Book Reports and Action Figure/Barbie Gods

Today's bellwork is here. Today we turned in and present to the class our book reports. Afterwards we worked on designing an action figure/Barbie doll based on a Greek god/goddess. The instructions are here. We'll finish up our action figures/Barbies on Tuesday, but you'll only have 15 minutes of class time to work on it, so if you need more time, you'll need to do some work on it over the weekend.

Don't forget to bring a bed sheet for Monday's toga party! It's worth points! I'll also give extra credit if you bring more than one!

Gods/Goddesses Presentations

Yesterday we began our God/Goddesses presentations and today we finished those up. If you were absent for either of these days, be sure to get the notes from a classmate. We used our remaining class time to work on our book reports which are due tomorrow. If you are absent tomorrow, you should have your book report for me on Monday.

Gods/Goddesses Project, Part 3

We put off our Gods/Goddesses Presentations for a little bit more time to research. We also spent part of the class discussing our short stories and working on our book reports. We'll present our Gods/Goddesses Presentations tomorrow and book reports are due Friday.

Gods/Goddesses Project, Part 2

Today we continued to research for our Gods/Goddesses Project and will present our research to the class tomorrow.

God/Goddesses Project

Today's bellwork was a freewrite. Then we took some time for freereading. Remember that your book reports are due next Friday (2/26).

Then began our work on our God/Goddess Projects. We watched an example presentation on Zeus before beginning to research our own god/goddess. We also took notes on the presentation and will do so for our own presentations. For our research we are using these questions as a guide.

Folk Hero Presentations

Here is today's bellwork. After bellwork we presented the folk heroes we researched to the class. If you were absent, you need to make up the bellwork, but the presentation and the notes from the presentations cannot really be made up.

Folk Hero Research

There was no bellwork today. We spent the day in the lab researching for our folk hero presentations and using these questions as a guide.

American Myths

Today's bellwork was to evaluate the short story unit.

Then we read a partner's short story and did some evaluation of it. This cannot be made up, since short stories have now been turned in. If you have not turned in a short story yet, it needs to be turned in to Mr. Sotheran as soon as possible and will be considered late.

Finally, we discussed myths and how American heroes are examples of myth. Tomorrow we will be researching an American folk hero to present to the class.

Short Story Unit Test

There was no bellwork today. Instead, we took the first few minutes of class to prepare for the test.

To make up the test, you'll either need to arrange to take the test during Chief Time on Tuesday (see me and I can write you a pass) or you'll need to come early on Wednesday morning and take the test in the library. Either way arrange it with me.

Be prepared to type your short story tomorrow in the lab and have it turned in by the end of class.

Wednesday 2/10

On Wednesday, we started the day with a freewrite bellwork, so make sure to write at least one paragraph on any topic.

Then we read the short story, The Star, and looked and discussed the 2nd person point of view. No work needs to be made up, but I'd like you to read the story if you get a chance.

Vocabulary

We didn't have bellwork today. Instead we jumped right in with an Act-A-Word activity with sniglets. Then we acted out vocabulary words from this unit. Afterwards we did a Pass Around vocabulary activity. Today's work can't really be made up, but won't count against students who missed.

Make sure you are starting to get some of your short story down on paper. We'll take our unit test on short story on Thursday and type our short stories on Friday. Your short story will be due at the end of the day on Friday.

Something That Happened Story

Today's bellwork was the plot out your short story idea according to the five elements of plot. So what will be the exposition of your short story? The rising action? The climax? The falling action? The resolution?

Then we read the story, Something That Happened, and answered these questions over it. This activity is good practice for what I'll ask you to do on your unit test on Thursday!

Short Story Brainstorming

Today's bellwork was a freewrite. Please write for at least a paragraph on whatever you like.

Then we worked on a brainstorming activity for our short stories. On Monday you will need to come to class with a short story idea that you feel comfortable with.

We spent the last few minutes of class reading from our MO Gateway novels and playing a round of Balderdash.

Descriptive Writing

Today's bellwork was to write at least a paragraph describing the object at your table. Each table had a different fruit/vegetable to be described. To make up this bellwork, please write in description of any object. Remember to use more than one of the five senses and vivid vocabulary.

After the bellwork we read the story, Island Morning, from p. 516 in our orange textbooks and answered questions #1-3 and #6 in our journals.

Theme/Description

For today's bellwork, I asked students to summarize the plot of a film and then tell me what the film's theme might be. Make sure you right at least a 4-6 sentence paragraph. Afterwards we discussed our films and talked for quite a bit about theme.

Then we went over description from this powerpoint. Afterwards, students took a magazine and chose one image or picture from the magazine that they liked. Then I asked students to write a half page describing the picture. I am looking for students to appeal to more than one of the five senses (sight, smell, sound, touch and taste) and to use vivid language (maybe language someone would not use in everyday speech).

Absent students should be sure to make up both the bellwork and the descriptive writing.

Theme

Today was a short day due to the early release. For bellwork we wrote a paragraph telling the story of a fable. Some well-known fables include The Tortise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Then we took a lot at the literary concept of theme through this powerpoint. Afterwards we read an excerpt from The Kite Runner and discussed its theme.

Identifying Tone

Today's bellwork was to define the following terms- plot, conflict, mood, tone, characterization and "show, don't tell."

We finished our Mark Twain activity in which we read three stories and compared the tone of each of them. You can get the readings and questions from the blog entry from Thursday.

Afterwards we read the school newspaper. We each picked one article to do the five w's for (who, what, when, where, why and how). To make this up, take any newspaper article and tell me about these five w's.