Mrs. Rebecca Borman/Ms. Catherine Melanson

Schedule for the Cycle beginning May 2, 2008

B Vocab lessons 22 & 23 due

I Review

R Review

E Review

T Review

O AP Exam!!! Good Luck!

N Post-test discussion

B Nobel book choices due (4 X 6 card)

Book Talks—Mrs. Borman and Mrs. Dube

Assign Nobel speeches

Assign “The Glass of Milk” for Thursday

I Test—WWI and WWII

R Vocab Quiz 22-24

Discuss “The Glass of Milk”

Assign “House Taken Over” for Monday

E Nobel speeches—research

T “I-Bomb”

Discuss “House Taken Over”

Assign “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”

O Discuss “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”

N Movie –Life is Beautiful

Pre-Discussion Notes

For every literary work you read for this class, you are required to write “pre-discussion notes.” Some of you might be familiar with this as “reader response.” Doing pre-discussion notes is a requirement every time you have a reading assignment, whether I specifically assign them or not. It is a given that if you are reading something for this class, the assignment includes pre-discussion. I won’t check them every day, but I will hold you accountable for them, so be prepared.

Questions: You must write at least one question about the literary work. If you have no questions, it means there is absolutely nothing you do not understand about the reading. That’s hardly ever going to be the case.

Observations/Comments: What did you notice about the work? Was the plot confusing? Did you like the way the author presented the characters? Did you think you noticed something going on with symbolism? Did the story make you think about something that has happened to you, a friend, or someone in the news? These are the kinds of observations that belong here. “The story was boring” is not a valid comment. “I didn’t enjoy the story because I thought the characters were unrealistic” is completely valid. See the difference?

Focus Question: Each time you read a work, you will be asked a focus question. If I don’t give you a specific focus question, the “default question” will always be this: What does this story say about “choices”? What kinds of choices were made in the story and why were they important?

You will continue your note-taking on the same page as the pre-discussion. You will take notes during the class discussion. This is a must, because tests are always pulled from the information discussed in class. Although I facilitate the discussion, you, the students, provide most of the information, so it’s important to listen to each other and write down what everyone says, not just what I say. If it’s a really good discussion I don’t usually have to say very much!

Taking notes is hard work, especially when you are also trying to participate in the on-going discussion. Keep working at the skill and you will get better…it’s a necessity for college!