Assignments due for the week of November 27th, 2023
Quick Looks at Great Books
We watched some of the BBC version of Silas Marner so that the students could see the characters portrayed on the screen. Part I of the book is such a sweet story of how Eppie came to Silas and replaced the gold he had lost! We went through the study guide questions for their reading today. For next week, please finish your reading of this book —Chapters 16-21 and the Conclusion. (only 2-4 pages) Everything is resolved, but not the way you may have thought! This is such a sweet story, and we will make sure that you didn’t miss anything in your reading! We will begin our review for the test on this book. Everyone seems to have a good understanding of it so far!
Enjoy the conclusion of this story and your Thanksgiving with your family!
PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep
The students received their grammar quizzes back, and we went over any questions. Then we reviewed the Reading practice test they did for homework, as well as another practice test to review for the ACT Reading test itself. I was pleased with the results so far on the ACT test. Many of the students have excellent scores as we begin this series of standardized tests. We then took the ACT Reading test on the same answer sheet. Next week, we will continue by taking the Math test. This is more the kind of math you are used to doing in your classes. Review page 47 in your notebook to study for the math section. Make sure you know how to do all the processes listed on that page.
American History
We went over the last test and pointed out any questions that were frequently missed. The students did an excellent job, improving with each test they take!
We will have a test on Presidents 1-24 during second semester and then finish with Presidents 25-45 at the end of the year. We will have a series of reports on each of them after James Monroe (#5). They covered much of their lives in the early history of our country. On Dec. 4, we will hear reports on the following:
- Andrew Jackson — Vlad
- Martin Van Buren — Maille
- William Henry Harrison — Hannah B.
- John Tyler — Karly
- James Polk — Hadley
These are oral reports and are for the benefit of the entire class, not to be handed in as a writing assignment. I will also give the students the facts they need to remember about each President for our test later. On Dec. 11, we will continue with the following reports:
- Zachary Taylor — Lainey
- Millard Fillmore — Elizabeth
- Franklin Pierce — Erica
- James Buchanan — Annaleigh
- Abraham Lincoln — Maks
Please let me know if you have any questions at all. You can tell, read, or use notes with bullet points when you give you report. Make it fun for all of us!
For next week, read Chapter 12 in your text. We will go through it and I will tell you what you will need to know for any quiz or test. Also, we will have a quiz just on the videos given on this website next week.
Andrew Jackson (Battle of New Orleans)
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
U.S. Government
We went over our lessons on Immigration and Citizenship today and then took the Citizenship test that immigrants have to pass to become naturalized (or legal) citizens. They really have to study some of America’s history and government information to pass the test! Hopefully, the students have learned some of those things this year already. For next week, complete the pages on The Law and Trial. Here are the crossword answers for Lesson 16 The Law and Lesson 17 Trial. With these answers, you can complete pages 62-64 and 66-68. We will go over these together and begin to prepare for our second test over these lessons. The Law and Trial go with the Supreme Court because all the justices on the Supreme Court are former lawyers! Let me know if you have any questions at all about the assignment. We went over the lesson on the Supreme Court together in class today and recognized pictures of all the justices last week. Remember the the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (currently John Roberts) is the one who swears in the new President on Inauguration Day.
Watch the following video on the Supreme Court of the United States.
British Literature
We watched a lot of the play today from the video performed outside London. It was easier to understand and enjoy as you saw the actors portray their characters! (Especially Malvolio!) We watched Malvolio fall prey to the trickery of Maria, and then implement everything she had told him to do!
For our next class, finish reading Acts IV and V. Actually, these two acts are shorter than your last reading of Act III. You will enjoy the resolution that comes if you have not already figured it out. We also watched a little of Act IV which is a preview of what you can assume might be part of the resolution! We will continue to watch the resolution of the plot on our video. It should be easier to understand and enjoy as you see it performed.
We will discuss the remaining two acts as well as work on the study guide. We began our definitions of Useful Terminology on page 1. We will also begin our review of the entire play then and complete the study guide together. We will do a competitive game review of the details of the entire play before we take our final test.
Watch this short clip of a scene from Twelfth Night performed at the iconic Globe Theater in London.