Monday November 30

Your assignment for today is below

Tuesday November, 24

Monday, November 23

We have a freewrite today

This is also Writer's Workshop Lab day.

Friday November, 20

Today's SSR.

Thursday November, 19

We continued to work on the take home/open book test today.

Tomorrow is SSR.

Wednesday Nov 18

Today we are working on the OPEN BOOK TEST.

Tuesday, November 17

Peer Editing Day!
Student's should be finishing up Paper 1 and starting Paper 2

Monday, November 16

Lab day for Writer's Workshop

I have pushed back the 2nd Portfolio check to December 3rd, and you will only be required to have your first paper finished by December 17. We will stretch conferencing on the 2nd paper into 2nd semester. 

Friday the 13th

SSR

Webbing the Setting

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Searching the blog

Searching instructions
Some of you have expressed complaints that the blog is hard to find things on. Well, let me help you with that.

If you look to the left you will find a column of helpful items. You will see that there is a "Search this Blog" feature to the left. If you click in the box and type in a key word like FREEWRITE or SSR the blog will find all of the instances of that word in the text and create a new clear window at the top of the blog with all of the posts containing that word displayed for you. This will help you find what you are looking for. Please take advantage of this.

Thursday, November 12

Today, I handed out an open book, take home test. Please see me immediately if you did not get one.

In our culture of technology and 21st century skills, traditional ways of assessing student knowledge are out the window. So, I am trying this testing format, because I am expecting you to collaborate, read critically, paraphrase, summarize, and think outside of the box. The test looks like a traditional paper, pencil test, but the way you take it has changed. I want you to use your book. I want you to use your neighbor and if you think that this means that you can cheat. . . then think again. You may use your neighbor, but no two answers on the short and extended answer items should look exactly alike. THere is a dfference between copying and collaborating. I want you to collaborate. If I get two papers with identical answers to the short and extended answer items then both people will fail! I know you can't help but have the same answers on the multiple choice, but all of these multiple choice questions are complex and require you to think about each and every response, so I hope you will think and collaborate and come to a consensus.

Wednesday, November 11

Today is Veteran's Day.

In Honor of Veterans day, we took a second look at the "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I assigned Freewrite #9 by asking you to write about what you might set up as a monument in your life. What might that monument look like and what would it represent.

Freewrite #10 is homework for anytime between now and Monday. Write for 5 minutes about a topic of your choice.

Monday and Tuesday 11/9 and 11/10

Monday
Today is Writer's Workshop Laboratory Day. Student's should work on Revising Paper 1 or start drafting Paper 2.


Tuesday
Peer editing day.

After today, I will not give points for late Portfolio Checks. If you did not check your portfolio with me today, you are out of luck. The next portfolio check is 11/19.

Happy Friday!

Today is SSR.
The topic for today is. . .

If your book became your current reality, how would your day look?

I am collecting your composition books today. Be sure that you have marked two of your freewrites for me to read for extra points.

Thursday!

Portfolio checks were today. If you were absent you need to have your portfolio ready for me to view tomorrow.

I will be collecting your composition books tomorrow.

Wednesday--Henry David Thoreau

Today we are reading Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience." We began the class with a freewrite answering the questions below
1. What makes a law just or good?
2. How does one determine whether a law is good or bad?

We then read the essay on page 412 and looked at the biographical information on page 400.

I announced that I am writing a test for you. It will be over all of the Transcendentalism stuff, and I will give you a study guide. The test will be the Wednesday the 18th, and I will give you the study guide on the 11th.

Tuesday--Writer's Workshop Editing day

Freewrite #2

Today we looked at this painting by Asher Durand called "Kindred Spirits." Durand is one of the most famous Transcendentalist painters, and this is a prime example of his landscape painting. The two men in the painting are Durand and Thomas Cole who were instrumental in starting the Hudson River School (an art movement made up of transcendentalist painters). As you look at this painting write about whatever comes to mind. You can talk about the painting itself or you can merely use it as a jumping off place.

Writer's Workshop--After freewriting today we are working on editing our papers. Remember you have a portfolio check on Thursday.

November is here!

It's Monday!
Today is lab day for Writer's Workshop. You need to continue working on Paper #1.
We are looking at paper formatting on the Owl at Purdue website. Remember we have a portfolio check on Thursday.

Freewrite #1 is homework for tonight.