9/22/2020: There sure is a lot of irony here…

Ms. VincentSeptember 22, 2020Leave a comment

...get it?

Okay, on to the class recap!

English 8

Today we read the myths of Zeus and Hera. Make sure you're filling out the last three questions on the Pantheon sheet in your packets, and then, go to page 4 in your packets and fill in the chart for Cronos, Rhea, Zeus, Hera, and Pan! These will be due on Thursday.

English 9

Our short story today, "Lather and Nothing Else," is similar to "War" in that the setting is incredibly important. Think about why. Your questions for "Lather and Nothing Else" are due tomorrow before class begins. Don't forget to bring earbuds/headphones to school on Thursday! Irony quiz on Friday.

English 9 Honors

Your comparison questions for "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Necklace" are due by the beginning of class tomorrow. We're going to discuss the importance of setting with tomorrow's Wind-Down Wednesday video. Irony quiz on Friday.

9/21/2020: Gods, War, and Gifts

Ms. VincentSeptember 21, 2020Leave a comment

Nicely done all around today, kiddos! Please contact me if you have a problem with Schoology, and I'll email you what you need. Then, contact your guidance counselor to help with Schoology, because you will need access to it.

ALL 9th GRADE STUDENTS!

You're virtual tomorrow and Wednesday. Make sure your Chromebooks are charged! Also, remember that you are having a quiz on the three types of irony on Friday!

Here's our daily recap!

English 8

You should have your independent reading books by now and should be reading about 12-15 minutes tonight if you haven't yet started your weekly hour of reading. You can always read more, though, so don't worry about making yourself stop if you get into the story!

Today's vocab word is pantheon, which means the group of gods connected to a specific culture or religion. We're learning about the Greek pantheon now, and tomorrow we'll read our first myths! Make sure that in-person students have books and packets in class every day, and virtual students will have all work available on Schoology.

English 9

Make sure to review the definitions of allusion and the three types of irony: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Today we read "War" by Jack London, and your homework is the set of five questions on "War" found on Schoology.

English 9 Honors

Make sure to review the definitions of allusion and the three types of irony: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Today we started to read "Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, and your homework is to finish reading the story. We'll be comparing it with other stories in class tomorrow.

End of Week 1

Ms. VincentSeptember 18, 2020Leave a comment

We did it! We made it to the end of the week! I'm so proud of you all! Here's a recap of today's class. Have a wonderful weekend!

English 8

Today we did a review of symbolism by matching images with as many possible meanings as we could. We'll continue this activity and start talking about Greek mythology on Monday! Don't forget to get your independent reading book!

English 9

After our first reading of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," we looked at some of the literary devices used in the story. An allusion is when one story references another; in this case, the title is a Biblical allusion to the magi who, in the Christian Bible, brought gifts to the newborn baby Jesus. This allusion makes the meaning of Jim and Della's gifts more clear: the intent (love) is more important than the gift itself. The second literary device we discussed is irony, which has three different types. Verbal irony is sarcasm, dramatic irony is when the reader/audience knows something a character does not, and situational irony is when we expect one thing to happen and the opposite occurs. This story used situational irony when the gifts that were given turned out to be unusable.

English 9 Honors

To finish out our week on George Orwell's 1984, we practiced writing propaganda by choosing a mundane topic (a yogurt stand moving its location, students responding to a teacher, etc.) and writing a press release as if it were written by someone in the Ministry of Truth to promote The Party. You're all getting very creative! We'll jump into some short stories next week!

Getting into our first units!

Ms. VincentSeptember 17, 2020Leave a comment

We're finally getting into our first units, and today's classes had a lot packed into them! Here's today's recap:

English 8

Today was great practice with the idea of symbolism as everyone in class shared one object that could be symbolic of themselves or their personalities! Remember, symbolism is when one thing represents something else. This is going to be a helpful thing to remember when we start talking about the Greek gods tomorrow and begin reading our stories, as each of the gods can be symbolized by different things!

Remember to have your independent reading book picked out by tomorrow!

English 9

As we continue to talk about the importance of close reading, we're starting off the unit with the short story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. Today's homework talks about the more surface-level information we gather about a story on our first reading. Tomorrow, we're going to go a bit more in-depth.

English 9 Honors

Our continuing discussion of George Orwell's 1984 led us to talk about doublethink and how dangerous that is for both societies as a whole and for the individual. Your homework is a brief recap of what you know about doublethink. Doublethink is a form of paradox, which is when two contradictory things exist simultaneously. Tomorrow, we're going to continue our conversation and see if we can crack the doublethink code.