Assignments due for the week of November 7th, 2022
Quick Looks at Great Books
We finished the discussion of the conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities. Once again, Dickens writes an insightful ending!! We went into detail about all of the events and symbolism. Please bring any questions next week before we take our final quiz. We will then review with a competitive game and take our final test. Our next novel will be Silas Marner by George Eliot. You do not need to bring it to class next week, but we will have a reading assignment due the following week. If you have not been able to find a copy of the book, please let me know. I have extra copies of this book that I would be happy to loan you. Just email me, so that I can bring it with me next week.
Since you have no reading assignment this week, we will begin with some of the terms in the Literary Terms notebook that I gave you at the beginning of the year. We have gone over these specific terms as we have gone through many of the passages in A Tale of Two Cities. We will also go over these together in class, so you are sure to understand them. We will find these commonly used terms in other works we read this year. In the pages of your notebook, complete the following lessons: Hyperbole (pages 4 and 5), Metaphor and Simile (pages 10-12), Personification (pages 16-18), Symbol (pages 19-21), Allusion (pages 49-51), and Irony (pages 69-71).
Also, watch these scenes to illustrate what you read as you completed A Tale of Two Cities.
Watch this 60-second recap of the book.
PSAT/SAT/ACT TEST PREP
Today the students received a copy of the correct answers, and an explanation of the way to work the problems to come to the right choice, for last week’s PSAT Math test. Then we took the final PSAT math section, much shorter than the last and no calculator allowed. Next week, I will give them their scaled score for the whole test so that they can compare that with last year’s national results. They can see how they compare to the national average and what areas they need to work on the most. Next, we will begin our practice and preparation for the ACT test. The grading for that standardized test is totally different We will go over that next week as well as do some practice exercises for the English section. It deals mainly with grammar errors, so that will help with the PSAT and SAT tests too. As we review our grammar, study pages 40 and 41 which deal with the twelve classic grammar errors on the ACT test. We will do several practice exercises and take some grammar quizzes to review the often misused rules.
American History
We took our second major test on Chapters 4-6 on the events leading up to the War for Independence and the events of the war as well. Hopefully, the students will improve with each test they take, especially when we do a comprehensive game review like we did last week. We then covered Chapter 7, and they were given the things they need to remember based on the Chapter Review on page 104. Next week, we will have a short quiz on Chapter 7 and all the important information there about the U.S. Constitution. Also, read Chapter 8 for next week and answer the four section review questions in your notes.
U.S. Government
We watched and went over a slideshow called “Understanding the Electoral College” today. What a wealth of information pertaining to the next Presidential election and pertaining to this one as far as how many Representatives each state will get after the 2020 census! I will give the students a current map reflecting the recent changes to the states who lost or gained Representatives due to a loss or gain in population.
For homework, each student should research the three proposals listed on this year’s ballot in Michigan. I want you to turn in to me your findings on what Proposals 1, 2, and 3 actually are about and the changes they are proposing. What do they want to change, and what are the pro’s and con’s of each? The students should know what they think about each of the propositions we must vote on. In addition to that, each student was assigned a tight race in this year’s election to watch. For example, if a student had the Governor’s race in Michigan, he/she should write down who is running and what things each one stands for. What do the pollsters say about who is ahead and why? (Even though they are definitely not always right.) If you were assigned a Senate race in Arizona, you need to find out who is running and what each candidate stands for. (You can’t always tell from the ads!) Decide if one of the candidates is the incumbent (the one who is currently holding that position), or if both of them are competing for the position as newcomers. You should include that research on your homework sheet to turn in. We will also discuss those races in class, and you should be ready to share with the class what you found. You do not need to work together with others who are researching the same race unless you choose to do so. If you decided to do an extra credit project on political ads, those will be due on Nov. 14. Let me know if you have any questions at all.
We took our quiz on the Senate and House of Representatives today. We will prepare for election night next week! Hopefully, you can participate and follow races that night as a family. This election is really important!!
Watch the following video to reinforce what you learned today about the electoral college.
Adventures in American Literature
We had our first test on what we have covered in literature so far this year. Then, we went over the setting, author’s life, and background for The Scarlet Letter. We went over the material they learned from the summary video they watched instead of reading the long, tedious introduction to the book called “The Custom House”.
Also, for next week we will begin the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. You can read the book or listen to it online if you prefer. Read Chapters 1-6 and answer questions 1-14 in your study guide that you received in class today. We covered many of the Puritan customs and way of life for them so that you will have a good understanding of the setting of the book. We will have a discussion of all the chapters you read and will go over the study guide questions and any questions you may have. Then, we will have a quiz that will tell if you read and understood those chapters. Be sure to have any questions ready to help with your understanding.
