Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Period 1:
Review Cannery Row
Continuing to build the mosiac
Work on community maps

Period 2:
Share Things Fall Apart passages
Analyzing Yeats' "The Second Coming"

Period 3:
Our Town

Period 5:
Writing Prompt: Slam Poetry
Share/Respond
Finish Workshops

Thought for the day...
"These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves." - Gilbert Highet

Monday, March 30, 2009

What a dreary, rainy day!

Period 1:
Cannery Row quiz on Ch. 1-6
The novel as a mosaic
Examining the roles & relationships that make a community
Begin community maps

Period 2:
Share passages from Things Fall Apart
Discuss how culture changes
Review changes in novel
Begin analyzing Yeats' "The Second Coming"

Period 3:
Work on Our Town, using Celtx

Period 5:
Writing prompt: "Liar, liar" - writing from the persepective of someone who always lies
Workshops

Thought for the day...
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. - Thoreau

Friday, March 27, 2009

It's Spirit Day and the last day of World Cultures Week.

Period 1:
Vocabulary quiz
Discuss Cannery Row
What is a family?
Building a community

Period 2:
Vocabulary quiz
Things Fall Apart Part One Quiz
Discuss Things Fall Apart

Period 3:
Our Town work continues...

Period 5:
Publish or Perish
Small group workshops

Thought for the day...
He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder.
-M. C. Escher

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Period 1:
Present current events
Breathing Underwater test

Period 2:
Present current events
Share Things Fall Apart Passages
Writing from a secondary character's perspective

Period 3:
Our Town: the essentials
Creating the plan

Period 5:
Writing prompt: "I was so bored..."
Sharing
Work on personal writing

Thought for the day...
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
— Carl Sagan

Out of Control - Anger, Jealousy, Rage : Words from Alex Flinn's Breathing Underwater

Wednesday, March 24, 2009

Period 1:
Finish Animoto videos & share
Discuss Breathing Underwater - What should you know?
What is happiness? Success? How do you measure it?

Period 2:
The culture of the Ibos
What role do values play in literature?
How do the myths illuminate the culture?
What is Things Fall Apart about?

Period 3:
Share responses to AI
Work on "Our Town"

Period 5:
Writing prompt
Share
Feedback for Lauren & Rachel

Thought for the day...
To find something you can enjoy is far better than finding something you can possess.
— Glenn Holm

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Check out some of the COOL LINKS on my new website. They can help you practice skills and also help you complete my assignments...

Period 1:
Reading quiz & discussion
Finish Animoto projects

Period 2:
Reading quiz & discussion
Final review of personal myth papers - does it meet senior writing expectations?

Period 3:
Finish AI
Begin response paper

Period 5:
Writing prompt
Peer workshop
Goal setting

Thought for the day...
"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else."
— Emily Dickinson

Friday, March 20, 2009

HAPPY SPRING (or mud season)

Please be kind to Mrs. Williams. Enjoy the long weekend & I'll see you on Tuesday.

Period 1:
Vocabulary quiz
Reading quiz
Inside/Outside box

Period 2:
Vocabulary quiz
Reading quiz
Personal myth papers

Period 3:
AI: Artificial Intelligence, continue viewing

Period 5:
Publish or perish day...

Thought for the day...
"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden." - Ruth Stout

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Period 1:
Present current events
Reading quiz & discussion
Continue working on Breathing Underwater projects
Animoto

Period 2: (period shortened due to advisories)
Present current events
Reading quiz & discussion
Work on personal myth drafts

Period 3:
Viewing AI: Artificial Intelligence
Themes discussion

Period 5:
My Hometown Cheer
Writing prompt & feedback
Publish or perish entries due tomorrow

Thought for the day...
"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Period 1:
Review vocabulary
Breathing Underwater reading quiz & discussion
Work on theme presentations

Period 2:
Review vocabulary
Introduce colonialism & post-modernist thought
Begin personal myth papers

Period 3:
Anticipation paper for "Super Toys Last All Summer Long"
Begin AI: Artificial Intelligence

Period 5:
Goal setting
Write to a prompt & share

Thought for the day...
"The best way out is always through."- Robert Frost

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Period 1:
Reading quiz & discussion
Understanding Nick
Propaganda Project work

Period 2:
Present personal memoirs
Discuss reading & meaning
Explore myths
Begin personal myth essay

Period 3:
Work on Our Town

Period 5:
Writing prompt & in class responding

Thought for the day...
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
— George S. Patton

Monday, March 16, 2009

What a busy weekend! I attended the NH Young Writer's Conference and spent a lot of time talking about writing and following our passions. There were some great published writers and we all were able to read student work of aspiring writers. If you are interested in writing, see me to talk about attending next year!

Period 1:
Quick check-in & quiz
Guest speaker from the NH Major Crimes Unit and Investigation team

Period 2:
American Born Chinese
Exploring cultural and societal myths
The myths that sustain us

Period 3:
Our Town: continue reading and determining characterization

Period 5:
We will respond to a prompt & share our writing today.
How feedback will change...
Deadlines for March discussion

Thought for the day...
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, March 13, 2009

Two Friday the 13ths in a row....

Period 1:
Vocabulary quiz
Breathing Underwater quiz and discussion
Relationships
Beginning a character study

Period 2:
Vocabulary quiz
Discussion of American Born Chinese
Read & discuss myths
What is your mythology?
Working on memoirs

Period 3:
Our Town work - return to Act II?

Period 5:
Publish or Perish Day!!!
Reading/commenting on one another's writing.
Goal setting

Thought for the day....
"Before the beginning of great brilliance and beauty there first must be a period of complete chaos." - I Ching

AND a bonus quote because it was too good to hold onto....
Kurt Cobain - "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Period 1:
Present current events
Reading quiz & discussion on Breathing Underwater
Publishing beast fables
Relationships...

Period 2:
Present current events
Learning about the myth of the Monkey King
Reading Asian (Chinese, mostly) mythology & sharing thoughts - visit yesterday's post to learn more
Work on personal memoirs

Period 3:
Exploring Our Town

Period 5:
Writing creatively - Remember tomorrow is PUBLISH OR PERISH DAY
You can publish a work in progress to ask for feedback....(well, technically all writing is a work in progress).
For today's prompts: Write about 7 wonders of the world - they can be fictional, personal, or the real things OR write about something you lost OR freewrite.
You can always respond to the thought of the day.
Remember changing perspectives opens up even more opportunities.

Thought for the day...
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

A snow delay...

Period 1:
Animal Farm test
Review vocabulary

Period 2:
No class due to snow delay
Keep reading American Born Chinese & working on your memoirs.
Here's the promised link to explore Chinese mythology... I recommend looking at The Chinese Stage, Chinese Takeout, and the Chinese Lion Dance.

Period 3:
Our Town review and assignment of roles for Act I
Working on Act I
Begin Act II

Period 5:
Writing to an assigned prompt
Preparing to "publish or perish" - publishing on Friday

Thought for the day...
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Early Release Day....meaning shortened periods

Period 1:
Review Animal Farm
Work on beast fables

Period 2:
Persepolis Jeopardy
Introduce American Born Chinese
Work on graphic memoir - remember minimum of 15 blocks.

Period 3:
Finish (for real) 2001: A Space Odyssey
What is Kubrick & Clarke's message?
What was it about???
Return to Our Town

Period 5:
Writing creatively
And if you are having trouble with what to write... Click here - they have over 542 different prompts!

Thought for the day...
The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.
- Francois de La Rochefoulauld

Monday, March 9, 2009

Period 1:
Animal Farm quiz & discussion
Reading Aesop's fables
What is the moral of Animal Farm?
Creating own beast fable

Period 2:
Discuss/review Persepolis
Work on crafting graphic memoirs

Period 3:
Finish 2001: A Space Odyssey
Fidelity between film and short story
What is the message/warning re: Hal?

Period 5:
Writing creatively... using what you've learned

Thought for the day...
"Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness." - Jim Rohn

Friday, March 6, 2009

Period 1:
Vocabulary quiz
Animal Farm quiz & discussion
Begin working on propaganda project

Period 2:
Vocabulary quiz
Persepolis quiz & discussion
Begin working on memoir project

Period 3:
2001: A Space Odyssey

Period 5:
Free Verse

Thought for the day...
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.
— Dag Hammarskjold

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Period 1:
Present current events
Animal Farm reading quiz & discussion
Continue historical information
What is propaganda?

Period 2:
Present current events
Persepolis Presentations
Persepolis response/discussion

Period 3:
Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey

Period 5:
Publish & Comment on Sestinas

Thought for the day...
"You create your opportunities by asking for them." - Shakti Gawain

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Period 1:
Review vocabulary
Animal Farm reading quiz & discussion
Understanding types of government & reviewing Animal Farm research
Introduction to propaganda

Period 2:
No class due to NEAP testing
Good luck seniors!

Period 3:
Directorial decisions in Rear Window
Share thoughts on the Sentinel

Period 5:
Learning about and beginning sestinas

Thought for the day...
"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Period 1:
All Quiet on the Western Front Test
Finish Research on Animal Farm

Period 2:
Review vocabulary
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard Test
Finish Persepolis Presentation work

Period 3:
Viewing Rear Window

Period 5:
Post/Respond to Ballads

Thought for the day...
Confucius says..."I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

Monday, March 2, 2009

Period 1:
Review All Quiet Review
Work on Animal Farm Research

Period 2:
Review Hullabaloo
How to read graphic novels
Work on Persepolis Presentations

Period 3:
Viewing Rear Window

Period 5:
Introduce Ballads
Post Free Verses

Thought for the day...
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
- Frederick Douglass