Thursday, April 24, 2008

Spelling Quiz and Review Outline

Take spelling quiz



Homework: Vocab. Test Friday, Persuasive Report due 5/2, Book Report 5/9, Poetry Reading 5/6 and 5/7.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Stations

Station 1: Digital Library

Station 2: Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt

Station 3: Persuasive Research Report Rubric and Outline.

Homework: Spelling Test Thursday, Vocab. Test Friday, Persuasive Report due 5/2, Book Report 5/9, Poetry Reading 5/6 and 5/7.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day: Inconvenient Truth

Fold your paper twice so that you have three spaces on each on which to write the following persuasive appeals as subheadings.

Ethical Appeal: right vs. wrong

Emotional Appeal: feelings--hate, love, compassion, etc.

Logical Appeal: reasoning--"common sense"

Fact and data based appeal: numbers, data, research

anecdotal evidence: stories, personal accounts

Fear based appeal: scaring people

Under each heading write Al Gore quotes from An Inconvenient Truth that fit into the particular category.


Homework: Vocabulary test on Friday
Book report due May 9

Monday, April 21, 2008

An Inconvenient Truth

Fold your paper twice so that you have three spaces on each on which to write the following persuasive appeals as subheadings.

Ethical Appeal: right vs. wrong

Emotional Appeal: feelings--hate, love, compassion, etc.

Logical Appeal: reasoning--"common sense"

Fact and data based appeal: numbers, data, research

anecdotal evidence: stories, personal accounts

Fear based appeal: scaring people

Under each heading write Al Gore quotes from An Inconvenient Truth that fit into the particular category.


Homework: Vocabulary test on Friday
Book report due May 9

Friday, April 18, 2008

Opposing views

Quick Write: Anticipate the arguments of people who oppose your view. Write about the arguments they may have against your position.

View video on death penalty:



Read LA Times Editorial
on recent Supreme Court decision upholding lethal injection.

From the context of the article what does anachronistic mean?

From the context of the article what does capriciously mean?

Is the LA Times for or against the death penalty? Explain your answer with examples from the editorial.

Homework: Research your topic, read, and study vocab.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Anecdotes and Arguments

1. Correct vocabulary matching quiz.

Answer and discuss: What's the difference between an argument and an argument?



Quick write: One of the best ways to introduce a topic in a persuasive essay is with an anecdote. Think of how you are connected to your topic and tell the story.

Interview three students about their topics and stories with this form.


Homework:Read, research, and study

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Digital Library

Quick Write: Pick a controversial topic and explain why you picked it.

Go to the library for a special presentation on Digital Library.



Homework: Study vocabulary and read.

Monday, April 14, 2008

"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov



Quick write: Do you think the death penalty should be legal? Explain why or why not.

Read "The Bet" by Anton Chekhov in LOL on page 285.



Homework:Study vocab, read book

Friday, April 11, 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008

appeal, emotional, logical

Quick write: List as many controversial issues as you can. Pick one you feel strongly about and write about how you feel about the issue.




Read opinion article about immigration and answer Immigration Article Study Questions

Homework: Flash Cards
Vocab. Test 4/25
Book Report 5/9

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Persuasion Word Form Chart



Homework: Flash Cards
Vocab. Test 4/25
Book Report 5/9

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Persuasion

What makes you angry? Is it something that is unfair? Is it something you can change? Write about something that makes you angry.

Flash Cards


Read "School-wide bans teach exactly the wrong lessons" and highlight reasons against school-wide bans and underline reasons for school-wide bans.



Homework: Flash Cards
Study questions for article
Vocab. Test 4/25
Book Report 5/9

Monday, April 07, 2008

Langston Hughes

Finish/Make up Comprehensive Unit Exam

View Langston Hughes Video

Friday, April 04, 2008

Comprehensive Unit Exam

Take Comprehensive Unit Exam

View Langston Hughes Video

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Back to School Night

Practice Recitations


Homework: Book report was due Monday.
Recitation due Thursday
Test on Friday

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Flip-Flap Bingo

Vocabulary Bingo


Homework: Book report was due Monday.
Recitation due Thursday
Test on Friday

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Ballad of the Harp-Weaver

Make the following singular nouns plurals:

day
donkey
baby
family

What rule did you did you apply when you decided whether or not to add an "s" our change the "Y" to "i" and add "es"?

Read "Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" in LOL on pages 647-653.

Work in groups according to unfinished assignments.



Homework: Book report was due Monday.
Recitation due Thursday
Test on Friday




The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Son,” said my mother,
When I was knee-high,
“You’ve need of clothes to cover you,
And not a rag have I.
“There’s nothing in the house
To make a boy breeches,
Nor shears to cut a cloth with,
Nor thread to take stitches.

“There’s nothing in the house
But a loaf-end of rye,
And a harp with a woman’s head
Nobody will buy,”
And she began to cry.

That was in the early fall.
When came the late fall,
“Son,” she said, “the sight of you
Makes your mother’s blood crawl,—

“Little skinny shoulder blades
Sticking through your clothes!
And where you’ll get a jacket from
God above knows.

“It’s lucky for me, lad,
Your daddy’s in the ground,
And can’t see the way I let
His son go around!”
And she made a queer sound.

That was in the late fall.
When the winter came,
I’d not a pair of breeches
Nor a shirt to my name.

I couldn’t go to school,
Or out of doors to play.
And all the other little boys
Passed our way.

“Son,” said my mother,
“Come, climb into my lap,
And I’ll chafe your little bones
While you take a nap.”

And, oh, but we were silly
For half an hour or more,
Me with my long legs
Dragging on the floor,

A-rock-rock-rocking
To a Mother Goose rhyme!
Oh, but we were happy
For half an hour’s time!

But there was I, a great boy,
And what would folks say
To hear my mother singing me
To sleep all day,
In such a daft way?

Men say the winter
Was bad that year;
Fuel was scarce,
And food was dear.

A wind with a wolf’s head
Howled about our door,
And we burned up the chairs
And sat upon the floor.

All that was left us
Was a chair we couldn’t break,
And the harp with a woman’s head
Nobody would take,
For song or pity’s sake.

The night before Christmas
I cried with the cold,
I cried myself to sleep
Like a two-year-old.

And in the deep night
I felt my mother rise,
And stare down upon me
With love in her eyes.

I saw my mother sitting
On the one good chair,
A light falling on her
From I couldn’t tell where,

Looking nineteen,
And not a day older,
And the harp with a woman’s head
Leaned against her shoulder.

Her thin fingers, moving
In the thin, tall strings,
Were weav-weav-weaving
Wonderful things.

Many bright threads,
From where I couldn’t see,
Were running through the harp strings
Rapidly,

And gold threads whistling
Through my mother’s hand.
I saw the web grow,
And the pattern expand.

She wove a child’s jacket,
And when it was done
She laid it on the floor
And wove another one.

She wove a red cloak
So regal to see,
“She’s made it for a king’s son,”
I said, “and not for me.”
But I knew it was for me.

She wove a pair of breeches
Quicker than that!
She wove a pair of boots
And a little cocked hat.

She wove a pair of mittens,
She wove a little blouse,
She wove all night
In the still, cold house.

She sang as she worked,
And the harp strings spoke;
Her voice never faltered,
And the thread never broke.
And when I awoke,—

There sat my mother
With the harp against her shoulder,
Looking nineteen,
And not a day older,

A smile about her lips,
And a light about her head,
And her hands in the harp strings
Frozen dead.

And piled up beside her
And toppling to the skies,
Were the clothes of a king’s son,
Just my size.