• Worked on rough draft
• Got into reading groups and got new reading book
• Picked up a reading schedule

Rough Draft Due Tomorrow!

Research Unit

For the last couple days (and, indeed, for the rest of this week) we've been in the library and in the computer lab to work on our research projects.

Students should be bringing home articles they've printed off at school or books they've checked out to read at night and to take notes on. Each day we do a note card check to award points for progress.

Outlines of the research will be due Monday, Dec. 6th and the rough draft is due Thursday, Dec. 9th.

We went to the computer lab and we did an assignment that dealed with the CRAAP worksheet. It was called Searching the Web worksheet

We corrected Searching the Web worksheet.

You told Mrs. Gilbert whether you wanted to do a test or a project for MND and whether you wanted to do a big paper for your research or a little paper and a presentation.

Secretary: Jene C

Research brainstorming

Bell work-Get in your group and brainstorm real reasons people do research. Then brainstorm a list of topics that you'd be interesting in learning about.

Choose three topics that you might be interested in researching and write about them:
1, Give the topic and WHY you like it.
2, who else would be interested in learning about it,
3, what kind of resources would be available. Write it in paragraph form

Watch the rest of the movie

Go over the CRAAP worksheet and complete homework on it.

Secretary: Marlon

Catching up on MND

-Quiz (you may use any notes on the quiz but no open books or open neighbor) -Quiz needs to be made up as soon as possible

-Write a letter (analyzing how realistic MND is) based on the checklist. (NOTE: Students who had already done this activity got an opportunity to write a “soap opera” version of a scene from MND)

-Watch 3.1 from MND on video

-Homework: Finish the letter if you didn’t in class.

Be good for the substitute teacher tomorrow and Friday.

Secretaries Mark & Marlon

Bellwork:
· Read your homework letters to your group
· Discuss whether you fell more sympathy for Demetrius or Helena and why.

Subtext activity (all the ways we mean things different then what we say)
· Read lines 41-71 (starting on page 53) and discuss what they say versus what they mean.
· Finish reading the scene as a whole class and take notes on the events that happen.

Homework: Write for 10 minutes in your journal about the characters in the play – who you like, who you hate, what you think will happen and what you are confused about.
Take grade reports home and get them signed.

Class Secretary: Julie G. & Marlon

Comparing versions of MND

Bellwork: Starting on page 25, read lines 43-57 from Robin (aka Puck) then illustrate one of the many pranks Puck describes in his speech. Went over bell work

C/C versions of different MND movie versions -- took notes on how conflict between King & Queen results in natural disturbances. Note how special effects, costumes, etc. reinforce lines.

G0t in groups and filled out evals of homework writing. Turn in today (for full credit) or tomorrow (for reduced credit)

Homework: Read lines 176 to the end and write letter (pretend to be character and describe the fight to a friend)

Secretary: Marlon

Dear Class,
On November 12, 2004 we came in, looked on the board and the Bell work was” Please pick up flyer and get in new seat and get out homework.”
After the Bellwork we went over the work or the homework that we had yesterday. We revised our answers and had a skit played by a couple of students to show us how it looked in the book of A Midsummer Dream Act 1, scene 1.
After that we picked parts in the book for students to read and took notes on what they were reading. Following that we wrote down our homework and it is due by Monday. This was the homework:
Explain why a character’s comments( at least three) are typical for their time period AND how they are similar to things said today. SCENARIO: write a letter to a classmate who says the play isn’t realistic and use those comments/examples for support.

Secretary: Kym W

Sorry, you could not be in class today… we learned a lot of things today!

List of things that we did today were as follows:

Turn in homework
: Comic Strips
: See Mrs. Gilbert on details about Comic Strip

Notes
: A midsummer nights dream
: Copy notes from a classmate and turn them in.
: Get them back Tuesday (11/9)

Class Work
We filled out a sheet on what we should have for our next book after Midsummer Night’s Dream! Everyone got into groups of 3-4 to talk about what novel they want to read next and gave Mrs. Gilbert their top five choices.

Homework
No homework! Unless you did not complete the homework over the weekend. Remember that half credit is better than no credit.


We missed you

Matt B.

Thinksticks

Bellwork: Get out your notes from yesterday and make sure you summarized all the class events. Then check your summary against the one Mrs. Gilbert wrote and grade yourself. Turn them in to the crate.

Read over the syllabus addition letter and write any questions/concerns on the back of it and turn it in to Mrs. Gilbert

Take notes on how to draw Thinksticks and practice drawing a comic strip of 5-10 panes (due Monday) on one of the following scenarios:
1. A father trying to tell his rebellious daughter who to date.
2. A married couple accusing each other of infidelity.
3. A girl pathetically trying to get the attention of a boy who hates her.

(NOTE: We are practicing some drawing in preparation for studying Shakespeare where we will use a combination of acting and drawing to visual the scenes.)

A fresh start

Today in class we used play-doh to create symbols. First we created symbols of how we felt about last quarter (and then had to explain the symbols in writing), and then we made symbols of our hopes for this next quarter (and explained those in writing as well).

We then filled out a self-evaluation checklist of our work habits for last quarter and received a printout of our approximate grade for last quarter to compare how our work habits influenced our grade.

Using that information, we wrote letters to our parents explaining our grade, describing what work habits led to that grade, what we hope to do for the next quarter, and how our parents can help us achieve those goals.

We turned in the play-doh writing, the checklist and the parent letter.

Our final activity was to take notes on "Class Secretary" -- a person responsible for taking notes on class activities (as I am doing now), posting them to the class blog, and passing back papers during class. We also used the last two minutes of class to practice writing up the events of class. We were told to keep the class secretary notes for use tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we will sign up for days to be class secretary, and our only homework is to make sure we come prepared with our folder, journal, writing utensil, and any textbooks that have yet to be turned in.

Papers Due & More on being able to be descriptive

We turned in the final drafts of the narratives along with all the prework, rough drafts, and a self-evaluation worksheet (that was bellwork).

All students got a grading sheet and a letter to take home to their parent/guardian.

We also read and discuss the poem "Touch" by Terrance Hayes before spending some time writing about how it compares to To Kil A Mockingbird.

Homework: Finish the novel and write 3 paragraphs (one each on three different chapters) about parts that interested you or that you thought connected to real life. Use details to make your point clear and descriptive.

More discussion & writing

Post to at least 2 of the following 3 discussion topics on NICENET and respond to at least 2 other person’s posting.
TKM - Puzzles to solve
TKM - Time period references
Class atmosphere
AND then self-evaluate your participation (SEE the Worksheet in the class crate). Self-evaluations are DUE by FRIDAY 10/1

You'll need to copy the notes off of a classmate about the requirements for our first paper (a story) and complete a piece of pre-writing by tomorrow.

Read chapter 9 of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Post to at least 2 of the following 3 discussion topics on NICENET and respond to at least 2 other person’s posting.
TKM - Puzzles to solve
TKM - Time period references
Class atmosphere
AND then self-evaluate your participation (SEE Worksheet in Class Handouts Crate). The Self-Evaluation is due BY FRIDAY.

Copy the notes (from someone else in class) about the first major paper we are doing - a story from a small slice of your own life.

Complete some pre-writing for your paper (draw, freewrite, cluster or talk)

Read chapter 9 of TKM for tomorrow.

Higher-level learning

We took notes on the differences between low-level and higher-level learning. We (in pairs) wrote five high-level questions on chapters 5 & 6 of TKM.

We then read for ten minutes and tried answering high-level questions over the reading on post-it notes. We then passed the post-it notes to another group to get responses on our answers (this is very similar to the online-literature discussions we have in the computer lab). We also reviewed a rubric that described the difference between excellent, good, average and unacceptible responses.

Tomorrow we will be meeting in the computer lab in the library to have another online conference. Homework reading is to finish chapters 7 and 8 in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Vivid description Part 2

We self-evaluated the character/scene posters we drew on Monday in terms of the quality of detail used in the drawings (both details from the book and from our own imaginations). See the worksheet in the crate.

We finished reading Chapter 2 of To Kill a Mockingbird and read a sample literary journal response on it. We then tried writing our own literary responses on our independant novels in our journals. (NOTE: The novel, and all the journal entries, should be finished by Friday, Sept. 24th).

We then tried applying some of the writing techniques we liked in Mockingbird and our own novels (dialogue, similes, foreshadowing, description, etc.) to our own writing. We revised a piece of writing from an earlier day to "explode" a moment of it into detailed, vivid writing.

Student finished class by turning in their writing and their self-evaluations as well as answering these four questions on a sheet of paper:
1) One thing that confuses me in this class is...
2) One thing that frustrates me in this class is...
3) One thing I'd like to see more of in this class is...
4) For the next seating chart I would like to sit... because...

Levels of Description

We started class by finishing Chapter 1 in To Kill A Mockingbird with several people acting out the actions.

We then wrote about a childhood memory (like Harper Lee does in Mockingbird).

We took notes on the levels of description and examples of each level (boring, ordinary, vivid and visionary).

We read Chapter 2 using Reader's Theatre.

For homework, go through the piece of writing you did in class and identify which level of description you were using.

Tomorrow everyone should bring their independant novel and their piece of writing.

We will continue working with levels of desription by identifing them in Mockingbird and revising our own writing to become more vivid.

How are the journals going?

REMINDER: All students should have picked out a novel to read independantly last week on Thursday. They should be reading some of it each night and you have journals to complete by 9/15, 9/17, and 9/20. I will be collecting journals on 9/20.

Novels should be finished by 9/24.

District Writing Assessment

This week, from Monday, Sept. 13th through Thursday, Sept. 16th, our class will be completing the District Writing Assessment and Practice MEAP.

Monday and Tuesday students will be writing a timed essay based on their own experience.
Wednesday students will be taking a listening and reading multiple choice test.
Thursday students will have to write an essay connecting all of the texts from Wednesday.

If students are absent any day, they will have to schedule a make-up time after school (for 30-60 minutes depending on which day they miss).

How to talk THOUGHTFULLY

Bellwork: Complete a worksheet showing examples of how students answered questions and explaining how they are scored/graded based on thoughtfulness.

Read an excerpt from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and talk about it in a threaded discussion in the computer lab at Nicenet.org. See Mrs. Gilbert for the handout on how to use Nicenet

Digging for Potatos & Topics

Bellwork: Pick up a potato and write about it in your journal for 6 minutes. Share it with a partner, and then pick a new topic to write about for 6 minutes. Share that with a partner and then "loop" your writing: pick your favorite part out of the previous two writings and use that as the topic for a third piece of writing for 5 minutes.

Read pages 19-22 in Making Sense to see how the journaling and looping will help you create topics for writing.

Copy down journal rules from the overhead into the back of your journal and show Mrs. Gilbert your journal and topic tree to get credit.

Pick out a pleasurable reading novel (any fiction or nonfiction) and bring it to class tomorrow along with your journal.

Variety in writing & people

Bellwork: Read over the Basketball handout and react to it directly on the page - circle parts that confuse you, put smileys by the parts you like, write notes in the margin, etc.

In your journal, explain which Basketball piece you liked best and why. Also describe which text (poem, book, etc.) you brought to class that you love and why you love it. Try to see if there are any similarities - what types of writing do you seem to prefer?

As a group, we did an activity to highlight how there are many different kinds of people in class and that we all need to be respectful because of this diversity. We then took that idea (of different experiences) and jumped into completing the Topic Tree Handout -- finishing it was homework due tomorrow.

Finally, we shared our Procedure posters and heard a song about not being tardy.

There is a new seating chart and everyone needs to bring their journals tomorrow again.

Procedures & Respectful behavior

Students completed a worksheet on respectful behavior and we discussed what the consequences for disrespectful behavior should be (a warning, a 15 min detention, etc.)

We finished and corrected the classroom scavenger hunt.

We read more partner interviews, and then we got into groups of 2-3 and were assigned procedures to teach to the rest of the class via poster or skit. We turned in our posters at the end of the block and the skits will perform on Tuesday.

We also reviewed where we should meet for fire drills.

The homework is to bring one thing you LOVE to read to class (poem, lyrics, book, comic, etc.) on Tuesday along with your journal notebook.

Rules & Get-to-Know-You

We corrected and collected the first-day handbook scavenger hunt.

We read some of our interviews aloud and turned some in.

We discussed the results of the student survey and how to be respectful during different situations.

We completed a class scavenger hunt to get to know the room.

Homework: Review class rules & procedures to prepare for a quiz.

What you missed on the Tuesday 8/31

Bellwork:
Put your name on the folder tab, tongue depressor and post-it note. Address the postcard to your parents. Fill out the colored handout (Student Data Sheet) and white sheet (Student Survey).

Activity:
Everyone in class interviewed a classmate and wrote an introduction to share with the class the next day. As a substitute assignment, please write a letter introducing yourself to the class (do rough and final drafts).

Homework:
Take the syllabus home and have a parent sign the attached slip. Turn in the folder, your letter of introduction, and the parent signature slip tomorrow.

Welcome to Sophomore English!

Today was only a 1/2 day, so for our meager 30 minutes of classtime we worked on a Handbook Scavenger Hunt. The worksheet covered many of the important policies in the Handbook including the definitions and consequences for cheating, the new no-cell phone rule, and the importance of IDs.

Students have two homework assignments:
1) Have parents review and sign off on the handbook.
2) Read over the class syllabus with parents and both sign off on it.