09.30 - NWEAs, Roots, Annotations

Today, people were finishing up their NWEA tests.

Individuals who had finished their NWEA tests were working with the set 3 roots and prefixes and then using annotations to analyze a poem by Susan Griffin.

We will be reviewing this work in class tomorrow. Annotations on the Susan Griffin poem should be finished for class tomorrow.

Handouts:

Set 3 Roots and Prefixes - Word List
Set 3 Roots and Prefixes - Practice

Annotation Guideline
"I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman" by Susan Griffin

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish annotating Griffin's poem and discuss how choices in diction affect the tone of the poem.

09.29 - NWEAs (Day 2)

Today we had our second day of NWEA testing. We will wrap-up our testing tomorrow.

Homework:

Individuals who did not complete the summer assignment for A Separate Peace should be reading the book and working on the essay.

09.26 - NWEAs (Day 1)

Today we had our first day of NWEA testing. We will continue with this testing on Monday with Tuesday as a wrap-up day.

Today, people also turned in their revisions on the comparison paragraph looking at the messages communicated in "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron".

Homework:

Individuals who did not complete the summer assignment for A Separate Peace should be reading the book and working on the essay.

09.25 - Hot Dog Discussion & Roots/Diction Quiz

We started today's class by discussing the tone of the Led Zeppelin song "Hot Dog" and how they use tone and diction in an attempt to make a country song. In our discussion, we noted how the tone is not entirely convincing with some lines and phrases feeling forced and having informal forms of diction worked into lines that feel more formal than they should. At the end of our discussion, we listened to the song (see below).

Everyone had the remaining time in the period to take the set two roots and prefixes quiz and the diction quiz. If you were not in class today, see me to make these quizzes up.

Handouts:"Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin

Homework:

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments)

09.24 - Changes in Tone

We started today's class by discussing the tone(s) present in Jamey Johnson's "Front Porch Swing Afternoon". People discussed this initially with a partner and then we had a discussion together as a class. In our discussion we looked at the emotional tone of the song, informal vs. formal tones, serious vs silly tones, and subjective vs. objective tones. 

Next, people worked individually or with a partner to alter the tone of the song by adding or changing words in the song. Once everyone had an opportunity to do this, individuals shared their altered versions of the song and we discussed how the changes made affected the tone of the song.

We will have a quiz over tone and diction in class tomorrow along with our roots and prefixes quiz.

For homework, everyone is looking at the song "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin to analyze how the group attempts to appropriate a country music style through their use of tone and diction.

Handouts:
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes practice sheet

"Front Porch Swing Afternoon" lyrics
Tone Change: Front Porch Swing Afternoon class examples

"Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin

Homework:

Read "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin and respond to the following prompt:

What is this song about? How do you know?

What has Led Zeppelin done here to attempt to appropriate the country tone? (give examples)

How successful is this song in appropriating the country tone?

Prepare for the set 2 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow.

Prepare for the tone and diction quiz tomorrow.

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments).

09.23 - Set 2 Roots / Country Tones (cont'd)

At the beginning of class today, people reunited with their partners from the country song activity yesterday to share their analysis of the country song they had analyzed for it's use of diction in establishing a country tone. Partners shared their analysis and then decided which song was more country, writing down this decision and their explanation for it in their writer's journal. We then discussed these decisions as a class.

Next, everyone had about 15 minutes to work on the set 2 roots and prefixes for words this week. We will have the quiz for these words on Thursday since Friday will be our NWEA testing. We will also be having a quiz on diction on Thursday.

I then handed out grade report sheets while several students helped to return work that had been assessed. This work included feedback on the salt water tones or tones in The Giver assignment. These assignments were not graded (credit was given for completion as a repeated practice grade which shows up in the grade book, but does not influence a person's grade). On these assignments, I provided everyone with feedback on their analysis of diction (including denotation and connotation) to explore tone. With this feedback in mind, everyone was to look at a new country song analyzing it's use of diction to develop tone (see prompt and handouts below). Today's song was "Front Porch Swing Afternoon" by Jamey Johnson.

In class, everyone had enough time to begin annotating this song and should finish their written analysis as homework.

Handouts:
Set 2 Roots and Prefixes
"Front Porch Swing Afternoon" lyrics

Homework:

Finish your analysis of how diction is used to shape the tone of "Front Porch Swing Afternoon"

Prepare for the set 2 roots and prefixes quiz on Thursday.
Prepare for the diction quiz on Thursday.

Revisions for essays on "A Separate Peace" and the paragraph comparing "2081" and "Harrison Bergeron" are due Friday (this will be the final revision opportunity for both of these assignments).

Class Site Bonus:

Jamey Johnson performing "Front Porch Swing Afternoon"

09.22 - Country Tones

We started today's class with an activity looking at choices in diction (see "Tone and Diction with Gordon Dahlquist" below). We discussed the denotation and connotation of words in this selection and how different words impacted the meaning of the text.

Next, everyone worked with a partner to brainstorm common tones and choices in diction found in country music. Then, each person received lyrics to a country song which they were to annotate for tone and diction (taking note of the denotation and connotation of significant words) and ultimately write a paragraph describing just how country their song was. At the end of class, we discussed significant words that people noticed.

Handouts:

Tone and Diction with Gordon Dalhquist
Country Tones

Homework:

Finish writing your paragraph looking at how country your song is based on its use of tone and diction.

Class Site Bonus: Listen to the songs from today's class

09.19 - Roots and Prefixes

At the beginning of class today, we reviewed this week's set of roots and prefixes. This review usually happens on Thursdays. Since I was out though, we had the review today. To review we played the game "root stick." We reviewed how to play the game and how knowledge of roots and prefixes can help people win in the game. We then took 15 minutes to play the game. After this we had the roots and prefixes quiz which we corrected together as a class.

Next, we reviewed the work that everyone had done with diction around the denotation and connotation of words as well as how that relates to word meaning. In looking at the two assignments that were completed on Wednesday and Thursday, everyone starred the assignment that they felt showed their best work. I will be reviewing and commenting on this work this weekend to set us up for some more formal assessment of these skills next week.

Homework:

If you did not finish the analysis of diction in The Giver or the two poems about the ocean, do so for homework. The following resources will be helpful to you in this work:
Diction Notes
Diction Practice
Diction in The Giver
Salt Water Tones 

09.18 - Salt Water Tones

There was a substitute in for me for today's class. Everyone continued looking at diction in terms of both denotation and connotation in order to analyze the tone(s) used in writing. Today's focus was on two poems about the ocean/the sea. Everyone had the class period to work on this assignment.

Handouts:
Salt Water Tones 

Homework:
If you did not finish the "Salt Water Tones" analysis from today's class, do so for homework.

09.17 - Denotation and Connotation

There was a substitute in for me for today's class. Everyone was learning about and working with diction (word choice) and how diction can affect tone in writing. In this work, we looked specifically at the denotation and connotation that words can have and how that changes the tone of an author's writing.

After practicing with this, everyone looked at a passage from The Giver and analyzed it's use of diction.

Handouts:

Diction Notes
Diction Practice
Diction in The Giver

Homework:

If you did not finish the diction work from today's class, do so for homework.

09.16 - Annotating Frost and Lost Sailor

At the beginning of class today, everyone reviewed their annotations to Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and then we resumed our discussion of the meaning of this poem and how people had annotated it. We then looked at the tones used in the power with an eye towards determining if the tones were serene and calm or more dark and sinister.

Next, we looked at the song "Lost Sailor" by The Grateful Dead. Everyone shared out annotations that they had made and then we looked at tone to determine whether this was a carefree, adventurous song or despairing, gloomy song (the song as played is included below).

Tomorrow, everyone will be working more specifically with diction in annotation by using the denotation and connotation of words to analyze The Giver.

Handouts:

Annotation information

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

Lost Sailor lyrics

Homework:

Look at the way Lowry uses language in The Giver to describe Jonas' world before and after he is the receiver (we'll focus on this more specifically in class tomorrow).

Prepare the set 1 roots and prefixes quiz in class on Friday. 

Roots and Prefixes Set 1 - root list

Roots and Prefixes Set 1 - practice

09.15 - Roots and Prefixes

Everyone had the first part of class today to work with the first set of roots and prefixes. The root/prefix sheet was completed individually and then people worked with a partner to complete the practice sheet. We reviewed responses on the practice sheet together in class.

Next, we began to set up another activity in which we will be looking at tones and diction used in music. For this activity, everyone brainstormed the tones and diction that commonly occur in various types of music (heavy metal, rock, country, and hip hop). We will continue to work more in this area.

Handouts:

Roots and Prefixes Set 1 - root list

Roots and Prefixes Set 1 - practice

Lost Sailor lyrics (for homework)

Homework:

Read and annotate the lyrics to the song "Lost Sailor".

Use the annotations to respond to the following prompt: What tone(s) does this song use? How do you know? What is the message here? How does the tone(s) relate to the message?

09.13 - Annotating "Mushrooms" and Frost

We started class today with everyone sharing their tone writing that was done as homework with a partner. We then discussed several of these examples to look at how people established tone.

Next, we looked at the poem "Mushrooms" by Sylvia Plath and everyone responded to the following prompt in their writing journals:

What tone(s) does Plath use in this poem? How do you know?
What is the message here?
How does tone relate to the message?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed people's responses. We then looked at how to delve further into a text through annotation. To explore this topic, everyone received a sheet reviewing annotation and we then walked through an annotation of "Mushrooms."

Handouts:
"Mushrooms" by Sylvia Plath

Annotation information
"Mushrooms" annotations (contains two examples)

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost


Homework:

Annotate Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" using the techniques reviewed in class.
Use your annotations to answer the following question:

What tone(s) does Frost use in this poem? How do you know?

What is the message here?

How does tone relate to the message?

Finish reading "The Giver."

09.11 - Tone

We started today's class with the following writing journal prompt:

Review the values you identified from looking at common rules our society follows. Which values do you feel are cultural assets? Which ones are ones we should think about more carefully? Explain your response.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt we discussed students answers. We will be looking at the idea of values and how they are practiced in society as we continue with our discussion of The Giver.

We will be using tone to look at how Lois Lowry comments on social values in The Giver so we began to identify what tone is and how it is used in writing. In class we had a series of activities where people worked with portraying different kinds of tone. I provided some materials on tone to guide this work (see below).

Handouts:
Tone definition and examples
Kinds of Tone

Homework:

Finish your short writing piece (5-8 sentences) using a positive or negative tone (refer to the tone sheet for different possible tones). This can be based on your activity card or a made up story of your own design.

Read to page 120 in The Giver for Friday.

Complete revisions for your summer assignment essay on A Separate Peace (due Friday)

09.10 - Rules and Values in Society

We started class today with everyone compiling a list of the rules they had observed in the first forty pages of The Giver. Everyone then started working with a partner to look at these rules and figure out the intention behind the rule. An example of this is that our society has rules around how fast you can drive on the roads in different areas. The intention of these rules is keep people safe by preventing crashes and to keep traffic flowing smoothly to prevent traffic jams.

After everyone had looked at the rules in this way, we looked at the rules overall to see what they told us about what the people of The Giver value. For example, speed limits show that our society values physical safety (by preventing crashes) and efficiency (by preventing traffic problems). We then discussed the values that people had observed through these rules. Some of the values we discussed were:

Family
Childhood
Trust
Preservation
Selflessness
Independence
Innocence
Equality / Conformity

At the end of class, everyone began brainstorming rules that our society follows. For homework, everyone should complete this brainstorm and should identify some of the values that it reveals about us.

Homework:

Complete your brainstorm list of rules we follow in our society. Identify values that this list of rules reveals about our society.

Read to page 120 in The Giver for Friday.

Complete revisions for your summer assignment essay on A Separate Peace (due Friday)

09.09 - "2081" (Part Two)

We started today's class by watching "2081" the short film adaptation of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron." After watching the film, everyone filled out a plot diagram for the adaptation. We then spent some time as a class discussing changes that were made in adapting the short story and how those seemed to affect the story. Everyone then had the remaining time in class to respond to the prompt below:

What meaningful changes were made in adapting “Harrison Bergeron” into “2081” and how do these changes affect the message of the story?

In your discussion, you may want to discuss two key quotes from the film:

Harrison: “Let us shine a light so that at last all the world can see”

Sign Stencil:  “Live free or die... for death is not the worst of evils”

Hazel: “You should forget sad things anyway, I always do”

Handouts:
"Harrison Bergeron" and "2081" plot outline

Homework:

If you did not finish your response to the "2081" message prompt in class, do so for homework.

Read to page 79 in The Giver (due Wednesday).

Complete revisions for your summer assignment essay on A Separate Peace (due Friday)

09.08 - "2081" (Part I)

We started today's class by looking at some roots and prefix review tests from last year to see what people had remembered. We corrected these tests and talked about the answers in class (this was not for credit, just for fun and to check on retention).

Next, people worked with a partner to review the main plot points of "Harrison Bergeron." We discussed these plot points in class and then began watching a film adaptation of the short story called, "2081." We will finish this short film tomorrow and compare the affects of changes in the plot to the overall message of the story.

Handouts:
"Harrison Bergeron" and "2081" plot outline

Homework:
Read to page 79 in The Giver for Wednesday.

09.04 - Harrison Bergeron Essay

Today, people had the period to work on their Harrison Bergeron essays (prompt given below).
During class I handed out copies of The Giver with the reading schedule for the book and this weekends assignment (included below). I also handed out sticky notes to use in completing the reading homework.

Handouts:
"Harrison Bergeron" essay prompt

Homework:

The Giver

Reading Schedule

Read for:	Mon - 9/08	Wed - 9/10	Fri- 9/12	Mon- 9/15
Chapters	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	6, 7, 8,9, 10	11, 12, 13, 14, 15	16 - 23 (End)
Pages	1-39	40-79	80-120	121- 179 (End)
Total length	40 pages	40 pages	40 pages	58 pages

For Monday 9/08 -

Write on and insert sticky notes in appropriate places answering the following question:

What general principles and specific rules are in place that are intended to make this society a utopia?

09.04 - Different Utopias

For the first part of class today, we spent time as a whole class discussing whether or not Thomas More's country "Utopia" would actually be a more perfect world. Our discussion focused on the affects of different conditions, laws, and social policies looking at their long term affects and how they would interact. Some features of this discussion included:

- As an isolated island the society may experience problems with over population and a lack of sufficient natural resources (made worse by the fact that they have no relations with other countries and therefore no imports/exports to rely on).

- Having a variety of very specific laws, but no lawyers could lead to poor representation in the courts and mean that some people are not fairly judged by the law.

- More claims that society will be free of rivalry, however, there are several different towns on the island and local political elections. Different geographic areas and politics introduce natural forms of rivalry that this society would be unable to deal with.

- People in Utopia own slaves which means that the country is a perfect place, except for those who are slaves in which case it is a terrible place.

Next, we looked at John Lennon's song "Imagine" (song above) as another version of a utopia (which has since come to mean an ideal or near-perfect society). Everyone looked at this individually (reading questions below) and then we discussed whether or not Lennon's vision for the world would really lead to a utopian society. Elements of this discussion included:

- The song only refers to basic principles for the society. It does not enumerate specific rules that people should follow like More's did (men marry at 22, no trading with other countries, this country must be an island, etc.)

- This eliminates some of the problems that we saw in More's utopian society. Lines like "imagine no possessions" could eliminate arguments over physical property and would mean that there could be no slavery since a slave is viewed as a possession. This might be difficult if someone wanted to have some sort of personal property (a favorite coffee mug or a nice dress).

- Ideas like "no religion" could be helpful to eliminate religious disagreements, but it could also set the society up for failure as people tend towards some sort of religious belief.

We then looked at how attempts at Utopia can also lead to the opposite sort of society, one where everything is really terrible: a distopia. As an example we looked at how the world envisioned by Hitler was meant to be a nazi utopia, but for everyone that was not a fervent nazi it was the worst possible society, a complete distopia. Often in fiction, authors show us distopias as a way of commenting on how a specific social trend (if carried too far) could lead to terrible consequences.

To explore this idea, I handed out copies of Kurt Vonneguts short story "Harrison Bergeron." Tonight, everyone should read the story and annotate the text as a means of analyzing what message Vonnegut is trying to send in writing the story. We will be working on an in class essay on this topic tomorrow.

Handouts:
"Imagine" by John Lennon (with reading questions)
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

Homework:

Reading Vonneguts "Harrison Bergeron" and annotate the text with a focus on identifying what message he is sending in writing the story.

Continue revisions on your essay for A Separate Peace. Revisions are due Friday, 9/12.
If you did not originally submit an essay you may submit the essay by Friday, 9/12, but will not have an opportunity for revision.

09.03 - Utopias

Everyone responded to the following prompt at the beginning of today's class:

If you could be the person to create a more perfect world, what would that world (or country) look like?
What would it take to make this possible (think about the role of government, employment, education, religion, technology, food supply, leisure time, etc)?

Everyone had ten minutes to respond to this prompt. Next, people got together in groups of three and received a planning worksheet to make a more perfect society. Working with their partners, everyone had 20 minutes to fill out this sheet. At the end of this time, groups shared out the societies they had created and we discussed the various motivations beyond different types of structure.

In the last ten minutes of class, we began talking about Thomas More's Utopia and his intentions in writing the story. For homework, everyone should read the text about More's Utopia provided in class and come up with three arguments around why his model for society would or would not make a more perfect society.

Handouts:
A More Perfect World worksheet
Information on Thomas More's Utopia


Homework:

Read the handout on More's Utopia provided in class and come up with three arguments regarding why this model for society would or would not make for a better world.

Continue revisions on your essay for A Separate Peace. Revisions are due Friday, 9/12.
If you did not originally submit an essay you may submit the essay by Friday, 9/12, but will not have an opportunity for revision.

09.02 - Revision

We started today's class with everyone responding to the following prompt in their writer's journal:

How do you go about revising your work...

before it is officially submitted

after you have received assessment

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed different people's responses and recorded these on the board. Some of the responses included:
- -read what I wrote looking for specific sorts of mistakes (spelling, grammar mistakes)
- re-read what I wrote asking myself "does this make sense"
- re-read what I wrote asking myself, "is this the best it could be" and then make changes based on my answer
- have someone else read what I wrote
- read my writing out loud to myself to see if it actually sounds good
- read my writing out loud to someone else and see if they think it sounds good or if they have questions
- pause during my writing and then when I start again re-read everything to get started again and see if it still makes sense

Next we watched a video about effective approaches to the revision process (see below). This video is of Ron Berger who works for the Expeditionary Learning organization talking to elementary school students about revision and critique. While the video is of elementary school students, its audience is teachers. The video is trying to pitch this model of education to teachers. With that in mind, everyone was asked to watch the video and then respond to the following question:

What approach to revision is this video advocating?

 Be sure to identify specific features of this approach.

After watching this video, we discussed everyone's responses to this video.

Next, we reviewed responses to the quiz on A Separate Peace and Hamilton's Mythology from last week. I then returned essays and updated grade report sheets. Everyone had the last ten minutes of the period to review feedback on the paper and then plan their revisions according to our discussion today of the revision process. I met individually with students to answer questions about essays and quizzes.

Homework:

Begin revisions on your essay for A Separate Peace. Revisions are due Friday, 9/12.

If you did not originally submit an essay you may submit the essay by Friday, 9/12, but will not have an opportunity for revision.