Kicking off "1984"

We are starting our next novel this week, "1984" by George Orwell.  If you look at the sidebar on the right, you will find a series of links that will help you as we read.  This list includes links to audio recordings and an ebook, as well as folders for all of the related assignments, readings, and questions that go along with the book.

Before you come to me to ask for something you may have missed, check here first!

Online Assignment - November 1, 2016

You should now be reading Chapter 18 of "Their Eyes Were Watching God."  As you read this chapter, you will notice many examples of suspense and foreshadowing.  

Your assignment is:

1) Define Suspense and Foreshadowing.  You may use Google or an online dictionary to find these definitions.

2) Provide two examples of each literary device from Chapter 18 of TEWWG.  These examples MUST BE in the form of a quotation, and MUST include the page number on which they were found.

This assignment is due no later than midnight on Monday, November 7, and must be submitted as either an email or a shared Google Doc.  The completed assignment is worth 25 points.

Online Assignment - October 19

Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" have some fantastic examples of figurative language in them.  Before you read these chapters, and then as you read, complete the assignment below.  Your answers can be sharing by email or by a shared Google Doc, but they are due by MIDNIGHT on Monday, October 24.

Before you read:
Look up definitions and examples of these types of figurative language.  Share your definitions and examples with me by email or Google Doc by Monday at midnight:

• Metaphor
• Simile
• Personification
• Allusion
• Irony
• Alliteration

As you read:

Find examples of four of the six types of figurative language listed above in Chapters 7, 8, and 9.  Share your findings with me as a quote and a page number, by email or Google Doc, by Monday at midnight.

For extra credit points, share examples of all six types.

You are welcome to share this as either two separate emails/Docs or as one email/Doc with both parts of the assignment.  Either way, the entire assignment is due by midnight on Monday, October 24.

In-class Reading Assignment for October 3

Please read this two short essays carefully, because you will need to use information from the readings for an assignment next week.

Reading: History of Eatonville, FL

Reading: Zora Neale Hurston biography

When you have finished the assigned reading, email me answers to these two questions:
1) Who were five of the twenty-nine men who signed the incorporation papers for Eatonville?  What is odd about the men who signed?
2) Who discovered Hurston's grave and published an essay about Hurston?  Where was that essay published, and in what year?

Each answer is worth 10 points.  Your emailed answers are due to me no later than midnight on October 3rd.  Please send the email from your ccs-student email account.

College Application Essay - Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions

It's that time of year, when our brand new seniors are starting to think (and panic) about applying to college.  A lot of this information was shared in class, but here it is again, just in case...


This YouTube channel has a bunch of useful videos on writing and polishing the college application essay, including several specific to the Common Application prompts:

College Essay Advisors YouTube channel


These articles have a lot of important information about the Common Application essay prompts and the application itself:

10 Things You Need to Know About the Common App

What No One Will Tell You About the Common App Essay Prompts

Farewell and Good Luck to the CHS Class of 2016!

My dear Seniors,

On this, your last day of high school, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for being the wonderful, crazy, loud, enthusiastic characters that you are.  I've known some of you for years and some for only months, but you are all special, and I will miss you all!

This has been a great year, and I am so proud to have been your teacher, and to have had a hand in helping you prepare for the move from high school to college and the "real" world beyond.  Congratulations on your accomplishments this year, and I wish you wonderful things as you leave here and make your mark.  Be sure to keep me posted!

Go Dragons!
Miss Shier

P.I.E. Paragraph Structure

We've been talking a lot this year about using the Claim-Evidence-Connect format in our writing, and this is a great way to lay out individual paragraphs in your research essay.  Another way to think of this is the PIE structure:

P - Point (Claim)
I - Information (Evidence)
E - Explanation (Connect)

In each paragraph, you should start by making a point or stating your claim, then provide information or evidence about your point/claim (with the appropriate in-text citation), and end with an explanation or connection.

For another explanation of the PIE format, see the Senior Project Information folder below.