Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Period 1:
Vocab Quiz
Finish Iraq Memorial Presentations:








Sunrise over Fallujah Quiz

Period 2:
Vocab Quiz
Present Act IV presentations
King Lear, Act IV:


Hamlet, Act IV:


Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Three Cups of Tea Quiz
Work on Kindness Project

Thought for the day...
Where there is no imagination there is no Horror.
— Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

OPEN HOUSE TONIGHT - 6-7

Period 1:
Present Current Events
Reading Quiz
Begin Iraq Memorial Presentations

Period 2:
Present Current Events
Mini-conference with Mrs. Tyler
Work on Shakespeare Project

Period 6:
Present Current Events
Reading Quiz
Mini-conference with Mrs. Tyler
Work on Kindness Project

Thought for the day...
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

It snowed!

EARLY RELEASE DAY - SHORTENED BLOCKS!

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
Reading Quiz
Work on memorial project

Period 2:
Review Vocabulary
Using vocabulary in relation to Hamlet and King Lear
Project work

Period 6:
Review vocabulary
Reading Quiz
Work on kindness project

Thought for the day...
The most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek.
— Robert Louis Stevenson

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Period 1:
Quiz & Review of Sunrise over Fallujah
Work on memorial projects

Period 2:
Act III Presentations

Period 6:
Reading Quiz & Discussion
Work on Kindness Project

Thought for the day...
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.
— Theodore Roosevelt

Monday, October 27, 2008

Senior Supper is tonight - 5:30-7:00, followed by a pep rally & fireworks! Girls are #2 & Boys are #13. Go Engineers!!!

Period 1:
Brief discussion of reading
Worked on Iraq memorials

Period 2:
Mapping Act I & Act II of Hamlet & King Lear
Project work

Hamlet Act II


Period 6:
Shared Day of Kindness Reflection
Reading Quiz on 5-7
Redo of Quiz 3-4
Worked on Kindness Project

Thought for the day...
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop
Go forth today & do at least one kindness... How did it feel? What was the response?

Friday, October 24, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Two Memorial Presentations
Worked on Iraqi Monuments

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Hamlet Act II Presentation & Charlie's soliloquy
Weekly evaluations
Worked on Act III

King Lear Act II


Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Reading Quiz & Discussion
Sharing Day of Kindness Reflections
Work on Kindness Project

Thought for the day...
Lord Chesterfield - "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well."

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Fall Frolic!!!

Period 1: (Shortened)
Present Current Events
Sunrise over Fallujah Quiz

Some of the memorial presentations...
Washington Monument



Ground Zero Memorial

Period 2: (Shortened)
Present Current Events
Work on Shakespeare projects

The Plot of King Lear


Section A: The Plot of King Lear. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008



The Plot of Hamlet

Section A: The Plot of Hamlet. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008


Thought for the day...
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
Albert Einstein
Consider Rachel's Challenge: "choose your influences and use kind words."

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
Finished Memorial Presentations
Sunrise over Fallujah Quiz & Brief Discussion
Catch-up Reading

Period 2:
Viewing portions of King Lear & Hamlet by Standard Deviants
Discussion on Shakespeare Project Expectations
Review Vocabulary
Act II Presentations - King Lear (will be uploaded soon)
Hamlet will be Friday!

King Lear as Figurative Art

Section B: King Lear as Figurative Art. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008

The Mysteries in Hamlet

Section A: The Plot of Hamlet. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008

Philosophy in Hamlet

Section D: The Philosophy of Hamlet. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008

Period 6:
Review Vocabulary
Three Cups of Tea Quiz & Discussion
Discussion on Kindness Project & Research

Thought for the day...
Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in doing.
— William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act I:2

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fall Frolic is now going to be on Thursday!!! Dress warm - it is supposed to be highs around 40.

Period 1:
Short discussion on Sunrise over Fallujah - considering the difficulty of identifying the enemy, building community relations and understanding character and society motivations.

Presentations of war memorials - presentations will be uploaded soon - stay tuned.

Period 2:
Finished outlining of characters in King Lear
Understanding and identifying major theme in King Lear and Hamlet
Worked on Act II Presentations - due tomorrow!!

Because of questions raised today and yesterday, I will provide some video clips in class that should offer some assistance. Here are the videos for your review.

Understanding the Double Plot in King Lear:


Section C: The Double Plots. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008

Understanding Hamlet's Character


Section C: Hamlet's Character. Standard Deviants. 2001.
Discovery Education. 22 October 2008

Period 6:
Finish colonialism test
Begin work on Kindness Project
Discuss Three Cups of Tea

Thought of the day...
You see things, and say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?”
— George Bernard Shaw
What do you "dare to dream"? (#2 on Rachel's Challenge)

Monday, October 20, 2008

Period 1:
Short Class - Finish Presentations
RACHEL'S CHALLENGE

Period 2:
Work on Shakespeare Projects - Act II
Check out the resources under the October 14th posting!

Period 6:
Post-colonial literature test
Introduce Three Cups of Tea
Discuss Kindness Project & Rachel's Challenge

Thought for the day...
"I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same." - Rachel Scott
Did you accept the challenge? How did it feel hearing about how this young girl lived her life? How do you impact the world?

Friday, October 17, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss Reading
Work on presentation - PRESENTATIONS WILL BE TUESDAY (you will have NO TIME on Monday to work on it)

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Act I Presentations:
Hamlet



King Lear




Develop character charts - themes - etc.
Begin work on Act II

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Review Postcolonial Literature - TEST on Monday!

Thought for the day....
Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember.
— Oscar Levant

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Period 1:
Presented current events
Discussed major characters and the beginning of the Iraqi conflict, including the challenge of identifying the enemy
Worked on memorial project, phase 1

Period 2:
Presented current events
Discussed why Shakespeare wrote limited stage directions and gave little information on scenes
Looked at the difference between Arthur Miller and Shakespeare in the stage direction
Worked on Shakespeare project

Period 6:
Present current events
Quiz on Chapters 20-23
Discussion on Mr. Brown vs. Mr. Smith
Role play if time allows

Thought for the day...
"The best artists know what to leave out."
Charles de Lint
Why is it important to think about what is left out? Why shouldn't everything be included?

October 15, 2008

Period 1:
Review vocabulary
Introduce and begin war/memorial project
Quiz on Sunrise over Fallujah

Period 2:
Review vocabulary
Quick review of Shakespeare's hierarchy
Work on Shakespeare projecthttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Collected journals

Period 6:
Review vocabulary
Discuss Things Fall Apart


Thought for the day...
I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.
— Frances Willard

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Period 1:
Finish "Rights" Presentations
Introduce Iraq conflict and review other historical conflicts
Character logs

Period 2:
Discuss Shakespeare Project & Community Project
Brief introduction to iambic pentameter
Shakespeare Project groups

As promised: here are some great links for your plays...

King Lear

Hamlet

Dr. Friedlander really enjoys Shakespeare (even more than Mrs. Tyler) and he offers a lot of insight, history, etc. into the works. You may want to post other valuable links for your group members. To post a comment, all you need to do is click on comments (at the bottom of this posting) and add your comment. You will need to select Name/URL and please put your first name. You can leave the URL line blank. I will NOT post anonymous postings.


Period 6:
Things Fall Apart Quiz
Begin character assessment
Continue to get familiar in the village - playing with commands

Thought for the day...
"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."
Barry Goldwater

Friday, October 10, 2008

Period 1:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss "Ego"
Presentations

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Persepolis Jeopardy
Present Memoirs
Introduce Shakespeare Project

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss Things Fall Apart - Impact of the mother
Visit the village of Umuofia

Thought for the day...
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
William Shakespeare

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Period 1:
Present Current Events
Work on presentation

Period 2:
Present Current Events
Passage/Image discussion
Work on memoirs

Period 6:
Present Current Events
Part One Quiz
Discuss Things Fall Apart
Visit Umuofia

Thought for the day...
"All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education." - Sir Walter Scott

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
Work on issue research and presentations

Period 2:
Review Vocabulary
Work on memoir project
Discuss book


Period 6:
Essay Conferences
Review Vocabulary

Read Achebe's views on Conrad. Do you agree with Professor Webb's position? With Achebe? What is your take on this?

Publish your proofread thoughts to the blog.

Thought for the day...
Abraham Joshua Heschel - "Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge."

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Period 1:
Class in Room 19
Issue Research


Period 2:
Class in Art Room
Discussion on passages
Work on memoirs

Period 6:
Things Fall Apart discussion & presentations

Thought of the day...
"Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life."
- Elie Wiesel

Website Update & Things Fall Apart

Hi, all,

I have updated my website. Please let me know what you think of the new section - books to check out - and let me know how I can make it more useful to you.

We will be playing Things Fall Apart later in the week - or early next week. In the meantime, check out this blog: http://www.africanscramble.blogspot.com. Professor Webb's blog has a lot of information regarding postcolonial literature and some great questions regarding some of our recent works... yes, including the Heart of Darkness...and how they relate to Things Fall Apart.

See you in class...

Monday, October 6, 2008

Period 1:
Anthem Quiz & Discussion
Examining Bill of Rights
"I Got Rights" Introduction

Period 2:
Finish Persepolis Packet
Discuss passages
Work on Memoir

Period 6:
Things Fall Apart Quiz & Discussion
Work on Presentations

Thought for the day...
A. J. Liebling - "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."

What does this mean? How is it true? How is it not?

Friday, October 3, 2008

Period 1:
Discussion of Anthem
Looking at the Declaration of Independence
Vocabulary Quiz

Period 2:
Vocabulary Quiz
Personal narrative conferences
Begin memoir project

Period 6:
Vocabulary Quiz
Discuss Things Fall Apart
Work on TFA Research

Thought for the day...
"I dwell in possibility..."
— Emily Dickinson

Happy dwelling!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Period 1:
Present Current Events
Discuss Anthem in small groups: houses & rules
Begin talking about rights

Period 2:
Discuss Community Project
Present Current Events
Persepolis Packet (Islam)
Share images

Period 6:
Present Current Events
Discuss Things Fall Apart
Work on research project

Thought for the day...
"Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be."
Daniel J. Boorstin

Links for Persepolis Packet...

For those of you looking for new/replacement links... Here are some links that offer some good information to finish your packet:

Please be aware that some of these articles are biased and are not meant to represent my own views. The bias in these articles does however offer a different viewpoint than we might normally be exposed to and should be considered as you evaluate the information given.
http://www.carm.org/islam/faith_five_pillars.htm
http://www.islamicpath.org/pillars.html
http://ucpress.typepad.com/ucpresslog/2008/06/the-veil-women.html
http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2002/veil.html
http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/w_islam/veil.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/lifestyles/links/veils_05.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/lifestyles/links/veils_05.html

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Period 1:
Review Vocabulary
Brief introduction to Anthem
Breathing Underwater Test

Period 2:
*Shortened Period* (class meeting)
Review Vocabulary
Introduction to reading graphic novels
Begin review of Persepolis Packet

Period 6:
Review Vocabulary
Discuss Things Fall Apart
Postcolonialism, postmodernism & Enlightenment values

Thought for the day...
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.
— Herman Melville