Thursday, 10/30

Agenda
1) Warmup
If you could paint a big painting, what would you make it a picture of?
2) Gallery

Homework
None


Today we continued working on our detail and explanation charts. We're spending a lot of time on this, because it's so critical to writing a good essay. Today we put all the students' charts up on the board, and each student read them all and voted on which was the best. The top three vote-getters in each class received extra credit for this assignment.

Important Reminder: The last day to turn in any missing work for the 10-week report card is Monday. Work will still be accepted after that, but it will not count towards the 10-week grade.

Wednesday, 10/29

Agenda
1) Warmup:
How would you describe yourself to impress:
a) Someone your own age
b) A teacher
c) a parent or guardian
d) A celebrity or fictional character
2) Details and Explanations

Homework
Details and Explanations chart


Today we worked on the details and explanations chart, which is the foundation of essay writing. Students chose their assertions (i.e. the thesis for their essay), which all revolve around the theme of the story. After choosing the assertion, the students must find details from the story—direct quotes from the story—which prove the assertion. Each detail is accompanied by an explanation of how that detail helps prove the assertion.

Tuesday, 10/28

Agenda
1) Warmup:
What would your life be like if you lived in zero gravity?
2) Make an assertion
3) Detail and Explanation chart

Homework
Finish chart


Today we started working on the essay. We chose our assertion (aka our thesis statement), and began looking for quotes from the story to back it up.

The thesis statement will be "The theme of _______ is _____." Students can write about any of the four short stories we have read:
Priscilla and the Wimps
How the World Was Saved
All Summer in a Day
The Veldt

This year I am offering my grade-level (period 5 and 6) an alternate version of the essay assignment, which I'm calling the Basic Essay. This is intended for students who require extra help in essay writing. In the Basic Essay the students will be given the thesis (Monk is a Bully) and will be provided with extra help in writing the essay. For example, I will provide the first sentence of each paragraph, and will help students identify the details needed to prove their thesis.

The tradeoff is that the basic essay has a maximum score of 90. What I'm trying to do is make it easier to get a B or C, but the cost is that it's almost impossible to get an A.

Monday 10/27

Agenda
1) Warmup
I write essays so I can _____.
2) Introduction to Essay Writing

Homework
Re-read your chosen story.


Today we will begin the process of writing our first essay. Since I have been a professional writer for 20 years, I feel that I have a lot to offer in terms of the writing process, and I really believe my students will get a very strong grounding in techniques that apply to writing essays and a whole lot of other things besides.

Today I gave the students an overview of the process, which will last the better part of two weeks.

Friday, 10/24

Agenda
1) I am...

Homework
None


Today, as a reward to the kids for their excellent effort on the district test, we did a fun activity which (don't tell anyone) is actually quite educational. The students wrote 100 sentences, each of which begins with the words "I am." One point for every sentence. The entire activity counts for 10 points. This is an activity in which anyone who wants to should, with normal effort, get a perfect score.

This is a new lesson for me and it turned out to be a great success. Kids worked in groups of their own choosing, which improves their interpersonal skills. A tremendous amount of work was done, especially for a friday. And almost everyone got a perfect score.

Not every student finished, so those who don't can hand it in on Monday with a ten-point penalty for lateness. Still a ninety -- that's still an A.

Thursday, 10/23

Agenda
District Test, day 2.

Homework
None

Today we (most of us, anyway) finished the district test. Tomorrow we'll have a fun-type activity to reward the kids for their effort over the last two days, and then on Monday we'll start our first essay.

Wednesday, 10/22

Agenda
1) District test

Homework
None


Day one of the two-day district test. Just FYI this is not the high-stakes state test that comes in the spring. This is a test of how well the students are learning the standards from the narrative unit, the first unit of our year.

Tuesday, 10/21

Agenda
1) Warmup
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
2) Making Assertions

Homework
None


Today we worked on making assertions about characters, which will be on the district test tomorrow.

By the way, we're not supposed to give the students study materials for the district test, which is why you haven't seen homework assignments to study for the test.

Monday, 10/20

Agenda
1) Warmup
When is it good to be active?
When is it bad to be active?
When is it good to be passive?
When is it bad to be passive?
2) Active vs. Passive Voice
3) Pronoun Chart

Homework
None

This week we will be taking the district tests on Wednesday and Thursday. This is NOT the state tests we take in the spring. It's something the district uses to monitor progress and the effectiveness of the district-provided lessons and training. We use it to guide instruction, particularly with regard to what we need to reteach.

Today we went over active voice vs. passive voice. Here's the definition and a few examples.

Active Voice: The subject of the sentence is doing the verb.
Passive Voice: The subject is having the verb done to it.


Active: I drove the car.
Passive: The car was driven by me.

Active: He threw the ball gracefully.
Passive: The ball was thrown gracefully.

Passive: The man was shot by the soldier.
Active: The soldier shot the man.

Note that this last pair has the passive voice first and active voice last. Newspapers and politicians frequently use passive voice when describing something unpleasant to make it seem not so bad.


We also went over the basics of pronouns and pronoun agreement. Tomorrow we'll take a look at writing in 1st person vs 3rd person.

Friday 10/17

Agenda
1) Warmup
If you had to change your name, what would you change it to and why?
2) Grade Tests
3) Luxo Jr. and Red's Dream

Homework
None

Today we had an offbeat warmup designed to shake the kids creativity up a little bit. Then we graded the Elements of Stories tests we took yesterday. As a reward for their good work on the tests, I showed two short films by Pixar. Over the course of the year we will see all of the Pixar short films, which are excellent examples of telling a story without any dialog.

Just a note that although we have the students help score the tests, I do the final grading. And of course, students are always allowed to challenge any grade they feel is not correct.

Thursday, 10/16

Agenda
1) Elements of Stories Test

Homework
None

Today we took the Elements of Stories test.

We also took the chance to review some of the behavior standards for the classroom, some of which have gotten a little lax over the last week or so. In particular we discussed not getting out of your seat without raising your hand first, and not speaking out of turn.

Wednesday, 10/15

Agenda
1) Warmup
Who or what is the antagonist in your life story?
2) Test tomorrow
3) Elements of stories chart

Homework:
Finish elements of stories chart
Study for test


Today we did a review activity to prepare students for the test tomorrow. The homework shows two items, but if the students are doing the elements of stories chart, that counts as studying for the test, since the test will be include the same activity of reading a story and identifying the various elements.

Tuesday, 10/14

Agenda
1) Warmup
Agree or disagree: People should always say what they really mean.
2) Test on thursday
3) Fact or Inference

Homework:
Study for the test.

First of all, the test on the elements of stories is on Thursday. It will be exactly the same as the practice test, but with a different story. The students will be asked to define the basic terms of narrative analysis:
Plot
Setting
Conflict
Protagonist
Antagonist
Climax
Resolution
Theme

They will then read a short (very short) story and identify each of these elements within the story.

You can find the definition of the elements here.


Today we worked on the difference between fact and inference. When you're using these words to discuss a story, a Fact is something that the story tells you directly. An Inference is something you have to figure out yourself.

Monday, 10/13

Agenda
1) Warmup:
Who or what is responsible for what happened in "The Veldt?"
2) Debate

Homework
None


Today we continued with "The Veldt," a short story by Ray Bradbury, which the students read last week. We focussed on who or what is responsible for what happens. After writing about that in the warmup, we broke into teams based on our answers and had a debate.

In general the debate went well and I was pleased that kids were able to read a challenging story and organize their thoughts on it, all on their own.

Friday, 10/10

Agenda
1) Veldt Reading Comprehension Challenge

Homework
None


Today I was out of school. My son woke up sick and I had to stay home with him on very short notice. The students finished reading "The Veldt" which we started on Wednesday, and then filled out a worksheet designed to assess how well they understood the story. The story was read silently by the students, not out loud (the way we've usually done it), so this was a bit more of a challenge.

Figurative Language Definitions

We have studied four types of Figurative Language.

Simile: Describing something by saying it’s similar to something else, using the word “like” or “as.”

McMurphy fell 12 stories and hit the pavement like a paper bag filled with vegetable soup.

Then, wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran in shouting circles.

That sun. He could feel it on his neck, still, like a hot paw.


Metaphor: Describing something by saying it is something else.

You are a couch potato.

She’s a brick house.

The sun is a flower that blooms for just one hour.


Idiom: An expression that doesn’t mean what it says, and you can’t figure it out—you just have to know.

Somebody spilled the beans.

Suzy’s mom had a cow.

I wanted to go snowboarding, but my brother got cold feet.



Analogy: Describing something by pointing out the parallels between it and something else.

Nolan Ryan is the Brett Favre of baseball: he had a great arm, and was a star player for a long time.

A class is like a sports team: the teacher is the coach, the students are the players, and the classroom is the stadium.

Wednesday, 10/8

Agenda
1) Warmup:
What do you think about technology?
2) Begin reading "the Veldt"

Homework
None

Today we began reading the short story "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury. We will finish in class on Friday. (No school tomorrow)

Tuesday, 10/7

Agenda
1) Figurative Language, part 2
Idioms
Analogies
2) Gradesheets

Homework
Finish Figurative Language worksheet
Have gradesheet signed by parents—due Friday


Today we went over two more forms of figurative language: the idiom and the analogy. We will have a test on these two, plus simile and metaphor from yesterday, next week. I will put the definitions in a separate post so students can study.

Gradesheets went home, showing the grades the students have earned for the five-week progress report. These gradesheets must be signed by a parent or guardian and returned to me by Friday, 10/10.


Note: no school tomorrow.

Monday, 10/6

Agenda
1) warmup:
My life is like ______.
2) Figurative Language

Homework
Finish the front of the figurative language worksheet.


Today we introduced figurative language, aka figures of speech. We studied two:
Simile: Describing something by saying it’s similar to something else, using the word “like” or “as.”
Metaphor: Describing something by saying it is something else.

The front of the figurative language worksheet has places for each of these definitions, as well as spaces for the students to make up three similies and three metaphors.

Friday, 10/3

Agenda
Which is worse: 1) to have something great for only one day, and never to have it again, or 2) never to have it at all?
All Summer in a Day

Homework
None


Today we read the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. This is a great science-fiction story about a school on Venus, where it rains forever, without ever stopping, except that once every seven years the sun comes out for two hours, and then goes away.

I have to say that I was extremely proud of all my classes today. This is a more substantial story than we have read so far—it's longer and the writing is more advanced. But even in sixth period, on a Friday, when all the kids are almost desperate for the weekend to begin, everyone did a great job of reading when they were called on, and following along when someone else was reading.

Thursday, 10/2

Agenda
1) Warmup
What makes a good warmup prompt?
Write a good warmup prompt.
2) Return graded work
3) Hand out gradeseets

Homework
None


Today I gave the students back some work that had been graded (in case you were wondering, it's official—I'm slow at getting work graded and returned). We went over the grades, and spent some time discussing how I mark up the students' work.

The most important thing is that if there is a red minus sign in the right margin, that means there is some mechanical error in that line—either a typo, wrong word, grammatical mistake, etc. If you fix all the errors, and turn the minus signs into plus signs, you can hand the work back in for an improved grade.

Note to parents: I gave the students their gradesheets, showing the work we have done so far. I did not make it mandatory that students show these gradesheets to their parents—I like to give the students the chance to make up any missed work first. But of course, you know about the gradesheet, so you are free to make your child show it to you if you want.

Wednesday, 10/1

Agenda
1) Warmup
What does your score on the practice test say about your value as a human being?
2) Grade practice test

Homework
None


Today we graded the practice test in class; I gave the answers and the kids graded each other's tests. I hope to give everyone a gradesheet tomorrow, with their current grade in the class. Just so you know, on the five week report, all students with either an A, B, or C will just get a slash. I don't feel we've had enough high-stakes work at this point in the semester to saddle kids with a letter grade. However, per LAUSD policy, any student earning a D or F will get that grade, as an alert to the parents.

By the way, today's warmup was an attempt to help students analyze the way their grades affect their sense of self worth. I certainly want kids to understand that grades do reveal something about you. But I don't want kids who get bad grades to think of themselves as bad people, or even bad students.