Author: litalive

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Assignments for 09/27/2021

Assignments due for the week of September 27th, 2021

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

Great job today practicing reading for comprehension! These were good examples of what to expect on the actual reading test and how to comprehend a passage.  Complete the last sample passage on pages 19-22 in your notebook.  Read the passage and answer the questions.  We will go over the correct answers next week in class.  Hopefully, this will help you know what they expect as you read for comprehension.  Then we will take an actual timed reading test for the rest of the period.  Let me know if you have any other questions at all.

Explorations in British Literature

The students were given a list of literary terms as we went over the epic poem, Beowulf, Britain’s first literary work.  We will continue to review the story and characters as they prepare for a quiz over this work and the Anglo-Saxon period.  We went through the pages in their notebooks together in class.  They also know what terms will be in a matching section on the quiz.

Also, in their notebooks, they should read pages 16 and 17 and answer the questions about the poem.  (Cynddylan’s Hall)  Read about life in a great lord’s hall on page 17 and answer the questions about it.

Watch the following reading of the opening lines of Beowulf. Is this really English?!

Review the plot of Beowulf for our quiz with the following video:

U.S. Government

We went over Lessons One and Two in our notebooks, so they can use their answers there to study for a quiz later.  For next week, complete Lesson Three on the Constitution (pages 10, 11, and 12 in the government notebooks). I will continue to give the students extra information about the events leading up to this document.  Remember that last Friday, September 17 was Constitution Day–234 years since the day it was signed by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention!

Watch this brief video to learn more about the historical background of the Constitutional Convention.

Lastly, students should remember to ask a parent about “who was the most famous founding father that no one has ever heard of”?! Hopefully, your student can tell you.

Quick Looks at Great Books

We went through all our reports that the students did on their topics for the French Revolution.  Then we went through the notes on the history in their purple folders, along with listening to the French national anthem and another revolutionary song — “La Carmagnole.”  Since we then ran out of time, we will take the quiz over the material next week at the beginning of our class.

For homework, begin your reading of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  Read Book 1 (Recalled to Life)–Chapters 1-6.  Answer questions 1-14 on pages 40 and 41 in your study guide.  If you have any questions about what is happening, have them ready as we begin our discussion next week.

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Assignments for 09/20/2021

Assignments due for the week of September 20th, 2021

PSAT/SAT/ACT Test Prep

We had a great day talking about testing and what we were going to cover.  This is not necessary by any means, but if you would like to take the PSAT test given nationally to 10th and 11th graders, please contact the public school district in which you live, and register your student so that they can order a test for them.  It is just for practice for the SAT and also for National Merit Scholarships given to 11th graders.  I will let the parents know of free tests coming in April for all the students.

Next week in class, we will practice some sample reading tests so that each student knows how to answer questions for comprehension.  We will discuss how to eliminate one or two answers and how to logically guess if they are not sure of the correct answer.  We will prepare to take a timed Reading test the following week.  They have no homework to complete this week.  As we review grammar and vocabulary,  I hope they will improve their abilities in test-taking in all their classes!

Explorations in British Literature

Happy first day of class! We got to know each other and also found out just how much the students knew about Great Britain and all its history, cities, flag, writers, famous people, etc.  Each student received a “textbook” for use for our first semester.  We will begin by studying the first ever “literature” of the country–Beowulf.  I’m attaching a brief summary of this epic poem for the students to read.  The story is lengthy, but this covers the key points!  I’m also sending some videos to watch after they have read the summary.  This will help them understand the storyline and the unusual names!  In the notebook I gave them, they should read about the Battle of Maldon and answer the four questions on pages 4 and 5. Then read and complete the questions on pages 10 and 11 about the translations of Beowulf. For question #3 on page 11, you do not need to write two paragraphs. Just write a sentence or two about how the translations are alike and how they are different. We will do the rest of the pages about this poem together in class.

Read the first two pages of the summary about Beowulf.

Watch the following brief videos to help your understanding of the early poem Beowulf:

U.S. Government

We had a great time in Government class and played a Government trivia game to see how much they knew about our government and how it works.  This is always so much fun because we play the same game at the end of the semester, and they will be amazed that they know ALL of the answers then!!  Each student received a workbook for this semester.  I will always give them the answers to the crossword puzzle on the first page of each lesson.  They will do the assigned pages at home, and we will always go over them in class as well as discuss more information about these topics.  Hopefully, they will soon know all the benefits of our Constitution and all the ways our founding fathers prepared for our future!  This week (September 17) is Constitution Day! Watch the following videos about the day and its celebration.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Great first day overviews and preparation for our study of A Tale of Two Cities and the French Revolution. For next week, read pages 2-33 in your purple study guide and be prepared for a quiz. We will discuss all of these pages BEFORE the quiz. Also be prepared to present to the class the information you found on the subject you were assigned. Just give us some extra facts about each person or subject you were given.

Watch the following brief summary to review the events of the French Revolution:

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Assignments for 05/24/2021

Assignments due for the week of May 24th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Great job finishing almost all of the Persuasive speeches today! Next week, we will finish two speeches that we have left, and I will have the final grades done for everyone else. Make sure you have your notebook in class for our work next week. We will also have some videos to watch about the art of public speaking!

Quick Looks at Great Books

Review for your final exam next week by going over all that we have covered! 🙂 We reviewed your literary terms in class today, so you can study those from your notebook. Also review the characters and settings from the classics we have read this year. Next week in class, we will do a review game before our final test. Watch the following brief video to review some of our major literary terms as well as a brief recap of several of our key books.

A Tale of Two Cities Recap

The Count of Monte Cristo Recap

To Kill a Mockingbird Recap

No-Spin Economics

We took our test today on Chapters 1-13 from Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? We also went back to the quiz taken on the first day of class, What’s Your Economic IQ? Amazingly, students are familiar with many terms they did not know originally! We reviewed some economic principles that we will need to know for the final exam. The test will cover Maybury’s book, which was tested today. It will also cover Crash Course Economics videos 1-7 and 9-12. Review your handouts or watch the videos to review the basic principles. (Also review past quizzes and tests.) We will do a comprehensive game review before our final exam in class next week.

Adventures in American Literature

We completed our final test on The Giver by Lois Lowry in class today. Students were given a study guide to prepare for the final exam next week. It will cover what we have studied over the entire year, but the study guide tells you exactly what you need to study! Make sure you know the authors, settings, and characters of the three novels we have read together. Watch the following videos to review two of the three novels we read together.

The Scarlet Letter

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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Assignments for 05/17/2021

Assignments due for the week of May 17th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Great job on the Persuasive speeches today–very convincing!! If you have completed your Persuasive speech, you are done for the year on preparation! If you have not yet done your Persuasive speech or if you have any speeches to make up, please plan to have them all completed in the next two class periods. We had a great promotion for next year’s Debate class today as two students chose the opposing sides of a persuasive argument!!

Quick Looks at Great Books

We will finish our game review of The Old Man and the Sea and take the final test. Then we will begin our review for the final exam the following week. (May 24) On our last day in class, we will do a game review of the entire year and take the final exam. You will be amazed at how much you know!!

Watch this brief review of The Old Man and the Sea.

No-Spin Economics

Today we took a quiz on Penny Candy Chapter 13 and Crash Course Economics #12 just for practice and review. You can keep that quiz in your notebooks to study for the final exam. Next week, we will have a test on Chapters 1-13 of Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? We did a review game today in class. Go back and review the notes you were given for each chapter and remember what you had trouble remembering in the game today. The following week, we will have our final exam on Crash Course Economics videos #1-7 and #9-12 and on the principles in the Penny Candy book. We will do a final game review before we take the test. (May 24)

Adventures in American Literature

Complete page 13 (Chronolog) in your study guide to review and prepare for your final test on the book in class next week. We will go over the Chronolog and do a game review before we take the test. You will be given a Study Guide to prepare for the final exam the following week. (May 24) You can use that to review the important terms and authors we have studied this year. We will do another game review and take the exam in our final class.

Watch the following video to review the plot, theme, symbols, etc. for The Giver.

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Assignments for 05/10/2021

Assignments due for the week of May 10th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Interesting skills and information given to us today in our Demonstration speeches! We will begin our last major speech next week–the Persuasive speech. Please email me with your topic if you did not give it to me today in class. Also, plan to make up any speeches you are missing next week as well.

Quick Looks at Great Books

We looked at the life and writing style of Ernest Hemingway today as we began our discussion of The Old Man and the Sea. We will take our second quiz and finish our discussion of all the study guide questions. Note, especially, Hemingway’s religious imagery throughout the last half of the book. We will review and be ready for our final test the following week. (May 17) To help review the entire book, complete page 13 in your study guide, the Chronolog, which is a review of the entire book in chronological order.

Watch the following brief video on the life of Hemingway:

No-Spin Economics

Today we had our quiz on Crash Course Economics videos #10 and #11 and also on the Federal Reserve Bank information sheet I gave you. We then went over the handout for Crash Course Economics video #12, and you were given notes to study from Chapter 13 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Please study these sheets to prepare for a quiz. We will take the quiz in class and then go over it together so that you can put it in your notebook to study for the final exam.

Finally, read Chapters 14 and 15 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? We will conclude our discussion of Natural Law and Economic Prosperity. We will then begin preparing for our final exam which we will take the last day of class–May 24.

Adventures in American Literature

Great thoughts and observations from your reading on the first half of The Giver! I think you can already see clearly the problems that come with a dystopian community! For next week, finish the book and the corresponding study guide questions. We will discuss your thoughts on the ending of the story!

Watch the following brief interview with Lois Lowry herself, the author of this book. (She is still alive today!)

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Assignments for 05/03/2021

Assignments due for the week of May 3rd, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Your Demonstration speeches today were so much fun!! It’s really a learning and enjoyable time for all of us! We will finish our Demonstrations next week. If you did not turn in your outline today for your speech, please email it to me this week. You can just type it in an email or send it as an attachment. Also, for everyone (those who gave speeches today and those who will complete them next week), please be prepared to tell me in our next class period your selected topic for our final speech—the Persuasive speech. Choose a subject that you feel strongly about as we discussed in class today.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Great Jeopardy game review today before our final test on To Kill a Mockingbird. Since we ran out of time, we will take the final quiz on the background material at the beginning of our next class. Read all of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. The study guide you received today is divided into “days” instead of chapters. There are no chapters in the book. Answer at least five questions under each of the five days. We will discuss the entire book as well as the life of the author. There is so much religious symbolism in this book. See if you can identify it as you read the story of Santiago.

No-Spin Economics

Today we took a quiz on Crash Course Economics video #9 and on Penny Candy chapters 10-12. We then went over the handouts for videos #10 and #11. You were given an information sheet with more information on the Federal Reserve Bank and its districts. We will take a quiz on this material next week. You can just study the sheets we went over and the Federal Reserve information sheet you were given.

For next week, we will finish our last video and the review chapter (Chapter 13) in your Penny Candy book. Crash Course Economics video #12 is posted here for you. You also received a handout which we will discuss next week. We will then begin reviewing for our final test and the final exam.

The 2008 Financial Crisis

Adventures in American Literature

We covered the satirical works by Sinclair Lewis and Erma Bombeck, Robert Frost’s poems, and the sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay. We also heard more short stories by other local color American authors.

For next week, begin our newest and last book for the year, The Giver by Lois Lowry. You were given a study guide today to accompany you on your reading journey. Read Chapters 1-12 and answer questions 1-30 in the study guide. You will find this story fascinating and will grow to enjoy each new character you meet.

Watch the following description of a “dystopian novel.” We will apply these points in our discussion of the book.

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Assignments for 04/26/2021

Assignments due for the week of April 26th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

At our next class, we will begin our Demonstration speeches. They will need to be 6-8 minutes in length, and you will need to hand in an outline to me before your speech. If you did not give me your subject today, don’t forget to email it to me by Wednesday, April 21. There will be a table for you to use for your demonstration. You can also use the TV to project from your computer or mine. Let me know if you need anything else at all. We have a variety of subjects to watch next week!

Quick Looks at Great Books

Review all of To Kill a Mockingbird for our final test next week. We will do a Jeopardy! game to review the characters and events of the story. Also, read pages 2 and 3 and pages 18-26 in your study guide for a quiz on the background of the book and its author. Watch the following scenes from your reading:

No-Spin Economics

Today, we went over Crash Course Economics video #9 and also Penny Candy Chapters 10-12. The students have notes on both to study. We will have a quiz next week on this video and these chapters. They really reinforce each other and cover the same subjects.

For next week, watch Crash Course Economics videos #10 and #11. Fill out the handouts you were given in class today and be prepared to discuss these concepts. Also, search to find out who the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve is.

Adventures in American Literature

Great job exposing us to a variety of American short stories! It was easy to see the situational irony in the stories by O. Henry! For those of you who were assigned stories for next week (Anneka, Gavin, Maille, and Joe), read the entire text and tell us the story. We will then discuss the author’s use of local color and any other literary terms that might apply.

In your literature notebook, read the excerpt from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis on pages 149 and 150. Then answer the three questions on p. 151. Read Erma Bombeck’s satirical passage on “Convenient Hearing” and be prepared to analyze it together. Answer the questions on page 154 about these two selections. Read the two sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay on pages 160 and 161 and answer the corresponding questions.

Make sure you have access to a copy of The Giver by Lois Lowry. You will be given your first reading assignment on Monday, April 26.

Watch the following 60 second analysis of satire.

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Assignments for 04/19/2021

Assignments due for the week of April 19th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Great start today on our Informative speeches! Don’t forget to turn in your outline before you give your speech–handwritten or typed. We will finish all of our Informative speeches next week. Our Demonstration speeches will be due in two weeks–Monday, April 26. Please decide on a subject that you’re familiar with and give me your selection next week so that you know what you will be demonstrating. This will be one of the most fun to give and the most fun to listen to! We went over ideas today from which to choose. It should be something that you are familiar with and really enjoy. Check out page 64 in your notebook for preparing visual aids (in any of your speeches) and also pages 65 and 66 to see an example of a sentence outline. Please make an outline for each of these longer speeches that we will be doing. It can be a topic outline or a sentence outline. Your Demonstration speech should be at least 6-8 minutes.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Finish the rest of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Chapters 15-31) and answer questions 35-72 in your study guide. Keep in mind the various themes we discussed and try to follow them throughout the book. Watch the following clips from your reading.

No-Spin Economics

We covered and reviewed the handout on Crash Course Economics #7 and the notes from Penny Candy Chapters 7- 9. We will have a quiz on this video and these chapters in our next class period. Also, watch Crash Course video #9 and fill out the handout you were given in class. Read Chapters 10-12 in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? The material in these chapters has been covered before, and this will just reinforce those principles. Chapter 11 in Penny Candy will remind you again of how much a trillion really is!!

Crash Course video #9

Adventures in American Literature

If you were assigned a short story for next week, read that story and tell it to the class. We will then, as a class, discuss the stories and apply some of our literary terms to these famous American short stories. Let me know if you need help with a link to read the story.

In your notebook, read the poems by Carl Sandburg on pages 141-143 and answer the questions on page 144.

Read the story “The Sculptor’s Funeral” by Willa Cather and answer the questions on pages 145 and 146.

Read the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost and answer the questions on page 148.

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Assignments for 04/12/2021

Assignments due for the week of April 12th, 2021

Practical Public Speaking

Fantastic job on impromptu speeches today! Such interesting stories, enthusiasm, and natural gestures! Be prepared to present your Informative Speech next week on your selected topic. Complete an outline of the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion of your speech to hand in to me before you do your presentation. Be sure to use at least one of the strategies in your notebook in your introduction and in your conclusion. (pages 53 and 60) Don’t forget to practice aloud to make sure you hit the 5-8 minute time frame! Follow the instructions we went over in class (from your notebook—page 67) to make your practice time as beneficial as possible. The more you practice, the more confident you will be! 🙂 Contact me at if you have any questions at all.

Quick Looks at Great Books

Great review of our literary terms in class today! Begin reading our next book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Read Chapters 1-14 and answer questions 1-34 in your new study guide. We will go over any questions you may have before we take the quiz.

Watch the following brief bio of Harper Lee:

No-Spin Economics

We discussed the prevalent lie in economics and the truth about automation and new inventions. We also went over Chapters 5 and 6 and notes from Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? We discussed some of the current policies and expenditures, studied how much one trillion really is, and watched the current U.S. Debt clock as it grows each day! We went over the beginning of what you will read next week in Chapters 7-9 of Penny Candy –double-digit and runaway inflation.

For our next class, read Chapters 7-9 of Penny Candy and watch Crash Course Economics video #7. Complete the handout you were given for the video and be prepared to discuss it in class. The Crash Course video is included here for you. Also, watch another brief explanation of how much a trillion really is!

Adventures in American Literature

We went over surrealism in art as it was manifested in Stephen Crane’s poem and then finished his poem “War Is Kind” and noted all the irony expressed! We also watched more of the biography of Mark Twain and his contribution to American literature.

For next week, you will have two quizzes—one on two short stories, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte and “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain. The other quiz will be on the short story by Jack London “To Build a Fire”. To prepare for the quiz, complete page 136 in your notebook — Jack London—Survival and the Forces of Nature. If you want to review “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”, you can go to the Previous Assignments (March 22) and to pages 128 and 129 in your American literature notebook. The other two stories are linked below.

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”

“To Build a Fire”

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Assignments for 04/05/2021

Assignments due for the week of April 5th, 2021

Happy spring break!

No classes next week due to our Spring Break!  We will return to class on Monday, April 5.  There will be no assignments due that day.  Quick Looks at Great Books students could begin reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee if you have extra time.  Also, don’t forget to bring your Literary Terms notebook to class when we return.  In Public Speaking, begin researching your topic for our Informative speeches if you are available in order to save time later! 🙂 Email me with any questions you may have and enjoy your vacation!!

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