10.31 - Characters and Places

We started today's class with the following writing prompt which everyone responded to in their writer's journals:

Draw a detail specific picture of the character you are tracking in The Lord of the Flies.
Discuss what this character would be like if they were part of our everyday world. Some questions to consider include:
Would you want to be friends with this person? Why/why not?
What sort of student would this person be? What would their favorite subject be?
Where would this character sit at lunch? What types of things would they do after school?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, everyone shared out their reactions and we discussed characters using the conversation web discussion format (format structure details below). In this format, everyone gets one turn to talk in which they answer a question posed to them by somebody else, share their perspective, and then ask another person a question as they finish their turn.

 

(click image to enlarge)

In unwinding this web, everyone shared out a question they have about their character that they are hoping will be answered in the book.

Next, we paired people up with a new partner and partners were assigned a place to keep track of while reading The Lord of the Flies. Now that everyone has a person, object, and place to pay attention to as they read the book we will begin sharing the information we collect and discussing it as a class.

Homework:

Read chapter five (5) of The Lord of the Flies.

Prepare for the set 4 roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow.

10.30 - Noun Maps, Characters, and Objects

We started today's class with everyone sharing the noun maps that they created in class. In looking at these maps, we talked about how they helped to draw out significant elements of the story that we might not have otherwise paid attention to (the conch shell, pigs, the beach, the plane, the idea of rescue, etc.). Our work with characters and objects (introduced today) will continue to help us with this focus.

In looking at the beginning of The Lord of the Flies, everyone then responded to the following prompt:

How well have the kids in The Lord of the Flies done on their own after the airplane crash?
How does this compare to how well everyone in our class did with our paper airplane crash?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' answers.

Next, everyone got together with their character partner for The Lord of the Flies and took a look at chapter three to compare notes on what they found for their character's actions or mentions of their character in this activity.

We then did a short mix and meet activity that paired people up with a new partner. Partners were then assigned an object to keep track of in the book (the conch, Piggy's glasses, pigs, fire, The Beast). Working with this partner, everyone then looked through chapters 1 through 3 of The Lord of the Flies putting a sticky note in the book whenever this object was mentioned. On the sticky note, each person wrote a brief summary of what was being said about the object or how it was used.

We will continue with this work next class.

Homework:

Read chapter 4 of The Lord of the Flies keeping track of when your character or object comes up in the story (put a sticky note in the book for any mention summarizing what was said/done).

Continue working with the set 4 roots and prefixes in preparation for the quiz on Friday.
Root/Prefix List
Root/Prefix Practice sheet

10.29 - Essay Revisions & Character Tracking

At the beginning of class today, I returned students' assessed essay for the WWII / Holocaust Theme essays. As a class, we went over the most significant points that each essay should focus on. These points were as follows:

1 - Come up with a specific (rather than a general) theme.
Most frequently, people had come up with one word for a theme they saw as being important in the pieces we looked at, like "leaders." The idea with this assignment is to be more specific about the theme (what message we get about leadership). A specific theme focused on leadership could be "leaders are only as powerful as their followers."

An essay on this theme would then look at the different ways each of the pieces we looked at (Night, Blindspot, articles on Japanese internment camps, etc.) addresses this theme.

2 - Identify what we should learn from this theme today.
A number of essays simply failed to explain how the theme they identified relates to us today. Strong responses were ones that identified how this theme could help us to better understand current issues/problems.

Everyone then had about 20 minutes to work on revising their essay.

Next, we returned to working with The Lord of the Flies and started looking more specifically at some of the noun elements that were identified on people's noun maps.

Everyone got a partner and a character from The Lord of the Flies and began looking for where that character showed up in the first two chapters of the book. Upon finding a place where the character was doing something or being talked about by other characters, people would insert a sticky note summarizing what was happening with that character (there need only be one sticky note per page).

Homework:

Read chapter 3 from The Lord of the Flies continue to track the character you were working with today.

Continue working with the set 4 roots and prefixes in preparation for the quiz on Friday.
Root/Prefix List
Root/Prefix Practice sheet

10.28 - Noun Maps and Vocabulary

Today in class, partners worked together to create their noun maps for the first 20 pages of The Lord of the Flies.

Everyone then received the set 4 roots and prefixes. We will be having a quiz over these roots and prefixes this Friday.

Set 4 Roots/Prefixes Documents:
Root/Prefix List
Root/Prefix Practice sheet

Homework:

Read Chapter 2 in The Lord of the Flies

Complete the root/prefix list sheet.

10.24 - Noun Maps

Today, we continued our work with noun maps from yesterday. We took a look at the song "The Fool on the Hill" by The Beatles and created a noun map for the song.

After everyone had a chance to create their noun map, everyone shared with a partner while one person re-created their map on the board. We then discussed this map and added to it.

(click image to enlarge)

After talking about the set up of this noun map we identified three sections that had formed (society, the man/speaker, nature). Looking at these relationships, everyone then wrote down in their writer's journal what they thought the song was about.

Next, we took this idea of the noun map and set about applying it to The Lord of the Flies. Working with a partner, everyone set about reading the first 12 or so pages of The Lord of the Flies, taking notes on different people, places, objects, and ideas that appear in the beginning of the book. We will then be mapping these out to get a sense for early relationships and the social landscape of the book. For today, everyone's work was based on the following directions:

(click image to enlarge)

Class Note Sheet is available here.

We will continue working on this activity tomorrow.

Homework:

Study the set three roots and prefixes for a quiz tomorrow.
Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Practice Sheet

10.23 - Nouns

We started today's class with the following prompt about our reading in yesterday's class:

What do you think of the two character's we've met so far in The Lord of the Flies (Ralph and the fat boy)?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' responses.

Next, I handed out a grammar sheet on nouns which everyone completed, compared their responses with a partner's, and then we went over together. We then read a flash fiction story together and made a noun map of the nouns in this story. For the noun map, everyone kept track of nouns that were used in the story selecting the most important ones and writing them down, connecting related nouns with lines that were labeled to explain the relationship between the words. The idea upon completing the noun map is to look at what elements are present in the story and how they are related. After doing this, we were aiming to answer the question: What is the theme of this story?

In class, we talked about how theme is the big idea in story/what the story is about. Theme is usually identified by a statement about an abstract noun. We will continue working with this in class tomorrow and then transfer these ideas to The Lord of the Flies.

Homework:

Study the set three roots and prefixes for a quiz on Friday.
Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Practice Sheet

10.22 - Lord of the Flies

We started today's class with the following writing prompt:

How would the airplane activity have been different if Mr. Collins had not been in the room after releasing the airplane? What would this show about our class?

After everyone responded to this prompt, we discussed students' responses.

Next, we started working with the set 3 roots and prefixes. Everyone had twenty minutes to begin work with these roots and prefixes.

Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 3 - Practice Sheet

Everyone also got a copy of The Lord of the Flies which we signed out. We then read the first three pages together and everyone responded to the following questions in their writing journal:

What information/facts can we pull out from these pages about what has happened in the book and what is going on now?

What questions does the information we have bring up?

Homework:

Finish responding to the questions from today's class regarding facts/questions.

Complete/revise assignments as necessary.

10.21 - Character

We started today's class with the following quote and writing prompt. Everyone recorded their responses to the prompt in their writer's journal:

“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Prompt: What do you think this quote means? Do you agree with this sentiment? Explain your response using an example of behavior you have actually observed (you can change names/places as appropriate/necessary).

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' answers.

This discussion lead us to another discussion around the following point:

Which statement do you feel represents most people most of the time?

People are inherently good and sometimes they make mistakes and do “bad” things.

OR

People are inherently bad and they only do “good” things when it helps them somehow.

From here, we wrapped up our discussion of WWII / Holocaust topics and transitioned to our next topic (which will deal with human nature) by looking at a comic about Christopher Columbus which compared him to Bartolome de las Casas.

We paid particular attention to a quote from de las Casas at the end of the comic in which de las Casas reflects on his previous opinions on slavery:

"I soon repented and judged myself guilty of ignorance. I came to realize that black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery... and I was not sure that my ignorance and good faith would secure me in the eyes of God."

In looking at this quote, the comparison I made was to Tradul Junge (Hitler's secretary) and Sophie Scholl (a young woman who was executed for speaking out against the Nazi's). The message here is that while we may understand and try to make sense of someone's actions, what really matters is what they do or do not due. There is always a choice to question what is taking place, find more information, and make an informed decision about what is right to do. This is something that Traudl Junge did not do, but something that Sophie Scholl and de las Casas did do.

At the end of class, we briefly talked about the plane crash activity from last class. We will continue talking about this tomorrow.

Homework:

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 3.

10/18 - Plane Crash

We started today's class with the following writing prompt which people responded to in their writer's journal:

Choose three roots or prefixes from the set 3 words and do one of the following for each:
Identify a superhero or villain whose power is inspired by the root/prefix (describe their power)
OR
Create and define a new word (not one that is new to you, but one that did not exist before until you created it).

After everyone responded to these questions, we shared students answers and then had the set 2 quiz over these roots/prefixes.

I then threw a paper airplane into the middle of the class with the following directions printed on it. Students began the activity when they realized the paper airplane was significant and read the following:

You have the remaining time in class to complete the directions given here.

If you complete all of the directions on this sheet, everyone gets a passing grade.

If you do not complete the assignment, everyone gets a grade reflective of the groups’ success.



- Read Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If...”

- As a class identify what the theme/message of the poem is (what is it all about)

- Individually respond to the following prompt and submit responses to Mr. Collins electronically:

    1 - In what ways does the message of this poem (what you talked about as     a class) apply to you as a person (response should be 1 paragraph)

    2 - Write for more lines to this poem starting with “If you can...”
    Share these with others in the class when you’re done.

You will be done when everyone has shared the four lines they wrote.

At the end of class, I handed out a debrief form to students to fill out for homework. We will discuss this activity next Monday.

Directions and Debrief for today's activity

Homework:

Complete the debrief for today's activity (see above).

10/17 - Research Responses

We started today's class with everyone responding to the following prompt in their writing journals (in preparation for our roots and prefixes quiz tomorrow):

Choose two roots and prefixes and describe a made-up place that is dedicated to the idea of that root or prefix. Word your description like it is an advertisement from a travel brochure.

Ex for the prefix "pre":
Preland - Coming into this fine city you'll notice what a beautiful runway we have with plenty of fountains and bright green lawns. This is one of the great things about Preland, entrances and all other before times are elegant and beautiful. Step into any restaurant and you'll notice that the appetizers coming before your meal are the greatest part of the meal. After dinner, feel free to take in any of our sports games where we will let you know the final score of the game BEFORE the game so you don't have to spend the whole time worrying about who will win.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, students shared out their responses while the rest of the class did their best to guess what root/prefix the land was dedicated too.

Next, we returned to the research questions that students had generated and researched based on what we learned about WWII and The Holocaust.

Everyone shared out what their question was, what sources they consulted, and what answer they eventually found for the question.

At the end of class, we discussed what different people felt was the important take-away from this unit of study.

Homework:

Study for the set 2 roots/prefixes quiz tomorrow.

Complete or revise previous assignments as needed.

10.16 - PSAT Testing (No Class)

Class did not meet today due to PSAT testing.
We'll be together again tomorrow!

10/15 - Progress Check

Today, we were doing a progress check of grades so far. I handed out progress report slips that I made for students while other people helped me return work that had been assessed.

We went over how to do the revisions for the unit 1, set 1 roots and prefixes and talked about what would need to be revised for other work (anything marked with an "?" or below a "3"). In their writer's journals, everyone responded to the following:

Write a list of work that you need to complete or revise based on your progress slip.

Write down any questions that you have for me about your work.

How has class been going for you so far? What do you like so far and what would you change?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, people shared out their responses. The notes that I got from this discussion were as follows:

+ (Positives)
Keeper or Creeper Songs
Reading Night
Fish Bowl Discussions

∆ (Elements for Change)
How to get a 4
More discussions around books
Less fish bowls (people watching you... a class bowl maybe? an aquarium? Get more comfortable with each other)

Everyone then had the rest of the period to finish working on their WWII / Holocaust research question. After this, people were looking at revising and completing assignments from the progress check and working on set two roots and prefixes (we will have a quiz for these on Friday).

Set 2 - Roots/Prefixes
Set 2 - Roots/Prefixes Practice

While everyone was working on their research, revised/incomplete assignments, or set two roots and prefixes, I met individually with people to answer questions about assignments and grades.


Homework:

Finish writing up a discussion of the response to your WWII / Holocaust research question (due Thursday - 10/16)

Work with the set two roots and prefixes (quiz on Friday).

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 3.

10.10 - Learning from WWII / The Holocaust

At the beginning of class today, everyone responded to the following prompt:

What are two themes that you see as important in our discussions of WWII/The Holocaust.

To make sense of this prompt, we talked a bit about what theme is (the "big idea" in a piece / what it's really all about beyond what the plot is).

Next, I handed out the writing piece that we will be using to bring our learning on WWII and The Holocaust together.

Handout:
WWII/The Holocaust Theme Writing

Everyone had the rest of the period to identify three (instead of four) themes in all of the pieces we have studied so far and then to start working on the essay.

Homework:

Finish writing the essay started today in class.

10.09 - Traudl Junge

Today in class, we finished watching Blindspot and then watched some selected scenes of the movie Downfall to see what the experiences Traudl Junge had actually looked like.

Everyone then responded to the following prompt:

Based on what you know about WWII and The Holocaust and what you learned about Traudl Junge in the last few days, do you think Traudl Junge was an evil person? Explain your response.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we had a fishbowl discussion around this question.

Homework:

Finish responding to the questions you identified at the beginning of watching Blindspot on the Blindspot Viewing Sheet.

10.08 - The Blindspot (cont'd)

We continued watching the documentary video "Blindspot" today which is an interview with Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge. Everyone kept taking notes on information that related to the questions they were curious about going into the film as well as any interesting information that came up during the film.

Tomorrow, we will finish the film and look at a film portrayal of Junge's time with Hitler.

Homework:

Review your questions that you would have for Traudl Junge (Hitler's secretary) and write down any information you got from the movie that answers those questions.

10.07 - The Blindspot

We started today's class with the following prompt:

Brainstorm some questions that you would have for Hitler's secretary.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed everyone's answers. Each person then chose four to five questions they really wanted answered and wrote these on the Blindspot Viewing Sheet with space so that they could take notes on the answers to these questions as they come up in the movie.

For today, we were only concerned with keeping track of the answers to these questions. We will finish watching the movie tomorrow.

Homework:

Review your questions that you would have for Traudl Junge (Hitler's secretary) and write down any information you got from the movie that answers those questions.

10.04 - Present Day Decisions

We started today's class with the writing prompt below based on the readings done on Monday and Tuesday about Japanese-American Internment Camps which everyone responded to in their writing journals and then discussed.

Imagine that you are transported back to 1942 where the Western Defense Council (WDC) asks you to cast judgement on their plan to relocate American citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps in the interior United States. As a being from the future, they want your enlightened position on if their plan is: acceptable as is, needs some modifications before being implemented, or needs to be scrapped entirely in favor of a different plan.

Write a short memo in which you state and explain your decision to the WDC.

In our discussion, there was one student who felt the plan should go ahead as it did, one student who felt the plan should be scrapped entirely, and the rest of the class felt the plan should go ahead with some modification (mostly making the internment camps nicer).

Our discussion also began to look at how the relocation of Japanese-Americans touches on an idea that non-white Americans are somehow more authentically American than others. To illustrate this point we looked at the following video and political cartoon:

 

We then brought this discussion into a modern context with the following question:

Would it be appropriate for America to continue this trend of putting Americans in secure internment camps based on a character they share with our aggressors during times of war/conflict?
e.g. - Terrorism is a modern threat. Should individuals that share characteristics with terrorists be relocated into internment camps?  

Everyone responded to this prompt via a quickwrite in their writer's journals addressing reasons to agree, disagree, and questions they had. We then had a fishbowl discussion around this question which was assessed using the following rubric:

The general consensus in this discussion was that it would not be appropriate to relocate people into internment camps today because we have so much other security. This also lead to discussion of how much security and surveillance is necessary to keep us safe.

Homework:

Complete or revise any work that needs that attention.

10.03 - Fish Bowl Discussion - Internment Camps

We started today's class out by reviewing the work that has gone on over the course of the last three days with the substitute. Everyone shared out their reactions to the work associated with the Japanese internment camp articles and the article "The Case Against High School Sports."

Following these share outs, we did a quick write on the following prompt:

Was it hypocritical of America to go to war against Germany for putting German Jews (and others) in concentration camps, while America was putting Japanese-Americans into internment camps?

Perspectives and questions surfaced in the quick write went in to being fuel for a fish bowl discussion. We reviewed the general format of a fish bowl discussion and how this discussion would be evaluated (using the standard description below for a "meets" or "3").

We will continue to discuss this topic a little more next class.

Homework:

If you have yet to complete any of the readings or reading questions from Monday (09.30) to Wednesday (10.02 / yesterday), do so for homework.

10.02 - High School Sports (Sub)

I was not in class today as I was out on a NEASC school visit. The instructions for today for the class were as follows:

Have students read the article “The Case Against High School Sports” and respond to the reading questions. Make sure they understand that there are Pre-Reading, Reading, and Post-Reading questions that they answer before, during, and after reading (respectively).

They should return the articles at the end of class for other classes to read.

They can turn in their responses at the end of class if they are done or finish them for homework and hand them in tomorrow.

The Case Against High School Sports - Article
The Case Against High School Sports - Processing Questions


Homework:

If you did not finish the reading and questions today from the work in class, do so for homework.

10.01 - Japanese-American Experiences in WWII (sub)

I was not in class today as I was out on a NEASC school visit. The instructions for today for the class were as follows:

Students in this class, have been learning about WWII and The Holocaust. For the next two days we’re going to focus on what life was like for Japanese Americans in America after Pearl Harbor.

Have students read the reading labeled “Reading 2” and respond to the associated questions. If they finish before the end of class they can work quietly on other work for English or their other classes.

Everyone should have been given the following documents:

Japanese Relocation - Headlines
Japanese Relocation - Inside the Internment Camps


Homework:

If you did not finish the reading and questions today from the work in class, do so for homework.