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Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952

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Paul R. Koch

Zentangle Your Writer's Notebook

VASOL Prompt of the Day

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Based on your experiences, do you agree or disagree with Emerson’s statement? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

Civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Do you agree or disagree with Gandhi’s statement about the importance of helping others as a way of discovering more about yourself? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

Writer's Notebook Page - 12 Stepping Stones

VASOL Prompts of the Day

It has been said that first impressions are almost impossible to change. Based on your experiences, do you agree or disagree with this statement? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Do you agree or disagree with Emerson’s statement about individuality? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

English 9 Pacing Plan - Koch

Purdue OWL: Basic Business Letters

Purdue OWL: Basic Business Letters:

'via Blog this'

Back To School Night Survey - Thanks for Coming Parents

Arena's Poems - block 2

Summer

The hot summer day
The bees buzzing everywhere
Sipping lemonade



Winter

Christmas Eve is here
Sitting by the fireplace
Waiting for the snow



Fall

Watching leaves all day
Green, purple, orange, I see
The nice breeze comes through



Spring
Green leaves sprouting out
Fresh smell of the breezy wind

Nice days with nice air

VASOL Writing Prompt(s) of the Day

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Determine never to be idle . . . It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” Do we accomplish more if we are always doing something, or does inactivity also serve a purpose? Take a position on this question. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.
















 It has been said that a positive attitude is the key to success in life. Do you agree or disagree with this statement about the importance of attitude? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

Driving Questions Semester 1

What does the story say about the storyteller?

How are oral stories different from written stories?

How do we use stories to explain the world around us?

Why do we read this?

Thanks Coach

Coach Tallent shares his reading history and his current book!

THE STRUCTURE OF A LIMERICK

THE STRUCTURE OF A LIMERICK:

"Limericks are short poems of five lines having rhyme structure AABBA. It is officially described as a form of 'anapestic trimeter'.

The 'anapest' is a foot of poetic verse consisting of three syllables, the third longer (or accentuated to a greater degree) than the first two: da-da-DA. The word 'anapest' shows it's own metric: anaPEST.

Lines 1, 2 and 5 of a limerick should ideally consist of three anapests each, concluding with an identical or similar phoneme to create the rhyme.

Lines 3 and 4 are shorter, constructed of two anapests each and again rhyming with each other with the overall rhyme structure of AABBA."


The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I've seen
Hardly ever are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.


'via Blog this'

VASOL Prompt of the Day

The British naturalist and politician John Lubbock wrote, “Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.” Do we choose our own character traits, or is our character formed by influences beyond our control? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and examples.

My Dog Didn't Eat It

My Dog Didn't Eat It

I was given so much time

to finish up these rhymes,

but I waited till the night before,

and now I am screwed for sure.

But it's not really my defect

that I didn't finish this project.

My red and abandoned fish, Fred, died

when my brother threw him outside.

My clothes got wet,

so I got an idea set.

I caused a fire to go by

when I threw them in the microwave to dry.

My hair was a flowing, shiny river streaming

down my shoulders, before I began thunderingly screaming

when it instantly mutated into a massive frizz ball

in the stickiest, most humid morning of all!

In a rainy afternoon, I went out to the patio

to munch on some crispy, green pistachios.

On a spur of a moment, I was blinded when lightening struck!

I would be paralyzed in a coma, if I had not ducked.

Every time I started to work,

I felt my phone staring at me like a jerk.

You ought to believe me!

This project is bad luck…please agree.

I'm working on it at this minute.

Something will surely happen to it.

Wait a second! What is this?

A poem of my excuses to end my crisis!

VASOL Writing Prompt of the Day

Because of safety concerns, many states have increased the age at which teens can begin to drive. Your state legislature is considering raising the minimum driving age from 16 to 18. Do you think the minimum driving age should be raised? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

iRockEnglish: Heroes We Never Name

iRockEnglish: Heroes We Never Name: Heroes We Never Name Back of the men we honor Enrolled on the scroll of fame, Are the millions who go unmentioned - The heroes we...

Heroes We Never Name

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Back of the men we honor Enrolled on the scroll of fame, Are the millions who go unmentioned - The heroes we never name! Those who have won us the victories, And conquered along the way; Those who have made us a nation - A tribute to them I would pay. Back of our nation's first leader, Of Lincoln and Wilson, too, Back of the mind directing our course Was the army that carried it through. Back of the generals and captains Was the tramping of rank and file, And back of them were the ones at home Who labored with tear and with smile. And What of the "everyday" heroes Whose courage and efforts ne'er cease! Toilers who struggle and labor and strive And hope for a future of peace? Hats off to the worthy leaders; Their honor I'd ever acclaim - But here's a cheer for the many brave, The heroes we never name. By M. Lucille Ford

VASOL Writing Prompt of the Day

Many schools require students to participate in volunteer programs in their communities as a requirement for graduation. However, some people feel that requiring students to volunteer defeats the purpose of volunteering. Do you think students should be required to volunteer in their communities to receive their high school diplomas? Take a position on this issue. Support your response with reasons and specific examples.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/online_writing/writing_prompts/eoc_writing_prompts.pdf

First Time Driving a Car - Writer's Notebook Revision #1

First Time Driving a Car - Writer's Notebook Page Quickwrite

First Time Driving a Car

This is my first draft in my notebook about the topic - First Time Driving a Car.

"...the voice of the writer is in the text, don't subvert that at all."

Comment Rubric

VASOL - Writing Prompt of the Day

Some say that the journey is more important than the destination. They argue that people find more joy and satisfaction in working toward a goal than in achieving it. Others say that it is the destination that gives meaning to the journey. They argue that the process of working toward a goal would be meaningless without its achievement. Take a position on this issue. Use reasons and specific examples to support your ideas

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/online_writing/writing_prompts/eoc_writing_prompts.pdf

Friday Bell Schedule

English 9 Syllabus Acknowledgment