Sunday, October 30, 2011

B Period Writing Triathlon!!!

Today you have a three-part writing challenge:
1) Goal: update me on your progress and get feedback
Submit your working thesis statement to the form below. I will ask questions and the feedback will show up when you refresh the page





2) Goal: To analyze as much as possible in 10 minutes
Click on this link. When the document opens, click 'file' 'make a copy'. Read the directions, set the timer, and write for 10 minutes.

3) Goal: To compile and co-write about the topic of fear
AFTER writing for 10 minutes: group leaders (in bold), create a document and invite your group members to it. As a group, compile your 10 minute free-write. Focus on including as much as possible from everyone, and on flow of ideas. This document, shared with me, titled correctly AND printed out, is due at the end of class.

Group #1 - Rachael, Bonny, Holly, Kayla
Group #2 - Meaghan, Alyssa, Emily
Group #3 - Marisa, Jenny, Greg
Group #4 - Allie, Brendan, Bethany
Group #5 - Tim, Jess, Bri
Group #6 - Steve, Morgan, Will
Group #7 - Sam, Kelsie, Merry



Good luck and have fun!


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Seventeen Continents of Experience and Feeling: LotF Outlines

Check out the shape of these Lord of the Flies paper outlines!

From traditional 'bullets' to 'snakes' of ideas, my 10th graders show the variety of their thinking through their varied approaches.

Done are my days of "teaching outlining" - look at how expressive these are.




Saturday, October 22, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Interdisc: BNW Final Project

Read the options below and choose one for your final project.

BY END OF CLASS fill out the survey below.

Due Friday, November 4th




Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Brave New World : Why is there no God in the World State?

In Chapter 17, Mustapha Mond and John the Savage discuss religion, God, and the freedom of choice.

Here are the notes from our discussion - use them to help you answer the question 'why is there no God in the World State'?

Fly, good Fleance, Fly!

Macbeth Act 3 Scene 3

Dave, Mason, Mike, Tyler, Travis

Aiden, Amber, Kristina, Hayley


Maggie, Aaron, Gloria, Abby, Courtney


Joey, Mike, Aaron, Alexis, Jordan


Dan, Kyle, Connor, Adam


Kelli, Kate, Mitch, Coleman, Angel, Ashley 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Lord of the Flies - Collaboration on Chapter 9 Connections

Lord of the Flies
Chapter 9 Connections

In 2-3 sentences, introduce a quotation from another part of the book and write an insightful explanation of the connection. Type your name in after.

Tomorrow we will be doing a close reading of the death - pay close attention to the diction and syntax of that scene.

Good luck!

Click here to add your brilliance

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Voluntary Hermit

"I'm leaving"

Fed up with everyone, she decides she's leaving them all to become a hermit. Her hermitage becomes a quest as she seeks to find her place in an epic (and heavily literary) quest:

She first turns to the woods - imagine New Hampshire in the cool fall. It's amazing for awhile (think My Side of the Mountain, Redwall, Thoreau), but she decides it's not quite for her ("I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one").

Walking to the beach (at night, Dover Beach), but aside from the great tan she gets, the peace of mind with the waves, she needs a little more excitement.

She adventures off on a sailboat, sailing south into the beautiful weather. Consider influences and reflections on sailing from Moby Dick, The Perfect Storm, and perhaps something more cheery. But when's all said and done, the boating life's not for her (too confining).

She docks in a city, teeming with sights, sounds, and (most importantly) amazing food. What better place to be a hermit - hiding in plain sight? The sights, smells, and passion of the city are invigorating, but eventually tiresome. As the city's intensity fades, picture Fahrenheit 451's phoenix city.

Walking away, the road becomes a lonely place, but one where your motion lets you ponder. Consider influences from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and some meditations from The Road. With any road though, you need a destination, and she'd rather be a hermit than a nomad.

She tries a different mode of transportation: she hops aboard a riverboat. She consider the river as Twain did, but also the River people in the Golden Compass series. It doesn't provide the solace she's looking for though, though she likes the fresh water the river doesn't provide the calm she seeks.

She comes home to her lake house in mountains. With the mix of of forest and calm water, and the dock as a place to ponder (and tan), she finds her inner peace.

Coming full circle, with an appreciation for place and what she has - independence, reliance, etc. - my character finds that she can't go off to chase solitude but must find it within.

"I'm home"



What suggestions do you have? Literary allusions? Questions?

(Note: my Seniors are embarking on an epic project this year: publishing their own children's book. The plots are fantastic, the ideas are bold, and I'm going to keep up with my own. Check out #pshscompass for links to their updates, reflections, etc. Thank you!)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Period C - How to grade yourself

When you have finished your story.

1. Change the title
- click on the title of the document
- add 'FINAL' to the end

2. Grade yourself on your rubric
- add 'ME!' where you think you are

When those two steps are done - I will immediately grade your story.

Ms. Kennett