Preparation Is The Key 09-04-2012

 A quarterback who doesn't properly prepare for his opponent will undoubtedly be pummeled by the defense.

A businessman who fails to prepare for a presentation to his boss might soon find himself without a job.

A student who does not complete the expected homework will soon find him/herself with a grade that neither the student nor the parents are pleased with.

I'll keep this rebuke short and sweet.  Students should come to class prepared to learn.  Being prepared means coming to class with the work completed at an acceptable level.  One class (I'm talking to you, period six) let me down today.  I was showered with promises that it would not happen again.  I will take them at their word...this time.

All the enriched students should have a couple of paragraphs written in their notebooks for class tomorrow.  This should not be something haphazardly or quickly completed.  You are analyzing a paragraph and explaining the role it plays in conjunction with the rest of the story.  You are meeting Common Core Standard 8.RI.5 by writing these paragraphs.   Be sure to look at the paragraph you select deeply, offer copious examples (by which I mean quotes) from the text, and explain yourself clearly.   We will be spending time tomorrow breaking down and will discuss your analyses.  (For an Archer card signature rewrite the previous sentence using parallel structure.  No, we haven't discussed this yet, but I'm curious to see what you know).

Simple sentences.  Compound sentences.  Complex sentences.  We've now touched on all three and offered examples of the last one today in class.  We learned that a sentence that starts with an introductory clause and which is then attached to an independent clause is a complex sentence.  We know that introductory clauses meet four requirements:
             
                 *they are located at the beginning of the sentence
                 *they contain both a noun and a verb
                 *they are set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma
                 *they are dependent clauses

That's a lot to keep straight.  Here's a little extra help on introductory clauses for you, courtesy of Pittsburg State University.  Check it out.  Take the quiz and let me know how you did.

I want you to get this info down.  I smell an assessment coming soon!

We did a bit with summary in the enriched classes.  Well, honestly, I can only discuss period five.  I was out of the class period one (be ready to show me what you know tomorrow) and period six, well,...anyway.

Finally, we have some reading to complete tonight in the standard classes.  You all need to complete the "Raymond's Run" reading and be text coding, highlighting, annotating, and marking up the text as you read.  Lots to discuss tomorrow.  You'll be explaining your annotations, working with summaries and probably a bit more.

Remember that it's IMC day tomorrow.  Bring your books to return and be thinking about that next one you are going to be checking out.  See you tomorrow.