Hello, you crazy cats! This just might be our last blog entry for the year . . . I might post once more just to make sure you are all clear about exam procedures.

Reminders: This week, you have drafting and vocabulary due, same as always. We're on lesson 30 - our final lesson. All dialogue journals and writing pieces and three-week projects should have been turned in by now. Your homework is to be preparing your writing for the final exam and studying vocabulary.

C period - if you didn't complete your how-to writing, it needs to be finished AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Please make arrangements to work on it with me or in your resource room or in your learning center. You will be getting final exam materials today (Wednesday, 6/4) and a new vocabulary list (14). I will post the list later this week.

Vocabulary Lesson 30:

relegate - v - to assign (to a less important position)
retract - v - to take back, to draw back in
paroxysm - n - a sudden outburst or attack
squalid - adj. - dirty, wretched; morally repulsive
stopgap - n - a temporary measure
tawdry - adj. - gaudy and cheap
turbulence - n - violent motion, disorder
urbane - adj. - suave, sophisticated
virtuoso - n - one with great skill or technique
disquiet - v - to cause anxiety or worry

Honors only:
castigate - v - to criticize harshly
insensate - adj. - lacking sensation or feeling
vainglorious - adj. - boastful, overly proud
apposite - adj. - suitable, right for the occasion
gambol - v - to leap about and frolic

Hi, Gang!
Yay! No MCAS this week! We can go on with English as usual . . . no pesky Scattergories or fictionary or Taboo to interrupt our vocabulary lessons and drafting and dialogue journals and writing pieces. Phew!

Do you realize that we only have TWO full weeks of regular school left? I can't believe it!!! You're going to miss me . . . and drafting . . . and vocabulary . . . and dialogue journals . . . aren't you?

Lots of stuff coming up due.

Exam handouts are going out this week in periods B, D, F, and H. C period - you'll get yours next week. The handouts will tell you what our exam is going to look like and what you should study and how to prepare. In all classes, the final will be similar in format to the midterm except there will not be a random MCAS writing prompt. More about exams next week.

Three-week projects (do something differently) are due in all classes on 5/28 or 5/29. Be ready to write about your experience.

B, D, F, H - EVERYONE has drafting, dialogue journals (last time!), vocabulary sentences, and vocabulary quizzes due on Thursday/Friday this week. (5/29 or 5/30)

D & H - You were supposed to have a polished piece due this week. If you have it, FANTABULOUS! If not, I've moved the due date to next Tuesday ( 6/3) or Wednesday (6/4). Those are MCAS days, so do it in advance if you are worried about being tired or stressed.

Vocabulary - we have this week and next week left for vocabulary. For C period, you will have a quiz on list 13 next Monday (6/2), and you will get list 14 on Wednesday (6/4). All other classes, you have lesson 29 due this week, and we'll do list 30 next week.

Vocabulary 29:

apoplectic - adj. - extremely angry
vespertine - adj. - occurring in the evening
deterge - v- to wipe or wash away
cosmopolitan - adj. - sophisticated, worldly
jactation - n - boasting or bragging
elucidate - v - to make clear by explanation
tintinnabulation - n - the ringing of bells
odious - adj. - arousing strong dislike
bedaub - v - to soil or smear
bravado - n - defiant or swaggering behavior; cockiness

Honors:
legerdemain - n - trickery, slight of hand
sepulchral - adj. - suggestive of a grave
lilliputian - adj. - extremely small
vehemence - n - ardor, fervor
umbral - adj. - dark, in shadows

Extra credit:
deus ex machina -n
verisimilitude - n
tourbillion - n
otiose - adj.


Vocabulary 13 - C period -
bellicose - adj. - war-like, quarrelsome
abjure - v - to shun
ingratiate - v - to get on someone's good side
judicious - adj. - wise, careful, showing good judgement
levity - n - lightness, lack of seriousness
corrosive - adj. - acid-like, eating away
pariah - n - outcast
stentorian - adj. - extremely loud
obviate - v - to prevent
retrogress - v - to move backward, to return to an earlier condition

That about does it for this week. Later, gators.

Hello, folks! Look at me blogging EARLY! Who's the best English teacher EVER???

Okay, vocabulary for C period is the same this week as last week - you guys have a quiz this Friday!

Everybody else, your new list:

Vocabulary 28

1. iconoclast - n - a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions
2. incisive - adj. - keen, penetrating, cutting, sharp
3. insurgent - adj./n - someone who rises in revolt; revolt-ing, rebellious
4. laconic - adj. - brief or terse
5. marred - adj. - damaged
6. obsolete - adj. - outdated
7. peerless - adj. - having no equal, better than the rest
8. sally - n - a sudden rushing forth to attack; a quick witticism
9. prodigious - adj. - enormous, extraordinary
10. quixotic - adj. - idealistic and impractical

Honors only:
11. snivel - v - to cry and sniffle and whine and complain
12. imperious - adj. - overbearing, arrogant
13. rhapsodize - v - to gush, to speak enthusiastically
14. truculent - adj. - ready to fight
15. bedizen - v - to dress or decorate in a gaudy or tasteless way

Extra credit:

blatherskite, n
katzenjammer, n
colporteur, n
zarf, n


Due dates:

B pd. : sentences 5/14; quiz, drafting 5/16; polished piece 5/20
C pd. : quiz 5/16
D pd. : sentences, 5/14; quiz, drafting, dialogue journal 5/16
F pd. : sentences, drafting, quiz 5/15; polished piece 5/19
H pd. : sentences, drafting, quiz, dialogue journal 5/15

Hmmmm.... Ms. Wallace is posting on a WEEKEND. I wonder why? She must have run out of books to read!

Not a chance! I have plenty of books. I'm almost done with Killing Britney. Disturbing but fascinating.

I just wanted to thank all of you for the best birthday ever! Wow - I think this was the best birthday I've had since I was a little kid. There were delicious treats and presents and well wishers and kind and thoughtful people. You guys are GREAT! I love birthdays!

I also wanted to do a quick update for D period and the ice cream parlor writing. . . Remember, you are writing a dialogue - ALL dialogue - between the soda jerk and the guy who skipped his weight watchers meeting to get an ice cream and feels super guilty. You will reveal their individual characters through their dialogue ONLY. You only need to spend about 10 minutes on this one - it's not a polished piece! It's FUN!

Sorry to be posting so late - I KNOW! How could you POSSIBLY do your homework without the blog!?!?!?! I've been having some computer issues, okay? And my birthday is this week, so give me a break!!! And a present wouldn't kill you. . .

Okay. What's due? Hey - that sounds like "what's new" but replace the "new" with "due"! Cool!

B period: Make-up work was due Tuesday, 5/6; drafting and sentences and quiz and dialogue journals are due on 5/8 (MY BIRTHDAY); I think that's it.

C period: Writing pieces were due last week. Vocabulary definitions were done in class on Tuesday, 5/6.

D period: Make-up work was due Tuesday, 5/6; polished writing was due 5/6 also; drafting and sentence and quiz are due on 5/8 (Did I mention that's MY BIRTHDAY?).

F period: Drafting, quizzes, and dialogue journals are due on Friday, 5/9.

H period: Drafting and quizzes are due on Friday, 5/9. Polished writing was due on Monday, 5/5.

For C period students, your vocabulary is:
1. circumspect - adj. - cautious, careful
2. histrionic - adj. - overly dramatic
3. debilitate - v - to weaken
4. gesticulate - v - to make gestures when speaking
5. dismantle - v - to take apart
6. bucolic - adj. - rural, from the country
7. enervate - v - to weaken
8. evanescent - adj. - short-lived
9. didactic - adj. - instructive, meant to teach
10. garner - v - to collect

Everyone else, your vocabulary is:
1. coalesce- v - to combine or merge
2. corroborate - v- to confirm or verify
3. delineate - v - to describe in words or outline
4. diatribe - n - a bitter verbal attack
5. disposition - n - personality; tendency
6. egregious - adj. - extraordinarily bad
7. ephemeral - adj. - short-lived
8. expedite - v - to speed up
9. forlorn - adj. - neglected and sad
10. gullible - adj. - easily deceived

Honors:
11. raspy - adj. - harsh, grating
12. rancor - n - bitterness, hatred
13. ignominious - adj. - disgraceful
14. goad - v - to urge on
15. gamely - adv. - bravely, with spirit

Extra Credit:
brumal - adj.
quincunx - n
macaronic - adj.
opprobrium - n
prosody - n

Hello, my happy back-from-vacation friends! Long time no blog . . . I know. I slacked on the week before vacation. You missed me, didn't you? Many of you came in so annoyed - "Ms. Wallace, the words weren't on the blog!" "Ms. Wallace, how could I do the homework without the blog?" "Ms. Wallace, do you think you could update the blog sometime this month?!?!?!?!" Wow - I didn't know you cared! So here's this week's entry - and it's a day early so stop your caterwauling!

So much due, so little time. . .

B period: 4/30 - sentences, 3 week project, polished writing piece; 5/2 - drafting, quiz; 5/8 (my BIRTHDAY) - sentences, quiz, drafting, dialogue journals.

D period: 4/30 - sentences, 3 week project; 5/2 - drafting, quiz, dialogue journals; 5/6 - polished writing; 5/8 (my BIRTHDAY) - sentences, quiz, drafting.

F period: 4/29 - polished writing piece; 5/1 - sentences, 3 week project, drafting, quiz; 5/9 - drafting, quiz, dialogue journals.

H period: 5/1 - sentences, 3 week project, dialogue journals, drafting, quiz; 5/5 - polished writing; 5/9 - quiz, drafting.

Phew - that's a LOT of grading.

Vocabulary 26 -

1. tangential - adj. - touching on a subject, digressing
2. trepidation - n - fear, apprehension
3. untenable - adj. - can't be defended, can't be maintained
4. vindictive - adj. - revengeful, unforgiving
5. folderol - n - foolishness, nonsense
6. aesthetic - adj. - artistic, showing appreciation of beauty
7. analogous - adj. - comparable, similar
8. dodger - n - a dishonest person
9. buffoon - n - a clown, a fool
10. caustic - adj. - mean, stinging

Honors only:
11. virulent - adj. - extremely poisonous
12. wary - adj. - very cautious
13. protract - v - to prolong
14. puerile - adj. - childish
15. maelstrom - n - whirlpool

Extra credit: sibyl - n, elcubrate - v, tunesmith - n , tumefaction - n, graminivorous - adj.

Hooray! It's blogging time again! In case you weren't aware, today is exactly one month until my birthday. . . May 8 is coming soon. Save up your money, think about what I'd like, buy it, and wrap it up. I LOOOOOVE festive wrapping. If you're having trouble deciding on a gift, remember that books are ALWAYS a good choice.

Back to school business.

Last week, you were all assigned to write at least three wildly improbable goals. Remember that these goals should seem nearly impossible to achieve, and they should be goals that you would really LOVE to achieve. You should have these goals written down by THIS FRIDAY, April 11. Then you can watch and observe and wait and see what happens as you become more conscious of ways to accomplish your goals.

Coming assignments:

B period: Vocabulary sentences 4/9, drafting 4/11, dialogue journals 4/11, polished writing 4/29 or 4/30.
C period: Wildly Improbable Goals 4/11, Vocabulary 11 Quiz 4/11.
D period: Vocabulary sentences 4/9, drafting 4/11, dialogue journals 4/11, polished writing 4/15.
F period: Vocabulary sentences 4/10, drafting 4/10, dialogue journals 4/10, polished writing 4/29 or 4/30.
H period: Vocabulary sentences 4/10, drafting 4/10, dialogue journals 4/10, polished writing 4/14.

Vocabulary 24:

1. effervescent - adj. - bubbly; full of energy
2. agog - adj. - highly excited and eager
3. contraband - n - illegal goods
4. porcine - adj. - resembling a pig
5. ebullition - n - a sudden, violent outburst
6. verslibrist - n - a writer of free verse
7. incipient - adj. - beginning
8. insipid - adj. - dull, bland, boring
9. nebbish - n - a pushover, a timid and ineffectual person
10. rapscallion - n - a rascal, a troublemaker

Honors only:

11. prodigious - adj. - enormous in size or quantity
12. unfledged - adj. - not fully developed, inexperienced
13. warren - n - a place where rabbits live; a crowded tenement
14. benighted - adj. - being in a state of intellectual darkness, ignorant
15. tyro - n - a beginner or novice

Extra credit:

versicle - n
peckniffian - adj.
swank - adj.
floccinaucinihilipilification - n
slugabed - n