Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Reading a new text

Goal: First read of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Agenda:
Read
Update Novel Reading Chart
First read of a new text

Update Novel Reading Chart: 
Open your chart and add what you read today. Don't forget to explain what it means. Implications matter.

Reading: 
  • A new text has been assigned to you in GoFormative. 
  • You can find the text HERE
  • Choose "Sign in with Google."
  • Read and answer the questions as you read. 


Reminders: 

Monday, October 30, 2017

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Goal: Understanding and applying direct and indirect characterization

Agenda:
Read
Reading Progress Form
Theme Paragraph Form
Direct and Indirect Characterization

Reading Progress Update: 
Complete the READING PROGRESS FORM.

Theme Paragraph Form: 
Use the form below to answer some questions about the paragraph you wrote on Friday.
These are yes or no questions. You should be saying YES to all of them, but if you need to fix something in your paragraph you can do that quickly.
THEME PARAGRAPH FORM

Direct and Indirect Characterization: 
Authors use direct and indirect characterization to tell readers about the character's in the book.

Consider your group novel. Where does the author tell you about characters?
This could include information about:
-appearance
-personality
-motivation
-their setting

Writing: 
Open your English Journal
Use this paragraph frame to write about direct and indirect characterization in your group novel.
The author of (book title), (author name), shows that  (character name) is  (character description)  using both direct and indirect characterization. For example on page (#) (the author) writes that (evidence from the text). Which shows that.... This is an example of (direct characterization) The reader also knows that (character name) is (character description) because (author) writes...(text evidence)...(page #). In this case the author is using (indirect characterization) because.... Through this evidence we can see that (character name) is....
Example:
The author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, shows that Ralph is fair haired, agile and selfish using both direct and indirect characterization. For example on page 7 Golding writes that, "The boy with the fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock..." Which states directly that Ralph has blonde hair and he is able to climb rocks. The reader can see that Ralph is selfish because he leaves Piggy behind when they first arrive on the island. "Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stole away through the branches. In a few seconds the fat boys grunts were behind him and he was hurrying toward the screen that still lay between him and the lagoon." (9) This is an example of indirect characterization because the reader must interpret Ralph's actions and decide for themselves what leaving Piggy behind says about Ralph. Through direct evidence we know that Ralph has light hair and is athletic, and through indirect evidence we can surmise that he is selfish, or at least uninterested in the struggles of others. 

Friday, October 27, 2017

Writing About Theme with Support

Goal: Explain how evidence supports the theme.

Agenda:
Read
Update Novel Reading Chart
Explain how your evidence supports the theme

Update Novel Reading Chart: 
Open your chart and add what you read today. Don't forget to explain what it means. Implications matter.

Explain your Evidence: 
  1. Open your English Journal, add today's date at the top. 
  2. Open the Theme Organizer document your team was working with on Thursday. 
  3. Copy and paste in ONE theme and one set of quotes from your book. 
  4. Write a paragraph in which you explain/defend how this theme is relevant to your book. Use the evidence/quotes you found on Thursday to support your points. Explain how that evidence supports the theme. 
Theme Paragraph Frame: (You can change this to fit what you are trying to say.)
An important theme in ...(book title)... is that (....................theme..............) The events of the novel support this theme because............ For example on page ..... it says that ".......(quote from the book)......" This shows that....... because....... Another moment from the book that reveals the theme is when....... Which is why ...... says/does....  ".....(quote)....." All of this means that.... 
Example of a theme paragraph:
An important theme in Lord of the Flies is that betrayal is a part of human nature. The events of the novel support this theme because trust begins to erode between the characters in small ways from the moment they arrive on the island, and eventually this lack of trust reaches a homicidal level. For example on page (10) Ralph betrays Piggy and tells the other kids his nickname which Ralph wasn't supposed to share. It says that “"His real name isn't fatty” cried Ralph “it's Piggy.”” This shows that from the beginning of the book the other boys were betraying each other's trust and that is when things started to go down hill.  Another moment from the book that reveals the theme is when Jack turns on Ralph saying, “There isn’t a tribe for you anymore,” and then throws a spear at him with vicious intent (165).  All of this means that when you can't trust each other you can't live together and that is why the boys’ society fell apart.


Homework: 
Finish reading your group novel before Tuesday the November 7th.
Check the calendar at the bottom of the blog for upcoming assessments.


Be sure all your work is up to date in your English Journal.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Getting motivated about theme

Goal: Learn a bit about character motivation and apply what you learned in your last lesson on theme to the book you are reading as a group.

Agenda:
Read
Reading the Novel Chart
Character Motivation
Review Theme
Theme work with your group

Reading the Novel Chart:
Update your chart with what you read today and the implications of those events.

Character motivation: 
Get motivated to learn more about character motivation.

Theme work with your group:
  • Have ONE person in your group get a copy of your theme organizer
  • That person needs to rename it correctly, share it with everyone in the group, and share it with Mrs. R. 
  • Work as a group to complete the organizer. Divide the work evenly. 
  • Remember you need evidence to go with your themes. 
  • I will look at the revision history to see who completed what.
Reminders: 
Keep reading. 
Look for what your character wants and see how he/she is/or is not achieving those short and long term goals. 
Keep thinking about how all of this supports the theme(s) you worked on today. 

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Some Novel Work and an AOW

Goals: Looking for further implications and some analytical reading.

Agenda: 
Read
Update Novel Reading Chart
Article of the Week

Mrs. R is at a teacher workshop today. You still have a lot of work to do. 

1. Update Novel Reading Chart
  1. Open your Novel Reading Chart.
  2. Update your chart with what you read today and the implications of those events. 

2. Article of the Week: 
  1. Read THIS ARTICLE on on Newsela. (Sign in with Google.)
  2. Click "open activities" and take the quiz for the article. 
  3. Open your English Journal and write two paragraphs. 
  4. The first paragraph should be an analytical summary. 
  5. The second paragraph is about your thoughts, opinions, etc. 
Reminders: 
Make sure work in your English Journal is up to date. Did you finish the reflective writing from yesterday?