A Monday with no school

Don't you love three day weekends? I do.

My family spent yesterday at the State Fair. We had a great time, but I was (and still am) tired. I not only reached 100% on my Bowflex Boost (which tells me how much walking I do during the day), but I ended the day at 223%.

And the Cowboys won! Woohoo! The St. Louis Cardinals won their game last night as well, so it was a perfect day.

Remember to have A Separate Peace finished. Have your annotations completed and ready to turn in tomorrow.

You took home your IRWINs so you could share what you've been doing with your parents. Be sure to get their signature on the table of contents AND BRING THE IRWIN BACK TOMORROW!!! Remind your friends to do the same.

This will be week 8 of the school year. We're closing in on the end of the first quarter. That means the first report cards of the year. Are your grades where you want them to be?

I hope you're having a great weekend. See you tomorrow.

A Separate Peace

Here's a schedule for your reading responsibilities:

By the time you get to class on...

• Tuesday, October 7 - You should have read to the end of chapter 9 (w/annotations).
• Wednesday, October 8 - You should have read to the end of chapter 10 (w/annotations).
• Tuesday, October 14 - You should have finished the book (w/annotations).

On Wednesday (tomorrow), I will tell you to finish the book, but you will have until after the weekend before you are held accountable.

There still may be a quiz over chapters 1-10, so be prepared.

6-week Assessment

Tomorrow (Friday) we will take our 6-week assessment for the 1st Quarter. Rumor has it that it will be a couple of poems with maybe 10 questions. I doubt they will use poems we have already read, but that's not a problem for us. Use your TPCASTT process to analyze the poems. That will help you understand it. Whatever you do, don't rush through it and assume you have figured it out. You'll need to study the poems closely.

In the meantime, I am not assigning additional reading for tonight. You should be through chapter 7 of A Separate Peace by now. You will be assigned to read and annotate chapter 8 over the weekend.

First Quarter Syllabus

Below is a list of things we have covered (or will cover) during the first 9 weeks of this school year. There are some things that will be pulled in as well to support the things I need you to learn (example: "Seventh Grade", the short story by Gary Soto, helped explain plot and character development).

Homework

Tonight, read and annotate chapter 2 of A Separate Peace. Don't just carry the book around - turn off your electronics for 30-45 minutes and READ!!!

Also, with the boys at Devon headed toward action in World War II, it reminded me... I visited the Air Force Academy this past weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Remind me to tell you about it. Below is a picture of the campus chapel.

Four Weeks Down!

We're almost at the halfway point of the 1st 9 weeks. Progress Reports go out at the end of this upcoming week.

Starting Monday, you MUST have a copy of A Separate Peace. Not an electronic version of it - the actual book. I'll go ahead and tell you now, your reading assignment on Monday will be to read Chapter 1. It's only about 10 pages, but we meet the main characters and get to know the setting.

At this very moment, I am downloading an audio copy of the book onto my iPod. I will play Chapter 1 in my room before school on Tuesday for anyone who happens to come to morning tutorials. I won't be there Monday to write you a pass, but your parents can write one. And it's Mrs. Duncan at the front door, so maybe she'll let you by.

We make our first trip to the library on Tuesday, but we won't be checking out books. Our reading time needs to be focused on the novel we are starting. In fact, be prepared for a quiz when I return on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend. I'll be in Denver to watch the Colorado Rockies play baseball. Maybe I'll post a picture or two. Don't be jealous!

TPCASTT of "Invictus"

Your homework is due at the start of class Monday. Your homework is to TPCASTT the poem "Invictus." To get you going in the right direction, I will try to help you out. The parts highlighted are actual answers you can use if you want. The parts NOT highlighted are just tips for you to follow.

T - The title Invictus could mean any number of things. But without reading the poem, my best guess is that it has something to do with the definition for invictus, which means undefeated or unconquerable.

P - I am coming out of the night time, which was all around me
It was so completely dark from end to end that it was like being in a deep well
I give praise to whoever is responsible (the gods? God?)
for giving me this invincible character

That's one stanza. Surely you can do the other 3 by yourself.



C - repetition - lines 15-16 both start "I am the..."
repetition - line 12, finds and shall find me
rhyme scheme - ABAB (and it stays completely true to that in every stanza)
In line 10, the word Horror is capitalized. That can't be an accident; it is being used as a proper noun, maybe because it symbolizes the thing or person (the devil?) that causes me to suffer.

Boom, that's 4 things. You can thank me later. Now... find some more.



A - I have yet to give you the list of tone words, so for now, you are on your own to come up with the speaker's attitude. You've heard the poem several times. How do you think the speaker in it feels?

S - Think of the shift in time for this one. The speaker is talking about what has happened before, but he also talks about the here and now. He even refers to the future. There's also a shift in the third stanza. Can you find it? It should be recognizable because of the conjunction that often signals a shift.

T - Look back at the title. Why use this title? What could the poet have meant by using this title?

T - We have talked about this. What is the speaker's message to us? And really, why do I say this poem so often? The answer should reveal the theme of the poem.