All media messages are constructed.

Homework:
None, but this coming week should be busy.
Unit 10 Quiz is on HAC.

Today:
Today we had quite a lesson.  I had the students explore why we buy one product over another.  We think that we use logic to make our decisions.  To certain extent, we do.  One product offers a better quality or price or contains something we want.  However, there are techniques that advertisers use that do not appeal to logic.  They appeal to our emotions. They convince us through artificial means of persuasion: hype, fear, repetition, to name some.

The other topic we explored was how a media message is created. There are a few videos we watched from YouTube.  We watched the video for Gwen Stefani's perfume.  We watched the ad, but then we watched the behind the scenes to show how much effort goes into creating the 30 second commercial.   (It was the best I could find in the time I had.  I made sure to keep the discussion appropriate.  I had Dr. Carmack's approval to use the ad.)  We also watched a Pantene video that shows the behind the scenes.  Even though the hair styles looked natural and easy, the video showed us otherwise!

(I wish I had the links, but I cannot access YouTube from school.  I downloaded the videos from home. I think I have the links, but I can't test them.  Better safe than sorry.)

We are continuing our study of ads

Today we discussed the first eleven ad techniques.  They are in the yellow packet.  By now, students should have completed the text/ad ratio and listed all the products advertised in their magazine.  I also suggested they start to find examples of the techniques we studied today.  Soon, they will need to find one example of each technique in their magazine.  Each of these small assignments will help them with their big magazine presentation.

We also took unit 11 quiz today.

Unit 10 quiz Thursday

Students can practice for the vocab quiz using this site.

We are continuing our work on the magazine presentation that is due around March 28.  The students should be finishing up finding the text/ad ratio of their magazine.  They should also be listing all the products that are advertised in their magazines.  This unit has a series of small tasks that the students need to accomplish to be ready for the presentation.

Here is the magazine presentation web page.

For students who did not have a magazine today, I gave them one.  (Coincidentally, many students came into class with a magazine today.)

Students MUST have a magazine for this two week project.

For two days now, I have been asking students to bring in a magazine for a project.  I do not believe that this many students have absolutely no access to a magazine!  I have made my frustration clear to the students, and I will give them one more day.  I will give them a magazine if they need one, but that is not the point.  I wanted the assignment to be meaningful to them.

Homework:
Finish Unit 10 in the vocab.
Bring a magazine.

*** Grades are updated on HAC  ***

Students MUST have a magazine Tuesday!!!!!!

Homework:
Completing the Sentence Unit 10
Bring a magazine Tuesday

Today:
We started our Media Literacy unit.  I discussed the following questions (below).  Then we watched ads from the first commercial break of Pretty Little Liars that I had recorded.  The ads showed the things we discussed in the questions.  There is too much to discuss, and I don't have time to write it all here.  The students who are in class will receive more because I discuss ideas in detail.

I gave students a packet that we will use for the two week unit.  It they lose it, they must buy a new one for a quarter.  This is their book for the next two weeks.

I will put a link to the assignment web page soon.  I have many things I am trying to get done, including reading all the sci-fi pieces from sections 5 and 6.  One paper took me 15 minutes just to read!

Notes:
What are ads? What is their purpose?
    Show
    Persuade you to buy the product.
    Show you the need for their product. (real or imagined)

Why does a magazine or TV channel have ads?
    To make money from the commercials. (sell time)

Why does a magazine or TV channel create great content (shows)?
    The more people that watch, the more ads you sell, more money charge.
    Not to entertain you!!!!

When you watch an hour-long TV show, about how much of the hour is ads?
    20 min
    NASCAR is 100% ads- show and ads!

    Pretty Little Liars episode I have= 28% ad   72% show

How do I know I am watching an ad?
    Cut off

Sections 6 and 3's sci-fi pieces have been graded. Check HAC.

**** Note: Sci-Fi grades for sections 4 and 5 ****

I am trying something different.  I am giving these two sections a temporary score for the sci-fi stories.  This is a score based on 3 or 4 student assessments of the piece.  I dropped the lowest score and averaged.  I feel that my score may be a little bit higher, but it might not be.  The score the students gave is in the ballpark.  It will take me until the end of the marking period to get through all the honors pieces.  Some are five pages long!  I will revise the scores as I finish scoring them.  This way you can at least have an idea of what the marking period grade looks like.  There are two weeks left!  Again, I am trying something new because I know how important up to date grades are on HAC.  Plus, I do have some scores for the pieces.  If the scores end up way off, then I won't do this again.  


There is no homework for tonight.  We spent the day typing in the lab.

Here are the notes we discussed in class.

Homework:
Choosing the Right Word Unit 10
Students should have an outline or a rough draft. (We will type in the lab tomorrow.)

Here is the transition handout I gave them today.

Start by trying to explain this to a partner:
        You talked with your parents about your future.
        What did you find out? Explain your findings to us.

Lame topic sentences
     My parents and I share the same goals for my future.
     My parents and I don’t share the same goals for my future.
     Even though we share many of the same goals, my parents and I have different ideas for my future.


A better topic sentence will contain a purpose for comparing.
     What did you learn from the comparison other than different or same?

     Example
    “My parents must hate me because their goals for my future are terrible!”


Outline
      You talked with your parents about your future.
      What did you find out? Explain your findings to us.

(Point by point)
TS: My parents and I share the same goals for my future.
        Me Family Parents
        Me Job Parents
        Me Education Parents
        Me House Parents
        Me Religion Parents
Conclusion: It is true that my parents and I share the same goals!

(Block)
TS: My parents and I share the same goals for my future.
      Me Family
      Me Job
      Me Education
      Me House
      Me Religion

      Parents Family
      Parents Job
      Parents Education
      Parents House
      Parents Religion
Conclusion: It is true that my parents and I share the same goals!

We are studying compare contrast organization.

Today we looked at the examples on this sheet.  We used markers to show the pattern of back and forth used in the point-by-point and the block organization methods.  Then I gave them time to continue working.

Students MUST have their brainstorming done for Wednesday.  I want to talk about outlining and using transitions. 

Students should also be done the synonyms for unit 10.

Parents, please supply answers to these questions.

Your child has brought home a questionaire.  Please take the time to answer as thoroughly as can. (see below)  The clearer the picture your child has of your goals for him/her, the better he/she can compare his/her goals to yours.

Compare/Contrast Paragraph Assignment

      Students, right now, your parents are trying to raise you the best they can. They have goals for you. I am sure they have even told you those goals, either directly or through the choices they make for you.
     Parents, what are your goals for your child's future? Imagine he/she is about 35 years old. Use the list of topics I have provided.  Try to give us a clear picture of what you hope for your child's future. Try to be as specific as possible.

    What is his/her job?
    What type of education has he/she received?
    What type of family does he/she have?
    Do he/she have children?
    What type of house does he/she live in and where?
    What type of community does he/she live in?
    Who are his/her friends?
    What are his/her values? (open ended)
    What is his/her lifestyle? (open ended)
    How involved is he/she in government and politics?
    What role does religion play in his/her life?



We are writing a compare/contrast paragraph with the following requirements.  The students will have two days in the lab this week to complete this.  It is due Friday.

Requirements for the compare contrast paper
(Y | sort of | N) Your paragraph should start with a clear topic sentence
                         with a purpose.
(Y | sort of | N) Word count must be between 250 – 300 words.
(Y | sort of | N) You must have 15 transition words underlined.
(Y | sort of | N) There should be no spelling errors.
(Y | sort of | N) You should have no more than two grammar errors.
(Y | sort of | N) Your paragraph should end with a clear conclusion sentence
                         that makes a statement. Don’t just say, “… and now I have
                         shown you the difference between…”

The science-fiction writing unit is done. Quiz 9 scores posted.

 To wrap up the science-fiction writing unit, we watched an episode from Ray Bradbury Theater called "The Long Years."  The video comes with the book series  Mrs. Watson and I teach from. This website gives a nice summary of the story.

The episode is uploaded on YouTube if you would like to see it.

Here are some of the questions we discussed.

Author's purpose: What are we supposed to get from the story?

We discussed this exchange:
    Captain: You have been living with your memories for 20 years.
    John: That’s all we have. Is that such a bad thing?
    Captain: I don’t know.

We discussed how the wife reacted when her husband died:
    Captain: Do you feel OK?
    Cora: The worst thing for anyone to feel is sad or lonely.

What does the movie tell us about what it means to be human?

What is Bradbury saying about holding onto our past?

 We all have had someone leave us.  What if we could recreate that person from our memories and live with him/her?  Would that be satisfying?  In the movie, we see that the main character is still lonely.

Next week, we write a 300 word compare/contrast paragraph.

Here are the winners of the science-fiction judging we have been doing in class:

Today we read the winners from yesterday.  Each paper was scored by two students.  The two scores were averaged together.  The highest average could be a 5.


Winners!

4.8   Jared S.

4.7   Jackie D.

4.7   Emma B.

4.6   Cynthia H.
4.6   Nick M.
4.6   Gabe O.
4.6   Emma S.
4.5   Matt C.
4.5   Shannon M.
4.5   Erin W.
4.5   Shirley H.
4.5   Matt Mc.

There is no homework tonight.  (I'll be watching American Idol.)

The first round of science-fiction story scoring is done!

Homework:
Quiz Unit 9 tomorrow

Grade slips were given to sections 3, 4, 5, and HB.  My printer ran out of ink for section 6.

The students read two stories and picked the best one.  Here are the names of the students who are going onto the second round!  Tomorrow, we cut this list in half.

Chandler A.
Mike A.
Emma B.
Carley B.
Samantha B.
Matt C.
Marissa C.
Naikerra C.
Ameena C.
Andrew C.
Delaney D.
Pheobe D.
Jakie D.
Taylor D.
Mike F.
Wilson G.
Brianna G.
Joey G.
Michelle H.
Shirley H.
Cynthia H.
Orion H.
Raniya I.
Rachel J.
Sarah J.
Katie K.
Joy L.
Ariella L.
Ryan M.
Gabby M.
Shannon M.
Nick M.
Marissa M.
Robert M.
Matt M.
Gabe O.
Sean R.
Emma S.
Sean S.
Charlie S.
Jared S.
Joel T.
Adam U.
Luis U.
Ashley V.
Erin W.
Gabe W.

We start judging the stories tomorrow!

Interims were entered today based on the grades on HAC right now.  I will enter more grades soon.

Today we read a story and applied the rubric (see a few days ago).  We agreed that it would score a 4.0 or a 4.2 (4.5 being an A-).  One category that it lost points in was the dialogue.  The stories were supposed to have 15 exchanges. (I would have given it a 4 in dialogue because there were 11, and they did help establish the characters.)

Homework:
Students should be finished unit 9 and be studying for the test on Thursday.

Good drafts of the sci-fi story were handed in today.

I collected the stories today.  I will need a few days to organize the class readings of the stories.  We will spend our week preparing for the unit 9 vocab quiz and starting a compare/contrast paragraph to study transition words.  More details will be on the assignment page when I get it up.

Interims are entered based on the grades in HAC as of today.  More grades will be entered this week. 

There is a lot going on in my class... as always.

Homework:
Choosing the Right Word for section 6

Completing the Sentence and Flashcards for sections HB and 3

Completing the Sentence for sections 4 and 5.

The good draft of the sci-fi story is due Monday.

Handing in the essay on-time is not only important, it is a grade. 
I need the essays in so I can start pairing them up for the competition.  I am going to have students read the stories and decide which ones are the best.  By the end of the week, we will have some winners!

I really like this piece because it is one of the few pieces that allows imagination.  Where do the fiction writers on the best-sellers list come from?  Well, after reading some of my writers, I would like to think that maybe I helped the process along.  :)

Have a nice weekend.

I will be entering some grades this weekend.  I will enter the interims by Tuesday.  I hope to give students a grade slip by Wednesday.

I updated the rubric for how the essays will be scored.  Please see the entry on 2/23.

Are you up for a challenge? 
Check out this piece of writing.  Can you find the errors?  In class, we divided this into five paragraphs and found around ten corrections.

The other hovercrafts arrived, and twelve soldiers came together and nodded to Asad. “OK”, Asad said fiercely, “Let’s get this over with, just talk with them, no shooting or stealing, got it! A loud, “Yes, Sir!” rose up from the group. Asad second in command Khalil came up to him and asked in a quiet voice why he seemed so angry. Asad looked at him and said, “You know I hate this job” “Yeah well I sometimes feel the same, but orders are orders, so just kept it together for a little while longer.” Asad nodded and he and the rest of the men including Khalil marched up to the savages.

Sci-fi rough draft due Thursday

Here are some notes I discussed today.


Science-Fiction Story Rubric

Read the story from start to finish before marking any of these.

Story Telling
5(a) = Gripping story, developed characters, action moved to a climax.
4(b) = You were curious about the end, some characters, conflict present.
3(c) = It was a story, had characters, some conflict.
2(d) = It was barely a story. It did not go anywhere.
1(f) = Unacceptable

Was it a science fiction story? (Author's purpose was clear.)
What is the writer’s purpose/lesson about technology? Will science be the savior or the destroyer? What do we need to be doing right now to attain or avoid this?

5 = The writer made you really think about the future of some science idea.
4 = The story contained some type of science idea and its future.
3 = There was some science thing in the story.
2 = It was just a story.
1 = Unacceptable.

Dialogue
5 = Excellent use of dialogue for effect and character development.
4 = 15 exchanges with mostly correct indenting, punctuation, paragraphing.
3 = Not enough exchanges and/or incorrectly punctuated.
2 = Barely used dialogue and/or totally incorrect punctuation.
1 = Unacceptable

Sensory Details and Thoughts
5 = Vivid setting and details. You feel immersed in the story.
4 = Many sensory details like feel, see, smell, and some thoughts.
3 = Some sensory details like feel, see, smell, and some thoughts.
2 = Not very descriptive. The story was mostly just plot details.
1 = Unacceptable

Grammar
5 = Almost perfect. Very few errors
4 = Some errors. They were minor and did not distract. Writer proofread.
3 = A few too many errors. Many should have been caught.
2 = Proofreading appears to have been skipped. Distracting errors abound.
1 = Seriously?

Total: ________ divided by 5 = average
4.5 = A
3.5 = B
2.5 = C
How do you punctuate thoughts?
        “That will be $31.04.”
        Maddie dug through her purse, hoping to find the four pennies. Since when did feeding sandwiches to three kids end up costing over thirty dollars, she mused as she gave up on the pennies and handed over two twenty dollar bills to the cashier.


Use italics sparingly to indicate thoughts
       Maddie dug through her purse, hoping to find the four pennies. Since when did feeding sandwiches to three kids end up costing over thirty dollars? she mused as She gave up on the pennies and handed over two twenty dollar bills to the cashier.

Punctuating thoughts is not totally necessary.
        “That will be $31.04.”
          Maddie dug through her purse, hoping to find the four cents. Since when did feeding sandwiches to three kids end up costing over thirty dollars? She gave up on the pennies and handed two twenty dollar bills to the cashier, continuing her musing as he got her change.

(You don't need to punctuate thoughts like you would actual dialogue, especially when you're writing from the individual's point of view. It doesn't matter if it's first person or third person, you are obviously writing from Maddie's perspective. Because of that, things like "The sky was really blue that day" or "Since when did feeding three kids sandwiches get so expensive?" are both her thoughts and are just additions to her perspective of the world around her.)

The whole goal of punctuation is to help the reader follow what you are trying to say! If it is obvious that it is a thought, then just write the thought. Your reader will follow you.

Save “Quotes” for spoken dialogue. Use thought cues (He thought…) for thoughts.
(http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123312)


Start a new paragraph…
           every time you switch speakers.
          when you switch what you are talking about.

Think about television. 
          When a character is speaking, the camera is on him/her. All the action and dialogue that concerns that character is in that camera shot, including description of what is going on around him/her. If a new character speaks, the camera focuses on the new character. When people speak, there is a natural back-and-forth. Your written words have to show this back-and-forth visually using new paragraphs.

           Don’t be afraid to use too many paragraphs. It is when you use too few that the back-and-forth gets lost and the reader looses focus.

Interims are approaching. The rough draft MUST be turned in on-time!

There are only a few grades in the book right now due to the weather and other interruptions.  Right now we are spending our time focusing on how to write a sci-fi story.  We are not doing vocab, nor are we doing activities that are graded.  The grade on the story will be very big for this marking period.  If a student does not hand in a rough draft, the early grade will be affected greatly.

(The rough draft should be closer to a good draft than to a bunch of scattered notes and half-written pages.)


If you would like to help your child be prepared for a good grade, you could help him/her with a few things before the rough draft is handed in.  There should be at least 15 dialogue exchanges which are punctuated correctly.  The story should be a reasonable length with no grammar errors.  Ideally, the story should be gripping with a strong beginning and a clear author's purpose.  You can see examples of great stories at the bottom of the assignment page.

We continued to discuss how to write the sci-fi story

I discussed the idea of adding sensory details, dialogue, and thoughts to the basic storyline.  We read half of an example story which demonstrated the ideas I taught.  In one class, I showed them how they could make a chart.  The middle column is the main story in a skeleton form.  The other columns add details.  Instead of one short sentence about the main story, there are now multiple sentences that make each section more vivid.

Students should be working on their science fiction stories

Today we reviewed the answers from their brainstorming sheets.  (See the previous blog post.)  In some classes we paired up, and students had to present their story idea like a movie producer.  In some classes we discussed ideas as a class.  Then I gave the students time to write.

I was discussing how students could get started if they could not figure out a story.  I asked them to write down all the things they do from waking up to going to sleep.  Then inject their new technology into that day!  How would the modern technology change the way they do things normally?  Well, that is kind of what a sci-fi story does. We get to see ourselves in a setting that is not our usual. 

By now students should have some sort of an opening scene.  The opening to the story establishes the main character and his/her motivation.  I told them it was like a curtain opening on a stage.  As the audience rests their eyes on the stage, the story begins.  For a a paragraph or so, the audience is being introduced to a setting or a character. 

We will discuss more ideas as the week goes on.  I expect students to work on their pieces at home.

We have DCAS Wednesday, so I will not see sections 4 and HB.

We did not present our technologies today, but...

I would like to hear story ideas tomorrow.  I realized we were not where I thought we should be, especially in section 6.  Here are the questions I had them complete today.  We will spend lots of this time writing.

Science Fiction Story Brainstorming
Describe a problem that you want to make us think about or offer a solution for.
Describe the technology in your story.
   What is it?
   How does it work?
   What are the current uses of your technology?
How is technology the solution to the problem (or cause the problem)?
What is your story idea:
What is the setting? (Year, location)
Who is the main character?
What is his/her goal or hope or motivation?
How is he/she being kept from his/her goal?
What is your (author’s) purpose?
What do you hope we will do as a result of reading your story?
How are you going to draw us into your story quickly?
(Start in the moment? Ask us a question? Other?)
 How much time will your story cover? How will you deal with it? Watch out, it could jump around too much! Shorter amounts of time will work better. Try to have your story about some incident… or two. (You can give details in flashbacks if needed.)



Here are some suggested writing topics for those who are struggling.

Sucked into a computer
You have been physically sucked into your computer. Not only can you see everything being done on your computer, you are also able to leave your computer and travel through the Internet and view what others are doing on their computers.

Portable communications devices and use in future
This piece will be a mirror for us to examine what we do on our computers today. Do we need to worry about where our habits will lead us to in the future? Is there something we need to change before it is too late? Do you want to show us that we have nothing to worry about?


City of the future
Find a picture on the Internet of someone’s vision of how we will be living in the future. Stare at it! Imagine living there. Now think about the city and how it functions, how it is constructed. How is this city different from what we have now. Why is it designed like it is? What problems do we have today that you imagine they have solved in the future?

“Think different”
Imagine something we don’t have today that you hope we will have in the future.

Write a story about a computer that dreams.