HW: Due Monday December 3rd

Here is a video in which Chinua Achebe, resident professor at Brown University, talks about the devastation of Africa . . .

In addition to reading up to Chapter 13 and completing Dialogue Journals, watch the video (7 minutes long), linked below and write down three ideas that are interesting to you from the information therein. 

http://youtu.be/mNdjcFOoVi8

A Note on Dialogue Journals...

Your dialogue journals should be a record of your reading, summarizing the chapters, but also a collection of artifacts, or evidence from the text that you will use to write an essay. The three main themes I want you to think about are:

1. The presence of a developed and complex culture evident in customs, practices, celebrations, ceremonies, cultural codes etc.
2. The clash of cultures when the Umuofia people collide with Europeans.
3. The development of Okonkwo as a character.

Gather evidence on these three themes and you will be golden.

11/27 Homework Reminder

Period 3, wonderful work today on your proverbs! I am so lucky to be among so many wise and penetrating minds!

Make sure you read chapters 8-9 in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, by Thursday as well as complete dialogue journals to be handed in on Monday.

Period 5,6. & 8, chapters 8-9 must be completed by Friday.

You will all read 10-13 by Monday and submit dialogue journals for 8-13 on Monday.

If you haven't already:

• turned in your SSR calendar and book review
• turned in your flash fiction edits (aim for Friday--no work accepted later than Monday)
• turned in your final draft of the Role of the Writer/Role of Literature
• dialogue journals from chapters 1-7

then, NOW is the time.

By the way, you are all brilliant, marvelous, humans and I am so very honored to work with you.

SSR reminder!

Calendars for SSR are due each time the calendar period is over. Please submit these with a book review for (October-November), found on the back shelf (second shelf down). New calendars will be handed out. Remember that your goal is to read at least a little every day, ideally a choice book as well as our class novel.

11/25-26

Welcome Back from Thanksgiving!

High Priority Items:

Make sure that you are finished with chapter 7  in Things Fall Apart by Tuesday (3rd period) and Wednesday (5,6,8th period)

Turn in your dialogue journals for those chapters ASAP. I will not accept dialogue journals for chapters 1-7 after Friday.

If you have not turned in your Role of the Writer/Role of Literature Paper it is very important to your grade that you do so as it is weighted heavily and a Final Assessment. You have until Friday to turn this assignment in.

If you have not turned in your Flash Fiction, do so as soon as you can. I will take no newly submitted Flash Fiction after Friday and all late work will lose credit each day that it is late.

If you are working on revisions of your Flash Fiction, please turn them in ASAP, no later than Monday the 3rd. (I would prefer to have them graded by Friday.)

Thanksgiving HW

Over Thanksgiving you will be reading chapters 3-7 in Things Fall Apart and creating dialogue journals for each chapter. Don't leave it to the last minute. I advise you to work on it in 2-3 chunks.

*You will see that I have written FREE RICE on your reading schedule. Free Rice is not a requirement, but a suggestion if you get bored and so stuffed that you think you might benefit from a little vocabulary power workout.
To get credit for the Free Rice Challenge you will need ot donate 10,000 grains of rice. The program will keep track of this for you. Once you reach the total (10,000) you may either come to class and show me (you have to login and create an account so that the program will keep track) or take a picture of your score with your phone.

Remember, students seeking As need at least two Challenge Opportunities per semester. Challenge opportunities don't necessarily guarantee you an A, but clear efforts to go over and beyond into the realm of excellence, depth, and mastery are required. This is one way to show effort.

Periods 5,6, and 8

See the post below for Period 3. You have already turned in your Role of the Writer/Role of Literature Essays. On Friday you will turn in your typed piece of Flash Fiction. Remember, it can be about anything. Your journal writes were meant to help you generate ideas. You can go back to one of those pieces, complete it and enhance it, or you can use one of the ideas on the Short Story Ideas handout I gave you. You may also simply come up with your own idea.

Remember, you are shooting for 500-1,000 words. If you have made other arrangements about length with me, you may alter the length to suit your story.

HW: You are to have Chapters 1-2 of Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe read for class on Friday with six sticky notes annotating sections of the text. For annotation ideas, remember the CARPE notetaking system--Connections (text to text, text to self, text to world), Ask a question, Review what you understand so far, Predict what you think is going to happen, Evaluate the structure, characters, and author's style or choices.

We will be applying your notes to dialogue journals on Friday.

11/13

Period 3:

FLASH FICTION and ROLE OF THE WRITER/LITERATURE ESSAY
Thursday the 15th I will collect your typed drafts of your flash fiction, as well as your final edits on your Role of the Writer/Role of Literature papers.  I know this is a lot of due dates at once, but if you have been keeping up and using your time in class well, it shouldn't be a big strain. If, on the other hand, you have been putting off your work on these two pieces then you are likely going to feel like you have a lot to do.You should also come with the first 15 pages of Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, read with 6 annotations on sticky notes responding to the text. We will go over how to convert these into meaningful dialogue journal notes on Thursday. 

JOURNAL/SPIRAL CHECK
Additionally, I will be collecting your spirals to take with me over the break. In class I will have you mark three pieces from you spiral for me to read and respond to.  
Including September there should be 13 journal writes--I am giving you a 3 "Grace" writes so looking for a total of 10 entries amounting to at least half a page each, for full credit. This is nothing you should have to prepare for as it was all done in class.

SSR Calendars and Book Reviews will be collected after the break.

11/15
Flash Fiction piece typed
Role of the Writer/Literature. The order of the documents will be 
1. (on top) the highlighted 6 writing trait rubric  
2. the outline and paper criteria
3. handwritten draft
4. typed draft
5. peer edit sheet
6. final draft

I will show this to you in class, but if you want to know in advance, this is the order I want the work to be compiled.
Chapters 1-2 Things Fall Apart , six notes
Spirals turned in at the end of the period.

Flash Fiction Assignment

By now you should have selected a topic for your very short piece of flash fiction. This piece of writing should be seen as a polished mini-story (think, journal write). You may use any perspective that you like. The story should be vivid, have an opening that grabs the reader, offer a climax of some sort which is either a truth revealed, a moment of heightened tension, a terrible decision, intense danger, facing a fear, or a grand epiphany. The story must have some sense of finale, but it need not be a long draw out resolution. Like many stories we have looked at, the ending might be a character's recognition of his of her own grief as the source of trouble; the realization that their fear was in their mind the whole time; a character's decision to change his or her life; or the sense that the character has learned something about herself or the world. These minor shifts in perception, or sense of destiny, are often the stuff of denouement in a story, and are enough to get a sense of completion, even if it leaves your reader wondering.

I am looking for a 500-1,000 word story typed and turned in by 11/15 for period 3 and 11/16 for period 5,6 &8.

If your story fits the criteria listed on the rubric, and has no glaring flaws, this draft will be considered a final. If there are major holes in your piece of work, I will turn it back to you with no grade until you have made the revisions.

Come see me if you have any questions.

Challenge Opportunity--SSR

Choose a book that is multicultural in some way. Read this as your SSR book and write a book review.

You will be awarded Challenge Points for this.  If you are seeking an A, want to grow as a reader, writer, thinker, or simply as a person, look for challenge opportunities. I will award points for these projects which must be authentic and well-executed, but will not be required. 

*A-seeking students must choose at lease two challenge opportunities per semester. 

11/5 Homework Update

Period 8, remember to bring your typed draft and the peer comment sheet to class on Wednesday. We will continue revising. Your final draft will be due next Wednesday 11/14.  Disregard any date besides this on Edbox, your comment sheet or rubric. 11/14 is the final due date.

We will begin drafting your flash fiction this Wednesday 11/7 Final Draft due 11/14-11/15

Periods 5&6 Your job is to type and revise a draft of your essay on the role of fiction in your life and the role of the writer. Typed, Revised, Draft Due 11/7.  Final Draft Due 11/14

Period 3 Come ready with your typed, revised draft 11/6 (tomorrow). Final Draft Due 11/15
Sorry about the confusion on dates. I have been sick this week and my sense of time is the first thing to go.  I want to give you time to purposefully revise your paper. DO this and turn it in ASAP. 11/15 is the last day I will accept the papers.

Do Plotline Diagrams Mislead Students?

http://trappedinadolescence.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/the-plot-diagram/


I want to know what you think.  This is a challenge activity for those who are interested. Just go to the link I have posted above, read the blog and write a short, thoughtful response.

Role of Literature/the Writer in Culture Essay--a few notes on grades

I spoke with several teachers over the weekend and we discussed how to best grade the 6+1 Traits of Writing Rubric.  As this is an evolving discussion as we are all working to decide what the best method is to help you develop as writers.  The general consensus is as follows: no matter what grade you are in, 6th through 12th, the translation from the 6+1 Rubric to the letter grade should be the consistent (sorry Aubrey!) A mix of 5s and 6s  on the 6+1 Writing Traits Rubric puts you in the A/B range for a letter grade. 4s and 5s is B/C range.  4s should be seen as representing C work as it is proficient (meaning it does the job and is not hindered by major errors). Anything below a 4 should be seen as developing but deficient and therefore would earn a D or F letter grade.

Special note*; We all agreed that a scored of 4 for a 6th grader would look different than a 4 for a 10th grader, so that is how we differentiate grades.  As high schoolers, you are expected to grow every year, so proficient (an overall score of 4) would mean that as 12th graders you will be in even greater command of the basic skills of writing than you are now.  Scores of 5s and 6s really represent a successful command of the finer points of writing.

I hope this makes sense. If you are confused at all, please do come check-in.

Ms. B

Free Rice! Challenge Opportunity!

Type "Free Rice" into your internet browser. Find the site that allows you to select a subject and select "Vocabulary."  Spend at least 20 minutes twice a week flexing your vocabulary. In order to get credit for this you must sign in as a regular user to the site creating a password. Print out your score and bring it to class.

*To get credit for this challenge opportunity you must document spending 20 minutes a week expanding your vocabulary on this site.

In Revising Your "Role of The Writer/Literature" Essay, a few things you need to know

You will see that I have used the rubric attached to the top of your paper to give you feedback. There are six categories on this rubric: 

Ideas and Content (I/C)
Organization (O)
Voice (V)
Word Choice (WC)
Sentence Fluency (SF)
Conventions (C)

I have highlighted areas in the body of each paper that are flawed, or could us strengthening. In the margins of your paper, I used the above abbreviations to indicate which category the error or weakness falls into.  For example, if you use a fragmented sentence to transition from one idea to the next, I have highlighted the section that needs to be worked on and written in the margin (SF) and (C) indicating that the flow was broken and your meaning was lost showing poor Sentence Fluency (SF), and you did not follow the rules of proper grammar, showing that in this instance you made a mistake or misunderstood proper Conventions (C).

What I want you to notice are what we call "patterns of error." Which areas do you need to focus on improving? For further information about what characteristics might strengthen your paper, look at the rubric. Underneath each trait of writing is listed 6 levels of development. The level at the top is the equivalent of a high score showing mastery of that trait. The top level is a 6. Underneath each category, the bottom level is considered a 1 indicating the lowest level of development, showing a lack of skill in this area.

Compare my notes in your paper to what I have highlighted on the rubric to get a sense of how to improve your paper for your typed draft.  This is the system we will be using all year so see if you can get comfortable with it.

As always, if you have questions, please do e-mail, text, or come see me.