What is your topic?
2. Add an active verb (Resource #2) 
3. What are you trying to prove?
4. Add a transition word (Resource #2)
5. What are each of your paragraphs going to be about?
4. For example,
1. J. R. R. Tolkien
2. created
3. a mythology for Great Britain
4. by
5. integrating his personal history, creating a new language, basing mythical races on real history, and writing a diverse series incorporating this fantastical realm.
5. Finally, use your imagination to create an exciting sentence about your topic that would draw a reader's attention. Some ideas for that are:
1. a mind-blowing fact
2. a quote from someone famous
3. the first line of a short narrative (aka anecdote)
4. some zinger of an analytical comment
6. Then, connect this attention-getter with your thesis using some well-structured and well-directed sentences.
7. For the conclusion, you just do the introduction in reverse. Start out with a rephrased thesis and then work your way back out to a final send-off that relates to the opening remark.
8. To find out more on writing an introduction and conclusion, check out this stick-people video!
9. After you do all of this, go back and edit your outline sentences. You and I BOTH know that those sentences aren't all grammatically correct. Go ahead and fix them now before you loose a slew of points.
10. Once you have finished editing your sentences, go back and edit your citations. You will need these for your Works Cited page at the end of your paper, so you may as well have it done correctly now. 

Midterms: MONDAY, March 24

ALL CLASSES:
Your midterm will be given on Monday, March 24. The first half will be a standardized test packet that includes reading passages and comprehension and analysis questions. The second half will be vocabulary practice with twenty words plus literary terms that you will more than likely see on the standardized test that will be your final exam, mandated by the state.

For some standardized test-taking skills practice, check out this blog post!

This midterm should be totally within your grasp and hopefully continue your flying aces in my class!

Scarlet Letter TEST!

The time has come to study for The Scarlet Letter test! The test will be Wednesday, Mar 19 (study after the ACT?). Focus on the characters, symbols, and overall meaning of the text by using these assignments to study:

• ABC Symbol Chart
• Glencoe Activities 1-8
• Glencoe Actiities 9-24
• Conflict Chart (ABC Chart Section)

If you have been paying attention in class, you should have no problem at all with this test!

NPR and Hester Prynne as the Pentultimate American Heroine?

Now that we have finished The Scarlet Letter, it is time to really dig deeply into the purposes and writing style of Hawthorne's text. First, we identified many different conflicts in the novel:

• man vs. self
• Dimmesdale vs. guilt
• Hester vs. guilt
• Hester vs. temptation
• Chillingworth vs. manhood (ugly/cheated on/outcast)
• man vs. society
• Hester vs. Puritan "gossip"
• Dimmesdale vs. "reputation"
• Pearl vs. "elf-child"
• man vs. man
• Dimmesdale vs. Chillingworth (revenge/truth/Hester)
• witch vs. Hester (soul/evil)
• Black Man vs. Chil/Hest/Dim
• Hester vs. Pearl (behavior/truth)

From our list, there are various antagonists and protagonists in the novel depending on which conflict a reader focuses on. Therefore, we charted the "good" vs. "bad" traits of each; our findings are listed below  (more points=more good):

-.5 Chillingworth        0 Pearl         1.5 Dimmesdale         2 Hester

Also, great job using higher thinking skills today, English 3 Honors! NPR's radio broadcast on Hester as the first female American archetype was of college-level thinking. Here is the transcript of the broadcast. Plan to do more with non-fiction literary analysis as you continue this year and through the rest of your educational career.

Progress Reports (3.12.2014)

Dear Parents,

Please disregard your student's grade on his or her progress report distributed yesterday. Due to mandatory military business, I was unable to fully grade all of my classes work before the deadline for grades. I will be distributing my own class's detailed progress reports on Saturday, March 15th.

Thank you for your understanding.
Mrs. Heck