Sunday, May 30, 2010

TO ALL MY LITERATE 9 STUDES...

GREETINGS!

Nine Days and counting...and if you're safe, then off you go to Grade 10 Literature...! In the meantime, there's still a lot more to accomplish before you actually leave my domain. So...here it goes...

First of all...Choral Recitations this week...Green Day Groups on Monday (31 May 2010) while Blue Day Groups on Tuesday (01 June 2010).

Second...Odyssey Final Exam Presentation...also this week. I have given you my comments and suggestions on how to further improve your final product. It is up to you to heed my advice or go with what you think you want to do---your call!

Third...I would like you to please photocopy and present to me the complete pages of the LANGUAGE HANDBOOK (Pages 993-1039) from the back of your Literature 9 Textbook. I am going to require you to understand it well and work on this and try to master it over the summer so that when you enter Grade 10, you will be twice as prepared as you are now in terms of your English skills. Furthermore, I am also going to tell your Literature 10 Teacher about it so she can check it with you as soon as you meet her next Academic Year. DO NOT BE IDLE OVER THE BREAK and continue improving your English skills!

Lastly...get hold of the following novels over the summer and READ-READ-READ! These are the stories you will be taking up in Literature 10 next Academic Year. Start asking the Sophomores of this year if you can borrow their personal copies, that is, in case they bought it. Be ready with it...

- Fahrenheit 451
- Midsummer Night's Dream
- Night
- Animal Farm
- A Separate Peace

That's All Folks! GOOD LUCK to all your other FINALS this week and Study and Prepare for all of it really well...! Once again...Nine Days and counting...hang in there...CIAO!!!

Mr. A

Sunday, May 23, 2010

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE…!

My internet is still down and this is after I have bought a brand new BELKIN router, reported it to TRUE Telephone Company, and had a TRUE Technician come and check my line at home---SIGH! I had to drive to school now just so that I can post this...so better make sure YOU ALL KNOW OF IT...!

I am hoping that everyone had a couple of nice extra and relaxing days…I know I did---LOL!

It is too bad that some of you did not complete your “OFF DAY” tasks for Literature 9…that is surely going to affect your grades…AGAIN! That was not a good move on your part since this is the last and final quarter of the year and not having done the task meant an automatic zero over fifty points. And PLEASE do not use the excuse that you did not know---EVERYONE ELSE DID IT!

Anyways…WE ARE GOING TO STICK WITH OUR LITERATURE 9 CALENDAR SCHEDULE…however, there will be minor changes to my Green Day Group. In the CALENDAR, we are supposed to have Novel 4 discussion on Monday…instead of that, we are going to have our discussion on The Gift of the Magi (GOTM)---be ready for that! Also, on Monday, I would like ALL my Literature 9 Classes to give me a disc of whatever it is you have accomplished with your ODYSSEY Projects…this is just the preliminary screening and it does not have to be perfectly done...this way I can watch it on my own and give comments instead of doing it in class and wasting the session. My Blue Day Group will proceed with The Cask of Amontillado (TCOA) on Tuesday and my Green Day Group will do the same on Wednesday. As I said…the rest will be the same…!

There were people who called me and asked if our Choral Recitations can be rescheduled. The answer is NO! I am sorry. I think I have given you more than enough time to prepare and work on your pieces so please do not think I am being mean or anything. Having been given more than a month to practice and rehearse for it…there should be no excuses anymore…!

Be ready for last two weeks because we are going to go over everything as scheduled...give it all your BEST! Re-read and understand the stories if there is a need to. Be safe and have a GREAT weekend...or whatever is left of it. See you all tomorrow morning, bright and early! CIAO!!!

Mr. A

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

TO ALL MY LITERATE GRADE 9 PEEPS...



Here's the list of poems (and their page numbers) from your text which you can use for your Choral Recitation. Choose one as soon as possible since it is a first come first served basis. You are going to recite altogether whatever piece you have chosen in front of an audience. When I say recite, I mean memorized lines, proper recitation with feelings and emotions, good intonation, proper pauses, and in unison...think of it in terms of a Choral Recitation. Find examples of clips of Choral Recitations on You TUBE if you want to.



Here are the poems...whoever posts their choice first, together with the names of their groupmates and their Literature 9 Section, gets what they chose...

- The Lesson Of The Moth (p.140)
- Daily (p.495)
- I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud (p.510)
- Beware: Do Not Read This Poem (p.531)
- The Seven Ages Of Man (pp.536-537)
- The Gift (p.564)
- Fifteen (p.571)
- The Girl who Loved The Sky (pp.576-577)
- Ain't I A Woman? (p.611)
- Your Laughter (p.853)

That's All Folks! CIAO!!!

Mr. A

SONGKRAN BREAK HOMEWORK/ASSIGNMENTS...!

TO ALL MY LITERATE GRADE 9 STUDES...

SAWASDEE PHI MAI, KHRAP!

Before anything else, let me wish you and your families a wonderful Thai New Year and a safe and fun-filled Songkran Break...!

Now...down to business...! I have a number of SONGKRAN BREAK HOMEWORK/ASSIGNMENTS for you to work on given the 9 days you are going to "miss" seeing me and/or “miss” being in my class. Start and finish it immediately so you will have more time to enjoy and relax during your break.

FIRST…as soon as we get back, we are going to have another Literary Terms Application Test and another Vocabulary Terms/Words to Own Test. How many? That’s for me to know and for you to find out…what’s important is that you prepare for it…!

SECOND…you have the entire Songkran Break to read and take notes on the novel The Glass Menagerie…at this point in time, if you suddenly stop and ask yourself the question, “What Glass Menagerie?”…then you are in deep, deep, deep trouble simply because despite the number of times I repeated this in class and even wrote it on the board for you to see, you chose not to listen and did not bother checking out the book from the library like I told you to do…!

THIRD…I am going to ask for an update from every group on what you have already accomplished on your ODYSSEY Movie Production when we get back to school. Leaders and members of each group…make sure to take notes of the workers and the slackers in your group for peer rating purposes…I have an Evaluation Sheet you will be filling up when we get back. Please make sure to understand those who cannot make it since they are traveling with their families or going out of town for one reason or another. Just make sure to give them something to do to compensate for their absence if your group decides to meet during the break…!

FOURTH…we will be taking up the following stories from your text when we get back so try to read it over the Songkran BreakPoison, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Gift of the Magi. Take notes if you think it will help you understand it more…when we get back, we will discuss the story gist one period and test the next…that should give you an idea on how much you should know the stories by then…!

FIFTH…on an A4/F12/DS/TNR, write an essay of no more than two pages long for each of the last two class novels we have not taken up yet. Here’s the catch, one essay should follow a “Persuasive Format”…meaning, you have to try to “sell” the book to someone else and convince them that the novel is a good book to read. The other should follow a “Narrative Format”…meaning, you have to tell what the story is all about by simply giving the major highlights of the plot. You have the freedom to choose which class novel, THOMS/TPB/TKMB/WOO, to write as a Persuasive Essay and which to write as a Narrative Essay...as long as it is the last two class novels we have not started in class yet...!

LASTLY…start preparing for your Choral Recitation by first gathering a group of no less than five people but no more than eight people in your class. Then as a group, choose which poem you would like to perform and recite orally altogether. Then, start memorizing and practicing and working on your chosen Choral Recitation pieces. I want the Title of Chosen Piece and the Members of the Group turned in to me through this blog please…first come first serve basis…meaning if a title has already been posted, it cannot be chosen anymore by any other group…I will be posting the titles of the poems to choose from by tomorrow, Thursday, 08 April 2010…stay tuned…!

That’s All Folks! As you can see, I have decreased the number of Songkran Break Homework/Assignments to give you…from a total of 10 down to 6…hence the reason why I am only posting now. Have a safe and wonderful Songkran Break and come back refreshed and ready to Rock-N-Roll for the final stretch of the year. This is it…the end zone…you have to give it all you got since there is no more room for “I’ll do better next quarter.” Be good and get all your homework/assignments out of the way as soon as possible so that you can enjoy your break to the max…CIAO!!!

Mr. A

Saturday, March 20, 2010

TO ALL MY COMMUNITY SERVICE WEEKEND SURVIVORS...

CONGRATULATIONS!

You definitely Made A Difference this weekend and you should be proud of yourselves for that...! Despite the number of things listed down on your "needs to improve" section, I sure hope you have, somehow, reflected and examined your own lives and realized how lucky and/or fortunate you are for having ALL the things you have in comparison with the children you met over the weekend. Thank your parents for this and learn to "count your blessings" instead of continuously focusing on simply getting what you want.

Now, down to business...I would kike you to reflect on the weekend on your own. On an A4/F12/DS/TNR, write me an essay of no more than two pages long on the title, "How has this weekend affected me and where do I go from here...!" Talk about how the trip affected you, no matter how minimal, and what it did to you as a person. Try to be as honest and as truthful as possible instead of simply writing what you think I would like to read. Make sure you do not waste what learning experiences you gained over the weekend just so you can impress me with what you write. Be yourself when you write and do not allow others to persuade you to write something else aside from what you really feel about how everything went over the weekend. This is all due on Tuesday, 23 March 2010...first thing in the morning---write which Literature Class you are from...!

See you all tomorrow...bright and early...CIAO!!!

Mr. A

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

TO ALL MY LITERATE ENGLISH 9 STUDENTS...

GHONG XI FAH CHAI...HONG PAO NA LAI?! XIN NIAN KUI LE!!!

Here are your Chinese New Year Break Homework/Assignments...I am nice so it won't be much…I promise…LOL!

FIRST...work on and continue memorizing your R&J lines; as soon as we get back from the break, we are immediately going to have an Oral Test without using your textbooks...this'll mean I will call your group up front and you will deliver your lines without gestures or actions, and I will be grading you. Performance day has been finalized and it’ll be on 18 or 19 March, depending on which day you are in for my class, in the 360 Hall...!

SECOND...on a WSP...give me another EVALUATION of all the members of your group, both leader and fellow members, except yourself, by first giving them a rating of 1-5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest, then justify it by giving a short explanation of why the individual got that grade...!

THIRD...we will be having another Literary Terms Test Application on the first day we meet as a class after the break...25 words worth 100 points...!

FOURTH...we will discuss and finish your novel as soon as we get back from the break...either WOO, TKMB, THOMS, or PB...so reread it if you have to and review your notes on it. Next, find me good and clear examples of five (5) simple Figures of Speech (Simile, Metaphor, Personification, or Hyperbole) and on an A4/F12/DS/TNR, type it down and indicate on which page and on which line you took it from in your novel. It does not have to be one of each, it can be a combination of all four types...!

FIFTH…on EDLINE, I have posted a short story by Roald Dahl titled Lamb to the Slaughter. I want you to print out a copy for your self, read it and take notes on it. Then, on an A4/F12/DS/TNR, reflect on the story by writing a short paragraph (12-15 sentences) or an essay (3-5 paragraphs) on what you think the message of the story is all about and how the title reflects the story...!

SIXTH...Read and understand Choice: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, pages 367-370 of your text; take notes and focus on the message of the story; answer Reading Check a-d of page 372 in your notebook...!

SEVENTH…on the first day we get back from the break, I am going to give you a short Comprehension Test on all these stories I asked you to work on for the break…nothing essay, just short answers, modified true or false, multiple choice, and probably a sequential order part. When you read or reread the stories, make sure you do understand it so you will no longer waste your time doing it…!

EIGHTH...finish working on your second drafts for Literature 9B and Literature 9C, and first draft (I think?!) for Literature 9D...!

LASTLY...I would like to commend you on your Thai Performances in the 360 Hall...wonderful indeed! A lot of you have so much potential in acting and the performing arts and I hope you'll think about signing up for the Drama & Theatre Arts Class next year. I have more than enough students for this class at the moment...however, I do not know who they are that well...I need talents like what a lot of you possess. Also, those of you who have not done so yet...see Mr. Keith and sign up for the Ethics Class as soon as we get back from the break if you intend to move to my class...!

That's All Folks! Finish all your homework/assignments immediately so you can enjoy your break more...do not procrastinate and leave it off to the weekend before school starts. Anyone who will miss any homework/assignment I need to collect when we get back gets an automatic zero for it! Take care and be safe always if ever you are going out of town or out of the country...be ready to Rock-N-Roll as soon as we get back...and of course...enjoy your vacation! Do not miss me too much. Be good and study well...CIAO!!!

Mr. A

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

TO ALL MY LITERATURE 9 STUDES...

GREETINGS!

Here are some of the things I would like you to think about and work on in the next few weeks...

* Continuously work on your Romeo & Juliet scenes---LEADERS: I want your first evaluation/assessment/report on your group's progress turned in to me by Wednesday, 27 January 2010, whether you are with my Blue Day Group or Green Day Group (A4/F12/DS/TNR)---how many rehearsals & meetings have you had, who attended and who did not, who has done their work and who has not, who's in charge of what, etc.;
* Continue your Home Schedule from next week onwards...I will collect the first one on Monday, 01 February 2010, two weeks from today...those who have done it since last week, turn it in to me immediately when you see me or when you enter my class;
* Prepare for our coming Mastery Test on The Birds next week;
* Make sure to finish reading Of Mice And Men in the next two weeks;
* Prepare for your First Test on the Application of Literary Terms next week;
* Make sure you are ready to begin your next Class Novel discussion next week; and
* Prepare for a Grammar & Tenses Test in two weeks time (Subject-Verb Agreement, Parts of Speech, Transitive & Intransitive Verbs, etc.)...!

That's All Folks!!! Begin working on these ongoing homework/assignments and avoid leaving it to the last minute again. By the way, if any of you have old newspapers at home that you no longer need, I would appreciate some of it if you can bring it to school for me. Also, the people collecting donations for the Haiti Earthquake Victims are coming on Monday, 25 February 2010...please help and donate cash for a good cause...! Thanks...CIAO!!!

Mr. A