Final Drafts Due by Friday, Dec. 19

Congratulations to all who have turned in their research paper rough drafts. I am confident you will all make the necessary revisions for a final draft of which you can be proud.

Unfortunately, four students have still not turned in a rough draft. Those people will be receiving a failing grade on their progress report.

Research Paper Rough Draft Due

Your rough draft, including an outline and Work Cited page, was due today. I'm happy to report that 25 students out of a class of 35 (Period One) turned their assignment in, with one, Diana Sanchez, turning it in early. Out of a class of 29 (Period Two), 17 turned in their assignment, plus two people who experienced printing problems.

Those who turn in their paper on Monday will be penalized one grade. If your paper is an A paper, it will receive a B, and so on.

Next, you should be planning your interview and writing your interview questions. You will conduct the interview and use whatever is valuable to fill out your final draft of your research paper. You will NOT include the entire transcript of your interview. You decide what goes into the final draft. We will review this next week.

Last Day to Turn in Note Cards is Friday

You had 20 note cards due on Nov. 7 and 20 more due on Nov. 14. More than that is extra credit. If you have not turned in any notes, you are failing the class. Note cards will not be accepted after Friday (even if you have an excused absence). Failure to turn in notes = inability to turn in a rough draft (due Nov. 26) of your research paper.
Failure to turn in a rough draft = inability to turn in a final draft (due Dec. 19)
Failure to turn in research paper = inability to take part in Senior Presentation (Jan. 20).
Hence, failure to turn in your notes = fail in the class.

Note Taking

We will meet in the library again on Monday, so that you can take notes from your sources. The rest of the week you will need to bring your sources to class with you and take notes in the classroom, as the library is booked. 

Bring a stack of index cards as well. If you can't afford index cards, the school can provide them; however, this is not the case in college, so you may as well get in the habit of providing your own supplies. You have 20 note cards due by the end of class on Friday. The following week you will turn in another 20 note cards. Additional note cards can be turned in for extra credit.

The rough draft of your research paper, including a formal outline and a Work Cited page, will be due typed on or before Wednesday, Nov. 26.

The final draft is due typed on or before Friday, Dec. 19.

10 Bibliography Cards Due

Seniors,

We will meet in the library again on Monday. By the end of class you will need to turn in index cards for 10 sources.

Help is Available for the Senior Project

The Senior Project teachers are excited about your topics and the projects you are planning. In order to give more personalized attention, we will begin tutoring exclusively for the Senior Project. Teachers will be available Mondays (Mr. Rodriguez in his classroom), Wednesdays (Mr. Alpert in his classroom), and Thursdays (Mr. Goldyn and myself in the library) from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. You don't have to be there at 3:15, nor do you have to stay the whole hour. You don't have to be in one of our classes; you can get advice from any of us. Just drop in and ask for help. We can advise you on the following:

Narrowing Your Topic

Focusing Your Topic

Writing Your Letter of Intent

Finding Sources

Coming Up With Project Ideas

MLA Style

Senior Project Topics

Plan on meeting with your advisory teacher, or another teacher you know well, to get advice on your Senior Project topic. You should decide on a topic by Monday, Oct. 6.

Week of Sept. 22

Be prepared on Monday to teach your chapter of Fast Food Nation to the class and to check for student comprehension.

We will then turn our attention to the Senior Project for the rest of the week. I will get a class set of paperback books called Pathfinder that helps with choosing a topic and writing a thesis statement.

See the Senior Project section on the Hollywood High School library website for details.

Week of Sept. 15

We will review the vocabulary for the two articles you read over the weekend. You will answer critical thinking questions involving logos (facts), ethos (author's credibility) and pathos (appeal to emotion). You will read the directions for an in-class essay test and write the essay on Wednesday.

Thursday and Friday will be spent reading chapters from the book Fast Food Nation in groups and planning how you will teach your chapter to the class.

Week of Sept. 8

On Monday, you are turning in your Writing Autobiography (rough draft, partner form, final draft typed). Period 2 gets their books on Monday; Period 1 gets theirs on Tuesday. We will distribute them all on Wednesday. 

Monday: Reading and writing in college. Homework: Read The University of Planet Earth.

Tuesday: Socratic Seminar on The University of Planet Earth.

Wednesday and Thursday: Fast food unit in textbook.

Friday: Essay test on fast food unit. Homework: Read a chapter from Fast Food Nation.

Senior Year is Finally Here

Congratulations, you made it! We will spend the first three days of the new year going over what you can expect from this class and following up on the summer assignment. On Wednesday, you will get into groups and read your letter of introduction to each other, followed by volunteers who will read to the class as a whole. Those who don't read their introductions to the class on Wednesday will do so on Thursday or Friday. In addition to the readings, Thursday and Friday will be spent peer editing your writing autobiography with a partner.  A rough draft, peer editing form and final draft (typed) will be due on Monday, Sept. 8.