The Paperless Final

Good morning,
   As you know your final is digital. You may use any online resource you wish, but the thoughts and ideas you express in your writing must be your own.

1. Create a new presentation in Google Docs.
2. Answer each question on  a separate slide in your presentation.
3. Number your slides to match the question numbers.
4. You may ask for help with the technology but not the content.
5. Share your presentation with me.

You must follow these directions exactly. ANY missing pieces will lower your grade.
Hint: Use F11 to get more work space on your screen.
I’m deliberately NOT giving you any helpful links. You need to be able to find these things for yourself.

#1 Slide: Title, name, date, period. The title is up to you, be creative

#2 Slide: Explain the difference between Assumptions and Beliefs. Use a quote from the Journals of Lewis and Clark and explain why it is an assumption or belief.

#3 Slide: Insert an image of Chief Red Jacket. Include the URL for the image you insert. Explain who he was. Summarize briefly what he told the missionaries in his Lecture to a Missionary speech.

#4 Slide: Nature has been an important theme in our study of American Lit.  Find an image that represents nature. Write a short poem (can be bad) about the image that includes two forms of figurative language. Highlight the figurative language.

#5 Slide: Use a two column slide. In one column list the important authors of the Harlem Renaissance. In the second column list the important musicians.

#6 Slide: Insert a map to show how the Great Migration affected African American populations.

#7 Slide: Review A Flapper’s Appeal to Parents. Use a two column slide again. List three things parents complain about on one side and three things she suggests to parents on the other.

#8 Slide: Write a thesis statement for the beginning of an essay about your opinion on prohibition. List three points you would use in your essay.

#9 Slide:  Paste this analogy on to your slide and explain the relationships between the words.  Doctor:Hospital:: Professor: College  make sure you thoroughly explain how the analogy works.

#10 Slide: Write your own analogy and explain how it works.

#11 Slide: Describe a moment in The Great Gatsby that was memorable to you. Explain why it was memorable. Include a quote from that moment. (Extra point if the moment involves dramatic irony and you explain how.) You can also include an image IF YOU HAVE TIME.

#12 Slide: Write three IMPORTANT questions about The Great Gatsby.

#13 Slide: Select your favorite quote from everything we read this year. You can go back to first semester if you want to. Include the quote and make a PERFECT citation for the quote. Hint: Use Citation Machine.

#14 Slide: Create a slide about your favorite INDEPENDENT reading book this year. Something you chose to read on your own. Find an image and include your review of the book. If you already reviewed the book in goodreads you can paste that review here. If you write a new review here then paste it into goodreads.

#15 What would you write in my yearbook?


This is an example of the slides you should have. Think of it as an outline.

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

Still working on chapter 9

All right, enough of these interruptions.  We are reading chapter 9 today!


Two reminders:
Return your netbook use contract
Gatsby Project draft is due Thursday.  If you don't know which project you want to do see me.

If you think you want to propose your own option (#7) you should check out these projects done by the students of a friend of mine.  Gatsby Student Projects

Here's one of them:

The Great Gatsby- Themes and Symbols on Prezi

Thursday Periods 3 and 4

Finish reading chapter 9
 Explain Gatsby Project Options

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.

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?

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?

Turning art into art...

Good morning,
    Gatsby projects are due today.  Please visit the Gatsby Project Self-Evaluation Form now.  Also you may wish to 'un-share' your paper with your writing group. I think most of you know how to do that, but ask me if you want help.
     Fun part (yes, for you). Visit Tagxedo.com. Select "Load..." paste in the entire text of YOUR Gatsby project. What you will get is a word cloud of YOUR words.  The words you used the most will be the largest. I did this with one of your papers. (No, I'm not telling you whose.)  Then if you want you can play with the font, colors, shape etc. You can even save the image you create and then insert it at the end of your Gatsby project.

And one fine morning---------

A retroactive blog post:

Today we finished reading The Great Gatsby. If you liked it please vote in the poll at the right. If you didn't like it that's okay, you don't need to vote. :)  (Poll ended and I removed it.)

We took the chapter 9 quiz. If you missed it please take it now!

Then we talked about your Gatsby Project Options. There are lots to choose from so start thinking about which one is right for you. Draft is due Thursday 5/13!

Gatsby believed in the green light...

Good afternoon!
    Ha! I almost never get to say that on this blog. But, due to testing, our class today is after lunch. If you are reading this then you must have done your homework. You get to take the quiz on-line.

Chapter 8 quiz!  Make sure your answers to the short answer questions aren't that short.

Things to notice in chapter 9:
Who is Henry C. Gatz?
What was Gatsby like as a very young man?
What happens with Nick and Jordan?
How does Nick feel about Tom in the end?

"You ought to go away." -Nick

Good morning,
   So Myrtle Wilson is dead. Daisy hit her while driving Gatsby's car. Tom thinks Gatsby did it. Gatsby thinks Daisy will still leave Tom. Daisy does not know that the woman she killed was Tom's mistress. And Nick is getting sick of all of them. Should make chapter 8 interesting.
   Some things to keep in mind as we read chapter 8. There are flashbacks and memories that go back and explain more about Daisy and Gatsby. Don't get confused about the time. Also pay attention to what people think about Myrtle and her actions. Watch Tom's actions. Why does he do what he does? What do you think about his actions?
  Ok, get yourself over to chapter 8.

Finishing chapter 4

Good morning,
   Today we will finish reading chapter 4 and then take the chapter 4 quiz. (I'll give you a tinyURL for the quiz when we finish the reading, but I'll put a link to the quiz on the blog later for absent people.)

Chapter 4 
When you get to chapter 4 do a ctrl-F and search for the word "succulent". It will take you to the paragraph where we will resume.

Chapter Three Quiz

Good morning, Thank you for getting your homework done. You've done yourself a favor and now you get to take the chapter 3 quiz on line.

Chapter 3 Quiz
Read the Bulletin

When the people who chose not to do their homework catch up with their written quiz we will read the beginning of chapter 4.  Here are the chapter 4 questions:
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

Note: I'm not planning to give you homework tonight. You will read the rest of chapter 4 in class on Wednesday. I say YOU because I will be at a meeting. Ms. Brandecker has agreed to cover your class for me so she will read it with you. She will tell you your homework for Wednesday night and the Chapter 4 quiz will be Thursday.

Chapter Two Quiz: The Easy Way

Good morning,
   If you are reading this then you did your homework. Your diligence has earned you the right to take the chapter 2 quiz on line. Chapter 2 Quiz
   Once you have finished the quiz you will likely have some extra time. Here are some suggestions:

1. Is your homework and reading from chapter 1 complete?
2. Check your English Journal is it up to date?
3. Do you have revisions to make to your nature paper?
4. If those are all practically perfect in every way try reading the Wikipedia page about the novel for some interesting details.
5. I need images of polo players, a Georgian mansion and other pictures that relate to the novel. What can you find and send to me?

Chapter Two: Tom's got some woman in New York.

Good morning,
   By now you have turned in your homework and reviewed for the quiz. You have no more than 10 minutes to get it done. Chapter 1 Quiz

   Today we start Chapter 2. Either use the link our get your book ready. You also need your English Journal.
The questions for chapter 2 are:

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 Nick. (Write on paper, or type and print.)


Link to Chapter 2