November 19, 2009

Hi, North House!

Today was relatively easy and pretty laid-back.

Game Plan

• SSR
• Work on Gawain Project
• A word about the pantry

So today we didn’t have SSR because Mrs. Edwards thought that we needed as much time as possible before the break to work on our projects. Instead of having SSR, she told us that she had found extra supplies from past years for the Gawain project and if we needed them (FOR SURE) we could take some.

Now the pantry was discussed in class today. People have been taking food from the pantry and hav ebeen sharing it with people in other houses. The problem is some people don’t even contribute to our pantry. Mrs. Edwards was disappointed in the fact that there are many self-created groups around the class and that we have a poor showing of moral value because the pantry is a COMMUNITY thing and we don’t really come together to bring it up. So now there is a lock and we debated on whether or not we should have a system in taking/bringing food. After a long discussion we came up with a day (FRIDAY) where people would bring things for the pantry I believe every month . Interstingly, Mrs. Edwards pointed out a Universal Truth that related to the pantry which was “We don’t see value unless we worked for it or payed for it.” With that, she told us a story about how she was a little “DESTROYER.”

After the pantry business, we were set free to work on our projects.

Homework:

• Blog Assignment #10
• P.R. #2 due Friday 8 PM

Have a great night!

 

November 17, 2009

Howdy North House!

Today was actually fairly simple.

Game Plan

• SSR
• A word about W.W.
• More Samples
• Work on Gawain Project

So class started at usual with SSR, then Mrs. Edwards talked to us about Writing Workshop. She told us that we didn;t get a peer review yesterday because of West House. Also, she put an emphasis on the writing workshop assignments and due dates by placing boxes around each date/assignment and, to make it even stand out more, SHE DID IT IN ANOTHER COLOR! Aside from the boxes, she added a key that said a box [   ] = The Pohlman. One last thing, if we happen to turn in a Writing Workshop piece LATE, instead of getting 0, we would get half the points (25).

After that talk, she showed us another example of the Gawain Project which was a comic book. The comic book would’ve gotten an AE for execution  BUT they did not use alliteration. Another thing that didn’t quite math were the pictures. So not only did they leave out alliteration, they also didn’t have cohesion.

And after that example, she said she would show us an example of the PowerPoint section of the Gawain Project and set us free to work on our projects. So, yeah, VERY EASY DAY.

Homework:

• Blog Assignment #10
• P.R. #2 due FRIDAY at 8 PM (DO IT! IT WAS BOXED AND POINTED AT!)

Have a great night!

 

November 16, 2009

Hey there, North House!

Game Plan!

• SSR + Welcome Scribes (Me )
• North: Collect Price Analysis
• Essay Contest?
• Intro to Gawain Project

So today, Mrs. Edwards started the class off by collecting our price analysis and continued with the usual SSR. Now, the essay contest is a little bit interesting.

It’s pretty much a contest that is open to everyone to write an essay on ideas such as the use of social networking (MySpace and Facebook) or the unique and innovative ways of teaching with the use of technology. The thing that made the contest seem interesting was the fact that if we do happen to enter and MAKE IT into round one, we would get wavered from one of the deadlines for Writing Workshop. And in order to get into round one, you have to make sure that your meaning, focus points, writing style and grammar are perfect because that’s what the readers are looking at. She also mentioned that if you make it to round two, you would get an AE for the writing workshop piece that is currently assigned. So, if you’re interested be sure to grab one of the contest papers in class!

Now for the Gawain Project. So to kick off the intro, we first broke into pairs and a triad to work together on the project. However, it wasn’t such a smooth ride because we ran into a small dilemma while making a triplet. Aside from that, Mrs. Edwards mentioned there was going to be “Danger” when she introduced the project. So continuing with the introduction, she made each pair and triad pick numbers (three four a pair, five for a triad) and that determined what we have to do for the project. The numbers related to the grid with nine boxes saying what we had to do for the project. Now for the “Danger.” The danger was that although we are doing three parts, only one will be chosen (by a dice) that we would present and be graded on. AFter the introduction, she showed us an example of an E example of a created rap.

Homework!

• Blog Assignment #10
• W.W. Draft 2 due TONIGHT at 8 PM

Have a nice night!

 

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #10

What is your album cover?  Just follow the steps below to find out and post your results here.  (Yeah, yeah, it’s not academic, but it sure is fun and it’ll test the ‘Effective User of Technology’ ESLR for Team 11 just in time for report cards.  )

1 – Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 – Click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 – Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 – Use Photoshop or something similar to put it all together.
Maybe even use the lolcat builder if you have to:
http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/

5 – Upload your completed masterpiece to a free image hosting site like imageshack then post the link for it here.

 

November 13, 2009

It’s Friday the 13th (watch out for Jason)

Today we had a quiz on the medieval times notes and on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

HW: Draft 2 due monday, blog assignment due tonight at 8 pm, and the price analysis in due monday (don’t forget)

 

November 10,2009

Homework: Blog Assignment 9, Finish reading Sir gawain and the blue margin questions (216-221) and work on Draft 2.

Gameplan: ssr as usual and Harkness.

Harkness for the inner circle 1-at first multiple conversations began to emerge but was soon redirected back on topic when we started all over.

Harkness for the inner circle 2- Had better questions and better topics to go over. They brought up the topic of how much society has been impacted by chivalry. There were also many side conversations, but they quickly got back on track.

 

November 9, 2009 Monday

In class: we started with ssr as usual. Followed by a minilesson of a literary response on creating a prompt worth writing for. In the minilesson there were steps to making a good prompt and an english formula for those steps T/S +D+C+R=P (Thinking skill +Depth+Complexity+Resource=Prompt). We after did an art project of a multiple wheel type thing that helped you create a good prompt based on the english formula. After we answered questions from The Book Of If where JP A answered that he would want to be reincarnated as his mom when she was rich and happy.

The homework: Blog Assignment 9 and peer review is due at 8pm tonight. And Begin reading Sir Gawain (pg 210-216) and answer the blue margin questions (5)

 

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #9

Create at least 3 prompts for a possible literary response piece using the wheel of learning.

 

November 5, 2009 Thursday

Schedule!

Excalibur!

HOMEWORK!

W.W. First Draft DUE TOMORROW!

Blog Assignment DUE TOMORROW!

 

November 3, 2009 Tuesday

Schedule!

We had a lot of announcements today.

Mr. Strand: “It was not my idea. I did not come up with Stop the Party.”

Jeannette:”If you eat from the pantry, you should also bring stuff to restock.” Patrick: “Why don’t we all bring some money?” Jeannette: ” I don’t mind hitting up Costco.”

Sakshi: “Mrs. Thinnes is teaching a SAT prep class at school. $132 for Six weeks, Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Tell Mrs. Edwards thank you, for toughing it out with the W.W. pieces.

We watched Excalibur today. Very cheesy. But kind of interesting. Not as cool as the Dr. Who episode though.

HOMEWORK!

W.W. draft 1 DUE THIS FRIDAY!

Blog assignment due this Friday too!