Carl Said:

Dear English teachers, I'm in bad need of your help?

We Answered:

I'm not an English teacher, but I am an English tutor. I have been tutoring for several years, and I worked at a college as an assistant, tutoring students in English.

I would do vocabulary, translation and dialogues in one and grammar, reading comprehension and writing paragraphs in the other.

These flow together, and you can use parts of one in the other subjects.

Good Luck

Ralph Said:

Dear English teachers, I'm in bad need of your help.?

We Answered:

Introduction

This unit, designed to supplement the teaching of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, consists of three activities that address the following three questions, respectively:

What are the relationships between the characters of The Crucible?
What contributed to the events leading up to the real witch trials of 1692?
How do the political events of the 1950s contribute to our understanding of The Crucible?

Language Arts Content Standards
As a result of this unit, students will
Make assertions about a literary text, critique the logic of an argument, analyze American works of literature, [Reading Standards 2.4, 2.6, 3.5].
Structure and support ideas in a sustained way; develop a presentation through questions and research strategies; respond to literature; write historical report [Writing Standards 1.3, 1.5. 1.6, 2.2, 2.4].
Orally present an historical investigation and a response to literature [Speaking Standard 2.2, 2.3]

Implementation Overview
This unit is organized on the assumption that students are participating in a unit in which The Crucible is core. It also assumes that students have access to the Internet at school--one computer in the classroom or library--or will have access at home. The teacher may assign 2-3 students to complete one of these supplemental activities in rotation, while the rest of the class is engaged in other activities.

Description of Materials, Activities and Web Sites
Class set of The Crucible
A computer with Internet acces
Butcher paper
Poster paper
Colored markers or crayons
Student Activity 1: Chain of Events/Geometric Character Analysis (not web-based)
In this activity students gather information about the play to produce a chain of events poster or a geometric character analysis poster. (Although this activity may not be considered supplementary, it will be helpful to students as they attempt to make meaning of plot and character.)
Student Activity 2: Letter of Persuasion/Tribute to the Accused
Students learn about the setting and the historical background of The Crucible and take a web tour of historical Salem, including a visit to the Witch Trials Memorial. They read a chronology of the historical events of the witch trials. Students write a persuasive letter to the governor of Salem calling for action against the trials or compose a tribute to the accused.

Salem Tour (incudes directions to prepare for the assignment described in the Student Activity

Student Activity 3: Poster Report
Students conduct a web search and complete a historical poster report on one subject of several offered, including the history of the 1950s, the Hollywood Ten, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. The poster will use exposition, narration, description, argumentation, exposition, or some combination to support the main proposition. It will analyze several historical records of a single event.The poster will include information from all relevant perspectives, taking the validity and reliability of sources into consideration. And it will provide a formal bibliography.
PRIMARY SOURCES
These links are primary source documents and give you a feeling of the 50s and the fear of Communism
Senator Joseph McCarthy -- A Multimedia Presentation
Dr. Fred Schwarz, You Can Trust the Communists (to be Communists)
on allies of communism
on intellectual dishonesty
on education
on children and literature
on brainwashing and language
on the manipulation of truth
on communist relativism
on communist use of the term "peace" (1960)
Truman, Harry - excerpt from speech dated July 29, 1951
McCarran Act, or Internal Security Act (1950) and its special way of Outing those named in anticommunist testimony
Communist Control Act, 1954 - excerpts from the legislation

SECONDARY SOURCES
Historical overviews from Ellen Schrecker's The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents (1994)
"Communism and National Security: The Menace Emerges"
"The Growth of the Anti-Communist Network"
"The State Steps In: Setting the Anti-Communist Agenda"
Senator Joe McCarthy
Richard H. Rovere, Senator Joe McCarthy
House Un-American Activities Committee

Introduction to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Cedric Belfrage's "Fever Charts, 1948-1957"
The Hollywood Ten

"Blacklists and Other Economic Sanctions"
Actress Lillian Hellman's FBI file
The Hollywood Blacklist How to Learn From the Blacklist
Performance Standards
Specific criteria for evaluating each product may be found at the end of each student activity. .

Ruby Said:

How can I improve my reading comprehension skills?

We Answered:

Well I'm guessing this has been an ongoing problem. Talk to your teacher and ask for tutoring. Also read as much as you can on your own. Practice is key. DOn't try and read books that are overwhelming. Start off small, maybe 8th grade level books. Once you think you've conquered these, move on to harder novels.
The way to get better is to keep reading.
Talk to your teacher and get help!

BTW: I'm terrible at comprehension as well, especially the opinion questions. =) My advice is to take practice quizzes. When answering the questions don't use your opinion, use theirs. Think about what the general audience would say.