Greetings and salutations!

I'm channelling Charlotte's Web . . . We were talking about that in B period on Monday. Has a book ever been written that's better than Charlotte's Web? Remember Templeton the rat (thanks, Caleb)? And how the little girl feeds Wilbur from a bottle when he's just a baby? And the fair? Ah . . . I'm feeling nostalgic. Go back and take a look at that book again. If you haven't read it since you were little, it will probably surprise you.

Anyway, we've had a lot of work due lately and plenty more to come. Reminders for what should have been submitted and what is upcoming:

B period: Dialogue journals were due last Thursday; polished drafts were due Monday, 10/29; 3-5 pages of draft are due on Friday, 11/2; 8 grateful lists are due on 11/15 or 11/16; extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday.

C period: Character sketches are due next class (10/31) - they should be a minimum of three paragraphs; extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday; vocabulary quiz 3 was last Thursday. We will be starting vocabulary lesson 4 on Wednesday, 10/31.

D period: Polished writing and 4-6 pages of draft and extremely difficult projects were due last Thursday; 4-6 pages of draft due Friday, 11/2; dialogue journals due 11/2; 10 grateful lists due 11/15 or 11/16; work on revising polished drafts.

F period: Dialogue journals were due last Friday; polished drafts were due Friday and so were 3 - 5 pages of draft; extremely difficult projects were due last Wednesday; 3-5 more pages of draft are due on Thursday, 11/1; 8 grateful lists are due on 11/15 or 11/16.

H period: Polished writing and 4-6 pages of draft were due last Friday; extremely difficult projects were due last Wednesday; dialogue journals are due this Thursday; 4-6 pages of draft due this Thursday; work on revising polished drafts.

And, of course, vocabulary. Here's the word list:

Vocabulary 7:

1. quintessence - n - the purest form, the most typical example
2. tentative - adj. - hesitant, uncertain
3. repugnant - adj. - disgusting, loathsome
4. venerate - v - to honor or treat with great respect
5. sophomoric - adj. - immature and over-confident
6. stultifying - adj. - causing to appear stupid or useless
7. stark - adj. - desolate, grim, bleak
8. rebuff - v - to reject, to snub
9. voracious - adj. - greedy, ravenous, gluttonous
10. quiescent - adj. - sleeping, dormant, at rest

Honors only:
11. xenophobia - n - fear of foreigners/strangers
12. besmirch - v - to taint or sully or tarnish or dirty
13. imprudent - adj. - not careful
14. penurious - adj. - stingy, parsimonious
15. perfunctory - adj. - superficial, not thorough, just enough to get by

Extra credit: nictitate - v
oenophile - n
slugabed - n
thaumaturge - n
ultimogeniture - n

Phew! I'm tired just writing about all of this work. Look on the bright side, though - November is a pretty short month with Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. And tomorrow's Halloween! Trick or Treat!

Hello, my friends!
Are you all feeling relaxed and well-rested during this week of half-days? Catching up on your napping and socializing and homework and what-have-you? All I can say is: LUCKY YOU! I'm feeling tense and nervous and CRAZY!!!! However, I have been LOVING your parents! You are some lucky kids to have such devoted and kind parents and guardians.

Hopefully you have been using at least SOME of your time to work on upcoming projects/papers/assignments. This week we completed our second three-week projects. I distributed assignment sheets for recording what you did that was EXTREMELY difficult. Those are due on Wednesday (today) or Thursday. Some of them have already trickled in - people have done ALL their math homework, avoided the computer for days on end, scored goals, made amends with angry friends (HEY! Amends rhymes with friends! I'm a poet!), cleaned rooms, handled spiders, etc. You are amazing and brave!

Other items that are due include:

B period: Polished writing, vocabulary sentences, dialogue journal entries - all due Thursday, 10/25
C period: Vocabulary 3 sentences, quiz on Thursday
D period: Drafting, polished writing, vocabulary sentences - due Thursday, 10/25
Dialogue journals due next Friday, 11/2
F period: Polished writing, dialogue journal entries, 3-5 pages of drafting - all due Friday, 10/26
H period: Polished writing, 4-6 pages of drafting, polished writing - due Friday, 10/26
Dialogue journals due next Thursday, 11/1

Remember: Drafting is due EVERY week!
Reading is homework at least THREE nights a week!

Oh, yes - vocabulary for this week. LOVE the vocabulary!

Vocabulary lesson 6 (If you are in C period, look at last week's posting for your words!)

1. heretic - n - someone who goes against a church
2. laudable - adj. - praiseworthy
3. propensity - n - tendency, habit, inclination
4. indefatigable - adj. - tireless
5. fulsome - adj. - abundant, generous in amount and spirit, wholehearted
6. espouse - v - to adopt, support, endorse
7. peruse - v - to study, to read carefully
8. concomitant - adj. - accompanying, happening together
9. mitigate - v - to make less intense, to relieve
10. contravention - n - opposition, something contrary to something else

Honors:
11. dawdle - v - linger, lollygag (What a GREAT word!)
12. doddering - adj. - shaky
13. glutinous - adj. - sticky
14. malediction - n - curse
15. pundit - n - a learned person

Extra credit:
bandog
georgic
shoat
concatenation
redoubtable

All right - enough blog reading! Get out there and do your drafts!

Oh my goodness! I'm trying to do everything before I'm out of school for the day tomorrow . . . So in other words, I'm running around like a crazy woman. What else is new?

This week's vocabulary:

Vocabulary 5:

1. chimerical - adj. - absurd, wildly fanciful, imaginative
2. cogent - adj. - strong and to the point
3. cursory - adj. - quickly and without attention to details
4. derogatory - adj. - degrading, negative, berating
5. discerning - adj. - perceptive, observant
6. dormant - adj. - asleep, in a state of rest
7. embroil - v - to involve or engage (in a quarrel)
8. deft - adj. - skillful, nimble
9. fallacy - n - false idea, mistaken belief
10. galvanize - v - to inspire or motivate or stir up

Honors only:

11. extirpate - v - to tear up by the roots, to destroy totally
12. craven - adj. - cowardly
13. impecunious - adj. - without mooney, poor
14. restive - adj. - unmanageable
15. turbid - adj. - muddy

Extra Credit:
joypop - v
judder - v
entomophagous - adj.
nice-nelly - adj.
tardive - adj.


We should probably talk about what's due in the next little bit. LOTS OF ASSIGNMENTS!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone has a 3-week project due next Monday or Tuesday.
B period - 3-5 pages of draft due this Friday; next set is due next Thursday.
Dialogue journals are due next week on Thursday.
A polished piece of writing with at least two drafts is due at the beginning of next week.
Vocabulary 5 sentences due on Wednesday and quiz is Friday.

D period - 4-6 pages of draft due next Thursday; next set is due the following Friday.
Dialogue journals are due this Friday.
A polished piece of writing with at least two drafts is due at the beginning of next week.
Vocabulary 5 sentences due on Wednesday and quiz is Friday.

F period - 3-5 pages of draft due this Thursday; next set is due next Friday.
Dialogue journals are due next week on Friday.
A polished piece of writing with at least two drafts is due at the beginning of next week.
Vocabulary 5 sentences and quiz are due on Thursday.

H period - 4-6 pages of draft due this Thursday; next set is due next Friday.
Dialogue journals are due on Thursday.
A polished piece of writing with at least two drafts is due at the beginning of next week.
Vocabulary 5 sentences and quiz are due on Thursday.

Have you got all that?

Busy, busy, busy . . .

Howdy, cowpokes!

Exciting news - no vocabulary this week! WHAT? Can you believe it? You'll have to wait until next week to find out what "joypopping" is . . . What with field trips and assemblies and advisories this week, it didn't seem sensible to try to squeeze in vocabulary, too. You can feel free to thank me with flowers or cookies or candy or . . . be creative.

H and F period will get next week's vocabulary words on Friday; I'm going to be out next Tuesday, but I still want you to have the quiz on Thursday next week.

Upcoming due dates:

B period - 3-5pp of draft due on Thursday, 10/11
D period - 4-6pp of draft due on Monday, 10/15
F/H periods - drafting due on Wednesday, 10/10 (F - 3-5pp, H - 4-6pp)

3-week projects are due October 22 or 23

Dialogue journals are due in H and D periods on 10/18 or 10/19; they are due in F and B on 10/25 or 10/26

A writing assignment of any kind with a minimum of two drafts is due some time between 10/12 and 10/19

GET TO WORK!WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST READING THE BLOG! You probably have some writing to do . . .

As always, it's a pleasure blogging to all my peeps at MVRHS . . .

What's new this week? Well, first of all, you should have handed in your three-week projects by now. There were some excellent ones: leg waxing, skinny dipping, shark catching, kayaking, cooking, running, abstaining from the computer, etc. Way to go, superstars! Now you have a new one - do something EXTREMELY difficult. If it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable (in a tolerable way), it's probably not difficult enough. Use your judgment.

We're also starting the writing production regulations this week. Honors classes should have 4-6 pages by next Wednesday or Thursday; C1 classes should have 3-5 pages by next Wednesday or Thursday. These are drafts, rough drafts; they are NOT final copies. Let's think about having a multi-drafted piece ready to submit somewhere around 10/12 - 10/19.

Oh and the dialogue journal letter-essays . . . we've been talking about these this week. Honors classes haven't had full disclosure on those yet, but you will! C1 classes will have the first entries due on Oct. 25 or 26. Honors - let's wait until we go over the details.

I feel like we're starting a lot of new things all at once, and they are all important. I'm worried I might be confusing some of you. Ask questions!!!! Don't feel dumb if you don't get it. I'll explain it as many ways as I can until you understand. Okay? This is too important to let it go.

C period - we haven't talked about the new three-week project yet. We'll do that on Thursday. Make sure you look over your words for your vocabulary quiz 2 this week. I received most of the sentences but not all. Most of the flashcards but not all. Most of the paragraph edits but not all. Are you sensing a theme? On Thursday, we have a quiz and I want to have you finish the penny stories and I want to do some art work . . . That's a lot for one day.

Vocabulary list 4:

1. aversion - n - strong dislike
2. unequivocal - adj. - obvious, very clear
3. alleviate - v - to relieve
4. voluminous - adj - large, enough to fill volumes (Remember the encyclopedia story? So sad. . . )
5. callous - adj. - unfeeling, insensitive
6. tenets - n - beliefs, principles, truths
7. abstinence - n - the giving up of certain pleasures like food, drink, sex, etc.
8. antithesis - n - direct opposite
9. validate - v - to verify or substantiate
10. surreptitiously - adv. - sneakily, slyly

Honors only:

11. fracas - n - fight, brawl, melee
12. munificent - adj. - very generous
13. complacent - adj. - self-satisfied
14. veracious - adj. - truthful
15. mendicant - n - beggar

Extra Credit:

nidicolous - adj.
niddering - n
tatty - adj.
hoyden - n
vaticinate - v

Okay, folks - that's it! Have a lovely week! Read, write, be happy. Long weekend . . . more time for READING!!!