Learning from Gandhi

Good morning,

We will read at the bell and then your will need your English Journal.

Yesterday you read the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi to understand his perspective on non-violent resistance. Today we will watch some clips from a film about his life. You will need your English Journal to write about what you see and think after each segment that I show you.

Chief Red Jacket's Lecture to a Missionary

Two major questions today:

What is satire?

How do I explain how central ideas are developed over the course of a text?

My students are fond of the phrase "you got told" as a way of expressing that someone was just put in their place or taught a lesson.  The speech we are going to look at today is the best historical example of that I have ever seen. You are about to see how Chief Red Jacket used logic, well reasoned argument and a very respectful tone to tell a group of white missionaries to buzz off.

Chief Red Jacket's Lecture to a Missionary (1805)
Write an entry in your English Journal about his speech. Answer the questions below.

1. Briefly summarize his speech.
2. What do you think is his strongest argument? Why?
3. Do you think he is right?
4. How does Red Jacket feel about white settlers?
5. Do you think this is an example of satire? Why or why not? 

Quick Quiz:  You may copy and paste these answers from your English Journal. Remember that spelling, grammar and punctuation count. 

The Sadness of Conformity

Good morning,

The article of the week for this week was chosen to fit with several other readings we have coming up. It is shared with you in your "view only" folder. Please find AOW 3: The Sadness of Conformity.

1. Make your own copy to read and annotate (File/Make a copy)
2. As you read add questions and notes to the column on the right.
3. Use comments (Insert/Comment) to mark the parts of the text that reveal the things in the rhetorical square below.  You don't have to make a square, just comment on where you see those things in the article.
4. Please reflect on the article in your EJ when you finish reading.

Click on the square to see a larger image of it.

Getting Started with Google Docs Today

Good morning,

Today we will be using Google Docs together for the first time to read an annotate an article. You will also create your English Journal document and share it with me.  Follow the steps below closely.

1. If you did not complete the student data form, or get a Google account yet. You need to do those two things now.  (See the blog post below from yesterday.)

2. If you did not join Goodreads, or send me a friend request, or review a book yesterday you must do those things by Monday.  (You should NOT be on Goodreads now.)

3. Go to Docs.google.com and login.

4. Click the red "create" button and make a new document. Name the document "3 Your Name English Journal"

5. Click the "Share" button on the upper right. Share your English Journal with me by adding my gmail address. Make sure you share it as "can edit".   Put a heading at the top of your English Journal.

6. Return to your Google Docs List.  Click on "Shared With Me" on the left and look for a view-only folder. I will often share documents with you as view-only.  While viewing the document you can go to "File / make a copy" to create your own version of the document. (Note: If you did not give me your gmail address yesterday then you do not have this folder yet.)

7. You are looking for the document that begins with AOW 1. Make your own copy of it using "File / make a copy"  You can now begin to read and annotate this document in Google Docs.

8. When you are done reading, return to your English Journal and write a one page reflection about what you read.  (See the EJ suggestions at the bottom of the article.) This is homework if you do not finish it during class.

Last day of class before finals :(

Good morning,

Hard to believe this is out last day of real classes before finals tomorrow. Please remember that you final for American Lit is TOMORROW. Yes, the finals schedule is out of order.

Today, please open your English Journal and fill in this statement:
I have earned a ____ on my English Journal because........
Hint: Use the Scoring Guide! (Yes, you can copy and paste in the statement.)

Under that ^^ please answer these questions honestly and seriously.

 What have you learned as a result of being in this class? Write a full paragraph (or more) for each item.
1. About literature-tip: write about something we read that you really enjoyed.
2. About writing- Think about what you may have learned from being in a writing group.
3. About technology- That should be easy.
4. About school- What will you do differently next year?
5. About yourself- What have you learned about yourself this year?
6. About life- What have you learned about life in general this year?

You can still submit questions for the final.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5026716018_80b8b4af2e.jpg

Completion and Controversy

Good morning,

Lots going on this week before finals. Many of you still have a lot of work to do. Allow me to suggest a prioritized list for you.

1. Make sure your Gatsby Project is completed. Check it in PaperRater.
2. Make sure your English journal is great.
3. Make sure your group's study guide for the final is excellent.
4. What do you think about teachers using Facebook? Post a reply here. (A college student doing some research on this would really appreciate your thoughts.)
5. An article published over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal provoked a lot of controversy about teen reading and young adult literature. #YASaves became a top trending topic on twitter when many people responded with stories of how YA Lit saved them in some way. Here is just one response, there were many. This is about some adults wanting to censor what teens read and others saying teens should make their own reading decisions. What do you think? Read the articles and then comment on this post to reply.
6. Add some books to your "to read" shelf on Goodreads.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2656043491_86083bceff.jpg

Wednesday Period 4 -Demonstration Lesson for i21-

Welcome Visitors.  This is a demonstration lesson of educational technology in our i21 classrooms.

Good morning,

Please begin by pasting the prompt below into your English Journal and writing your answer.

Who do you think is most responsible for Gatsby's death? Explain your answer and use evidence from events in the novel. (Aim for 5-6 sentences.)

Yesterday we read the very end of chapter 8 of The Great Gatsby and for the past week you have been working on asking important questions about the novel. Briefly today I want to ask you some questions again and we are going to try it with the response system built into your netbooks.

Look for the icon on your task bar like the one below and please follow my directions closely.

1. Open Active Engage (grey circle your task bar like the icon above)
2. Click "select a hub"
3. Scroll to the bottom and select Room 864.
4. Enter the three letter code I will give you.
5. Click the button that turns green (on the right)
6. Enter your first name and last initial.
7. Click the green button.
8. Wait for my question (Please just wait and be patient if this takes a few minutes.)

When we are done discussing these questions we will read a bit of the beginning of chapter 9 and you will have another chance to ask more important questions in your English Journal.
Link to chapter 9

Period 3 Wednesday 5/18

Good morning,

Welcome to the back of the library. I'm sorry I can't be with you. You know my expectations.

1. Please copy and paste this prompt into your English Journal and answer it. This is the prompt we were going to work on yesterday before the network went down.   

Who do you think is most responsible for Gatsby's death? Explain your answer and use evidence from events in the novel. (Aim for 8-10 sentences.) 

2. Read this article about the demolition of the house that Fitzgerald used as the inspiration for Daisy and Tom's house.
3. After you read the article respond to it using this Google form.
4. If you have done your best work on both of those tasks you may: update your status on Goodreads, read the bulletin, check your English Journal for other work you need to catch up on, make sure you have completed all the Gatsby quizzes or read your independent reading book.

http://www.afewstrongwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/gatsby-mansion-demolished.jpg

"...I remember the rest of that day..." Chapter 9

Are you shocked?  Were you upset? Do you know what happened?
Take the chapter 8 quiz and find out.

When you finish the quiz open your English Journal and write 2-3 important questions about the end of chapter 8.

Link to chapter 9.

"I know your wife." Chapter 6

Start  by taking your chapter 5 quiz.

Link to chapter 6
I want you to work with a partner today to read chapter 6. I want you to continue to stop every few pages and make notes in your EJ about what is happening in the novel. You can take turns reading aloud or read silently, but agree ahead of time about where you will stop to talk.

You are going to get some more background on Gatsby's past. Pay attention to that.
Also Daisy and Tom are going to attend one of Gatsby's "little" parties. Watch what happens there. How does Daisy like it?
Finish reading chapter 6 for homework. Keep making notes.

"educated at Oxford," Chapter 4, The Great Gatsby

Good morning,

We will start with your chapter 3 quiz and then read chapter 4.

Read the Daily Bulletin
Paste these questions for chapter 4 into your EJ.

1. Who is Klipspringer?
2. What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
3. What "matter" did Gatsby have Jordan Baker discuss with Nick?
4. Who is Mr. Wolfshiem? What does Gatsby say he did?
5. What does Mr. Wolfshiem tell Nick about Gatsby?
6. What does Jordan tell Nick about Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom?

Link to Chapter 4

Did you get a phone call?

I used a district voice mail system to send out calls about how students are doing in my class. If you came to the blog because you got one of those calls THANK YOU!

The grading period ends next Friday. Students in my classes need to make sure they have:

1. Completed all the work in their English Journals. (These are on-line in google-docs. Ask your student to show you theirs.) The scoring guide is permanently linked on the right side of the blog and also here.
2. Make sure they have taken the quizzes related to The Great Gatsby. Pre-Gatsby Quiz, Chapter 1 Quiz, Chapter 2 Quiz.
3. Study for the Chapter 3 Quiz. (Hint: The questions are in the post below this one.)
4. You can check on the specifics of the grade through Parent Connect.

If We Must Die...Poetry analysis

Good Morning,

Yesterday you did some research about the life of Claude Mckay. Today I am asking you to look very closely at one of his poems.  Please use the Poetry Analysis From to enter your responses. Please remember that the usual expectations for short answer questions apply here as well.

I will be grading English Journals Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Please make sure yours is up to date and includes all the work listed on the chart in our room.

Update your status on Goodreads.

We will continue reading The Great Gatsby tomorrow. Bring your book.

There was music... Chapter 3

Good morning,
   We are moving fast. Start with your chapter 2 quiz.

Link to chapter 3 text.

Then put your chapter 3 questions in your English Journal. There are only seven this time.

1. How does Fitzgerald show us how rich Gatsby is?
2. What kind of people come to Gatsby's parties?
3. Why did Nick go to Gatsby's party?
4. How does Nick meet Gatsby?
5. What are all the stories about Gatsby?
6. How are some ways you might describe Gatsby?
7. Describe Nick's relationship with Jordan?

The Valley of Ashes: The Great Gatsby Chapter 2

Good morning,
Get started on your chapter 1 quiz.   Quiz for chapter 1


Also check out this cool book list Mrs. Sine made based on the things some of you were asking for.  Book List from Mrs Sine.

Put these questions about chapter 2 in your English Journal.  Link to chapter 2

1. What is the valley of ashes?
2. What are the "eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg"?
3. Who did Tom take Nick to meet?
4. Who are George and Myrtle Wilson?
5. What did Mrs. Wilson buy while she was out with Nick and Tom?
6. Where did they go? What was at 158th Street?
7. Who are Catherine and Mr. and Mrs. McKee?
8. What does Mr. McKee tell Nick about Gatsby?
9. What reason does Myrtle give for marrying George Wilson?
10. What did Tom do to Myrtle when she mentioned Daisy's name?

Homework: Read the end of chapter 2. (The more we read in class the less homework you have.) Then write a diary entry about the events of chapter 2 from another point of view. You can pretend you are any character but not Nick. (Write on paper, or type and print.) You must turn in a hard copy. 

"...the advantages that you've had..." The Great Gatsby: Chapter 1

The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920's in a part of New York known as Long Island and also Manhattan. The map above shows a detailed view of the area. The map is also in your book on page 206.

The text is accessible online. Please click this link to go to Chapter 1. I will also link to the whole book in the Important Links section on the right.

Open your English Journal now and copy and paste the questions below into it. We will answer them as we read chapter one.

1. How does the narrator describe Gatsby?
2. From where does the narrator come and why?
3. Describe the narrator's house.
4. Describe the Buchannans' house.
5. How does Nick know Tom and Daisy?
6. Describe Tom. What is our impression of him in chapter 1?

And for those of you working on your homework: 1. Good job checking the blog. 2. Here are the last four questions from chapter 1 for your quiz on Monday.

7. What kind of person is Daisy?

8. What did Miss Baker tell Nick about Tom?

9. What did Daisy say about her daughter?

10. How is Gatsby introduced in the novel?

Preparing for The Great Gatsby

Good morning,
  By now you should have your very own (checked out) copy of The Great Gatsby. Please take it out and leave it on your desk while you work today. Also, bring it to class daily.
  Before we start reading you need to assure me (and yourself) that you have sufficient background knowledge to tackle this book.
   Please take the Pre Gatsby Quiz.  This is an "open net" quiz, meaning that if you don't already know an answer I encourage you to go find out. There are a few tricks on the quiz so read the directions and the questions carefully.

ENGLISH JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:
After you finish your quiz I want you to do some deeper thinking about the questions we worked with on Monday.  Choose ONE of the questions below and add it to your English Journal. Write a three paragraph answer to the question you chose. (200+ words) Include examples, elaborate on your thinking. If the question you are answering has more than one 'side' write about why the other 'side' is wrong.

Here are the questions. Remember to choose only ONE.

1. Which is more important, love or money? Explain why.
2. Do you think you would continue to love someone if you found out that person had lied to you about their past?
3. Do rich people have a responsibility to the rest of society?
4. How much money would you need to be rich?
5. If your boyfriend or girlfriend cheats on you is it alright for you to cheat on them?
6. Have you ever wanted something that you could not have?  Explain.
7. How do rich people get rich?

Women of the 1920's -A Flappers's Appeal to Parents

Good morning, I have something very cool I want you to read today, but before we get to that I want you to talk. Specifically, I want you and a partner to discuss the questions below.


1. "Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new."  -Thoreau   What did Thoreau mean? What was he talking about? Is this only about clothing?

2. Look carefully at this picture of a woman. It was taken about 1900. Your discussion questions are below the woman.

What can you tell about her from her clothing and hairstyle? How old do you think she is? Would you say she follows the rules?  Flash forward 25 years; the woman has a daughter. What do you think her daughter would be like?

Reading: A Flapper's Appeal to Parents   Read on your own or take turns, but everyone needs to have their own answers in their English Journal.

1. What genre is this?

2. What is her point?

3. What advice does she give to parents?

4. What surprised you?

5. Can you make any personal connections to her point?

From the Harlem Herald

First go to your English Journal and write to me about how things went yesterday while I was gone. Then read the article below and add your thoughts about the article to your English Journal entry.

I was searching for more background about the Harlem Renaissance and I found this article I thought was really interesting.

 

The article continues below...

It wasn't just about the money.

Good morning,

We were going to look into this after break, but it is a good thing for you to work on today. We've looked a bit at the Harlem Renaissance. I also want you to be aware of another important event from the early 20th century.
In 1919 members of a famous baseball team conspired (worked together) to loose (yes, loose) a world series baseball game. They got caught and it was a national scandal. This was about money, gambling, greed and revenge. 
I want you to know about this. I also want you to know how to check your answer in several sources because you can't always trust the internet.

Look through the information on this website AND those in the live binder linked below. Answer the following questions in your English journal. I suggest confirming your answer with several sources to make sure you have the right information.

1. How did the White Sox get the nickname the Black Sox?

2. Who is Charles Comiskey? Describe two reasons why he was blamed for the Black Sox scandal?

3. What is the ‘reserve clause’ and how did it affect the Black Sox scandal?

4. Why was enthusiasm for baseball so high in America during 1919? How do you think this affected the Black Sox scandal?

5. Why would Comiskey post signs throughout the ballpark declaring, "No Betting Allowed In This Park?"

6. What part did Chick Gandil play in the ‘fix’?

7. What happened to the eight players, including ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson, who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series? What is one reason for this outcome?

***Make sure you use complete sentences and go into depth with your responses***
And you know if you are done you can check your English Journal, read a book, go on Goodreads or donate rice.

                   

    

1919 World Series