Tuesday November 25, 2014

Honors 9- Today we worked on the social topic article analysis project. If you did not complete this, it is due December 1. Please see yesterdays post for directions if you did not receive them yesterday.

English 10- Today we read Act 1 scene 3 in Fences and analyzed the significance. You should have completed Act 1 scene 1 and 2 study guides.

Monday November 24, 2014

Honors 9- Today students got their assessments back and we discussed how students performed and any areas missed. I assigned homework for the pro/con social articles students chose on their own. Here is the assignment if you were absent:

Identifying Claim and Evidence

                                                                                                

Due Monday December 1, 2014

Directions: Annotate both articles for evidence and claim. When you have completed annotations, please complete this organizer and writing prompt.

Topic/Social issue:                                                         

Title of article pro/for:

Author’s name:

Website URL:

Author’s claim:

Types of evidence:

Title of article con/against:

Author’s name:

Website URL:

Author’s claim:

Types of evidence:

Writing prompt: After reading and annotating both articles, write a constructed response identifying which article is the stronger article. Keep in mind, this is not the article that you agree with the most, it is the article in which the author has best supported their claim. Consider who the author is. Consider the source of the article. Evaluate the evidence. Identify ethos, pathos and logos. Identify the article with the best supported claim. Use evidence from each text to support your thinking. Attach both of your annotated articles and your written response to this sheet to turn in.

English 10- Today we focused on getting through Act 1 scene one and two and started working on questions for each scene.

                                                

Wednesday- Friday November 21st, 2014

Honors 9- We worked on ethos, pathos and logos and created projects in small groups. Vocab quiz 5 was taken on Friday. See me immediately to make this up.

English 10- We were introduced to the setting, context and time frame of August Wilson's Fences. We started reading Act 1 scene one. 

Tuesday November 18, 2014

Honors 9- Today you will need to go to each of these links and read the stories from each page.  Answer the questions that go with each article.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/12/opinion/la-oe-rollin-kevorkian-20110612

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/opinion/suicide-by-choice-not-so-fast.html?_r=0

For question #3 for the article “Assisted suicide: Jack Kevorkian Was Just a Sideshow"
here is the italicized section the questions refers to:

Almost no one in the pro assisted suicide movement — and there are several organizations now trying to make physician-assisted death available to more Americans — believe anyone should be killing anyone.

It's about the (qualified) patient ending his own life when he chooses with (qualified) help.

Directions: Today you will to go to my class page at http://misterwellsclass.blogspot.com/ and read the two articles that have web page links under today’s class. After you have read the articles, you will need to answer the following questions for each article on a separate sheet of paper. These two articles contain one strong pro-assisted suicide claim, and one con or against assisted suicide claim. Hopefully, this activity will give you an idea of the types of articles that you will need to select for your own analysis project. If you do not finish this in class today, please complete it for homework.

Questions for the article:

“Suicide By Choice: Not So Fast” From the NY Times

1.      Would the author have been a good candidate for assisted suicide? Why?

2.      What do doctors think of the author?

3.      How could a “loved one’s look of exhaustion” or “nobody wants you at the party” persuade one to pick assisted suicide?

4.      Is the author for or against assisted suicide?  Identify the author’s claim. 

5.       What are the authors best examples of evidence supporting their claim?

Questions for the article:

“Assisted suicide: Jack Kevorkian was just a sideshow” From the LA Times

1. What does the author want to do?  What is his problem?

2. What are some potential problems with assisting in someone’s death? 

3. Reread the italicized words.

Almost no one in the pro assisted suicide movement — and there are several organizations now trying to make physician-assisted death available to more Americans — believe anyone should be killing anyone.

It's about the (qualified) patient ending his own life when he chooses with (qualified) help.  What does the author think the difference is between “killing someone” and assisted suicide?

4.      How did the mother react to being given the option of “suicide?”

5.      What is the author’s claim? Rewrite it here:

6.      What are the author’s best examples of supporting evidence?

v  Lastly, after reading these two articles, look at the types of evidence, the authors, and the publications. Regardless of your stance on assisted suicide, decide which article supported their claim the best.



English 10- Today we continued to work on the quarter 2 reading assessment analyzing The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Monday November 17, 2014

Honors 9- If you did not complete the assessment from last week for Why I Want a Wife, it is now up to you to find the time to complete it. You have one week from today to complete it. I have 2nd and 3rd period available, as well as before school and after school by appointment.
  Today we were in the computer lab. We discussed claim and students searched the internet to find one pro and one con article on a social topic of your choice. Please visit www.procon.org for inspiration and direction. Once you have identified your two articles please make sure I check you off on my sheet. We will be completing a future assignment with these articles. Also we have Vocab test #5 this week, here are the words:

Vocab List #5

1.       appease (v) to placate, soothe, bring peace to, or pacify; to give in to or make concessions to in order to gain peace

2.       ascetic (n) a person who gives up the comforts of society and leads a life of austere  self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion (adj) self-denying; austere

3.       condone (v) to forgive, overlook, or disregard (an offense) without protest or censure

4.       disparity (n) the condition or fact of being unequal in age, rank, or degree; difference;  unlikeness, incongruity, dissimilarity

5.       elusive (adj) tending to elude grasp, perception, or mental retention elude (v) to avoid or escape from, as by cunning, daring or artifice; to evade

6.       hypothetical (adj) based on a hypothesis; conjectural; uncertain; based on a supposition

7.       lax (adj) showing little concern; remiss; negligent; not strict; unenforced; not taut or firm

8.       preclude (v) to make impossible or impractical by previous action; to prevent

9.       retract (v) to take back or disavow (a statement, accusation, offer, or verbal contract)

10.   servile (adj) slavish in character or attitude; obsequious; submissive

English 10- Today we continued to work on the quarter two reading assessment analyzing explicit and implicit conflict in Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

Friday November 14, 2014

Honors 9- Today we completed the reading assessment for Judy Brady's Why I Want a Wife. Please be prepared to go to the computer lab in room 242 next Monday.


English 10- Today we are working on the reading assessment for Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

TESTING DAYS Tuesday November 11 through Thursday November 13, 2014

Honors 9- Due to varied schedules during testing, most classes will not be on the same pacing. We will be completing satire projects, reviewing writing that I hand back to you, reviewing author's purpose and completing the reading assessment for quarter 2.


English 10-Due to varied schedules during testing, most classes will not be on the same pacing. We will complete reading logs for the Richard Wright excerpt, outline a proficient response to our writing prompt and start the reading assessment for quarter 2 on Edgar Allan Poe.

Monday November 10, 2014

Honors 9- Today we shared satire projects. Just a note- if you did not complete this project, it will have a harsh impact on your grade. I will consider make up projects if you conference with me.

English 10- Today we started analyzing the excerpt from Black Boy by Richard Wright identifying types of conflict and if the conflict is being stated implicitly or explicitly by the author. This assignments correlates directly to the reading assessment we will be taking at the end of this week into early next week.

Thursday November 6, 2014

English 9- Today we looked at several visual examples of satire. If you missed today, please see me right away for directions.

English 10- Today we completed The Scarlet Ibis and completed the characterization graphic organizer, as well as the plot diagram.

Wednesday November 5, 2014

Honors 9- Today the entire class period was dedicated to completing satire projects, which are DUE MONDAY, November 10!

English 10- We continued reading and annotating The Scarlet Ibis. 

Tuesday November 4. 2014

Honors 9- Today we finished A Modest Proposal. I collected annotations and answers to prompts

English 10- Today we took extensive reading analysis notes and started to look at the back ground of The Scarlet Ibis. If you missed today, please get your notes from a classmate or see me for help. If you have not turned in your LOTF book you need to do so immediately!

Monday November 3, 2014

Welcome Back!!! Hope you had a relaxing and recharging break!!!

Honors 9- Please make sure you have your A Modest Proposal annotations and paragraph for discussion tomorrow. Here is the prompt for the paragraph if you need it:

Answer the following prompt in paragraph form, using evidence from the text:

“What is Swift proposing that the Irish do with their poor children and why is he proposing this? Explain author’s purpose (think about author’s craft) in writing this piece? Create and discuss a theme that you identified in the text.”

Today, I introduced the satire writing assignment. I have attached the hand out here for reference:

Assignment Due November 10

Creating your own satire

As we have looked at satire, we have seen examples in videos, we have looked at written pieces, viewed cartoon examples and we have discussed music examples.

Now it is your turn to create your own form of satire.

For this assignment, you and a partner have the freedom to create your own piece of satire in the desired form you would like. You can create an editorial, make a video, draw a cartoon, create a song, create a rap, or anything else you can possibly think of. (Run your idea by me if you are choosing something outside of this.) It is important that your piece is truly satirical—make sure you review our class made definition and elements beforehand. If you do a song or video, please include a script. There is no specific length, just make sure it is long enough and clear enough to be satirical. This assignment will be due November 10. On that day, you will be sharing your piece with the class! Have fun with this!

English 10- Today we turned in our LOTF writing assignment and checked in books.We started reading The Scarlet Ibis and worked on completing annotations and a graphic organizer.