Assignments due for the week of October 16th, 2023
Quick Looks at Great Books
We finished our discussion of last week’s reading and watched the BBC version of this section. It was great to see a visual representation of each of the characters Dickens had described.
We then started going over this week’s reading — Chapters 10-19. We will finish the last of the section and take the quiz over those chapters at the beginning of our next class. This week we will have our shortest reading assignment of all — Chapters 20-24. We will be able to finish up last week’s reading and this week’s as well. Book 2 definitely ends with a cliffhanger conclusion! We all know how naive Charles Darnay is!!
PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep
We went over our last quiz before taking the PSAT Writing and Language Test. Then we went over the practice sections in their text for this test. (pages 31-35) We then took the “Grammar and Writing” test together in class. Everyone seemed to finish with time to spare!!
Next week, we will begin our PSAT Math sections. We will start with the shorter one, after going over all the grid-in instructions. No calculator is needed for this part. There are 17 questions total with 13 multiple choice and 4 grid-ins. Go to Khan Academy to practice for the math test. Do practice questions in each of the four areas: heart of algebra, problem-solving and data analysis, passport to advanced math, and additional topics in math.
American History
We went through Chapter 5 and concluded with the Chapter Review on page on page 72. They were given the people, terms, and people they need to know for the test. We passed back the test on Chapters 1-3 and discussed any questions they might have. They did a phenomenal job on their first test!!
For next week, read Chapter 6 which is on The War for Independence itself. We will go over the events and what they need to know for the test.
We will play selected history games as we did today, only we will switch so that everyone plays two different games than today. Games are a great way to learn basic facts about our states and capitals, the American Revolution, basic American history facts, and American geography facts!
U.S. Government
We took another quiz today, and I’m hoping that they do as well as last week! Our quiz next week will be a matching section of the nine amendments I told them to know as well as the content (main subject) of the seven articles of the Constitution. (matching) The rest of the quiz will be True/False, Matching, and Multiple Choice. Of course, there will be a few short answer questions that we have had in the previous two quizzes. Study the amendments, articles of the Constitution, and the terms given in Lesson 5 on the Congress.
For next week, complete Lesson 8 on Voting. The students were given in class the answers to the Crossword on page 29.
Use those words to complete pages 30-32. Next week, we will discuss voting, the electoral college, and why the founding fathers created it.
Try to keep up with what’s going on in the news this week!
British Literature
We talked about the passages they read in their text today — Morte d’Arthur and The Once and Future King. Both of these tell of the death of King Arthur, but they were written five hundred years apart, so they are very different. Then we talked about the passage that Chaucer wrote about the knight in his story. We also went over the background and summary of these tales based on the videos they watched in the email. We then completed anything they didn’t know in their text on page 36 about the life of Chaucer and his works.
For next week, complete the crossword you were given on the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. I gave them all the answers to fill in their text on pages 32-35. Those will definitely help you with the crossword answers. Also, read or watch a summary of two of Chaucer’s tales at the links below. Then analyze the two tales, following the numbers on page 39. For the second tale, do the same thing on a separate sheet of your own paper.
Summary of The Nun’s Priest’s Tale
Summary & Analysis of The Nun’s Priest’s Tale
Summary & Analysis of The Pardoner’s Tale