Language Arts 12: Curse of the Chupacabra chapters 1 and 2

Writer's Journal entry:  Write about a time when you were RIGHT, but no one believed you, and everyone told you you were wrong, OR, when you were right but YOU doubted yourself and didn't believe you were right.

Annotations handout

Background on the book and its genre

Write some annotations together

Homework: 10 annotations on chapters 1 and 2 due Friday, if not finished in class.
Quiz on chapters 1 and 2 Friday.
Start bringing your planner to class!

Language Arts 9: River of Words Art Contest

With visiting artist Elizabeth, we created rough drafts of water web-inspired artwork for the River of Words art and poetry contest. Elizabeth will be back on Friday with watercolors!

Integrated Writing, section 1: "Dumbstruck"

Warmup:  word search

Visual observations: List everything you can observe about the photograph on the handout

Compare your observations to those printed on the back of the photograph. Do you have more observations? More specific observations?

Read "Dumbstruck" by Annie Dillard, along with the observations printed on the page

Define unfamiliar words

Transcribe

Homework: Dillard transcription due Thursday

Language Arts 11: Memes and News Satire

View memes found by classmates

Create your own meme (electronic or paper) with a social or political message

Define satire

Watch episode of The Colbert Report, and list as many satirized people, places, and things as you can find in the episode!


Homework: 

Meme due Thursday, if not finished in class

Language Arts 10: The Pearl, chapter 1

Writer's Journal entry:  Write about a time: 
When you were RIGHT, but no one believed you, and everyone told you you were wrong, or, when you were right but YOU doubted yourself and didn't believe it.


Handout: Ideas for annotating a text

Background info on John Steinbeck and The Pearl

Read chapter 1 of The Pearl aloud and do some annotations together

Continue reading and annotating independently

Homework: 
Complete chapter 1 and have 10 annotations on it for Thursday
Quiz on chapter 1 Thursday
Please make sure to start bringing your planner to class on Thursday!

Language Arts 12: Curse of the Chupacabra Anticipation Guide

Fill out the Anticipation Guide handout, marking whether you agree or disagree with each of the twelve statements. Take a stand--don't be wishy-washy!

On the back of the paper, write a paragraph about each of the TWO statements you feel most strongly about. 

These statements are all ideas used as themes in Curse of the Chupacabra. 

Graded class discussion. A nonvolunteer picks a statement to discuss. Volunteers then will be able to respond. When the statement is exhausted, a new nonvolunteer is chosen. 

Homework: None!

Language Arts 9: Blue Gold

Discuss how documentary films can be "read" as texts.

Define bias.

View a portion of the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars and complete viewing handout (questions about the argument, point of view, possible bias, and imagery of the film)

Homework: None!


Don't forget about the FREE screening of Watershed at The Loft (on Speedway at Country Club), on Wednesday, September 19, at 7 p.m.  Get background information, material, and imagery to use for River of Words.

Integrated Writing, section 1: "The Veldt" Text Detectives

Using your text detective skills, PROVE in writing your argument that the parents were killed by the lions at the end of the story. Use evidence in the form of quotations from the text, and explain (overexplain) how your evidence supports your argument!


Watch Deadmau5 video for their song "The Veldt," which is based on the story!


Homework: Text Detective writing due Monday.

Language Arts 11: Viral Marketing and Memes

Warmup: vocab check. Define the five words (from the last articles we read) listed on the screen.

Notes with definitions of viral marketing and of meme.

View examples of each.

Write your own "First-World Problems" meme.


Homework: For Monday, bring in your favorite meme. Print out a copy, or email it to me by Sunday
evening.

Language Arts 10: The Pearl Anticipation Guide

Fill out the Anticipation Guide handout, marking whether you agree or disagree with each of the twelve statements. Take a stand--don't be wishy-washy!

On the back of the paper, write a paragraph about each of the TWO statements you feel most strongly about. 

These statements are all ideas used as themes in The Pearl. 

Graded class discussion. A nonvolunteer picks a statement to discuss. Volunteers then will be able to respond. When the statement is exhausted, a new nonvolunteer is chosen. 

Homework: None!

Language Arts 12: Magic Realism with a Social Purpose

Writer's Journal entry: We talked yesterday about how "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" made a point about exploitation, and about how the inclusion of the fantastic element helps to strengthen that theme.

Now, brainstorm in writing another way that magic or folklore could be introduced to a realistic story in order to make a social or political point stronger. Explain in a paragraph what could happen in that story.

Discuss examples of magic realism used to make a social or political point. 

Assignment: In pairs, create a magic realism movie-ish poster to demonstrate your understanding of the genre. Your poster should include an image that clearly shows fantastic elements within an ordinary world, delivering a social or political message. Include a tagline or quote (make up the quote yourself) from the hypothetical story as well. Your story and its social message should be told through both the image and the line of text. 

Homework: Poster due on Friday, if not finished in class. 2 points.

Language Arts 9: River of Words poetry

Warmup: In your writer's journal, list as many water-related words as you can think of. Win a point of extra credit by having the longest list of words that no one else thought of!

Read poems from previous winners of the River of Words poetry contest.

Draft your own poem for the contest.

Homework: River of Words poem due Friday. It must be at least 15 lines long, and typed or written neatly in ink. Include imagery, metaphors, similes, and symbol to make your poem stand out from the rest! (3 points)

Language Arts 12: Magical Realism

Warmup:  On one half of a piece of paper, draw a picture of what you think of when you hear the word "angel."

"In My World" game, for extra credit. 

"In My World" concept attainment with examples and non-examples of magical realism. Based on what all of the examples have in common, how would you define magical realism? 

Notes on magical realism. 

Read Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings."  Reading strategy: 

• Find places where, in a single sentence, you have a magical detail and a realistic detail.

• Mark all of those sentences with a star.

• Underline the magical detail and double underline the realistic detail. MARK AT LEAST TEN. 

Revisit your angel drawing. On the other half of your paper, draw a picture of the angel from the story, using the passages of descriptive imagery to create your representation.


Homework: None!

Language Arts 9: River of Words, Arizona Water Web

Today we had a visit from Yajaira Gray, of the Pima County Natural Resources Department.

After discussing the sources of water and consumers of water in our local area, you participated in a hands-on demonstration. You created a model of what happens to our water resources when there are competing demands from a wide variety of water users.


Homework: None!  Tomorrow we will be working on writing original poetry for the River of Words poetry contest. How can you turn what you learned today into a poem?

Integrated Writing, section 1: "The Veldt"

Read "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury while listening to Stephen Colbert read the story.

Discuss the nature of imagination and reality in the story.

Discuss story vocab.

Boggle!

Homework: None.

Language Arts 11: The Internet and Your Brain

Writer's Journal entry: What is multitasking? Do you do it well? Give some examples of multitasking and how it fits into your life. Is it a valuable skill in today's society?

 

Take New York Times "task juggling" test to see how well you truly multitask.


Read two Wall Street Journal articles ("Does the Internet Make You Dumber?" and "Does the Internet Make You Smarter?") and answer questions about them on the handout.


Writer's journals were collected for a grade. 

Homework:  Wall Street Journal article responses due Thursday.

Language Arts 10: Corrido Writing

Writer's Journal entry: Write a long paragraph about an event, place, or a person that you believe deserves to be remembered, commemorated, or celebrated. This could be historical, political, or personal. If you were going to immortalize something or someone in song, what or who would it be, and why? What things would be most important to describe about them?

Read examples of corridos. Identify rhyme scheme and other features of a corrido.

Draft your own corrido for the Tucson annual bilingual corrido contest! 

Requirements: 

• 36 lines (either 6 stanzas of 6 lines each, or 9 stanzas of 4 lines each)
• approximately 7-10 syllables per line
• traditional corrido rhyme scheme (ABCB, AABB, or ABCBDB)

Homework: 

Corrido rough and final drafts will be due on Thursday.

Language Arts 9: Peer Editing

Warmup: sentence variation practice: Choose a topic to write about. Nonvolunteers will be chosen to roll a set of dice. Whatever number comes up, you will have to write a sentence about your topic using that number of words. You can NOT begin any of the sentences with the same word! 

Review the Six Traits rubric.

Peer edit TWO classmates' essay drafts for all 6 traits, using the rubric and the peer editing handout.

Homework: FINAL essay draft, with all rough drafts and peer editing sheets attached for full credit, is due on Tuesday. This will be graded according to the six traits rubric you worked with today and will be worth 25 points.

Language Arts 12: Peer Editing

Review the Six Traits rubric.

Peer edit TWO classmates' essay drafts for all 6 traits, using the rubric and the peer editing handout.

Homework: FINAL essay draft, with all rough drafts and peer editing sheets attached for full credit, is due on Tuesday. This will be graded according to the six traits rubric you worked with today.

Don't forget to have your copy of Anaya, Curse of the Chupacabra, on Wednesday!

Integrated Writing, section 1

Warmup: Scattergories

Read Stephen King, "Myth, Belief, Faith, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not" while listening to recording of the author reading

Discuss the piece and vocabulary

Homework: None

Language Arts 11: Truth Ads

Writer's Journal entry: write a paragraph about a specific product you think currently has the most misleading, or even harmful, advertising. What is the difference between the reality of that product and the image the corporation tries to portray in its advertising?  

Finish rhetorical appeals ad presentations

Discuss examples of "truth ads"

Create a colorful, artistic, Adbusters-like (or even a Dove-like) “truth ad,” revealing the reality of something that is often misleading in advertising.

Your ad should contain:

•At least one of the rhetorical appeals

•Colorful, persuasive imagery

• Persuasive text

Your appeal should be STRONG, so you will need several sentences or points of text and images.

On the back of your ad, write a short paragraph explaining:

--which appeals you used

 --why you chose the images and words you used for your appeals.

Homework: Truth ad due Monday, September 10. 5 points.

Language Arts 10: Corridos

Review Star Wars Hero's Journey Tracker

Quiz on the Hero's Journey (10 points)

Discuss corridos and Poetry Center corrido contest

Handout with corrido examples and criteria

Homework: None

Language Arts 9: Autobiography Endings

Writer's Journal Entry: If the world were going to end in one week, what would you do? What is on your "bucket list"?

Brainstorm common and cliched endings to movies, books, stories, etc.

Discuss common, overused endings to five-paragraph essays

Discuss cliched endings to autobiographies

Notes on strong conclusions

Handout: Read example of a strong ending to a memoir about place, Helen Blatt's "Returning Home."

Answer the following questions in 1-2 sentences each:

1. What did Blatt learn from her trip? Summarize this in a sentence or two on the bottom of the page.

2. How did she manage to convey this information without sounding cliché or overly sentimental? Explain this in another 1-2 sentences. 

Homework: Your "almost-final" draft of your environmental autobiography is due on Friday! Add a new conclusion based on today's information. Use my feedback on your draft to improve the organization, and make sure to avoid overused words!

Your final draft will be due on Tuesday.

Language Arts 12: Apostrophe Fails (and Notes)

Warmup: What is wrong with these pictures?  View photo examples of misused apostrophes submitted to a blog.

Notes on and practice with the three major types of apostrophe use, and:

• your vs. you're
• there, their, and they're
• it's vs. its

Homework: A near-final draft of your name essay is due on Friday for final peer editing and proofreading.

The final draft, graded on all 6 traits, will be due on Tuesday.

You should now use apostrophes 100% correctly in your essay!

Language Arts 12: Endings, and More Deep Revision

Writer's Journal entry: What are some of the best movie and book endings you can remember? What made them memorable? What are the WORST endings you know of, and what was wrong with them? List some movie or book "ending cliches." 

Discuss endings and some famous last lines of novels. What makes them effective? 

Handout: "How to Craft a Great Article, Part II: Hooks, Leads, and Endings," by Dawn Copeman


Deep Revision:

Edit returned name essay draft for organization by adding new hook.

Edit draft for sentence fluency by marking ALL of your sentences that begin with the subject of the sentence. 

Using your notes on sentence starters, edit your sentences so that you have AT LEAST one example of each type of starter in your draft.

Add a new ending, perhaps one that "completes the circle" begun by your hook, or one that "unhooks your hook."

Homework: "Almost-final" draft will be due on Friday, for final peer editing. 

Language Arts 9: Voice

Writer's Journal entry: Choose one of the "totally radical" 1980s yearbook photos from the board. Write a paragraph as the person you choose, in what you imagine their voice to be like. Your classmates will guess which person you are. You are not writing ABOUT that person, you ARE that person.

Discuss voice trait

Using a voice trait rubric handout, assess three writing samples, giving each a score for voice.

Peer edit another student's environmental autobiography, marking places where voice is strong and places where voice could be improved. Mark AT LEAST 10 places.

Extra credit assignment(sentence fluency): For one point of extra credit, do the following correctly:

Write at least 10 sentences about any topic you choose, following the rules below.  

1.  Do not begin any sentence with a, an, or the.

2.  All sentences must begin with a different word.

3.  Do not begin any sentences with a common noun.

4.  Do not begin any sentences with I, my, or you. (personal pronouns)

5.  Do not begin more than two sentences with the same part of speech. (noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, etc.)

Homework: None!

Language Arts 9: Burying "Dead Words" and Autobiography Drafting

Warmup: Create a list of the 20 verbs and adjectives you believe are most often overused in writing!

From the list we create, choose your "top 3" overused words.

"Bury" one of those words by creating a gravestone for it. Around the outside of the gravestone, write five more vivid, specific words that could replace the dead word. (worth 2 points)

Handout: 6 Traits Rubric. Your environmental autobiography will be graded on this rubric.

Homework: Environmental autobiography draft due on Tuesday. It must be TWO pages long for five points. (Three or more pages will get you a point of extra credit.)

Remember, this is a ROUGH draft. You will revise it and make it better later on!

Language Arts 12: Deep Revision

Warmup: Visual Spelling Experiment "post-test"

Edit returned name essay draft for organization by adding new hook.

Edit draft for sentence fluency by marking ALL of your sentences that begin with the subject of the sentence.

Using your notes on sentence starters, edit your sentences so that you have AT LEAST one example of each type of starter in your draft.

Begin working on your revised draft, using peer edits and teacher edits to guide you.

Homework: 
None

Integrated Writing, section 1

Peer Assessment of Tucson Mountains, part II

Read Luis Alberto Urrea, "My Life on the Mississippi."

Answer the reading comprehension questions on the handout. Define at least five words from the story using a dictionary.

Class discussion of the reading questions.

Language Arts 11: Persuasive Design in Print Ads

Review ethos, pathos, and logos by identifying the appeal used in three commercials

In groups, select a print ad from a magazine. Answer the questions in the analysis packet about the rhetorical and persuasive purpose behind the ad's design.

Present your ad analysis to the class.

Homework: None

The ultimate example of pathos in advertising: 

Language Arts 10: The Hero's Journey Continues

Review the "Departure" stage of Star Wars
Use your hero's journey notes and tracker to list examples of stages found in the second half of Star Wars

Homework: 
Quiz on the Hero's Journey will Thursday, September 6

Have John Steinbeck, The Pearl, on Thursday, September 6


Obi-Wan, the mystagogue

Language Arts 12: Essay and Hook Cliches

Writer's Journal Entry: What do you think is (or would be—you can make it up), the BEST first line of a story, book, or movie ever written (or never written)?  (Write this down in your binder—scrap piece of paper). What makes it the best?

Done? What do you think is/would be the WORST first line of a story? 

Read examples from the list of the best first lines of novels. What do they all have in common? 

Handout: Top Essay and Hook Cliches to Avoid

Practice: Write two examples of a strong hook that would work for your name essay

               Write one example of a cliched hook that you should NOT use for your essay

Finish last notes on six types of sentence starters

Homework: None

Language Arts 9: Writing Strong Hooks

Warmup: What do you think is (or would be—you can make it up), the BEST first line of a story, book, or movie ever written? What makes it the best?
 

Read some examples from the list of best first lines of novels.

Handout: "Little Red Riding Hooks": 8 techniques for grabbing your reader's attention in your first line (Organization Trait)

Work on rough draft of your environmental autobiography. 

Homework: None

Language Arts 12: Visual Spelling and Sentence Starters

Conventions trait: 

Visual spelling "pre-test" of 20 commonly misspelled words

Read article about neurolinguistic programming and spelling skills

Practice NLP visual spelling techniques

Visual spelling "post-test" to see whether your spelling has improved


Sentence Fluency trait: 

Take notes on six ways to start a sentence (to help you vary your sentence structure)


Handout: 20 Commonly Misspelled Words


Homework: None

Language Arts 9: Environmental Autobiography

Writer's Journal entry: Describe, in detail, a place that has been important to you. Really set the scene, using imagery from as many senses as possible. What does the place look like, sound like, smell like, feel like? Why was it so significant? This should be at least one very LONG paragraph. Once you're finished, draw a picture in your journal of what your place looks like.  

Read and discuss excerpt from Jeannette Walls' "true-life novel," Half-Broke Horses.

Discuss environmental autobiography assignment, and prewrite. 

Read reviews of two Southwestern novels, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, and House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. Be ready to vote on Wednesday for which book you'd like to read as a class this year!

Homework: None

Integrated Writing, section 1: Wild Trees

Warmup: Scattergories-esque word game

Read excerpt from Preston, Wild Trees aloud, focusing on fluency and expression.

Homework: None!

a furrowed redwood tree: 

Language Arts 11: Rhetorical Appeals in Advertising

Writer's Journal entry: In this day and age, many of us believe that we have become pretty savvy about advertising tactics. Write about some techniques that advertisers use to try to get you to buy goods and services. Be specific. What exactly do they do in commercials, Internet ads, and magazine ads to try to persuade you to buy products?  Do these techniques ever work on you, even though you see through them?
 

View and discuss television commercials. What persuasive techniques are being used? How have some advertisers become more sophisticated in their techniques?

Notes on the rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. 

Check for understanding: identify the appeals used in a variety of commercial examples. 

Homework: None. 

Be ready to analyze print advertisements in great detail on Thursday, and to create your own "truth ad," showing your understanding of persuasive techniques and the rhetorical appeals.

Language Arts 10: Star Wars, a Hero's Journey

Notes on the "Return" stage of the hero's journey myth structure
Notes on archetypes

Watch first section of Star Wars (the "Departure" stage of the hero's journey), filling out tracking sheet with the stages of the journey you see in the film

Homework: None

Quiz on hero's journey and archetypes will be Thursday, September 6.

Have a copy of John Steinbeck, The Pearl, by Thursday, September 6.

Language Arts 12: Peer Editing

Using the peer editing sheet handout, serve as "test reader" for a classmate's name essay.

Watch video excerpt about Rudolfo Anaya (author of Curse of the Chupacabra)

Homework: Three-page name essay draft due Tuesday, ready to be graded for voice, word choice, and ideas (research, etc.). Turn this in along with any previous drafts and the peer editing feedback you received today.

Language Arts 9: Jimmy Santiago Baca, part II. Environments

Writer's Journal entry: ten-minute free write. Include at least one simile, one metaphor, and one example of each of five types of imagery in your writing.

Identify examples of similes, metaphors, imagery, and symbol in Jimmy Santiago's poem "I Am Offering This Poem..."

Discuss whether knowing the poet's background and history influences how you read his poem.

Read an excerpt from Jimmy Santiago Baca's memoir A Place to Stand. 

Homework: NONE!

Next week you will begin working on your own "environmental autobiography."

Integrated Writing section 1: Tucson Mountains part 2

Peer assessment of Tucson Mountains, part I

Homework: Read and transcribe Tucson Mountains, part II for Monday, August 27.

Language Arts 11: Writing Diagnostic

Write an in-class persuasive essay supporting a position about Internet addiction, using the Newsweek article we read in class and information from class discussions.

Ten points based on ideas, effort, and basic grammar and spelling.

Language Arts 10: The Hero's Journey

Writer's Journal entry: Write about heroism. What is a hero? What qualities does a hero possess? Give an example of a hero and describe what’s heroic about them.


Notes (using a handout outline) on Joseph Campbell and The Hero's Journey "monomyth," with video montage examples.

Homework: None.

Please have your own copy of John Steinbeck's The Pearl by Thursday, September 6. 

Language Arts 12: Overused Words

Writer's Journal entry: Write 5 LONG (at least 7 words each) sentences about your plans for the upcoming weekend. Do not use any words more than once in your paragraph; this includes "me," "and," "a," and "I"!

Create a list of overused words to avoid in your name essay draft
Discuss linking verbs and how their overuse can be avoided

Assignment: For Friday, have a full draft of your name essay with all overused words and excessive linking verbs corrected, AND the new 7-sentence (at least) "showing" descriptive paragraph.

It is essential that you have these for peer editing. Plus they are worth 5 points. 

Language Arts 9: Jimmy Santiago Baca

Read brief author biography of Jimmy Santiago Baca

Writer's Journal entry:

1. Does Jimmy Santiago Baca sound like a person whose work you'd like to read? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that knowing the author's biography and life history is important for your understanding of a poem or story? Why or why not?

Review of and notes on simile, metaphor, imagery, and symbol.

Read Jimmy Santiago Baca's poem, "I Am Offering This Poem to You." Watch video of Baca reading his poem aloud

Homework: prose poem due Friday, August 24

On Friday, you will be finding the similes, metaphors, imagery, and symbol in "I Am Offering This Poem to You" and reading an excerpt from Baca's memoir

Language Arts 12: "Show, Don't Tell"

Writer's Journal entry: free association writing on three different one-word topics, for three minutes each

Examples of using descriptive writing to "show" rather than "tell"

Handout: Practice expanding sentences by using "showing" and descriptive writing to rewrite 6 "telling" statements.

Assignment: Identify places in your name essay draft that "tell" and could be expanded to "show." Rewrite one of them in a paragraph at least 7 sentences long. (This assignment will be continued in class on Wednesday.)

Remember, you need to have Anaya, The Curse of the Chupacabra, by next Wednesday, August 29!  


"She is upset" is a "telling" statement about the picture below:

Language Arts 9: "Borderlands" and Prose Poetry

Writer's Journal entry: ten-minute free writing

Read and discuss Gloria Anzuldua's poem, "To Live in the Borderlands Means You..."

Assignment: Due Friday, August 24, write your own prose poem on any topic, following the instructions and tips on the assignment sheet. This is worth five points.

Remember the "borscht" from the poem? This what borscht looks like:

Integrated Writing section 1: Tucson Mountains

Warmup: Boggle!

Peer assessment of Hall, "Stump People" transcription

Review vocabulary words from "Stump People"

Assignment: Due Thursday, August 24. Read and transcribe first page of Ring, Tucson Mountains. Write down the definitions of at least three words from the article.

Language Arts 11: Internet Addiction?

"Internet Use Survey" (really a questionnaire used to diagnose Internet addiction.

View two network news clips on the concept of Internet Addiction in China and the U.S.

Read and discuss Newsweek article, "Is the Web Driving Us Mad?"

Homework: Finish Newsweek article for Thursday, and be prepared to write a diagnostic persuasive essay on whether Internet addiction is a serious issue and should be considered a disorder. 

Language Arts 10: North American Creation Myths

Background context on four North American peoples: the Aztecs, the Maya, the O'odham, and the Hopi

Notes on 7 types of myths common across cultures (flood, creation, "the dying god," the creative sacrifice, axis mundi, titanomachy, and the hero's journey)

Notes on 3 types of similarities between myths (linguistic, structural, and psychological)

Handout on 7 characteristics of myth

Assignment: Due Thursday, August 23. Complete dialectical journal on four creation myths. Include 12 entries (3 for each myth). Use each of the 7 characteristics of myth at least once.

(To complete an entry, include a quote from a myth that illustrates one of the 7 characteristics. List the page number on which the quote is found and the characteristic it illustrates.)

Language Arts 12: Name Essay Draft and Voice

Writer's Journal entry: Choose a fabulous 1990s yearbook photo from the board and write as the person you choose, in what you think their voice would sound like.

Receive 6 Traits rubric and discuss Voice trait.

Draft a rough draft of an essay about your name

Homework: Your draft is due on Tuesday, August 21. It must be three pages handwritten (a front of a page, a back, and another front) or about 2 1/4 pages typed and double-spaced. This is worth 10 points.

**Remember, you are using your name and the folklore of naming as a starting point for a personal essay. You could go in a folklore direction, a historical direction, an autobiographical direction, or any other connection you can make.

**Remember, this is a ROUGH draft and the goal is to have three pages of thoughts about and connections to your name down on paper. We will work on the organization and details later!

Language Arts 9: Symbolism

Guess the logo game

Notes and discussion on symbolism

Read about the Tohono O'odham Man in the Maze and its symbolism

Assignment: Create your own personal symbol and explain it in writing

Requirements: Create a visual symbol that represents some aspect of yourself and/or your life. Make it large and artistic, at least an 8 1/2 x 11 size. 

•Your symbol should include at least FOUR symbolic elements (shapes, colors, etc. that represent something about you).

•You must also write an explanation of your symbol and what each element stands for.

•Your explanation must include an introduction, a conclusion, and at least TWO sentences explaining each element. (So, it will be at least 10 sentences total.)

This will be due on Tuesday, August 21. It will be worth 10 points. 

Use your writer’s journal to brainstorm and sketch!

Integrated Writing section 1: Stump Proud

Peer assessment of Gallwey, Inner Game of Tennis transcript

Vocab quiz

Puzzle word search

Read and transcribe Hall, "Stump Proud"

Language Arts 11: "The Veldt," adapting text into film

Questions about Bradbury, "The Veldt":

Summarize the author's theme

In a paragraph, use details from the story to support the your position on the "reality" of the veldt's lions

Discuss the story

Watch the Ray Bradbury Theater film version and complete the "Text to Film" handout

Homework: None

Language Arts 10: Culture and Fairy Tales

Writer's Journal entry: Create your own Tucson alphabet

Definition of culture Read article about fairy tales in the zeitgeist

View clips of modern-day fairy tale television show for inspiration and identify elements of culture shown


 Homework: For Monday, August 20, rewrite a classic fairy tale by setting it in your time and culture. Submitted assignment must be typed or written in ink. Two pages. Ten points.

Language Arts 9: Language and Parts of Speech

Circle the nonsense words in "Jabberwocky" and label their basic part of speech (noun, verb, adjective)

Reflection paragraph: What does "Jabberwocky" show us about how language works? (For example, how did you know how to "galumph," or what part of speech "mimsy" was?)

Free writing: Practice free association getting ideas on paper by writing for five minutes on any topic without stopping

HW: None

LA 12: Folklore of Naming

Writer's journal entry: Tell me in writing about your name. For example: What do you know about where your name came from, and how you got it? Who named you? Why did they pick the name they did? What is the history of your last name? 

Notes on the folklore of naming

Peer editing and suggestions for expansion of writer's journal entry

Handouts: info and options for obtaining a copy of Anaya, The Curse of the Chupacabra

Homework: For Friday, interview a relative or conduct Internet research about your name and its origins. Turn in a list of at least three things you learn.

Have a copy of The Curse of the Chupacabra by WEDNESDAY, August 29!

Language Arts 9: "Jabberwocky" introduction to poetry and parts of speech

Quiz on class procedures

Writer's Journal Entry: Write your own "nonsense" poem, using at least five made-up words

Reading and dramatic performance of "Jabberwocky," by Lewis Carroll

Notes on review of basic parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, and verbs

Homework: None, but be ready to label the basic parts of speech of the nonsense words in "Jabberwocky" on Wednesday, August 15

Language Arts 12: Folklore

Quiz on Class Procedures

Discuss list of various examples of folklore. What do they all have in common?

Definition of and notes on folklore.

Identify examples of elite, popular, and folk culture.

Homework: "Secret Assignment" due Wednesday, August 15, if you didn't finish it in class. Students in other grades can't know about this assignment yet (or the project will be ruined), so see me as soon as possible for more information!

Peer assessment of Waters, Foreword to Slow Food

Read Gallwey, Introduction to The Inner Game of Tennis

Homework: Finish Gallwey transcription for Thursday, August 16

                   Study for quiz on Thursday, August 16.

Quiz on class procedures

Writer's Journal entry: Pick one of the following pre-reading questions and answer it in writing:

1. What might happen if rooms could become environments sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of their human occupants? 

2. What is your perspective of the viewpoint held by some parents that “nothing's too good for our children”?

Read "The Veldt," by Ray Bradbury, and fill out Connections reading strategy sheet. Write at least two connections for each column on the sheet, and explain each in at least 2 sentences.

Homework: Finish reading "The Veldt" and complete Connections sheet for Thursday, August 16.

Class procedures quiz

Writer's Journal entry: Write down your favorite childhood fairy tale from memory.

Read the Brothers Grimm's original version of "Cinderella." Mark details that are different from the Cinderella story you remember from childhood.

Read the Himalayan story "The Black Cow."  Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting "Cinderella" and "The Black Cow."


Takeaway questions: (1) What are some reasons that very similar stories might arise from different cultures?
(2) What can we infer about the culture of the Indian Himalayas from reading "The Black Cow"?

Homework: None

Discuss class procedures

Present two to three procedures to class using art (poster, skit, song rap, etc.)

Handouts: Language Arts Class Procedures sheet

Homework: Procedures Quiz Tuesday, 8/14

                   Have all class supplies Tuesday, 8/14

Peer assessment of Reichl, "The Queen of Mold" transcript

Transcribe Alice Waters, Foreword to Slow Food

Homework: Finish Waters transcription for Monday, August 13

Discuss class procedures 

Present two to three procedures to class using art (poster, skit, song rap, etc.)

Handouts: Language Arts Class Procedures sheet

Homework: Procedures Quiz Monday, 8/13

                   Have all class supplies Monday, 8/13

Fill out "Getting to Know You" sheet.
Teacher Quiz
discuss Course Syllabus

Homework: Have course syllabus signed for Friday, 8/10.

Discuss Course Syllabus
Transcribe "Queen of Mold," by Ruth Reichl

Homework: Transcription due Thursday, August 9

Fill out "Getting to Know You" sheet.
Teacher Quiz
discuss Course Syllabus

Homework: Have course syllabus signed for Thursday, 8/9.