Two days ago in English we took our quarter 3 final test. It went over The Monkey's paw, and all 6 "signposts" you are supposed to look for while reading. It also went over the elements of a story, such as theme and characterization. It was pretty easy to me, and I'm hoping for a good score!
In English we are reading a short horror story called The Monkey's Paw. It is about the friend of a soldier who is gifted a shriveled monkey's paw. The paw, they say, has the power to grant 3 wishes. The old man wishes for 200 pounds first, which arrives as a small payment from the mill for their sons abrupt death in the machinery. The old man's wife convinces him to use the second wish to bring their son back in the middle of the night, and soon after a knocking begins at the door. The wife rushes downstairs to let what she believes is the son in, and the old man, believing she will let in a monster, quickly makes the last wish, and when the wife opens the door, the street is empty.
We are doing a new unit in English where the students teach the class. Each student teaching group has to plan out their lesson and have it take 90 minutes. This 90 minute lesson is divided into two days of 45 minutes of teaching. We start each class with about 30 minutes of independent reading, then take about 10 minutes to review the "6 Signposts" we are supposed to look for while reading.
We have to write an essay about measuring success in English. Its pretty hard, but she let us plan a lot, so i was ready to write. I wrote a rough draft, then let my friends correct it so i was ready. All I have to do now is do some final corrections, type it up, and submit my essay.
We read an article called Born Worker about a boy named Jose. The article was pretty boring, but it did teach me a few things. It talked about being loyal and kindness to everyone, not just people you like.
In English we are reading many different poems. Some are by Walt Whitman and others are by Langston Hughes. Both are very famous in past American history, because they portray America as a very democratic place where hope was born.
In English, we have been asked to write a journal entry from the point of view of one of the characters from The Outsiders. I picked Johnny as my character, and I wrote an entry about him being beaten by his drunk father one night when he comes home later than his curfew. Having us write from his point of view helps us to understand the struggles in the book.
In this class, we read The Outsiders, a novel by S E Hinton. This book describes the everyday struggle through being bullied by others who are stronger than you. It follows a group of Greasers who fight to stay alive, and find that even through the struggle, life goes on.
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