Monday, October 19, 2009

Today we went over a handy handout on MEAL writing and literary analysis, and also went over some sample paragraphs and sentences. Using your rough drafts from Friday, you wrote a 2nd version of your literary analysis paragraph and labeled where you used each element of MEAL. You turned in both paragraphs, along with a brief note to me regarding anything you still need help with. Tomorrow, we will practice more paragraph writing, but this time using a specific prompt. Click here to download the handout.

No homework tonight.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Today we began practicing literary analysis writing by reviewing the MEAL plan format. We went over some essential do's and don'ts, and looked at some good and bad examples. The rest of the period was spent writing rough drafts of a literary analysis paragraph on the literature selection of your choice that we've read during this unit (the stories and poems that we've read are: From Behind the Veil, The Swimming Contest, The Chain, Song of Becoming and An Arab Shepherd.) Click here to see the organizer that you used to write your rough draft. If you did not finish during class time, you need to finish it for homework by Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Today we discussed a somewhat drastic change of plans in our class for the next few weeks. Due to a bit of a snafu with resources, it turns out we don't have enough copies of our next book to support all of the classes that are currently using it. Sooooo, we are not going to be reading it (bummer!) However, instead we will be focusing on the short literature selections that we've already read and work on writing activities for the rest of our conflict unit, which will wrap up at the end of next week.

Block day today was spent going over the short story The Chain, discussing important themes and passages, and turning in your Three R's assignment from Tuesday. Afterwards, you completed an activity called "Poster Chat," using your annotated copies of the story. You all moved around the room and recorded some of your annotations on categorized posters around the room, responded to other student's contributions, and listed some other ideas that you saw. This was followed by a whole class discussion and debrief.

The rest of the period was spent creating Conflict Collages in class. Click here to see the assignment.

No homework tonight.

Important Announcement: There are a few copies of My Forbidden Face available for those of you who would like to tackle an extra credit project to boost your grade before the end of semester. Please see me if interested so I can give you the details. I will also post more information on this website as it becomes available.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Today, we were supposed to begin our new book. However, the shipment of books we were supposed to recieve on Thursday/Friday last week still have not arrived. =( Soooooo, instead, you have a different assignment for today and Thursday. Class time was spent getting started on it, and the rest is homework and is due on Thursday. In class today, you began reading the long short story "The Chain." For homework, annotate this story using the annotation symbols from your handout (and from what we went over in class) and complete the "Three R's" assignment. Please email me if you have any questions!

Click here to download the story.

Click here to download the assignment instructions.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Today you completed an anticipation guide for My Forbidden Face, which asked you to agree or disagree with a number of statements having to do with our new book. It also asked you to defend your opinions in a detailed paragraph explanation for each. Click here to download a copy.

Afterwards, we had a class discussion and you shared some of your ideas.

Next, I showed you an article about Obama's (and Education Secretary Arne Duncan's) ideas for educational reform, which includes the possibility for longer school hours or a longer school year. This had to do with one of your prompts for your district writing assessment, and it is also an issue that could affect your life in one way or another. Important to know! Click here to read the article.

No homework tonight, but get ready to do a lot of reading starting tomrrow in the coming weeks. =)

Friday, October 9, 2009

Happy Friday! Today we finished watching the Afghan Stories documentary and you turned in your exit slip (see me for details if you were absent.) We also briefly went over what we will cover next week in terms of vocabulary, annotation, and stuff about the book. No homework this weekend! Enjoy! =)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Today you discussed the poems and story from Tuesday in small groups using your organizers and some discussion questions from Tuesday. After your discussions, we debriefed as a class. The rest of the period was spent watching the first half of a documentary called "Afghan Stories." We will finish in on Friday, and you will complete an exit pass response on the video (Choose two interviews from the documentary, briefly summarize their story, and discuss specifically how conflict has altered or impacted their lives.) This should give you some perspective on Afghan life before we delve into Latifa's memoir on Monday.

Tuesday, October 7, 2009

Today we looked at some poetry and short stories about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We went over some guided reading questions and annotation guidelines (more on this later,) and the rest of the period was spent independently reading these literature selections and completing a comparison organizer in your notebooks (complete this organizer by Thursday.) Click here to download a template of the organizer.

Click here to download the two poems and one short story ("An Arab Shepherd," "Song of Becoming," and "The Swimming Contest.") They are composed in PDF form in a packet, so all of the selections are together in one file.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Today we officially began our new unit. For the next few weeks, will be discussing, writing, and reading about conflict in its various forms. Our unit essential question is: How does conflict shape culture and civilization? You have already been dealing with this question in Ms. Cody's class so far, and in our class, we will be reading various short stories and poems, as well as the memoir My Forbidden Face. We will be doing a lot of writing for this unit, so get ready!

After a brief discussion of our unit questions and objectives, you watched a video from Discovery Channel called "Afghanistan: 12 Years of Violence," which gave you a supplementary overview of the conflict in Afghanistan. We also had a brief discussion of your prior knowledge of this region and a recap of what you went over in Ms. Cody's class.

Next, you began reading the Iraqi short story "From Behind the Veil" by Dhu'l Nun Ayyoub. Click here to download. This story deals with both internal and external conflict, and also provides two sides to the issue of the veil in modern Muslim societies. For homework, read this story and answer the reading questions at the end (there are four.) You will turn in your responses at the beginning of class tomorrow.

PS. Check out Time Magazine's photo essay on American troops' experience in the war in Afghanistan (titled, "The War Up Close") by clicking here.

The Lost Week. Sept.28-Oct.2, 2009

So, I was out most of this week. Not only was I sick and out of school Monday and most of Tuesday, but I also missed Friday, so I only saw you on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Needless to say, I did not get a chance to update this website during this time. Here is a brief outline of what we covered. If you were absent, please complete the assignments you missed and see me if you have any questions.

Monday 9/28: Today you worked in small groups with the substitute to complete a persuasive paragraph that answers the question, Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Small groups worked together to complete a graphic organizer and find evidence from the text to support your answer, and then you wrote a full paragraph and turned it in. Please click here to download the assignment.

Tuesday 9/29: Click here to see the prompts for this year's District Writing Assessment. Today we completed the prewriting phase...we went over some different prewriting and planning strategies and you guys got to work addressing the prompt of your choice. The next two class periods will be spent completing different phases of this assessment, and you will finish it in class on Friday.

Thursday 10/1: We spent block day finishing up your prewriting and completing your rough draft of your DWA essay. When everyone was finished, you watched a quick video, a fifteen minute comedic synopsis of Romeo and Juliet performed by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. If you'd like to see it, see me and you can borrow the DVD. It's really funny!

Friday 10/2: You spent most of the period completing the final draft of your district writing assessment and turned it in. When everyone was finished, you answered some questions in your notebook that deals with our new unit on conflict, which we will start next week. See the questions below, and if you were absent, please respond to these questions in your notebook and show them to me when you are done (no later than Wednesday.)

1. How do you think conflict shapes surface/deep culture and civilization? Please be specific.
2. Explain what you know so far about Afghanistan and its current conflicts.
3. Explain what you know so far about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
4. In what ways might your life be different if you were growing up in any of these areas, or if conflict was occurring on United States soil? What would change? What would remain the same? 5. What are two questions you have so far about modern conflict?