Interims are in. Grades are on HAC.

I have not blogged lately because there has been a lot going on at school.  I will enter the grades for the debates very soon.  Thursday is the D.C. trip.  Friday we will finish up a movie that centers on debating.

Next week we start some new units.  That is all.

The grade I am using for interims is on HAC now.

Last Friday, the roads were slippery. It's totaled. :(

We are finishing up the debates on Monday.  I will enter those grades then.  The students know what they have received. 

Next week will be busy:

Monday: Finish debates and do some grammar
Tuesday: DCAS
Wednesday: DCAS
Thursday: D.C. Trip
Friday: Bingo reward activity

The group debates start tomorrow.

I put two grades on HAC.  I need time to enter the first AR test results.  Hopefully tomorrow.  Interims are due soon.

Here is the outline the students should have filled in for tomorrow.

Debate Outline: Fill in this outline before your turn

First turn

Handshake: (Grab attention and draw in.)

  After researching ants and exploring the topic, I am going to prove to you that ___Captital Punishment is a good thing!_____________ _______________________________________________________________.   ________________ _________________________ because reason 1, reason 2, reason 3.

Reason 1:

-

-

-

-

Reason 2: 

-

-

-

-

Reason 3: 

-

-

-

-

Reason 4:

-

-

-

-

Second Turn

Think about the other side.  What do you think they will say, and what arguments do you have ready incase they use these arguments?

They will say ________________________________ , but ___________________________________.

They will say ________________________________ , but ___________________________________.

They will say ________________________________ , but ___________________________________.

They will say ________________________________ , but ___________________________________.

Third Turn: Rebut their rebuttals and move into your conclusion

Conclusion: 

           I have proven to you that ______________________________________________. _______________  ___________________________________________ because reason 1, reason 2, reason 3. I have also discussed how… (list some of the points you covered in the part where you refuted the other side.)

We will have debates on Thursday

We will be having debates on Thursday.  The students are in the same groups they were in for their commercials.  On Friday, I assigned the topic and gave the students time to brainstorm.  Today I gave them an hour on the computers and explained the basics of what they need to be prepared for Thursday.  Here are the topics:

What is the goal of prison? PUNISH

What is the goal of prison? REFORM

Solitary confinement is GOOD

Solitary confinement is BAD.

Capital punishment is A GOOD PUNISHMENT

Capital punishment is NOT GOOD!

Reading "The Bet" was GOOD

Reading "The Bet" was A WASTE

Here is the outline that the students need to complete to be prepared.  I have done debates for years.  I am trying to tell students what they need to be prepared for a debate.  They think that they can just wing it.  That is not how it works!  The winner is the one who earned the most points.  

Debate	Debate
Start Strong!     Handshake     Thesis Your position   Reason 1- sup, sup, sup   Reason 2- sup, sup, sup   Reason 3- sup, sup, sup (If needed)   Reason 4- sup, sup, sup   Reason 5- sup, sup, sup	Round 1 (1-5 points) (4) (4) (4) (4) (4)
Rebuttal Round 1.     My opponent stated __, but they are wrong because… 2.     My opponent stated __, but they are wrong because… 3.     My opponent stated __, but they are wrong because…	Round 2 (1 repeat)   (1-3 rebut) (1 repeat)   (1-3 rebut) (1 repeat)   (1-3 rebut)
Rebut their rebuttals 1.     My opponent stated __, but they are wrong because… 2.     My opponent stated __, but they are wrong because…	Round 3  (1-3 rebut) (1-3 rebut) Eye/prepared (1-5) Conclusion (1-5) (Max 3 extra)
Conclusion    Reason 1,2,3    Opponent wrong 1,2,3
Use the visuals as you present
	Possible: 48ish 35 = A 30 = B 25 = C 20 = D

All essays are graded.

Please see HAC for the latest grade.  I have a few make-up assignments from a few students to enter.  I will do that tomorrow morning.

There is a quiz on the 17 vocab words from The Bet on Thursday. Here are two Power Points I have used in class to help study.  They are not complete.
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Pictures

I handed out grade slips today. Sec. 1 essays scored.

Today was pretty much a work day.  We did Achieve.  Also, the vocabulary took longer than I expected.  No big deal.  They are some very hard words!  We will take our time and be sure to have these learned by the quiz sometime next week.  I will have the students looking at the etymology of the words for roots and prefixes, anything that might help us to learn the words better.

I handed out grade slips today.  All students should know if they have handed in the required assignments.

I graded the essays for section 1.  The scores are on HAC.  

I will be out Thursday for jury duty again.  FYI

We are staring "The Bet"

Homework:
The first AR test is due by February 20.
There will be a vocab quiz on the words below next week, probably Monday.

Before reading The Bet, on a separate sheet of paper, do the following.

In about three sentences or so, explain your thoughts on these statements.

1.   There are things in the world more valuable than money.

2.   Money can buy happiness.

3.   The love of money is the root of all evil.

4.   Eye for an eye- if you kill, you are killed.

5.   Solitary confinement is a humane punishment.  Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

Example:

I believe that money can buy happiness.  Money can buy happiness because …..  Another reason money can buy happiness is ….

Vocabulary for The Bet

1.   A Priori-

a.    Definition

b.   Sentence fragment from the story

2.   Obsolete-

3.   Immoral-

4.   Humane-

5.   Incessantly-

6.   Capricious-

7.   Rapture-

8.   Erudite-

9.   Haphazardly-

10.  Emaciation-

11.  Ethereal-

12.  Sirens-

13.  Pipes of Pan-

14.  Abysses-

15. Posterity

16.  Stipulated-

17.  Renunciation-

Request for Washinton D.C. trip chaperones

We just had a team meeting, and Mrs. Seifred was saying that we are very short on chaperones for our Washington D.C. trip on February 28th.  If there is a way you can help, please contact Mrs. Seifred or me.

Thank you.

We start our next unit on Tuesday

I will be out for jury duty on Monday.  On Tuesday we will start reading "The Bet."  The short story will set the stage for a long unit on persuasion.  More details will follow, but I have taught persuasion for years.  If your child had me last year, you should remember the ant debates.  I don't know exactly what I will change this year, but I have some creative ideas swirling around in my head.

We had fun filming the ads this week.  I cannot post them because they are, well, too embarrassing for the general public to see.  But we are watching them in class and getting a good laugh.  It is interesting to see how weak their arguments are for getting the procedure done.  If this is a pretest for persuasion, they need some guidance.  I usually have them make their ads AFTER we study persuasion.  We will revisit the ads later.

Have a nice weekend.

Filming has commenced!

I have some goals in mind as we film these commercials.  I want them to see that ads are scripted and organized with a purpose: to persuade the viewer to buy their product.  I want them to understand some of the behind the scenes activities involved in the production of an ad.  They were to create a storyboard which I will use to organize their camera shots.  Later, I will join the shots together into an ad. Whereas some students wanted to just stand up and "wing it," I wanted them to see that ads are created. 

The next unit we are studying is persuasive writing.  Eventually, we will be studying the qualities of their supports.  Ads tend to appeal to the emotions more than logic.  We will analyze the arguments they used in their ads later.

What is due tomorrow?

Section 1 should hand me the final draft of their essay.  They should also be ready to film their commercial.

Sections 3 and 4 will have some time tomorrow to finish their essay.  We worked for an hour in class today.  Tomorrow we will work on their ads and film on Thursday.

We did not get as far as I would have liked today.

Students should have finished their rough drafts today.  Not all did.  I would like to take one more day to do some peer editing.  Hopefully most of the students will be ready with something to read tomorrow.

What to check for in the rough drafts of Flowers for Algernon:

____ Handshake and thesis that grab you and give you a clear direction

____ Summary that gives you enough to understand the basic story

____ Three support paragraphs that explain the thesis

          Each support paragraph contains

____ Examples from the text and/or Quote from the text

____ The essay writer’s opinion

____ The essay ends with a clear conclusion the summarizes the main points

Better writers will

____ Have no grammar errors (or few distracting errors)

____ Good sentence variety to create a nice rhythm

____ Proper word choice

Due Dates and introductions

The rough draft of the essay should be done Monday with the final draft due Tuesday.
The scripts and storyboards for the ads should be done for Tuesday so we can practice.
Wednesday we will film the ads.

Today we discussed the introductions.  I covered handshakes and thesis statements.  Here is an example:

Joseph Addison, an American writer, once mused, “Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.” The night my dog got hit by a car, I wanted to hide in my room in cry.  I wanted to run away from the pain.  Instead, my dad told me to help him, and I am glad he did. That night, my dying dog taught me some wisdom I would never forget.

The yellow is the handshake or hook.  You don't just jump right into what you will prove.  You ease the reader in.  I discussed using a question, a fact, and a quote as a handshake.  Here is a link for 52 more types of hooks!

In section 1, we discussed how to include a summary in the beginning of the essay.  I had suggested having a summary as its own paragraph.  I showed examples where the summary was too detail or even distracting.  We discussed solutions.  One idea was to put just enough summary in the introduction.  The other was to write a summary paragraph but only include the parts or the story that relate to what are being discussed in the thesis.

Flowers for Algernon Assignments we are working on

Flowers for Algernon TV Ad Group Project (due next week)

·      Maximum 4 people in a group

·      All members must appear in the performance of the ad

·      The ad must be at least 1 minute long

·      You must create and turn in a storyboard

·      Fellow members will score you on your participation

Remember, the process is successful; however, like any surgery, there are risks! 

Your ad must address those concerns the audience will have.

Also, there will be no making fun of people with a mental disability.

 Yes, someone can be simple, but the product can also be sold to smart people as well.

Flowers for Algernon Essay Outline (Essay due Friday maybe)

P1: Intro

Handshake:

Thesis: I do not think the doctors should have performed the operation on Charlie for reason 1, reason 2, reason 3.

P2: Summary

P:3 Reason 1 (1 sentence)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain (2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and your opinion(2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain(2 sentences)

P4: Reason 2 (1 sentence)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain (2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and your opinion(2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain(2 sentences)

P:5 Reason 3 (1 sentence)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain (2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and your opinion(2 sentences)

Fact/detail/example from the story and explain(2 sentences)

P6: Conclusion

I do not think the doctors should have performed the operation on Charlie for reason 1, reason 2, reason 3.

Examples of support

We see Charlie getting smarter in the scene at the factory when everyone signs the petition.  This proves that people don’t want him to get smart.

Charlie does not want to be smart.  We know this because he says to Miss Kinnian, “Miss Kinnian, I do not want to be smart.”  (Notice the punctuation of the direct quote.)

Essay due Friday

Homework:
Essay due Friday (see below)

Today:
We analyzed three different summaries to determine the qualities of a concise summary.  I have listed the book's example below.  It meets most of the rubric, but more importantly it gives a nice overview of the story and the theme.

Summary Rubric

____ 1. FFA is a story about (Main Char.)

____ 2. The story is set in ______ (place, time)

____ 3. Describe the main character so we get

             a feel for him.

____ 4. What other characters are part of story?

              What is their relation to main?

____ 5. Break story into 4 or 5 main movements

____ 6. What is the conflict/tension that keeps you

             reading?

____ 7. Climax and Resolution

               How did the characters change/ learn

               about life?

____ 8. In the end…

____ 9. What is the theme (lesson) of the story?

____ 10. Grammar errors are not DISTRACTING     

Concise summary from my teacher book:

Charlie Gordon is a 37 year-old man with low mental ability.  His teacher, Miss Kinnian, recommends him as a candidate for an experiment in which the intelligence of a white mouse named Algernon has already tripled.  Charlie’s progress is charted through the journal he keeps.  After undergoing the surgery, Charlie becomes a genius and acquires tremendous academic knowledge, as well as a painful awareness of human failings.  When Algernon begins to regress, Charlie starts his research to see if he can solve the problem.  He discovers flaws in the doctors’ theories and realizes that his own intelligence will also deteriorate.  Ultimately Algernon dies.  Charlie returns to his original level of intelligence but is unable to return to his own life.  He moves away, asking his friends to continue the practice of placing flowers on Algernon’s grave. 

 

Writing Assignment for Flowers for Algernon

Requirements:

____ Typed in Times New Roman sized 12 (or written neatly)

____ Multiple paragraphs with introduction, supports, and conclusion

____ 400 – 700 words (a little over if needed- just not a book!)

____ Grammar errors should be minimal and not distract from reading

____ Your piece is clear, detailed, and shows you understand the story

Choose one of the following topics-

·      Include a summary of the story

·      Thoroughly explain your position

·      Use examples and direct quotes from the story

·      Be sure to refer to the packet you completed

1.  Do you think the doctors should have performed the operation on Charlie?

2. If given the opportunity, do you think Charlie would have the operation again?  Compare his life before the operation to his life after the operation.

3. What kind of society would we have if everyone had the opportunity to become super intelligent?

4. If this type of operation were being tested for real, right now, would you participate in the study?

Five paragraph outline

P1

Handshake- get us thinking

Thesis- tell us what you will prove exactly

P2

Summary of the story focusing on details that lead to your discussion

P3

Topic sentence for reason one.

Explain

Explain

Explain

P4

P5

Conclusion