Day Sixty-Six / 12.17.10

Today we presented our holiday projects.

Have a happy holiday break!

Day Sixty-Five / 12.16.10

Today we started with a picture of the day:

We journaled on: Do you find this image truthful? What kind of theme does it represent? Any other thoughts or feelings this image evokes?

Then we went to the computer lab to work on our projects.

Day Sixty-Four / 12.15.10

Today we started with a quote by Muriel Rukeyser: "If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger."

We journaled on:

Is poetry a natural part of ourselves?

Would we have to make poetry, if it was not made for us by others?

Do you hunger for poetry?

Then we worked on our holiday projects for the rest of the period.

Day Sixty-Three / 12.14.10

Today we started with a quote: "The first mistake of art is to assume that it's serious." We reflected on: Is comedy art? Should art be lighthearted (or more so)? Can art still be serious?

Then we went over the holiday project, and spent the rest of the day working on it.

Holiday Project

Day Sixty-Two / 12.13.10

Today we did an in-class On-Demand summary writing piece on Kwanzaa.

Day Sixty-One / 12.10.10

Today we started by peer reviewing our Hanukkah article summaries. Then we discussed the following handout on attacking the prompt.

Addressing the Prompt

Finally, we listened to the Fray, and analyzed their lyrics.

Day Sixty / 12.09.10

Today you had a substitute teacher. You had the following quote:

"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil." -CS Lewis

You wrote on:

Do you agree or disagree with the quote?

How can school help develop your morals?

Then you received a Hanukkah article, and were asked to write a summary of the article.

Day Fifty-Nine / 12.08.10

Today we started with a poem by E.B. White:

"The critic leaves at curtain fall

To find, in starting to review it,

He scarcely saw the play at all

For starting to review it."

We then wrote on:

When you are reviewing something, or summarizing it, do you forget to enjoy it?

Does reviewing / summarizing it limit your ability to partake in the story?

Then we discussed our Tie Man's Miracle summaries.

Day Fifty-Eight / 12.07.10

Today we started with a clip from Ratatouille. Then we discussed this quote from the clip: “But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new.” We wrote on the following prompts:

Does your opinion/review matter?

Is the critic a vital part of the writing process?

We talked about the Poem in a Song program we're starting.

Then we finished TTM, and began responding by filling out the following form:

Sum It Up!

Day Fifty-Seven / 12.06.10

Today we started by reading some of our Hero papers. Then we discussed a quote by John Updike: "Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a [big event] not subject to pages of holier-than-thou second-guessing in The New York Review of Books.” We reflected on:

Do you look to be awestruck/surprised/entertained when you read?

Does thinking about books / writing about them lessen the experience?

Next, we began discussing major summary, and why we summarize. We used the sheet below as a guide:

Summarizing

Day Fifty-Four / 12.01.10

Today we responded to a quote from JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey: "I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I’m sick of myself and everybody that wants to make a splash.” - Franny

We journaled on:

Is it courageous to be a nobody?

What drives our desire to be popular, successful, have lots of friends?

Is making a “splash” the best we can do with our lives?

Then we peer edited our rough draft hero papers.

Day Fifty-Three / 11.30.10

Today we wrote on a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do."We responded to the following questions: Do you feel that people are consistently analyzing you? Does that affect how you act?

Then we worked on our rough drafts, using the following guide:

Response to Lit 4 Paragraph Essay Formula

Day Fifty-Two / 11.29.10

Today we started by changing seats. Then we discussed new classroom participation rules. After that, we wrote on a quote from Alan Lightman: "I believe in survival of the fittest of the ideas: if an idea has survived for a few years within the jungle of my mind, then I feel like it's worth pursuing and writing a book." We discussed: Do you feel it is important to let an idea develop before writing? Or is writing a means of developing ideas? Next, we discussed the formula for a "chunk." It is below:

1. Address the Question.

2. Set the Context, Give the quote.

3. Explain the significance of the quote.

4. Tie the quote’s significance into the question.

Finally, we began discussing our Hero 1 page response. The prompt is below. And here's an example essay.

Literary Response

Day Fifty-One / 11.19.10

First we turned in our stickmen. Then we moved to a quote by Roland Barthes: "Literature is the question minus the answer." Next, we did the MAZE test, followed by a lesson on Thanksgiving, full with green acorn squash, butternut squash, and a pumpkin. The information can be found here.

Day Fifty / 11.18.10

Today we started with a quote from G.K. Chesterton: "A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author." Then, more chunking (we're getting quite good by this point).

Day Forty-Nine / 11.17.10

Today we started with a quote from Beowulf: “That man is truly brave who, feeling fear, yet puts his fear to use and plucks new courage from the fear itself” (69). We then, you guessed it, continued with the chunks.

Day Forty-Eight / 11.16.10

Today we started with a quote from Henry Miller: "The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts." Then we continued revising and perfecting our chunks.

Day Forty-Seven / 11.15.10

Today we started with a quote from Henry Miller: "The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts." It is:

1. Address the question.

2. Set the Context. Give the quote.

3. Explain the significance of the quote.

4. Tie the quote’s significance into the question.

We then began chunking the following question: Describe Beowulf’s relationship with the bees. What does this relationship show about his personality?

And here's a sample "chunk."

Beowulf’s relationship with the bees shows that he is a calm and peace-loving person. After killing Grendel’s Mother, Beowulf returned home and “took to the keeping of bees, and most days would see him tending his tawny hives in the sun” (84). Beowulf enjoys the tranquil and slow-paced life of a bee keeper. This reflects the personality of a person who can slow down and live a calm, peaceful life. Beowulf is not strictly a man of action; he can also be a man of relaxation.

Day Forty-Six / 11.10.10

Today we started with a quote from MLK Jr.'s book Why We Can't Wait. Then we discussed the stickman, as it applies to Beowulf. See below:

Stick Man

Day Forty-Five / 11.09.10

Today you started with a quote from John Barth: “Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story." Then you presented your hero posters.

Day Forty-Four / 11.08.10

Today we started with a quote from Beowulf: "He was strong because he was good, and good because he had the strength to accept things in him that were bad." We continued working on our hero posters and the exaggeration handout.

Day Forty-Three / 11.05.10

Today you started with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” You then took the Quarter One (Q1) Survey in the computer lab.

Day Forty-Two / 11.04.10

Today you started with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." You then continued work on your hero posters, and began working on the exaggeration handout below.

Exaggeration Handout

Day Forty-One / 11.03.10

Today you had a substitute teacher. You wrote on the following quote from Beowulf: "Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning." You then received the following hero outline, and began working on your own hero.

Hero Stickman

Day Forty / 11.2.10

Today we continued reading our Persuasive Essays, then reflected on the essay writing process.

Day Thirty-Nine / 11.1.10

Today we presented our posters and read our persuasive essays.

Day Thirty-Eight / 10.29.10

Today we started with a quote from Elmore Leonard: "If it sounds like writing, rewrite it." Then we talked about how to make your writing so fluid that we forget that it is writing. We also talked about rewriting techniques, such as:

-adding figurative language

-reading our paper aloud

-asking for help/peer review

-reading each line, from last to first

Then we worked on the paragraph unscramble and finished our conferences. Happy Halloween, and remember your final draft of your Persuasive Essay is due on Monday.

Day Thirty-Seven / 10.28.10

Today we continued working on our ads and continued our conferences.

Day Thirty-Six / 10.27.10

Today we worked on our advertisements and had conferences.

Day Thirty-Five / 10.26.10

Today we started by analyzing the argument / counterargument of the pro and con cheer articles. After that we began looking at advertisements (like below) and what they sell/say.

Day Thirty-Four / 10.25.10

Today we started by peer editing our rough drafts. Then we journaled on a quote from John-Paul Sartre: "A writer who adopts political, social, or literary positions must act only with the means that are his own—that is, the written word." Then, we looked at argument/counterargument through the lens of this article from Sports Illustrated, and this article from Cheerhome.com.

Day Thirty-Three / 10.22.10

Today we started with a quote from Doris Lessing, "Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself." Then we discussed interviewing techniques. Finally, we wrote poems on the rain using personification.

Day Thirty-Two / 10.21.10

Today we started with a quote from Oscar Wilde, "The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple." Then we discussed this article from the Week Magazine. We looked at how to integrate facts and opinions into our commentary.

Day Thirty-One / 10.20.10

Today we started with a quote from John Milton: "...for smiles from reason flow." We journaled. Then we discussed this fact v. opinion sheet, and finally discussed commentary. You're homework is to highlight the Week article in 3 different colors for facts, opinions, and commentary, respectively.

Day Thirty / 10.19.10

Today we started by talking about premises and conclusions. We did a worksheet about it. It is here. Then we reviewed our partner's outline.

Day Twenty-Nine / 10.18.10

Today we started with a quote from Eliza Griswold's poem "Evolution."

The moral is movement

is awkward. The lesson is fumble.

Then we outlined the "Texting" article, then went over the Persuasive Essay Prompt, and discussed your homework for tonight, the Persuasive Essay Outline. Here is my example.

Essay Prompt

Day Twenty-Eight / 10.15.10

Today we started with a quote from A.J. Liebling: "Cynicism is often the shamefaced product of inexperience." We talked about the difference between a critic and a cynic.

Next, we looked at this story for the OC Register.

Day Twenty-Seven / 10.14.10

Today we started with a quote from Paul Simon: “Facts can be turned into art if one is artful enough.” Then, we finished our discussion of ethos, pathos, and logos. We went over inductive/deductive reasoning. Your homework is below:

On a separate sheet of paper, please complete the following.

Persuasive Thesis Statement: _______________

Ethos. Provide 3 reasons for why you are a credible source.

Pathos. Provide 3 reasons for how you can draw someone’s feelings into your argument (humor, appeal to happiness, etc.).

Logos. Provide 3 facts you can use to strengthen your argument.

Show one example of inductive / deductive reasoning to prove one of your facts.

My example is below:

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Day Twenty-Six / 10.13.10

Today we started with a quote from John Cleese: “If I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth.” Then we went over our persuasive thesis statements. Next, we started covering the 3 main tenants of persuasion, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Here's the short version on those three:

Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority

Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory details.

Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument.

Or, this is a helpful site if you're interested in learning more.

Day Twenty-Five / 10.12.10

Today we started with a quote from Alexander Hamilton, "Those who stand for nothing, fall for anything." Then we finished reading the article by Steve Almond. We outlined his persuasive progression. For homework, you're to do the assignment below.

Use 3 things from your list of "20 Things You Know a Lot About" to come up six (6) thesis argument statements. I.E. If one of the things you know a lot about is snowboarding, you'd write:

Snowboarding

1. It takes more skill and coordination to snowboard than to ski.

2. To become a good snowboarder, you must ride a Burton Snowboard.

An example of what you should not do is:

Snowboarding - have board and ride on snow.

Day Twenty-Four / 10.11.10

Today we started with a quote from Henry David Thoreau: “Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.” We discussed, power v. persuasion.

Then we read and began analyzing this article by Steve Almond.

Day Twenty-Three / 10.08.10

Today we finished our dialogue posters. Then we read a prosety poem (poetry + prose) by David Shumate. It is below.

Shooting the Horse

I unlatch the stall door, step inside, and stroke the silky neck

of the old mare like a lover about to leave. I take an ear in

hand, fold it over, and run my fingers across her muzzle. I

coax her head up so I can blow into those nostrils. All part of

the routine we taught each other long ago. I turn a half turn,

pull a pistol from my coat, raise it to that long brow with the

white blaze and place it between her sleepy eyes. I clear my

throat. A sound much louder than it should be. I squeeze the

trigger and the horse's feet fly out from under her as gravity

gives way to a force even more austere, which we have named

mercy.

We ended writing some prosety on the valiant Dusty, who joined our class for the day.

Day Twenty-Two / 10.07.10

Today we started with a quote from Paulo Friere: "Critical reflection is also action." We journaled, then we did some critical reflection on our Personal Moral Narratives. We then presented our dialogue posters.

Day Twenty-One / 10.06.10

Today we started with some story presentations. They were fantastic. Then we continued working on our dialogue posters.

Day Twenty / 10.5.10

Today we started with the end of WS Merwin's quote: "One is trying to say everything that can be said for the things that one loves while there's still time." Then we journaled. After that we discussed analogies, and Hilda Doolittle's poem "Eros." It's below.

Where is he taking us

now that he has turned back?

Where will this take us,

this fever,

spreading into light?

Nothing we have ever felt,

nothing we have dreamt,

or conjured in the night

or fashioned in loneliness,

can equal this.

My mouth is wet with your life,

my eyes blinded with your face,

a heart itself which

feels the intimate music.

My mind is caught,

dimmed with it,

(where is love taking us?)

my lips are wet with your life.

In my body were pearls cast,

shot with Ionian tints, purple,

vivid through the white.

Keep love and he wings

with his bow,

up, mocking us,

keep love and he taunts us

and escapes.

Keep love and he sways apart

in another world,

outdistancing us.

Keep love and he mocks,

ah, bitter and sweet,

your sweetness is more cruel

than your hurt.

Ah love is bitter and sweet,

but which is more sweet

the bitterness or the sweetness,

no ne has spoken it.

I had thought myself frail,

a petal

with light equal

on leaf and under-leaf.

I had thought myself frail;

a lamp,

shell, ivory or crust of pearl,

about to fall shattered,

with the flame spent.

I cried:

I must perish,

I am deserted in this darkness,

an outcast, desperate,

such fire rent me with Hesperus,

Then the day broke.

What need of a lamp

when day lighten us,

what need to bind love

when love stands

with such radiant wings over us?

What need -

yet to sing love,

love must first shatter us.

Day Nineteen / 10.04.10

Today I handed back rough drafts. Your final draft is due Wednesday. Then we discussed a quote from W.S. Merwin: "I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry now that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world.” We talked about hopeless hope, then journaled on whether or not we can save the world. Then we went over MLA format, and concluded with a jaunt through the simile in Merwin's poem "Separation." It is below:

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.

Day Eighteen / 10.01.10

Today we started by listening to part of a Radiolab episode. If you'd like to listen to the whole program, click here. We then journaled on whether or not words help us think.

Next, we peer reviewed our partner's Rough Drafts. For Monday, you need to complete the converted Cliches handout.

Day Seventeen / 9.30.10

Today we started with a quote from bell hooks: “The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created.” We then journaled on the difference between the academy and learning, and where else learning can occur outside of the academy.

Next, we covered the Show don't Tell handout, and began the Cliche handout. Finally, we covered some aspects of writing that I wanted to encourage you to either employ or avoid.

Day Sixteen / 9.29.10

Today we finished having our teacher conferences. Students finished their Show don't Tellhandout. You were also able to pick up the Avoiding Cliche handout.

Day Fifteen / 9.28.10

Today we started with the conclusion of Faulkner's quote from yesterday, "By sublimating the actual into apocryphal I would have complete liberty to use whatever talent I might have to its absolute top." To put it into our own words, we said, "By changing for the better the real Southern life into the fictitious, Faulkner felt he had liberty to use his talent to the fullest."

Then we finished the Introductory Paragraph handout. After that, we had individual conferences while you worked on the Show, don't Tell handout.

Day Fourteen / 9.27.10

Today we started with a quote from William Faulkner, "I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it." We journaled about whether or not it was worth writing about Orange County. We then went over introductory paragraphs. Finally, we proof read our neighbor's rough draft, and turned it in.

Day Thirteen / 9.25.10

Today we started with a quote from Saul Bellow, "You are an exceptional amalgam of vehement forces." Then we discussed our Personal Moral Narrative (mistakes have been fixed). Then we touched on Introductory Paragraphs, and what is due Monday (a 1 page idea of where your story is headed). Next, we wrote about sunflower seeds. Here's some work from your classmates:

Salty, sweet babies of the golden flower,

Thrust into peril of death

hard, enduring shells, though protecting, crush easily

vulnerable insides exposed.

Historic-looking seeds each individual

will never know the happiness of following the sun.

Luminous head of bright flower, decapitates

with the setting sun.

Lack of light, lack of hope

Coming back at Dawn, smiling down on earth

when the sun lowers again,

we know it will rise tomorrow.

One little seed on the earth,

can mature into something so beautiful.

The sun helps it grow.

The water soaks up its true personality.

Day Twelve / 9.23.10

Today we started with presenting our My Name papers. Then, we analyzed a quote from David Foster Wallace: “The key to writing is learning to differentiate private interest from public entertainment.”

Then, we wrote a journal entry on a moral story from our life, based on the following three prompts:

Tell a story (in 2-3 lines) of:

1. Something where you were caught.

2. Something where you were rewarded.

3. Something where you did something where no one ever found out (good or bad).

Then we shared our 3 stories with our neighbor and they picked our best story. We then outlined David Sedaris' story ("Let it Snow"), to see how he created his structure, so that we could imitate a similar structure in our own story. The handout for that is here. For homework, you are to fill out the same form for your own story.

Day Eleven / 9.22.10

Today we started with a quote from Terry Eagleton: “...morality actually consists in this process of unfolding our creative powers and capacities, not in some law set above it or some august set of ends pitched beyond it.”

We discussed how morals are dynamic not static, and we can play a role in how morals will be defined in the future. Then we further discussed David Sedaris' piece, "Let it Snow," evaluating how many lines of dialogue he used (33% of the story), the number of characters he had (2 major), the setting (small location), and the timeline (less than 6 hours). We write small to convey big thoughts.

Day Ten / 9.21.10

Today I handed back your rough drafts. Your "My Name" final drafts are due Thursday. Then we talked about a quote from Einstein: "What is inconceivable about the universe is that it is at all conceivable." Next, we discussed the fables handout, and talked about morals and where they come from. We tried (rather unsuccessfully) to watch some movie clips, that ended with some sort of moral lesson. Then we read a story by Davis Sedaris, and came to consensus with our tables on the different moral lessons he may have been trying to convey in his story.

Day Nine / 9.20.10

Today we started with a quote from Thomas Hardy: "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." Then we edited our partner's "My Name" essay rough draft. After that, we discussed our journal writing requirements. Then, we reflected on where we develop our morals, and what issues are moral issues. Finally, I handed out a worksheet on fables, which you need to complete for tomorrow.

Day Eight / 9.17.10

Today we started with a discussion on literacy. What does it mean to be literate? And is literacy a luxury or a necessity? Then we discussed the excerpt from Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself." After that we covered the standards expected for your My Name Paper due on Monday. The editing checklist is here.

Day Seven / 9.16.10

Today we started with a quote from Victor Hugo, “There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul." Then, we wrote about whether or not we are important in the world (are you more beautiful than the sea and sky?). Finally, we looked at Emily Dickinson's poem "I'm Nobody." Then, I gave you your next assignment, the My Name Paper, due Monday.

Day Six / 9.15.10

Today we started with a quote by Pablo Picasso: “Art is the lie that tells the truth.” After that, we talked about hooks. The hook handout is here. Your homework is to mimic Patricia Fargnoli's poem, "Naming my Daughter," by creating your own. You can view the poem and assignment here.

Day Five / 9.14.10

Today we started with a quote from Clara Schumann: "My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art."

Next, we outlined Amy Tan's piece from The Joy Luck Club. We saw how she looped the story, and how she revealed her name by telling the story of her sisters, her mother's name, and then finally the meaning behind her own name—essential sister. Finally, we read a poem and began brainstorming our own adaptation of "Naming My Daughter."

Day Four / 9.13.10

Today we heard a few presentations about our writing history. We then did a class timeline showing our landmark moments in literacy. After that, we talked about Why We Write. Next, we outlined Sandra Cisnero's short story, "My Name." We noticed that the structure does not emphasize her name explicitly, but reveals it indirectly, through telling her great-grandmother's story and anecdotes from school/her sister. As writers, we're often better suited to reveal something about our topic by telling a story that relates. Stories draw readers in and show them, rather than tell them, what we're trying to say.

Day Three / 9.10.10

Today we covered the syllabus. Then, we finished our blackbird presentations. Next, we studied sunflowers. Finally, we received our first homework assignment, writing about our reading/writing past. The assignment is here.

And here is a poem written by our class:

Seven Ways of Seeing a Sunflower

I.

Bright yellow petals, petals which

resemble fire in its full brilliance, a

bright yellow which fades into a

deep orange and into a black

abyss of which nothing escapes.

II.

Like humans, flowers are always kept and admired,

while stems are thrown away.

III.

When you look at a flower,

you think of beauty.

When you look at a sunflower,

you see something looking back at you.

IV.

For centuries, people thought the sun flower followed the sun.

But, maybe, the sun follows the sunflower.

V.

Yellow, green, brown, and black,

came back on Sunday morning,

and today the flowers are soaring.

VI.

When you smell the flower

the earthy smell kisses back.

VII.

A single flower left behind stays

put to fight against the wind.

Day Two / 9.9.10

Today we began with a quote from Picasso: “I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

Picasso's Garçon à la Pipe

Then, we learned something we weren't sure we could do. We translated a poem by Wallace Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," into pictures and then delved into the deeper meaning of the stanzas. The poem is pasted below:

I

Among twenty snowy mountains,

The only moving thing

Was the eye of the blackbird.

II

I was of three minds,

Like a tree

In which there are three blackbirds.

III

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.

It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV

A man and a woman

Are one.

A man and a woman and a blackbird

Are one.

V

I do not know which to prefer,

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after.

VI

Icicles filled the long window

With barbaric glass.

The shadow of the blackbird

Crossed it, to and fro.

The mood

Traced in the shadow

An indecipherable cause.

VII

O thin men of Haddam,

Why do you imagine golden birds?

Do you not see how the blackbird

Walks around the feet

Of the women about you?

VIII

I know noble accents

And lucid, inescapable rhythms;

But I know, too,

That the blackbird is involved

In what I know.

IX

When the blackbird flew out of sight,

It marked the edge

Of one of many circles.

X

At the sight of blackbirds

Flying in a green light,

Even the bawds of euphony

Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rode over Connecticut

In a glass coach.

Once, a fear pierced him,

In that he mistook

The shadow of his equipage

For blackbirds.

XII

The river is moving.

The blackbird must be flying.

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbird sat

In the cedar-limbs.

Day One / 9.8.10

Today we discussed Langston Hughes' poem "Hope":

He rose up on his dying bed

and asked for fish.

His wife looked it up in her dream book

and played it.

Then, I told you a little about myself, and I shared with you poems from 1st grade, and a poem from my junior year of college. We discussed that writing is 1) innate—you know it because it is inside you, and 2) is a reflection of your gained knowledge. We must write as 13 year olds, but with the innocence of kindergartners, and the wisdom of educated people.