AMC 11th Grade English 08-09

Welcome to a new semester and a new presentation for the blog. You may be curious about what is happening in Cont. Com/Amer. Lit this term. Some things will stay constant. Grammar Hot Crimes are here to stay and so are Tuesday’s SSR. Our semester will get started with a look at the Harlem Renaissance. Like the original Renaissance, what happened in a small corner of Harlem had tremendous effect on a much wider world. As students in an Arts, Media, and Communication academy, studying this time provides you lots of opportunity to explore art forms and ideas you may only have heard about.

As one means of finding out about this rich historical period, the Internet is a great source. Visit my social bookmarking site “My Delicious” on the blogroll. When you get to the site, on the right you will find a “cloud.” In the cloud, find HarlemRen. Clicking on this will help you to a growing wealth of resources. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

FATt is an acronym that reminds us how important a thesis statement can be.  Not only does it give your writing purpose, if it is FATt, it gives your reader a context.  Writing a FATt thesis requires practice, but it will help you for any academic writing you do.

Download and watch this PowerPoint to remind yourself that FATt works for good writing

fatt.ppt

Reading Kate Chopin’s landmark story reminds us of how social change impacts the way we live. Contrasting her heroine’s life to the lives of married women today is an excellent topic for discussion. In fact, the topic actually came up in one of our Socratic Seminar discussions last week.

Students are using that discussion as a springboard to write a brief essay-type answer to “Extend Interpretation” questions in the textbook (page 786).

Working on how to answer a test question is a powerful kick-start for final exams coming up and for the March EAP writing test that all juniors in our school will take. Results from this test may be used for placement in English in state colleges in California.

Mandalas are not just a one-time assignment. They are “ways of seeing.” Mandalas involve perception, our means of communication, our questioning…and —our resiliency. Mandalas enable you to think about “big” concepts, such as what is this ongoing experiment called America? Who are Americans? By studying the concepts of history, each student begins to form an idea of what America means. Representing America symbolically gives shape and substance to concepts that are difficult to explain in words. Through this creation, however, the formation of meaning in words will occur. Creating a mandala is a great way to combine your studies in two subjects: English and History. For this reason, AMC History and English are creating mandalas of America in a shared assignment.

Your ‘independent reading’ has been part of the class schedule since the first month of school. By now several members of the class have read 3 to 4 books and some—even more! To sum up and report on your independent reading, please do the following:

• Create a one-page Reading Journal that shows the progress of your reading. While your book does not have to be finished, it should be at least half read.
• Make sure you have at least 3 Reading Journal entries. They should cover the progress of your reading. (See the model down below.)
• Your reading journals should give a fairly thorough picture of what you understand about the book. You may combine several responses from your notebook to make an outstanding entry.
• Write a brief synopsis-recommendation below. (no more than one paragraph).
• Format and word process your one-page report.
• Scan or create the cover of the book. Attach the ‘thumbs up’ icon. Fill out the icon with 3 adjectives that sum up the best of the book.
• Begin a new book . (You will need to

Vacation time is a terrific time to catch up on reading. Please make sure that you check out a book or two from our library so that you can take advantage of your time off. Pleasure reading is a great way to stretch your reading skill.

Model: thumbs-up-rj-annotated.doc

Cover:

Students attended a lecture on the topic “Beyond Disaster: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.” Mr. Fradkin, a distinguished writer, provided a framework, information regarding the earthquake, a slide show, and many questions…

One provocative thought: “there are no natural disasters.” Mr. Fradkin believed that all disasters are man-created. He also informed us that there are phases. In the beginning, people act out of deliberate blindness…refusing to find out whether the property where they will live will be safe or vulnerable during an earthquake.

In general, students did not rate Mr. Fradkin an entertaining speaker, but many felt that his information was very important.

If you were not able to attend the field trip, please download and complete the following assignment. Please use the NOTE/EVAL form attached. It may be handwritten.

make-up-assignment.doc

note-evaluation-form-back.jpg

note-evaluation-form-front.jpg

Now that you have received back your comment sheets and rough draft, now that you have had the opportunity to read eight to ten drafts written by others—the path to revising your original may be clear. But, it is important to remember that revisers need to take extra care to “show not tell.” When you practice “showing,” it not only makes your writing clearer to your reader, it also makes it a whole lot more interesting to read. Readers like to read good details that form a picture in the brain. And, you really want to remember that when you write important essays like applications for an Honors program or an application to college.

When you have improved this essay and told the story as well as you can, it is time to submit it for grading. Please do not forget to include your original draft and your editing sheet. These are attached to the bottom so that I can see your process clearly and make suggestions for future writing you do.

I am attaching a sheet that shows how a reading journal is done. Remember: if you begin by simply reading and then writing a comment or question afterwards…you should be able to produce better and better journal entries. A reading journal represents what you think as you read. It will not be perfect initially, but it will get better.

Reading journal entries are continuous. As my sheet shows, when you change what you are reading, change the reading journal heading.

Please visit the following website http://del.icio.us/lculp When you are there, in the cloud of words find huckfinn. Clicking on this will give you the sites you need to complete your assignments for Thursday and next Monday.

Please write a paragraph on your blog about one site that interests you. If you are unable to access your blog, you will be able to write a comment on my blog.

Remember how important it is for us to help each other out. Ms. Milis’s advisory worked hard on Banned Books Week, and all of us got to share the events. Many of you went to the book sale. Some of you participated in the reading. Now, Advisory 219 needs a little help from us. They need to find out what we learned from the week’s events.
Please answer the 3 questions below by posting a comment on the blog to tell about what you learned.

What did you learn about censorship and book banning in preparing for Banned Books Week?

What impact do you think Banned Books Week had on students, faculty, and parents at NAHS? Do you think you were a part of raisng awareness of this issue on our campus?

How have you grown personally and academically as a result of this service-learning project?