Friday, December 21, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 20 

Storytime!  

It’s a Wonderful Life for Kids by Jimmy Hawkins (2006) 

Assemble Globe Theatre paste together thingies. 

ENGLISH homework:

None.

 

NO SCHOOL – December 22, 2012 – January 6, 2013

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 19 

1.      Write up one sentence with a comma splice in it, then fix it with a FANBOYS and circle the FANBOY.

2.      TO BE COLLECTED: On the same paper as your sentence, draw a SMALL PICTURE at the top of a paper of the following Shakespearean (extended) metaphor from Romeo and Juliet Act 2.2:

ROMEO
 25                                                                   She speaks!
 26   O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art
 27   As glorious to this night, being o'er my head
 28   As is a winged messenger of heaven
 29   Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes
 30   Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
 31   When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
 32   And sails upon the bosom of the air. 

IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT (TO BE COLLECTED)

Wrote our own extended metaphors

Step 1: (choose one of the items off the following list and brainstorm about it)

Battlefield Rainstorm Carnival Dance

Symphony 10 speed bike Circus

If you choose "BATTLEFIELD" - then brainstorm everything you associate with a battlefield.

STEP 2: Choose another item off the list and list the similarities of it to the item you chose for step 1:

How is a ___(battlefield)________ like a ________dance _______________?
List as many similarities as you can.
Write some of them into a LONG sentence that doesn’t read like a list.

STEP 3:  Choose an abtract noun and list the similarities of it to the item you chose for step 1:

ABSTRACT/INTANGIBLE NOUNS: What are they? (dreams, love, memories, fear, happiness, confidence, imagination, death, inspiration, trust, hate…)

How is a battlefield like _______(abstract noun)_______________?
List as many similarities as you can.
Write some of them into a LONG sentence that doesn’t read like a list.

STEP 4: Your turn…You choose 1 from first list, 1 abstract (love, happiness, justice, respect, truth, life):  How is ____(your choice)_______ like _____(abstract)______?

After answering this question, write a PARAGRAPH explaining the metaphor using the information from the above STEPS. (TO BE COLLECTED) 

Assembled famous soliloquy from Act 2 with 2 other partners (scatterbrained soliloquy activity) – check pgs. 845 - 846 for answers 

ENGLISH homework:

 

None

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 19 

THEME OF THE DAY: Persuasion  

WARMUP: (answer the following questions)

1. Think of a time when you were persuaded to do something you didn’t want to do but were FINALLY persuaded to do. What did they do or say to persuade you?
2. What makes someone agree, even reluctantly, to do something? What works on you?
1. When the roles are reversed, these can become tools to persuade others.

                                                               i.      Re: “The Sound of Persuasion” (per Barry Lane)

2. Discussed

COLLECTED FOR A GRADE: Wrote a radio/TV commercial that persuaded a classmate to buy one of the items on his/her I’ll-Never-Buy list. Also noted what kind of persuasion we used in our commercial.

Our list of persuasive tools might include:

1.        Minimize the consequences; 2.        Threats; 3.        Money; 4.        Guilt; 5.        Pity – relieve my hurt; 6.        Verbalize the result;

7.        Promise of something better; 8.        Once in a lifetime; 9.        Repetition; 10.     Compliment – sweet talk; 11.     Reason – common sense

 TO BE COLLECTED TOMORROW: Write the dialogue/the script for the same actions in your “War Is Bad” mime – 4 pages 

PLAYWRITING homework: 

None

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 18 

1. Took Act 1 Quotations test
2. Practiced identifying comma splices
3. Now that we have finished reading and reviewing Act 1 of Romeo & Juliet, predict the next moment for each of the following 7 characters by filling in the blank:
1. Because (character) has said (or done) ________, next he will probably ____________.
2. 1. Capulet 2. Lady Capulet 3. Nurse 4. Romeo 5. Juliet 6. Tybalt 7. Paris
4. Using the lists on page 805 and definition on page 1245, list 3 sets of foils from Romeo & Juliet (not including the example on page 1245 J)
5. Recall sonnet rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg – look at sonnet lines 9, 11 (pg. 807);  lines 5, 7 (pg. 843) – What do you notice?
6. Before reading Act 2, we looked at famous 4 lines (pg. 846, lines 33-36) and attempted to paraphrase them.
7. Read summary of Act 2 scenes 1 and 2 (http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/SceneTextIndex.html)
8. Next, we listened to Act 2.1-2 (pages 843-853)

ENGLISH homework:

None.

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PLAYWRITING – Day 18 

Wrote for 15 minutes on “Climb Inside a Head” photo of young soldier 

Underlined the most interesting things we wrote. Eventually we narrowed them down to the best sentence. 

Discussed what made these sections interesting to us. 

Began “I’ll Never Buy” activity: wrote down 10 things we will never buy in the future… 

Next, in 2 minutes, we listed all the things that “I’ll Never Buy.” 

 

Share your list with a partner. Now pick one thing off the list and try to sell it to the person who won't buy it. List on paper some of the key selling points.

PLAYWRITING homework:

None.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 17

1. Describe what you hope to do over Christmas break.
1. Next, choose one of the following characters from Romeo and Juliet.

·   1. Capulet 2. Lady Capulet 3. Nurse 4. Romeo 5. Juliet 6. Tybalt 7. Paris

2. In one sentence, explain how and why this character would have behaved DIFFERENTLY than you.

Grade Romeo & Juliet Act 1 Open Book Test (packet of questions) 

Took notes on commas

Discussed the evil comma splice and how to eliminate it from sentences

• The woman in the blue dress is my neighbor, she is rather tall.
• The woman in the blue dress is my neighbor, FANBOYS she is rather tall.

Using blog photos of yesterday’s Romeo & Juliet quotations, re-take “Who Said It” as a pretest.  

ENGLISH homework: 

Study Romeo & Juliet Act 1 quotes on blog entry from yesterday, December 17 for tomorrow’s test…”Who Said It” 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 17 

·         Show (with words), don’t tell.

·         If I tell you that I’m bored, that’s a TELL STATEMENT.

o   I’m bored. It was boring. It was really boring.

o   It was so great. It was the best thing ever. I had the best time of my entire life.

§  These are tell statements.

o   How do you show (and not tell) the same thing, with words?

§  Try it…

·         SHOW boring (without using any form of the word “boring”)

·         SHOW sad (without using any form of the word “sad”)

·         In these same pairs, write down 5 actions/NO DIALOGUE that are linked to each other – a chain reaction. (10 parts total) that SHOW that war is bad WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING THE IDEA with words.

o   Create a chain reaction – where an act performed by one character causes another character to perform yet another action…etc.

·         Mime your chain reaction.

 

Playwriting homework:

 

None

Monday, December 17, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 16

Collect homework: Romeo & Juliet Act 1 Open Book Test (packet of questions) 

Create a “Who Said It” test (on a dry erase board)

• Using all of Romeo & Juliet Act 1 (pages 807-839), find 7 different moments of play and write out a key quote from each of these moments…do not write out the name of the character who said it.

 

Discuss the format of this week’s test on Act 1 – Montague or Capulet? Who said it? True or False? 

Watch older version video of Act 1

ENGLISH homework:

Bring your Literature book.

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Friday, December 14, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 14

Using your book, list 6 different things that happened in Act 1.5. 

Confirmed correct textbook numbers (the one issued to you)

A brief summary of Act 1.5 from:

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/SceneTextIndex.html 

Act 1, Scene 5: At Capulet's house, Romeo and his friends enter as preparations are being made for the dancing. The musicians are tuning up, and the servants are hurrying to clear away the remains of the feast. . . . Capulet enters, greets the masked strangers, and invites them to dance. Romeo sees Juliet and says to himself that this is the first time he's seen true beauty. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and sends for his sword, but Capulet orders Tybalt to do nothing. Saying that he'll make Romeo pay, Tybalt leaves. . . . Romeo holds Juliet's hand, and begs a kiss, which she gives him. They kiss again, and then both are called away. As everyone is leaving, they each learn the name of the other, and they each exclaim upon the fate that has made each fall in love with his/her enemy. 

THE OPEN-BOOK TAKE-HOME TEST (worth nearly 5 homework assignments). They may work together but not simply copy each other’s work. 

Your textbook has a glossary in it that begins on page 1240 and that you'll need for the open-book, take-home test. 

ENGLISH homework: 

Finish Romeo & Juliet Act 1 Open Book Test (packet of questions) - due Monday

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PLAYWRITING – Day 15 

Collect scripts NO STAPLES; copy scripts; assign groups; choose 2 scripts 

You may not be in your own production – you may verbally introduce it before the production. 

Collected scripts. 

PLAYWRITING homework: 

None.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 13 

Collect homework: drawing of Queen Mab and her carriage 

Using your textbooks Act 1.4 lines 71 – 88 (pg. 830-831), name the dreams that Queen Mab delivers for each of the following characters?

1. Lovers dream of:
2. Courtiers (first mention) dream of:
3. Lawyers dream of:
4. Ladies dream of:
5. Courtiers (second mention) dream of:
6. A parson dreams of:
7. A soldier dreams of:
8. Why do you suppose Mercutio tells such a fantastic story to Romeo?

Re-read Romeo’s mention of his two “dreams” in Act 1.4…

• DREAM 1 - Lines 48 – 49
• DREAM 2 - Lines 106 – 111

9. Summarize what is Romeo saying in Dream 2?

10. What do these both of these dreams tell us about Romeo? 

Read NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE Act 1.4 (modern text version) – concentrating on Mercutio’s HUGE speech 

Read Act 1.5, pgs. 833 - 839. 

Watched scenes 4 and 5 of new video. 

ENGLISH homework:

 

Bring your Literature book, tomorrow

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PLAYWRITING – Day 14 

Answer each of the following about your current script idea:

1. Why this moment? (in other words, why now and not later?)
2. What’s going to make the audience care about the outcome of this scene?
3. Name the non-violent conflict in your scene.
4. List each character in your scene. Next to their names, list which of the following characteristics apply to each:

·         Personality – interesting (not boring)

·         Dynamic

·         Unpredictable

·         Imperfect/flawed

·         Complicated (layered)

·         Relatable

·         Spontaneous

·         Conflicted

Script your scene…using the information you heard yesterday (or the day before)… 

PLAYWRITING homework: 

Finish your script - have a rough draft ready for tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 12 

Collect homework: 7 characters from Act 1 – love and marriage 

While I collect your homework, write about why some people think each of the following kinds of dreams are important…

1. the ones we dream at night,
2. the ones we have while awake, and
3. the ones we have for our futures

Finally, where do you think dreams come from?

Review yesterday’s test answers 

Watched video on dreaming…  

 

 

Listened to Act 1, Scene 4…introducing us to a new character: Mercutio 

Begin your drawing (your homework)…

o   On a clean sheet of paper (notebook paper is fine) sketch a simple picture of Queen Mab and her carriage according to Mercutio’s description.

§  IT MUST BE LABELED with the 10 corresponding lines (not just the line numbers) from Mercutio’s speech.

ENGLISH homework: 

Finish your drawing of Queen Mab and her carriage (see page 830-831 for 10 details)

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PLAYWRITING – Day 13

·         Students presented their ideas…either in script form or rough draft

·         Read “The Playscript” from The Complete Book of Scriptwriting (pgs. 312 – 321)

PLAYWRITING homework:

 

None

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 11

1.      Dramatic Literary Terms test 

2.      Turn in your test on center table…then on a separate paper:

1. in a paragraph of 4 sentences or more, describe how a person forms an opinion about love or marriage.
2. In another paragraph, write about your feelings and attitudes about love and marriage.

3.      Discuss what we could infer about a person who says, “I love horror movies.”

1. Creepy, scary, fearless, sad, likes adrenaline rush, evil, violent, bored

4.      Watch “How and Why We Read – Crash Course” video 

5.      Watch Romeo & Juliet scenes 2, 3  

6.      Using Act 1, looked up lines that reveal each of the 7 characters’ experience with, feelings about, or attitudes toward love and/or marriage. (all from Act 1) 

Scene 1 Romeo Benvolio

Scene 2 Paris Capulet

Scene 3 Juliet Lady Capulet Nurse

For each of the 7 characters above:

DIRECTIONS: Besides the obvious, what else does your chosen quote say about the character as a person (what can you infer)?

1.      Write the words, “Because (character) says, “_______(fill-in with word for word quote)_______________________________________” (about love or marriage), he must also believe ______________________.

a.       Do not simply say, “Because he says _______, he is creepy.”

2.      Write the line numbers for each quote (ex. Act 1.2.34-39)  

ENGLISH homework: 

Finish assignment above: 7 characters from Act 1 – love and marriage

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PLAYWRITING – Day 12

Be ready to read your idea (or script) to the rest of the class in 15 minutes. 

Continue scripting and begin staging your scene from yesterday 

Students presented their ideas…either in script form or rough draft 

PLAYWRITING homework: 

None.

Monday, December 10, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 10

o   Returned graded homework 

o   Read through definitions. REMINDER to study for Tuesday’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout 

o   Continued reading Romeo & Juliet Act 1.1

• First, we read scenes 2 & 3 from No Fear Shakespeare
• http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/
• Next, we read the original text from our textbooks and listened for the thread of the conversation (mixed with moments of poetry)
• pages 817 – 825 in Literature book

Study for Tuesday’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout 

Encouraged use of Romeo & Juliet navigator website and No Fear Shakespeare book:

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/SceneTextIndex.html

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/ 

Using Act 1, looked up lines that reveal each of the 7 characters’ experience with, feelings about, or attitudes toward love and/or marriage. (all from Act 1) 

Scene 1 Romeo Benvolio

Scene 2 Paris Capulet

Scene 3 Juliet Lady Capulet Nurse

ENGLISH homework:

o   Study for Tuesday’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout

o   Memorize as much of your Dramatic Literary Terms handout as you can…use the link below to practice with the Jeopardy game:

http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Mar201212/game1332198539.php

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 11 

Read a sampling of student scripts 

Continued our work/script from Friday

PLAYWRITING homework: 

None.

 

 

Friday, December 7, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 9

1.      Collect homework:

a.       “Becoming Familiar with the Language of Shakespeare” handout

2.      PITADS – challenge

a.       Using your notes, name that PITAD

3.      Finish reading Romeo & Juliet Act 1.1

a.       First, we read the rest of scene 1 from No Fear Shakespeare

                                                  i.      http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/

b.      Next, we read the original text from our textbooks and listened for the thread of the conversation (mixed with moments of poetry)

                                                  i.      pages 812 – 817 in Literature book

4.      Announced test on “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout for TUESDAY

5.      Memorize as much of your Dramatic Literary Terms handout as you can…then we’ll start Jeopardy…

a.       http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Mar201212/game1332198539.php

6.      JEOPARDY

ENGLISH homework: 

Bring your Literature book. 

Study for Tuesday’s test on the “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 10

1.      Create a concrete goal for your protagonist.

a.       A want. A need. A desire. Just one. Concrete, not abstract. Write it down.

2.      “Character is action; action is character.” Create an action that tells us what kind of person your character is. (Example: A young boy steals a purse from an old lady.)

a.       Write the action down.

                                                  i.      Is the action connected to a concrete goal?

b.      What does it show you about your character?

c.       Does he get what he wants? Or does he run into an obstacle? 

3.      Next, bring both your protagonist and antagonist together into the same room (or space). Look back at the action you created for your protagonist. REWRITE the actions putting both characters in the same action.

a.       Write what happens (in paragraph form).

b.      Finally, define the conflict in one sentence.

4.      Script your scene from above. 

PLAYWRITING homework: 

None.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 8

COLLECTED TODAY: Like yesterday, using your textbook, complete the following:

1.      Write out Act 1, Scene 1, line 79…then, above it, mark the iambs with 5 sets of   (U      /)

2.      Go to Act 1, Scene 1, line 92…write down the definition  of “cankered”

3.      How many Acts are there total, in the whole play?

4.      In Act 1, Scene 1, lines 1 – 62 are not written in iambic pentameter. Starting with line 63, nearly every line is. Make a guess as to why this is.

5.      Write out Romeo’s first line of the play.

6.      Write out Juliet’s first line of the play.

7.      In your own words, explain what Benvolio means in line 6.

8.      Write 2 lines of iambic pentameter that described how we are feeling today.

9.      Now shuffle the word order of your each of your two lines (without adding any words) 

TOOK NOTES on the 6 kinds of feet (PITADS)...including iambs.

Announced next week’s TEST on these yesterday’s handout: Dramatic Literary Terms

Start tonight’s homework on a separate paper: “Becoming Familiar with the Language of Shakespeare” handout  

ENGLISH homework:  

Finish “Becoming Familiar with the Language of Shakespeare” handout. 

Study “Dramatic Literary Terms” handout for next week’s TEST

 

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PLAYWRITING – Day 9

Read – “Characters in Conflict” (pg. 29-33)

ADD TO YOUR NOTES:

• Antagonist – the opposer of the action; anyone or anything that tries to get in the protagonist’s way or stop him in any way
• A good antagonist is: A strong villain, A loved one, Fate – “a god”, Society, Weather, Chance, luck, circumstance – a random act, Oneself

In class assignment: create an antagonist for your protagonist – for today, the antagonist has to be a person – write that person’s biography.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH (like you did for your protagonist):

a.       Today you will learn how to create a character - an antagonist. Perhaps it’s a character based on a real-life person, perhaps it’s one you’ve imagined.

A.          Write a brief biographical sketch of this person. You are creating a fictional character, but don’t be afraid to base this character on a person or persons from real life. Maybe the character is you. Maybe it’s someone you hardly know. Choose the character’s birthdate, birthplace, and where the character grew up. Choose the character’s family, social and economic background…EVERYTHING.

B.           Next describe 3 key events in that character’s life – deaths, winning the lottery, childhood scars. Now look at your biography. Is it interesting enough? Could the events and actions you’ve imagined be altered to create a more interesting person? Is there any hint of a rebellious spirit?

C.           Revise the biography. Play with different possibilities, different actions and events. Has your biography brought your character to a point in his or her life where a potential high-pressure crisis is suggested? The kind of crisis that could start a play?

PLAYWRITING homework:

None