Monday 8/31 ~ Is your Mythology Poster finished?

Warm-up: Discuss Journal #4 (The Rick Riordan interview).

Prefixes ~ Who wants to lead it?

• frater - brother
• geo -earth
• graph - to write, to record

Mythology

• Work on posters

Friday 8/28 ~ Can you finish your poster by the end of class on Monday?

Prefixes

• ex - out - ?
• federis - league, pact - ?

Mythology Posters

• Continue working on posters.

HW: We will finish the posters in class on Monday!
This weekend, please complete Journal #4 by listening to this podcast  [It is an interview of Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson series) by Sean Hemingway (Associate curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).] 

Journal #4 Questions:

• What is the appeal of mythology according to Riordan? What does Hemingway mean by the "mutability" of myths? Give your own example of "mutability".
• Why did Riordan make Percy the son of Poseidon rather than Zeus? 
• Give examples of the influence of Greek or Roman mytnology in the present day world.
• Why did Riordan set the first scene in his novel at the Metropolitan Museum?
• What connection does Riordan draw between Greek gods, comic book superheroes and today's teenagers? 

Thursday 8/27 ~ Don't forget to turn in your True Colors essay tomorrow!

EQ: Why should we study Greek mythology if they are just false idols anyway? 

Prefixes

• ego - I, self - ? 
• epi - upon, over - ?

Mythology Posters

Gods

1. Zeus (Jupiter)
2. Hera (Juno)
3. Poseidon (Neptune)
4. Dionysus (Bacchus)
5. Apollo (Apollo)
6. Artemis (Diana)
7. Hermes (Mercury)
8. Athena (Minerva)
9. Ares (Mars)
10. Aphrodite (Venus)
11. Hephaestus (Vulcan)
12. Demeter (Ceres) 

 Characters

1. Phaethon
2. Medusa
3. Atlas
4. Nike
5. Hydra
6. Python
7. Oracle
8. Amazon

Poster Assignment Description

You will be making a poster of your god or goddess. You will have class time today and Monday to complete the poster. Posters will be displayed 

• One person needs to get your poster board
• Don't forget to put your names and period on it!
• Everyone needs to bring colored pens and pencils.
• You will need to incorporate text and drawings. 

Poster Requirements
~Please record your notes as Journal #3.

• What is the basic origin and history of this Olympian? Don't forget to include both Greek and Roman names of your god.
• What is this god or goddess associated with (wine, fertility, war, death, grain, a certain planet, an occupation, etc.)? 
• What symbols usually attend this god or goddess (eagle, thunderbolt, winged shoes, etc.)? 
• Explain a favorite story in which this god or goddess chiefly figures.
• Note at least one reference or allusion one may find in arts and culture (music, painting, ads, etc.). 
• Search the Scriptures: Find a verse, passage, or story from the Bible that relates to a story from your god or goddess (perhaps the moral is similar; perhaps it is opposite; perhaps the story appears to be a modified reflection of a story in the Bible)
• Lastly, find at least one modern word (or word root) that is derived from your god or goddess.  Include that word or root and its definition on your poster. 

HW: Bring any supplies or printed images that you'd like to use for your poster tomorrow. True Colors Essay is DUE!!!! Please bring a hard copy to class. (There will be no leaving class to print your essays.)

Wednesday 8/26 ~ Teacher Colors

*If you tested a teacher, tell me ASAP!

*BTW - We will be interrupted today to take our pictures!

True Colors Part 2
EQ: How do your colors interact with those of your teachers and classmates?

• Do you think it is more beneficial to have a teacher whose colors match yours or whose colors balance yours?

The second part of this concept is that we can think about the people we are learning with in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. If we know each other better, then we can value them and communicate better. Even teachers are part of that consideration.
TC Part 2: click here to view this power point.

• Notes: Take notes on how your colors might interact with what you guess are your most challenging teacher's colors. How will you survive this year?

*Please register for turnitin.com today! Your course codes are in the "Course Info" tab. 

HW: True Colors essay due on Friday (hard copy and on turnitin.com). 

• Essay Described: Write a 1-2 page narrative essay (that's an essay based on stories from your life!) to describe a real example or two of how your personality type is true in your own life and how it interacts with others. Along with your story, please include some reflection of how your personality traits can be a strength or weakness when it comes to school. How will you succeed in learning from/with teachers and students who are so different from you? Due Friday 8/28 as a hard copy. Click here to view the rubric.

Tuesday 8/25 ~ My Sister's Keeper Quiz

Prefixes
We will be learning MANY word parts this year, including prefixes, roots and suffixes. This is a killer way to prepare for the SAT and life. If you know that base of a word, you can usually use the context to figure it out. We will learn a chunk of the list that is shared by all grade levels. Check it our and review last year's portion by using the link on the left side of the blog.

EC Opportunity: Does anyone want to lead this activity all week? 

In our journals, you will need to have a "Word Parts" section. For each prefix, root, or suffix, please record the word part, the definition and at least three words that use it. 
For example: 

EQ: Do your example words use the word part as a prefix? Does it carry the same meaning in the word?

• dominus - lord - dominant, dominion, dominate
• dynasthai - be able - Now it's your turn to make them up!

Quiz: My Sister's Keeper

HW: Continue working on your True Colors Essay (Use MLA and type it!) Due in Hard Copy on Friday.

Monday 8/24/15 ~ Discuss My Sister's Keeper

*Did anyone test a teacher for their True Colors? (Turn in now for extra credit)

Check in:

• How's your True Colors Essay coming (Due Block Day)? More teachers tested? 

Discussion of My Sister's Keeper

Here are some questions to start with...Agree or Disagree?

1. Jesse's character is vital in revealing the plot (it could not be left out of the book).
2. Campbell is wise to hide his seizures.
3. The fire motif is a meaningful symbol in the book.
4. I would give up my kidney for someone I love.
5. Sara did the best she could in the given situation.
6. Brian did the best he could in the given situation. 
7. The multiple character voices by chapter was confusing for me.
8. Kate is a coward.
9. A child owns the rights to his/her own body.
10. Quality of life is more important than length of life. 

HW: Review for the quiz on summer reading & bring ear phones tomorrow.
Hint, the past blogs will help you.

HW: Start your True Colors Essay and review for the quiz on summer reading. Hint, the past blogs will help you

• Write a 1-2 page narrative essay (that's an essay based on stories from your life!) to describe a real example or two of how your personality type is true in your own life and how it interacts with others. Along with your story, please include some reflection of how your personality traits can be a strength or weakness when it comes to school. How will you succeed in learning from/with teachers and students who are so different from you? Due Block Day 8/27-28 as a hard copy. Click here to view the rubric.

Extra Credit? 5 pts. if you test a teacher in True Colors before Wed. 8/26 (Note: once a teacher has been tested, that name can no longer earn you points, so ask the teacher if s/he has done it already. These can be last year's teachers too!)

Block 8/20&21/15 ~ You might think you survived the first week, but wait.....there's more!

DUE: Upload your My Sister's Keeper discussion questions here for West.

WARM UP: True Colors

• Hopefully you were honest in your self-assessment when you completed the True Colors questionnaire. Now it's time to share your top two colors here for Bridgette or West.

1. Course Plan
2. For our class, you will need several books and a journal.

Please purchase a college ruled notebook. You will need it for journal writing, as well as some root work.

ISBN ~ 978-0-7432-6958-2

ISBN ~ 978-0-440-23913-0

(Be sure to get the Student Version)

ISBN ~ 978-0-8007-9321-8

True Colors Part 1

Psalm 139: 13-14 tells it best.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

EQ: So what do these colors mean?
Journal Entry #1: True Colors
As we watch the power point, take notes on three things:

• What words or ideas from your top color describe your personal strengths and weaknesses?
• What words or ideas from your second color match you the most?

Now talk and reflect...

• How does your color play into the way you like to learn or show your learning? (What types of projects or assignments work well? What happens to you in group work, etc...)
• What do you wish other people understood about how you think?
• What kinds of teachers/class environments can you benefit from the most? 

HW: Start your essay and three questions on MSK.

• Write a 1-2 page narrative essay (that's an essay based on stories from your life!) to describe a real example or two of how your personality type is true in your own life and how it interacts with others. Along with your story, please include some reflection of how your personality traits can be a strength or weakness when it comes to school. How will you succeed in learning from/with teachers and students who are so different from you? Due Block Day 8/27-28 as a hard copy. Click here to view the rubric.

Extra Credit? 5 pts. if you test a teacher in True Colors before Wed. 8/26 (Note: once a teacher has been tested, that name can no longer earn you points, so ask the teacher if s/he has done it already. These can be last year's teachers too!)

Wednesday 8/19/15 ~ What's a marshmallow got to do with it?

While I take roll, won't you peruse the emergency procedures just in case!

Then take a minute to explore the blog.

• Do you know where Bedford is?
• What should you do if I am unexpectedly absent? 
• If you click on your period number, does it take you to our Google Classroom? 
• How can you find a post from a day you were absent? 

Star Testing

• Open app.
• Enter your MV user name, usually 1st letter of 1st name + 4 letters of last.
• ex/ "abrid" for Allison Bridgette
• Resident students use birth name.
• If there are fewer than four letters in last name, then you will use the first letter(s) of your first.
• Some student names match, so have your teacher check the list if you cannot remember your user name. 
• Enter the password as "password".
• Select "Star Reading"
• Tap next and start.
• Just in casers: Monitor password is "Te@ch13".
• Need a URL? https://hosted90.renlearn.com/283483/
• What if my User name doesn't work? Click here to check it.

HW:
1. Please do the True Colors assignment which is posted in your Google Classroom.

2. Oh yeah...and you read a book already! You should finish it asap. The test is coming. For 

homework, please brainstorm three open-ended discussion questions about our book. 

Marshmallow Challenge! Tuesday 8/18/15

Warm-up: Introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you in your new seat.

Let's face it, we'd all give a pretty penny to spend just one more summer night around a campfire roasting s'mores and not worrying about school tomorrow morning, but....since summer is over we'll do the next best thing.

The Marshmallow Experiment ~ Directions

• The winning team is the one that has the tallest structure measured from the table top surface to the top of the freestanding marshmallow. That means the structure cannot be suspended from a higher structure, like a hand, chair, ceiling or chandelier. 

EQ: What does a marshmallow challenge have to do with English? 

HW: Make sure you have the Star Testing app.

• Go to the App store
• Type "renaissance learning"
• Download the STAR application

Welcome! Monday 8/17/15

Welcome to English 2!

1. Info Card.....say cheese :)
On the front...

• Your preferred name (Write big to fill the card!)

On the back...

• Where are you from?
• What do you love? 
• What is one thing you want people to know about you? 
• What is one thing you don't want people to know about you? 
• What should I know about you as a student to help me teach you better this year?

2. Blog: Please add the blog to your home screen. 

3. Google Classroom: Please click on the correct link on the upper left hand corner of the blog to get your access code and join our Google Classroom. Your first assignment is waiting there (Due 8/20).

2. Syllabus: Here is a basic syllabus to get us going, but please click here for the extended version of our syllabus or click here for the Parent Student Handbook. Click here if you cannot view the graphic below.




HW: Add the blog to your home screen and join our Google Classroom.

SPOP Day 8/14/15

Welcome to New Student Orientation and English II!

Please let me know if you have any questions about our class or the summer reading.

My Sister's Keeper ~ Check in #6

Sophomores! Stop floating around in space and get that summer reading finished!

"It's more like we're astronauts, each wearing a separate helmet, each sustained by our own source of air." This quote comes from Anna, as she and her parents sit in silence in the hospital cafeteria. Besides being a powerful use of imagery, this observation shows Anna to be perhaps one of the wisest, most perceptive characters in the novel. What do you think she meant by her description of her family?

My Sister's Keeper ~ Check in #5

Ok sophomores, hopefully My Sister's Keeper has lit some kind of fire in you!

You have probably noticed that fire plays quite a large role in the novel. When considering Brian and Jesse and their relationships to "fire", what do you think "fire" represents to each of these characters? If you use a literary device or two to prove your analysis, well, that might just fire me up enough to reward you on Monday. Dig deep and wow me with your thoughts.

My Sister's Keeper ~ Check in #4

Hey sophomores!

Oh my gosh! Your time is ticking! Monday is the big day and you should be nearing the end of My Sister's Keeper.

I'm wondering if you noticed that Sara’s chapters take place almost entirely in the past. What is the significance of this? Why do you think Picoult chose to write Sara's chapters in this way?