In Class Writing

Goal: On demand, in class, writing assessment.

Agenda: 
Read
Assessment

Block Schedule:
Today we have block schedule because the juniors and seniors are participating in a drunk driving prevention activity.

Our assessment: 
Today in class you will read a second text and compare it to the short story you read yesterday. I will give you the second text and the prompt in class.

Absent? 
See Mrs. Roberts after spring break to make up this assessment.

CALL IT IN:

• Call in and read from your essay comparing Poe and Laughton ("Cask of Amontillado" and Night of the Hunter.)
• Read your introduction and one of your body paragraphs. DO NOT read your paragraph about mood! (We wrote that one together, so you can't use it for this.)
• Use the phone number posted in our classroom. And on the chart at right. Do not use my PLHS school phone number. (If you have to dial an extension you are calling the wrong number.)
• Call in by 9:00 PM on Wednesday 3/24 for 90% credit. (Full credit was yesterday.)

A little assessment

Goal: Read some new texts so that you can write about them tomorrow.

Agenda: 
Read
Readings for assessment

New Text: 

• I've shared a new story with you using GoFormative. 
• Be sure to click on the green and blue boxes as you read to get more information and answer some questions. If you can't answer a question go back and re-read until you can answer the question. 
• Click HERE to go to the story. 

Essay Coming Soon:
In our next class (either Thursday or Friday) I'll be giving you another short text to compare with the story you read today. We will be writing essays in class when we meet again.

CALL IT IN:

• Call in and read from your essay comparing Poe and Laughton ("Cask of Amontillado" and Night of the Hunter.)
• Read your introduction and one of your body paragraphs. DO NOT read your paragraph about mood! (We wrote that one together, so you can't use it for this.)
• Use the phone number posted in our classroom. And on the chart at right. Do not use my PLHS school phone number. (If you have to dial an extension you are calling the wrong number.)
• Call in by 9:00 PM on Wednesday 3/23 for full credit. 

Block Schedule is Coming:
Thursday will be periods 1-3-7
Friday will be periods 2-4-6

Spring break is a great time to catch up or get ahead 
on reading a book you enjoy. 

Do you have a good book to read over break? 

A Guide for Comparative Analysis

Goal: Create a guide for comparative analysis.

Agenda: 
Read
Your task
Project time

Your Task: 
Your "friend" at another school has been given a comparative analysis assignment, but his/her teacher is not being helpful about how to do it. Make a guide for your friend that will help him/her tackle the process of preparing for and writing a comparative analysis essay.

Dear "You",
HELP! My teacher says I have to do a comparative analysis. I have to pick two things and write an essay about them. The things could be stories, poems, movies, or even art! I can even mix them up, like compare a poem to a piece of art. I have to decide what to compare and decide what I'm going to compare them about! I don't know where to start and the whole thing is due on WEDNESDAY! I remember you said you did something like this before. Can you tell me what I need to do? Please!

Suggestions: 
Work together.
Decide what steps will be in your guide.
Decide what your guide will look like.
Decide which tools/materials you will need to make it.
Decide who will do what to get this made by Wednesday.
Don't be boring.

Question Doc: 
You can ask me questions, but only on this QUESTION DOC. I will post answers there. Before you ask your question look to see if someone else has already asked that question.

Friday: Catch up and Article of the Week

Goals: Catching up and article of the week.

Agenda:
Read
Make up work?
Article of the week.

Make Up Work: 
Were you absent Thursday? Did you just need a bit more time. Scroll down to the blog post for yesterday and:

1. Submit your book reviews
2. Self-score your English Journal

Article of the week: 

I'm sorry it's been awhile since we had an AOW. 

Do you remember the directions? 

Read the assigned article on Newsela. Get the article HERE. 

Write a TWO paragraph response in your English Journal: 

1. The first paragraph should summarize the article. Include main points and a few supporting details. 
2. The second paragraph is your opinion about the situation. 

Need the class code to join Newsela? See the chart back by the printer. 

Book Review Submissions

Goal: Reviewing the books you have read recently and adding your self-score to your English Journal.

Agenda:
Read
Book Reviews
English Journal Self Score

Book Reviews: 

• You are submitting reviews today for TWO different books you read. 
• You should already have a recent review posted on Goodreads. If you do not you should work on that first. 
• Remember you can start your review, save it and get the link, then go back and edit it later to finish your review. (Be sure to edit/finish your review before I grade it.)
• You will use the review form to submit the link to your Goodreads review and write some answers about the OTHER book you read. 
• BOOK REVIEW SUBMISSION FORM

English Journal Self Score:

1. Visit the ENGLISH JOURNAL SCORING GUIDE and decide how you would score your own English Journal based on that scoring guide. 
2. PASTE the sentence below in you YOUR English Journal at the top. Fill in the number and reasons you scored your EJ that way. 

I believe that the work in my English Journal should earn a ...(enter number from scoring guide)... because...(give reasons why you earned that score.)

Reminders: 

English journals are due tomorrow. Get ready for your self evaluation on those. Be sure all work is complete. 

Comparative analysis essays due next week. 

Note: Mrs. R is gone Thursday and Friday. Ms. Hanan and Ms. Love will be covering our classes. 

Goodreads and Growth Mindset

Goal: Exploring the impact of growth mindset on our educational experiences.

Agenda:
Read
Goodreads review
Growth Mindset

Goodreads: You will be submitting book reviews tomorrow. Yes, I changed my mind. I'll be gone tomorrow so that's a better task for you to work on then.

The GIF to the right is a reminder of how you access the link to a review that you have already posted on Goodreads.

Growth Mindset: 
The way we think about learning and improvement has a lot to do with how we will learn or improve. We will be discussing this in class today and we watched the video below.

Reminders:
Tomorrow you will submit your book reviews and self-score your English Journal.
Mrs. R will be gone Thursday and Friday. Ms. Hanan and Ms. Love will be covering our classes.

Writing Groups for Comparative Analysis Essays

Goal: Writing groups for your comparative analysis essays.

Agenda:
Read
Writing Group Procedures
Writing Groups
Debrief

Writing Groups: 

• Sharing your writing with a group will help you improve your writing and learn what a reader might think while reading your work. 
• Follow the procedures in the chart or on THIS PAGE with your group. 

Reminders: 

Read! (Really not kidding about that. Book reviews happen tomorrow!)

Make revisions to your comparative analysis essay. Final drafts will be due next week.
English Journals due Thursday.

Catch Up Day

Goal: Catch up and/or get ahead.

Agenda:
Read
Quick write
Catch up and get ahead

Quick write:
Describe the process of writing your comparative analysis essay. What was difficult about it? What was easy? What do you know now about writing essays that you didn't understand before?

Catch Up Day:
The grading period ends this Friday! Tomorrow we will have writing groups for your comparative analysis papers. Today I want to give you some time to catch up and/or get ahead. I suggest you work on these things in this order.

1. Finish your comparative analysis essay
2. Post a new review on Goodreads. (You need this there before Wednesday.)
3. Make sure you have all assignments in your English Journal complete.
4. Read your book so you will be finished by Wednesday. 
5. Check PS for work you need to do to bring up grades in other classes. 

Adding an introduction and conclusion

Goals: Adding introduction and conclusions to your essay. 

Agenda:
Read
Working on your essay

Introduction:

1. The names of the authors and the titles of their work. 
2. A brief summary (one-three sentence) of the gist of each creation, text or film.
3. A thesis statement that explains how the author and director use similar or different techniques to create the irony, moods, and themes in their works.

Conclusion: 

1. Restate your claims, hint look at the beginning of each of your body paragraphs. 
2. Restate your thesis statement from the introduction. 

Reminders: 

Keep writing. Draft of your complete essay is due Monday 3/14. 

Keep reading. Book reviews happen on Wednesday 3/16. 

Making Progress on our Essay

Goal: The essay continues. Your goal today is progress.

Agenda:
Read
Make progress on your essay.

Resources: 

Collected Evidence: The examples you submitted.

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Absent yesterday? 

1. Look for the assignment sheet shared with you in Google Drive. 
2. Review the writing task below. 
3. Watch the Mood Paragraph tutorial video. And use it to help you write your mood paragraph. 

Writing Task:Consider the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the movie The Night of The Hunter (1955) directed by Charles Laughton. What techniques do the author and director use to create the theme and mood?
Write a comparison/contrast essay discussing the similarities and differences between these two works. Keep in mind how the author and filmmaker use various literary and cinematic techniques to create mood, theme, and irony.

Reminders: 
Keep writing. Draft of your complete essay is due Monday 3/14. 
Keep reading. Book reviews happen on Wednesday 3/16. 

Building on success: Add another paragraph to your comparative analysis essay.

Click on the picture to see it larger. 

Goal: Writing paragraphs on irony for our comparative analysis paper.

Agenda:
Read
Adding to your essay


Adding to your essay:

• Today you will add a paragraph about the irony Poe and Laughton use to your comparative analysis essay. 
• Work with a partner at your table. It is alright if you both write the same thing, but you can also be different from each other.
• Use the paragraph we wrote together yesterday as your model. 
• If you get stuck ask for advice at your table or watch the Mood Paragraph tutorial video.
• Still stuck ask Mrs. R. 

Collected Evidence: The examples you submitted.

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Absent yesterday? 

1. Look for the assignment sheet shared with you in Google Drive. 
2. Review the writing task below. 
3. Watch the Mood Paragraph tutorial video. And use it to help you write your mood paragraph. 

Writing Task:Consider the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the movie The Night of The Hunter (1955) directed by Charles Laughton. What techniques do the author and director use to create the theme and mood?
Write a comparison/contrast essay discussing the similarities and differences between these two works. Keep in mind how the author and filmmaker use various literary and cinematic techniques to create mood, theme, and irony.

Reminders: 
Keep writing. Draft of your complete essay is due Monday 3/14. 
Keep reading. Book reviews happen on Wednesday 3/16. 

Comparative Analysis Essay for Poe and Laughton

Goal: Getting started on our comparative analysis paper.

Agenda:
Read
Comparative Analysis Assignment
Modeled Writing: Mood Paragraph

Comparative Analysis Assignment:

1. I have sent you a new Google Doc called "Comparative Analysis Essay"
2. Find it in your "Shared with me" section in Google Drive. 
3. Read the prompt carefully to yourself and then we will write one of the paragraphs together. 
4. Mood Paragraph tutorial video. 

Writing Task:Consider the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the movie The Night of The Hunter (1955) directed by Charles Laughton. What techniques do the author and director use to create the theme and mood?

Write a comparative analysis essay about these two works. Consider how each uses irony, mood, and other literary and cinematic techniques to reveal the theme. 

Collected Evidence: The examples you submitted.

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Click to see this picture larger. 

Collecting Evidence from Night of the Hunter

Goal: Collecting evidence from Night of the Hunter.

Agenda:
Read
Quick write
Collecting Evidence

Quick write:
Summarize Night of the Hunter in exactly four sentences.
Bonus challenge: One of the sentences should have exactly ten words.

Collecting Evidence:
Just as you did for "Cask of Amontillado," today you will work with your partner to describe and explain scenes from Night of the Hunter.

• Use this FORM to submit your responses. 
• Use the notes you took while watching the film. 
• Remember that your answers will be shared with all of my classes to support your work when we begin writing our comparative analysis essays. 
• Use complete sentences, please. 

Movie at Lunch:

Remember if you missed part of Night of the Hunter I am re-showing it at lunch this week. 

Reminders: 

• The first grading period ends next week. Check power school to see if there is anything you can do in your classes to bring up your grades. 
• Talking to your teachers helps too. 
• Next week we will submit book reviews and self-score English Journals. 

Viewing Night of the Hunter, final day

Goal: Finish watching Night of the Hunter and continue watching for irony, mood, and theme.

Agenda: 
Read
Watch the last 33 minutes of the film
Continue notes
Preview next week

Film: 
Today the exciting conclusion of Night of the Hunter. Will Harry Powell get away with his crimes as Montressor did, or will he be caught in time? Continue watching for all kinds of irony, see how the director creates various moods for each scene, and look out for those bits about the theme.

Speaking of theme, remember the quote in the beginning, "Beware of false prophets in sheep's clothing, for really they are ravening wolves." How does that fit with what you know about the film now?

Preview:
Next week we will start by collecting evidence about irony, mood and theme in the film. Think about what you want to use as your examples.
Then we begin working on our comparative analysis of "Cask of Amontillado" and Night of the Hunter. 

Remember: 

I am re-showing Night of the Hunter at lunch today, Monday and Tuesday. If you missed any part of the film or just want to see it again you are welcome to bring your lunch and watch it here. 

Visiting the Counselors

Goal: Visit the counseling office to check on your course requests.

Agenda:
Visit the counselors
Read

Today we will be in the counseling office to review your course selections for next year.
Bring your book so you can read while you wait your turn.

Back in class?
If you are able to come back to class you can work on these things:

• Update your Goodreads status. Make sure the book you are reading is your "currently reading" book. 
• Check your English Journal
• Read, or start your book review. 

Reminders:

Keep reading. We will be doing book reviews on 3/16. 

Remember if you miss a part of Night of the Hunter I am re-screening it at lunch. 

Viewing Night of the Hunter: Day 1

Goal: Watch the first 30 minutes of Night of the Hunter while making notes about items related to the theme, mood and irony in the film.

Agenda: 
Read
Note set up
Things to watch for
Film viewing

Notetaking:
How could you organize your notes to look for theme, mood and irony before we begin watching the film?

1. Open your English journal and set up a note taking system for yourself. 
2. As we watch the film make a note of any irony you see. 
3. Look for settings, or shots the reflect various moods in the film. 
4. See if you can spot a reference to the theme near the very beginning. (It is also a religious reference.)

Cinematic techniques to look for: 

• Examples of irony, especially verbal irony
• Religious symbols or references
• Canted angles and dramatic lighting
• High and low angle shots
• Foreshadowing: clues something is coming

Absent? 

Come at lunch tomorrow. I'll be re-showing the first thirty minutes of the film. 

Homework: 

Review your notes, remind yourself what you saw in the film. 

Read your independent reading book. 

We visit the counselors on Thursday.