Today, Zach completed an assignment where he had to watch a speech on education paradigms and 'report' back the important points of the speech as he would to a newspaper editor. Next, Zach completed the revision of his Dear President-elect letter assignment. Lastly, we reviewed vocabulary and subordinate clauses.

We started by going over the different types of conjunctions including: coordinating, correlating, subordinate (essential and nonessential), and adverbs. Zach completed an identification exercise and then created his own sentences using these types of conjunctions and his vocabulary list. Next, Zach and I went over how to revise his Dear President-elect letter. Lastly, we discussed in detail the recurring themes in the novel "Malcolm X", and found textual evidence of these themes, as well as discussed his character development over the course of the novel. Lastly, we took a critical look at some of the ideology Malcolm X espoused by viewing an interview he gave and discussing his use of persuasion and the ideologies he clung to.

I reviewed the use of adverbs and prepositions with Zach to begin. We then revised his Dear President-Elect letter in detail. Next, Zach reviewed the two vocabulary sets from Malcolm X. Lastly, we discussed chapters 5-7 in detail and Zach answered analysis questions with literary evidence.

Zach finished his analysis questions from George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant". We discussed the symbols and persuasive appeals that Orwell used in the essay. Next we discussed chapters 5 and 6 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, covering character development and intersecting themes. Next, Zach reviewed President-Elect Trump's first 100 day plan and began a writing assignment called: "What I want the next US President to know." Lastly, Zach reviewed his vocabulary set and did a few matching activities on quizlet.

Zach completed a quick exercise asking him to review his knowledge of adjectives and verbs. Next, we discussed the character development of Malcolm X in chapters 2-4. Next, Zach completed a descriptive writing assignment of a scene from his life. Next, we closely analyzed Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" for syntax, diction, literary technique, purpose, and style. Zach then began to complete the discussion questions.

Zach first started with a grammar exercise requiring him to denote the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Next, he worked on constructing the arch of his personal narrative. He did a number of individual writing prompts that he will later reformulate and piece together into a cohesive personal narrative. We then finished chapter 1 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, stopping to discuss the use of metaphor, symbolism, the narrative arch, and themes being developed. To finish, Zach began his reading reflection on chapter 1.

First, Zach and I went over nouns and pronouns, and Zach completed a grammar worksheet to practice identifying the different kinds of each. Next, Zach and I discussed what literary devices and techniques makes a personal narrative work well. We covered how to explicate a text by describing the syntax, metaphors, and techniques that good writers use to make their writing so effective. We looked at examples of such and then had a discussion about the art of autobiography. I then previewed some higher-level vocabulary that Zach would see in the first few chapters of our reading. Lastly, we started reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X and discussed the effectiveness of the introduction, and the themes that will evolve throughout the book. Lastly, Zach and I discussed how he would go about crafting his own personal narrative. I gave him a few prompts to consider, we discussed them and he took notes on them.

Talpa worked on and completed both her Streetcar Named Desire essay and her Final TED Talk Literature Senior Project today. We spent hours writing, planning, discussing, recording, and submitting these last two projects. I'm proud of her for finishing strong!

Today, Talpa and I worked on her final Streetcar Named Desire essay. I led her through prewriting and planning. She drafted her thesis statement and basic outline.

Today, our last day together, Jared watched scenes from the BBC film version of Shakespeare's "Othello" and compared the director's actor and set choices to those of the original play he finished reading.