Friday, April 29, 2011

For today's journal, please write a paragraph about what you have learned about Anne Frank and her family over the past few days in the computer lab. Please complete this assignment on a separate sheet of paper set up in MLA format.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Anne Frank Website

Computer Lab DAY ONE:

Today you will be using THIS WEBSITE to explore what life was like inside the Secret Annex. Be sure to take the entire tour of the Secret Annex today in order to answer the questions on your worksheet.

When you are on the website, scroll down a little. I want you to read and respond to the following four sections of the website:

Anne Frank's History

Anne Frank's Timeline

For this part, just watch the video called "Why go into hiding?"
The Secret Annex Online

Who is Who?

Computer Lab DAY TWO:

Today you will be exploring the Secret Annex using the 3D section of the website.

The Secret Annex 3D

Thursday, April 21, 2011

4/26 to 4/29

Tuesday 4/26:
1. Journal Responses to Preview Anne Frank
2. How big was the Secret Annex?
3. Website Preview
4. Giver Essays Due
HW: Finish your writing about the Secret Annex.

Wednesday 4/27:
COMPUTER LAB
1. Blog Comment
2. Research Anne Frank

Thursday 4/28:
COMPUTER LAB
1. Blog Comment
2. Research Anne Frank

Friday 4/29:
1. Research write-ups
2. Anne Frank Vocabulary
HW: Getting Packed Assignment (DUE MONDAY)!!!

The Giver Essay Pointers

Summary:
You just tell what happened. More like an elementary book-report type of thing.

Essay:
You prove, through your own original ideas, a THESIS statement, using examples from the text.

Right now your THESIS (the main idea of your essay) needs to be telling me WHAT YOU THINK THE THEME IS.

Theme:
The author’s main idea, message, or the “moral of the story.”

The theme IS NOT . . .
A summary of what happened. We already know WHAT HAPPENED. We all read the book together in class. I have taught it fourteen thousand times. If you give me four pages of WHAT HAPPENED, I will pull my hair out.

Possible themes for THE GIVER:
•Family and human relationships are important.
•One person can make a difference.
•Unless we know our past, we cannot plan our future.
•True wisdom comes from experiencing both emotional and physical pain.
•Without the hard times, we won’t appreciate the good times.
•Diversity is important. If everyone and everything was the same, life would be boring and meaningless.
•Giving people choices is important. Without choices, we become like robots.
•You should have a say in how you live your life.
•You don’t truly live until you give of yourself.
•We can learn so much from our elders.
•Giving love to others is more important than anything else.
•Although life is messy, we learn from our mistakes and should be allowed to make them from time to time.

By the way, you SHOULD feel frustrated and slightly pushed beyond your boundaries right now. That’s what we call LEARNING.

General Essay Reminders:
•First of all, this is worth 50 points. Make it good.
•Avoid writing “I believe that . . .” or “I think that . . .” I know that your essay is full of your beliefs and thoughts. Duh! It has your name on it. Whose thoughts and beliefs WOULD they be? Unless, of course, you’re plagiarizing, which none of you are doing right now, because you have no Internet access or student examples at the moment.
•Your textual evidence needs to SUPPORT YOUR THESIS.
•Place all textual evidence that you copy directly from the text in QUOTATION MARKS like this:
“He knew that in the danger of his escape he must be absolutely silent; but with his heart and mind, he called back and hoped that with his capacity for hearing-beyond, The Giver would know that Jonas had said goodbye” (153).
•Did you see how I made the page number bold? You DO NOT have to BOLD page numbers in your essay. You DO have to INCLUDE the page numbers for your textual evidence. Put the page number in PARENTHESES AFTER the quotation marks, but before the final punctuation.
•Please do not start your essay like this: “Hi! My name is Joe, and I’m here to tell you all about The Giver!”
•Please do not end your essay like this: “Well, that’s what I thought about the book. I hope you liked my essay. The end.”
•Again, SUMMARY does not equal RESPONSE TO LITERATURE. When you summarize you just tell what happened (like an elementary school book report). When you write a response to literature, you are writing about a specific feature of the text, such as the theme, and proving what your ideas are about it.

Now fly, fly, fly away, little birdies . . . write, write, write.

Monday, April 18, 2011

For your journal today, write to me about what the high points and the low points of your weekend were.

4/18 to 4/21

Monday 4/18:
1. Journals
2. Finish Poetry Presentations
3. Finish "Word Play"

Tuesday 4/19:
STAR Schedule . . . no English!

Wednesday 4/20:
1. Journals
2. Intros and Thesis Statements
3. The Giver Essays

Thursday 4/21:
1. Journals
2. Intros and Thesis Statements
3. The Giver Essays

Friday 4/22:
NO SCHOOL! Have a great four-day weekend and a fabulous Easter! See you TUESDAY, APRIL 26!!!

4/11 to 4/15

All this week:
STAR Testing
Finish Poetry

NO HW!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Get out the lyrics or poem you brought. Share it with your partner, and explain why you chose what you chose.

Friday, April 1, 2011

4/4 to 4/8

Monday 4/4:
1. Journals
2. The Giver Essays
3. Poetry
HW: If you HAVEN'T ALREADY, bring in a copy of your favorite poem or song lyrics.

Tuesday 4/5:
1. Poetry
2. STAR Test Practice
HW: Study your poetry vocab.

Wednesday 4/6:
1. Poetry
2. STAR Test Practice
HW: Study your poetry vocab.

Thursday 4/7:
1. Poetry
2. STAR Test Practice
HW: Study your poetry vocab.

Friday 4/8:
1. Poetry TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
2. STAR Test Practice
Please get out your finished essays. Yes, they are due today. Don't argue.

OK. Just kidding. April Fools! Ha ha ha.

Your real assignment:

Please get out your copy of "Jabberwocky" and start writing down in your journals all the words that RHYME, using the following format:

WABE/OUTGRABE