01.30 - Janet Yellen

I was not in school today so a substitute lead today's class.

Today, everyone was reading a profile article of Janet Yellen from TIME Magazine (see Mr. Collins for a copy) and responding to processing questions that went along with the article and then completing a found poem responding to the question, "Who is Janet Yellen?".


Handouts:
Janet Yellen article (see Mr. Collins for a copy)
Yellen article processing questions
Yellen Found  Poem


Homework:

If you did not finish the processing questions or found poem from today's class, do so for homework.

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

01.29 - Pete Seeger and Found Poetry

Today, we started looking at public figures to help prepare for our upcoming research project on this topic. Everyone responded to the prompt question based on the video (both available below).

Before watching the video we talked about direct observations versus inferential observations since the prompt question requires people to infer things about Pete Seeger.

Prompt:
What can you infer about Pete Seeger based on the way he performs, interacts with the audience, and otherwise presents himself? Explain your responses.

Video:



Some of the inferences people made about Seeger based on this video were:

He is a caring person because he encourages the audience to sing along with him.
He loves playing music because he is 94 and still playing even though he has a hard time singing.
He is energetic because he pumps his fist in the air and slaps his guitar while he plays.
He is a simple person since he performs without any back up dances or fancy effects.
He sang verses of one of his songs that his wife wrote and this shows he cares about his family.
He's laid back because he doesn't get too worried when he can't remember the lines to his song.

After watching the video, we read a New York Times article on Pete Seeger. While reading the article, everyone took note of facts that  helped to reinforce and verify inferences made about him from the video.

Next, I handed out a sheet which explained how to make found poems. We reviewed this sheet and discussed found poems with everyone having an opportunity to make a found poem from the sheet itself.

At the end of class, I handed out a found poem sheet. For homework, everyone should use the article from today to write a found poem which explores the question, "Who was Pete Seeger?"

Homework:

Use the found poem template to respond to the question, "Who was Pete Seeger?"

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

01.28 - Roots and Prefixes Part II / Midterm Review

At the beginning of class today, everyone had time to work on the Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice sheet. We then reviewed responses on this sheet as a class.

Next, I returned everyone's midterms to them so that everyone had time to see how they had done. We then spent a few minutes discussing the song "Hit 'Em Up Style" that was featured on the midterm. In our discussion we considered the following questions:

How were sanctions being used in the song?
Was the speaker justified in her use of these sanctions?
Were these actions the best possible choice (why/why not)?

Next, we had some discussion around what our next focus would be for our work in the class. The choice was between beginning a new book or beginning to work on our 3rd quarter research project. After some brief discussion we decided to go with the research project and that the project will focus on public figures/famous people.

We then had a partner discussion in which partners discussed various public figures (living or dead) that they thought were admirable, heroic, or otherwise interesting.


Homework:

Choose one of the people you identified in your discussion today that you think you would like to research and explain why you think that person is worthy of further investigation. If you're having trouble narrowing down to just one person at the moment, discuss the pros/cons of the people you are left with.

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

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

01.27 - Roots and Prefixes Set 8

At the beginning of class today, I reviewed how to use the class site with everyone including the new search feature and the email subscription feature. To see a a screencast of this talk, check out the video below.


(I recommend watching this video in full screen to see the detail on the screen)

Next, we began work with this week's set of roots and prefixes (see below).

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

I reviewed how to check the root meaning of words using actual, physical dictionaries and the dictionary on Google (the result you get when you type "define:" and then a word).

The examples below also illustrate this point. For the root/prefix "post-" notice how the word "posterity" has the meaning "follow" in its origin while the word "postulate" has the meaning "asked" in its origin.

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Everyone had about twenty minutes to work on the practice sheet for this weeks roots and prefixes.

I then handed out grade report sheets for quarter two and the midterm exam while several students helped me to return work. Everyone had the remaining time in class to finish the root/prefix practice sheet and to look at their grade and ask questions about assignments.

Homework:

Study for the set 8 roots and prefixes quiz on Friday.

Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Word List
Roots and Prefixes Set 8 - Practice

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

01.21 - Midterm Part I

Today, we had the first two parts of our midterm and I introduced the third part of the midterm to everyone. We will finish all remaining parts of the midterm when we meet together as a class again on Friday.

If people feel that they will need more than the two class periods to complete their midterm there is extra midterm time available from 12:30 - 2 on both Thursday and Friday. Individuals can also talk with me to set up some time after school.

Everyone is free to review the midterm materials outside of class. No materials can be brought into the midterm (aside from something to write with) and all materials must stay in the classroom. I will redistribute materials on Friday or when individuals come in to work on their midterm.

For the midterm today, everyone received:

Midterm Prompts
The "Marigolds" essay they wrote at the beginning of the year
A copy of the short story "Marigolds"
"Hit 'Em Up Style" Lyrics


Homework:

Prepare for Part II of the midterm as is appropriate for you.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 3.
(Quarter 2 work submitted after today will not be reflected on the printed report card, but will be entered and shown on later reports of your quarter grade)

01.17 - Roots and Prefixes Quiz Set 7

We started today's class with a review activity for the set 7 roots and prefixes. This activity is based on the group game "Ninja." We first went over how to play Ninja and then I introduced the modified rules to play "Language Ninja." These rules were as follows:

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During Language Ninja, a student kept track of root/prefix definitions and words used for us (see below).

 

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After playing Language Ninja, we had the set 7 roots and prefixes quiz along with the formal diction quiz. We then corrected these quizzes together as a class.

 

For the remaining part of class, we discussed some of the ideas related to the Growth and Change essay. For this discussion we used the "Musical Conversations" discussion format (description included below). 

 

Musical Conversations

 The questions we discussed were as follows:

 

1 - How does Melinda grow and change over the course of the book?

2 - How do Melinda's peers help or hinder her process of growth?

3 - How do Melinda's teachers/principal/guidance counselor help or hinder her process of growth?

4 - How do Melinda's parents help or hinder her process of growth?

 

Responses to the Growth and Change in Speak prompt were due today.

Homework:

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

01.16 - Growth and Change in Speak / Roots and Prefixes Set 7 Practice

For the first twenty minutes of class today, everyone completed the roots/prefixes set 7 practice. We then went over the answers for these questions together as a class. We will have the quiz over these roots and prefixes tomorrow.

We then did an activity called "The Wind Blows (with Words)" in which we discussed and explored the ways that various people can and have effected positive changes in the lives of individuals in our class. Sharing of these elements was guided by the following prompt:

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Everyone then had the rest of the period to work on their essay on growth and change in Speak.

Homework:

Continue to work on your essay for the Growth and Change in Speak prompt.
This should be ready to hand in for Friday.

Study the set 7 roots and prefixes in preparation for our quiz on Friday.
Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Practice

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

01.15 - Speak Growth and Change Writing Prompt

At the beginning of class today, everyone had about 20 minutes to finish recording sanctions on the Speak sanctions document we started yesterday.

I then printed out these sheets so that everyone had a physical copy available as we started the Speak writing prompt on how Melinda grows and changes throughout the story and how this process is effected by the sanctions she experiences. We looked at the prompt together as a class discussing and filling in elements of information.

You can see the prompt here: Growth and Change in Speak

Everyone then had the rest of the period to begin outlining and writing this essay.

At the end of the period, I handed out up to date grade report sheets.

Homework:

Continue to work on your essay for the Growth and Change in Speak prompt.
This should be ready to hand in for Friday.

Study the set 7 roots and prefixes in preparation for our quiz on Friday.
Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Practice

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

1.14 - Speak Sanctions on Google Drive

At the beginning of class today, we had a class discussion around our viewing of the pilot episode for Freaks and Geeks. The discussion questions and highlights from our discussion are included below.

 

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Discussion of this question lead into a discussion of whether or not fighting Alan was the best option. This question also lead to a wider discussion of what bullying and peer victimization behaviors tend to look like in high schools today and how those behaviors tend to differ between the average group of boys and the average group of girls.

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Discussion of this question revealed cultural differences between then (the 1970s) and now where we are much more aware of bullying behaviors and where teachers actively try to connect with and help students instead of telling them "to be a man" (as the teacher in the cafeteria says to Sam). Overall, people also felt that Lindsey's story of feeling conflicted after her grandmother's death and not knowing which social group to hang out with were more relevant to teens today than Sam's story of bullies and going to the dance.

Following this discussion, people got together with their partner group for the Speak sanction tracking activity and began entering these sanctions into Google Drive. This complete collection of observed sanctions from the book is something that I will hand out to people as a tool to help respond to our final question for Speak which will be:

How does Melinda grow and change as a person throughout Speak? In your discussion identify what role sanctions play in her development.

The collected sanction sheets are available here. Everyone in the class should be able to edit this document. If you do not have editing privileges, email Mr. Collins at ccollins@lisbonschoolsme.org.

Homework:

If you and your partner did not finish recording all of the sanctions that you observed, finish recording your sanctions on the collected sanctions sheet (don't forget that there are four tabs at the bottom of the sheet, one for each marking period).

If you did not do so in class, finish the word list portion for the set 7 roots and prefixes.

Study the set 7 roots and prefixes in preparation for our quiz on Friday.

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

1.13 - Roots and Prefixes Set 7 / Assignment Reflection and Revision

At the beginning of class today, I used our document cam/viewer to go over how to use a dictionary so that it is the most helpful in completing these sheets. While we did go over how to look up words in the dictionary, the focus of this talk was in how to look at words that use the root/prefix as a prefix and then evaluate whether or not that word root is part of that word or if those letters just happen to occur at the beginning of the word.

Example:

The word root "pre" means before.

In the word "preview", "pre" means viewing something before so we know the root and word meaning are connected.

The word "precious" also has the letters "pre" at the beginning. However, "precious" means that something has a high cost or is valuable. It does not have a "before" sort of meaning so the root and word are probably not connected.

I then handed out roots and prefixes sheets for the set 8 roots/prefixes. Everyone then had about 15 minutes to complete the first sheet. We will work on the practice sheet later this week.

Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Word List
Roots/Prefixes Set 7 - Practice

Next, we reviewed the class performance on the reading questions associated with individuals' observations of sanctions in 24 hours at LHS and the Poetry and Language sheets.

I handed out the assignments before reviewing general feedback on what people had done well and key areas for attention and revision. People can use this feedback to guide their revisions or to guide their work if they are still completing the assignment. Those who got their assignments back today may have additional or other specific feedback to pay attention to when doing their revisions. The graphs from class are available below.

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We then took a look at the grade distribution for the discussion that we had on Wednesday of last week. In looking at this distribution, everyone used the data presented in the graph and their own recollections of the experience to identify two things that we did well and one thing that we could improve upon for next time (see below). We then shared out these pieces and a student recorded the feedback below the graph.

 

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I then had a couple people help me return work that was submitted last week and I handed out grade report sheets. Everyone then had the remaining time in the period to identify which assignments they need to complete or revise. I was on hand for questions and handed out extra copies of assignments.


Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish the word list portion for the set 7 roots and prefixes.

Study the set 7 roots and prefixes in preparation for our quiz on Friday.

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

1.10 - Sanctions and Changes in Freaks and Geeks

I was in school today, but had a meeting to attend during our class so Mr. Gentle was in in my place today.

Everyone finished watching the last five minutes of the episode of Freaks and Geeks from yesterday and then used their sanction sheet to respond to the following prompt: Changes and Sanctions in Freaks and Geeks.

Everyone had the rest of the period to work on this piece of writing.

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish responding to the Changes and Sanctions in Freaks and Geeks prompt.

Complete or revise assignments as necessary.

1.09 - Freaks and Geeks, The Pilot

We continued our focus on portrayals of high school life in media today by watching the pilot episode of the television show Freaks and Geeks. While watching this episode, everyone kept track of sanctions that they saw, especially those related to Sam and Lindsay Weir who are the main protagonists in this episode. Sanctions were recorded on the Freaks and Geeks Sanction Tracking sheet.

While watching the show, everyone kept in mind that after seeing the episode we would be focused on how the characters grow and change in the episode.

Before watching the episode, we reviewed examples of each kind of sanction.

Homework:

If you need to watch the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks again to get enough sanctions, come and rewatch the episode after school or watch it outside of school (it is on Netflix).

Complete and/or revise work as necessary.

1.08 - Sanctions in Speak and at LHS

At the beginning of class today, partners that were tracking the same character group in Speak met and finished recording the "marking period 4" sanctions on the large sanction sheets that we have been using to track all sanctions experienced by Melinda in the book. Groups reviewed what had been written previously for each sanction as well.

We then had a class discussion that compared these sanctions to the sanctions that people observed during their 24 hours of tracking sanctions in their daily lives (with a particular focus on school life).
The questions we discussed are included below from the presentation that we used to focus our discussion.

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Homework:

If you have not done so already, hand in completed sanction tracking sheets for marking periods 1, 2, 3, and 4 from Speak.

If you have not done so already, turn in your sanction tracking sheet for your 24 hours of observation at LHS.

Complete and/or revise work as necessary.

1.07 - Assignment Reviews and Revision

At the beginning of class today, everyone had the first half hour to work on the 24 hr Sanction Tracking Discussion.

Those who finished the sheet worked with a partner to review and discuss their responses.

Next, we reviewed class performance on the Poetry and Language, Poetry Out Loud recitations, and Poem Theme Essays.

As we reviewed these assignments I returned each assignment to students. I discussed student performance on the Poetry and Language sheet. We looked at the recitations and theme essays as a class and students used the data from grades and their own experiences with the work to identify areas of strength and areas for change. These graphs are available below.

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Everyone had the remaining time in the period to work on revisions (taking into account the information of what worked well and what generally needed to be improved with these assignments).

Homework:

Continue to revise and complete assignments as necessary.

1.06 - Reciprocity Flags Revisited.

Today in class, we revisited the reciprocity flag activity that we did at the beginning of the year.

At the beginning of class, we reviewed and evaluated the goals that everyone made for themselves at the beginning of the year. These observations were recorded in everyone's writing journals (see prompt below).

Next, everyone added two drawing to their reciprocity flag. One is a badge for something they feel they have achieved so far this year and the other is another image which represents a goal they would like to set for themselves for the next month (see prompt below).

 

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Homework:

If you have not yet done so, finish responding to the questions from class on 1.02

1.02 - Sanctions in Speak (Substitute)

I was not in class today. I left the substitute with the following directions:

Have students respond to the following questions (these are on the sanctions at LHS sheet).
If they have extra time, they can work independently on other work.


Before break, you tracked 24 hours of sanctions at Lisbon High School. Respond to the following questions based on what you observed:
(If you don’t have your observation sheet with you, answer these questions based on your experiences)

1 - Identify and discuss what type(s) of sanctions occur most commonly. What does this tell you about high school/our high school?

2 - Identify and describe what you feel the ideal high school environment would look like? Explain what role sanctions would play this in environment and why.

3 - At Melinda’s high school, they keep switching their high school mascot. This is a tool that the author uses as a way to comment on what Melinda’s high school is like at different times. Select one of the mascots that the school has and talk about what you think this mascot is supposed to represent about Melinda’s school.

4 - If Lisbon High School were to have a different animal mascot that reflected it’s character as as a school, what animal mascot would it have and why?

Homework:

If you did not finish responding to these questions in class, do so for homework.