9 CPI: Point of View, Tolerance Projects & Flocabulary

We’ll start Friday’s class with our new version of PrimeTime.  Scour the internet for a few moments, find an article about a topic of interest to you, post a link to the article on your blog and then make our three text connections:

1. Text to Text
2. Text to Self
3. Text to World

After PrimeTime, we will take a look at Flocabulary SAT #1: Transformations as well as the Quizlet flashcards for that same set of words.  We’ll do a little quick review of the words and then come back to them a few minutes later.

We will quickly review point-of-view: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, as well as the concepts of objective, limited, and omniscient points of view.

Then we are going to examine an article from Ms. Murphy about the power of Twitter to cause both great things and terrible things in the world.  Just last week the stock market plunged because of a fake tweet.  That’s scary.

Where do we go from there?  We’ll fuse all of this together.  Using this cool fake Twitter tool, we’ll create fake tweets using Twister about the article using words from Flocabulary SAT #1: Transformation.  WHAT?!?!  Yes.  That will happen.

And then we will share tolerance projects.

H/W:

Tolerance Projects – Due TODAY

Complete the tolerance project self assessment.  (Ignore the characterization  and cultural anthropology sections.  Those were for a difference class.) Due Tuesday

Flocabulary SAT #1: Transformation – Exercises & Quiz Due on Thursday!  (This is a big challenge!)

Blog.  Blog. Blog.

9 CPI: Of Mice & Men & Tolerance Project Proposals

Today was an early release day, which meant we didn’t have a lot of time to dig into that much content.  That’s okay because we still had plenty to do.

Period 1 we started with Of Mice & Men, finishing the first section. (Period 3 we skipped this step and will be catching up on Friday.) On Friday we will follow George & Lennie to the ranch for the first time and see the men with whom they will be working. (Look in your gmail for a document called Steinbeck if you want to catch up.)

From there folks had some time to catch up on blogging and making sure all of their online Roots & MUGS quizzes are in the books for 3rd quarter.  With grades finalizing on Thursday night, that’s kind of ridiculously important.

And then attention turned to the Tolerance Project Proposal forms.    I met with a number of folks about their proposals and will meet with the rest on Friday.

If you need help with the Bloom’s Taxonomy part, look at this Bloom’s Taxonomy model and click on the parts of the wheel that explain to you the sorts of thinking and task you need to do at each level.

Some great stuff that I heard today . . .

Essential Questions:  

• How can we become more patient?
• How can we make people more aware of their offensive language even when they don’t mean to be offensive?
• How can teenagers better understand adults?
• How can students better tolerate homework?

Product Ideas:

• Video game
• Informational Poster Campaigns
• Amazing Keynote
• Video
• Short story
• Website

H/W:

Roots 11 Word Castles/Roots Product & Quiz on Tuesday, April 9

Tolerance Project Due Friday After April Vacation

Blogging – Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World over the first reading of Of Mice & Men expected to be one of your three blog entries this week. This was assigned on Monday (Quarter 4 Week 1)

9 CPI: Tolerance Projects, Of Mice & Men & End of the 3rd Quarter

The 3rd Quarter ends for us at midnight, Monday.  (This is the extension I offered the class last Thursday because of my absences last week.)

In class today we started reading John Steinbeck’s Of Mice & Men.  (There’s a chunk in your e-mail so you can follow along if you don’t have your book.)  I’ll be reading most of the book out loud to you folks during our normal PrimeTime sessions.  (This is the closest thing we’ve got to a tradition in my classes and I figured this would be as good a year as any to keep that going.)

A few things you need to remember about this book —

It was written in the 1930s and takes place in the 1930s.  Steinbeck wrote it as a way to capture what was happening in the country at the time.  It takes place in southern California, one of the few places where people could find farm work during the Dust Bowl era.  And it features two migrant workers trying to make a living the best they can manage.

After I read up to the moment where Lennie complains about the rubber mouse, I asked folks to blog, making text to text, text to self and text to world connections.  If you need a refresher on these connections, check here.

We took a few minutes to look at Roots 11 on Quizlet.  There will be a quiz next TUESDAY and word castles/roots products are due that day.

From there we looked at the rubric for the Tolerance Project. Originally the due date was to be next Friday, the day before vacation.  But I think extended the deadline to the end of the week after vacation will help you all to create better products.  That said, you still have to get started right away.

For Wednesday, complete the project proposal form. It is available in your Google Drive. We will read a little Of Mice & Men on Wednesday and spend some time looking at Bloom’s Taxonomy to make sure your projects are pushing the envelope.  On Friday we will look at characterization and how to work that into your projects.

H/W:

Complete Project Proposal Form for Tolerance Project – Due Wednesday 4/3

Study Roots 11 and Complete Word Castles/Roots Product 11 – Due Tuesday 4/9

 

 

9 CPI: To Kill a Mockingbird, Tolerance & Essential Questions

Today in class, we will spend a massive extra-value meal-sized amount of time with To Kill a Mockingbird the film.  

And we will do so with an even greater sense of purpose.

Our next project is the tolerance project.  (Here’s a rubric that looks a lot like the one we will be using.)  You will work in groups of 1, 2, or 3 members to create a product that answers an important essential question around the thematic idea of tolerance.  You may choose to create a song, a movie trailer, a short story, or a product of your own choosing that you get pre-approved by me. (As I right this, I’m thinking you could create a pretty sweet board game, card game, or video game around this.)

When we watched the “To This Day” poem by Shane Koyczan, we were looking at an example of a tolerance project that would exceed the standard across the board.  

When we watched the “Playing for Change/”Be in Love”” video by the Maine Academy of Modern Music, we were looking at an example of a tolerance project that would exceed the standard across the board.  

When we watched Macklemore’s “Same Love” video, we were looking at an example of a tolerance project that would exceed the standard across the board.

And as we watch To Kill a Mockingbird, we are looking at a tolerance project that would exceed the standard across the board.

For homework this weekend, determine which essential question(s) you would most like to answer.  You had a homework assignment due today that asked you to imagine a conversation about this topic.  Be certain to look early in the week for that assignment.

And try to get caught up.  

9 CPI: Early Release, To Kill a Mockingbird & Make Up Work

Today’s class was focused almost exclusively on To Kill a Mockingbird, the film.  The clip we watched is available on your school Google Drive.

After watching, folks were expected to make three text connections to the film excerpt.  (Text to self, text to text and text to world, naturally.)

Remember to blog at least three times this week as well as complete the creative challenge for the week revolving around pre-thinking for the tolerance project.  It is described in the post from Monday.

On Friday we will be watching more of the film and talking about the project on tap.

On another note . .

I love it when my students are passing the class.  It isn’t an easy feat to accomplish.  I assign a rigorous work load, there are usually many things happening at once, and the thinking tends to be different from what students are most familiar.  Looking at passing grades, especially those that meet and those that exceed the standards?  Seriously, it feels fantastic.

There is quite a bit of make up work that could be completed and better ensure that I get all those super warm fuzzies at the end of the quarter. Remember that you no longer have to complete Word Castles unless you prefer them to inventing your own Roots Word Product.  That product could be anything from a poem to a short story to a slideshow to a podcast to a song to a model to . . . really . . anything that demonstrates an understanding of the roots and their meanings that goes beyond just copying it down.

A number of folks did not complete the Three 4 Thinking form after looking at the pre-writing slideshow or the hook introduction video.  These are both reading assessments and should be completed ASAP.

Remember also that you can retake any Roots or MUGS quiz.  All you need to do is demonstrate practice and studying.

Humanities: Tolerance Projects Land Now

Tolerance projects were due last Friday and a lot of them landed.  There was some unruly technical difficulties challenging several groups — hopefully these have been resolved over the weekend.  

Mr. Ryder was ridiculously impressed by the work room last Friday and how determined several folks were to get it done and get it done RIGHT.

Today there will be some time spent on No Red Ink.  (There/Their/They’re and Accept/Except)

And then it will be sharing projects.  Several folks still need to get their self-assessments turned in.  (Check your e-mail for that form.  It’s a Pages document.)

 

 

 

9 CPI: Text Connections, To Kill a Mockingbird & Essential Questions

Today we are are packed to the gills with content and thinking around To Kill a Mockingbird, tolerance, text connections, film analysis, essential questions, and our next project.

PrimeTime: Rather than our usual PrimeTime, we are going to use our reading time today to look at an excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 1.  The excerpt can be found in the Google Drive.

After reading it aloud to you folks, I’ll be expecting you to make three powerful, meaningful text connections based on the following categories:

Text to Self

Text to Text

Text to World

You can find out lots more about text connections including examples to help and explanations of how they help you to think and understand by going to the following places:

Text Connections at ReadWriteThink.org

An Explanation of Text Connections for Another Class on Flight 307.

No Red Ink: We’ll take a break from No Red Ink until Friday this week.  We have a lot of other thinking to do.  But man, don’t I love giving quizzes on that thing.  (Hint *ahem* Hint)

Essential Questions:  We have a new project coming along here in the next few days, one around tolerance, intolerance and understanding.  We are going to do some work with Thinking Boards and essential questions.  (We will take pictures of that work and post it here.)

Here’s a slideshow that can help you understand what essential questions are all about. The further you go into the slideshow, the more it shows you examples and how to create your own.

Essential Questions For Students from Mary Alice Osborne

To Kill a Mockingbird: We will watch about 15 minutes of To Kill a Mockingbird today. You can find a clip on the Google Drive.

H/W: 

Essay Revisions & Revision Forms

Tolerance Project Pre-Thinking & Creative Thinking:

Have an imaginary  text, Facebook, email, snapchat, twitter conversation with me or one of your friends about the essential questions you think would be most interesting to answer in your project and why.  Post this conversation on your blog.  Feel free to get creative with how you display this conversation.  Have fun with it. Think hard.

This pre-thinking is due by Friday.

Humanities: Roots Quiz & Tolerance Work

We will take a Roots #13 quiz, review the project rubric, and then it is off to the food court to work.

Mr. Ryder had to leave early today to take care of a sick kid, but since the kid is napping his face off, folks should feel free to ask him questions via Gmail chat/email.

Projects.  Tomorrow.  Due.  Blogs.  Tomorrow.  Due.

 

9 CPI: To Kill a Mockingbird, Clint Smith’s “Aristotle,” and More

Today we start with two quizzes, one over Roots 6 – 10 and one over comma splices on No Red Ink.  We will be skipping PrimeTime today in favor of the opportunity to watch Clint Smith’s “Aristotle.”

After blogging about “Aristotle,” we will then watch a small chunk of To Kill a Mockingbird.  

Then you will make three text connections using the system described on this blog post from the Humanities class.  It’s the same type of thinking.

Homework: Get caught up on the blogs, get your essay revisions and essay revision forms in to me.  There is a lot coming at you in the next several weeks.

Humanities: Tolerance Project Work

Today, after a brief presentation from Mr. Dorman about Winter Carnival events, we just plain worked.  The projects are looking great overall and the work ethic I’m seeming looks even better.

Be certain to look at the rubric.  Right now.  Before you go any further.  Look at the rubric.

Projects are due on Friday.

Did I mention the rubric?

And there’s a Roots 14 quiz tomorrow.