Tuesday 6 April

WE are starting off today with a Vocabulary Lesson.
I will get the notes up on the Mini-Lesson Vocab page shortly.
Today you will have time in class to work on your papers.

The Papers are due on Friday April 9!

By Friday you must

• Complete 2 peer reviews
• Get rid of all of the highlighting in your paper.
• Change the file name to "Final Draft"

Monday 5 April

Literature Circle Meeting 4
Today in class, students participated in the 4th Literature Circle meeting.
The reading assignment for today was

• A Farewell to Arms  Chapters 15-19 (XV-XIX)
• The Great Gatsby Chapter 4

 The next literature circle meeting will be Thursday April 8

Wednesday 31 March

Today in class, students participated in the 3rd Literature Circle meeting.
The reading assignment for today was

• A Farewell to Arms  Chapters 11-14 (XI-XIV)
• The Great Gatsby Chapter 3

 The next literature circle meeting will be Monday April 5

Tuesday 30 March

Today I walked the students through creating a Works Cited page for their Persuasive Research papers.
If you were absent you will need to come in after school on Tuesday April 6 to make up the assignment

Monday 29 March

Today in class we worked on Peer Review of our Persuasive Research Papers. Students will receive points toward their final draft for having two peers edit their papers.
I announced to the class that the Final Drafts are due on April 9

Thursday 18 March

Today the students participated in their Second Literature Circle meeting. The reading assignments were as follows:

• A Farewell to Arms, Chapters 7-10
• The Great Gatsby, Chapter 2

Wednesday 17 March

Today I gave students time to work on their Freewrite assignment and their papers in the lab. Students shared their papers with their Lit Circle group and then began to edit their papers together.

* Reminder * the Freewrite assignment is due Friday.

The blog is not allowing anyone to post comments for some reason, so you must now UPLOAD your 2 freewrites to GOOGLE DOCS.

Tuesday 16 March

Today is Tuesday so we began today with a Mini-Lesson on several Latin Prefixes. The notes will be on the Mini-Lesson page.

I then directed the students to view a powerpoint on Persuasive technique and asked them to revise their papers with that powerpoint in mind. The Powerpoint is on Google Apps for them to view again if they need to see it.
I gave the students time with the netbooks to work on papers, work on their Freewrite assignment, or to peer review their papers.

If you were absent be sure you check your Google Apps account.

Monday 15 March

Today was Literature Circle Meeting 1.

If you were absent you must still have your worksheet completed for the next class period and we will talk about the discussion points.

Friday 12 March

Friday was SSR. The students were allowed to read their Literature Circle books and then work on the corresponding worksheet. There was no learning log today

Thursday 11 March

Students recieved their Literature Circle books today. They chose which book of the two options they will be reading and there will be a final project that they will be working on after Spring break!!!
The students are either reading The Great Gatsby or A Farewell to Arms.

The first three Literature Circle Meeting assignments are
Meeting 1--March 15 
Farewell read Chapters 1-6
Gatsby read Chapter 1

Meeting 2--March 18
Farewell read Chapters 7-10
Gatsby read Chapter 2

Meeting 3--March 31
Farewell read Chapters 11-14
Gatsby read Chapter 3

Wednesday 10 March

Today I handed out the new Peer Review sheets that are designed specifically for Google Docs. You can view this document at the link below.
Peer Review for Google Docs
I explained the checklist and went over it with the class.
I explained the small writing groups that I will be putting them in for both the Literature Circle and the Research paper.
We then had time in the Computer lab for the students to continue to work on their papers.

Tuesday 9 March

I gave the students several important reminders about behavior and dress code as we head toward warmer weather.

Today we had our usual Vocabulary Mini-Lesson. The notes for the Vocab mini-lesson can be found on the Mini-Lesson page. See menu above!

We also had a Mini-Lesson on Revising and Proofreading. The notes for that mini-lesson are in the slide show embedded below.


For the remainder of class I gave the students time with the Netbooks to check their grades and work on their papers.


After both Mini-Lessons

Monday 8 March 2010

We began with a FreeWrite, and then I introduced The Great Gatsby to the class. WE will be reading The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms in Literature Circle Groups starting on Thursday of this week.

The inspiration for the Freewrite is included in the Powerpoint embedded below.


After seeing both the Farewell to Arms Presentation and The Great Gatsby presentation students choose which book they will read. I will put the Literature Circle groups together by the student's choice of book.

The Farewell to Arms Presentation

Friday 5 March

1st Hour, 4th Hour, 5th Hour, 7th Hour
Today these students will have a "Last Chance" writing session in the computer labs. The first draft of the paper is due uploaded to Google Apps by 6pm tonight.

3rd Hour and 6th Hour
Today is SSR for you.
The Learning Log is as follows:

• Learning Log    5/3/2010
• Title of Book:     Number of Pages Read:
• Finish this phrase
• The topic of what I read today is . . .       I am interested in this because . . .

Thursday 4 March

1st Hour
Freewrite on the poem posted below.

After the freewrite we viewed a slide show on A Farewell to Arms

3rd Hour and 6th Hour
We went to the Library to work on our papers. This is the last in class work day before the 1st draft is due tomorrow at 6 pm.

4th, 5th, 7th hour
Freewrite on the stimulus below...

We also viewed a Slideshow on A Farewell to Arms

Wednesday 3 March

ALL HOURS 
We are starting with a Freewrite today: You are to write about whatever comes to your mind as you read this poem. Don't try to analyze just respond to the poem. We'll write for 10 minutes today.
***First Hour will do the freewrite tomorrow***



After we finish the freewrite, we are going to graph the number of words we have written for all the freewrites this quarter. I will also be checking how many Freewrites, Mini-lessons, and Learning Logs each student has done.

Monday 1 March

We have the netbooks in class today.

I showed students sections of the Owl at Purdue site. We looked at MLA style for In-text Citations and how to incorporate more research into a paper.


View the links here....MLA Works Cited Page
                                 MLA In Text Citations

Friday 26 February

Today the students were provided with time in the computer lab to work on their papers.

Thursday 25 February

All Hours

Today is SSR because we have the Computer Lab all day tomorrow.

The Learning Log for today is as follows:

• Learning Log    2/25/2010
• Title of Book:     Number of Pages Read:
• Finish this phrase
• The plot of my book. . .  

Honors
Time in the lab to write

Wednesday 24 February

All HOURS

Point Breakdown for Research paper.
View the Handout here.

We also looked at The Owl at Purdue's website on Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing.
View the page here.

I gave out a handout on Paraphrasing as well.
View the page here

Honors
Time in the Lab to write. . .

Tuesday 23 February

All HOURS


Mini Lesson Vocab Latin Prefixes
See Mini-Lesson Notes page

WE also looked at In-Text Citations for Internet sources.

Monday 22 February

ALL Hours
Today we are working in class on our persuasive research papers.

Reminder: The outline must be uploaded on Google Apps by the end of class tomorrow.
The first draft is due March 5

Friday 19 February

All HOURS

Today students will type their outlines in the lab. After typing their outlines in the format I will provide they will submit the outlines for marking in their Google Apps account.
OutlineTemplate

Completed Outline is due February 23
1st draft of the Paper is due March 5
Finding lab time is a real challenge right now, so the students will have only one or two days a  week to work on the paper.

Thursday 18 February

1, 3, 4th Hour
SSR today because we will be in the computer lab tomorrow.

The Learning Log is as follows:
Read for 30 minutes and then in your Composition Book complete this learning log by writing these things in your comp book.

• Learning Log and the date
• Title of book and the pages you read
• Then finish this sentence in 50 words or so
• The author of my book should have or should not have. . .

Wednesday 17 February 2010

All Hours
We are scheduling for next year today.


1, 3, 4th Hour
While students are scheduling, work on finding facts and quotes from your research that will support your points on your outline. Use note-cards or highlight the quotes you want to use.


5, 6, 7th Hour
Turn in the thesis statement for your paper. Begin working on the outline for your paper.

Tuesday 16 February

 All Hours
Vocab Mini-Lesson for Today
Latin Roots
-Tract-  To pull, drag, draw
attract, contract, detract, extract, protract, retract, traction

-Vert- To turn
convert, divert, invert, revert
 

First Hour
Today's Assignment is to write out the THESIS for your paper following the guidelines we discussed yesterday in class. After writing your Thesis statement fill out the Persuasion Map with points and facts from your research that support your Thesis. This will serve as a beginning outline for your paper.
Persuasion Map

3rd, 4th Hour
Turn in the Thesis statement you wrote yesterday. Then complete the persuasion map linked above and turn in by the end of the hour.

5th, 6th, 7th Hour
Thesis statements Powerpoint and handout.
Assignment: Write a thesis statement for your paper and submit before the end of class.
5th and 6th hour
The Powerpoint is linked in the 15 February post.


Honors
Your PowerPoint is linked below.

Monday 15 February

1, 3, 4th Hours

Today we have a lesson on Thesis statements and practice on how to write a thesis statement.
Students must write a thesis statement for their papers and submit by class time tomorrow.

Below is the powerpoint lesson I shared in class today.




5, 6, 7th hour
Today is SSR for you, so that we can stay on schedule. I know that SSR has been really thrown off, but it has to happen this way so that we can get into the computer labs when we need to. 
Read for 30 minutes and then complete this Learning Log in your composition books

• Learning Log and the date
• Title of book and the pages you read
• Then finish this sentence in 50 words or so
• My book inspires me to. . .

 

Friday 12 February

All Hours 
Today is SSR. However I have added a Learning Log component to the reading. So as usual you must read for 30 minutes then in your composition book write these things down

• Learning Log and the date
• Title of book and the pages you read
• Then finish this sentence in 50 words or so
• Because of what I read today I . . .

If you are absent or in ISS for an SSR, you must read for 30 minutes complete the learning log and then have a parent, guardian or Mr. Henry (ISS) sign your composition book.

Thursday 11 February

1, 3, 4, 5, 6 period
Students began collecting sources in the computer lab. The website organizer sheet was due today along with 4 printed sources. These sources will be used for a project on Monday and from here out the paper is going to start to form. It's time for each student to have a chosen topic that they not change.

Honors
Mini-Lesson 7 today.


Students began doing research. Honors students are required to get one source from one of the Highschool Library's databases. These databases can be accessed at this link.http://www.willardr2.net/whs/index.html

Wednesday 10 February

1, 3, 4, 5, 6 period
The students completed the Internet Citation Organizer worksheet. This worksheet gave them practice in collecting information from websites in order to cite them in a research paper.

Internet Citation Organizer


Honors
We visited the College Fair.

Tuesday 9 February

Mr. Grauf, the junior class counselor, spoke to the students about scheduling today. The students must bring their scheduling materials to class next Wednesday, the 17th, to make their actual schedules.

Monday 8 February

1st and 3rd Hour
We began the hour with a Freewrite

The options for writing are

• Should political/religious/public service type commercials be allowed during the SuperBowl? or 
• What would be an appropriate punishment for someone who could throw an 8 month old baby into a river?
• or You may write about whatever you want to write about. 

We had Mini-Lesson 8 about Citing Websites and Evaluating the website for good research. 
The students were then given a worksheet to help them collect the necessary information they need for citing from the websites they are planning to use in their papers.




This link will allow you to print the worksheet. Website organizer

4th, 5th, and 6th hour
See above minus the Freewrite

Honors
We are just beginning our research paper in 7th hour. We brainstormed topic ideas and discussed the paper requirements today.
ABC Brainstorming Excersise
Persuasive Research Paper

Friday 5 February 2010

1st hour, 3rd hour, and 4th hour
Today is Sustained Silent Reading. Students must read for 3 minutes and then write about or discuss what they have read.


5th hour, 6th hour
Freewrite and MiniLesson 7 on Preliminary Research---Narrowing your topic.

Honors
Brainstorming topics for papers. Narrow topic down and Submit worksheet.

Thursday 4 February 2010

3rd and 4th hour
Students will begin their research for their paper. They will choose and narrow down a topic today.

1st, 5th, 6th, and Honors
Students will receive the Research paper assignment today. We will begin brainstorming some topic ideas.

Wednesday 3 February 2010

We have been reading short stories by Anzia Yezierska in Literature Circles. We are finishing them up and moving on to our Research paper. We will begin a new set of Literature Circles in a week or two. 

1st hour, 3rd hour and 4th hour
We began the morning by freewriting about the student's choice of several topics.
The student's received the assignment sheet for their Persuasive Research paper and we brainstormed topics as a class. The assignment sheet is linked below for you to view or print. 
Research paper assignment sheet

5th hour, 6th hour and Honors
We finished the Literature Circle today. The students finished their final worksheets and discussions of the short stories. They then completed the a Self-Reflection worksheet.

Tuesday January 26, 2010

In all hours today we did Mini-Lesson #5 on Latin word parts -pend- and -pel

Hours 1,3,4 
Began Lit Circles to read short stories with poverty themes

Hours 5,6
Will read and think-aloud through Safe in the Classroom
The students will then write 2 discussion questions to submit for credit.
Students will also Finish their Poverty KWL and submit for credit

Honors
Will read and think-aloud through Safe in the Classroom
The students will then participate in a class discussion of the text.
Students will also Finish their Poverty KWL and submit for credit.

Monday January 25, 2010

1st, 3rd, and 4th hour
We read an article titled "Safe in the Classroom" to continue our poverty unit. This is a non-fiction article.
The students were asked to write 2 possible discussion questions on the article.

The students were also asked to finish their KWL charts on Poverty and submit to be graded.

5th, 6th, and 7th hour
We are switching the Sustained Silent Reading day to Monday. The students read for 35 minutes and then did a 5 minute freewrite about some aspect of what they are currently reading.

Friday 22 January

Today is SSR. Read for 30 minutes. Record how many pages you read and write for 5 minutes.
Count your words and record in the margin of your entry.

Thursday 21 January

Today's Agenda
    Freewrite #4
    Mini-Lesson #4 Writing Discussion Questions
    Read the Article titled "Global Teen"
             Write 2 discussion questions based on the article and the concepts learned in the Mini-Lesson.
   
Next week we will be using these discussion questions for a fishbowl discussion.

Wednesday January 20

Today students applied what they learned yesterday to a cartoon about job loss and the recession. Students completed an analysis worksheet on a cartoon that I provided them.

Tuesday January 19

Today we began looking at Media Messages about poverty. We started today by examining techniques that political cartoonist use to get messages across. We looked at the website linked below and then examined some political/editorial cartoons with poverty themes. 
It's no Laughing Matter

Monday, 18 January

Today, we revised our Found Poetry. The students typed the poems in Google Apps and shared with me for grading. They also chose several images of poverty to illustrate their poems.

Friday, January 15

Today is SSR.
We are trying something new this semester. We will be reading for 30 minutes each Friday and then doing a Freewrite for 5 minutes after reading. You will count your words today just like you did on Wednesday. Also, you need to record how many pages you read.
Happy Reading!

Wednesday, January 13 and Thursday, January 14

WEDNESDAY
Freewrite #1 for the semester.
Today we began a KWL chart on the topic of Poverty in America. We did the K (know) column in class and the students will finish the chart as we move through this unit.

THURSDAY
I provided the students with some poverty statistics and from the information on the chart, the statistics, and the classroom bulletin board the students are to write a Found Poem. A found poem is a poem composed of words and phrases found in literature provided as a stimulus.
The student poems must be at least
10 lines or phrases long. They will be submitted at the end of the hour.

Monday January 11

Today in class we finished watching the animated feature 9. Tomorrow we will be discussing several topics related to the film.
The topics we will be discussing include, but are not limited to

• Propaganda
• Author Bias
• Artist Sensitivity
• Apocalyptic literature
• Poverty
• Forced Poverty
• Philosophy
• Irony
• Facets of humanity

There are several other things that we may or may not address.
We will begin our poverty/critical reading unit in force on Wednesday.

Welcome to a new Semester

We're starting the year off with a critical reading unit looking at the issue of poverty in America. We will be reading a variety of non-fiction texts and media.
We will also view some fiction pieces that have certain biases or elements of propaganda. Students will be asked to create a real to life project at the end of the unit.
Most of what we do in this unit will be online using netbooks, the computer lab, and Google Docs.