April 22 is the beginning of the fourth and last quarter of the year. 40 days remain. Let’s start with a review of the basic resources available to students and all stakeholders:
- Calendar: Daily Updated Lessons | http://tinyurl.com/210-19-Q4
- Instructional Posts: English 11 Regents | http://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?cat=363
- Guide for Stakeholders | http://tinyurl.com/210-stakeholders
- Frequently Asked Questions | http://sisypheanhigh.com/malachite/?p=2810
If you are a parent or guardian and haven’t already done so, bookmark the course website and sign up for Google Classroom email summaries.
Course Specifics: English 11
We’ll finish our study of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which we began on March 3, with the last of our in-class writing prompts:
We’ll then write a reader’s response to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest through the following writing process:
For the last novel of the year, students will be given a choice between The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby. We will base the choice on a discussion of literary merit. We’ll work our way toward another reader-response essay that grapples with the chosen novel, in addition to the usual approach to literary analysis and discussion.
For our nonfiction, we’ll read “The Ways We Lie,” an essay of classification and division. We will read the text, discuss it, and then answer some of a series of questions on rhetorical and stylistic strategies. That analysis will then lead to student-driven classification and division. Here are the resources that will be posted:
- Stephanie Ericsson, “The Ways We Lie” | http://tinyurl.com/wwl-text
- Rhetorical Analysis | http://tinyurl.com/wwl-eta
- Classification and Division Essay | http://tinyurl.com/wwl-prompt
Pareto Projects, also known as 20-Time or 20% Projects, will be presented in June. For a recap of what that entails:
- The Pareto Project: Complete Guide
- Pareto Project: FAQ
- Pareto Projects: Final Self-Assessment
- Example Projects and Testimonials
There is no final exam in class for English 11 students. Instead, there is the New York State Regents Examination in English Language Arts. We will continue our work on the Part 2 essay in April:
We will practice Part 3 after that, with a mock score ready for each student by mid-May. In June, we will troubleshoot each section of the exam in order to put everyone in the best position to succeed.
Ask any questions about our scheduled work below, and pay careful attention to any changes announced through Google Classroom. As always, assignments will be formally posted there; this site will be used for instruction, general feedback, and planning purposes; and individual feedback will be given interstitially through our usual methods.