Monthly Archives: October 2008

Poe and Slides

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All classes took something of a break today. I read some Poe to everyone (most classes heard “The Tell-Tale Heart”) to get students in the Halloween mood.

I also showed some slides from Poland during All Saints’ Day. I’ll be posting something here about it shortly.

Homework

None

Ballads and Blossoming Love

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Fourth and sixth periods looked at a scene from The Diary of Anne Frank that shows how Peter and Anne’s relationship is changing, and then began working on a similar entry for their diary project. As students worked, I conferenced with individual students regarding various elements of the new PASS rubric.

Second period examined ballads. We worked on a song/ballad to begin discovering the characteristics of a ballad. Students will continue working on the characteristics at home by exploring other ballads. We used a graphic to organize our work.

First period did, more or less, what fourth and sixth periods did, except without the Anne Frank selection.

Homework
  • First, fourth, and sixth: finish diary entries.
  • Second: complete graph using ballads listed on our Moodle site.

A Quiz, Some Questions, and First Presentation

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First period finished The Diary of Anne Frank. We took a moment to look at a scene from the Disney adaptation: the arrest of the Franks. The students were literally breathless as the SS officers stormed into the building.

Fourth and sixth periods took a quiz on the final scene of Act I, then worked on their diary project.

Homework
  • First period: questions at the end of The Diary of Anne Frank (I don’t know the page number off the top of my head, the board has been erased, and my book is on the other side of the room…)
  • Second period: “My Papa’s Waltz” and accompanying questions.
  • Fourth and sixth periods: questions 1, 2, 5, 6 on page 832

Apt Adjectives and Final Preparation

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Second period finished up their in-class preparation time for their student-teaching projects. The first group, covering meter and rhyme, will be launching their project tomorrow.

First, fourth, and sixth periods focused on improving their “We Are Anne” diary projects by focusing on the use of good adjectives to add sensory detail.

Homework
  • Second period: work on discussion forum for The Giver and Fahrenheit 451.
  • First, fourth, and sixth periods: add/improve ten adjectives to existing diary entries.

More Preparation and the End of Act I

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First period looked at the question of internal and external motivation as Peter and Anne grow closer in The Diary of Anne Frank.

Fourth, and sixth periods, with the completion of their homework, will have finished the first act of The Diary of Anne Frank tomorrow. We’ll be having a quiz on the final scene of act one Wednesday. Today, they focused on a scene that reveals a lot about how much society has changed regarding women during the last 100 years.

Second period continued with the poetry project preparation. We should be ready to go by Wednesday.

Second period, having Exploratory with me this quarter, also began two new novels. We’ll be spending Exploratory looking at three dystopian novels: Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm. Students will read either The Giver or Fahrenheit 451 during the first half of the quarter, and then we’ll all read Animal Farm during the second half.

Homework
  • First period:
    • read act I scene iii;
    • complete diary entry number eight.
  • Second period: continue working on poetry presentations.
  • Fourth and sixth periods:
    • read through page 831;
    • prepare for quiz Wednesday on the material.

Revision and Preparation

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First, fourth, and sixth periods worked on revising some of their diary entries for:

  1. clarity of content;
  2. descriptive details; and
  3. sentence variety.

Students looked at each other’s work to find elements that could be improved, then worked in pairs to improve them.

Second period continued working on their poetry projects. They’ve got quite a bit to get finished, so we’ll be working on it into next week.

Homework
  • First, fourth, and sixth periods: none.
  • Second period:
    • compare/contrast essay on To Kill a Mockingbird and the Scottsboro boys’ trial;
    • the newspaper/newsletter project for To Kill a Mockingbird; and,
    • the poetry project.

Would you leave the country for a million dollars?

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First, fourth, and sixth periods began the day with free writing on the following prompt:

Would you leave this country, never to return again, for $1 million? If not, why not? Is there some sum of money that would convince you? If so, where would you go?

In an effort to improve writing, I need to be more active in providing examples of my own writing. To that end, my own free writing response follows.

Possibly. Probably. Some might take this as materialistic or even unpatriotic, but the truth is, I love Poland just as much as America, and my years living abroad taught me that “home” is a very relative thing. I’ve made and remade my home in enough places and enough times to realize that home is a state of being, not a city, state, country, or even continent. Home is having friends and family nearby. Aye, there’s the rub: if I were to leave the country, the only family I’d likely see would be my parents. No one else would have the motivation or means to come see me. So maybe I wouldn’t.

Poetry Project and Revision

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Since I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not stressing writing enough, I’m in the process of re-planning some lessons. As such, first, fourth, and sixth periods worked revision strategies today, using the history of Anne Frank as a thematic base. We looked at three ways of revising:

  • For clarity of meaning
  • For descriptive details
  • For sentence variety.

We used a graphic organizer to aid our revision.

Second period began working on their poetry projects. Details available here.

Homework
  • First and fourth periods: finish revision handout.
  • Second period:
    • comparison/contrast essay due Monday;
    • work on Mockingbird newspaper project (online); and,
    • develop poetry project presentation and materials.
  • Sixth period:
    • finish revision handout;
    • complete first diary entry (that’s the link you want, gentlemen from sixth period).

Readers’ Theater and Research

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First period continued with Anne Frank, completing the first scene of the second act. Things are heating up for the Franks, the Van Daans, and Dussel. We’ll be finishing up the play early next week and then working on a compare/contrast essay.

Second period continued researching for their own compare/contrast essay. Today was the last day we’ll be spending class time preparing for it. The essay itself will be due next week.

Fourth and sixth periods are working to catch up with first period.

Homework
  • First period: diary entry number seven.
  • Second period: compare/contrast essay.
  • Fourth and sixth periods:

Anne Frank and Research

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First period began a small project on the effect of point of view. Working in pairs, students took an episode from The Diary of Anne Frankthat affects all characters and looked at it from a different point of view. We did this in two ways: first, students wrote diary entries from another character’s point of view; second, students created a dialogue between one of the characters and one of his/her pre-war friends. (Of course, to accomplish this, we had to engage in the suspension of disbelief, as only Otto Frank survived.)

Second period continued working on their To Kill a Mockingbird projects (the newspaper and the compare/contrast essay).

Fourth and sixth periods were not as productive as they should be. Too many students are not doing their homework, and since homework is often reading, we cannot continue with the unit until the reading gets done. To that end, we read silently in class today with the understanding that it will be the last time it will happen. We will have quizzes over material to encourage more reading at home.

Fourth and sixth periods also discussed the effect their homework apathy is having on their grades.

Homework
  • First period: diary entry six.
  • Second period: continue research for the compare/contrast essay.
  • Fourth and sixth periods: quiz tomorrow on Anne Frank through page 798.

Slow Day

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He was a kind young man who, with the help of his parents, had his own general store at the age of twenty-five. He spoke slowly and laughed easily. I often leaned against the counter in his store, sipping a Coke and chatting about nothing in particular.

Shop Keeper, Lipnica Wielka, Poland

Housekeeping

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We did a little housekeeping in all classes. It being the end of the quarter, it was time to do another self-evaluation for participation, using this rubric. Additionally, students evaluated their starters, this time using this rubric.

Homework
  • First period:
    • 3 diary entries
    • questions on page 832
    • cause/effect graphic organizer for question on page 830
  • Second period: participation self-evaluation (online)
  • Fourth period:
    • second journal entry;
    • read to page 798.
  • Sixth period:
    • first two journal entries;
    • read to page 798.

Anne Frank and the PSAT

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Most students from second period were taking the PSAT.

First period read/performed Act 1 Scene 4.

Fourth period finished the play through Act 1 Scene 2. We also began working on the cause and effect graphic organizer.

You can download the organizer here:

Sixth period took a little longer with the graphic organizer, so we’re going to be completing Scene 2 for homework.

Homework
  • First period: finish second diary entry.
  • Second period: none.
  • Fourth period: first diary entry.
  • Sixth period:
    • read through pages 791;
    • complete graphic organizer for the question on page 791.