"Civil Disobedience"

"It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right."

                                                                                                  -- Henry David Thoreau 

1.  Independent Reading -- Please begin at the bell.  I will be checking.  This first week of the new semester I realize that some of you are still making decisions about your independent reading.  Each and ALL students are expected to have independent reading with the start of next week.  If you want some suggestions, speak to me.

2.  "Civil Disobedience"  -- As we discuss the reading, takes notes on your copy of the essay. There will be a quiz on the reading.

3. Teacher Protest in Seattle

4.  Article of the Week -- We will be on track with an article of the week next week.
    
5. Quotes about Government

"Civil Disobedience"

"Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them . . . ."

                                                                                         -- Henry David Thoreau

1.  Independent Reading -- I indicated to you that by today you should have your independent reading for the next six weeks.  I will be checking today.   If you do not have your book today please take out your copy of "Civil Disobedience" and begin reading.  Please have your book tomorrow.

2.  "Civil Disobedience" -- Please take out your copy of this essay.  We will be reading this together and taking notes together.  Please be attentive and ready to discuss the ideas.  

"Civil Disobedience"

"Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."

                                                                                             -- Henry David Thoreau

1.  Independent Reading  -- You should have your selected book today but I will give you until tomorrow before I will start holding you accountable.  Some recommendations.

2.   Mexican-American War 
Today you will do some research on the Mexican-American War.  Please record ten highly relevant
points from the reading you do.  Include such things as cause of the war, the objectives of the US, what the US gained, etc.
      

3.  Video --   http://safari.sandi.net/?a=21428&ch=9&d=00660AA

Mexican-American War

"That government is best which governs least."

                                                                                              Henry David Thoreau

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Some words about the independent reading requirement.  By tomorrow please have your independent reading book for this new semester, whether it be from the required list or your own chosen book.

2.  Semester final -- A review of the prompt.

3.  Mexican-American War
     Record 10 facts from your reading.  Number each fact and skip a line between each.

Book Reviews

" We hold these truths to be self-evident: -- That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

                                                                                     -- Declaration of Independence

1.  Final Exam -- Your final exam for this class will be to respond in writing to a selected text.  You will identify and discuss the author's argument and discuss your position.

2.  Book Reviews -- Today I am giving you class time for posting your two book reviews on Goodreads and sharing the link of your review page with me.  When you get your netbook, go to my blog for the book review form link.  Baltrushes.blogspot.com

     

"Self-Reliance"

". . . envy is ignorance . . . imitation is suicide;"

                                                                                          Ralph Waldo Emerson

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Some of you are finished with both your books for this grading period and have asked me to go to the library.  We will forgo independent reading today . . . . and I would remind you to start looking for your next selections for second semester which is quickly approaching.  

      

     NOTE:  Be sure to share your Goodreads book review URL with me.

2.  Article of the Week #13 is due --  Annotation, summary, and your response.

3.  "Self-Reliance" -- Please take out your copy of "Self-Reliance."  You have completed all pages -- notes, questions, activities.  With a ONE PARTNER review these pages for Emerson's main ideas.  We will then have a quiz on this reading.  You may take this quiz with your study partner.

In addition to the quiz questions, on the back of the paper please write a paragraph which comments on your opinion of "Self-Reliance."  What is your response to this essay?  Begin your paragraph with:

                                In the essay "Self-Reliance" Emerson _________________

TUESDAY:  Wrapping up book reviews on Goodreads.

"Self-Reliance"

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds . . . .  to be great is to be misunderstood."

                                                                                         -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.  Please note that your most important task for this class over the next week is to make sure that you have posted two book reviews on Goodreads.  Please take care in writing these reviews, following the required rubric.  Make sure that you share the URL of your book review page.

 2.  "Self-Reliance" -- Review of notes and complete p. 84, 85, 86.   

                                  Study the notes taken

                                  Quiz 

3.  Article of the Week #13 is due tomorrow -- Thoroughly annotate.  Summarize main ideas and provide your response.

"Self-Reliance"

"Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

                                                                                        --Ralph Waldo Emerson

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.  Remember that you are to post two book reviews on GOODREADS by next Wednesday, January 23rd.  I am going to give you class time on Tuesday to finish those reviews.  Make sure that you follow the required book review rubric.  Please take care in writing your review regarding sentence sense and punctuation.  PROOFREAD!  

NOTE:  I have provided those important links for the book review rubric and book review form to use in order to provide me with the URL of your Goodreads page.  

2.  "Self-Reliance"  -- Follow along with the reading and the notes on this essay.  I will be collecting these pages out of the INTERACTIVE READER and will be reviewing your notes that show me you were attentive to the discussion of this essay.

NOTE:  Your important task over the next week is to make sure that you complete and post your book reviews.

"Self-Reliance"

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."

                                                                                  -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell

     Note:  By next Wednesday, please have posted on Goodreads your two book reviews. One book is to be from my list.  The other book is your chosen book.  Follow the book review rubric which I provided for you and make sure that you share your book review link with me by completing the provided form.  

2.  Ralph Waldo Emerson and "Self-Reliance" -- We will use the INTERACTIVE READER today to read "Self-Reliance."  Please neatly remove the pages from the book.  As we read, please be attentive to the notes that are taken as we stop and discuss each part. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.



Ralph Waldo Emerson

GEAR UP Presentation

GEAR UP Presentation #3 today

This presentation will take place in the library.  Attendance will be taken there.

"A Psalm of Life"

"Art is long, and Time is fleeting, . . ."

                                                                                      Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

 

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.

 

2. NOTE:  Have you returned your copy of The Crucible?  If you have not done so (which is inexcusable), do so as soon as possible!

 

3.  "A Psalm of Life"  -- You have completed paraphrasing each stanza of the poem.  AND, you have written a paragraph that explains what Longfellow is saying in this poem.

 

4.  Article of the Week #12 due 

A Psalm of Life

"Be not like dumb, driven cattle!"

                                                                                         Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.

2.  NOTE -- Article of the Week #12 is due tomorrow: 1. Annotate 2. Explain the author's argument and the extent to which you agree or disagree.

3.  Anticipation questions to "A Psalm of Life"  

4.  "A Psalm of Life"  -- Paraphrase each stanza and write a paragraph which explains what Longfellow is saying in this poem

"A Psalm of Life"

The Wanderer

                                                                                                    

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.  Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

                                                                                                 -- Henry David Thoreau

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.

2.  Anticipation Questions -- the seven questions that you answered in groups yesterday.

3.  TRANSFORMATIONAL THINKING UNIT -- Some background/historical context for our next readings. 

4.  "A Psalm of Life"  

      *Respond to anticipation questions

      *Paraphrase each stanza

5.  INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK  -- Please bring this to class

                                                    

Group work -- Anticipation questions

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.

                                                                                              -- William Shakespeare

 

 

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell

 

2.  Turn in handout from yesterday -- the poems to which you responded.  I should see 3 comments written for each poem.

 

3.  GROUP WORK in anticipation of our next unit of study.  Groups of seven.  I will pass out 7 questions.  Each group member will receive a question, respond to it, and then pass it to the next person.  When the question comes back to the person who gave the first response, that person will read the group's responses and synthesis the group's response.  In other words, how has the group mainly responded to the question?  Write out your synthesis -- be prepared to read your synthesis to the class.

New Year's Poems

Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.

                                                                                                William Shakespeare

Happy New Year!

1.  INDEPENDENT READING -- Please begin at the bell.  The end of the semester is January 25th.  Remember two book reviews posted on Goodreads are due by the end of the semester.

2.  NOTE:  Please bring your INTERACTIVE READER to class tomorrow.

3.  Our next unit of study -- Transformational Thinking.

4.  Some poems for the New Year -- Read each poem quietly and respond in the available space with your ideas/thoughts about the poem.  Write down 3 thoughts about each poem (number each).

5.  Article of the Week #12 -- "In My Opinion: Don't lower the bar on education standards"

     Assignment:    Annotate the article

                           What is the author's argument in this article?

                           Explain the extent to which you agree or disagree with the writer.