ON TO GRADING PERIOD #2

(The horse is in honor of Kaity's "This I Believe" essay, offered as a distraction from her bad start to this morning!)

What a strange week this has been.......PSAT, Chinese Acrobats, recording essays, short classes! Well, we made it anyway and got our essays recorded and research drafts turned in, so all is well.

PLEASE COME GET YOUR GRADE SHEETS IF YOU HAVE TIME. I have printed them, and you may want to check yours over to make sure everything looks as you think it should.

On Monday, we WILL TAKE THE HEROES' PICTURE!!! We will do it first thing, so we don't get caught up with something else. Also, we will continue with Shakespeare and begin Hamlet. Think about your groups of 3 or 4 that you'd like to work with for cutting Acts I-V. On Monday, we will also discuss research papers and common problems, etc. PAPERS DUE ON FRIDAY of next week.

Also, you may sign up for literary terms anytime. Email me if you know what you want. First come, first serve.

FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15

Short on time today, so this will be a quick post. Here's what you need for tomorrow:

1. revised outlines

2. complete revised rough draft of research paper, INCLUDING a works cited page (I must have this to make sure you are doing this correctly).

ESSAY RECORDINGS TOMORROW!

I hope you have all practiced reading your essays slowly and clearly for tomorrow's recording. The ICATS are bringing 5 or 6 laptops, so we'll have 5-6 of you recording at a time, while others work in the library on research.

Please bring a flash drive or other such device for saving work. After I go over outlines with you, some of you will want and need to make changes to both your outlines and your drafts.

HEROES....WE'LL TAKE YOUR PHOTO TOMORROW. PLAN TO LOOK HEROIC!

CITING SOURCES

I have added a link to a very helpful page that addresses citations for MLA format (scroll down to "Helpful Links"). The topic that you'll get when you click on it is "in-text citations"; however, if you scroll to the bottom you'll see links to all the MLA Format subjects. As much as I hated to link you to a Purdue site, this one is good. See you tomorrow.

TIME TO POST

It's time for another REQUIRED POST. Please respond to the following questions by TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14 by 7:40 A.M.

1. What novel are you reading for the research paper, and who is the author?

2. How interesting and engaging have you found the novel; basically, was it a good choice for you?

3. What are you finding most difficult with your research right now?

4. What can I do to help you?

5. What should you do to better help yourself?

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A PRODUCTIVE DAY TODAY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR NEED ME TO LOOK AT ANYTHING RESEARCH RELATED, STOP BY TOMORROW WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. WE WILL TALK ABOUT IN-TEXT CITATIONS AND WORKS CITED PAGES ON THURSDAY.

ALSO, WE STILL HAVE SOME "THIS I BELIEVE" ESSAYS TO READ ON THURSDAY!

HEROES, WE NEED TO TAKE YOUR WINNING PHOTO.

OUTLINE

Your typed outline should be a total of 18-22 COMPLETE SENTENCES. You should follow the template of the outline worksheet I gave you in class.

REMEMBER.....EVERYTHING IN COMPLETE SENTENCES. Begin the outline with your thesis statement (as shown on the worksheet), and go from there.

TUESDAY'S CLASS

Ok, guys. Thanks to a plea from Rachel, I will let you turn in the typed outline on Thursday. You should then have a THREE PAGE DRAFT for the following Tuesday, since you are getting extra time.

I am about to leave school to run my children to various lessons and activities, and I won't be back at a computer until after 8 p.m. I will update the blog tonight regarding tomorrow's class.

So, the important thing for you to know is that you WILL be in the library tomorrow during the first half of class. You WILL be expected to spend the class period on research. You WON'T need to turn in the typed outline until Thursday. I hope this is good news to you. If so, you owe Rachel.

More later....