Ms. Krill's Blog

Week of November 24

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

First Trimester is over! (I know it seems like we just got started). As of 2pm Friday, all student work for first trimester was graded and recorded. As I told students today, if they review PowerSchool and find any discrepencies that should let me know as soon as possible. Discrepencies would include missing or misentered grades.

For those students who are looking for the comments on their essays (turned in November 10) and the essay questions for the test (finished November 12), they are being photocopied for your portfolios and as soon as they are copied they will be returned to you. The grades are entered into PowerSchool but the comments are not. Although grading essays is more time consuming than multiple choice tests, the critical thinking and writing skills demonstrated by many students was terrific.

On to Second Trimester - Last week we spent some time with three short stories that illustrated various author's use of irony and perspective. We read "The Necklace," "The Lottery," and "The Man Who Could Work Miracles". Each story had some literary and comprehension questions. Most students finished the stories and questions in class; those who did not will need to finish them Monday in class or for homework. The finished questions for all three stories are due on Tuesday, December 2.

This Week-

Monday & Tuesday: in the computer lab to learn how to use EBSCO. A resource for researching various literature and research databases.

Wednesday - Friday: No School.

Week of November 3

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Beware of Greeks bearing Gifts! (especially if they look like giant wooden horses!) Our heroes are falling and so, too, is Troy. But fear not, those who remain have great things in their futures. Students should be checking their PowerSchool often during this week as make-up work is being posted daily. Anyone who needs to make up an assignment regardless of the reason should get the work in this week.

What's happening in the next two weeks:

Monday, November 3: Read and takes notes - The Sack of Troy, The Women, Agamemnon's Death, Adventures of Menelaus. Students may also choose to read the three chapters on Odysseus' travels and his return home. Turn in Project Proposals.

Tuesday, November 4: Review notes for the end of the story. Discuss supporting evidence and insights for the themes of the story.

Wednesday and Thursday, November 5 & 6: work on essays, projects or study for test.

Friday, November 7: Trojan War Final over the whole book.

Monday, November 10: Compare and Contrast two heroes essay due BEFORE we leave for the zoo.

Tuesday, November 11: No school.

Wednesday through Friday, November 12-14: Presentation of Projects.

Friday, November 14 is the last day of the Trimester.

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Digital Photography students - remember to upload your pictures before the end of the day on November 3. All photos that you are submitting for a grade must be uploaded by 4pm on Friday, November 7. Photo contest submissions (maximum of 4) are due by 4pm on Monday, November 10.

Week of October 27

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Our heroes suffered terribly last week and this week doesn't look much better. We will lose Achilles to tragic set of circumstances and the Greeks will capture the Palladium. We are getting close to the end of this tragic tale and it's time to see if the prophecies come true.

Monday- read Section 3 books 1-3 (the Amazons arrive and Achilles falls)
- Students who missed Friday's quiz should make it up during class.

Tuesday - return and review Trojan War Quiz 2
- Notes on the books 1-3

Wednesday- Vocab quiz and homework due - meiosis, mitosis, osmosis, hypnosis, endocytosis, ectocytosis, cytoplasm, hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic.

Thursday - read section 3 books 4-7

Friday - Notes on books 4-7

Week of October 20th

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Monday through Thursday- Read and Notes on the Trojan War.
- Odysseus convinces the Greeks to stay in battle
- Paris and Menelaus fight
- Hector predicts that he will die and Troy will fall.
- both the Greeks and the Trojans send out spies.
- Patroclus falls
- Achilles and Hector fight

Friday- Trojan War Quiz 2 - This quiz primarily focuses on the plot of the war and the motives of some of the key characters.

Vocabulary: (osis meaning change or process) meiosis, mitosis, osmosis, hypnosis, (cyto meaning cell) endocytosis, exocytosis, cytoplasm (tonic meaning strength) hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic.

Grammar: none this week

Writing: none this week.

Remember the due dates for the Mythology Project:
October 31 - project plan due
November 7 - Trojan War Final
November 10 - Mythology Heroes Essay due (and we're going to the zoo!)
November 12-14 - Presentations of Creative Projects due.

Week of October 13

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

It has been a crazy couple of weeks with conferences and Cheley but now its time to get back into the swing of things. We are a bit behind schedule but we should be back on track by the end of the week. Our books have arrived and later this week students will be reading at their own pace. (The Iliad). We will also begin work on the final project for the trimester, the Mythology Project.

Monday - in your writer's journal respond to the quote from the Greek orator, Horace, "Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled." The we will read the next chapter ini the Iliad, The Foremost Man. Protesilaus seeks immortal glory by becoming the first Greek to die in the war.

Tuesday - Introduction of the Mythology Project. In the Iliad, the tale of Troilus and Cressida.

Wednesday - vocabulary due on October 20. demos - meaning people. (10 words) demobilize,demote, demonstration, demophile, demophobia, pandemic, epidemic, democracy, demographics, demogogue. Definition + POS + synonym/antonym or example or drawing.

Thursday and Friday - work on project and read.

Digital Photography - for Friday, bring your cameras, the cable to upload pictures and 10 pictures of people and 10 pictures of scenery.

Week of September 15

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Zoiks! the week got away from me before I realized that I hadn't posted the blog. Here goes.

Weeek of September 15

Monday - Introduction of Achilles, the sacrifice of Iphegenia
Tuesday - Trojan War Jeopardy to prepare for Thursday's test
Wednesday - Vocab quiz and homework due (epi - words)
Thursday - Trojan War quiz 1 - gods, goddesses and the Greeks
Friday - no school

Week of September 22

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This week...

Monday - review pronouns, write in writing journals, review Trojan War Quiz 1
Tuesday - The Trojans prepare for war
Wednesday - vocab quiz and homework due (nuclear, ribonucleic acid, nucleolus, nuclear membrane, nucleoplasm, nucleocapsid, deoxyribonucleic acid, nucleus, thermonuclear, nuclear fusion, nuclear disarmament); Next week's words - para meaning beside (paradym, paradox, paragon, parameter, paraphernalia, paramecium, marable, paraphrase, parabola, parallel). Due October 1
Thursday - Troilus and Cressida
Friday - pronouns

Week of September 29

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Short week due to conferences...

Monday - Introduce Mythology project
Tuesday - The troops become discouraged
Wednesday - vocab quiz and homework due - "para" words
Thursday and Friday - no classes - conferences.

Week of October 6

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Another short week because of Cheley...

Monday - creative writing project - Create a god, goddess or mortal that could help turn the tide of the war.

Tuesday - work on creative project
Wednesday - Friday - No classes because of Team Building.

Week of September 8

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This week we begin to uncover the world of Ancient Greek Mythology as we work toward the Illiad.

Monday - notes on Greek gods and goddesses
Tuesday - notes on Greek gods and goddesses
Wednesday - vocabulary due (quies & trudos); vocabulary quiz..
New vocab
Thurday - notes on Greek gods and goddesses
Friday - grammar - pronouns!

Literature - Our first unit of the year is Ancient Greek mythology. As we read the ancient myths we look at not only the gods and goddesses but also at the natural phenomenon that the myths are trying to explain.

Writing - we will do some focused writing in our journals on Tuesday and Thursday.

Vocabulary - this weeks vocab (due September 17 ) epi from the Latin meaning towards, on or onward.
ephemeral, epitaph, eponymous, epistemology, epithet, epiphany, epicenter, epicycle, epitasis, episcope.