February Break!

Hello All!

I hope you have a fantastic, fun, and safe vacation!

Students have 2 assignments that if they didn't finish this week, they can complete over the break.  Both assignments' instructions are on the Resources Page, and are due on Turnitin.com.  You can have your child log in to their turnitin.com account and show you if they've turned these assignments in.  If it says View, they submitted it.  If it says Submit, they didn't.  Please help them to use their time wisely and not to wait until the last minute.

The assignments are:

• Flood Constructed Response (All students must complete--100 point grade)
• Miscommunication in Culture Quickwrite (Students whose grade is below 80 must complete--optional if 80 or above)

Since today is the last day of the first 6 weeks of the semester, both of these assignments are in Synergy under the "fifth six weeks."  You will have to click on the new grading period to see their upcoming grades.

Happy Friday!

Presentations Monday!

Hello All!

This is a friendly reminder that your Archetype MiniPoster Presentations are on Monday.  Make sure you come to class ready to present.  I'm looking forward to them!

Everyone, please look over the directions one more time as you are working on this over the weekend to make sure you earn full points.  If you have specific questions, you can reach me on Saturday at kimberly [dot] bundschu [at] campbellhigh [dot] net.

These presentations will get us ready to read Gilgamesh next week in class.  Check the calendar if you want a head's up of the week.

Happy Friday!

Our First Socratic Seminar

Hello All!

Our first Socratic Seminar is tomorrow!  If you need an extra copy of the questions, it is on the resources page.  Remember, you need to write down your answers for all of the questions to be prepared for whatever question your group will be asked.

Happy Tuesday!

Homework for the Weekend

Hello All!

This weekend everyone has specific homework.

1. We practiced How to Analyze Poetry using Langston Hughes' "Dream Deferred."  You practiced annotating and analyzing using the 9 steps, including composing a quickwrite response together.  Those for each class are linked on the resources page so you can refer back to them.
2. This means you are ready to analyze "Salvador Late or Early" on your own.  Use your How to Analyze Poetry PPT, complete steps 1-9, including composing a quickwrite.  Follow the patterns we did in class.  This should be on the same piece of paper you wrote your "Dream Deferred" example.  
3. Students who turned in their Where I'm From Poem presented today and their grades are already in ParentVue.  Students who did NOT present have No Grade.  This means it's late.  Their last opportunity to present is Monday.  They need to complete this assignment, turn it in to turnitin.com, and be prepared to read their poem on Monday for a late grade.
4. Students who have turned in their Precourse Reading currently have "not yet graded" in ParentVue.  Students who have NOT turned in their Precourse Reading currently have a 0 in ParentVue to communicate to you that your student has not yet turned in their Precourse Reading.  The last day to do so, even though it's a late grade, is next Monday.  After that, the 0 will be permanent.  
5. Every day students are expected to review their current and old vocabulary.  We are currently in Unit 2, but the Unit 1 words will be on the test next week.
6. The Unit 1 Test Study Guide is on the resources page.  It will be handed out on Monday, but it's online if you want to see for what you'll be responsible.

Please work with your child over the weekend to make sure they are on top of their responsibilities.

Week 4, Assignments, and Open House

Hello All,

Parents, please have your student show you their turnitin.com accounts.  This account is where most of our major and some minor assignments will be posted.  This is a digital way for students to submit their assignments in a way that both teachers and students can see clearly what has been turned and at what time.

At this point, there are 3 assignments on turnitin.com.

1. My Login Information -- this was a test assignment and should have their turnitin.com email log in and password.  This was completed on a google drive document, so students have access to their passwords for the future.  Students earned points on this formative grade for attempting an MLA heading and typing their passwords.  
2. Precourse Reading Dialectical Journal -- this is their summer reading assignment that was officially due on Monday, January 23rd (the date on turnitin.com is incorrect for technical reasons--this should only be true for this assignment).  There are 2 things to look at for this assignment.  #1 Did students turn it in by Monday before 11:59?  #2 What percentage similarity did students earn?  The similarity percentage is one of the major functions to turnitin.com as it shows how original student work is.  Because this assignment involves quotes, those quotes should be similar.  However, the students should have 80% original writing as they were asked to analyze the quotes deeply and thoroughly.  If your student has a similarity percentage over 20%, we will be discussing why.
3. Where I'm From Poem -- this is due Thursday, January 26th.  We will be presenting these in class on Friday.  Because the nature of this assignment is fill in the blanks, I expect the similarity percentage to be very high, so long as it is not the same for the underlined parts (the parts they are to fill in with their own details).  

When a student has not turned in an assignment, you will be able to see the "Submit" button.  When a student has turned in an assignment, you will be able to see the "View" button.

To turn in an assignment on turnitin.com:

1. Be logged in to your campbellhigh.net gmail account on the device you are using to turn in your assignment.
2. Go to turnitin.com and login with your campbellhigh.net email address and the password you chose.
3. Click on the name of the class (not my name--that will try to email me).
4. Next to the name of the assignment, click the Submit button.
5. Make sure it says "Single File Upload" and not "Copy and Paste" (if it does, there is a small drop down carrot that you can use to change it to "Single File Upload."
6. Title the assignment with the number of your block you're in my class.
7. Click Select from Google Drive.
8. Click the correct file.
9. Click "Submit" until you see the green "Congradulations!  You have successfully submitted..." (If you just click it once, it will not go through.  It will show you a preview of your file before your final submission.  Make sure you have selected the correct file before that final submit).
10. On the assignment list, you should now see the "View" button as an option.  You may also see "Processing;" that is okay.  

Finally, Open House is this week!  I hope to see you on Thursday.  It starts at 6:30 with our PTSA meeting and runs until 8.

Happy Tuesday!

3 Day Weekend Homework and Week 3

Hello All,

Today in class we talked again about the Precourse Reading Dialectical Journal and I modeled some possible quotes and analysis for you as I read aloud.

For homework this weekend, we need to catch up from missing 2 days due to the Ice Storm, so you will need to read through 2/3rd of the book.  If you're using the link on the blog, that's through page 63; if you're reading from a physical text it depends on which printing (take the total number of pages, divide it by 3, times that by 2--bet you didn't think we'd be doing math in a lit class).  As I said in class, don't read it all in one chunk; break the reading up into 30 minute segments throughout the weekend.  As we talked about in class, be pulling quotes (from the author, not just dialogue) as you read that could possibly be used for your Dialectical Journal.  Focus on quotes that give you hints about the characters or a theme.  There may be a pop quiz

In addition, we will be having a vocabulary quiz on Friday covering the unit 1 words.  We've gone over the first 10 words in class and will cover the other 20 words when we return on Tuesday.  Please make sure you spend a little bit of time (5 minutes each day) reviewing these words in preparation for that quiz.

As you may have noticed, I've already started putting some grades into the gradebook.  If you were absent, you may have noticed that your grade has dropped due to the zeros.  Instructions for all of the assignments we've done are on the Resources page.  Make sure you use this weekend to catch up so you can earn credit for those grades.  If you missed the quiz, you'll need to arrange a time outside of class to take it.

Finally, don't forget to complete the Student Survey and have your parent/guardian complete the Parent/Guardian Survey.  Both are linked on the Resources page.

I know it's homework on a 3 day weekend, but it's not that much in the grand scheme of things.  You can do it.  I believe in you.

Happy Friday,

Week 2

Hello All,

I hope you enjoyed your surprise vacation and are rested and ready to work hard for the rest of the semester.

This week we've had to readjust the calendar a bit with losing those 2.5 days of class.  Check there to see what has changed and when upcoming assignments and quizzes are scheduled.

Today we were in the lab to set up our electronic accounts for the class.  If you didn't finish that assignment in class, it is expected for you to complete it on turnitin.com by tomorrow night.  See me tomorrow morning before school if you've had any problems.

We also passed out the syllabus.  Please make sure you've completed your part of the assignment and your parents completed their part.  Make sure you bring the syllabus back tomorrow for the open note quiz.

Finally, we need to talk about that Precourse Reading Dialectical Journal.  Today in the lab we set up the assignment.  Starting tomorrow we'll start reading (or rereading in some cases) The Alchemist in class.  We'll have some time in class to work on this reading, and the associated Dialectical Journal, but in order to finish it, you will have to work on it a bit outside of class.  Be prepared.

Happy Wednesday!