Week of February 29, More quote sandwiches

Quote Sandwiches and Inferences

Hi everyone,

This week we are going to review the characters in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" by Richard Wright

In Google Docs, create a document called Blog 4: "Character Quote Sandwiches"

You will be creating three quote sandwiches, one for 

• Dave Saunders
• Mother
• Father

Write paragraph for each character, as a quote sandwich, following this structure:

•Top slice of bread = your thoughts, beliefs and ideas about the character. "Dave is ________________ because __________."

•In the middle is the meat = the quote from the story that teaches us about this character. "We can see this in the quote on page ___, "...."".

•Bottom slice of bread = “this quotes shows us that…” Concluding sentences, again proving what you believe about this character.

When you are finished, post your quote sandwiches to our blog.

Week of February 22, Quote Sandwiches

Quote Sandwiches and Inferences

Hi everyone,

This week we are going to review the characters in "The One Who Watches" by Judith Ortiz Cofer

In Google Docs, create a document called Blog 3: "Character Quote Sandwiches"

You will be creating two quote sandwiches, one for 

• Doris
• Yolanda

Write paragraph for each character, as a quote sandwich, following this structure:

•Top slice of bread = your thoughts, beliefs and ideas about the character. "Doris is ________________ because __________."

•In the middle is the meat = the quote from the story that teaches us about this character. "We can see this in the quote on page ___, "...."".

•Bottom slice of bread = “this quotes shows us that…” Concluding sentences, again proving what you believe about this character.

When you are finished, post your quote sandwiches to our blog.

Week of February 11, On Turning Ten

Hi everyone,

This week we are going to reread the poem called "On Turning Ten" by poet laureate Billy Collins.

On Turning Ten by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel

like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

Directions Part I: Answer the questions below, in google docs:

1. What is your favorite line in the poem and why?
2. What were your favorite things to do when you were ten?
3. What does the poet feel is the difference between being ten and being younger? Do you agree and why?
4. What do you wish you could still believe or do today that you believed or did when you were younger?

Directions Part II: Write a story about the boy in “On Turning Ten”. You can write about his birthday party, about what happens after he turns 10, about his 11^th birthday, etc. You decide.

Guidelines:

1. Use 10 vocabulary words from the poem (highlighted, underlined or circled)
2. Make sure you include details from the poem and show me that you understand his character.
3. Include the following literary elements and techniques

• Conflict (internal or external)
• At least two examples of figurative language (such as simile, metaphor, personification)

Now post your answers to the questions and your creative story to our blog.

Finally, read the posts of two other classmates and do the following:

1. What do you like about his/her post and why?
2. Answer their question if you can.

Week of February 4, Welcome to Our Class Blog

Hi everyone,

This week we are going to become familiar with using a class blog.

Each week we will be using our blog to share our ideas about the literature we read and the themes we discuss in class.

Requirements:

• Headphones
• Gmail account (click here to get a gmail account) (make sure you choose a user name and password that you will remember because you will have to sign in often)
• Google docs account (comes with gmail and is free)
• Internet at home

I will expect you to finish the assignments on this blog each week. If you do not, you will have to finish them for homework.

This week, please use google docs to answer the questions below:

1. How do you feel about using technology (computers, internet, smart boards, etc.) in theclassroom and why?
2. What experience do you have using blogs as part of your classes?
3. Why is it important to learn to use a blog for our class?
4. How will using this blog help you in the future as a college student and when you are aprofessional adult?

Once you have answered the questions below, please paste your answer into a comment to our blog. Be sure to put your first and last name on your post so we know who you are. Please do not use a nickname because this can be confusing.

Then, read two classmate's comments and write a comment to them answering the questions below:

1. What do you like about their blog post and why?


2. What did you find interesting and why?