Today in SSEnglish, Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Here’s what we did today:

1. All groups met with us in the computer lab for the NWEA MAP tests for reading.

2. Not only do we have access to The New York Times and The Boston Globe electronic additions, but beginning today, you will have access to USA Today.

Login to USA Today here.

Username: 43848

Password:  usatoday

3. Finally, check back to yesterday’s post for all we did on Monday and what is coming due on Wednesday.

And remember, tomorrow is a delayed opening.

Today in SSEnglish, Monday, January 27, 2014

Welcome to the Second Semester and the Third Quarter of the 2013-2014 school year.

Here’s what we did today:

1. We began with a preparedness check; there is much room for improvement here as many people were not prepared for the first day of the third quarter. Second quarter report cards come out on Friday.

2. Notes were given on implicit and explicit. Get a copy here; your copy should be even more detailed than the ones here.

3. The following handouts for Animal Farm were passed out today:

Chapter 2 Questions (salmon sheet)

Chapter 2 Glossary (gold sheet)

Chapter 3 Glossary (purple sheet)

4. Page numbers were taken today.

5. Reading lists and chapter 1 questions for Animal Farm were collected by your reading workshop/page number teacher.

Make sure you have updated your agenda book with the following:

•Character sheets for chapters 1 and 2 are due on Wednesday.

•We finished reading chapter 2 today in class.

•Chapter 2 questions are due on Wednesday, January 29.

 

 

Today in SSEnglish, Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Here’s what we did today:

1. We started class with a debriefing about the Ted Talk discussion you had with someone at home about Drew Dudley’s Ted Talk we watched on the Jan. 21 post on the blog. Kudos to everyone that shared with us during class.

2. We continued debriefing about the fat/big question you chose to respond to last night in your SSEnglish journal.

3. Notes were given about satire and allegory. Get a copy here and remember, your copy should always be more detailed.

4. Copies of Animal Farm were passed out today. Students were given a choice to either borrow a book, or purchase their own for $5.00. Bring in your $5.00 as soon as possible. If you were absent, see us when you return for your copy of Animal Farm.

5. All students were given a purple handout with a glossary of chapter 1 words on the front and chapter 1 questions on the back.

6. Two copies of character sheets were passed out (yellow paper). We cannot post these online so see us for a copy if you were absent.

7. Chapter 1 questions are due on Monday, January 27. Follow Q-A format. Choose 2 of the 9 questions to answer. Write neatly, proofread for GUMS. Use white-lined notebook paper.

Finally, in talking about The Hunger Games and young children involved in the games, someone mentioned about kids being used a child soldiers today. Here’s something we studied a few years ago about child soldiers:

 

Both of the above video documentaries were not without controversy, but they did introduce and reintroduce the issue of child soldiers in the world especially in this part of Africa.