Thursday, December 23, 2010

Cool link...

Listen to the week's news in rap.

What's coming up when you get back....

Hey kids,

We will be reading and acting out the play, 12 Angry Men.  It's a ton of fun.  Over vacation, if you can find a bunch of button-down shirts and ties to use for costumes, I will give you bonus points for everything we end up using.

Make sure you have your parents' permission.  The costumes need to fit everyone...so might as well go with XL.  If we use your costume or clothing item, 5-10 other people will be wearing it, and we will be using it for approximately two weeks.

Check out this character PowerPoint for inspiration.

Moo.


Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Happy Holidays!

Hi folks!

You did well on the test today.  The tests, along with some other grades will be updated over the break.  There is no homework, but I will be putting up an opportunity to gain some bonus points over the break, so check back after the 26th.

When we get back, we are starting to read, and act the CLASSIC play, 12 Angry Men.  It has been a student favorite every year.  We get to dress up.

Until then, rest up, take care, and have fun.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Anyone want to ask some questions?

If you want a question, comment to this post!  I'll be checking it until around 9pm.

Here are the answers to the questions asked so far....
  • Yes, you can use any note that is hand-written.
  • If you're looking for a Cask quote on symbolism, look anything that mentions how either one is dressed, or look for the "De Grave" wine, or even Fortunato's name.
  • The primary conflict in LRotL is a person vs. person conflict between Kitty and Larry.
  • There is, at this time, only a link to Cask....look below....the other three have no links that I can find.
  • And "My God" is not an allusion...but there is a reference to Harrison looking like a Thor, the god of thunder....that is an allusion....and a simile as well!

Review for the Open-Note Test

Hi Kids,

Today your received the review packet for the open-note test on literary terms and short stories.  Again, there are three parts to the test:

Part 1:  Matching terms to definitions.

Part 2:  Matching terms to quotes from the short stories.

Part 3:  Short response and plot diagram.  You will need to draw the plot diagram for one or two stories (depending on what challenge-level you are), AND you will need to be able to describe the theme, and central conflict for them, and defend your responses.

I will open this blog for you to post responses and questions.  If you have questions, please post them, and I will be able to answer them later tonight.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Links to the short stories



FYI:  there is a link to some Quizlet flashcards for the literary terms, if you feel like it would be helpful (see last post).

Links to the short stories....
"The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds"  (check out this link to "Who Killed Cock Robin"....)


Monday, December 13, 2010

More Literary Terms

Hi kids,

Today we discussed four more terms, some of them were review, some were new: antagonist, protagonist, foreshadowing, and flashback.

For a complete list of terms, that you will be tested on one week from this Wednesday are on quizlet.com right here!

Homework:  Harrison Bergeron response short story - due Tuesday for Extremers, due Wednesday for everyone else.

Friday, December 10, 2010

"The Dinner Party" and "Harrison Bergeron"

Hi Kids,

Today we are going over the short, short story "The Dinner Party" and discuss how it matches up to the plot diagram.  Afterward, we will go over the different types of irony and discuss how it applies to satire in the short story "Harrison Bergeron."

Read the short story here and answer the four questions that go along with it!


Irony Definitions





Sent on the run with my lovely iPhone!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Plot and Conflict Review

Today in class, we reviewed the plot line diagram, and the different types of conflict and how they applied to short story, "The Last Rung on the Ladder."






Homework:
Read "The Dinner Party" and answer all eight questions on the back under "For Discussion" and "Plot" with at least one complete sentence each. Due Friday.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Quiz Day - "Harbinger"

Today you took the vocab quiz for the song, "Harbinger."  Grades are already in Powerschool.


Homework:  Worksheet for "The Last Rung on the Ladder" due in class on block day.

Literary Terms

Here are the terms we went over on Monday (allusion, antithesis, personification, hyperbole, metaphor, and simile):









Friday, December 3, 2010

How to publish your storybird at home

  1. click "menu"
  2. click "publish this storybird"
  3. write a brief summary, scroll down
  4. for tags, write some words that describe this storybird, scroll down
  5. make sure "private is selected" (it is by default), scroll down
  6. when it asks you if this is for an assignment, select "Harbinger Storybird."  That way it shows up for me to grade.
  7. click "publish" and voila!  You are done!

"Harbinger" Quiz

Happy Friday!

Today in class is our LAST day with the computers to work on your storybirds.  If you do not finish in class today, and publish your storybird, you must complete it over the weekend.  Those who have finished their storybirds already will be studying their vocab, finishing a vocab crossword puzzle, and peer-editing classmates' storybirds.  If you want the bonus 5 points, you must pass in a complete peer-review sheet by the end of class today.

The quiz on Tuesday is just like the last one:  I'll give you a sentence or definition, you give me the correctly spelled word and the part of speech.  Study both the definitions and the sentences flashcards (below)!


Homework:   flashcards and review sheets due today.
                       Monday:  published storybirds and crossword puzzles.
                       Tuesday: Vocab Quiz: "Harbinger"