Thursday, September 27, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 18

Effort trumps talent.

Effort grows connections in your brain which make you smarter.  (Carol Dweck) 

1.      While I check homework: back page this week’s vocabulary handout (Exercise 2)

WARMUP: Write a paragraph about:

                                                  i.      something you want really badly in your life…

                                                ii.      and explain what you are willing to do to get it

2.      Review vocabulary exercises ANSWERS

3.      Check grades.

4.      Read the first paragraph on page 236.

“He strayed away by himself from the watchers whom he had placed in ambush on the crest of the hill, and wandered far down the steep slopes amid the wild tangle of undergrowth, peering through the tree trunks and listening through the whistling and skirling of the wind and the restless beating of the branches for sight and sound of the marauders. If only on this wild night, in this dark, lone spot, he might come across Georg Znaeym, man to man, with none to witness - that was the wish that was uppermost in his thoughts. And as he stepped round the trunk of a huge beech he came face to face with the man he sought.”

                                                  i.      Ultimately, does Ulrich get what he wants?

                                                ii.      What does he have to do to get it?

5.      In Demetri Martin’s book, This Is A Book, he writes from a genie’s point of view and he comically responds to all the people who find his lamp and wish for money. He argues that the conservation of wealth states that if a genie grants somebody’s wish for money, the genie must take the money away from families who are already quite poor or from the economies of developing countries or both.

·         Is there anything for which you would hurt needy people in order to get?

6.      Discuss feuds and fights – including Huck Finn’s thoughts – and how feuds resemble rivalries – write definitions in our notes

7.      Watch video: The Interlopers (A Short Film by Ben Hurst)

8.      HOMEWORK: “The Interlopers” is a story about:

·         1. feuding 2. hatred 3. revenge 4. tragedy 5. death

·         6. pity 7. change of heart 8. forgiveness 9. hope

                                                  i.      Make a chart that lists the nine items/themes listed above.

                                                ii.      Find a quote (word for word) from the story that shows each of the above traits.

                                              iii.      Finally, identify which type of conflict each one represents (man vs. ____)

ENGLISH homework:

Finish chart (see above)

Study for Friday’s vocabulary test: Lesson Three vocabulary words (edifice, ambidextrous…) The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 17

"Everybody is a genius.  But, if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid."   Albert Einstein

·         Collected homework:

• Number your story 1 – 25.
• Staple it ON TOP OF the graph (staplers on center table)
• Give your story to the original owner of the graph and let them read your story.
• Then I will collect them.

·         Think about your list of 25 events in your life as I read the following story:
o   “The Farmer’s Luck” by Jon J. Muth -  from Zen Shorts
·         Write a new paragraph for “The Farmer’s Luck” using one of the events from your list of 25
·         Grade vocabulary tests
·         Next sentence type introduced – “5-things sentence”…(choose five items from the room then write them into a sentence by forming a relationship or connection between the items…) Then add a verb or a modal auxiliary (would, should, could, must, may, might, shall, can, will).
o   Finally, make a sentence out of what you have. (You will of course have to add words.)
o   Add chunking slashes
o   Share examples
o   Discussed our ability to do this.

·         Reviewed omniscient narration (pg. 233)

·         Previewed “The Interlopers” (read bits of beginning, middle, end; looked at illustrations; made predictions)
·         Read “The Interlopers” by Saki – pgs. 232 – 240.

ENGLISH homework:

Complete all exercises on the back page this week’s vocabulary handout.

Finish reading “The Interlopers” by Saki – pgs. 232 – 240.

Study for Friday’s vocabulary test: Lesson Three vocabulary words (edifice, ambidextrous…). The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 16

 

Late Start 2012 – 9:40

 

·         Finish “inanimate object story” – remind them that it must be numbered 1 – 25.

o   DIRECTIONS: Using someone’s personal plotline as a guide, write a story about an inanimate object that experiences highs and lows in the same order. Number your paper 1 – 25. Due Wednesday. This is not a list of events, but rather, a short story.

§  STAPLE IT to your classmate’s graph – due tomorrow

§  NOTE: If a student does NOT have another student’s graph, he should switch with someone else in the room. Last case scenario: he may simply use his own.

·         Work on the backside of this week’s vocabulary handout.

·         Study PINK 30-15-10 lists (make flashcards)

ENGLISH homework: 

Study for Friday’s vocabulary test: Lesson Three vocabulary words (edifice, ambidextrous…) The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence.

Monday, September 24, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 15
·         Check homework:
o   List of 25
o   Graph of 25
·         After attendance, Vocabulary test - #2
·         Pick up this week’s vocabulary words (#3) and review pronunciations
·         Read the poem “Television” by Roald Dahl
·         How to Write – Day 1 - show Ted Williams video - Sentence structure mimicking – wrote like John Updike
·         Follow up on “John Updike” sentences – showed student examples then inferred what the author was saying - literal vs. suggested

• Create another “Updike” sentence...inferred what the author meant to say

·         Wrote down a series of prefixes and thought of words that used them:
abs-
bi-, bis-
epi-
mis-
sub-
uni-

·         Pickup 30-15-10 list/handout

• Discuss - 30-15-10 list (from Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher)

·         Write YOUR FIRST and LAST NAME on your GRAPH.
o   Exchange your GRAPH ONLY (not your list) with a classmate.
o   Using someone’s personal plotline as a guide, write a story about an inanimate object that experiences highs and lows in the same order. Number your paper 1 – 25. Due Wednesday.

ENGLISH homework:

Study for Friday’s vocabulary test: Lesson Three vocabulary words (edifice, ambidextrous…) The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence.

Make flashcards for your 30-15-10 prefix/root/suffix handout. Use this website if you like: http://www.printableflashcards.net/make_flash_cards.php

Friday, September 21, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 14

Day 2 of 2 - Library Orientation  - Finished work on Works Cited/Bibliography assignment (from Library Orientation) – see Mrs. Blunt in library for details

ENGLISH homework:

Study for vocabulary test on Monday, September 24 (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)

ALSO DUE MONDAY: Create a personal plotline that includes 25 highs and lows from your life – use 2 sheets of paper for the following:

1.      On one paper, list your 25 highs and lows of our own lives over the last few years, chronologically (in code if necessary)

2.      On a separate paper, map the same 25 points (showing the highs and lows, graphically)

Thursday, September 20, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 13

1. NO VOCABULARY TEST UNTIL MONDAY!!
2. Get a manila folder from the center table. Erase the name and hour and NEATLY WRITE your name and hour
1. Find your graded Most Dangerous Game test on the counter and add it to your folder and return it to the center table.
3. Review answers to Vocabulary #2 exercises
4. Activity #3 – Killgallon pgs. 10,11
5. Read “Texting Makes You Stupid” article Newsweek
1. Summarize in 4 sentences
6. Complete #1,2,3 – unscrambling sentences
1. COLLECTED #4,5,6 (above)
7. BEGIN HOMEWORK: Discussed how to create a personal plotline that includes 25 highs and lows of our own lives over the last few years (finish for Monday) – number the plotline (graph) and make a numbered key for your reference.

ENGLISH homework: 

DATE CHANGE: This week’s vocabulary test on Lesson 2 will be bumped to Monday, September 24. The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence. 

ALSO DUE MONDAY: Create a personal plotline that includes 25 highs and lows from your life – use 2 sheets of paper for the following:

1.      On one paper, list your 25 highs and lows of our own lives over the last few years, chronologically (in code if necessary)

2.      On a separate paper, map the same 25 points (showing the highs and lows, graphically)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 11

1. Complete “chunking” exercise (3 new sentences, divide them into meaningful chunks)
2. Grade MDG tests from yesterday.
3. VIDEO LECTURE: Take notes while watching “Rules of Outlining” video
4. Using your notes, create a detailed outline about “The Most Dangerous Game”
5. Begin homework

ENGLISH homework:

Complete back of vocabulary sheet #2

Study for this week's vocabulary test (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 12

Check homework: Back of vocabulary sheet #2

Day 1 of 2 - Library Orientation - Began work on Works Cited/Bibliography assignment – see Mrs. Blunt in library for details

ENGLISH homework:

DATE CHANGE: This week’s vocabulary test on Lesson 2 will be bumped to Monday, September 24. The test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence.

Monday, September 17, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 10
1.      Collect homework:
a.       Most Dangerous Game REVIEW (from Friday)

2.      Clear desk for TEST on Most Dangerous Game

3.      When you finish your test, in your notebooks, complete the following:

a.       Imagine that The Most Dangerous Game was a fable for cyborgs. Name 5 lessons (or truths) that cyborgs are to learn from it.

1. Examples - don’t reuse these J

                                                              i.      If you keep your nerve, you can succeed

                                                            ii.      Dogs are not man’s best friend.

b.      Imagine that the only things the cyborg understands about how real human beings are to behave is from what he learns from “The Most Dangerous Game”

                                                  i.      Write down 5 POSITIVE THINGS that he would learn about the behavior of humans if we inputted the story “The Most Dangerous Game” into his memory.

4.      Pick up this week’s vocabulary words and look them over until everyone is finished with their tests.

5.      Show grades and review vocabulary test from Friday

6.      Sentence “chunking” – meaningless vs. meaningful

a.       Unscrambling sentences 

ENGLISH homework:

Study for vocabulary test on Friday (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)

Friday, September 14, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 9

1. Check homework: 3 made up sentences; 3 different points of view (re: “The Most Dangerous Game”)
2. Vocabulary test #1
3. ADD TO NOTES: Objective POV
4. Complete MDG review/handout for Monday’s test.

 

ENGLISH homework:

Finish Most Dangerous Game review sheet/handout – to be collected Monday
Study for fill-in-blank and short answer test on “The Most Dangerous Game” Monday

Thursday, September 13, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 8

1. Check homework: vocabulary handout #1-13
2. Return all graded assignments
1. First/last name, date, hour on EVERY ASSIGNMENT
3. As a group, make a list of 10 conflicts/complications (large and small) from MDG
1. For each conflict, also tell

                                                              i.      Internal or external

                                                            ii.      Man vs. ? (see your Literary Term handout for list of different conflicts)

                                                          iii.      Label the MAIN CONFLICT as “C”

                                                          iv.      List the CLIMAX of the story

                                                            v.      Label the complications that took place in the Rising Action as “R”

4. Using your Literary Terms handout (page 2) – read the “Point of View” paragraph noting the 3 different kinds of narrators – then make up one sentence for the story “The Most Dangerous Game” using each of the 3 kinds of narrators – HOMEWORK: TO BE CHECKED TOMORROW IN CLASS

ENGLISH homework:

1. Make up one sentence for each of the 3 kinds of narrators from the story “The Most Dangerous Game” (1^st person, limited omniscient, omniscient)
2. Study for vocabulary test on Friday (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)
3. Test on “The Most Dangerous Game” Monday

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 7

1. Collect homework: plotline handout for “The Most Dangerous Game”
2. Completed Discovery Education testing in Lab 140
1. http://assignments.discoveryeducation.com/ (please note that there is not a “www” in this address
3. Complete “Exercise I” (#1, 2) on the back of the vocabulary handout
1. After 5 minutes (or so) review the answers to Exercise I only. (see ANSWER KEY)
2. Finish Exercise I (#1, 2) and II (#1-13) for homework.

ENGLISH homework: 

Complete the back side of this week’s vocabulary handout for tomorrow. 

Study for vocabulary test on Friday (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 6

1. Pick up a copy of this week’s vocabulary words (on center table)
• You will have a fill-in-the-blank test on Friday
2. Finish reading “The Most Dangerous Game” in Literature book p. 24 – end.
3. Complete plotline assignment for “The Most Dangerous Game”
• Using your Literary Terms packet, summarize the definitions.

ENGLISH homework:

Finish plotline assignment for “The Most Dangerous Game”

Study for vocabulary test on Friday (the test will have a word bank and 20 fill-in-the-blank sentences – you provide the correct vocabulary word for each sentence)

Monday, September 10, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 5

1. Begin writing a paragraph with the word “I…” (TO BE COLLECTED)
1. But pretend you are a deer on opening day of hunting, tell us what is happening and what you are thinking (inner conflict).

                                                              i.      EXAMPLE: “I never look forward to opening day…”

2. 60 second PREVIEW of “The Most Dangerous Game” – formed first impressions of short story

3. Discussed the difference between a guess and an inference
4. As you listen to the story…
1. Write 3 predictions/inferences from the story using the following format: “Because the story says…I predict…” (TO BE COLLECTED TODAY)
5. Listen to a reading of “The Most Dangerous Game” in Literature book p. 19 – 24

ENGLISH homework:

None

Friday, September 7, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 4

1.     If you are missing ANY of the following homework, fill out a pink sheet.

a.       Collect homework (be sure to include your name, date, and hour)
                                                              i.      Signed Contact Information Sheet
                                                            ii.      Commercial
                                                          iii.      Plotline for a movie or book
2. After you laid out your homework, do BOTH of the following:

1. if you do not have your book, WITHOUT ASKING ME, go to locker and get your Literature book (the purple one)…you won’t be marked “tardy” J

                                                              i.      Then write your name on the inside cover

2. Pick up copy of Literary Terms handout (on center table) – review “plotline” and “conflict”

4. Pre/Post test Tri A

5. After you finish your PRE test,

1. list the abilities/talents that you (or other people) would say you have.

                                                              i.      “Between living and dreaming there is a third thing. Guess it.” – Spanish poet Antonio Machado

2. What do you hope to do with them in the future?

6. ANSWER to last night’s challenge: What contraction uses an apostrophe that represents exactly 3 letters?

7. Read commercials

ENGLISH homework:
Remind parents to send me a brief email from their preferred email address with student name in the Subject line (if they haven’t already done so).

 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 3

1. CONTEST: Write down as many examples of contractions as you can. (ex. can’t…)
1. Discuss contractions (and a challenge to name a contraction whose apostrophe stood in for 3 letters)
2. Read a copy of “How to Write a Commercial” on center table
3. Plotline powerpoint
1. Took notes on plotlines       
2. As a table, write up a believable example using each of the 6 parts of the plotline

 

 

4. Using your classwork from yesterday, write a commercial that will persuade a person to buy the very thing you said you would never buy. (our first persuasive writing piece)

1. TO BE COLLECTED

5. BEGIN HOMEWORK (you may NOT use any of the Harry Potters):

1. Think of one of your favorite books or films.
2. Next, number your paper 1 – 6.
3. Then, using your plotline notes, write a short sentence for each of the 6 plotline points as they relate to your film.

For example: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

1. exposition:

2. conflict: “Harry attempts to stop Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents, from stealing the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

3. rising action:

4. climax:  “Professor Snape’s apparent hex on Harry during the Quidditch game brings the simmering tension between good and evil out into the open, shifting Harry’s concern from winning the game to surviving.”

5. falling action:

6. resolution:

ENGLISH homework:

1.      GROUP WORK: 6 plotlines for madeup RFC lunchroom story

2.      Write script for 30 second commercial for the thing that you would never buy (from yesterday’s classwork)

3.      Write a plotline (1-6) for a movie or book (NOT Harry Potter)

4.      Challenge: name a contraction whose apostrophe stands in for 3 letters

5.      Signed Contact Information Sheet due Friday.

6.      Remind parents to send me a brief email from their preferred email address with student name in the Subject line (if they haven’t already done so).

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

ENGLISH - 1^st trimester – Day 2

WARMUP:

1. WITHOUT BEING ASKED, on the center table, pick up a copy of
1. “Syllabus - English 9 – Trimester A” –

                                                              i.      Read it over

                                                            ii.      2 signatures for homework – due FRIDAY

2. Discussed pink sheets and homework binder and blog
3. Watched several Cyber bullying and Power of Bystanders videos –
1. Discussed “Silent Observer” program at RFC
2. Shared good bystander shutdown phrases and techniques
4. On Elmo: shared table work from yesterday
5. Watched bonus cyborg footage and individually answered the 3 following questions:
1. What is the cyborg’s ability (according to the video)
2. How did he get that ability
3. What does he hope to do with this ability in the future
6. Listed 3 things that we would never buy no matter what.
1. Exchanged papers…

                                                              i.      Chose 1 favorite of the 3

                                                            ii.      and listed 10 things that could be done with it

ENGLISH homework:

SAVE classwork from today – we will add on to it tomorrow and turn it in for credit.

Signed Contact Information Sheet due Friday.

Remind parents to send me a brief email from their preferred email address with student name in the Subject line (if they haven’t already done so).

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

ENGLISH – 1^st trimester – Day 1

Found our assigned seats and tables

Read introductory letter to parents – asked questions about new teacher

Watched introductory videos as well as “Cyborg” video

In our table groups, we

1.      listed 10 abilities for the cyborg.

2.      chose our favorite ability of the 10 and then

3.      created both a back-story (past) and

4.      a future for the chosen ability.

5.      illustrate your idea.

Tornado, Fire, and Code Red drills explained

If time: shared table work with the rest of the class by explaining the ability we chose as well as the past and future stories about that ability.

ENGLISH homework:

Parents send SIMPLE email with student name in subject line and parent name and relationship to student in body of email. Send to tvanbragt@rockfordschools.org

Go to classroom blog... http://mrvanbragtonline.blogspot.com/