Great website for you...

I found this site last week while I was doing some research. Its got great essay writing tips for you to follow. It also takes you step by step through the writing process. Check it out and let me know if it helps you.

Guide to Writing a Basic Essay

ATTENTION SENIORS!

Don't forget that we are using laptops in class Monday and Wednesday. You will need your own disk. Either bring it from home or buy one in the library!

ENGLISH IV--Sonnet Lesson Plans

I have to say that I am glad you all taught the lessons this week and not me. While it didn't give me a break or anything, it was nice to hear your input. I enjoyed seeing the activities and assessments that you came up with.

So here are my questions--what was the hardest part of this assignment? What frustrations did you run into? What would you have liked to do differently? Did you get any great ideas from other groups?

Quote of the Day

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

ENGLISH III--Henry David Thoreau

I went to the wood because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I died, learned that I had not lived.

DISCUS Instructions

All classes are currently using research for projects. DISCUS is a great resource for you to use and some of the information can even be counted as a print source!

To use DISCUS--

• Go the the district website at www.newberry.k12.sc.us.
• Click on DISCUS at the bottom center of the webpage. This will take you to a page entitled "South Carolina's Virtual Library."
• From here you have several choices. There are encyclopedias as well as newspapers and periodicals.
• I RECOMMEND the Gale-Infotrac section. This will take you to a new page with more choices. Click on the "General Reference Center" and type your topic in the box. The information you get back will usually be more than you can use!

Use DISCUS at home or at school with these instructions.

Question of the Day

Inquiring minds want to know---

Favorite children's book and why? (And give me good whys, not some lam-o answer b/c you are too lazy to type!)

I am hard-pressed to pick one. My father raised me on Greek mythology, so I heard different bedtime stories than most little girls. But I have been exposed to a lot of children's literature throughout college and my few years teaching. I am a huge fan of Graeme Base's books. The artwork is amazingly beautiful. I could sit and stare at that for hours. But my all time favorite would have to be The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Silverstein is easy to read and this book has a great message. Definitely an awesomely fabulous book!

"Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexacious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

ENGLISH III--Give me liberty or give me death!

The Statue of Liberty was a sign of freedom for those immigrants entering Ellis Island to come to America. How would you use this in your Breaking Free project? What piece of literature does it represent?

Today's Lesson

So I finished Tuesdays with Morrie last week, but I still want to share from it. It was a great book. I think I'll go back next week and read it again.

Anyway---here is today's lesson from Tuesdays with Morrie...

We must love one another or die. W. H. Aulden

One of Morrie's favorite sayings was "Love each other or perish" taken from Aulden's poem. What different kinds of love are there? The passionate kind is the easiest to see, but how can you love your fellow classmates? What about your teachers? How can we as human beings show love towards one another? What do you think Aulden means by love one another or die?