Friday, January 30, 2009

Homework 1/30/09

Period 4
1. Post Vocabulary Sentences (write them in MSWord first and then copy and paste to avoid typos)
2. Writing Assignment sheet

Period 5
1. Post Vocabulary Sentences (write them in MSWord first and then copy and paste to avoid typos)
2. Writing Assignment sheet

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Homework 1/28/09

  1. Period 4
    Reread the story and post email me what you think the real message of the whole story, the Wife of Bath's Tale and the Prologue, is. Consider the narrator and her motives and personality.
  2. Vocab Quiz on Friday

    Period 5
    Vocab Quiz on Friday

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Homework 1/27/09

Period 4
1. Read pg. 155-166 and answer question 1-4 on pg. 166
2. Be ready to be quizzed orally

Period 5
1. Finish sentence corrections
2. If you were absent click here for the sentence corrections.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Homework 1/26/09

Period 4

1. Read pg. 133 The Wife of Bath and make sure that you remember physical characteristics of her.

2. You will have a reading quiz on her qualities.

10 pts of Extra credit for the new quarter to the person that emails me their response to yesterday's post regarding my venting. It should be at least 5 sentences on anything that you want to tell me in response to my blog.


Period 5
1. Post Vocabulary Paragraphs
2. Answer the "Group Questions" that were on the board in class. You may work together on them, but do not turn in the exact wording.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Venting & Wisdom

Hello My Seniors!
I am not sure how many of you will be checking this, but be aware that the homework due tomorrow is listed below. This posting however is dedicated to venting or expressing my thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses in my students' writing. I thought it would be helpful to some of you to be aware of what Ms. Ramirez expects from her students' writing (as if you haven't heard me enough, right?) Well, here goes anyway.
First and foremost, I expect you to reread your work before submitting as I insist that some of your errors can be identified even by you upon a second reading. Some of these errors include the lack of "holding your reader's hand". Many of you jump into a subject without introduction or transition. Please understand that as "cool" as I am, I am not a mind reader and cannot know where you are coming from if you jump into a subject. I am relatively good at inferring and guessing what you are trying to say, but I do not believe that it is fair to me, as your reader, to be put in that predicament. You all know that one of my biggest and most imperative goals is to help you become a better communicator. Thankfully, many of you are already great at doing this orally, but seeing as we do not live in the Anglo-Saxon days, it is also crucial that you be able to communicate efficiently on paper. Therefore, please make sure that you ALWAYS put yourself in your reader's shoes and if you cannot understand what you are trying to say, CHANGE IT. DO NOT SETTLE AND ASSUME THAT THEY WILL FIGURE IT OUT. :-/
Secondly, I would like to remind you that while your opinions and commentary are absolutely necessary in an essay, it is not sufficient to make a good essay. A good essay includes the right balance of concrete details and commentary. Direct quotes are always impressive and with the right commentary (aka. your opinion/analysis) they make a relatively good essay. Please try to do both. I know I make it sound as if this is very easy and I'm aware that it takes practice, but I thought it would be good to remind you. Most of the essays I read have too much of one or the other. Try to balance it out.
Lastly, to ensure that my first and second point work for you, make sure that you include transitions. PLEASE BECOME INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED WITH TRANSITIONS. LOVE THEM, TREASURE THEM, USE THEM. Without those suckers, your reader is lost and/or bored. Remember that TRANSITIONS ARE YOUR FRIENDS!!!
This is all the wisdom and grievances that I currently have for you, hopefully I will not have much need to vent in the future. :-) Adios.

Ms. Ramirez

Friday, January 23, 2009

Homework 1/23/09

Period 5
Finish reading The Wife of Bath's Tale
Complete the Extra Credit.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Homework 1/22/09

Period 4
1. Complete one of the Writing Options 1 or 2 (Character Analysis or Character sketch)

Period 5
2. Complete your character analysis.
3. It must be at least 1 pg double spaced 12pt font (Ka-Nowa) and 1" margin.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Homework 1/21/09

Period 4
1. Post vocab sentences
2. Finish The Prologue packet

Extra Credit for both periods
Type a response to the following prompts: 1. Aside from your difficult upbringing, do you think that you are a strong person and/or hard worker? Why? Give examples. Do you fit in with the description that President Obama gave of the citizens that built the country? Are you the incarnation of hard work and strength or are you one of the ones seeking Leisure and Fame? You must give specific examples to support your response?
Consider that you will be, hopefully, graduating in 148 days and then what? Will you be a productive citizen? How do you suppose you will contribute to the hard working masses of Americans that have made the country what it is? What will you do to ensure that you will not be a leisurely citizen and that you will be working for your success?
It must be at least a page, double-spaced and organized, so that it's not a blob of ideas. Due Friday.

Period 5
1. Reread The Pardoner's Tale
2. Work on Character Analysis
I will give 10 pts of extra credit if you show me a rough draft of your analysis.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Homework 1/20/09

Period 4
  1. Read up to lines 211
  2. Do the Pause and Reflect sentences
  3. Fill in margins through pg. 49

Period 5
  1. Read pg. 145-153
  2. Make cluster cluster in Writing Section on pg. 154

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Homework 9/15/08

Period 4 & 5
STUDY FOR MONSTER VOCAB QUIZ
You will still be responsible for parts of speech and being able to use them in sentences.
Study tips:
If you are having trouble remembering them, create as many sentences as you can.
Review your previous quizzes.
Look at the Roots to help you remember. (There may be some serious extra credit for roots)

I will try to have my gmail open after 8pm. If any of you have gmail accounts, try to send me a message with any practice sentences and I will tell you if they are right or not.