Ready, Set, Write!

Beginning, Monday, May 5, you should bring a journal for writing in that is just for writing creatively and nothing else or a personal computer with a word processing program. We will spend the next several days in class in two ways: seminar discussion about short excerpts of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and quietly writing to a prompt.

The expectation during these writing times is that you stay focused on writing and complete as much of the prompt as you can in a class period. You may not finish all the prompts and that is fine. :)

So you want to practice Paper 1...

Here are some links to IB samples:

SAMPLE ONE

SAMPLE TWO

Here are some AP Commentary Prompts:

SAMPLE 1

SAMPLE 2

SAMPLE 3

SAMPLE 4

SAMPLE 5

SAMPLE 6

SAMPLE 7

SAMPLE 8

SAMPLE 9

SAMPLE 10

SAMPLE 11

SAMPLE 12

SAMPLE 13

SAMPLE 14

Test Prep Week

Advice:
 1. Review rubrics for Paper 1 and Paper 2. What is each asking you to do?
 2. Use the vocabulary lists on the blog and make notecards to study those words. Quizlet?
 3. Explore the resources on the blog and see what might be of use for you to review.
 4. Create notecards for each of the novels and short stories we read. Quizlet?

 Here's a link to my class on Quizlet. +5 if you share with all of us!


 Homework Monday 4/28: View this Powerpoint and this blog post on Paper 2 and take notes.

Song of Solomon Resources

Interview with Toni Morrison about Song of Solomon

Spark Notes Song of Songs (also called Song of Solomon)...Allusion, anyone? 

NY Times Book Review 1977

The Song of Songs

Emmett Till

Schmoop: Allusions and References in Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison on the Myth of the Flying Africans

A lecture on naming in Song of Solomon

The 16th Street Street Bombing

Common Archetypes and Symbols, with a reference to our pal Foster

Monday :)

Your notes for The Handmaid's Tale are due.
We will spend most of this week on presentations.

:)

In Class Thursday, 3/13, Friday 3/14, Monday 3/15

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

In Class Thursday, 3/13, Friday 3/14, Monday 3/15

Thursday, 3/13:

You will get your 1984 Pre-Assessment back today or tomorrow and in class today you will work in small groups to break down the prompt for the Post-Assessment.

In small groups, make a mind map of all parts of the post-assessment question and all the approaches your group can come up with. You will work up to the last 15 minutes of class, at which time you will present your mind map of ideas to the class.

Consider:

-all the parts of the question

-all the approaches to writing the essay

-consider what the action words are AND what they mean

Post-Assessment Prompt:

In 1984 by George Orwell, how does mood work on the reader and build to thematic resonance?


Friday, 3/14:

Literature Circles for The Handmaid's Tale. Design a product or presentation for The Handmaid's Tale that will demonstrate your group's level of achievement in the following standards categories:

1. Knowledge and Understanding
2. Meaningful connection to 1984
3. Appreciation of the literary conventions of fiction
4. Effective group collaboration
5. Reader response to complex text


Write a proposal that includes the following (due at the end of class on Tuesday, March 18/Wednesday, March 19 (depending on HSPE schedule):

1. Names of all group members
2. Detailed project description
3. Explanation/Justification of project idea
4. Plan for how to address all of the standards categories for grading
5. Resources needed

Each requirement on the proposal will be scored on a 0-4 scale.

What's happening Monday, March 17? 1984 Post-Assessment! Yee-haw!

In Class Thursday, 3/13, Friday 3/14, Monday 3/15

Thursday, 3/13:

You will get your 1984 Post-Assessment back today or tomorrow and in class today you will work in small groups to break down the prompt for the Post-Assessment.

In small groups, make a mind map of all parts of the post-assessment questions and all they approaches your group can come up with. You will work up to the last 15 minutes of class, at which time you will present your mind map of ideas to the class.

Post-Assessment Prompt:

In 1984 by George Orwell, how does mood work on the reader and build to thematic resonance?


Friday, 3/14:

Note from Ms. Shine: Start your proposal today in the Drive App on the iPads and share your progress with me. To share via the app: Go To the information icon (lowercase i with a circle around it). Then Go To "Who Has Access" and hit + and type in my email: lizshine.osd@gmail.com. Share with each other too!
Literature Circles for The Handmaid's Tale. Design a product or presentation for The Handmaid's Tale that will demonstrate your group's level of achievement in the following standards categories:

1. Knowledge and Understanding
2. Meaningful connection to 1984
3. Appreciation of the literary conventions of fiction
4. Effective group collaboration
5. Reader response to complex text


Write a proposal that includes the following (due at the end of class on Tuesday, March 18/Wednesday, March 19 (depending on HSPE schedule):

1. Names of all group members
2. Detailed project description
3. Explanation/Justification of project idea
4. Plan for how to address all of the standards categories for grading
5. Resources needed

Each requirement on the proposal will be scored on a 0-4 scale.

What's happening Monday, March 17? 1984 Post-Assessment! Yee-haw!

Please note: 

You will need your 1984 Pre-Assessment with you on Monday. I will recollect them at the start of class and staple your post assessments to them at the end of class. 

How to Prep for the IB Orals :)

Go here to read up on how to prep and what to expect.

There's a funny video at the end of the handout. I've loved it for so long.  :)

General Advice for prepping for IB Orals from Ms. Shine: 

--Read my feedback and LISTEN to your commentary and discussion practice

--Practice the SPEAKING, not just thinking about what you'll say. Practice for your friends, your family, your pets, your stuffed animals--anyone that will listen. And if no one will listen? Talk to a mirror. 

--Read and discuss the Giovanni poems

--Review poetry literary techniques

--In the Giovanni folder on Edmodo, I've placed a sample discussion and and a sample commentary. Check those out!  (They are in one file titled samplediscussionandcommentary.) 

--Take a yoga class or two? Seriously, sleep, eat well, laugh, and breathe. :) 

Shine's 1984 Discussion

To join the 1984 discussions backchannel go to https://todaysmeet.com/Shine1984discussion2 or scan the QR code and join.


What is the backchannel for?

It's a place where you can add links, insights, or information that you are not able towithin the class period. It is accessible via the web for a month and the transcript can be printed.

Nikki poems!

They are in a folder in Edmodo. Use them to practice for your IB Oral. I suggest you read then and read them again. I suggest you read them to your friends, your family, your pets, and strangers walking down the street. I suggest you look up every word and take the time to think about the connotation of those words. Also look back at the Fool-proof Guide to Reading A Poem, still linked on this blog.

I <3 POETRY!

IN Class, Friday 2/28

For 1984 our discussions will switch back and forth between small and whole group discussion. Today, will be small group, Monday will be whole class, etc.

Topic for today: Character/Characterization and Style. I've compiled the discussion questions generated by both classes for EACH of you to take notes on during the discussion. Your discussion notes will prove your level of participation in the discussion. So...write copious notes. What do you take notes on? You decide.


At the end of class I will also pass out copies of Handmaid's Tale for you to begin reading and if you haven't gotten it back already, your Hamlet pre-assessment.

Reading Schedule for Handmaid's Tale: 

--At least 30 pages per night every night
--Take notes in one of the following styles: 
1. Post-it note personal responses throughout the book. Write on the post-its!
2. Free-write personal response/connections of 3/4 page minimum after each reading session. 

Hamlet Post-Assessment Written Commentary

You can keep your pre-assessment score or you can turn in a revision (old commentary included with final) to me by Monday, March 10. Please take some time to watch the slide show on written commentary posted to the blog (left sidebar). Also read this student blog post about writing a commentary and follow his link to the Wikibooks page. With your revision include a letter outlining waht you changed and why and what you learned during your revision process. Your letter should be one page in length.

Purpose of Fiction Video Homework (Will Assign Monday2/24)

Directions: Watch both videos listed below and takes notes on the following Elements of Speech. After watching the videos and finishing your notes, complete the TASK.

ELEMENTS OF SPEECH:
1. Personal chracteristics of the speaker (what kind of a person do you percieve the speaker to be?)
2. Who is the Audience? How do you know?
3. What is the speaker's Message?
4. What is the Occasion for this speech?
5. Describe the Arrangement of the speech (organization).
6. Decribe the Style of the speech (word choice conveys tone and personality).
7. Notice details of the Delivery (physical action and vocal qualities).

Speech 1: http://new.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak_the_politics_of_fiction
Speech 2: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R4peoHkXsJg (Only watch up to the question/answer)
TASK: Which video resonated with you most? Choose that video and answer the driving question below on a poster using words and images to support your response to the question.

POSTER DIRECTIONS:

Driving Question: How do we benefit from reading fiction? 

For a score of 4 (Assignment will be weighted as 16 points in the Reading category of the gradebook:
--Presents an INSIGHTful response that shows understanding of the speech and the subtleties of the speech that includes a personal connection to the ideas presented in the speech.
--All IMAGERY strongly supports your answer to the question.
--Work is NEAT and free of errors.
--WORDS are powerful, precise and carefully chosen.

Notes on the videos are due with the poster and will be scored separately.

This assignment is homework. Your poster and notes are due Wednesday, March 5th.

And would you mind filling out this survey for a student in Shine's 3rd period? Thanks!

1984 reading schedule

Reading Schedule!

Hamlet Project!!!!

Get those costumes! Get that music! Brush up on your acting skills!!

Here's the project!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1heQBqbdestb69JHLg7hbP4i9Crfp4pyITNFCTi39nCw/edit?usp=sharing


Also, keep reading 1984!

To be or not to be...

To be, or not to be? That is the question—

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—

No more—and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep.

To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There’s the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Th' oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action.—Soft you now,

The fair Ophelia!—Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remembered.

O, that this too, too sullied...

Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Fie on ’t, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature

Possess it merely. That it should come to this.

But two months dead—nay, not so much, not two.

So excellent a king, that was to this

Hyperion to a satyr. So loving to my mother

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly.—Heaven and earth,

Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on, and yet, within a month—

Let me not think on ’t. Frailty, thy name is woman!—

A little month, or ere those shoes were old

With which she followed my poor father’s body,

Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she—

O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle,

My father’s brother, but no more like my father

Than I to Hercules. Within a month,

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears

Had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes,

She married. O most wicked speed, to post

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is not nor it cannot come to good,

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.

Survey Says!

12 IB student survey (Shine)

Hamlet Resources

http://quizlet.com/17036354/literary-devices-and-hamlet-flash-cards/

http://literarydevices.net/hamartia/

http://franksapenglish.wiki.lovett.org/Literary+Devices  (a helpful chart of identification...ignore the Beowolf references)

Second Semester Extra Credit Opportunity!

Watch this and complete one of the three writing prompts by this Friday, February 7. :) Or this one! Your choice. One more option: click here.

Elements of Fiction Quiz

Here is a paper copy of the quiz, should you choose to do the quiz.

Here's a link to Hamlet online!

Click here! 


And here's a link to a handout on his language. :)