Monthly Archives: October 2009

ASD and Halloween Friday

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First and seventh periods had a quiz on the Diary of Anne Frank to close out the week; they will have an opportunity to correct the quiz (for credit) on Monday. Hopefully, those who didn’t do as well as they should will take this chance to improve their grade.

Additionally, I ended a few with a quick overview of what’s going on in Poland this time of year. Last year, I included a description of All Saints’ Day here as well.

Homework
  • First and seventh period: revise one of the diary entries from a different character’s perspective.
  • Second period: re-read II.1; read II.2

Tone and the Sonnet

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Students in first and seventh periods used a graphic organizer to learn what tone is and how characters in the Diary of Anne Frank exhibit it.

Fourth period completed the sonnet and lyric poem forms today.

Homework
  • First and seventh periods: none.
  • Fourth: revise presentations to incorporate more class praticipation (see the presentation basics page).
  • Second period:
    • finish the journal entries (as necessary);
    • read II.1 from Diary of Anne Frank.

Wrapping Up Act I

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First, second, and seventh periods wrapped up the first act of Anne Frank. We’ll be doing the second act in a much shorter time, finishing by the middle of next week.

Fourth period continued its poetry unit, with students teaching today about imagery and the sonnet form.

Homework
  • First and seventh periods: vocab questions (page 833).
  • Second period:
    • vocab questions (page 833);
    • two journal entries from different characters on the same event.

Act I Complete

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First, second, and seventh periods completed the first act of the Diary of Anne Frank. We’ll wrap up loose ends tomorrow and probably have a quiz on it Wednesday before starting act two.

Fourth period began their poetry projects. The first pair almost completed their work: it was something of a learning experience for everyone, so we took our time examining what makes a good presentation afterward.

Homework
  • First, second, and seventh: complete questions 1-4 (page 832)
  • Second: complete the “Milestones” graphic organizer for the final scene.

Act I, Scene 3, Second Half

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First, second, and seventh periods completed the Diary of Anne Frank I.3 today.  We used a two-sided journal to parse out some of the implications of select portions of the dialogue.

Fourth period had a final day of preparation for the poetry presentations next week. Students who completed the work early continued working on the quarter-long parts of speech review, looking at adverbs and conjunctions. We will likely be having a final parts of speech test some time within the next few weeks.

Homework
  • First period:
    • finish reading scene 3, and
    • complete journal entry.
  • Second period:
  • Fourth period: complete graphic organizers; mail to team leader for consolidation.
  • Seventh period: none.

Act I, Scene 3, First Half

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First, second, and seventh periods continued working on the Diary of Anne Frank. We completed the first half of scene three, and there were some splendidly prepared students who really put on a good show.

After acting out the play, we looked carefully at a couple of passages to see what inferences we could make about characters based on their words and actions.

Fourth period continued preparing for their poetry project. We will likely begin the presentations on Monday.

Anne Frank

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First, second, and seventh periods completed the second scene from Diary of Anne Frank. After reading the scene, we looked closely at how much information can be inferred from a few passages of the dialogue.

We’ll be taking a break tomorrow for the book fair and then return Thursday.

Second period spent the day in groups, preparing for their poetry project. We’ll begin those on Thurday or Friday. The actual poetry unit will spill over into the next unit, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Homework
  • First, second, and seventh period: complete the conflict chart/overview of Act I, Scene 2.
  • Fourth period: continue preparing for poetry presentation.

Dialogue

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First, second, and seventh periods all worked on dialogue analysis. In a play, all things we learn about characters have to be teased out from the dialogue, so we practiced doing just that: reading closely what characters say to see what we can determine about the characters, the setting, and the situation.

Fourth period didn’t have class due to the PSAT.

Homework
  • First period: complete the “Cause and Effect” handout.
  • Second period:
    • complete both handouts;
    • read over all “Literary Analysis” and “Reading Skill” questions for your group’s section of Diary of Anne Frank.
  • Seventh period: read over all “Literary Analysis” questions for your group’s section of Diary of Anne Frank.

Final Practice and Tone

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First, second, and seventh periods practiced their parts from Anne Frank.  First and seventh periods also worked on using context to determine a word’s meaning.

Fourth period completed work with tone. After writing a description of walking a dog with a prescribed tone, students read their work to the class and the audience had to identify the tone. We wrapped everything up by looking at the specific details that indicated the writer’s tone.

Homework
  • First and seventh periods:
    • complete the pre-reading exercise (from class);
    • review your part.
  • Second period: complete character/conflict chart.
  • Fourth period: read through the “Tone” side of the “Tone/Mood Words” handout and make a list of all the stems you recognize. (It’s not necessary to know the meaning in order to list the stem; you simply have to recognize it as a stem, perhaps thinking to yourself, “What does that mean?”)

Rehearsal and Tone

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Fourth period continued working on mood and tone. We watched a few trailers for films in which the genre had been switched through skillful editing.

  • Dumb and Dumber was turned into a horror film, Lurk and Lurker;
  • The Shining was transformed from horror film into a feel-good romantic comedy; and
  • Mary Poppins edited as a horror film, Scary Mary.

After examining the elements of tone and mood in the trailers (music, sound effects, lighting, scene sequence), we tried our hand at writing the same thing (an account of taking a dog for a walk) with different examples of tone and mood.

All other classes worked on Diary of Anne Frank.

Homework
  • First, second, and seventh periods: continue reviewing parts at home.
  • Fourth period: none.

Preparations and Presentations

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First, second, and seventh periods spend the day preparing for the in-class performance/reading of Diary of Anne Frank.

Seventh Period

Seventh Period

Second Period

Second Period

Seventh Period

Seventh Period

Second Period

Second Period

Seventh Period

Seventh Period

Each group had a chance to practice as a group and discuss the text. I also shared with students the grading criteria:

  1. Preparedness: I am familiar with my lines (not necessarily memorized) and I understand the meaning of my words.
  2. Awareness: As I’m performing, I am aware of what others are doing and what I should do in response. I am also aware of where we are in the play and know when my character will be speaking again.
  3. Expression: The tone of my voice and my gestures reflect my character’s emotional state.
  4. Volume: Peers can hear me at all times.
  5. Enthusiasm: It’s obvious that I’m doing my very best, and I’m taking it seriously.

Fourth period completed the presentations/class discussions for “Cub Pilot on the Mississippi” that we began yesterday.

Fourth Period

Fourth Period

It was an informal practice for the coming poetry unit, during which students will be teaching small mini-lessons on topics and/or poems.

Additional pictures are available at the gallery.

Homework
  • First and second periods: review your individual roles.
  • Fourth period: analyze the tone/mood sheet; determine the mood of the three major pieces we’ve read in class thus far.
  • Seventh period:
    • review your individual roles;
    • study for stems test.

KWL and Presentations

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First, second, and seventh periods began their preparations for reading Diary of Anne Frank. Students were divided into groups, and after working on vocabulary, the groups decided who was going to play which parts.

Fourth period continued debriefing “Cub Pilot.” Having spent yesterday preparing, the students began giving their presentations. After the first group — guinea pigs and examples, really — we went over some of the principles of a good presentation.

Homework
  • First and seventh periods: complete the vocab work.
  • Second period: read roles in Diary of Anne Frank and pencil in notes about the character’s mood.
  • Fourth period: evaluate Antigone essay (due Monday).