A word about so-called "bellwork:"

Students will be writing 150 word compositions (quickwrites) every day in class. The words must be divided into three paragraphs, and will be about a variety of subjects. All topics will be referenced in Aeries. All bellwork is worth 15 points; 15/15 for 150 words or more, divded into three separate paragraphs. -5 points for a missing last or first name, date or period number, -5 per missing paragraph, -5 for number of words less than 150. All work must be submitted in back or blue pen; students must always have their own paper (and pens) for these assignments.

VOCABULARY #10 (Overcoming Oppression Unit)

Please make Cornell Notes of each term, including 3 synonyms, and one EXAMPLE of each term. Quiz next Monday!

Compassion

Hope

Activism

Courage

Justice

Passion

Dedication

Leadership

Empathy

Optimism

 

 

 

VOCABULARY #9 (from Monsters Due on Maple Street)

Note: all words and terms are DEFINED on pages 68 & 70 of your textbook!  Therefore, you don't have to do much legwork to FIND what these words mean, but you will have to LEARN them, practice MEMORIZING them, because next week's test will NOT be open notes, or open text.  I will write the DEFINITIONS of the words, per textbook, on a page, and you will have to FILL IN the appropriate word (spelled correctly). THis is designed to HELP you learn new vocabulary AND acquire the skill of HOW to do so (which is valuable, no, ESSENTIAL in the study of foreign languages, and new concepts in ALL subject areas).

The words are:

 

transfixed

intelligible

assent

intimidated

defiant

idiosyncracy

menace

converging

explicit

variations

fade in

pan

fade to black

cut to

outside shot

long shot

close-up

opening shot

dissolve

 

 

VOCABULARY #8 (from "The Chrysanthemums," by John Steinbeck)
*The below 11 vocab. words PLUS 14 more IDK words from the text (of your choice - words YOU do not know) will be due on Monday & Tuesday 11/25 & 11/26 for final assessment of the words and the text (The Chrysanthemum by John Steinbeck).

corduroy

smudge

smugness

mongrel

skirling

taut

caravan

fugitive

whining

battered

hesitantly

+ three words I will choose randonly from the text

 

 

Here are the articles the students will be analyzing in groups for 2/18 and 2/19.  See the pre-group work Anticipation Guide and the "Dissection" worksheet used in our classwork on these days. NOTE 1: The "Dissection Worksheet" becomes homework if it is not completed in class, by the entire class. It is due back Thursday (2/20) and Friday (2/21) of this week.   NOTE 2: The reading of these articles is leading us to the WRITING of students' own Argumentative (a.k.a. Persuasive) Essays on these or similar topics.   New York Times on Gun Control:   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/opinion/gabrielle-giffordss-call-for-persistence-on-gun-reform.html   Foreign Languages Cuts in Schools: http://www.forbes.com/sites/collegeprose/2012/08/27/americas-foreign-language-deficit/print/   Including Arts in the Core Curriculum: http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/los-angeles/lausd-arts-at-the-core.html   Future of Culver City Natatorium: http://www.culvercitynews.org/printable/future-of-natatorium-remains-uncertain/   Future of Culver City Ice Rink: http://www.myfoxla.com/story/24610576/culver-ice-arena   Clean, Schools vs. iPads: http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/02/10/photos-of-broken-schools-shame-lausds-1-billion-ipad-program
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This year, ALL of my students will be required to enter the annual CCMS Reflections Contest. Why? Because of our "Arts in Language Arts" emphasis this year!

You will need to submit a completed entry form WITH a project of your choice. You may participate in ANY of the types of arts or writing projects. You will have to follow ALL instructions on the entry form, and the CCMS Web Site, under "CCMS Reflections 2013 Contest," which I have linked for you below on this web page.

The official contest due date is Thursday, November 14th, at 3PM, HOWEVER, the due date to receive credit in THIS class will be: Tuesday, November 12th for Periods 3 & 5 and Wednesday, November 13th for periods 2, 4 and 6.

Go to link below.

I will use a simple grading method of: 50 if you have it, 0 if you don't, by the above due dates. Note: you can still submit a project for the contest on the 14th, you just won't reeive credit in my class for it.

A word about vocabulary study (started since week #4 of vocabulary). I taught in class one Monday, and want the student from now on to research the meanings of vocabulary words and align their Cornell Notes with the format of: Vocabulary word on the left-hand side and FIVE synonyms on the right-hand side. I instructed the students to find synonyms for the word in the following way 1) Google the word 2) Look down the page of 10 or so LINKS that the Google search provides 3) FIND five synonyms for the word, or as many as it takes for the student to UNDERSTAND the meaning of the word 4) Write pictures, sentences from our text, and/or add any other information about the word (for example, the word in a world language that you know) as necessary Note: Monday quiz formats may vary; sometimes I may not even give a quiz; the act of looking up the meanings of words and making Cornell Notes in this way, however, is and will be invaluable for the students' literacy.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

1) Review work in 1st quarter portfolio
2) Choose and copy onto white, folded, 8 1/2 x 17 paper:
a) 3 best bellwork paragraphs
b) 10 vocabulary words you've LEARNED
c) 5 favorite quotes from the stories and articles we've read
3) Add color, designs, drawings, cut outs
4) Take/complete "I Can DO" survey

Cornell Notes for Chapter 14, as taught in class.

DO NOT write on the back of your Cornell Notes

ALL rules, sub rules, and notes on USAGE, must be transcribed, WITH an example of each rule and/or usage of the particular punctuation mark

On Thursday/Friday, your notes will be used for a group activity. The group activty will consist of using your stated favorite arts domains to make punctuation "come alive." 

For example (in Cornell Notes format, with tabs for subjects on the left-hand side and definitions, examples, rules, types of usage on the right-hand side:

END MARKS                   Definition: Marks placed at the end of a sentence
 (page 290)                                       
                                         Example: a period, question mark or exclamation point

                                         They look like: "."    "?"  and " !"

Rule 14a (periods)           Use a period at the end of a statement

Classwork for Thursday and Friday 11/1.  Students who were absent on Thursday or, especially Friday (due to CIMI Field Trip), will have until Wednesday, November 6th, to make up this assignment.

 

Bellwork: what do you like/dislike about Halloween?

Classwork:

Read: Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allan Poe, on page 175 and Poe's

 

Complete worksheet attached in pairs (those working from home will do it individually).

No vocabluary due Monday, November 4th.

ONLY: Book Project (plus, the 4th draft for those students who DID drafts 1, 2 and 3). 4th drafts must have:

1) All corrections I suggested made
2) The 1st through 3rd draft packet

With the above, you will earn an up to 60/50 upgrade on your 3rd draft grade

VOCABULARY # 7 (from The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe)

devastated
pestilence
fatal
hideous
avatar
dissolution
dauntless
sagacious
dominions
hale
ingress
egress
folly
grieve
seclusion

VOCABULARY #6 (from The Smallest Dragonboy)

20 words this week, but most of the definitions can be copied directly from the Language Arts textbook (pages 118-132). Note: you STILL need to look up 3-5 synonyms for these words on Google!!

alleviate
confrontation
contemptuous
dictum
dissipate
draconic
exertion
goaded
ignominious
imminent
incredulous
oblivious
officiously
perturbed
pinions
plaintive
reprehensible
spate
taunt
unhampered

VOCABULARY # 5 (from The Sea Shell)

swaddled
fidgeted
decrepit
filch
dubious
imperceptibly
titanic
craggy
indignant
lambent
languorous
scuttling
impatience
trembling
extracted

VOCABULARY #4 (none were due on 9/30) from and related to "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury

annihilate
expendable
infinitesimally
primeval
resilient
revoke
sheathed
subliminal
taint
undulate
dictatorship
foreshadowing
simile
metaphor
protagonist



Hey everybody! Guess what? No new vocabulary for this week; I want you working on those book projects, and on your essays! To be posted NEXT Monday, for the following Monday. Words will come from Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," our next READING activity.

VOCABULARY # 3 (CORNELL NOTES DUE MONDAY, 9/23) - from a note taking and discussion points handout that will be given out in class 9/17 & 9/18. See separate entry re: related in class assignments. REMEMBER: show me your early vocab. before the end of this week for +5 extra credit!

prejudice
discrimination
traumatic
stereotype
scapegoat
influence
bias
compelled
propaganda
constructive
destructive
disobedience
civil
viewpoint
harmony

VOCABULARY #2 (CORNELL NOTES DUE MONDAY, 9/16)

Note: Cornell Notes must be:

1) in pen
2) no writing on back of paper
3) in handwriting (no typing)
4) vocab. words only on the left-hand side
5) INFORMATION about the word (as much as YOU need to learn it) on the right-hand side

Here are your words:

commemorate
fiscal
condemn
repentance
raucous
contemplative
subdued
bureaucratic
persecution
inferiority
tyranny
intelligentsia
incarceration
extermination
liberation

Vocabulary Test # 1 will be an open Cornell Notes, open text, fill-in-the-blank test. The words below came from the article. The students are to spend the rest of the week, until next Monday, learning the words, and their spellings. By "learning the words," I mean knowing everything there is to lead to student understanding, as opposed to "just looking up definitions." This means that a native speaker of Spanish might look them up and figure out the Spanish word, or that a student might look up five different synonyms...until they figure out what the word means. It can mean knowing the word origin, the part of speech, and/or anything else it takes to learn what the word means, and how it is spelled, to the best of their ability.

The WAY the words are tested will vary from week to week, and, sometimes, they will not be tested at all. But the requirement to make comprehensive Cornell Notes of 15 words from our reading a week, will go on until June, and hopefully for the rest of the students academic lives.

Here are the words for Week One:

kinetic
scant
analogous
purgatory
facade (cedilla under the "C" for extra credit!!)
postulate
genome
torque
prodigious
intricate
revelation
elicits
throttling
consigned mantra

BOOK PROJECT - see original rubric, which is on the main page of my profile (along with my syllabus), but, please find it here again, just in case.

Portolfios made and taken home Tue-Wed, due Thu-Fri (note: CIMI participants or other students absent on Friday will have to turn them in on THURSDAY!!)

Note about "missing assignments" as of this week:

some of this will be worked out next Tuesday and Wednesday, when we MAKE and TAKE HOME the portfolios. Right now, grading is initially "complete," but there are just too many papers for any of us to go through!

When the students get ALL of their papers back next week, I will update/clean up Aeries for any "missing" assignments.

Students will also then have until FRIDAY to make up any absent work, find no name papers that might still be lying around, turn in ZAP work, etc.

Actually due Tuesday/Wednesday, but it wouldn't hurt to have by Monday also are:

The ORIGINAL copy of "The Masque of Red Death" (copy attached below) by Edgar Allan Poe, annotated with:

1) IDK words
2) Vocab words AND their definitions
3) Page numbers
4) Name, period, and date
5) The word "ORIGINAL" written at the top
6) Highlighted evidence supporting the them of, "You Can't Escape Death."

The ABRIDGED version of "The Masque of the Red Death" (only a hard copy is available), annotated with:

1) Paragraphs marked (there are 20 or 21 of them, depending if you add some single sentences to the prior paragraph or not
2) Name, period, date
3) The word "ABRIDGED" written at the top
4) Other markings, notes, etc.

The graphic oragnizer (attached) compeltely filled out, per examples from the class lesson. Don't forget to write a five sentence SUMMARY of the story at the bottom of the form.

"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe...

...more on this exciting unit later, mwa ha ha..................

I've posted a new article today! Please blog in no fewer than 50 words, and cite quotations of mine that you agree or disagree with.

I now have my own "Ruth's Truth's" tab at the top of the publication home page, which will lead you to ALL of the articles I have written since beginning the column earlier this year.

I'm going to put a limit on the extra credit for blogging: maximum three (3) blog credits per student, but, please DO keep reading and blogging anyway!!!

Thu/Fri Lesson:

1) Bellwork (10 minutes)
Students are divided into "color" groups. They work together by color to draw or write phrases of things that they are reminded of by the color they are assigned. The artwork is shared, while teacher explains a bit about color symbolism and how these colors sometimes are used (and in this story may be used) to symbolize stages of life. While the students work, a scary piece of music, about 5 minutes long, is played, for effect and timing.

2) Copies of The (ORIGINAL) Masque of the Red Death are handed out to students. Students are told what to mark as annotations (see separate entry on this web page), and, this time, what a main THEME (there may be a few, but we are going to concentrate on one) of this story is. (5 minutes)

3) The story will be read to the students by a YouTube recording of Gabriel Byrne. (18 minutes). Students will be given a graphic organizer and fill in the THEME immediately.

4) After the story is read, the students will be given an ABRIDGED version of the story, with an explanation of what an abridged version is. Teacher will work with students as a class to COMPARE both versions. Class discussioon, questions and answers, will proceed, after which students will be asked to find EVIDENCE of the THEME, using both copies and the graphic organizer. This task will be completed as homework, due Tue/Wed.

5) In the last 10-15 minutes of class, students will be given a mask to color in. The colored paper will be their exit ticket; this craft will be completed on Tue/Wed of next week.

* Open Cornell Notes Vocabulary Quiz on Monday.

Dragon Week!

Tue/Wed (15th & 16th)

Bellwork: Draw a dragon (to music from the Middle Ages)

Classwork:

Read an informational article about dragons, with focus on Eastern versus Western dragons in literature, folklore, culture (see attachment below). Summarize the article using the “classification method” learned previously for the Ray Bradbury article. Form small groups to identify “IDK” words, use context clues, roots and affixes, or, as a last resort, Google to determine meanings. Answer the question: how have dragons sometimes been considered real in history, and what purpose have dragons served to answer people’s unanswerable questions? (Period 3 did it individually, teacher-directed, and has not answered this question yet!)

Continuing classwork:

Read “The Legend of Four Dragons” (Tue/Wed - of next week? this week, if time)

Read “The Smallest Dragonboy” (Thu/Fri)

Read: “Here Be Dragons” (Thu/Fri)

Start in class and complete at home the questions for “The Smallest Dragonboy” and “Here Be Dragons” as homework, due Tue/Wed.

Fiction:
1) Smallest Dragonboy (pages 118-134 in Language Arts Textbook)
2) The Legend of Four Dragons (attached below)

Informational:
1) Roots & Affixes (page 135, textbook)
Here Be Dragons (pages 136-139, textbook)
2) Natural History of Dragons (attached below)
a) Asian Dragons
b)European Dragons

* 8 Domains:

Visual Arts
Listening (to relevant Music)
Reading
Speaking

Some of the Common Core Standards reflected in these lessons:

- Determining theme and analyzing its development through the text
- Providing an objective summary of a text
- Analyzing characters and plot elements, including foreshadowing
- Determining meanings of words and phrases
- Analyzing different characters’ points of view
- Comparing and contrasting fiction versus reality
- Analyzing how fiction authors can alter history and/or are influenced by history
- Reading and comprehending literature
- Citing textual evidence in a text
- Drawing inferences from a text
- Analyzing interactions between individuals, events and ideas in a text
- Interpreting figures of speech
- Analyzing the structure an author uses to organize a text

EXTRA CREDIT RECOMMENDATION FROM A PARENT:

Right now, Actor's Gang at Media Park is having a two person, one-act play called "Oy!" which is about two German sisters living in Paris who are just returning from visiting their home town for the first time in 50 years since the Holocaust.

WATCH A SOUND OF THUNDER! (no extra credit this time, but, it's cool!)

*Some classes watched all/part of this in class

Note: below link has clips 1/3 and 2/3, but you'll have to copy and paste clip 3/3, because there's only space below for TWO links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xuq3kOwGGw&list=PLC43877969B334D19&safe=active

This is not "homework" per se, it is classwork from 10/17 and 10/18, but, MANY students were out for a field trip on Thursday, 10/17, and others may be out today as well. The classwork for today, that must be brought in by Monday is:

READ "The Smallest Dragonboy" in the Language Arts textbook, as referenced in another entry on this site.

ANSWER all questions 1-12. WRITE each question on the left-hand side of a Cornell Notes style folded paper (do not write on the back) and ANSWER the questions during or after reading, on the right-hand side.

Bellwork, which also will need to be made up is: Respond to the quickwrite on page 118 in the usual three paragraphs and 150 words.

THE BELOW ITEMS WILL BE SENT HOME FOR THE WEEKEND AND DUE MONDAY:

1) Cornell Notes for Vocab. #5
2) The Sea Shell text, with annotations done in class PLSU: you must FIND one example of PERSONIFICATION
3) The Wikipedia print out re: Buttrfly Effect (as handed out and annotated in class)
4) The BANGOR DAILY NEWS article (as handed out and annotated in class)
* There will be a Common Core style reading comprehension and analysis quiz on Monday INSTEAD OF a vocabulary test! (still need to turn in the Cornell Notes, though)

This week, we will read/do:

1) The Sea Shell by Ray Bradbury. So far, I have not found an uploadable version; if a student is absent, he/she must ask me for a hard copy upon their return to class, or ask a friend/parent to pick one up for them.

2) An article from the Bangor Daily News (see link below)

3) A Wikipedia article re: "Butterfly Effect" and a discussion of why Wikipedia cannot be used as a reference in a research report (but it's links sometimes can).

4) This is the link for the coloring page students will use for a special, 25 point, bellwork today. (Sorry, the attached page is NOT the one we used in class, but it would be good enough to use as make up if you WERE NOT in class.) Students will: write minimum 200 words about what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell, and color in the shells.

5) http://www.lucylearns.com/images/nautilus-sea-shell-clipart-nautilus-sea-shell-coloring-page-11.gif

6) Reading/Literacy Assessment, attached below. Post reading, open text.

This week's article, below...

Remember, to earn the 15 points, your blog must be 50 words minimum, and it must reference at least one SENTENCE in my original article, about which you would relate, agree, disagree or comment in some specific way.

ALSO, already, upon re-reading, I found at least one Capitalization error, and a couple of typos. If you find any typos, misspelled words, wrong Capitalization, wrong Punctuation, etc., you can politely mention them as well, but, if you do, you must be 100% SURE - you can check yourself using the Holt Handbook, which you have at home, but we haven't opened yet in class. You can also double-check these things on the Internet, of course. For example (and now you CANNOT reference this example):

"In paragraph 5, the phrase 'a decision.' must be a typo; it is sitting in the middle of the paragraph with nothing to do!"

Annotated "A Sound of Thunder" packet, worth 100 points, must include:

1) EVERY page with highlights (or pen underlines/circles) and explanations of:

similes
metaphors
onomatopoeia
symbols
repetition (for emphasis)
examples of "foreshadowing" used in the story
vocabulary words (from our list) defined
personal "IDK" words highlighted (only) - defined, if you have time!
(30 points)

The "vocabulary study' page will need to be filled out completely (15 points)

ALL questions (1-28) answered in complete sentences. (30 points)

+ 25 points for bringing the packet back, done, and on the due date.

= 100 points. Note: there was also a classwork assignment, worth 25 points, done in class on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rubric is to COLOR a pciture, using crayons, that includes THREE elements from the paragraph at the bottom of page 5 (only) - NOT other parts of the story, or any prior knowledge about dinosaurs, but to draw a crayoned picture of WHAT YOU SEE from reading the paragraph. Last time to make this up: Monday, OCtober 7th.

Reading and related classroom activities for "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury

See attached here, although not formatted properly. Still, it could work as a back up, if the original handed in class is lost or damaged.

Taking a breath after these first five weeks, here is an overview of what things will look like going forward (subject to change):

Starting next week, we will read some fictional narratives by the authors: Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe and maybe John Steinbeck or Ernest Hemingway. Following the Narrative unit (5-10 weeks), we will explore Persuasion. I am also planning to co-teach a new arts integrated Latin American unit, a Japanese unit, and a final "business" unit at the end. This is the general plan, subject to change.

All of these mentioned (five or so week) "units," will be assessed through a synthesis of the new Common Core and prior California Content Standards, and lessons will be taught via the eight domains of reading, writing, listening, speaking, music, theatre, dance and visual arts.

My extra credit is intended for students to go deeper, and/or become well-rounded. A Stanford student recently told me that Stanford wants to see students be "angular" - meaning, to take a few different areas and interests to POINTS, as opposed to the concept of "roundness." My extra credit is NOT intended to REPLACE work not done, and, it does not usually end up doing so; I'd put a halt on it before I'd have a student who earned even a passing grade ONLY on extra credit.

Also due, in addition to the book project:

1) The second draft (1st typed draft) of the essay, with corrections on it, topped by the yellow peer edit worksheet (see attachment below

2) The third draft (2nd typed) of the essay, with peer corrections MADE.

Note: If you did not have your first typed draft peer edited by two other students FOR ANY REASON, here is your LAST CHANCE to type one, and have it peer edited (see attachment below) by friends, neighbors, parents, etc. You lost points on not having it lthis week, but you CAN earn points on having 1) and 2) above turned in on MONDAY (NOT Tuesday, as stated in a previous post) what I said yesterday and today in class SUPERCEDES any prior due dates. THE THIRD DRAFT IS DUE MONDAY, WITH THE BOOK PROJECT - many of which have already been turned in!

Extra credit: Hitler's Children, doucmentary available on Netflix.

Write a three-paragraph (handwritten OK) SUMMARY of the film, with special emphasis on Rudolf Hoess' grandson, who visits the family home located at Auschwitz, on which the FICTIONAL "Boy in Striped Pajamas" was based.

We are famous! Please click on the below link, and see how our Arts Integration work is FEATURED on the internationally renowned Los Angeles Music Center's web site!

Extra credit if you blog on this, too. (Like my other articles for Culver City Crossroads, which is also referenced on the site)

I took a break and DID NOT write a new article this week, but below is the link to one of my earlier articles on my beloved topic of "putting the arts in Language Arts."

To get the 15 extra credit points for your blog...new rule! - let's up the game by making responses between 30-50 words minimum, and include a QUOTE (in proper quotation marks) from the article itself that you enjoyed, agreed or disagreed with (and why).

Next Week Preview:

Monday - Vocab. test, portfolios go home for signature and checking against Aeries.

Tuesday/Wednesday - The Boy in Striped Pajamas follow up classroom discussion, informational/expository writing workshop begins. (Brainstorm & first draft)

Homework from Tue/Wed to Thu/Fri will be the TYPING of the essay.

Thursday/Friday - Peer Editing Workshop

Over the weekend, students will RE-TYPE a SECOND DRAFT, for Tue/Wed submission, with extra credit for early (Monday) turn in.

Reminder: Book projects due on September 30th - do the Book Project EARLY, so you are not working on the re-type AND the book projects that weekend!!!!!

1st half of 1st quarter portfolios are being sent home TODAY!

These are due back Tuesday for periods 3 & 5, and Wednesday for period 2/4/6, for:

50 points WITH parent signature/acknowledgment
40 points WITHOUT
0 if not returned, 25 WHEN returned
IF a student submits a paper on the due date saying, "I need until ... whenever .. (with Friday at 2:20PM as the absolute latest)" to complete working on my missing assignments, I will accept the portfolio, and said assignments, at the later date for full credit.

Note: THIS is the time, and the only time, to fix any discrepancies in Aeries, complete all assignments missed from absences, or take care of any other pending matters. Last minute blog extra credit, can also be referenced here.

On Friday, as I process the progress reports, I will "zero out" any and all "red" (missing) assignments, and we will only work forward from that point.

Each portfolio has a cover letter, with instructions, for the student to have signed by parent(s) or guardian(s).

WRITING WORKSHOP BEGINS...OVERVIEW AS FOLLOWS:

In class brainstorm and handwriting of first draft of essay on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Homework: Type the essay, return it Thursday/Friday WITH the pre-write packet (stapled together with pink rubric on the top).

Attached to the packet should be:

1) Rosh Hashana article, which contained a valuable list of how to reference "Works Cited" in an essay. This essay needs to contain ONE piece of web research that is cited according to MLA style on page 3 of the Rosh Hashana article.

2) The Introduction to Holocaust article, which also can be used as a reference in your essay.

3) The two pages of notes taken during the film.

4) The essay questions (page 9 & 10 - double-sided).

5) Your brainstorm AND handwritten first draft.

6) The pink rubric on top.

7) SEPARATELY, a typewritten (printed), double-spaced, 12-font, Times New Roman, white paper SECOND DRAFT of your essay, to be brought to class Thursday/Friday and PEER EDITED in class, and then TAKEN HOME AGAIN for a THIRD DRAFT. I will, finally, look at the THIRD DRAFTS when you bring them in NEXT WEEK. Note: PEriod 5 didn't have much time to write the FIRST, handwritten, draft in class today due to earlier dismissal last week. Please complete at least 300 words for your first draft by hand, and then type that (with any corrections) and complete your full 500-700 word essay.

Thursday/Friday of this week:

In class Peer Editing Workshop, start reading "A Sound of Thunder"

Weekend:

Typing of third draft - ALL pre-write portions are to be returned EACH TIME!

* I will collect all pre-write portions and the THIRD DRAFT next week, correct the third draft and give it back to you to fix one more time.

I will preface this week's lesson by saying that I RARELY (have the time to) show entire films in class. Having said that, I do show this one, usually at the beginning of the year, because it provides us with a common language and experience that lasts us through the year, and often, beyond.

Several students will have seen the film and/or read the book, but not with the level of comprehension that they will have after our lesson on it. This lesson combines: the visual art of film, vocabulary acquisition, writing, speaking, reading and listening skills.

This unit will include:

Viewing of "The Boy in Striped Pajamas" in class
Essay prompt writing and discussion topics (see attached document) related to the film (NOTE TAKING WHILE WATCHING THE FILM)
Vocabulary test (next Monday - words to be posted by end of today)
Viewing of PART of the Netflix documentary "Hilter's Children"

Further due dates and details TBA

REMINDER:

Vocabulary Cornell Notes #3 is due Monday (no text required this time), and this weekend would be a great time to complete your book project, for early submission extra credit!

Thursday & Friday in class is the viewing of The Boy in Striped Pajamas. The film is 94 minutes long, so most classes (5th period will need to finish next week due to Back to School Night early dismissal) will complete the viewing in one class period. Notes pages will stay in class as classwork, and to be used in next week's culminating writing assignment.

1st quarter portfolios will go home on Monday, for return prior to Progress Report issuance (and a chance to make up any MISSING assignments). More on this in a separate post (on Monday)

This week's article also - if you'd like to read it!

Credit points awarded into Aeries AFTER the abovestated deadline(s). OIf course, you are always welcome to read (and blog, or not) on all of my articles...they are publicly published!

Please sign up (and/or have your parents, relatives, their friends, WHOEVER!) for my Japanese classes from Culver City Adult School; they start tomorrow evening, from 7-9PM, right here in Room 111.

To my students: if you didn't get to take Japanese as an elective this year, and may be interested in 8th grade or high school, this would be an excellent introductory course for you. If you ARE in Japanese already, and can't get enough of it :) - this would also be a fun class for you.

Remember: students are FREE! (Adults pay the stated price of $125 per person).

See link below to sign up.

CLASSWORK/HOMEWORK/TEST! (between 9/10-9/16)

The below article will be/was handed out in class this week. The students are to read this informational article, highlight (look up and define ON THE PAPER) any IDK words, and UNDERLINE one piece of NEW information they learned in EACH paragraph.

An OPEN CORNELL NOTES (for VOCAB) and OPEN TEXT test will be given on this article on Monday, 9/16. The article will also be turned in at the same time (for 50 points, provided that all "annotations" as written above are marked).

So, just to review, on Monday, there will be a combined vocab. and comprehension test (50 points), and I will collect the article (50 points) and the Cornell Notes (50 points).

Further background information as follows:

We will be doing the (see link) activity in class on Tue/Wed of this week as an opener to this year's anti-bullying themes at the school, and as part of our ongoing activities on anti-bystanderism (a.k.a. "upstanderism") and acceptance (not just tolerance).

This unit will also meet/exceed the (Common Core) standards for 7th grade Language Arts in terms of reading, writing, listening, speaking and vocabulary development. Arts domains will include: Visual Arts.

OK, OK...more extra credit: please follow the link below to blog on my article from last Friday (9/6) from Culver City Crossroads. This one is not about the arts, but it does relate to the unit we are working on in class now.

PHOTO ASSIGNMENT, IF MISSING, CAN BE DONE INDIVIDUALLY BY ACCESSING THE BELOW LINK. DUE BY: SEPTEMBER 20th AT LATEST.

DUE MONDAY:

1) The article, "The Swing," fully "annotated" per below steps (50 points)
2) The Cornell Notes of the 15 words from the article (50 points), completely defined
* There will be a fill-in-the-blank test on Monday, worth 30 points.

Students began to read an article (digital version attached below) from Sports Illustrated, "The Swing," by Tom Verducci.

Grading rubric for the (classwork) article:

1) 10 "IDK" (I don't know) words circled: - 10 points
2) As many "DANCE" related words as possible highlighted (10 points)
3) One paragraph of no fewer than 100 words about what this author thinks is the key to being a great baseball player, supported by a minimum of 3 comparisons to dance (20 points)
4) In class: group dance sequence based on choreography mentioned in article (10 points)
* Period 3 unfortunately lost the time for this, due to a grade-wide assembly. The 10 points will be given to these students (the experience will have to be...someday)

Prior Thursday and Friday (August 29 & 30) in class was:

Students filled out an ID card, worth 25 points. It listed their full first and last name, and any pronounciation, nickname, or other information (5 points), it also lists their period (another 5 points) and, finally, on the back, there is a 100-word paragraph about their most awesome experience to this time in one of the eight Language AND Arts domains of: listening, music, speaking, theatre, reading, dance, writing or visual arts.

THIS WEEK:

Monday is Labor Day, off.

Tuesday/Wednesday, we finish reading the article "The Swing" from last week. Student take it home and complete assignments referenced in a separate entry here by MON> (3rd period - special case, due to assembly)

Thursday is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana, and I will not be in school on that day. We will be reading an article in class and doing an assignment. Students also out on that day will have until Thursday of the FOLLOWING WEEK to complete it. See entire assignment in the attachments below.

We will EVENTUALLY be watching the Jewish culture-related film I mentioned in my previous (now revised) post, after I have had more of a chance to set up the context.

Extra credit: if you read my article online, on Culver City Crossroads, and blog a (nice) comment onto the site! (15 points)

Syllabus Signature sheet: 50/50 by Thursday/Friday
+5 extra credit points if turned in Tuesday or Wednesday
+10 extra credit points for corrections to the Spanish-language version (if you are capable to do so) - other extra credit is always available to those who cannot do this.