We started today's class with a quiz on the last section of The Road and a revision quiz on simple and compound sentences for those who wished to revise that quiz grade.
Then, we watched selections from the film adaptation of The Road and looked at how similarities and differences affected the tone of the story. We took time at the end of class to identify and discuss these elements and how they changed our perspective on the story.
Homework:
If you have not completed the second motif paragraph for The Road, do so for homework.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
12.22 - Revisions
We started class today with everyone producing some writing in their writer's journal based on the picture below. In this writing, everyone was to use simple, compound, and complex sentences. Next, a partner identified these various sentence types and we shared out some of the sentences as examples.
I then returned grade report sheets along with assignments that were submitted last week. As a class we reviewed performance for the simple and compound sentence quiz as well as the quiz over The Road. Everyone had time to work on their revisions for the quiz on The Road. Upon finishing this, people were able to work on their paragraph where they revisit motifs through to the end of the book.
At the end of class, we discussed some of the ways that McCarthy establishes and develops tone in The Road. We will use this to help look at how tone is established in the film adaptation of The Road tomorrow.
There will be a revision opportunity for the simple and compound sentences quiz tomorrow as well as a quiz on the end of The Road.
Handouts:
Motifs in The Road
Homework:
Prepare for the quiz on The Road tomorrow.
If you are revising your quiz on simple and compound sentences, prepare for that tomorrow.
Complete your second motif paragraph for The Road.
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At the end of class, we discussed some of the ways that McCarthy establishes and develops tone in The Road. We will use this to help look at how tone is established in the film adaptation of The Road tomorrow.
There will be a revision opportunity for the simple and compound sentences quiz tomorrow as well as a quiz on the end of The Road.
Handouts:
Motifs in The Road
Homework:
Prepare for the quiz on The Road tomorrow.
If you are revising your quiz on simple and compound sentences, prepare for that tomorrow.
Complete your second motif paragraph for The Road.
Friday, December 19, 2014
12.19 - Road Socratic Seminar / Motif's Revisited
We started today's class with the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz. Following this, we had a Socratic seminar discussion on The Road based on the prep sheets that people completed for homework.
At the end of class, I handed out motif paragraph sheets for people to complete on a motif through to the end of the book. People can track the same motif on which they were focused in the first part of the book, or they can choose to follow a different motif that they feel will be more interesting.
Handouts:
Motifs in The Road
Homework:
Identify a motif in The Road to analyze and analyze McCarthy's use of that motif in a paragraph of writing. Your paragraph should also feature smooth transitions between ideas and integration of quotes with your ideas.
At the end of class, I handed out motif paragraph sheets for people to complete on a motif through to the end of the book. People can track the same motif on which they were focused in the first part of the book, or they can choose to follow a different motif that they feel will be more interesting.
Handouts:
Motifs in The Road
Homework:
Identify a motif in The Road to analyze and analyze McCarthy's use of that motif in a paragraph of writing. Your paragraph should also feature smooth transitions between ideas and integration of quotes with your ideas.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
12.18 - Sentence Types / Roots Review
At the beginning of class today, everyone chose an activity card (or several) and used these to write a paragraph in which they used at least one simple, compound, and complex sentence. We then reviewed one of these sentences as a class to practice identifying the various types of sentences, clauses, and conjunctions. This process enabled us to address various questions that people had about these sentence types. Everyone then shared their paragraph with a partner, identifying the sentence types, clauses, and conjunctions in their partner's sentences.
Next, we had a review game of root stick in preparation for our set 10 roots quiz tomorrow.
At the end of class, I handed out Socratic seminar prep sheets to be completed for our discussion of The Road tomorrow. These prep sheets will not be assessed, but must be completed in order to participate in the discussion.
Handouts:
Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet
Homework:
Next, we had a review game of root stick in preparation for our set 10 roots quiz tomorrow.
At the end of class, I handed out Socratic seminar prep sheets to be completed for our discussion of The Road tomorrow. These prep sheets will not be assessed, but must be completed in order to participate in the discussion.
Handouts:
Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet
Homework:
Prepare for the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Word List
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Complete the Socratic seminar prep sheet for our discussion of The Road tomorrow.
Due Friday, Dec. 19
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
12.17 - Complex Sentences, SAT Style Road Questions
For the first part of class today, we were focused on complex sentences. We looked at how complex sentences differ from compound sentences in the conjunctions that they use and in how they feature dependent clauses. We reviewed some pre-written sentences and then everyone created their own sentences based on activity cards that I provided in class.
Next, we returned to working with some SAT style questions on The Road as a way to talk about how McCarthy uses language in the book as well as a way to figure on some extended reasoning.
Homework:
Prepare for the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Prepare for the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Word List
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Finish The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 19
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
12.16 - The Road and Sentences
Today, we had two quizzes; one was over simple and compound sentences while the other was on The Road. Our quiz for The Road was in three parts.
At the end of the period, several students helped me to return work that was submitted last week and I handed out updated grade report sheets.
Homework:
Prepare for the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
At the end of the period, several students helped me to return work that was submitted last week and I handed out updated grade report sheets.
Homework:
Prepare for the set 10 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Finish The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 19
Monday, December 15, 2014
12.15 - Roots and Sentences
At the beginning of class today, everyone wrote seven sentences in their writer's journals. This selection of sentences was a mix of simple and compound sentences with the compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions, adverbial conjunctions, or semicolons. Once everyone had written these sentences, people exchanged journals and identified the subjects, verbs, sentence type, conjunction (if applicable), and appropriate punctuation.
While people were working on this, I collected six sentences as examples. We then looked at these six sentences as common examples and discussed their use of grammar and punctuation as it related to simple and compound sentences.
Following this, I handed out the set 10 roots and prefixes word list and practice sheet. The remaining 20 minutes of class were left to begin working on these sheets. Work that was not completed should be completed as homework.
Handouts:
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Word List
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Homework:
Complete the set 10 roots and prefixes word list and practice sheet in preparation for the quiz on Friday.
Prepare for the simple sentence and compound sentence quiz tomorrow.
Prepare for a quiz on The Road tomorrow (you will be responsible for up to page 250).
While people were working on this, I collected six sentences as examples. We then looked at these six sentences as common examples and discussed their use of grammar and punctuation as it related to simple and compound sentences.
Following this, I handed out the set 10 roots and prefixes word list and practice sheet. The remaining 20 minutes of class were left to begin working on these sheets. Work that was not completed should be completed as homework.
Handouts:
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Word List
Set 10 Roots and Prefixes - Practice Sheet
Homework:
Complete the set 10 roots and prefixes word list and practice sheet in preparation for the quiz on Friday.
Prepare for the simple sentence and compound sentence quiz tomorrow.
Prepare for a quiz on The Road tomorrow (you will be responsible for up to page 250).
Finish The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 19
Friday, December 12, 2014
12.12 - Using Compound Sentences and Transitional Phrases
We started class today with the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz. Following this quiz we reviewed answer to the compound sentence activity sheet that people completed in class yesterday.
I then handed out a paper that looks at when and how to use different types of transitional phrases to help ideas flow together. Everyone then had some practice in using these transitional phrases and compound sentences to help writing flow together by revising responses people submitted regarding why their Poetry Out Loud poem was worth knowing.
I then handed out a paper that looks at when and how to use different types of transitional phrases to help ideas flow together. Everyone then had some practice in using these transitional phrases and compound sentences to help writing flow together by revising responses people submitted regarding why their Poetry Out Loud poem was worth knowing.
Homework:
Read to page 250 in The Road for Monday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 19
Thursday, December 11, 2014
12.11 - Quote Integration and Compound Sentences
I was not in class today as I was at Bates attending a writing conference with students. In class, there was a substitute and students were working on quote integration using a sample response from The Road. People worked with one or two other people to use information from yesterday's presentation on quote integration to more successfully integrate quotes into several sentences. I provided students with a quote and several sentences from one of the motif responses from The Road and it was their job to integrate that quote into the sentences so that the writing flowed better (see handouts below).
Next, everyone completed the compound sentences sheet that we have been working with. People then had the remaining time in class to work on their reading in The Road and to complete revisions (see due dates below).
Handouts:
Quote Integration Activity - Motif paragraph for The Road
(if you are making this assignment up, use set 01 for your work)
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 3 and 4)
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
Next, everyone completed the compound sentences sheet that we have been working with. People then had the remaining time in class to work on their reading in The Road and to complete revisions (see due dates below).
Handouts:
Quote Integration Activity - Motif paragraph for The Road
(if you are making this assignment up, use set 01 for your work)
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 3 and 4)
Homework:
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
Read to page 204 in The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 12
Due Friday, Dec. 19
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
12.10 - Integrating Quotes
At the beginning of class today, everyone had time to work on the roots and prefixes set 9 practice sheet (see below for extra copies). Once everyone had a chance to complete this activity, we reviewed and discussed the correct answers.
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
I then gave a presentation showing people how to use source information in their writing. This presentation was focused specifically on how to integrate quotes into their writing. I provided everyone with note sheets which will be assessed for a listening grade (see below for note sheet and presentation).
Handouts:
Note: Slide numbers indicated on the note sheet do not always match up with the slides (I adapted the presentation for our class. Use your reading and discerning skills to determine which answers go where on the note sheet.
Homework:
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
Read to page 204 in The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 12
Due Friday, Dec. 19
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
12.09 - The Road and Compound Sentences
At the beginning of class, we reviewed some quizzes for The Road as a means of talking about the book and exploring ideas McCarthy presents in it. This also provided everyone with a sense of how these quizzes are set up and what they expect for answers so that in the future we can use these as book quizzes.
Next, we reviewed our work with simple sentences and carried forward to work with compound sentences. We will continue to work on this this week.
Handouts:
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 3 and 4)
Homework:
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
Next, we reviewed our work with simple sentences and carried forward to work with compound sentences. We will continue to work on this this week.
Handouts:
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 3 and 4)
Homework:
Prepare for the set 9 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
Set 9 roots and prefixes - word list
Read to page 175 in The Road for Wednesday.
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Due Friday, Dec. 12
Due Friday, Dec. 19
Monday, December 8, 2014
12.08 - Revisions and Simple Sentences
We started today's class by looking at some SAT style questions for The Road. People worked with a partner to respond to these questions and then we discussed the responses together as a class.
Following this, we reviewed the work with simple sentences that we did in class on Friday looking at different uses of subjects and verbs in sentences.
Following this, we reviewed the work with simple sentences that we did in class on Friday looking at different uses of subjects and verbs in sentences.
Next, I handed out grade report sheets while several people helped to return work. We then reviewed overall course performance on assignments for The Road (motif paragraphs and Socratic seminar prep sheets). The feedback on these assignments was as follows:
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Everyone then had the remaining time in the period to work on revising these assignments and work on the set 9 roots and prefixes.
Handouts:
Homework:
Study set 9 roots and prefixes in preparation for the quiz on Friday (Dec, 12)
Study set 9 roots and prefixes in preparation for the quiz on Friday (Dec, 12)
Read to page 175 in The Road for Wednesday.
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Due
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Fri, Dec 12
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Due
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Fri, Dec 12
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Due
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Fri, Dec 19
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Due
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Fri, Dec 19
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Friday, December 5, 2014
12.05 - Clauses and Simple Sentences
At the beginning of class today, we prepared for our roots and prefixes quiz for set 8 words by playing a game of root stick. Following this, we reviewed the definitions of subject and verb to help us look at independent clauses, dependent clauses, and simple sentences (see handout below).
After discussing these clauses and the simple sentence we started working with and discussing the provided examples. People should complete this assignment for homework:
Handouts:
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 1 and 2 only)
Homework:
Complete the simple sentence activities from today's handout on sentence types and structures.
After discussing these clauses and the simple sentence we started working with and discussing the provided examples. People should complete this assignment for homework:
Handouts:
Sentence Types and Structures
(pages 1 and 2 only)
Homework:
Complete the simple sentence activities from today's handout on sentence types and structures.
Read to page 130 in The Road for Monday.
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Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet for Episode 538: "Is This Working" of This American Life (due Fri, 12/12)
Why Should Someone Read Your Poem (POL Prompt) (due Fri. 12/12)
Thursday, December 4, 2014
12.04 - Motif in The Road
We started today's class by looking at the definition of "motif" (see below) and then people brainstormed motifs that have appeared so far in The Road.
Motif: An object or idea that is repeated throughout a literary work.
Motif's in The Road
the south
*the cart
*the pistol
(stillness)
fire
woods
shoes
*dreams
*food
tarp
(ashes)
*indicates a particularly significant motif
(indicates a motif that is not particularly significant)
We reviewed these motifs and talked about ones that were particularly strong. Everyone then had time to choose one of these motifs, find passages that mention the motif, and write a paragraph explaining the significance of the motif (using those passages as evidence).
See the handout below for specific directions on this motif analysis.
Handouts:
This analysis also serves as an initial look at strengths and areas for improvement in writers' use of transitions so everyone was encourage to be mindful of having their ideas and examples flow together as best they can.
Homework:
Complete your paragraph discussing the significance of the motif you were tracking in The Road.
Prepare for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow.
Revisions:
Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet for Episode 538: "Is This Working" of This American Life (due Fri, 12/12)
Why Should Someone Read Your Poem (POL Prompt) (due Fri. 12/12)
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
12.03 - The Road Socratic Seminar
Today we had our Socratic seminar for The Road which was the first opportunity people had to talk about this book. This discussion focused on the instructor question looking at the relationship between the man and the boy in the book and on the questions that students generated in preparation for this discussion.
For this discussion, we worked with Ms. Gervais' class. Half of the class stayed in our room and half went to Ms. Gervais' room. Similarly, half of her students stayed in their room and half came to our room so that they could listen to our discussions at the same time. Ms. Gervais' listeners gave specific feedback on speakers' contributions to the discussion (see listener note sheet below). At the end of this discussion, people shared out an observation they had about how the discussion was conducted or about some of the content from the discussion.
For this discussion, we worked with Ms. Gervais' class. Half of the class stayed in our room and half went to Ms. Gervais' room. Similarly, half of her students stayed in their room and half came to our room so that they could listen to our discussions at the same time. Ms. Gervais' listeners gave specific feedback on speakers' contributions to the discussion (see listener note sheet below). At the end of this discussion, people shared out an observation they had about how the discussion was conducted or about some of the content from the discussion.
At the end of class, I handed out reading schedules for The Road (see homework below).
Handouts:
Homework:
Read to page 79 in The Road for Friday.
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Revisions:
Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet for Episode 538: "Is This Working" of This American Life (due Fri, 12/12)
Why Should Someone Read Your Poem (POL Prompt) (due Fri. 12/12)
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Tuesday, December 2, 2014
12.02 - Revisions / Socratic Seminar Preparation for The Road
I handed out grade report sheets and people helped to return assignments at the beginning of class. We went over general class performance on responses to the "Why Someone Should Read my Poem" prompt and the Socratic seminar preparation for the discussion of the This American Life podcast we listened to. Then everyone had the first part of class to work on revisions or read to page 33 in The Road. During this time, I met individually with people to look at their grades and discuss assignments.
In the second half of class, I handed out a Socratic seminar prep sheet for the beginning of The Road. This prep sheet features an instructor question along with a student generated question. We discussed how to respond to the instructor question and then everyone had the rest of the period to read to page 33 in The Road and to work on this assignment. I continued to meet with people to check in on grades, assignments, and the Socratic seminar preparation.
Handouts:
Homework:
Complete the prep sheet for tomorrow's Socratic seminar on The Road.
Revisions:
Socratic Seminar Prep Sheet for Episode 538: "Is This Working" of This American Life (due Fri, 12/12)
Why Should Someone Read Your Poem (POL Prompt) (due Fri. 12/12)
Monday, December 1, 2014
12.01 - Starting The Road
At the beginning of class today, everyone had 20 minutes to begin working on the set 8 roots and prefixes (see below).
Next, I provided everyone with copies of Cormac McCarthy's The Road which everyone signed out online.
Everyone had the rest of the period to begin reading The Road. Fifteen minutes into the reading time, I checked in with people to see what page they were on (this will help me establish a good reading rate for working our way through this book).
Homework:
Read to page 33 in The Road for Wednesday.
Prepare for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.
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