I asked Olivia if she wanted to conference with me on her GREAT GATSBY paper that she is writing. She said that she didn't want to show me it until it was completed. So we continued reading the novel. We really are working on annotating the text for analysis and understanding. Olivia is doing a nice job. We then began answering the accompanying study guide questions.

Taylor worked on the study guide questions for the novel. She had completed some for homework. We discussed those. Then she finished answering the rest of them independently. She needs to complete them for the next session.

I introduced the novel today. We watched a TED talk called "How Autism Freed Me to Be Myself" by Rosie King a teenage girl with autism. The narrator of the novel is autistic. We discussed some characteristics of autism. We then began reading the novel. I am really trying to stress annotating of the novel to increase understanding and foster analysis. Olivia did a nice job annotating as we read. At the end of class, she began answering the accompanying study guide.

Taylor and I worked on Chapters 4-6 cumulative review in the vocabulary book. The words are difficult and definitely vocabulary needed for advanced (college) study. Taylor does quite well using the difficult vocabulary. We then read from the novel. We are trying to annotate important words, phrases, and situations in the book to help with our analysis. We also stop periodically to discuss point of view and author's purpose.

Olivia and I continued finding the best textual evidence to support her thesis. She began writing her paper. We stopped periodically, and I conferenced with her on the paper. She will finish drafting her paper for next week.

Taylor and I continued our study of the novel. We briefly discussed the study guide questions that she had answered for homework. Then we continued reading and annotating the text for understanding. Taylor will continue to answer the accompanying study guide questions for homework.

Olivia and I worked on her comparative analysis. We wrote the thesis together. Then we created the Work's Cited page using MLA format. We also discussed how she would properly write her in-text citations. Olivia then searched for the best textual evidence for her paper. Olivia has one more day to work on her paper and conference with me on her writing. The rest of the paper will be completed as homework.

Taylor and I were to continue our study of the novel.

I discussed with Olivia the rubric that I will use to grade her essay. I also discussed components of a good literary analysis--what it is and what it isn't--with her. I provided handouts on the rubric and the components. We also proceeded to write an outline and discuss what textual evidence would be appropriate for her paper.

Taylor and I continued with our study of the novel. We first discussed the study guide questions that she had completed for homework. Then we continued reading the novel. I am really trying to stress and model annotating the text for understanding because it is such an important college readiness skill.