Assignments due for the week of October 9th, 2023
Quick Looks at Great Books
We began discussing Chapters 1-9 of Book 2 in A Tale of Two Cities. Make sure your students have questions ready if there is any issue they don’t understand. I try to give them extra information that they may not find out until later in the book. Next week, we will continue watching the DVD of these chapters so they can visualize how the characters may have looked. The Marquis St. Evremonde is usually a disgusting surprise! We will have our quiz on this section at the first of the period next week, as soon as we discuss the fate of the Marquis!
For next week, read Chapters 10-19 of Book 2 and answer the study guide questions 32-52. John Barsad and Roger Cly reappear in a surprising way!
PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep
Students received their answer sheets from the PSAT Reading Test. They did amazingly well! We reviewed the “Principal Parts of the Verb” sheet, worked the first practice session for the PSAT Writing Test, and took a quiz to review verb usage. For next week, do the two remaining practice exercises on pages 31-35. We will go over them in class to see how they did and answer any questions. Then we will take the timed PSAT Writing Test (Grammar) so that we can get a scaled score for the entire verbal section.
American History
I passed back last week’s quiz, and we went over the answers and events. We then reviewed briefly for today’s test on Chapters 1-3. Then we took the test and went through Chapter 4 on our preparation for independence. We discussed the impact of The Great Awakening in America and how it prepared us for religious and political freedom. We went over the French and Indian War and how that affected the Americans. For next class, read Chapter 5 as we finally have our conflict with Great Britain and march on toward our war for independence. We will go through the chapter and play some games to review our early history as well as our states and capitals.
Watch the following video which further explains The French and Indian War.
U.S. Government
We took our first quiz today on Lessons 1 and 2. We also reviewed everything that will be on Quiz #2 next week, covering Lessons 3 and 4. In addition to the same short answer questions as today, we added the following: How many U.S. Senators are there? How many U.S. Representatives are there? and How many Supreme Court Justices are there? They do NOT need to know about ALL the amendments to the Constitution–just the ones I gave them in class.
For next week’s class, do Lessons 6 and 7–Senate and House of Representatives. Here are the Crossword answers for pages 21 and 25.
Lesson 6–Senate
Across Down
1. Special 2. Cloture
3. Two 4. Hundred
6. Immunity 5. Upper
9. President Pro Tempore 7. Override
10. Vice President 8. Policy
12. Caucus 11. Standing
14. Filibuster 13. Six
Lesson 7–House of Representatives
Across Down
1. California 2. Impeach
5. Conference 3. Table
8. Lower 4. Rules
10. Caucus 6. Census
12. Speaker 7. Population
13. Joint 9. Majority
14. Two 11. Twenty
Watch the following video on the Senate and House of Representatives.
British Literature
We took our quiz on the Anglo-Saxon Age in class today and watched a video of a parody of Camelot and the Knights. That should help the students understand the parody they read on knighthood.
The students did a great job giving us pertinent information on various people and events in the Middle Ages. All of the reports had to do with excerpts we will be reading in our text.
For next week, read Morte d’Arthur on pages 25-27. (Handout 19 is on pages 28 and 29.) Read the excerpt from The Once and Future King by T.H. White on pages 28 and 29 and answer the questions on page 29, comparing the stories of the two accounts of the death of Arthur. Also, complete page 31 on the life of Chaucer.
Watch the following two videos which deal with a summary of The Canterbury Tales.
The Canterbury Tales