Ms. Fitz’s Class Website

Greetings! Welcome to Sheldon.
I enjoyed meeting all of you this week, and I look forward to working with you this semester.

I hope you and your parents will utilize this site to stay informed and keep track of assignments.

Each week I will post assignment due dates and provide a brief overview of the week. You may also use this site to check your grades as well.

I want to see you succeed this year, so please let me know how I can help. If you need to speak with me, the best time is during Sheldon’s Common Period 8:00-8:45AM. If you just need information, you can send an email to my Sheldon address, and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

For this week:
Remember–Turn in a signed copy of the course expectations by Friday and earn extra credit for class.
By Monday Bring your course materials to class.

This is our last full week together. Keep strong, the end is almost in sight.

MONDAY: We begin Homer’s great epic poem, The Odyssey this week. Reading will be done both in and out of class in order to finish by Friday. This week we’ll also be playing Etymon Bingo to help review ALL etymons before the big test next week. Make your Bingo cards early so we can spend more time in class playing. Prepare your Bingo sheet with etymons from weeks 5-8

TUESDAY: Read The Odyssey pp 736-745 tonight. Prepare your Bingo sheet with etymons from weeks 9-12

WEDNESDAY: Read The Odyssey pp 757-768 tonight. If you haven’t started working on your Mythical Trading Cards yet, now is the time. Prepare your Bingo sheet with etymons from weeks 13-16

THURSDAY: Read The Odyssey pp 782-794 tonight. Finish your Hero to Zero worksheet and bring to class tomorrow. Prepare your Bingo sheet with etymons from weeks 9-16

FRIDAY: Hero to Zero persuasive essay. Turn in Odyssey reading packets.

LOOKING AHEAD: Etymons Final test on Monday. Mythical Trading cards also due Monday.
Tuesday–Say goodbye. It’s going to be a long slow summer with out you!

Now is the time to really work on your Romeo and Juliet Notebook. This is the biggest assignment of the term and should show your skill at writing as well as your understanding of literary concepts. The entire project is due next Wednesday, May 30th. Don’t wait until the last minute. Start building your notebook pages on your computer now.

If you have lost the handout for this project, or other materials related to the play, check the right hand column. Study questions, the literary device handout and the project sheet can be downloaded from there.

MONDAY: Begin working on week #15 in your etymons packet. The final quiz for etymons will be next week. Begin Act III in Romeo and Juliet in class

TUESDAY: Finish Act III.

WEDNESDAY: Quiz on Act III; begin Act IV.

THURSDAY: Finish Act IV. SHELDON SPRINGFEST

FRIDAY: Quiz on Act IV. Watch movie version of Romeo & Juliet

Looking ahead: R & J notebooks are due May 30th. The etymons final will be on Monday June 11th.

If you’ve lost the handout for the Romeo & Juliet Notebook, the Literary Devices worksheet or the Romeo and Juliet study questions you can now down load them from the column on the right. Remember, the R & J Notebook is DUE on May 30th, 2012!

This week we really dive into Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Bring your book to class every day this week and review each scene the night before class. Volunteers for reading and acting in class will be awarded courage points for their effort. Don’t be shy!
Now is also a good time to search for literary devices. As you read the play, keep your yellow work sheet close by.

By the end of this week, You should have a good idea about the creative choice you want to focus on for the Romeo & Juliet Notebook. Start planning now so you aren’t overwhelmed at a later date.

MONDAY: Act 1 Romeo and Juliet. Turn in your Elizabethan Language worksheet. Begin week #13 in your etymons packet.

TUESDAY: Act 1, scenes 2-5.

WEDNESDAY: Quiz on Act 1 Romantic Love Survey. Begin Act 2.

THURSDAY: Continue Act 2.

FRIDAY: Early Release–Progress Reports. View Zeffirelli’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

LOOKING AHEAD: Two great opportunities for extra credit this week–Attend a performance of Sweeney Todd by the Sheldon Theater company. Bring me a ticket or a program with a cast member’s autograph and earn 5 points. OR write a Shakespearean sonnet for your mother for Mother’s Day and earn 10 points extra credit. Sonnets must be 14 lines, consisting of three quatrains [4-line stanzas ending with an alternate rhyme] finished off with a rhyming couplet.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday. You may show me your completed sonnet on Tuesday, May 15th when I return, but your mother will really appreciate it if you given it to her nicely written in a lovely card before then. 😉

Wow! This week has me thinking about summer. I’m all for more warm sunny days for the rest of the term. This week we’ve got our Poetry in Song Unit, so grab your iPod or other music listening device and head outside in search of songs rich in literary devices and some of those sun rays. Who says homework can’t be fun?

MONDAY: Begin Etymons unit #11. Work and test are due next Thursday. Turn in any missing Literary Device posters that did not come in on Friday. After today posters are 1/2 credit. Our Poetry in Song unit starts in earnest. Read through the instructions on the green handout given to you today. Start listening to your music to find songs that use four or more different literary devices in the lyrics.

TUESDAY: In class we will practice hunting out literary devices in songs selected by the teacher and understanding theme in songs. Bring your music players and earphones to class if you want time to search for appropriate songs. Otherwise, look for lyrics at lyrics.com or AtoZ lyrics for written copies of your selection. Those who come prepared will have time to work in class.

WEDNESDAY: More time for review and individual work in class.

THURSDAY: Again, more time to review and work on individual project in class. This is the last day to retake Etymons test on Units 9 & 10.

FRIDAY: English Classes are cancelled for today due to English Dept planning. Students are expected to work independently on their Poetry in Song projects. The library will be open and computers are available for both classes to type up their projects. Give your name to the librarian and spend the period in the library to earn EXTRA CREDIT points. Be sure to finish Etymons #11 so you are ready to start a new unit next week.

LOOKING AHEAD: Poetry in Song projects are due on Monday 4/30/12. This assignment must be typed and include a title page to be accepted for a grade.
Saturday 4/28/12 at 2:00 and 3:00PM are two workshops with award winning poet and writer Gary Soto at the Downtown Public Library. Attend either one and write a 100 to 200 word essay about the experience and earn 10 points EXTRA CREDIT for class. You will be glad you did this! SO GO!

We begin this week with a new term and a new start!

MONDAY: Begin week #10 in the the Etymon workbook. Holocaust presentations also begin today. All groups are expected to have their power-point presentations from Tech. ready to go.
TUESDAY: Finish group presentations. Begin in class essay about lessons from the Holocaust.
WEDNESDAY: [Advisory Schedule] Work on in class Holocaust essay.
THURSDAY: Etymons test for weeks 9 & 10. Etymons packet is due. Finish writing Holocaust essay in class.
FRIDAY: Literary elements activity.

LOOKING AHEAD: Upcoming unit will be Poetry in Song. Department Planning Day scheduled for Friday, April 27th. English classes will not be meeting. Students should be at school working independently on Poetic Devices and Lyrics assignment.

Good news! A one day extension for your short story assignment is granted. If you did not turn in your Imaginative Short Story on Friday as requested, you may turn it in on Tuesday after the break without penalty. Turn it in Wednesday, and you suffer the late work penalty.

Just in case you are looking for something to do. Ursula LeGuin is speaking at the downtown public library at 2:00pm this Saturday, March 24th. Attend the lecture, write a 100-200 word response to her lecture topic, and receive 10 points EXTRA CREDIT in the class work category of your grade.

Have a wonderful break. I’ll see you on April 3rd.

MONDAY: 1st draft of you short story is due for class. Please bring a copy to share with your classmates. Begin week #8 in your etymon packet. You will have a test on Thursday covering weeks 7 & 8. Read “The Cask of Amontillado” in your interactive reader. Take notes on the story.

TUESDAY: Quiz on “Cask of Amontillado”. We will read “The Sniper” in class. Activity on formatting and punctuating dialogue.

WEDNESDAY: Proof revised copy of your short story. Read “The Scarlet Ibis” in your interactive reader. Study for etymons test tomorrow.

THURSDAY: Etymons test on weeks 7 & 8. Turn in your etymons packet for evaluation. Discuss “The Scarlet Ibis”

FRIDAY: Final copy of your short story is due. Read “The House on Maple Street” in class.

Letter of consent for Absolutely True Diary can still be turned in. I won’t teach it until I receive the letters, so if you want to read it, take care of this.

Please don’t forget to turn in copies of Freak the Mighty that you may have borrowed. I need them for next year. Also, I really do want to teach The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, so turn in you consent letters by Friday. If I don’t have them by then, we move on to short stories.

This week at a glance:

MONDAY: Begin work on Etymons week 6. This Thursday your etymons packet is due and we will have a test on weeks 5 and 6–Be ready!
Finish the film, The Mighty.

TUESDAY: Grammar Activities all week! 😉 Focus on parts of speech and their relationship with sentence parts.
WEDNESDAY: [Advisory schedule] Grammar Activities all week!

THURSDAY: Grammar Activities all week! Test on Etymons weeks 5 & 6. Packets are due today.

FRIDAY: Grammar Activities all week! Last day for ATD consent letters.