Book Journal Share Monday June 4

Book Journal Share Monday June 4
Don't forget to bring your library book and your green literary terms book journal!

Short Story Unit

We are on the downhill stretch.  Now that we have completed a long novel, we will loosen up a bit and read some Short Stories.  The first one is "The Scarlet Ibis."  It has a surprise ending, one that will make you think hard about your family relationships.  Parents, many of these can be found online so dig in and read some good stories to discuss with your students.
Check back here for an update as to the reading schedule.  Students will read in class and have an outside reading book as well.  Final project will be a short story - of their own authorship!

Guidelines:  Due Date:  Friday, May 25, 2018, at 4:00 p.m.

The short story will be 3-4 pages long double-spaced and submitted to turnitin.com before final submission.  A proficient story will :

• Set out a problem, situation, or observation of significance
• Establish one or multiple point(s) of view
• Introduce a narrator and/or characters
• Create a smooth progression of experiences or events that build on one another to create a coherent whole
• Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution)
• Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters
• Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
• Use the editing process, the writer will:
• write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in the MLA style manual. 
• vary syntax, sentence structures, lengths, and starters, avoiding awkward constructions.
• use grade=-appropriate words and phrases with accuracy.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling with few errors
• Short Story Checklist
Presentation Scoring Guide

Great Expectations Second Semester 2nd 6 weeks unit

Welcome to a new unit.  Check here for daily PowerPoint lessons and resources.

Reading schedule:
On Mar 12 - chp. 1
For Mar 14 - chps. 2-4
For Mar 16 - chps 5-10
For Mar 19 - chps 11-16
For Mar 21 - chps 17-19
For Apr 2 - over spring break: chps 20-30  fill in dialectical journal - 10 entries

Be prepared for quotation quiz.

Dialectical Journal for chpt 20-30

For Apr 4 - chps 31-34
For Apr 6 - chps 35-45
For Apr 9 - work on Character Sketches - read ahead
For Apr 11 - chps 46-52
for Apr 13 - Character Sketches due
For Apr 16 - chp 53-59

Odyssey Assignment - two paragraphs: Hero Characteristics of Odysseus

Go to the appropriate GOOGLE classroom for the assignment due Friday, Feb. 23. Revise and edit/  Have a peer give you editing advice using the PEER EDIT checklist.  Revise and Edit again.
Submit!
Make sure you submit to the correct GOOGLE Classroom - the period you are in NOW.

Period 5: 4ips2h

Period 6: gw8jn6

Period 8: 2a1svbw

Essay Assignment: Hero Characteristics of Odysseus

Beautiful and Famous Sonnet #116 by William Shakespeare - for your Valentine's Day reading pleasure

Beautiful and Famous Sonnet #116 by William Shakespeare - for your Valentine's Day reading pleasure

Poetry Outloud Information

Poetry Out Loud

Find POEMS:  http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/find-poems

What is it?  A contest

When is it? Feb. 14 after school at West Salem High School

What do I do to prepare? 

◦Read through 10 poems on the website and choose 3.

◦Write why you chose those three.

◦Now narrow it down to two.

◦Memorize those two poems in order to compete.

◦Or just memorize one poem and be a participant.

◦Why?  

There is scholarship money available – and there might be some extra creditJ

◦Most importantly:

 It will be a positive experience that you will want to repeat each year.

Our Journey for the Next Six Weeks: The Odyssey

Hello Freshman,

You are halfway through your first year of high school and the majority of you have succeeded with flying colors.  Congratulations on your great effort.  We focused a great deal on writing and will continue to do so by learning to Read like a Reader and Read like a Writer to begin our unit.

We will apply our skills as we dig into the Odyssey.  Come to this site often to enrich your experience through additional resources as well as to review the daily PowerPoints I will post and the Journal Entries w/required resources.  May it be an exciting journey!

Mrs. Rands

Resources you will need:

Greek Gods Galore

Books to Read for College Bound Students and Everyone Else, too!

Books to Read for College Bound Students and Everyone Else, too!

Final Exam Points - Five Tasks

A. Journal Entries #19-24 = 30 points  (includes 2 analysis paragraphs and 1 explication paragraph)
#19 literary terms
#20 Signs of manipulation
#21 Analysis Paragraph:  How is Ender like Peter?
#22 Analysis Paragraph:  How is Ender like Valentine?
#23 Explication Paragraph:  How is Ender unique?
#24EG:  Q&A for chps 14 and 15

B. Five paragraph essay = 20 points - GOOGLE CLASSROOM
Due Friday, Jan. 19 at 4:00 PM - no late papers

PROMPT:  choose one

Final Essay Option (Choose one)  Work on this in class week of Jan 15
                                                       Due:  Friday, Jan 19  end of class GOOGLE CLASSROOM

1. To what extent does Ender control his own actions?  To what extent is he controlled by others?  By whom and how?  What is the author saying about human interactions and our need for control?
Five paragraphs to include evidence from the text.

2. Compare Ender's character at the beginning of the book with his character at the end of the book.  Do not merely summarize the plot, but explain how his character transformation displays a major theme or attitude of the author.  Five paragraphs to include evidence from the text.


C. Multiple choice = Ender's Game - OPEN BOOK but timed  = 30 points

D. Editing paragraph = 10 points

E. Participation in Journal Game - bring Journal = 10 points

TOTAL 100 points

Ender's Game

We started Ender's Game, a science fiction text by Orson Scott Card, just before the holiday break. The homework was to read through Chapter 8 for Wed. Jan. 3.  We will read a couple chapters during class for four more classes and then work on our final written assignments up until finals week.

Proposed reading schedule:
 Chapters 9-10 due Fri. Jan 5
 Chapters 11-12 due Mon. Jan 8
 Chapters 13-14 due Wed. Jan 10
 Chapter 15 due Fri. Jan 12

Journal Entries 19 (literary terms) and 20 (Fourteen Signs of Manipulation) were done in preparation for Ender's Game reading and writing assignments.

Writing Assignments to be completed in class the week of Jan.15

A. Journal Entries:  Once we have read chapter 10,
you will write two advanced analysis paragraphs per the following: 
(Take notes using sticky notes or notebook during reading to prepare.)

1. How is Ender like Peter?  In journal #21 Mon. Jan 8
2. How is Ender like Valentine? In journal #22 Wed. Jan 10

You will write One quote explication.  Choose a quote that tells how Ender is unique.  You may speak of him in regards to the theme of manipulation or another theme of your choice.  This will be an in-class assignment.   Fri Jan 12

3. How is Ender truly unique? In journal #23 Fri. Jan 12

B. Final Essay Option (Choose one)  Work on this in class week of Jan 15
                                                            Due:  Friday, Jan 19

1. To what extent does Ender control his own actions?  To what extent is he controlled by others?  By whom and how?  What is the author saying about human interactions and our need for control?
Five paragraphs to include evidence from the text.

2. Compare Ender's character at the beginning of the book with his character at the end of the book.  Do not merely summarize the plot, but explain how his character transformation displays a major theme or attitude of the author.  Five paragraphs to include evidence from the text.

Nonfiction Unit Nov 15 - Dec 15

Students in 9th grade honors will be working more independently during this unit than for previous units since students may choose from among many different nonfiction texts for their study.  The texts include the following:   (Parents may wish to follow along and discuss these true life stories with their students.)

To be a Slave
To be a slave. The words of black men and women who had themselves been slaves, accompanied by Julius Lester's historical commentary and Tom Feelings's powerful and muted paintings, To Be a Slave has been a touchstone in children's literature for over thirty years.

Red Scarf Girl 
Memoirs of the period are usually larded with murders, suicides, mass brainwashing, cruel and unusual bullying, and injustices. Red Scarf Girl is no exception. At one point, Jiang even enters a police station to change her name in a confused attempt to dissociate herself from her branded and maligned family. Red Scarf Girl will be appreciated as a page-turner and as excellent discussion material for social studies curricula.

I am Malala
The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban is an autobiography written by Malala Yousafzai, with the help of Christina Lamb, a five-time Foreign Correspondent of the Year. Malala begins her story as a young girl who lives in Pakistan in modern times.

The Freedom Writers' Diaries
As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students. One day she intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Jewish Holocaust—only to be met by uncomprehending looks. So she and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding.

Other Side of Sky: A Memoire

The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir (originally published as The Story of my Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky) is a memoir by Farah Ahmedi with Tamim Ansary. The book profiles the life of Farah Ahmedi from the time she was born until she was seventeen years old.

Escape from Slavery

The journey of one slave along the Underground Railroad continues with a daring escape north through the woods to freedom. Learn how slaves used the stars, trees, and rivers to help guide them.

Revolution is Not a Dinner Party

is a work of historical fiction written by Ying Chang Compestine and published in 2007. The story is set at the end of the Cultural Revolution in Wuhan, China. The novel is about a young girl from an upper-class family facing persecution and other challenges brought upon the upper class ...

Road of Lost Innocence

Somaly Mam wrote of being sold into sex slavery, then eventually making her way to freedom and working to make sure other girls escaped that fate. 

Persepholis

Persepolis is a graphic autobiography by Marjane Satrapi that depicts her childhood up to her early adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. The title is a reference to the ancient capital of the Persian Empire, Persepolis.

Overview of Unit (see Nonfiction Guidelines/Schedule - top right side bar)

Every day the students will write about their reading on topics such as author purpose, characters, settings, conflicts and themes.  We will work as a class to edit and revise student journal entries and then work in partnerships to improve our writing styles.  In a week or so, students will learn about researching articles that align to their reading and comparing two texts on similar topics.  This project will be due Dec. 13. 

SPEAK Final Project Due Nov. 13 end of day

Speak Project due Monday, Nov. 13, 2017  (See Side Bar: Assignments for short version)

Task 1 Required:  Quote from SPEAK

Demonstrate your understanding of the theme of 1. Identity, or 2. being silent vs. speaking out.  Write out your quote and below it, write an advanced analysis paragraph that explains how the quote relates to the chosen theme. Suggested format:

Topic sentence will state your theme.

Sentence 2 will be some type of evidence from the text. (example, situation, event, fact, other detail)

Sentences 3 and 4 will be support or commentary/explanation regarding the evidence

Sentence 5 will be additional evidence from the text.

Sentences 6 and 7 will support the evidence through commentary or explanation.

Sentence 9 will be your concluding sentence. 

General Reminders:  (Neat – word processed – final copy format)

·         Your commentary/explanations should be based on Melinda's thoughts or actions.

·         Be careful not to use “I” statements. You can refer to yourself as "this writer," and to your audience as “the reader,” rather than “you.” Do not use “I” statements in stating your opinion. (I believe, I agree, I think that, etc.)  Just state your opinion as if it were a fact.

·         Use fresh transition words. Avoid trite and obvious ones ("In conclusion,....")

·         Head your paper correctly:  Full name/English 9H/Period ___/ Date_____

·         Revise for fragments (subject/verb), inconsistent tenses, and run-ons.

·         Edit for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling

Tasks 2 and 3:  Choose only one

Task 2: Symbolism

Divide a white piece of paper into 4 parts.  Label the four squares for the four Marking Periods of Melinda's school year.  Create a sketch (simple but artistic) for each marking period that demonstrates how the symbol represents Melinda's changing character over the four marking periods.

a) Write a paragraph with a topic sentence identifying the symbol your chose. Tell what it represents. Find evidence relating to your symbol from each marking period and explain how it represents an aspect of Melinda’s life during that marking period.  (four sentences) Your concluding sentence will point out Melinda’s growth during the school year in terms of that symbol.

Ex:  In the story SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda’s art project, a rendition of a tree, changes in much the same way that Melinda changes as the year passes.

Task 3:  Identity Poem

POETRY TEMPLATE
Create an identity poem about yourself either completely original or following one of the patterns provided.
Fireworks - poem
A Poison Tree
LIPS

SPEAK Discussion Questions for Fri. Oct 27 and Wed. Nov 1

If you missed your 5 pts for discussion groups on Friday, Oct. 27 or Wed. Nov. 1, you can make those up.
For Friday's discussion we shared ideas regarding questions 1-7.  Please answer each of the questions, addressing all aspects of each question and submit to Mrs. Rands with your name, period and the title SPEAK Discussion Questions for ___________(date), numbers __- to ____.
Please revise and edit your sentences before submitting.

SPEAK Discussion Questions

Revision and Editing Checklist

Revision and Editing Checklist

First Six Weeks Report

Hello Students,
I hope you enjoyed your long weekend and that you are ready to dig in to our next unit on identity.
We will be reading a novel called SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This National Book Award novel brings to light several current day issues for teens: the consequences of underage drinking, the effects of rape, victim hesitancy to report assault, bullying, teen depression, and parent-teen communications.

It is well-written and engaging and would be an excellent book for parents/guardians to read concurrently with their teens to stimulate parent/teen discussion on these and other crucial topics.

Be sure to use this BLOG to review lessons, to access make up work and journal entries if you miss  (see right hand side bar) and to find extension activities, GOOGLE CLASSROOM codes and other year long documents (left hand side bar). 

Mrs. Rands

Conferencing with students and upcoming assignments

Updated on Sunday, Oct 8

Hello Frosh,
You have been an exemplary group of students, all three sections.  Your attendance is amazing as is your level of participation.  I enjoy reading your written submissions.  Keep up the good work.

Please check the right side bar for the daily PPT agenda and lessons, especially if you miss for any reason.  Also check the journal entries.  We have completed #6 which a collection of evidence from R & J to use in a paper that we will start working on in class on Wed. Oct 4.  You will convince your reader that the love between Romeo and Juliet is just infatuation or puppy love, or that it is true, passionate love, a foundation for a lifetime of happiness together.

You are also working on theme statements in preparation for a book letter assignment.  You copied a sample formal letter format into your journal for #7. You will write me a formal letter to convince me to read your book, based on  its theme.  Please start with a theme statement and explain how your book connects to a theme found within the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.  Make it one page long handwritten single spaced, or typed double spaced.

See you in class,

Mrs. Rands                                                                           

Individual Conferencing starting this week!

I am finally getting to know your names for the most part.  I am looking forward to getting to know you even better through conferencing which I am starting this week.
I will be checking in with 6-7 students on Wednesdays and Fridays until the end of the 6 weeks. We will visit for about 5 minutes each.  Please bring:

• Your journal to check off items 1-5

1. What I Know About Shakespeare
2. Love at First Sight (3 paragraph piece submitted)
3. Background on Shakespeare (may be on same page as item 1)
4. Shakespeare's English
5. Balcony Scene: Comparing 3 movie versions with original play: What are the essentials? How are they the same or different?  Focus on the body of the piece. OR                                 Alternate Essay (if you didn't see the videos and can't find them on Youtube: Find Juliet's speech on a rose by another name smells as sweet.  Write down the two or three lines that are related.  Write three paragraphs about the importance of a name.

• Syllabus Signed Sheet if I don't have it yet
• What are you reading outside of class?

WOW. That is a lot to learn in five minutes but we can do it.

Week Two Notes Sept 11-15

This week we listened to Act I Scenes I-V of Romeo and Juliet

Guidelines for Understanding R & J better can be found in this link:Understanding Shakespeare - 10 Strategies

You can also go to SparkNotes: No Fear Shakespeare to get a modern day translationSparkNotes - Romeo and Juliet

If you missed any classes, check out the right hand side bar for assignments/journal writes.

Check out the left hand side bar for general class documents to include the syllabus and class expectations.

Hello Titan Frosh - Honors 9
It has been a pleasure to meet all of you, although I am still learning names.  Please be patient.
We have mostly taken care of housekeeping this week, but you did have the opportunity to do some journal writes, to include short writing assignments and to do some note taking.

Here is a summary of what we have accomplished:

You picked up your textbooks.
You participated in several "get to know you" activities since participating in classroom discussions is a big part of your classroom work.  (see document College and Career Ready Standard 1 - left bar)
You have the syllabus to go over with parents this weekend. (see sidebar to left)
You introduced your A/B or 1-2 partners to the rest of your small group in Shakepeare's English.
You tried out some journal writes and notes - all on 9/8/17:

#1 What I know about Shakespeare/Romeo and Juliet
#2 Do you believe in love at first sight?
#3 Background notes/historical context of Shakespeare - basic life facts and elements in his plays

You did a baseline essay of 3 paragraphs on prompt #2 above to turn in:

Paragraph 1 is your opening statement and overview of your view.
Paragraph 2 offers at least 3 reasons for your view with some elaboration
Paragraph 3 wraps up your ideas, perhaps personalizing it somewhat.

Whew!  We accomplished a lot. 

Homework for Monday is to bring the signed form of your syllabus and your R & J textbook.
Of course, you will always have your journal on hand.  Happy Weekend!  Mrs. Rands

Hello Titan Frosh!
Welcome to West Salem High School and English Language Arts Honors 9.  This course is designed to improve your literacy skills to include reading, writing, listening, speaking AND most importantly, thinking.