Eighth Class: Test Preparation (Wednesday: Periods 5 & 6; Thursday: Periods 1, 2, & 7)

Mr. Stone discussed Psalm 42:1 with the class for worship.

Students received back their graded quizzes. Mr. Stone went over the answers for the vocabulary worksheets to help review students for the upcoming test.

Each row presented the chararacter trait(s) they chose for their assigned character from "Blues Ain't No Mockingbird" which they analyzed yesterday. They supported their choice of character trait with passages from the story and explained whether they determined this trait through direct or indirect characterization techniques used by the author.

Mr. Stone added the terms round character, flat character, static character, and dynamic character to the list of literary terms needed to be learned for the test this week.

Homework: Finish preparing for the plot and character test.

Seventh Class: Characterization (Tues: Periods 2, 5, & 6; Wed: Period 1)

Students responded to a prompt about Esperanza's choices in chapter six of The House on Mango Street and considered the choices they make in obtaining entertainment/friendship.

Mr. Stone shared two quotes about character for a devotional thought:

"You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans." --Ronald Reagen, 40th U. S. President

"A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation." --Mark Twain, humorist and author

After a quiz over "Blues Ain't No Mockingbird," Mr. Stone discussed the upcoming test and directions for analyzing the author's use of characterizaqtion in "Blues Ain't No Mockingbird" with the class.

Students worked in small groups to identify at least one character trait of their assigned character. They were to label each passage they highlighted with the form of characterization utilized.

Homework: Review chapter seven of The House on Mango Street and study for the upcoming plot and character test.

Sixth Class: Introduction to Characterization (Period 7 on Tuesday)

Students wrote a half a page in response to a prompt about chapter five of The House on Mango Street, "Cathy Queen of Cats".

For a devotional thought, Mr. Stone discussed William James' statement, "If you want a quality, act as if you already have it."

Students took a quiz over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Red-head League" and completed a worksheet over selected vocabulary from the story.

Students took notes on terms related to characters and characterization.

Most periods began brainstorming in small groups about their own idea for a mystery.

Homework: Review chapter six of The House on Mango Street and read "Blues Ain't No Mockingbird" (570-576).

Fifth Class: Discussion of "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts"

Students wrote in response to the fourth chapter of The House on Mango Street, "My Name."

After Mr. Stone discussed the gospel song "They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love" and prayed, the class took a quiz over "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts."

The class discussed Shirley Jackson's "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts."

Homework: Read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Red-headed League" (96-116).

Fourth Class--One Ordinary Day with Peanuts

Students began the class by responding to a prompt about chapter three of The House on Mango Street in their journals.

Mr. Stone shared Luke 12:22 with the class before a quiz over the six basic elements of a plot line.

Students completed a vocabulary worksheet over selected words from "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts" before they began reading the story.

Homework: Finish reading "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts" for a quiz tomorrow. Review chapter four of The House on Mango Street.

Third Class

Students responded to a question about chapter two of The House on Mango Street in their journals.

They completed a vocabulary worksheet for selected words from "The Interlopers" (302).

Mr. Stone shared Proverbs 15:1 with the class and prayed before a quiz over "The Interlopers."

Students worked with Mr. Stone to identify the type of conflict for twenty-nine plot manipulatives from "the Interlopers." After determining which conflict was primary in the story, students helped Mr. Stone arrange the manipulatives on the board to represent the plot line of the story.

Mr. Stone noted the complexity of the plot with its multiple conflicts.

Homework: Memorize the six basic parts of a plot line: exposition, narrative hook, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Review chapter three of The House on Mango Street.

Second Class

Mr. Stone discussed an adage and prayed. ("Outrageous behavior is instructive. It teaches us the limits of our tolerance.")

Students wrote in their journals in response to a prompt about chapter one of The House on Mango Street. Students were asked to either compare and contrast their own experience with Esperanza's, or more specifically, to compare and contrast their emotional response to their own home to Esperanza's response to her homes.

Students received a blue handout about the literary elements of a story. Mr. Stone discussed the six basic parts of a plot with students.

The class discussed the sequence of events in "The Most Dangerous Game" using a list of ten events from the story. Students completed a vocabulary worksheet for selected words from "The Most Dangerous Game."

Homework: Read Saki's "The Interlopers" (304-310) and review chapter two of The House on Mango Street.

First Class

Welcome to English I!

Students have assigned seats in alphabetical order to help Mr. Stone learn their names.

We listened to Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" (19).

[Note: numbers in parentheses indicate the page number(s) in our class's primary textbook--Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: Gold Level. California Edition. 2002 Edtion. Parenthetical citations from other texts will be more fully indicated.)

Bring a composition book and The House on Mango Street to class on Monday.

Review chapter one of The House on Mango Street for Monday. (We will be writing journal entries in response to each chapter. We will not be taking a test over the book.)

Bring your green textbook (Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: Gold Level), a notebook with paper, and a pen and pencil to every class period. We will keep your composition book in the classroom.

If you have any questions, e-mail Mr. Stone (dstone@lla.org).