March 15, 2016

Independent Reading: 20 minutes (end of period in library)
Writer's Notebook: This I Believe - What's on your mind right now? Write about anything that you're feeling strongly about right now: politics, yesterday's readings, or anything else that you feel strongly about.

We viewed these two spoken-word pieces. Students discovered the center of gravity for each piece, then chose one to analyze using the DIDLS strategy (diction, imagery, details, language, sentence structure) to reveal tone (posted to Classroom). We will wrap this up tomorrow.

"Knock Knock" by Daniel Beaty

"Point B" by Sarah Kay (first 3:40)

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Coming up:

Thursday, 3/17 - Greek Drama Test, Essay

Friday, 3/18 - Greek Drama Test, MC & Short Answer

Wednesday, 3/23 - 1st and 2nd period midterms

Thursday, 3/24 - 3rd and 4th period midterms; Early Release after lunch

Friday, 3/25 - No School

Thursday, 3/31 - STAAR English 2 EOC

March 14, 2016

Independent Reading Time: ~15 minutes
Writer's Notebook: Article of the Week - "The Zika Epidemic, Explained" - Students read and annotated the article then responded to it in their notebooks.

We used the first 30 minutes of class to accomplish three things: 1) complete writer's notebook assignment; 2) complete and turn in work from Friday [Analyze Tragic Hero on Classroom and blog entry #3]; and 3) read independently for the remaining time.

I talked about the upcoming Greek drama test. Students will write the essay on Thursday and complete the multiple choice section on Friday. Students will be allowed to use their questions packets on the test. There is no actual review for the test as questions will come directly from the packets.

We discussed "center of gravity" as a concrete idea relating to science and as an abstract idea relating to our lives and to writing, the basic understanding being that the center of gravity is what provides balance and holds things together. We then looked at three different passages and discussed which lines could be considered the center of gravity for each. We talked about each passage as an example of persuasive writing and picked out elements of persuasion (logos, ethos, and pathos) and the call to action.

Center of Gravity Pieces (also linked on Classroom)
excerpt from All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten
Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
"Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle"

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March 4, 2016

Sorry I missed you guys on Friday! I had a sinus infection that knocked me out. See the agenda posted on Classroom for Friday's work.

Enjoy your break!

March 3, 2016

Independent Reading Time: 15 minutes
Writer's Notebook: Consider the big ideas that you contributed quotes to. How does [big idea] play a role in [your novel]? Support your answer with evidence from the text. (Fill in the brackets with the appropriate information.)

We discussed logos, ethos, and pathos in Haimon's speech and recapped the conclusion of the play. Students worked together on the quote and literary device analysis portions of the analysis packet. We looked more closely at the characters of Creon and Antigone to determine which is the tragic hero of the play (assignment on Classroom).

Tomorrow, we'll have time to work on the blog and finish up all work related to Antigone.

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March 2, 2016

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!

In the first 45 minutes of class, students had a few things to accomplish. They needed to connect a quote from their IRT book to a different idea from yesterday and share it on the hallway mural, find a new or interesting word from their reading to add to the vocab section of their Writer's Notebook, and work on blog entry #3 (due before 11pm Friday, 3/4).

We read Ode 2 and Scene 3 from Antigone. We recalled our previous understanding of logos, ethos, and pathos, and students used these terms to analyze Haimon's speech in Scene 3 (page 22 on the PDF on Classroom). Students should finish reading the play (Scene 4, Scene 5, and Exodos [skip the odes]) before class tomorrow. Be prepared to discuss!

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March 1, 2016

Independent Reading Time: 20 minutes in the library. As they read, students looked for quotes that connected to big ideas: joy, survival, love, honor, friendship, fear, beauty, confidence, compassion, bravery, betrayal, and loyalty. Students then shared those lines on the quote wall that we've created in the hallway. (See my Twitter timeline for before and after photos.)

Writer's Notebook: Consider the questions that were asked of the candidates on the procon.org site that we looked at yesterday. What questions are missing? Come up with 3-5 questions that you think the candidates should respond to.

We read Ode 1 and Scene 2 of Antigone and worked on the questions and analysis packets.

Blog entry #3 is due Friday, 3/4, before 11pm. Students will have time in class Wednesday and Friday to work on this.

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February 29, 2016

Independent Reading Time: 15 minutes
Writer's Notebook: Article of the Week - 2016 Presidential Candidate Position Chart - Students took time to peruse the chart and discuss findings at their tables. Students then chose one prompt to respond to in their notebooks.

• Does anything in this chart surprise you? Explain.
• Pick an issue you need to know more about. Research it and share what you discovered.
• Pick a "hot spot" in this chart and respond.

I introduced the story of Polyneices and Eteocles, the sons of Oedipus who went to war over control of Thebes after Oedipus' death. Antigone picks up just after the brothers have killed each other in battle, and Polyneices has been declared a traitor by the new king, Creon. We read the Prologue, Parados, and Scene 1. 

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