Anticipation to "Self-Reliance"

Good Morning!

*Independent Reading -- please read until we are ready to begin.

*NOTE: Return your Course Selection Card to me ASAP. Due by February 27th.

*Questions on "The Road Not Taken" -- I will collect those right away.

*Group Activity --  This is a pre-reading activity in anticipation to reading Emerson's "Self-Reliance."  You will be placed in groups of seven, and I will distribute to you seven handouts, each with a question to answer.  You will rotate the questions around the group until you get the question that you started with.  When that happens, you will review how the group answered the question and summarize the responses at the bottom of the paper.  (What is the consensus of the group?) We will then have the groups report the responses.

HOMEWORK: Independent Reading

Articulation

Articulation Today in the PAC

Socratic Seminar

Good Morning!

*Independent Reading -- please read until we are ready to begin

*Socratic Seminar on "The Road Not Taken" -- you have written four open-ended questions on the poem. I will get the seminar started by asking a question.

Rules for the Seminar Process

*You do not need to raise your hand to talk.  Focus on the main speaker and wait your turn.  LOOK AT THE SPEAKER.

*Respond to each other, using each other's names.

*Remember that one person speaks at a time.

*Speak voluntarily at least two times.

*Make clear statements and REFER TO THE TEXT.

NOTE:  The Socratic seminar is typically done in a circle, but we will try it without one.  I am going to insist, however, on the use of a microphone.

  

HOMEWORK:  Questions on "The Road Not Taken"  (handout) 

"O Me! O Life!"

Good Morning!

*Independent Reading -- Please have your independent reading books out and read quietly until we are ready to begin.

*"O Me! O life" -- For homework you read and responded to this poem, writing a well-developed and thoughtful paragraph.  Please be ready to share your responses.

HOMEWORK:  Read "The Road Not Taken" and complete the Socratic Seminar assignment by writing four open-ended questions.  An open-ended question is one that does not have a precise answer. It is question that generates discussion because there is not one answer.  The activity tomorrow depends on your readiness. 

 

Dead Poets Society

Good Morning!

Happy Second Semester! 

Let's make the very best of our opportunities for learning here and in ALL of your classes!

*Please get your netbook when you arrive.

*Independent Reading Book -- I asked you to make a selection for this new grading period.  Please have your book each day. 

*Questions of Dead Poets Society -- a review of your responses and some discussion about the movie.

*Quotations from Dead Poets Society --  Select one of the quotations that strikes you the most and write a well-developed paragraph on it in your ENGLISH JOURNAL.  Explore the idea as thoroughly as you can.

HOMEWORK:  Read Walt Whitman's poem "Oh Me! Oh Life!" and respond with a thoughtful and well-written paragraph.

 

Dead Poets Society

Good Morning!

NOTE:  Make your selection of an independent reading book to start the second semester on Monday.

*Dead Poets Society -- From what we saw a few days ago, I am sure that you understood the connection to "A Psalm of Life."  Our viewing of this movie is the lesson today.  I will be referring back to this movie when we read Emerson and Thoreau.  Pay close attention in the interest of learning. What this means is NO CELL PHONES out from the very beginning of class to when you walk out the door. 

HOMEWORK: Independent reading book

Dead Poets Society

Good Morning!

NOTE:  Make your selection of an independent reading book to start the second semester on Monday.

*Dead Poets Society -- From what we saw yesterday, I am sure that you understood the connection to "A Psalm of Life."  Our viewing of this movie is the lesson today.  I will be referring back to this movie when we read Emerson and Thoreau.  Pay close attention in the interest of learning. What this means is NO CELL PHONES out from the very beginning of class to when you walk out the door.  

Dead Poets Society

Good Morning!

NOTE:  Make your selection of an independent reading book to start the second semester on Monday.

*Dead Poets Society -- From what we saw yesterday, I am sure that you understood the connection to "A Psalm of Life."  Our viewing of this movie is the lesson today.  I will be referring back to this movie when we read Emerson and Thoreau.  Pay close attention in the interest of learning. What this means is NO CELL PHONES out. 

Dead Poets Society

Good Morning! 

I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend!

*"A Psalm of Life" -- a review

 

*Dead Poets Society -- I indicated to you that we would be watching this movie during the finals schedule.  This movie closely relates to the ideas in the texts that we will be reading.  You will see how it relates to "A Psalm of Life."

 

*Independent Reading -- We will begin second semester next Monday.  Start deciding on your independent reading book for the first six weeks of the new semester.

Book Review

Good Morning!
Get your netbook when you arrive.

*Quiz on "A Psalm of Life"  -- yesterday I indicated to you that there would be a quiz on this poem.  I asked you to review for this quiz.  Take a few moments right now to look over the poem and your notes.  I will then collect the poem.

*Book Review --  Please follow the rubric.  There should be a discussion in your body paragraph of theme, characters, setting, plot, writer's style, and connections.  You have an introduction and a conclusion (recommendation).

*NOTE:  If you have completed the book review, please work quietly on something else as I indicated yesterday (studying for finals, etc.) 

"A Psalm of Life"

Good Morning!

Please get your netbook when you arrive.

*Note: Book Reviews are due tomorrow.  I will give you class time to ensure that all submit their review on Goodreads.  If you have already submitted your review, then be prepared to use the time tomorrow to study for finals or other work.

*"A Psalm of Life" -- please transfer your written response on the poem to your ENGLISH JOURNAL.  Be sure to have this paragraph at the very TOP and entitle it "A Psalm of Life."  There will be a quiz on the poem tomorrow, so please keep your copy until then to review.

HOMEWORK:  Book review

"A Psalm of Life"

Good Morning!

*Note: Book Reviews are due on Friday.  I will give you class time on Friday to ensure that all submit their review on Goodreads.

*"A Psalm of Life" -- We will finish discussing this poem today, and you will provide a carefully composed written response which includes the following:

                                    *Title

                                    *Author

                                    *Statement of theme

                                    *A main idea from each stanza

 

*HOMEWORK: Book review is due on Friday

 

"A Psalm of Life"

Good Morning!

*Please read quietly until we are ready to begin.  Book Reviews on Goodreads are due Friday.

*Anticipation Assignment to "A Psalm of Life" -- you will see how the questions that you responded to yesterday anticipate the poem that we are reading today and the paragraph that you wrote in your English Journal last Friday.

*"A Psalm of Life" -- Read the poem silently to yourself and then we will go back and read each stanza.  Be sure to take good notes.

HOMEWORK: Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16 -- this Friday.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.  FOLLOW THE RUBRIC in writing your review.

"A Psalm of Life"

Good Morning!

I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend!

*Anticipation to "A Psalm of Life" -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   "The life which is unexamined is not worth living."   (Plato)

   "To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.  (Robert Louis Stevenson)

   "Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about."  (Oscar Wilde)

   "Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're going to get." (Forrest Gump)

Fireside Poets

*Thoughts to consider before reading "A Psalm of Life"--(handout)

HOMEWORK: Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16 -- this Friday.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.  FOLLOW THE RUBRIC in writing your review.

English Journal Responses

Good Morning!

Please get your netbook when you arrive. While your netbook is powering up, please read your independent reading book. 

*"The Wanderer" -- Yesterday I asked you to write in your ENGLISH JOURNAL a well developed paragraph, describing and interpreting this painting which introduces the unit "The Spirit of Individualism."  We did not have enough time yesterday to complete this -- please finish today. Respond thoughtfully.


*Anticipation to "A Psalm of Life" -- In your ENGLISH JOURNAL write a respond to the following questions:  What are your dreams for the future?  In the most ideal of worlds, what do you want to be as a person in your future?

HOMEWORK: Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.

"The Wanderer"

Good Morning!
Please get your netbook when you arrive. While your netbook is powering up, please read your independent reading book. 

*Independent Reading -- let's get back to doing a little bit of reading before class begins.

*Transformational Thinking Unit --  In this unit of study we will be reading texts that focus on ways of independent thinking, most specifically ways of independent thinking that would address and bring about social reform.  We will be reading texts from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.  Last night you read some pages in your textbook and completed a handout which introduces us to the first texts that we will reading.  

*"The Wanderer"  -- this painting introduces this section of the text entitled "The Spirit of Individualism."  In your ENGLISH JOURNAL write a well-developed paragraph interpreting this painting.  Be as thorough as you can in noting the different details and what they may mean. Note the accompanying quotation from Thoreau:
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


HOMEWORK: Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.

Writers Response Groups

Good Morning!
Please get your netbook when you arrive.

*Textbook Assignment for homework-- In your text read pages 340-341 and complete the handout.

*Persuasive Essay -- Now that you have fully completed your persuasive essay, I would like you to share it with other students in groups of four.  You will receive a form to complete which will be handed in at the end of class.  Follow the directions on the form.

HOMEWORK:  1.  Textbook assignment  2.Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.

Editing Persuasive Essay

Good Morning!

Please get your netbook when you arrive.

*Return of Test on Writers of the American Revolution

*Proofreading your essay -- As I indicated yesterday, today you are carefully proofreading your persuasive essay for errors.  Read for well composed and effective sentences.

HOMEWORK:  Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.

Four Poems

Good Morning and Happy New Year!  I hope that you had a very enjoyable vacation and are ready to get back to work!

*Today I would like us to read four poems that suggest some positive thoughts for the new year.  We will discuss each poem after you have read each poem and have provided three thoughts about the poem.  

*Tomorrow you will be editing the essay that you completed before vacation.  I glanced at a few and noted the need for corrections that I believe you are able to make.  I would like you to do this before I give them a close reading for content and mechanical errors.

HOMEWORK:  Independent reading -- book reviews are due January 16.  If you have not submitted a book review on a book from the recommended list, you need to do so for this last book review for this semester.