This is for 2nd period only:
Write a poem about life or death and if there is anything after it.
Be prepared to share tomorrow.
10th Grade: Thursday night HW
We read two poems by Emily Dickinson today. Tonight answer these two questions and I’ll post the poems below:
1) What does the speaker’s mind need the heart to do in “Heart! We will forget him!” Why?
2) In “The Moon was but a Chin of Gold” how does the speaker envision (see) the woman to whom she compares the moon?
“Heart! We will forget him!”
Heart, we will forget him!
You and I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave —
I will forget the light!
When you have done, pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste! lest while you’re lagging
I may remember him!
| THE MOON was but a chin of gold | |
| A night or two ago, | |
| And now she turns her perfect face | |
| Upon the world below. | |
| Her forehead is of amplest blond; | 5 |
| Her cheek like beryl stone; | |
| Her eye unto the summer dew | |
| The likest I have known. | |
| Her lips of amber never part; | |
| But what must be the smile | 10 |
| Upon her friend she could bestow | |
| Were such her silver will! | |
| And what a privilege to be | |
| But the remotest star! | |
| For certainly her way might pass | 15 |
| Beside your twinkling door. | |
| Her bonnet is the firmament, | |
| The universe her shoe, | |
| The stars the trinkets at her belt, | |
| Her dimities of blue. | 20 |
May 13th, 2010
Week 35 (5/10-5/14): Midterm Week
That’s right people, only 5 more weeks of school (4 weeks + Finals)! Progress reports are sent this week, so it’s time to kick up your effort into high gear and get your work done!
SOPHOMORES:
MONDAY: Ms. Paul was out sick. You read Sonnet 18 “Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day?” by William Shakespeare and answered questions #1&2 on page 583.
TUESDAY: Review “Shall I Compare Thee…” and discuss the sonnet. Start the assessment of poetry essay on page 584: 2-3 paragraphs due Wednesday.
WEDNESDAY: Read-A-Round Peer Editing of the first draft of Poetry Essay. Re-write is due tomorrow. 2nd draft can be hand written, typed and/or posted to blog. Please attach first draft to second draft.
THURSDAY: Start Chapter 8: Figurative Language and read poem “Heart! We will forget him!” and “The Moon was but a Chin of Gold” discuss and take notes on diction, metaphor and personification. HW: Reading Skills Focus Q’s #1&2 page 589
FRIDAY: Write a farewell poem to the speaker in “Heart! We will forget him!” Imitate Dickinson’s style. Share poems; Read “since feeling is first” by e.e. cummings
WEEKEND:
JUNIORS:
MONDAY: Shamefully, we watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” because I was absent and didn’t have anything else planned.
TUESDAY: How to create a Works Cited page. Persuasive Entry draft for the Crucible Diary due.
WEDNESDAY: Read non-fiction connected to “The Crucible”. The article from time.com is called “No Sympathy for the Devil”. Complete Pre-Reading, First and Second reading exercises #1-11.
THURSDAY: Share/discuss annotations of “No Sympathy” article. Write a summary of the article and turn in with exercises. We are now officially finished with “The Crucible” until Final Exams!
FRIDAY: Intro to our next novel, “The Things They Carried” and fictional account of a soldier’s experience in Vietnam. We will read in class until we get enough books for everyone. 2nd Draft of “Our America” thesis paper due with a Works Cited page.
WEEKEND: Camping Trip! I’ll see the bulk of you next Thursday, May 20th. Have fun!! I wish I could go with you but I don’t think Lorelei is ready yet. Next Friday, 5/21, the final Crucible Secret Diary is due. Don’t forget!
May 12th, 2010
Evaluate a Poem (10th Grade HW)
This is a review assignment for the “Imagery and Form” section of poetry we read the last week. This will be counted as a test (assessment).
Directions: Which presents the most memorable and effective treatment of the subject of love: Baca’s lyric poem, the three Japanese tanka, or Shakespeare’s sonnet? Write a brief essay (2-3 paragraphs) explaining your opinion. Focus on the poet’s use of imagery and the poetic form (lyric, tanka, sonnet). conclude by discussing how the subject matter, imagery, and form complement one another.
POEMS
Jimmy Santiago Baca’s “I Am Offering This Poem”
|
I am offering this poem to you, since I have nothing else to give. Keep it like a warm coat, when winter comes to cover you, or like a pair of thick socks the cold cannot bite through, I love you,
I have nothing else to give you, I love you,
Keep it, treasure it as you would I love you,
It’s all I have to give, I love you. |
3 Japanese Tanka
by Ono Kamachi (translated by Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani)
1: Sent anonymously to a man who had passed in front of the screens of my room.
Should the world of love
end in darkness,
without our glimpsing
that cloud-gap
where the moon’s light fills the sky?
2: Sent to a man who seemed to have changed his mind.
Since my heart placed me
on board your drifting ship,
not one day has passed
that I haven’t been drenched
in cold waves.
3: Sent in a letter attached to a rice stalk with an empty see husk
How sad that I hope
to see you even now,
after my life has emtptied itself
like this stalk of grain
into the autumn wind.
“Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day”
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
May 11th, 2010
Week 34 (5/3-5/7): DSA Spirit Week!
The Classes of 2011 and 2012 declared this week DSA Spirit Week and I believe we have never had a spirit week all to ourselves before!
So here’s the low down for the week:
Monday: Dress Up Day
Tuesday: At The Beach
Wednesday: Cinco de Mayo (Mexican Culture dress)
Thursday: Graphic/DSA Tee — OPEN HOUSE IS TONIGHT! PLEASE COME AND CELEBRATE
Friday: Rest on Mars Tee (memorializing Crispus Gathuru)
SOPHOMORES:
MONDAY: We read the poem “Same Song” and the homework was to make an imagery collage of pictures that match the imagery in the poem. Images must overlap and there should be no blank space between.
TUESDAY: We did a Gallery Walk of your collages and then put the lines of poetry that went with the images on a post it and stuck on the collages. We then read “Ode to My Socks”. Homework tonight: Bring in your favorite socks
WEDNESDAY: Write a poem about your favorite socks! Share and add your poem and sock to the line. Cinco de Mayo! We will read a poem by Jimmy Santiago Baca, a Mexican American, called “I Am Offering This Poem”
THURSDAY: Love Poems and Tankas: Read a lyric love poem by Jimmy Santiago Baca and a love Tanka by Ono Kamachi. Homework: Write your own Tanka: 5 lines, 31 syllables: 5-7-5-7-7; one emotion compared to one image.
FRIDAY: Multicultural Day Assembly and fair at lunch.; Share Tanka homework and play the Tanka Team Challenge: in teams, write tankas given randomly chosen emotions and objects.
WEEKEND: Enjoy yourself and give love to your mother or someone else’s.
JUNIORS
MONDAY: Descriptive Diary Brainstorm due today; Start reading Act IV of The Crucible
TUESDAY: Finish reading Act IV, start Plot Diagram for Narrative Diary Entry (Due Thursday)
WEDNESDAY: Finish watching the film, “The Crucible” Acting tomorrow!
THURSDAY: Acting Act IV — study your lines! Plot Diagram for Narrative Diary Entry Due
FRIDAY: Multicultural Day and Assembly. 3rd period only today: we’ll watch a silly movie that features a witch hunt: ”Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
WEEKEND: Draft for Persuasive Diary Entry Due MONDAY; Crucible Test TUESDAY. Re-read play! Also, give love to your mother this weekend. Remember she gave you life! : )
May 4th, 2010
“Same Song”
Here is the poem from today for Sophomores to complete their Imagery Collage.
Same Song
by Pat Mora
While my sixteen-year-old son sleeps,
my twelve-year-old daughter
stumbles into the bathroom at six a.m.
plugs in the curling iron
squeezes into faded jeans
curls her hair carefully
strokes Aztec Blue shadow on her eyelids
smoothes Frosted Mauve blusher on her cheeks
outlines her mouth in Neon Pink
looks in the mirror, mirror on the wall
frowns at her face, her eyes, her skin,
not fair.
At night this daughter
stumbles off to bed at nine
eyes half-shut while my son
jogs a mile in the cold dark
then lifts weights in the garage
curls and bench presses
expanding biceps, triceps, pectorals,
one-handed push-ups, one hundred sit-ups
peers into that mirror, mirror and frowns too.
May 3rd, 2010
Week 33 (4/26-4/30): The Week of Testing and a Time for Everything
I haven’t posted to my blog since before Spring Break and I apologize, readers. It’s been quite an emotional month. Losing my student, Crispus Gathuru, put a hold on many of my ambitions and plans. What I have been doing this past month is best said in the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3. This passage is quoted from the NLT (New Living Translation) from biblegateway.com:
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
So this past 30 days I have experienced many of these “times”: grieving, loving, keeping, throwing away, crying, laughing, dancing, embracing, searching, and quitting searching. In addition to Crispus’ untimely (no pun intended) death, my daughter Lorelei turned one year old. My life has changed in so many expected and unexpected ways since her birth one year ago. One thing I didn’t expect was that by this time I still wouldn’t be getting more than 3 hours of sleep in a row. That has made this year even more challenging as a working-outside-the-home mom. I did expect to love this baby unconditionally and celebrate every milestone and I have. I didn’t expect to miss the smell of baby breast milk only poop (it smells like buttered popcorn)! And I didn’t expect to love my students even more now that I am a mom. I see them as the babies they once were and imagine the love that their mother feels for them. This has helped me connect with each student this year and find empathy and compassion for them, especially the most challenging students.
This week is the (dreaded) State Testing week. We did the English test last week and this week is an intense week of Math and Science for my Sophomores, and Math, US History and Science for my Juniors. I don’t remember taking these tests when I was coming up through public school, and I really feel for the kids having to endure these days. I tell them that I hope they will grow up and change the system so that seven year olds aren’t doing this! We all understand the SAT and the CAHSEE, but these tests have no built in motivator for the students and many of them don’t see the “point” in taking them seriously. Some get that the school is “graded” based on these results and try hard each time. So don’t care about that. Some are not good at taking tests, but do know these standards. Some have a history of failure and these tests just remind them of that. Some want to do well on the tests, but find some of the questions impossible because of their cultural background. But we are doing our best, giving it our all, pushing through our boredom and trying to raise our scores to prove to all the naysayers that Mt. is a school of smarties. Although it seems insane at times, we are doing what we can to work within a broken, biased system to achieve. I am so proud of my coworkers and students despite our scores. I know there is real, authentic learning taking place here and to me, that is what matters most.
Our schedule this week is all mixed up and abridged due to the tests, but here is what we hope to accomplish in class this week:
SOPHOMORES: The deadlines for the Legacy of Imperialism project are still coming your way, so keep on top of your work. In English, we are continuing with poetry.
MONDAY: Finish analyzing the Imager/Figurative Language in “The Stayer”
TUESDAY: Add the following definitions to your Poetic Devices List in your notebook: Speaker, Tone, Evoke, Voice, and Visualizing. Read “Eating Together” page 553
WEDNESDAY: Reread “Eating Together” and discuss speaker, tone, voice. Re-write “Eating Together” as a brief paragraph of prose. Include information that you infer from the poem and its imagery. Read “Grape Sherbet” p.554
THURSDAY: Re-read “Grape Sherbet” and discuss speaker, tone, voice. Re-write poem as a brief paragraph of prose. (see Wed. for further directions)
FRIDAY: Review questions for “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet” page 555 #1, 6-7, 9-11
WEEKEND: None except any work to take home for the Legacy Project
JUNIORS: You are still in the midst of the “We Are Mt. Diablo” project, pushing through your grief and taking time to yourself whenever possible. In English we are half way done with the Crucible. Don’t forget to blog weekly!
MONDAY: Reading Quiz on part 1 of Act III of The Crucible. Ms. Leonard even let 3rd period use their books and it was pretty obvious very few of you read. In class we read the second part while listening to the recording. We cast parts for the acting.
TUESDAY: We watched most of Act III from the movie.
WEDNESDAY: We will start acting
THURSDAY: Finish Acting Act III and vote for the Tony and Turkey awards for best and worst acting in Act III.
FRIDAY: Introduce the Secret Diary Project (it’s writing but it’s fun) and start working on it.
WEEKEND: Do the first part of the Secret Diary — a brainstorm of the Descriptive Entry
April 28th, 2010
Week 29 (3/29-4/2): The Week Before Spring Break!
One more week and we get a week off — woo hoo! I’m looking forward to a week of being outside with Lorelei, walking, playing, and enjoying the sun. I hope you also get outside, breathe some fresh air and visit someplace new.
This week is also important because it is the last week of Quarter 3. Report Cards will be coming out after Spring Break. You (and I) are almost half way to Summer Vacation! I spent this past Saturday in a literacy training and I got a little teacher juice boost and am ready to make the best of the rest of the year! How about you? Are you in with me?
* This Week’s Plan *
10th Graders: Your Career Visit Essays were due last Friday 3/26 and Randy extended the deadline for the Legacy drafts. Deadlines and due dates are coming hard and fast from now until June. Just get on the ride and hold on!
Monday — Discuss the ending of Things Fall Apart. Finish discussion of theme. Look at Okonkwo’s Downfall (handout)
Tuesday — 2nd Period Assembly; Worked on Downfall of Okonkwo handout with 1st period.
Wednesday — Review for test today. We’ll have some fun with vocabulary today.
Thursday — FINAL BOOK TEST on Things Fall Apart (please re-read, study, etc.!) Turn in your TFA books.
Friday — Let’s make it a “Good” one!
SPRING BREAK: Recharge and whatever you do, make good choices.
11th Graders: More Crucible! We started out great, don’t you think? Your acting was entertaining to me and I’ve taught this play like 7 times, so that’s pretty good. The first draft of your “Our America” paper is due this Friday. I’m still waiting for an outline from about 40% of you.
Monday — Finish acting out (re-reading) part one of The Crucible, Act I (1242-1252)
Tuesday — Act out a scene from the second half of Act I (pp.1252-1263)
Wednesday — Review Characters and discuss their traits (handout); Review for Quiz
Thursday — Act I Quiz; Watch Act I from the movie “The Crucible”
Friday — Set up for Act II: pick parts for acting, look at background information, vocabulary, etc. ”Our America” first draft due today by 4 p.m.
SPRING BREAK HW: Read Act II pp.1267-1287; complete Review and Assess Q’s page 1287 #1-8 — Sorry kids, but I can’t let you forget about it while were gone. We’ll act out scenes when we return. Remember I have it on audio too.
March 28th, 2010
Week 28: 3/22 – 3/26 (The Week of Spring)
Spring has sprung boys and girls! Who doesn’t love Spring? Even in California, where the winters are mild, we love Spring. Flowers and trees are in bloom, the hills are green, the weather is warmer (but not too warm), the days are longer, and we can wear open-toed shoes again. With Spring, though, comes Spring Fever. It’s a pesky disease that comes every year and each of us is susceptible to it’s charm. Spring Fever takes us away from our goals with it’s allure of a promise of warmth, relaxation, and fun. Although we are only 2 weeks from Spring Break and 11 weeks from Summer Break (yes, that’s right), that itchy fever threatens to overcome us daily. Resist boys and girls! Staying disciplined and keeping to your good study habits is the only way to ward off the Spring Fever. As I type this blog, I’m once again at Panera Bread in Concord, watching families walk in and out in their play clothes enjoying this beautiful Saturday. Do I want to bolt back home and play? Heck yes! But, I know I will kick myself later if I don’t stay focused now. Please follow my example. Get your work done and schedule some play time once the work is done. Then you will be worry-free and get much more sleep during the week. Promise!
Look at the pretty flowers!
OUR PLAN FOR THE WEEK
10th Graders: Last week’s career exploration trips were great! We saw the inside of TV studios and those of us who went to KQED learned about a cool concept in visual storytelling called “suspension of disbelief”. Thanks to all our tour guides for taking time out of your busy day! This week you need to finish your reflection essay (by Friday) and we will read more Things Fall Apart. We are reaching the end, with only 6 more chapters.
MONDAY: Reading Check & Review Chapters 17-19 (you read these for homework); look at the Ibo Religious Concepts (handout). Read Chapter 20 tonight!
TUESDAY: Start the final section of the book, Chapters 20-25 (new vocab and background info). This is where Okonkwo’s downfall really begins. Finish reading by Friday, but keep up by reading Ch. 21 tonight.
WEDNESDAY: Discuss Mr. Brown, the 1st missionary in Umuofia. We will compare to the new guy, Rev. James Smith (boo! hiss!). SSR/Group reading Chapter 22-23
THURSDAY: Discuss Themes [What is theme? The central (main) message or insight (understanding about life) revealed through a literary work. Usually, theme is universal, i.e., a message that all people can relate to] in Things Fall Apart (Finish the book tonight!); We chose our schedules for next year with Mr. Sims too
FRIDAY: Review the final section of the book, Chapters 20-25; Chart Okonkwo’s Downfall (handout); First Draft of the Career Exploration Visit Reflection Essay DUE (hard copy, double-spaced, 12 point font, 300 words)
Weekend: Themes worksheet due Monday, Study for final book test, Chapters 1-25 Tuesday
11th Graders: We are full-swing into the 2nd semester project, We Are Mt. Diablo! You are blogging weekly, getting your first documentary completed, and working on the thesis paper, “Our America”. The outline was due last Friday, and many of you will be turning it in late (hopefully sooner than later). We are starting our new reading this week, “The Crucible”. It is a 4-Act play with lots of drama! I hope you enjoy it. This week we will watch a docudrama called “Witch Hunt” to give you some historical context and then we will start reading (and acting).
MONDAY: Watch Docudrama “Witch Hunt” take notes
TUESDAY: Finish “Witch Hunt”, discuss notes; Start “The Crucible” — Read the pre-act background pp.1234-1237 in the Red, Prentice Hall book
WEDNESDAY: ”The Crucible” Intro: get Act I handouts; New Vocab, Cast and begin reading Act I
THURSDAY: Crucible, Act I; We created our 2010-2011 schedules today with Mr. Sims
FRIDAY: Crucible, Act I acting part one pp 1238-1252
Weekend: Finish reading Act I pp. 1252-1263; Actors practice your lines, Finish Character Trait handout; Work on your first drafts for the “Our America” paper. It’s due Friday, 4/2
March 20th, 2010
Week 26 (3/15-3/19): The Week of TV
I actually had a TV that looked like this once (BRC, Before Remote Control)
I like TV. I know I’m not “supposed” to being that I’m an English teacher and all, but I do. I’m not the kind of TV watcher that leaves it on as background noise, but I do have my favorites that I record and watch weekly and I have a guilty pleasure as well (American Idol). And I don’t just watch any old show. I do have standards (well except for Idol). Just as in any novel, I’m looking for a good story, well-developed conflict and story arc, complex characters, dialogue that stimulates the mind, and solid acting. This season Mr. Paul and I are watching an eclectic mix of good shows including Lost, Big Love, Caprica, Modern Family, Parenthood, The Office, Parks and Rec, and soon we’ll be watching The Pacific. Of course we have “our” shows (see above-mentioned plus our news shows “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”), I have “my” shows (Idol, House, Saving Grace), and he has “his” shows (Good Wife), but overall we definitely enjoy time together staring at the “boob tube” (yes we still have a tube TV) getting lost in the lives of fictional people. Even our daughter has her favorites already. And I’m afraid that’s completely our doing. Yo Gabba Gabba is her favorite and she has a few others that catch her fancy from time to time too.
Is TV bad? No! Is sitting in front of the TV more than a couple hours a day bad? Probably. But like anything else, all in moderation. I also like to read, take walks outside, play on the computer/Internet/Facebook, take photos, talk on the phone, travel, write, go to the park and play, eat out, go to church, spend time with friends, listen to music, and just sit and think and feel the energy of the world sometimes. I also supremely love to give of myself to others in the form of service. I volunteer, I teach, and I parent. I counsel and I listen to my students and other loved ones when they need it. This is what gives me satisfaction and a sense of meaning and purpose in my life. Sorry TV. I know you want to provide this for me, but just know at the very least you do this for my husband. He’s been under your spell since he was a wee lad and even put me on a reality show.
This week I’m thinking of TV because the sophomores are going on their third field trip this year on career exploration visits to TV/media related companies. We’ll be going to KTVU in Oakland, KQED in SF and a private production company called Beyond Pix also in SF. Media is what we do and it will be exciting to see people who are making a living in the field of TV and media. I know it would be great to be able to all go to each company, but alas, we will be split into groups of three and will have to compare notes the day after. Last week and this week we’ll be prepping for and reflecting on this visit and who knows, someone’s future career may be inspired by this visit! Ah, TV, you will always be there for us! Stay tuned. . .
SOPHOMORES:
MONDAY — Workshop #2 and 3; You’ll also be meeting with your teacher mentors for the Legacy project
TUESDAY — OUR FIELD TRIP!
WEDNESDAY — Reflect and write Thank You Notes (Due Thursday)
THURSDAY — BACK TO THINGS FALL APART (please read Chapters 9-14 by Friday. Seriously.); Journalism will be in class today doing a recruiting presentation
FRIDAY — Review Chapters 9-14 of Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo is in his motherland during his seven years of exile from Umuofia. Will he take this time to reflect and change his ways? What do you think? Is that in line with his character?
Weekend HW….hmmmm not sure yet.
JUNIORS — OMG! We’re going to write this week! You’ve got the EAP Essay and working on a thesis statement and outline for your big paper for the We Are Mt. Diablo project.
MONDAY — EAP ESSAY I chose Version 1 for us to do as it relates to our topic of Immigration and America. You’re welcome. : D
TUESDAY — SUB DAY. Finish “Joy Luck Club”; Journalism will come and do a recruiting presentation today too
WEDNESDAY — Start working on the Immigration or Multiculturalism paper
THURSDAY — PAPER Workshop
FRIDAY — ANOTHER PAPER Workshop. Outline for research paper due TODAY!
NEXT WEEK — Due Dates for the paper, and we will begin our next unit, reading “The Crucible”. This is a drama (aka play). Be prepared to display your acting chops. The play is in your Red, Prentice Hall textbook. The good news is that it is also in the Holt textbooks that we’re piloting so you don’t have to bring your book back and forth from home and school. Yay!!!!!! Oh, and the movie version of the play is pretty darn good!
Looks good, right? Thanks TV!
March 15th, 2010