Welcome!
Welcome to our English 9 page. Here you’ll find some of the resources needed to navigate the wondrous waters of our English class. We’ll dig deep into the literary landscape and our own writing as we explore how stories from the past may resonate in our modern lives.
The timing couldn’t be better as you enjoy this exciting moment in your lives, the beginning your high school career, and consider who you’ve been and who you wish to become.
I’m eager to join this journey with you.
Course Materials
Just click on the links below to find helpful resources.
NOTE: Daily assignments & updates will be served up using our Google Classroom Stream page, so you’ll probably begin there and sometimes end up back here.
INTRO STUFF
- Love Letter to My Students
- Intro Letter English 9
- Syllabus English 9
- Mercy Core Values
- Who Have You Been
- Excel Grade Tracker (Be in control of your own destiny & know where you stand!)
GENERAL ENGLISH CLASS STUFF
- History of English in 10 Minutes (Video)
- Your Journal Journey
- Journal Free Writing Ideas 1
- Journal Free Writing Ideas 2
- How to Mark a Book by Mortimer Adler 1940 (Edited)
- Interacting with a Text
- Dialectical Journal Sample and Rubric
- Dialectical Journal – Another Good Resource
- Participation/Discussions: “Seminar” by Michael Kahn (See p. 3 for “types” of seminars, but feel free to read in its entirety)
- Most Interesting Character Ever
GRAMMAR GRIND & WRITING RESOURCES
- Austin’s Butterfly (The power of revisions)
- Your Proofreading Partner
- ONLINE GREEK-LATIN ROOTS PRACTICE!!
- GREEK/LATIN ROOTS – English 9
- An EXHAUSTIVE LIST of Common Usage Errors from Prof. Brians at Washington State U.)
- Your “DAILY DOSE” of Usage Errors compliments of Writer’s Inc & Write for College
- Daily Dose Recording Sheet
- Commonly Confused Words Review
- 25 Misused Words
- Battle of the Commonly Misspelled & Misused Words
- Another Quick & Decent List of Common Errors
- Using the Right Word – List & Exercises 1
- Using the Right Word – List & Exercises 2
- Common Words That Sound Alike
- Affect vs. Effect: The Real Story
- Purdue Online Writing Lab – Lots to Choose From
- I Agree! Pronouns Must Agree!
- Grammar Choices are Moral Choices?
- Grammar Grind Bonus
- Sandwich Model Intro
- Sandwich Model Within Paragraph
- Fine Art of Snippet
- GREAT Resource for Integrating Quotes Fluidly!!
- Integrating Quotes With Signal Phrases
- Quote Sandwiches
- 4-Cs Essay Reminders Review
SOME SUPER SENTENCE STRUCTURE STUFF
- Sentence Variety Worksheet
- Kinds of Sentences
- Sentence Building Blocks – Phrases & Clauses
- Phrases Clauses Practice Page
- Sentence Structure 4 Types
- Compound and Complex Sentences Help Sheet
- Coordinating and Correlative Conjunctions
- Comma Use with Correlative Conjunctions
- Subordinating Conjunctions and Transitions
- Sentence Types Practice Page
- Fix It Fast Fix It Right – Run ons & Fragments
…and here’s one more helpful resource for Run-ons, Fragments, Comma Splices
Oh…and here are a couple of good recap & review resources for you:
THAT CRAZY ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!
- No Wonder English is So Hard to Learn
- Pronunciation for Foreigners
- English is Difficult (“We’ll begin with box….”)
- The Right Way to Spell POTATO (it’s not what you think!)
- “Spellbound” by Janet Minor
- “Spellbound” Documentary Movie Trailer (Spelling Bee)
- “Word Wars” Documentary Movie Trailer (Scrabble)
- “Never Say Neverisms” by William Safire
- “How to Punctuate” by Russell Baker
- An English Teacher’s Pet Peeves
THE PERFECT PARAGRAPH
And WATCH THIS GUY suggest why we need to pursue perfection & stop fearing failure!!
STUDENT SELECTED INDEPENDENT READING
“Cherry Tree” Song by 10,000 Maniacs (“I cannot read to save my life…”)
- Independent Reading Intro
- Letter Home Independent Reading
- Main Elements Plot Chart
- Word Diary-vocab tracker
- Need to Read Recommendations
- Page Rage Recommendations
- Bookmark for Note-taking (Adapt for non-fiction)
- Independent Reading Eval 2018
Book Talk – Alternative Portion to Project:
POWER OF MYTH
- What Makes a Hero? Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey (Video)
- The Hero’s Journey – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz (Video)
- The Hero’s Journey – Outlines, Archetypes & Some Disney History
- The Hero’s Journey – Interactive Adventure
- Jung’s Collective Unconscious & Archetypes
- More Archetypes
- A Great Myths List (Try saying that 10 times fast!!)
- Encyclopedia Mythica
- Cupid & Psyche
- Daedalus & Icarus
- Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
- William Carlos Williams Landscape w/Fall of Icarus
- U. of Illinois Modern Poetry Landscape w/Icarus
THE ODYSSEY
- Everything You Need to Know to Read The Odyssey (TedED)
- A Long & Difficult Journey (Crash Course w/ John Green)
- Remember Shakespeare’s Funny Talk? (Blank Verse – Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter)
- Oh, Romeo…. (It’s got a good beat & you can dance to it!) – Reviewing meter
- Well Homer Talks Funny, Too! Can you rap with Dactylic Hexameter? Wait! What?!
- What’s this Epic Simile (Homeric Simile) Thing?
- Let’s Ask John Prine About the Simile (and can you find the 1 metaphor?)
- Trojan Rabbit (Monty Python)
- Trojan Pumpkin (Phil Dunphy – Modern Family)
- “Superman” (REM song)
- “Superman” (Five For Fighting song)
- Simpsons Odyssey Spoof
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Some Odyssey video scenes
- Woman Gives Homer’s Epic a Radically Contemporary Voice (Why THAT 5th Word?!)
Odyssey “Bring the Book” Team Presentations
I-SEARCH RESEARCH PROJECT
Intro:
- Sisters of Mercy Critical Concerns
- I-SEARCH Student Model
- INTRO Exercises
- Research Kick-Off Questions (Stolen From Our Sophomores)
The Process:
- I-SEARCH Checkpoints
- Research Guide (Compliments of New Trier HS in Chicago)
- I-SEARCH Overview
- I-Search KWL Planning Pages (Word doc)
- I-Search KWL Planning Pages (PDF)
- I-SEARCH Intro Process Notes/Guide
- FINAL I-Search Paper Format Guide
- Annotated Bibliography Guide & Model
- MERCY LIBRARY- MLA Citations: The Basics
- OUTLINE Full-Sentence Model
- OUTLINE #2 Full-Sentence Model
- Paraphrase Quote Exercise Sheet
- Integrating Quotations
- HOOKS: 45 Easy Essay Hooks
- HOOKS: 13 Effective Essay Hooks
- Sample Research Paper MLA Format (Purdue OWL)
Resources:
- The “Paper Chase”: Visualize the Process
- HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE GOOD QUALITY SOURCES?
- Focus Question Note-Taking VIDEO Tutorial
- Focus Question Note-Taking Sheet
- Digital Note-taking with Source Citations
- Paraphrasing & In-Text Citation (An Overview)
- Plagiarism & How to Prevent It
- Works Cited Model
- MLA Citations Format & Examples
- MLA Formatting & Style Guide (Purdue OWL)
- MLA Format for ELECTRONIC SOURCES (Websites)
- EasyBib Citation Generator
- Proper MLA Formatting Requirements
- Integrating Quotations
- GREAT Resource for Integrating Quotes Fluidly!!
- Sample Research Paper MLA Format (Purdue OWL)
Some Video Tutorials Might Help:
- How to Develop a Good Research Topic
- How to Write a Note Card for a Research Paper
- How to Write Bib & Note Cards for a Research Paper
- MLA Formatting – The Basics
- MLA Formatting – List of Works Cited
- What’s New in MLA 8?
NoodleTools: A Potential Alternative to Index Card Note-Taking
Questioning the Note-Card Method (See reference to Ballenger’s Cornell & Fastwrite methods)
MINDFULNESS & MORE
SHAKESPEARE’S JULIUS CAESAR
- Revisiting Shakespeare’s Funny Talk (Blank Verse – Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter)
- Full Text, Commentary & Resources (Hudson Shakespeare Company)
- What’s Politics Anyway?
- Julius Caesar Team Presentations
- Julius Caesar ESSAY (Brutus & Antony)
Background for the Bard:
Is Wrigley Field a modern-day Globe Theater? What?! Huh? Have you heard of the Globe’s “groundlings” or Wrigley’s “bleacher bums?” And what about the way they’re designed or the way they fly their flags? In the end, it’s just people trying to enjoy an open-air performance. Here’s more Shakespeare stuff…
Globe Theater:
- Globe Theater
- Globe Theater Virtual Tour
- The Globe & Shakespeare
- Imagining & Re-Imagining The Globe Theater
- What is Drama?
Shakespeare Smorgasbord:
- Shakespeare Bio
- There’s No Escaping Shakespeare (NYT Video)
- Shakespeare Brief & Naughty (Video)
- The Shakespeare Mystery
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Absolute Shakespeare
- Ye Olde Shakespearean Insults
- Shakespeare Escapes the Plague?
- The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare in Modern English?
- Shakespeare Online
- Shakespeare Subject to Change (Interactive)
- “Kill All the Lawyers” – Shakespeare & the Law
The Best Damn Shakespeare Reference Ever!!! (For finding quotes & characters & cross-referencing everything. Enjoy!)
Julius Caesar Salad o’ Stuff
- Whitehouse Cloak & Dagger & Backstabbing (Politico)
- Can Trump Survive in Caesar’s Palace? (NYT)
- Julius Caesar – Wiki (Assassination, Aftermath, Personal/Health)
- JC – Biography.com (See History in 5 video by Barry Strauss)
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
INTRO:
RESOURCES & READING:
- Harper Lee & Her Father, The Real Atticus Finch (NYT 2018)
- Why Black Panther is a Defining Moment for Black America (NYT 2018)
- A People’s Journey (National Museum of African American History & Culture)
- African American History Timeline
- Re-Thinking Dr. Seuss & Racism
- National Memorial to Peace & Justice – Lynching (PBS Video)
- 60 Minutes – Lynchings Memorial (Video)
- A Racist World, Described By Those Who Knew It (NYT)
- Iowa Cross Burning Photo Shocks Football Team’s Black Quarterback (2017)
- Charlie From “The Chocolate Factory” Was Originally Black (2017)
- “We Need to Talk About Injustice” (Bryan Stevenson TED Talk 2012)
- Two Professors on Different Campuses Used the N-Word
- Story Behind Black-ish N-Word Episode
- Colin Kaepernick Wins Amnesty International’s Highest Honor
- TKM Theme, Motifs, Symbols (SlideShare)
POETRY
SOME SHORT STORIES
- “The Butterfly” by James Hanley
- Literary Analysis Notes Page
- What’s Theme Mean?
- Thinkin’ About Theme Exercise Sheet
- Team Lit Analysis Rubric
- Team Evaluation Lit Analysis
- Short Story Smorgasbord Team Presentations
- Short Story Analysis Essay
- BONUS: Optional Short Story Essay Re-Write
PORTFOLIO