September 26-30, 2016

As I type this, the weather forecast for tomorrow is 99 degrees (!)  I'm a little bit concerned, but I'm planning on getting in early to cool things off as best I can before class starts.  I may also bring ice water to share.  (Flexibility is strength, right?)

MONDAY: Journal warm-up.  Notes: Introduce SOAPS (method of analyzing passages) with examples.  Samples of effective and ineffective rhetoric - class input.

Receive copy of rubric for narrative drafts, hear more samples.  Pull out rough drafts and do a self-check against the rubric and see what is needed with your own draft, make notes on your paper.  Peer review in three rounds with rubric.

Begin reading Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13 in class.

Upload narratives to Turnitin.com (under the 1st or 2nd period class code) by Monday night, October 3 at 10:00 p.m.

Class Codes:
1st period - 13367577
2nd period - 13367597

Password (all lower case):
soaps


Due:
1. Using the rubric as a guide, type out a very rough draft of the narrative writing assignment (1-3 pages, double spaced) and please bring a hard copy with you to class on Monday. 
See sidebar for narrative rubric and narrative sample from Chipotle contest winner.

2. Read another 10-20 pages of your Independent Reading book, noting some of the rhetorical devices we've already studied (logos, ethos, pathos, figurative language, imagery, repetition, connotation, juxtaposition). 

a. For the 2nd topic listed in Turnitin.com under the Discussion tab: please respond with a quote in MLA format showing an original example of a rhetorical device we've studied in class so far (figurative language, imagery, juxtaposition, connotation, logos, pathos, ethos) not already on the discussion board.  Write at least one sentence about the quote describing how the example is effective and helping the author's overall goal/purpose.

b. Please read and respond to at least 1 other discussion board member's post from last week.  Respectfully disagreeing is just fine! 

Homework:
For Wednesday: Read and annotate an op-ed from the Washington Post about nuclear power after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake in 2011.  Using what you know about rhetorical analysis so far, analyze the methods the author uses to persuade and be ready to talk about whether or not you think they are effective.

For Friday: Finish Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13.  Be prepared to talk about everything that happens in the chapter on Friday.

Upload narratives to Turnitin.com (under the 1st or 2nd period class code) by Monday night, October 3 at 10:00 p.m.

Class Codes:
1st period - 13367577
2nd period - 13367597

Password (all lower case):
soaps


WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Discuss nuclear power article and view a student analysis essay responding to it.  Read 2 articles about a current event, SOAPS analysis, discussion, debate.


Due: For Wednesday: Read and annotate an op-ed from the Washington Post about nuclear power after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake in 2011.  Using what you know about rhetorical analysis so far, analyze the methods the author uses to persuade and be ready to talk about whether or not you think they are effective.

Homework: Finish Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13.  Be prepared to talk about everything that happens in the chapter on Friday.

Study for quiz.

FRIDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering vocab, grammar, Grapes reading.  Notes: Diction, tone.  Tone vocabulary for next week.  Tone exercises. 

Due: Finish Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13.  Be prepared to talk about all of the events in the chapter on Friday.

Homework:
Read another 20-30 pages of your independent reading book and think about the tone that the author or authors use.  Come into class ready to share three different, original words that describe the tone of the book or books so far.

Upload narratives to Turnitin.com (under the 1st or 2nd period class code on the right hand sidebar of this site) by Monday night at 10:00 p.m.

Class Codes:
1st period - 13367577
2nd period - 13367597

Password (all lower case):
soaps

September 19-23

I'm looking forward to opening the doors for "Back to School Night" this week: please mark your family calendars and ask parents and guardians to come to your classes on Thursday night, September 22.  We will have a minimum day on Friday following this event. 

This week, we'll get to enjoy each other's "Setting the Stage" projects displayed in the room and work on creating our own narratives about how we/our families came to be in California as we travel with the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath.

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Independent reading check-in.  Pass back quizzes.  Discuss Chapter 10 of The Grapes of Wrath.  Which Joad family member are you or a family member like, and why? 

Notes - more rhetorical analysis terminology: types of imagery and its effects on a reader.  The class will interview each other and write down how their partners' families came to be in California, adding at least one form of figurative language to their interview. 

Due:
Finish reading Grapes, Chapter 10. Which character are you most similar to, and why? Be ready to discuss.

Create your first post on the Independent Reading discussion board in Turnitin.com - one comment that is a minimum of three sentences long (please see the sidebar for login instructions).

Ask your parents/guardians how you/your family came to be in California and be ready to talk about it in class next week.

Homework:
Read Chapters 11 and 12 of Grapes of Wrath (both short, intercalary chapters) and be ready to discuss the following:

1. Find a good example of Steinbeck's use of imagery and think about its effectiveness in Chapter 11
2. Look for repetition in Chapter 12: how does it make the scene come alive for the reader and help Steinbeck's overall purpose?
3. Is Steinbeck using logos, pathos or ethos to make his overall argument in these chapters?  If so, how?

Make sure you have either journal entries or "absent" marked for each day of class so far.  We'll be turning them in on Thursday for a journal check.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz covering the vocabulary, grammar and Grapes reading for the week.  Discuss Chapter 11 and 12 and homework questions - include notes about repetition.  Share excerpts from interviews on Tuesday (each student should have 1 paragraph minimum describing how they/their families came to be in California with 1 example of imagery included).  Add two more sentences that include imagery and/or figurative language that is original.  Receive narrative rubric and writing assignment.  View examples of effective narratives - student examples and Chipotle example. 

Due:
Read Chapters 11 and 12 of Grapes of Wrath (both short, intercalary chapters) and be ready to discuss the following:
1. Find a good example of Steinbeck's use of imagery and think about its effect in Chapter 11
2. Look for repetition in Chapter 12: how does it make the scene come alive for the reader and help Steinbeck's overall purpose?
3. Is Steinbeck using logos, pathos or ethos to make his overall argument in these chapters?  If so, how?

Journals, in the class bin at the end of the period.

Homework: 

1. Using the rubric as a guide, type out a very rough draft of the narrative writing assignment (1-3 pages, double spaced) and please bring a hard copy with you to class on Monday. 
See sidebar for narrative rubric and narrative sample from Chipotle contest winner.

2. Read another 10-20 pages of your Independent Reading book, noting some of the rhetorical devices we've already studied (logos, ethos, pathos, figurative language, imagery, repetition, connotation, juxtaposition). 

a. For the 2nd topic listed in Turnitin.com under the Discussion tab: please respond with a quote in MLA format showing an original example of a rhetorical device we've studied in class so far (figurative language, imagery, juxtaposition, connotation, logos, pathos, ethos) not already on the discussion board.  Write at least one sentence about the quote describing how the example is effective and helping the author's overall goal/purpose.

b. Please read and respond to at least 1 other discussion board member's post from last week.  Respectfully disagreeing is just fine! 

September 12-16

Welcome back!  This week, we'll continue learning more about the Joad family and The Grapes of Wrath as you work on your Setting the Stage projects, due on Friday, September 16.  As we read, we'll continue to learn the basics about rhetorical analysis including logos, pathos and ethos as we analyze and evaluate how Steinbeck and other writers use these techniques to persuade their audience.  We'll also enjoy our first four-corner debate.

MONDAY: Journal warm-up.  Chapter 7 discussion - are there still businesses running today like the used car dealership depicted in this intercallary chapter?  How do you think this chapter serves Steinbeck's overall purpose?  View Setting the Stage samples.  Read next portion of Grapes, Chapter 8 in class.  Independent Reading check-in.  Rhetorical analysis: logos, ethos, pathos: notes, examples, videos. 

Due: Read Grapes, Chapter 7 and the first 10 pages of Chapter 8.

Independent Reading - be up to at least the first 20 pages and annotate to the side.  Look for rhetorical techniques that we've talked about in class that the author is using to achieve their purpose.

Homework: Finish Chapter 8 of Grapes of Wrath.  

Continue working on the Setting the Stage project, due on Friday, September 16.

WEDNESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Discuss Grapes, Chapter 8.  Excerpts from Steinbeck's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.  Hear about how the novel was received: its commercial success and the controversy and bans.  Four-corner debate with examples, evidence: should some books be banned in the United States today?

Due: Chapter 8 of The Grapes of Wrath finished.

Homework: Study for the quiz.

Finish Setting the Stage project, due next class.


FRIDAY: Journal warm-up. Quiz covering vocab, grammar, and Grapes readings so far. Turn in Setting the Stage assignment and enjoy each other's projects. Logos, pathos, ethos role play activity.  Read Grapes, Chapter 9 in class make a list of what you would bring on a similar journey if you had to move and could only take one backpack with you.  Note any logos, ethos, or pathos in the chapter.  Chapter 9 exercise in groups.  Begin Grapes Chapter 10 and the journey west with the Joads.

Due: Setting the Stage project.

Homework: 

1. Finish reading Grapes, Chapter 10.

2. Ask your parents/guardians how you/your family came to be in California and be ready to talk about it in class next week.

3. Create your first post on the Independent Reading discussion board in Turnitin.com - one comment that is a minimum of three sentences long. (See below and sidebar for instructions.)

• The discussion boards are on Turnitin.com and can be accessed with the following codes:

 Class ID: (select yours - just one of these)

A. Technological Trailblazers - 13548857
B. Influential Voices in Race Relations - 13569174
C. War - 13569194
D. Environmental Action - 13580250
E. American Horror - 13580271
F. The American Woman - 13580282
G. A Search for Strength - 13580300
H. & I. Politics and Shifting Identities - 13580309
J. The American Man - 13580315

• Password (the same for all of them):  soaps
• Please add your discussion group as a class. 
• Click on the Discussion Tab towards the upper right hand side of the screen. 
• Find the first post with the assignment question.
• Reply to that post.

September 6-9, 2016 - Second Week of School!

Welcome back!  I hope everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend.  I enjoyed meeting you and I'm excited to venture deeper into the content of the class.  This week we'll continue with The Grapes of Wrath, discuss the independent reading, get an introduction to rhetorical analysis, and work on vocabulary and grammar. 

TUESDAY: Journal warm-up.  Commit to one of the themes for the Independent Reading Project, share first impression of first book on the list.  Notes: definition of rhetoric, Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle.  Review of the simile, metaphor, personification (figurative language).

Dialects in Grapes of Wrath activity. Turn in Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 1 questions and discuss.  Read/act out Chapter 2 in class.

Note that there will be Grapes of Wrath reading questions from Chapters 1 and 5 on the Friday quiz as well as vocabulary, grammar, and summer reading questions.

Due:

Signature page of syllabus due by Tuesday, September 6. 

Turnitin.com permission form due back signed by September 7.

Sign up for TheWeek.com weekly e-mail blast (see sidebar for instructions).

Get supplies for class (notebook with tabs per syllabus).

Due Tuesday, September 6: read Chapter One of The Grapes of Wrath and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper: 1. Why does Steinbeck spend so much time talking about the wind? What impression are we supposed to have of the conditions the people lived in? 2. Do men and women still handle setbacks differently?  Explain your answer with an example (from history, current events, science, a personal example - something specific and concrete). 

Choose one of the ten themes from the Independent Reading Project list - choice due Tuesday.

Independent Reading: read the first 10 pages or so of the first book listed under the category you chose to get a feel for the book.  Be ready to talk about first impressions on Tuesday.

Homework: Read Grapes of Wrath Chapter 5, find and write down at least 3 examples of effective/original figurative language that you're ready to share next class.  (Similes, metaphors, personification.)  Find two more examples of figurative language that you read/hear outside of Grapes of Wrath and add them to your written list.

Study for quiz - Note that there will be Grapes of Wrath reading questions from Chapters 1 and 5 on the Friday quiz as well as vocabulary, grammar, and summer reading questions.

THURSDAY: Journal warm-up.  Quiz.  Discuss Grapes Chapter five and share figurative language found in the chapter and outside of the book (from the homework).  Notes: Connotation, denotation - what is the difference?  Juxtaposition.  Finish reading Chapter 2 out loud in class.  Overview of Chapters 3,4, and 6.  Read Chapter 7 in class.

Due: Read Grapes of Wrath Chapter 5, find and write down at least 3 examples of effective/original figurative language that you're ready to share next class.  (Similes, metaphors, personification.)  Find two more examples of figurative language that you read/hear outside of Grapes of Wrath and add them to your written list.

Homework: Read Grapes, Chapter 7 and the first 10 pages of Chapter 8 (due Monday) and begin working on the Setting the Stage project that is due next Friday, September 16.

Independent Reading - be up to at least the first 20 pages and annotate.  Look for rhetorical techniques that the author is using to achieve their purpose.