Barrus' English 9 Blog

Satire

Ms. Julia Barrus — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:38:16 +0000

Hey Kids,
Here’s my satire news article about Justin Bieber. I am looking forward to reading the ones that you produce.

The End of Animal Farm

Ms. Julia Barrus — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:45:21 +0000

Today we finished propaganda posters and found quotes for the novel’s themes. Please come prepared to take a quiz Monday on Chapters 5-10 as well as propaganda strategies (which we studied this week).

Here’s the homework that’s due Monday:

Novel Themes

Totalitarianism and Evil
Censorship and Why it’s Dangerous
Communism and Why it Doesn’t Work
Responsibility when faced with injustice

Find a quote from the book from chapters 5-8 that speaks to the above themes and demonstrates your understanding of each. Include the page number, the quote, and a short explanation for why the quote applies to the theme.

Romeo and Juliet are dead

Ms. Julia Barrus — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:36:04 +0000

We finished the play Wed/Thurs and completed a quote search. If you were absent at all this week, please turn in your scene summaries and permission slip for the field trip. I also have not heard sonnets from about 10 people. It is YOUR responsibility to schedule a time with me to recite your sonnet. If I haven’t heard from you by Wed/Thur next week, it will be a zero.

Act 5 Quote Search

Romeo and Juliet – Week Two

Ms. Julia Barrus — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:53:26 +0000

This week we finished up Romeo and Juliet Act 2 and learned what Stephanie Meyer meant when she said, “These violent delights have violent ends.”

Monday – No School – MLK day

Tuesday – Objective: Students will read and analyze Act 2 Scenes 1,2 and 3. Students will summarize scenes using a notecatcher.

Wed/Thurs – Objective: Students will read and analyze Act 2 Scene 4. Students will assess knowledge of vocabulary with vocabulary quiz. Students will summarize scene using a notecatcher. Students will work on sonnet memorization, identifying quatrains, couplets and feet of iambic pentameter. Students will interpret key quotes from Acts 1 and 2.

Friday – Objective: Students will identify key quotes from Acts 1 and 2. Students will read and analyze Act 2 Scenes 5 and 6. Students will summarize acts using a notecatcher. Students will annotate lines of sonnet poetry.

Homework: Work on memorizing your sonnet.

Downloads: Act 2 Notecatcher, Quote Identification, Sonnets for memorizing

See me if you need to make up the quiz!

Romeo and Juliet – Week One

Ms. Julia Barrus — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:45:27 +0000

This week, we began reading Romeo and Juliet and interpreting Elizabethan English which proved “lamentable” for some and joyous for others.

Friday – 1/7 Students took notes on vocabulary and created sample sentences using vocabulary words.

Monday – 1/10 Students listened to Act 1 Scene i and read along. Students summarized the scene using a graphic organizer.

Tuesday – 1/11 Students listened to Act 1 Scenes ii and iii and read along. Students summarized using a graphic organizer.

Wednesday/Thursday - 1/12 and 1/13 Students listened to Act 1 Scenes iv and v and read along. Students summarized using a graphic organizer. Students assessed knowledge of vocabulary with a quiz and practiced writing using sonnet form. Students interpreted puns and took notes on the text.

Friday – 1/13 Students watched Act 1 from Baz Luhrman’s version of Romeo + Juliet and took notes on vocabulary.

Homework: Study for vocabulary quiz Wed/Thurs, Complete song or poem translation.

Downloads: Vocabulary ppt, Act 1 organizer, Translation exercise, Puns practice

Welcome and Good Morrow

Ms. Julia Barrus — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:36:29 +0000

This week we’ve been getting acquainted with Shakespearean speech and sonnet form. Everyone did an excellent job getting to work and doing everything that was required of them. We are off to an excellent start for the new year. Congratulations baby Mustangs!

Tuesday – We took notes from this Powerpoint on Shakespearean plays and dramatic terms completing this packet of information.

Objective: Students will take notes on Shakespeare and dramatic terms using guided notes.

Wed/Thurs – We researched background information about the life and times of Shakespeare and practiced iambic pentameter and sonnet form. This will be important as we read the play and work more with creating and performing sonnets.

Objectives: Students will identify quatrains and couplets in Shakespeare’s sonnet 18. Students will identify iambic pentameter in sonnet 18. Students will translate the language from sonnet 18 into modern English and record annotations in the margin of the poem. Students will identify and record the poem’s rhyme scheme. Students will work in small groups to research background information and practice with sonnet form.

Additional downloads:

I. Shakespeare’s Life and Influences, II. Globe Theater, III. Sonnet Form (use your notes), IV. Historical Background, V. Drama (use your notes), VI. Shakespearean Language (use your notes)

Vocabulary and Rising up from Gang Life

Ms. Julia Barrus — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:07:54 +0000

This week we worked on vocabulary mobiles and began reading chapters 5-8. These chapters chronicle Luis’s escape from the tough streets of Los Angeles and some of the positive activities he got involved in that helped him see that violence and gang activity are not the answers to a healthy and successful life.

Objectives: Students will use vocabulary words with correct definitions, sample sentences, pictures and non-examples to create mobiles. Students will read and analyze some of the events from Chapter 6 that Luis got involved in that helped him see another life aside from the scary and dangerous one he was living. Students will compose a five paragraph essay explaining Luis’s escape from gang involvement and how it lead to his altered thinking and improved life.

Homework: Your only homework this week has been to read, but over the weekend you’ll need to work on your dialectical journal and finish reading 7-8.

Journal: Find 6 quotes that show how and why Luis began to change his thinking and leave behind some of his old ways. Analyze them in complete sentences. Consider the following topics: friends, jail time, conspiracy theories, court experiences, community centers, female relationships (including the one with his mother).

Boxing was one of the ways Luis found an escape.

Lit Terms and Always Running

Ms. Julia Barrus — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:15:42 +0000

At the end of last week we took a short pre-test to assess our knowledge of literary terminology. Today, we are applying that knowledge by doing a partner scavenger hunt where we look for examples of specific lit terms.

Objective: Students will identify lit terms and explain how they apply to specific examples.

Homework: Continue Reading

Downloads: Lit terms scavenger hunt

Always Running

Ms. Julia Barrus — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:39:17 +0000

Now that we are finished with your expository essays, we are going to begin reading Always Running by Luis Rodriquez. Today we discussed author purpose and background information that will be applicable when learning to interpret the novel’s message.

Objectives: Students will read and analyze author purpose and biographical information. Students will complete a chart of thematic elements with examples from the novel’s introduction.

Lang Objective: Students will complete introduction analysis chart using sentence starters and complete sentences.

Homework: Read Chapters 1 and 2 by Wed/Thurs

Download: Assignment and Reading Calendar

Globalization Paper

Ms. Julia Barrus — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:56:00 +0000

This week we’ve been working on expository essays that explain and analyze the relationship between globalization, trade, technology and socio-economic systems.

Objectives: Students will compose expository essays using terminology and specific examples from readings in English and Social Studies. Students will correctly incorporate transitional words and phrases as well as topic and sub-topic organization.

Homework: Everyone should be finished with all body paragraphs of the essay in the organizer and typed by the end of class tomorrow.

Download: Essay organizer

Link: Transitional Phrases Help