Monday, November 25, 2013

Website Reliability


Here are the three sites for Monday:

}http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3943187&page=1#.UW6gR6I3uSo


When evaluating the sites, check for the following information:


  •    Author
  •  –Publisher or affiliated group
  •  –commercial site (business, selling something, etc)
  •  –Bias
  •  –Last updated (more recent=best)
  •    Advertisements
  •    Address


Monday, November 11, 2013

Romeo and Juliet Link

If you are in need of the Romeo and Juliet text, go to this site:


From there you can navigate to all acts and scenes to read what you missed if you weren't in class. You can also use it for completing your outline that is due TOMORROW!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

In-Depth Commenting Directions

Step One: Pick a story to comment on in depth (it could be one of the ones that you read yesterday).

Step Two: Check the previous post on my blog for the assigned story you will be commenting on.

Step Three: Begin with the one you are assigned and answer these prompts for their story:

1. Overall, what is the best quality/characteristic of this story? It could be its characters, the conflict, the resolution, the description of the setting, the story arc, use of dialogue, etc. Use specific details and references to the story (quotes from the story/textual evidence) to fully explain yourself.

2. What is the story's theme? What details does the author include throughout that leads to the fully expressed theme in the end? (Give examples of how you see the theme in the beginning, middle and end of the story; if you don't, comment that you don't see examples in a section)

3. What is your personal reaction to the story? How do you feel after reading it? What do you remember? What images do you see? What did you learn about the situation/place/conflict? (You don't have to answer all of these, just write a paragraph of reflection/reaction to the story)

4. What was your favorite part of the story? Pick a line that you liked, put it into the comment box, put quotes around it, and explain what it was about it that stood out to you.

5. If the author were to make this better, they could... (finish this statement with as much specific detail as possible)

Each of your answers should be a short paragraph or so in length (this means you will be writing five answers/ five paragraphs).  You need to use proper spelling and grammar when writing your answers/critiques of your classmates' writing.  You will be picking one story to comment on and you will be randomly assigned another (this means you will write full comments on two different people's stories).  Make sure your comments, even if they are more critical, are phrased in a positive manner.  Be as specific as possible in your comments, both for your commenting grade and for the benefit of the author.

You should, to be safe, write your responses in a document (word or google doc) and then paste them into a comment on their blog.  This way, if Blogger thinks you are a robot, all of your work won't be lost.

Step Four: Do the same thing for the story you chose.

Step Five: Make sure this is done by Tuesday when you walk in to class.



You need to have your comments done by Tuesday, before class begins.

content adapted from http://bgexemplar.blogspot.com

In-Depth Commenting

Here are the pairings for commenting:

Third Block

Jake and Whitney
Carolina and Liza
Shayna and Maria
Tymber and Cassidy
Dylan and Casey
Kaylea and Tessah
Avery and Britta
Camilo and Erica
Jacob and Nick
Cody and Noah
Sam reads Breanna's
Breanna reads Genna's
Genna reads Sam's


Fourth Block

Claire and Kathryn
Katie and Mat
Paul reads Danielle's
Danielle reads Austin N's 
Austin N reads Paul's
Lilian and Mark
Jordyn P reads Kat's
Kat reads Bri's
Bri reads Jordyn P's
Alyssa reads Hallie's
Hallie reads Jordyn M's
Jordyn M reads Dakota's
Dakota reads Jared's
Jared reads Ploy's
Ploy reads Cohl's
Cohl reads Walker's
Walker reads Richard's
Richard reads Alyssa's

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Gathering Perspectives

Today during class and tonight if necessary, you need to read your classmates' stories to gain more of an understanding of global perspectives.

You need to read through at least four and offer comments on them to prove that you read each one. Make it a nice comment that refers to something specific in their story.  A comment that would accomplish this would be: "I like that you made the main character a kid to show how crazy war seems to kids that young."

Tomorrow I will give you a specific story to read and specific guidelines for more in-depth comments.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Intro Quiz

Shakespeare Intro quiz: Go to this link

When done, copy and paste your ENTIRE quiz (answers and everything) to a google doc and share it with me.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Shakespeare Preview

Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet

Use the following sites and videos to help you answer the five questions given to you in class.  You can watch the videos as many times as needed.  Make sure your answers are complete, many answers will come from more than just one of these sources.

You may also want to add to your notes from the literature book reading if you find any more info that fits into the three categories (Time/Era/England, Shakespeare Bio, Theater/Plays).

Websites and YouTube videos:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhZeaSH_IaA: folger video stop at 3:10ish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMkuUADWW2A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMr3sqWLqxM

Watch these either on your own or with a partner and as you watch them, answer the questions that I gave you.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thursday's Blog Assignment

Today you need to add your classmates' blogs to your blog list that we created yesterday.  You can also take some time to personalize your blog by changing the templates, moving things around, changing colors, etc.  However, remember that your rough draft is due by the end of work time today!!


When adding blogs, you have two choices: 1) from your live blog, you click on the wrench and screwdriver crossed at the bottom of your list and that will let you edit it; 2) you go to layout from the overview dashboard, and then click on the word edit under where you have placed your blog list.

Once you are editing, you can copy and paste the blog addresses from my list (open each blog and then copy the address from the tab) or you can type the addresses in.  Remember to save the additions before you close the window; if you don't, you will have to do it all again.



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Creating a Blog and Your First Post

Your job in the next few days is to create your blog and your first post will be explaining the subject and perspective you are writing about.  You can do a quick summary of what you are planning your story to be about if you'd like as well. But at the least, you need a sentence explaining your subject and perspective.

This first post should be done in the next 30 minutes or so, and throughout the rest of the block, as you are working on your draft, you should read your classmates' posts.



Making a blog is VERY easy, the most confusing part is creating the list of blogs of your fellow classmates (we'll be doing that in class).




1. Go to Google
2. At the top, click on "More" then "Blogger"
3. using your school email, create a blog.  Your URL needs to be your first name and last initial and the class (English 9). Your title needs to be your name and something creative.
4. Email your URL to me at tiffany.johnson@gk12.net
5. I will create a list of links to blogs on this page, you need to create one on your page as well.
6. You will post your first person writing on that page as well as other writing through the semester.


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Social Awareness Presentations

Students in English 9 have been working on connecting Romeo and Juliet to today's world.  Many have found fantastic connections.  Their goal was to put together a presentation for their peers in which they were to raise awareness of issues affecting teens today that had a tied to the issues affecting individuals in Romeo and Juliet (as we found through a theme examination).  The students and presentations here are a sampling of those completed.  Some made videos, some created power points and others mastered the online program, Prezi.  They have all been fantastic to watch!  Look through them if you'd like, but remember, the students presented these to the class with narration that offered a lot of context and explanation that the view-able presentation may not contain.

Sam M

Cassidy

Gauge

Andy

Dani

Hunter

Chase

Brett

Adam

Amber

Spencer
http://prezi.com/bechqbtnz6hd/gangs/?auth_key=b099568f94f709c36381f2e9390e757c883b31db&kw=view-bechqbtnz6hd&rc=ref-38126247

Amelie

Amber


Hannah








Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Outline Template

For the test tomorrow, make sure you have organized your notes into an outline based on this format:


I.                   Intro
A.    Attention Getter:
B.    Necessary Information:
C.     Thesis:
II.                 Body (if you need more than just A, B, C, continue the alphabet)
A.     First Point
a.     Quote/example with in-text citation
                                                                                     i.      Important point to make about the quote
b.    Quote/example
B.     Second Point
a.     Quote/example
b.    Quote/example
C.    Third Point
a.     Quote/example
b.    Quote/example

III.              Conclusion
A.    Restated Thesis:
B.    Closure:

Friday, March 15, 2013

Commenting Prompts


When you comment on your peers' stories, I would like you to answer these questions.

Overall, what is the best quality/characteristic of this story? It could be its characters, the conflict, the resolution, the description of the setting, the story arc, use of dialogue, etc. Use specific details and references to the story (quotes from the story/textual evidence) to fully explain yourself.

What is the story's theme? What details does the author include throughout that leads to the fully expressed theme in the end? (Give examples of how you see the theme in the beginning, middle and end of the story; if you don't, comment that you don't see examples in a section)

What is your personal reaction to the story? How do you feel after reading it? What do you remember? What images do you see? What did you learn about the situation/place/conflict? (You don't have to answer all of these, just write a paragraph of reflection/reaction to the story)

What was your favorite part of the story? Pick a line that you liked, put it into the comment box, put quotes around it, and explain what it was about it that stood out to you.

If the author were to make this better, they could... (finish this statement with as much specific detail as possible)

Each of your answers should be a paragraph or so in length (this means you will be writing five answers/ five paragraphs).  You need to use proper spelling and grammar when writing your answers/critiques of your classmates' writing.  You will be picking one story to comment on and you will be randomly assigned another (this means you will write full comments on two different people's stories).  Make sure your comments, even if they are more critical, are phrased in a positive manner.  Be as specific as possible in your comments, both for your commenting grade and for the benefit of the author.

You need to have your comments done by Friday, before class begins.

content adapted from http://bgexemplar.blogspot.com

Who are you commenting on??

Here is the list of whose story you will be commenting on.  Please make sure that you read the details of how to comment closely.  These directions will be on the next post.

The first name listed will be yours, the second will be the person's story you are reading and commenting on:

Majel -- Dani
Dani -- Megan
Megan -- Cassie
Cassie -- Hannah
Hannah -- Brett
Brett -- Brie J
Brie J -- Sam K
Sam K -- Majel
Gauge -- Adam
Adam -- Andy
Andy -- Chase
Chase -- Brie C
Brie C -- Amber Peterson
Amber Peterson -- Anna
Anna -- Sam M
Sam M -- Gauge
Lindsy -- Mitch
Mitch -- Patience
Patience -- Amelie
Amelie -- Amanda
Amanda -- Lindsy

If your name isn't listed, that's because as of Friday, you hadn't posted your story on your blog - or I don't have your blog address.  There are two ways to fix this: 1)Send me your blog address 2)Post your story.  If these things are done by Monday, you will be able to post comments on time (which will be good for your grade)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Romeo and Juliet

If you are in need of the Romeo and Juliet text, go to this site:


From there you can navigate to all acts and scenes to read what you missed if you weren't in class.  For those of you gone for choir, we are planning on reading Act 2, Scenes 3 and 4 while you are gone.  Make sure to fill out the day chart as you go!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Shakespeare Quiz

Go to this site to take your intro quiz:  http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/shakeback_beg.htm

While taking the quiz:

  • You CAN use your notes
  • DO NOT press the question marks
  • DO NOT press the "Hint" button
When you are finished, click "check" and then copy and paste the score and the answers into a word document.  Print out the document with the score on it and hand it in to me

Monday, February 25, 2013

Blogging for English Class

Through the rest of the semester (I'm hoping) we will be posting our thoughts and writings to blogs.  Your job in the next few days is to create your blog and your first post will be explaining the subject and perspective you are writing about.

You can do a quick summary of what you are planning your story to be about if you'd like as well.

Making a blog is VERY easy, the most confusing part is creating the list of blogs of your fellow classmates (we'll be doing that in class).

Here are the blog directions:
1. Go to Google
2. At the top, click on "More" then "Blogger"
3. using your school email, create a blog.  Your URL needs to be your first name and last initial and the class (English 9). Your title needs to be your name and something creative.
4. Email your URL to me at tiffany.johnson@gk12.net and write the address up on the board
5. I will create a list of links to blogs on this page, you need to create one on your page as well.
6. You will post your first person writing on that page as well as other writing through the semester.