Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Final Exams- 5/20-5/21

Final exams for the course took place yesterday and take place today.

Have a good summer!

Monday, May 19, 2014

Last Day of Class- 5/19

Warm Up:
-Students will view Honest Trailers to contemporary movies

Work Session:
-Students will take the final practice exam, which is either an American Literature or World Literature pretest
-Responses will be recorded in the classroom iRespond system
-Students will be shown the online review games on the class blog and given a study packet of final exam vocabulary skills they should review prior to the exam
-Students will write letters to incoming 2014-15 Freshmen discussing high school, study habits, extra-curricular activities, organizations, and athletics students can participate in.
-They will also discuss the particulars of Freshmen English and general advice for having a successful school year
-Students will receive my yearly list of literary and media summer recommendations and view the trailers for the summer movies of artistic note

Summarizer:
-Students will turn in Freshmen letters to be given out to next year's students

Friday, May 16, 2014

Character Education Continued- 5/16

Warm Up:
-Students will review and discuss ancient and contemporary views of ethics and morals by responding to hypothetical situations (taken from Chuck Klosterman's Hypotheticals)

Work Session:
-The instructor will connect today's concepts to yesterday's by emphasizing personal, community, and world wide accountability via visual representation of Aristotle's Analects
-Students will view clips from "Bull" and "Valentine Road"
-Students will respond to specific questions that focuses on the bullying apparent in each clip and solutions to this issue
-The class will have a frank discussion on bullying they encounter, implicitly and unknowingly reinforce by non-action, and witness in high school
-Students will write statements of purpose in which they list solutions to this problem and their next steps

Summarizer:
-All written work submitted will serve as the year's final assessment prior to the final exam

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Character Education- 5/15

Warm Up:
-Students will take the comprehensive assessment on "Blackfish"
-This is the summative assessment for this mini-unit

Work Session:
-Students will begin a mini-unit of Character Education that focuses on morals and ethics
-Students will receive copies of the articles on "The Cove" and the international fishing/whaling trade
-Students are asked to contextualize the information by writing descriptive paragraphs of their campus and what could be done to beautify the environment
-Students will be given a list of community service projects and nonprofit organizations in which they could seek further involvement
-The instructor will emphasize the personal benefits (college resumes) and the more international need for social activism and community outreach

Summarizer:
-Students will write responses to the issues raised in class today and submit them for today's Exit Ticket

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Sherlock- 5/14

Warm Up:
-Students will review the elements of nonfiction we discussed prior to the PBL mini-unit with a quick game of digital Concentration

Work Session:
-Students will use the 9 Event advanced graphic organizer to summarize the events of "Sherlock" so far
-These graphic organizers will be collected and serve as today's formative assessment
-As a class we will continue viewing and discussing the social/moral issues raised in "Sherlock"
-Students will Think-Pair-Share responses to the end of the documentary before reporting responses to the instructor

Summarizer:
-Students will turn in Window Pane responses to questions about today's learning standard

PBL Presentations Continued- 5/13

NOTE: The work session and summarizer from yesterday is duplicate to accommodate the remainder of student presentations.

Warm Up:
-Students will view the "Blue River Dog Food" sketch from Youtube
-As a class we will review the uses of irony in contemporary culture

Work Session:
-A majority of class today will be spent as students present the cultural/social heritage aspects of their overall project
-After each presentation students will be encouraged to fill out their own rubric based on all products of their entire project
-Students will also include answers to the reflection questions on the back of their individual rubrics
-Students will turn in this rubric with their projects and it will comprise 1/5 of their final grade

Summarizer:
-Student rubrics and reflections will serve as today's Exit Ticket

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

PBL Presentations Continued- 5/13

NOTE: The work session and summarizer from yesterday is duplicate to accommodate the remainder of student presentations.

Warm Up:
-Students will view the "Blue River Dog Food" sketch from Youtube
-As a class we will review the uses of irony in contemporary culture

Work Session:
-A majority of class today will be spent as students present the cultural/social heritage aspects of their overall project
-After each presentation students will be encouraged to fill out their own rubric based on all products of their entire project
-Students will also include answers to the reflection questions on the back of their individual rubrics
-Students will turn in this rubric with their projects and it will comprise 1/5 of their final grade

Summarizer:
-Student rubrics and reflections will serve as today's Exit Ticket

Monday, May 12, 2014

PBL Presentations- 5/12

Warm Up:
-Students will be given time to prepare the hard copy  products of this PBL unit for presentation
-Students will receive copies of the project rubric

Work Session:
-A majority of class today will be spent as students present the cultural/social heritage aspects of their overall project
-After each presentation students will be encouraged to fill out their own rubric based on all products of their entire project
-Students will also include answers to the reflection questions on the back of their individual rubrics
-Students will turn in this rubric with their projects and it will comprise 1/5 of their final grade

Summarizer:
-Student rubrics and reflections will serve as today's Exit Ticket

Friday, May 9, 2014

PBL- 5/9

Warm Up:
-Students will takes notes in their interactive notebooks as the instructor guides them through tutorial presentations on Microsoft Publisher and Photostory

Work Session:
-Students working on the map portion of the creative/subjective requirement of the project will take note on the required locations and events to include in their map
-Students working on the poetry collection will be asked to brainstorm images to include in their collection
-All other students will continue work on the subjective/creative portion of their projects
-We will also continue our discussion of the elements of nonfiction from the lessons prior to the implementation of the PBL unit
-Students will be given advanced graphic organizers to fill out as we view "Blackfish"
-It is important to note that given the success students had on the EOCTs and in recognition of the hard work they have shown in the current unit of study, they deserve the reward of viewing a socially important documentary

Summarizer:
-Students are reminded that final cultural presentations and all required aspects of the PBL unit will be due Monday
-Students will turn in the advanced graphic organizers they filled out during today's viewing of "Blackfish"

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Continuing PBL and Nonfiction- 5/8

Warm Up:
-Students will freewrite responses to the overarching Essential Question
-As a class we will discuss the basics of the nature vs. nurture debate
-Students will take brief notes on these concepts in their interactive notbook

Work Session:
-Students will receive copies of either "Michael" or "The Last Comeback of Axl Rose"
-These are essays that focus on the cultural/social environments of two contemporary musicians (excerpts from Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullvian)
-Students will answer HOTS questions on what factors led to the success and tragedy of these public figures
-As a class we will discuss these responses, as well as the cogent factors from these essays that would redfinie or highlight aspects of their own projects
-Students are given the rest of the block to individually work on the creative/subjective aspects of their projects
-The instructor will individually conference with students, using the notes from yesterday's lesson and the final draft in their interactive notebooks as a basis for discussion

Summarizer:
-Students will complete reflection and gauge their progress on the overall PBL unit during conferences
-This will constitute today's Exit Ticket

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Cultural Heritage Powerpoint- 5/7

Warm Up:
-Students will take a brief quiz on the elements of a persuasive essay
-Students will preview today's session by viewing an exemplar (instructor-made) for the cultural heritage portion of the objective requirement of the project

Work Session:
-Students will be given storyboard/concept web advanced graphic organizers
-Students are encouraged to brainstorm lists of images/symbols associated with their own sense of their cultural/social environment
-Students will use the concept map side of their handouts to organize and group ideas
-Students will storyboard the six powerpoint slides they will be preparing for the second objective requirement of the project

Summarizer:
-Students that finish early will be given the opportunity to continue work on the subjective/creative portions of the project
-All students will individually submit today's notes to be reviewed and assessed by the instructor

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Persuasive Essay- 5/6

Warm Up:
-Students will take notes in their interactive notebook on the strength of concluding paragraphs
-Students are shown how to use either a call to action or conclusive remarks with exemplars shown on the class smartboard

Work Session:
-Students will receive an editing "bookmark" that lists MLA editing punctuation
-Students are encouraged to use these punctuation as they peer edit their cooperative learning partner's persuasive essay (rough draft)
-Students will pair to peer edit rough drafts
-Students will individually prepare final drafts of the persuasive essays in their interactive notebook

Summarizer:
-Students that finish early may begin working on the subjective/creative portion of their projects
-All students will be given sticky notes to write a reflection statement on the process by which they wrote their essay and post it on the doorway for today's Exit Ticket

Monday, May 5, 2014

Perusuasive Elements- 5/5

Warm Up:
-Students will be taking the comprehensive final assessment on To Kill a Mockingbird
-To prepare students for the daily schedule during the PBL unit the instructor will present a short presentation on the elements of the persuasive essay
-Students will take notes on this presentation in their interactive notebooks

Work Session:
-Students will be presented with examples of good and bad "hooks" or introductory sentences
-As a class we will discuss what makes a good introductory statement
-Students will practice writing at least three hooks
-Students will Think-Pair-Share these hooks before deciding on one for their own introduction
-Students will take notes on what makes a good thesis statement
-As a class we will unpack the persuasive prompt from the required objective response detailed on the cultural heritage project directions (this is the primary document from the end of year PBL unit)
-Students will prepare their own thesis statements
-As a class we will review the organization of body paragraphs and the importance of transitional words
-The instructor will list the transitional words on the smartboard while students construct the three main body paragraphs of the persuasive essay

Summarizer:
-Students will Think-Pair-Share to edit and advise their cooperative learning partner of the validity and organization of the first four paragraphs of the persuasive essay

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Elements of Nonfiction- 5/1

Warm Up:
-Students will take notes on the elements of nonfiction
-Students will use the classroom iRespond system to answer exercises focusing on the elements of nonfiction

Work Session:
-Students will be provided with an advanced graphic organizer to organize notes from the documentary
-As a class we will begin viewing and discussing "Blackfish"

Summarizer:
-Students will complete preliminary notes on their advanced graphic organizers and turn them in for today's Exit Ticket