2014-2015
First 9 Weeks
Aug. 25-Oct. 24
Monday
Tuesday
Block
Friday
8/25
Opening day activities and
procedures, letters to
parents Standards of
Composition (MLA
guidelines), Literary terms.
8/26
Introduce archetypes and
identify some in “The
Hobbit” excerpt p. 424.
8/27/28
Read “Most Dangerous
Game” and analyze using
DIDLS.
8/29
Write 3 embedded quotes
for Rainsford and Zaroff
(each) analyzing a literary
device from DIDLS.
Introduce DIDLS.
HW: finish MDG DIDLS
notes on the short story.
Reminder: summer read A
Long Way Goneview online interview of
author Ishmael Beah.
9/1
Labor Day Holiday
Identify genre, fiction,
characterization in “Most
Dangerous Game” short
story p. 60.
9/2
Literary terms quiz.
Read “Scarlet Ibis” aloud
and analyze
characterization, mood,
symbol, and themes.
HW: Student writing
portfolio assignment due
Friday.
9/8
Assign god/goddess
research assignment.
Library Orientation and
Research.
HW: Make connections
and determine author’s
purpose in “Lost Boys” p.
592 and A Long Way Gone.
Answer questions 1-7 on p
598.
HW: Bring your username
(ID #) and password.
9/3/4
TW: Analyze
characterization in a
selected short story.
Identify archetypes found in
MDG.
9/5
Trojan War- Read and take
Cornell notes; quiz Friday.
Student portfolio due.
The Odyssey; Introduce
myth vocab and
characteristics of myth.
HW: Read M & Y p. 17-38
and create a Greek family
tree.
HW: Read M & Y p. 1-4, 58, 9-12 and create a T-chart
tracking matriarchal and
patriarchal characteristics.
9/9
In library: Research
assigned god/goddess. Find
three sufficient articles.
9/10/11
Grammar warm-up: Using
appositives in Greek
epithets
Introduce quotation,
summary, paraphrase
w/embedded quotations +
documentation
In library: Continue work on
QPS assignment.
HW: M & Y p. 41- 54- read
and draw conclusions
about themes and
characters’ motivations
9/12
Trojan War Quiz.
Assign god/goddess
Facebook project.
HW: Bring Group 4
vocabulary words.
9/15
Review Group 4 words and
definitions.
Research articles and QPS
notes due.
Background to Homer and
The Odyssey.
Define epithet, epic, and
epic poem.
Read “A Goddess
Intervenes” and identify
epithets, archetypes and
DIDLS using Cornell notes.
9/22
Read “Circe” p. 1224. Make
note of main ideas.
HW: Read “The Land of the
Dead” p. 1226 and write a
dialectic journal over
imagery. What images are
used and what effect do
they have on the selection?
9/16
Grammar warm-up: comma
rules and sentence
combining.
Read “Calypso” and identify
foreshadowing, point of
view, DIDLS.
Interpret figurative
language in Odyssey Book 1.
Define hamartia and tragic
flaw.
9/17/18
TW: Discuss a modern
example of a tragic flaw and
how the example compares
to those in Greek
mythology.
Explain characters’ epithets;
read and identify
archetypes and motifs in
“New Coasts,” annotate
examples of figurative
language; identify DIDLS.
God/goddess visual
Facebook project due.
HW-M & Y p. 50-70; create
T-chart comparing/
contrasting
Hermes/Hephaestus.
HW: Research (and bring to
class) an example of a
modern-day tragic flaw.
9/23
Share dialectic journal
responses in groups
Read “Ulysses” poem and
TPDASTT analysis.
9/24/25
TW: Discuss the women in
The Odyssey, the role they
play, and how they
represent the women of
Ancient Greece.
9/26
Read “Test of the Bow” p.
1250 and summarize.
Odyssey quiz.
Introduce levels of Qs.
HW: Read “Sirens, Scylla
and Charybdis” (p. 1230)
and answer questions 6-11
on pp. 1238 and 1239 and
vocab strategies.
Read “Father and Son” p
1242 and “Beggar at the
Manor” p. 1248 and analyze
plot structure & irony.
9/29
Review Group 20 words and
definitions.
9/30
Grammar warm-up:
active/passive verbs
10/1/2
Socratic Seminar: The
Odyssey
Read “Death at the Palace”
and watch video clip;
discuss plot and author’s
purpose.
Read “Trunk of the Olive
Tree” p. 1262. Analyze using
DIDLS and discuss with a
partner.
Interpret figurative
language in Odyssey Book 2.
HW: Prepare for Socratic
Seminar with level 2 and 3
questions for block day.
Read “Shame” p. 279
(Models For Writers) and
analyze setting, thesis, plot
structure, word choice, and
tone using SOAPSTONE
strategy.
Analyze imagery in clips
from Test of the Great Bow.
9/19
A Long Way Gone test
HW: Begin writing level 2
and 3 questions for Socratic
Seminar.
HW: Bring Group 20
vocabulary words.
10/3
Odyssey Review Activities
HW: M &Y Read “Perseus”
p. 198 and evaluate him as
an epic hero by filling out
the comparison chart.
10/6
The Odyssey test
HW: M & Y p. 213 -218
“Heracles: Introduction,
Myth, Youth” and
complete Greek heroes
characteristics chart.
10/13
Student Holiday
10/7
Heracles Jigsaw Reading
12 Labors Visual Summary
and Gallery Walk
10/8/9
Sorry, Right NumberStephen King (Holt) p. 156 –
read using dramatic
conventions. Answer
questions 1-9.
“Creator of CD Packaging
Goes to Hell.”
Jigsaw Screenplay writing
activity
HW: Bring Group 29
vocabulary words.
10/15/16
(PSAT)
10/17
“Motorcycle Helmet Bill”
article p. 655- identify
logos, pathos, ethos.
Answer close read
questions # 1-5
10/14
Review Group 29
vocabulary words.
Ratiocination: TW and
Turnitin.com
Read “Cat Bill Veto” and
analyze using SOAPSTONE.
10/10
Steve Martin satire
Vocab quiz 4 and 20
10/20
Anticipation Guide for
Romeo and Juliet.
Discuss feuding families
(Hatfields and McCoys) and
teenage suicide
trends/prevention.
10/21
Grammar warm-up:
Identifying appositive,
participial, prepositional
phrases p. R60-61.
Introduction to
Shakespeare power pointnote taking
10/22/23
Introduction to Elizabethan
Age and Globe Theater
power points- note taking
Video clip: Plague
Vocabulary test: Units 4,
20, 29
HW: Begin reviewing
vocabulary units 4, 20, and
29 for test.
10/24
End of 9 weeks
Define drama terms.
Read Romeo and Juliet
Prologue.
Analyze iambic pentameter
in prologue (video).
Essential Questions:
1. How does a writer compose an engaging story?
2. How do authors develop complex yet believable characters in works of fiction?
3. How does mythic, classical and traditional literature influence 20th and 21st century literature?
4. How do I relate an author’s use of figurative language to its historical and cultural setting?
5. How do literary elements affect the meaning of a text?
6. How do writers convey internal and external conflict in a narrative?
7. How do writers from different genres use literary elements to create an engaging story?
8. How do I find appropriate textual evidence?
9. How is a work of fiction shaped by an author’s point of view?