December 8 - 12, 2014

This week we will wrap up our unit over Dark Romantic/Gothic literature with a discussion from two classic Gothic works: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Pit and the Pendulum." As the week ends, we will start in on the four-day Semester Writing Exam. The exam will be based on Joyce Carol Oates' "Against Nature," pages 221-229 of our textbook.

• Mon: Discuss Frankenstein selection. Begin reading "The Pit and the Pendulum," pages 249-262.
• Tues: Finish reading "The Pit and the Pendulum." Begin completing the reading guide.
• Wed: Finish and hand in "The Pit and the Pendulum" reading guide by the end of the hour.
• Thurs: Semester Writing Exam
• Fri: Semester Writing Exam

December 1 - 5, 2014

This week we'll take a look at the darker side of Transcendentalism: American Romanticism. This branch of Transcendentalism looks at the rugged and darker beauty that we tend to gloss over--this perspective in turn leads to Gothic art and literature. We'll analyze this through two short stories. Our first, this week, will be Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil."

• Mon: Pass back and discuss current grades. Preview the week ahead prior to the final. Read, discuss, and take notes over American Romanticism, page 234.
• Tues: Begin reading and discussing "The Minister's Black Veil," pages 235-246. Finish reading the text on your own.
• Wed: Discuss "The Minister's Black Veil" performance task on page 247.
• Thurs: Complete and hand in "The Minister's Black Veil" reading guide. 
• Fri: Gothic and horror literature discussion. Preview "The Pit and the Pendulum."

November 24 - 28, 2014

During this short, two-day week we will do our final Close Read of the semester over a short argumentative essay, "Spoiling Walden." Following our Thanksgiving Break, we'll do a brief short story unit just prior to starting the in-class writing exam and going over the readings for the Semester Final. The end of the semester is near.

• Mon: Begin reading, discussing, and completing the activities for the "Spoiling Walden" Close Read.
• Tues: Finish and hand in the "Spoiling Walden" Close Read.
• Wed: No school - Thanksgiving Break
• Thurs: Happy Thanksgiving!
• Fri: No school - Thanksgiving Break

November 17 - 21, 2014

We will start this final full week before Thanksgiving by wrapping up our reading work over the selections from Thoreau's Walden. We will then move on to a short Close Read exercise over a few essay's from Thoreau's mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. We will wrap up the week with reading and discussion over another writer who touches on the themes of the individual and nature, Joyce Carol Oates' non-traditional essay "Against Nature." Students will want to pay close attention to the text as it will be one of our focal points for the writing exam at the end of the semester.

• Mon: Finish and hand in Walden analysis. Begin reading, discussing, and completing activities for a Close Read over Emerson.
• Tues: Finish and hand in Emerson Close Read.
• Wed: Begin reading and discussing "Against Nature," pages 221-229. Complete the reading guide as we read.
• Thurs: Continue reading and discussing "Against Nature," pages 221-229. Continue working on the reading guide.
• Fri: Brief discussion of the Collection 1 Objective and Writing Exams. Finish reading and discussing "Against Nature" - reading guide due to the appropriate box by the end of the hour.

November 10 - 14, 2014

This week we will finish our analysis of poems from Whitman's Song of Myself. Students will meet in the computer lab to create their individual slides. Students will then present their slides to their original group on Tuesday. We'll wrap up the analysis of the poems with some final questions on Wednesday. After Whitman, we'll continue our transcendental themes and analysis by turning to another American transcendentalist: Henry David Throeau, author of Walden. We'll complete the week by starting our reading of selections from his famous essay.

• Mon: Whitman analysis - meet in the library computer lab to create slides for your presentation.
• Tues: Whitman analysis - present slides to members of the group.
• Wed: Whitman analysis - complete and hand in the final questions in the packet.
• Thurs: Collection 3 vocabulary introduction. Introduction to Walden, pages 207-216. Begin reading and discussing the essay.
• Fri: Walden - continue reading and discussing the essay. Begin completing questions within the reading guide.

November 3 - 7, 2014

This week we will finally leave Collection 1 behind and move into in-depth readings and discussion for Collection 3. Unlike Collection 1, the readings of Collection 3 have a much more literary focus to them. We'll see this during the week as we spend the week analyzing poetry by acclaimed American Transcendentalist poet Walt Whitman.

Students who still have not completed the Collection I Essay Exam will need to complete the exam before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by Friday of this week. After Friday, 11/7, all Essay Exams will be regarded as complete and ready to be assessed for a final grade.

• Mon: Review Romanticism and Transcendentalism from last week. Begin Whitman Close Read analysis and discussion.
• Tues: Finish and turn in Whitman Close Read analysis and discussion. Time permitting: finish the Collection I Essay Exam.
• Wed: Whitman Poetry Analysis - read through and annotate the four poems. Annotations will be checked at the beginning of the hour on Thursday.
• Thurs: Whitman Poetry Analysis - discuss collaborative group assignment. Determine poem selection. Collaborate in secondary groups to discuss and analyze poem.
• Fri: Last day to complete work on the Collection I Writing Exam. Whitman Poetry Analysis - finish secondary group discussion and design the poem presentation slide.

October 27 - 31, 2014

This week we will finally wrap up our first Collection from the textbook. We will finish the Collection I Writing Exam on Wednesday. At that point, we will finally be free to start our next unit. The English 11 curriculum is arranged according to historical time periods. For our next unit, we will skip from the 1600s to the 1800s as we look at the development of American literature from 1810-1850. Although this might appear to be a bit dry at a glance, this is also the period when we see the first strong US poets, short story writers, and novelists. We'll have a preview of the unit on Thursday. We'll then wrap up the week with a trip to the library and an extra credit opportunity.

Students who have not finished the Collection I Reading Exam must complete it before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by the end of the day on Tuesday, Oct 28. Students who do not finish the Collection I Writing Exam by Wednesday will need to complete it before/after school, during Advisory, or in English Lab by Wednesday, Nov 5.

• Mon: Collection I Writing Exam - write the rough draft.
• Tues: Collection I Writing Exam - revise and edit the rough draft. Create the final draft.
• Wed: Collection I Writing Exam - all drafts due by the end of the hour. Preview the 2nd Quarter Extra Credit Book Project.
• Thurs: Collection III preview. Summarize pages 175-176. Identify and analyze characteristics of Romanticism and Transcendentalism
• Fri: Meet in the classroom. Go to the library for a brief book talk. Check out a library book and read quietly for the rest of the hour.

October 20 - 24, 2014

WRHS Parent/Teacher Conferences

Wed and Thurs 4 - 8 pm

See Mr. Ritchie in the Library

This week our focus will be on the Collection I Exam. Students received a packet of all of the readings that will be on the multiple choice and short answer portion of the exam. Students should mark up the packet keeping in mind the skills listed on the first page. Students may use this packet of notes on the exam. Students will turn in the packet with their exam. The last part of the week will focus on the Collection I Writing Exam. This will be an in-class essay over multiple days. Students will not need to take anything home or do homework during this time. Students will turn in their notes at the end of each class period. Students will be writing the essay entirely during class time.

• Mon: Collection I Exam
• Tues: Finish the Collection I Exam (if necessary). Preview the Collection I Writing Exam. Begin gathering quotes and making an outline.
• Wed: Collection I Writing Exam - gather quotes and create an outline. Begin creating a rough draft of the essay.
• Thurs: Collection I Writing Exam - create a rough draft of the essay.
• Fri: No school

October 13 - 17, 2014

This week we will wrap up our last Collection 1 readings with a few close reads. The skills required of the two close reads will help identify and review the skills assessed over the Collection 1 exam to be done on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Any missing work that still needs to be submitted online or handed in should be turned in by the end of the school day on Thursday.

• Mon: Close Read - Tan, "Mother Tongue." Begin reading and discussing the selection. Complete the close read tasks as we read.
• Tues: Close Read - Tan, "Mother Tongue." Begin reading and discussing the selection. Finish the close read tasks and hand in by the end of the hour.
• Wed: Poetry Close Read - Alexie. Read and discuss the selection. Complete the close read tasks and hand in by the end of the hour. Brief discussion over Immigration Poetry close read from last week.
• Thurs: Collection 1 exam preview - review major concepts. Pass out and begin annotating the exam's reading selections.
• Fri: No school - End of the 1st Quarter

Collection 1 Exam on Monday and Tuesday of next week

October 6 - 10, 2014

This week we thankfully have no extended writing tasks to complete. Instead we will take a look at two short texts. The first text, "Balboa," is a narrative text that analyzes what might have been going through Vasco Nunez de Balboa's mind when he saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The second text, "Blaxicans," is a modern informative analysis that analyzes how and why we label ourselves based on our culture and ancestry. We'll wrap up the week with a new kind of activity that we'll call an R&R day. This is a day for us to recap and review where we've been, get us all on the same page, and perhaps even make up a few missed points in the process.

• Mon: Wrap up discussion on The Tempest. Begin reading "Balboa," 77-83. Complete the notes and tasks as we read.
• Tues: Finish reading and discussing "Balboa." Hand in notes and tasks at the end of the hour.
• Wed: Begin reading "Blaxicans," 87-92. Complete the notes and tasks as we read.
• Thurs:Finish reading and discussing "Blaxicans." Hand in notes and tasks at the end of the hour.
• Fri: Vocabulary quiz. R&R Day: recap and review. Hand in materials by the end of the day.

September 29 - October 3, 2014

Since we are now 1/3 of the way through the semester and less than three weeks to the end of the 1st quarter, we will start the week with a quick progress check and reflection. We'll then move on to a review of what we've read from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Our primary goals for reading have been character traits and analysis, identifying points and citing evidence, and comparing/contrasting ideas. As we wrap up The Tempest, we'll put our reading to use with a character analysis essay. Students who use their time wisely throughout the week should not have any homework in the evenings or for the weekend.

• Mon: First 6 weeks progress check and reflection. The Tempest - review and media analysis.
• Tues: The Tempest - essay assignment. Begin gathering evidence and outlining the essay.
• Wed: The Tempest - essay assignment. Finish gathering evidence and outlining. Begin a rough draft.
• Thurs: The Tempest - finish creating a rough draft. Revise the essay. Students will need to complete a written rough draft prior to typing in the computer lab on Friday.
• Fri: Meet in Library Lab D. The Tempest - type and turn in the essay to turnitin.com.

September 22 - 26, 2014

We are officially into the sixth week of the semester. That means we are past the mid-term of the 1st quarter and 1/3 of the way through the 1st semester. This is an excellent time for students to check and reflect on their progress so far.

All students who handed in the paragraph over "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" should have received two e-mails by now. The first told them that the paragraph was graded and ready to have students view comments. The second told them how to turn it in online to turnitin.com after revising the paragraph. The revised paragraph is due online to turnitin.com by 3:00 on Friday. Students with remaining questions should see me before/after school or during Advisory.

This week we will continue in our short excerpt from William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Students should be curious about how the play connects to anything that we have read so far in the unit. We will start the week with the opportunity to ask questions and wrap up with the Act I reading guide. We will then read and discuss the other excerpt from the play. We'll wrap up the week with a brief discussion and reflection on our six-week progress reports, time to finish the Act II reading guide, and time in class to revise and turn in their "Dawnland" paragraph.

Students who need additional time to work on a computer at school are welcome to come in to our classroom before/after school and during Advisory to use one of the available computers.

• Mon:Finish and hand in The Tempest Act I reading guide by the end of the hour. Revise and turn in the "Dawnland" paragraph to turnitin.com by Friday at 3:00.
• Tues: The Tempest - read and discuss Act II. Complete the reading guide as we read.
• Wed: The Tempest - read and discuss Act II. Complete the reading guide as we read.
• Thurs: Pass back and discuss updated progress reports. Turn in The Tempest Act II reading guide by the end of the hour. Revise and turn in the "Dawnland" paragraph to turnitin.com by Friday at 3:00.
• Fri: No school - Professional Learning Day

September 15 - 19, 2014

This week we will seem to go off in a random direction from what we've been reading so far. Rather than continuing on with more Colonial American texts, this week we move on to excerpts from William Shakespeare's The Tempest. We'll start the week with some background and discussion of parts (this is a play, after all). We'll then read and complete a reading guide as we go. However, one lingering question should remain as we read: how does a Shakespeare play connect to anything what we have read so far?

• Mon: from The Tempest - Shakespeare background discussion. Determine parts for Act I. Begin reading and discussing Act I.
• Tues: from The Tempest - Pass out Act I reading guide. Review events from Monday. Continue reading and discussing Act I.
• Wed: from The Tempest - Continue reading and discussing Act I. Complete the Act I reading guide as we read.
• Thurs: from The Tempest - Continue reading and discussing Act I. Complete the Act I reading guide as we read.
• Fri: from The Tempest - Writing prompt due in class. Act I reading guide due by the end of the hour.

September 8 - 12, 2014

This week we'll move on to our next text in our unit, Charles C. Mann's "Coming of Age in the Dawnland." Students' primary tasks will be to determine the author's purpose for writing, followed by an argumentative critique of the author's work. We'll start the week with a review of the vocabulary and a first read of the text. We'll then read the text with our own purpose as we gather clues and analyze Mann's essay. Toward mid-week, we'll introduce and begin prewriting on the writing task. Since we had a few issues with the textbook site last week, this will be done entirely on Google drive. We'll wrap up the week with a vocabulary quiz and mini-Socratic seminars on the writing task results.

• Mon: Review on the Bradford writing tasks.  "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" -- introduce vocabulary and do a first read looking for the author's purpose.
• Tues: "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" -- read a second time to complete notes on the author's purpose.
• Wed: "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" -- finish in-class notes on the authors. Begin performance task pre-writing.
• Thurs: Meet in Lab A to type up the "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" performance task rough draft.
• Fri: Vocabulary quiz.  Mini-Socratic seminars to compare notes on the "Coming of Age in the Dawnland" argument. 

September 1 - 5, 2014

This week we will continue working with our textbook pages 5-18, featuring excerpts from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. Having read and taken notes last week, this week we'll move on to a pair of creative writing responses, followed by a short quiz over the reading. Students will be writing and submitting their responses online through the textbook site at my.hrw.com. Since this is a writing assignment requiring students to be on a computer, we will also have two days in a computer lab. Students will receive a review guide and assignment at the beginning of the week.

• Mon: Labor Day - no school
• Tues: Bradford - from Of Plymouth Plantation: writing assignment and quiz guide overview. Create a brainstorm and rough outline as pre-writing for the writing assignment.
• Wed: Meet in Library Lab D to log in to the textbook site online and write.
• Thurs: Meet in Library Lab D to log in to the textbook site online and write.
• Fri: Quiz over Bradford - from Of Plymouth Plantation. Pre-writing due.

August 25 - 29, 2014

Within each unit or Collection in our textbook is what we call an "anchor text."  The anchor text serves as the foundation for the themes and the skills that tie together the entire collection.  It is also usually the most challenging text of the collection, so we'll take our time and work together when we read such a text. This week we'll focus our efforts on reading and analyzing the Collection 1 anchor text, "from Of Plymouth Plantation," by Puritan colonist William Bradford.

• Mon: "from Of Plymouth Plantation" - finish Context Clues exercises. Preview the text. Complete the vocabulary words exercise. Vocab quiz on Friday.
• Tues: "from Of Plymouth Plantation" - read and analyze pgs 5-8.
• Wed: "from Of Plymouth Plantation" - read and analyze pgs 9-13.
• Thurs: "from Of Plymouth Plantation" - read and analyze pgs 14-18.  Complete a close read over lines 323-345 on pages 15 and 16.
• Fri: "from Of Plymouth Plantation" - Vocab quiz.  Review notes for the week.

August 18 - 22, 2014

WRHS Open House

Thursday, 6:30pm - 9:00pm

This week we will ease ourselves into our new textbook and resources.  We'll preview and analyze the structure of the textbook to get an idea of how the book presents our texts and why it does it this way.  We'll then set up Collection 1: "Coming to America."  The title alone tells us that, since the focus for English 11 is American literature, the texts throughout our year will be related to texts and events important to American history.  This week we will also complete a practice close reading exercise, followed by a more intensive close read from our textbook.  These exercises will encourage us to be active readers with all texts throughout the year.  We'll wrap up the week with a preview of our anchor text: an excerpt from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation.

• Mon: Finish introductions.  Tech survey results.  Preview the textbook, Collection 1.  For Tuesday - create a paragraph analysis response.
• Tues:  Response due.   "Exploration and Settlement," pages 3 - 4: analyze the structure and author's order.  Close read practice and analysis: "Explorer Says He Found Columbus' Ship."
• Wed: Close Reader: "from The General History of Virginia"
• Thurs: Finish and turn in Close Reader: "from The General History of Virginia."
• Fri: Anchor text preview for "from Of Plymouth Plantation." Begin reading/discussing the first two pages.

August 11 - 15, 2014

Welcome!

On this site you'll find a breakdown of each week's lesson plans and activities for English 11.  Assignments and due dates will always be listed in red.  You can access class handouts through the "Course Materials" section located on the top right of this site.  If you have any questions or comments regarding the things you'd like to see on this site, call me at WRHS or e-mail me at ritchjoh@usd437.net

This year is an exciting one for us as we are rolling out a new English/Language Arts curriculum and textbook adoption throughout all of USD 437.  The English 11 curriculum offers more opportunities for integrating technology with reading and writing activities.  Students, for example, will have 24/7 access to their digital textbook that will allow them to read, highlight, take notes, and complete assignments from any online device.  This site is also linked under the Course Materials section.  All of us will be adapting to and discovering how to make the most of these opportunities throughout the year.

This first short week is a chance for us to get to know one another, as well as to discuss the policies, procedures, and expectations of the class.

• Mon: Teacher work day
• Tues: Teacher work day
• Wed: New student orientation
• Thurs: Introductions and getting to know one another
• Fri: Finish introductions.  Course overview, expectations, and procedures discussion.  Complete the technology survey online by Monday.