Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Period 1:
Review Cannery Row
Share community maps

Period 2:
Review Heart of Darkness
Finish discussing "The Second Coming"
Reviewed Things Fall Apart

Go to: African Scramble and read The Dark Places on Earth and Racism in the Heart of Darkness. Please comment on THIS blog whether you agree/disagree and why. Consider what you know about postcolonial literature and the writers' positions as you respond.

Period 3:
Our Town work
Independent Film/Novel Project selections due

Period 5:
Writing Prompt: "If I could..."
Share/Respond
Work on own writing

Thought for the day...
"We never know how high we are
Till we are asked to rise
And then if we are true to plan
Our statures touch the skies"
- Emily Dickinson, "We Never Know How High We Are"

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Happy April Fool's Day.... Try not to be anyone's fool. :)

Period 1:

Review vocabulary

Cannery Row quiz & discussion

Work on community maps, begin developing anecdotes for maps

Period 2:

Review vocabulary

Discuss Things Fall Apart

Review postcolonial literature themes

Introduce Heart of Darkness & Joseph Conrad

Period 3:

Congrats, Nicole, on getting your license!

Our Town

Period 5:

Writing prompt: Begin at the end

Share/Respond

Work on writing

Thought for the day...

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around." - Thoreau

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

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

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?