VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, AND JOURNAL PLANS: 10th Grade Literature
This sheet is extremely important for your success in my class! Each week we will be doing the
fundamentals: vocabulary, grammar, and writing. This will keep you informed and prepared
for class! Everyday we will write a journal. Throughout the week we will go through different
grammatical concepts and introduce/ review assigned vocabulary.
o Ultimately, at the end of each week you will
o Take a quiz that combines the grammar and vocabulary for the week
o Hand in all journals (five total per week)
o Most classes will begin with 15 minutes of writing.
o If you are absent, your writing becomes homework and journals are still due.
o Since speed is more important than accuracy for this daily writing, spelling and grammar
will not be marked on every journal. You will be graded based upon writing skills, your
ability to answer the question, and length.
o Every Friday during writing time, you will choose a journal from the week to polish and
perfect. This writing will be marked for creativity, organization, style, and mechanical
correctness. Some instances you will submit these via computer after having proofread,
corrected, etc. with fellow classmates
8/6-10~WEEK ONE VOCABULARY WORDS: Fiction, plot, characterization, conflict, point of view,
theme, vigilance, hindrance, allusion
WEEK ONE GRAMMAR: Creating quick outlines for organization and How to proofread effectively
WEEK ONE JOURNALS: DESCRIPTION
1. Describe your bedroom or your favorite room.
2. Your favorite place.
3. A teacher, relative or friend you will never forget.
4. Your favorite pet or type of animal(s).
5. A description of your choice.
8/13-17~WEEK TWO VOCABULARY WORDS: Desolation, furtive, implore, sensible, witty, motivation,
entourage, entice, sentimental, infatuated
WEEK TWO GRAMMAR: Sentence Types (all four: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex)
WEEK TWO JOURNALS: PROCESS
1. How to stay in bed as late as possible but still get to school on time.
2. How to make the best TV snack (or a meal).
3. How to get along with ___________.
4. How to make ____________
5. How to pick the best place to eat.
8/20-24~WEEK THREE VOCABULARY WORDS: venomous, minstrel, imperceptible, inclined, condemn,
ravenous, fathom, cacophony, feign, censor
WEEK THREE GRAMMAR: Sentence fragments and run-ons
WEEK THREE JOURNALS: COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
1. The person you are and the person you would like to be.
2. Two different types of music or groups.
3. You and a friend.
4. Two fast foods places.
5. Two sports or two seasons.
6. Your choice of two things to compare.
8/27-31~WEEK FOUR VOCABULARY WORDS: teeming, retaliation, intuitive, profusion, mediocre,
skepticism, invigorate, discourse, complement, compliment
WEEK FOUR GRAMMAR: Comma Usage and Subject/Verb agreement
WEEK FOUR JOURNALS: CLASSIFYING
1. Movies -- good ones and bad ones.
2. Different groups in your school or community.
3. Different types of TV commercials.
4. The different types of _________ (shoes, skiis etc.)
5. Your choice.
9/4-7~ NO SCHOOL MONDAY, ONLY 4 JOURNALS DUE THIS WEEK!
WEEK FIVE VOCABULARY WORDS: excursion, objectively, subjectively, gingerly, converge,
simultaneous, incriminate, resolve, convoluted, scythe, incessantly
WEEK FIVE GRAMMAR: Continue commas and subject/ verb agreement
WEEK FIVE JOURNALS: ARGUMENT (FOR AND AGAINST) Present both sides.
1. A school rule.
2. Capital punishment
3. Heavy metal music.
4. Abortion
5. Speed limits on highways.
6. Minimum wage.
7. Your choice.
9/10-14~WEEK SIX VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK SIX GRAMMAR: Capitalization and punctuation (commas, semi-colons, hyphens, brackets, etc.)
WEEK SIX JOURNALS: DEFINITION -- Always give examples
1. School is .........
2. Friendship is ..........
3. The most serious problems in society
4. A good movie is........
5. The best holiday is......
6. Your choice.
9/17-21~ WEEK SEVEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK SEVEN GRAMMAR: Capitalization and punctuation continued
WEEK SEVEN JOURNALS: RANDOM
1. Describe your ideal significant other
2. The place you want to live
3. The dumbest thing you’ve ever seen/ done
4. Your favorite pet or type of animal(s).
5. Your favorite food or meal.
9/24-28~WEEK EIGHT VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK EIGHT GRAMMAR: Quotes, underlines, italics?
WEEK EIGHT JOURNALS: RANDOM
1. Describe a beautiful or terrible scene
2. The person you most admire
3. Your ideal school
4. A vivid dream you remember
5. Craziest Walmart moment(s)
10/1-10/4~ NO SCHOOL FRIDAY, ONLY 4 JOURNALS DUE THIS WEEK!
WEEK NINE VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK NINE GRAMMAR: Homonym workshop
WEEK NINE JOURNALS: EMOTIONAL WRITING
1. Describe an uplifting experience
2. What makes you sad
3. What brings you joy
4. How do emotions play a role in your life
5. Who do you most emotionally connect with and why
10/9-12~ NO SCHOOL MONDAY, ONLY 4 JOURNALS DUE THIS WEEK!
WEEK TEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK TEN GRAMMAR: Using a thesaurus
WEEK TEN JOURNALS: PERSPECTIVE WRITING
1. From the perspective of a family member
2. From the perspective of a friend
3. From the perspective of an inanimate object
4. From the perspective of a family pet or vehicle
10/15-19~ WEEK ELEVEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK ELEVEN GRAMMAR: Parallelism and parallel structures
WEEK ELEVEN JOURNALS: DETAIL ORIENTED WRITING
1. Classroom
2. The five senses
3. The great outdoors
4. The cafeteria
5. Grocery store/ mall
6. Concert or event
10/22-26~WEEK TWELVE
THE WEEK OF MIDTERM!
10/29-11/2~ WEEK THIRTEEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK THIRTEEN GRAMMAR: Using all the grammar in writing recap
WEEK THIRTEEN JOURNALS: CAUSE AND EFFECT WRITING
1. If I come to school…
2. If I ate chocolate all day long
3. If I --4. If I --5. If they, we (you choose) --11/5-9~ WEEK FOURTEEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK FOURTEEN GRAMMAR: Making sentence corrections, etc.
WEEK FOURTEEN JOURNALS: ANALYSIS WRITING
1. Analyze a weird dream
2. Analyze the meaning of colors
3. Analyze facial expression
4. Analyze hair cuts
5. Analyze free choice
11/12-16~ WEEK FIFTEEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK FIFTEEN GRAMMAR: Making paragraph corrections, etc.
WEEK FIFTEEN JOURNALS: EN MEDIAS RES WRITING
1. Funny
2. Informative
3. Emotional
4. Creative
5. Free choice
11/19-23~ WEEK SIXTEEN
GIVE THANKS FOR YOUR TURKEY! ENJOY YOUR WEEK OFF!
11/26-30~ WEEK SEVENTEEN VOCABULARY WORDS: TBA
WEEK SEVENTEEN GRAMMAR: Making paper corrections, etc.
WEEK SEVENTEEN JOURNALS: FREEDOM
1-4. Free choice, please know that I am a mandated reporter and if anything contains
confessions to illegal activities or throws a red flag, your journals will be turned into the office.
12/3-7~ WEEK SEVENTEEN VOCABULARY WORDS:
WEEK SEVENTEEN GRAMMAR: Making paper corrections, etc.
WEEK SEVENTEEN JOURNALS: FREEDOM
1-4. Free choice, please know that I am a mandated reporter and if anything contains
confessions to illegal activities or throws a red flag, your journals will be turned into the office.
WEEK 18- 19 ARE SPENT COMPLETING OUR READING OF ‘TAMING OF THE SHREW.’ THIS READING COMES WITH INTENSIVE WRITING
INSTRUCTION AND DAYS FILLED WITH READING. THEREFORE, NO JOURNALS WILL TAKE PLACE DURING THESE LAST TWO WEEKS OF
SCHOOL.
DECEMBER 19~ LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS, JANUARY 7~ RETURN FROM HOLIDAY