Daily Agenda 11/21

Today's Agenda ~

* Act V Quiz -- secondary seating please
* Bonus Quote Quiz
* Announcements: persuasive essays due 11/26; vocab was due Tuesday
* Receive soundtrack project sheet

SCHEDULE FOR NEXT WEEK:

Monday -- persuasive rough drafts due ; peer editing ; start working on short stories
Tuesday -- vocab 29-30 due ; work day for short stories ; conferences on essays
Wednesday -- work day for short stories ; conferences continue ; short stories due at the end of the period
Thursday -- complete the conferences ; Friar Lawrence memo ; watch Reduced Shakespeare Company RJ
Friday -- 1/2 day ; work on soundtracks

Daily Agenda 10/30

Today's Agenda ~

* Quiz over Act I
* Announcements: compare/contrast essay due TOMORROW 10/31 -- will not be accepted past Friday; vocab due today; end of grading period is Friday, 11/2; Ms. Wayne at Benjamin's today
* Extra credit masks due by Friday, 11/2 -- up to 20 points extra credit (mask needs to be life-size, with eye holes, with min. 5 sentence explanation of why you designed the mask in such a way.

Daily Agenda 9/11

Today's Agenda ~

* Read / discuss chapter 11 in Frederick Douglass
* Announcements: autobiographies due Wednesday; must be typed; turn in 2x copies of your final with your rough draft; questions about title page -- email me -- email papers to me tonight for printing ; extra credit = logic puzzle or parent attending Open House ; quiz over chapter 11, appendix, run-ons, and fragments on Thursday
* Work on logic puzzles

Daily Agenda 9/10

Today's Agenda ~

* Finish discussing "Conscientious Objector" -- literary device sheet out please

* Announcements: vocab #7-8 due tomorrow; last day to turn in vocab #5-6 is tomorrow; autobiography final copies due Wednesday 9/12, must be typed, 2 copies; email me for questions OR to print out your paper
*extra credit: logic puzzle OR parent at Open House on Wednesday (YOU do not have to attend); 15 points each
* OPEN BOOK Frederick Douglass quiz either Thursday or Friday over chapter 11, appendix, run-ons and fragments

Daily Agenda 10/26

Today, we accomplished...

• Reviewed recent requests: parent slip signed, Prince Escalus letters by Friday, vocab assignments by Friday, turn in Night reflections with portfolio reflection sheets stapled to backs
• Will not receive graded rough drafts back until Monday, 10/30 -- final copies due Friday, 11/3
• Will be available most every day next week for conferencing
• Remember: extra credit options -- 1 box tissues or recitation
• Reviewed Act I, scene 1
• Read Act I, scenes 2-3
• Remember: only 5 more weeks of vocab -- turn in early and be done with it!!!

YA Books to Read for Extra Credit

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Catalyst.
Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. In the Forests of the Night.
Avi. Midnight Magic.
Bell, Hilari. Songs of Power.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451.
Cooney, Caroline B. Burning Up.
Cooney, Caroline B. The Ransom of Mercy Carter.
Draper, Sharon. Romiette and Julio.
Efaw, Amy. Battle Dress.
Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig.
Grimes, Nikki. Bronx Masquerade.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Just Ella.
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust.
Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot.
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last.
Karr, Kathleen. The Boxer.
Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon.
Korman, Gordon. No More Dead Dogs.
Lisle, Janet Taylor. The Art of Keeping Cool.
Lubar, David. Hidden Talents.
Martin, Nora. A Perfect Snow.
Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm.
Orwell, George. 1984.
Patneaude, David. Haunting at Home Plate.
Paulsen, Gary. Guts.
Paulsen, Gary. Soldier's Heart.
Smith, Roland. Zach's Lie.
Strasser, Todd. Can't Get There from Here.
Werlin, Nancy. Locked Inside.
White, Ruth. Memories of Summer.
Zephaniah, Benjamin. Face.

Extra Credit

Options
You may choose a young adult novel from the list to read and respond to for extra credit. These are all very "easy reads". Your written response will earn you up to 15 tickets (extra credit points) to use toward the current grading period. Only one response per grading period, please.

Criteria
Divide your response into two components: a synopsis (summary) and commentary (your response). Synopsis should contain between 150-250 words. Commentary should contain between 150-200 words. The synopsis should be completely objective, free of opinions or commentary about whether you liked/disliked the story, agreed/disagreed with the characters, etc. The commentary may be subjective, with critique of the characters' motives, author's skill, likes/dislikes, etc.

As always, I prefer this response typed; however, you may hand-write your response as long as I can read your writing. Include an MLA heading and title for your paper. Include your word count at the end of each of the two sections, like the sample submissions for Flowers for Algernon and Summer of My German Soldier.

Don'ts
You should not have any second-person pronouns in your response. For instance, do not include sentences like "As you read this book, you get the idea that the main character is..." Rather, write "As I read this book, I got the idea that the main character is..." . Inclusion of any second-person pronouns will automatically deduct 5 points from the possible 15.

I take plagiarism and cheating very seriously. If you copy and paste an online summary and commentary or submit someone else's paper as your own, you will receive no credit and all other opportunities to earn extra credit will be suspended for the semester.

Questions
If you have any questions regarding the criteria for this extra credit opportunity, do not wait until the last minute to ask. I am available during A4 lunch in the hall by the snack machines, before school (I arrive at 7:00am) or after school (I leave around 4:30-5:00pm). You may also contact me through the email provided on your syllabus.

Flowers for Algernon (sample extra credit entry)

Synopsis:
It all began with a mouse--a small, white mouse with pink eyes whose intelligence appeared to drastically improve after an experimental brain surgery. Algernon's successes--improved speed and agility and problem solving techniques--inspired Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss to take their research one step further.

At a local school for mentally disabled adults, Charlie Gordon works with Alice Kinnian, learning how to read and write. With an IQ under 70, Charlie would never move beyond his custodial job at a local bakery. There, his co-workers tease and abuse him, although he fails to see their laughter and jokes as offensive. Alice recommends Charlie as a human specimen for the experimental brain surgery, stating that his initiative and determination will assist him in this challenging and dangerous journey. After Charlie undergoes the surgery, results come slow at first, but then rapidly drive his intelligence onto outstanding levels. Charlie surpasses his teacher and friend Alice, as well as the professor and doctor working directly with him on the experiment. Charlie struggles to understand his relationships with previous acquaintances, including his co-workers, Alice, and the family who neglected him. He finds himself co-existing as two Charlies--the emotionally underdeveloped child within and the genius who remembers and understands everything he reads. Charlie eventually discovers Algernon's slow mental deterioration as the effects of the surgery wear off. Charlie understands at this point he must reconcile his differences with his abusive mother and intolerable sister, mend his relationship with Alice, and make arrangements for himself when he reverts back to his level before the surgery. -- 262 words, 10 sentences

Commentary:
Charlie tells his own story in the form of journal entries, as required by the doctors in the lab. Thus, the narrator litters the first few weeks (and the last few days) with misspellings, grammatical errors, and strange syntax to show his mental deficiencies. At times, I found myself paying more attention to the errors than to the story itself, and I sought to notice the subtle changes as his intelligence improved (or deteriorated, in the end). Yet I also struggled, at the height of Charlie's academic abilities, to understand the complex topics he discussed with leading doctors and scientists from various universities. The author probably wanted this to occur as readers experienced Charlie's changes with him. Still, I cannot attest as to the accuracy of this novel--as a science fiction novel it requires a bit of suspension of disbelief--and because of my limited experience with people with mental disabilities. I do not believe this story seeks to give hope of a "cure" somewhere looming behind doors of labs, but instead tries to find a way to educate people without disabilities tolerance for those who do. -- 188 words, 7 sentences

Total 450 words, 17 sentences

Summer of My German Soldier (sample extra credit entry)

Synopsis:
Although Greene published this novel over 30 years ago, she tells of a classic love story of forbidden lovers torn apart by the unforgiving hatred of the world around them. Patty Bergen, a 12-year old girl from a small Arkansas town, experiences a life of verbal and physical abuse from her parents. Her lackluster appearance falls short of the perfection her parents see and love in her younger sister, Sharon. Ruth, the housekeeper/nanny, sympathizes with Patty, although she cannot sway Patty’s parents to treat their daughter with the respect she deserves as a human being. In the midst of her turmoil, Patty befriends a German prisoner of war and manages to help the escaped prisoner hide in her parents’ garage dorm. While Anton, the POW, realizes he cannot stay, he manages to show Patty that he values her friendship and finds her worthy of love. He leaves the dorm, and while this is the last Patty sees him, she thinks of him often and treasures the gold ring he gives her as a token of his friendship. -- 175 words

(Spoiler Warning)
Commentary:
I understand that young love happens, but Patty, a twelve year old girl falling head-over-heals in love with Anton, a 20-something year old man? Let me just say this: if this happened in today’s world, we’d see Anton on Dateline’s To Catch a Criminal for his interest in a minor. Although the on-screen hook-up never occurred like I expected (and dreaded), the book does somewhat glamorize the fact that Patty really thought she (a Jew) had a chance of making it work with a German POW. Really. I get that authors try to reinvent the whole Romeo and Juliet concept--and that’s really great--a truly hopeless and yet classic love story--but the whole time reading this novel I failed to "believe" Patty and Anton's relationship. Worse yet, after Anton's brisk departure, the book provided nothing but dejection (as if the book didn’t have enough of that). Patty blabs about Anton's ring to a store clerk, and eventually the whole story comes out (very painfully). Patty ends up at a girl reform school. All the stereotypical "Disney" moments we've come to expect never occur (the heartwarming reunion with her rotten parents; her dad's admission of his unrelenting evilness and his quest for forgiveness from his eldest daughter; the "just kidding" moment of Anton’s death.) The book ends as hopelessly hopeless as it begins. -- 225 words

Total = 400 words