STAR reading test login

https://hosted201.renlearn.com/171543/default.aspx

FYI - Blood Drive on Oct. 17

Juniors: Interact is sponsoring a blood drive on Oct. 17.

http://www.bethegivingtype.org/

Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Orchestra

The first two clips are form 1957 - just about the time Toby would have been watching Lawrence Welk with Dwight.








Here's Lawrence from a few years later...





And here's a skit from Saturday Night Live lampooning Lawrence...

Group Work Criteria

THIS POST IS FOR JUNIORS ONLY.

From this point forward, you will receive a participation grade (5 points) for each day we work on our literary study guides, so work hard and stay focused. The criteria for your participation is as follows:

GROUP WORK CRITERIA

1. Is your group sitting in a tight circle? 
2. Is your book on your desk? 
3. Is everyone working on the same question? 
4. Do you re-read parts of the book aloud before answering questions? 
5. Do you discuss and defend possible alternative answers before answering? 
6. Are you on task?
7. Are you using unsanctioned technology? 
8. Are your responses thoughtful and thorough? 
9. Are you properly citing your quotations?

Dream a Little Dream...

This post is for FRESHMEN only.

A Raisin in the Sun is about a family of dreamers.  It is an exploration of where those dreams have brought them and where those dreams are likely to lead them.  The play also challenges the popular view that dreams are always helpful, that people need to have dreams to be happy.  Your task in this essay is to answer the following question:

Can dreams ever be harmful to dreamers?

Your thesis statement should look something close to one of these models:

• While most people believe that dreams usually help individuals by/because __________, dreams can actually harm dreamers by/because ____________.
• While most people believe that dreams usually harm individuals by/because __________, dreams can actually help dreamers by/because ____________.

For each of these, you should use one body paragraph to support the first aspect of your thesis statement, and you should use two body paragraphs to support the second aspect of your thesis statement.

Remember the two tools you have at your disposal:

• The Wonderful World of the Five Paragraph Essay contains all of the details relating to the content of your essay.
• The Road to Formal Essay Editing contains all of the details relating to the mechanics and formatting of your essay.

If you have any questions throughout the writing process, ask your teacher.

This Week's One Page Essay Deal...

This post is for JUNIORS only.

In a one page essay, answer the following question:

Should readers feel compassion (pity, empathy, concern) or contempt (dislike, disapproval, scorn, disrespect) for Toby?


Follow one of these two formats when crafting your response:

While some readers might feel compassion for Toby because ___________, readers should actually feel contempt for him because __________.

While some readers might feel contempt  or Toby because ___________, readers should actually feel compassion for him because __________.


Be sure to use your rubric to guide your drafting and editing decisions.

Tobias Wolff on Cather in the Rye

What's Opera Doc

The Golden Days of Annette Funicello

The post is for JUNIORS.

Toby has a crush on Annette Funicello. Who was she? Toby would have known her from the original Mickey Mouse Club. Feast your eyes...








Annette later went on to make a series of 'beach movies', such as Beach Blanket Bingo.