Game Plan
- Excalibur
HW: Blog Assignment #8
Work on WW #2 First Draft – Due Friday
November 5, 2009
November 4, 2009
Game Plan:
- Excalibur
HW: Blog Assignment #8
Work on WW #2 Draft 1 – Due Friday
November 2, 2009
Game Plan
- SSR + Welcome Scribe!
- North: Collect magazine
- Explain blog assignment
- A word about Writing Workshop
- Finish Medieval Time Study Guide
HW: Blog Assignment # 8
Work on WW #2 Draft 1 – (Due Friday)
November 2, 2009
Nothing screams ‘medieval times’ like a coat of arms. Since we will begin our journey into this time period by reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I thought it appropos for you to channel your inner knight/lady and create your own personal shield.
Traditionally, a coat of arms represents the core values and ideals of a family. Some of you may already have a family crest, but for this assignment, I need for you to design one that symbolizes YOU and your personal beliefs.
Because some of us might be limited by our ability to draw and/or upload images onto the blog, all I require is a written explanation forat least 3 symbols, and a Latin motto (with translation). Of course, you are free to upload an image of your shield for possible extra points, but an acceptable post would look something like this:
Motto:
Scientia sapientes juvat – Knowledge calls the wise ones
Symbols used:
- gold fox (for one who will use all that he/she may possess of wisdom and wit in his/her own defense
- blue lion (for truth, loyalty and dauntless courage)
- orange torch (for worthy ambition, truth and intelligence)
Here are a couple of sites that may prove useful for this assignment:
The Meanings Behind the Symbols
Have fun! 
October 29, 2009
AGENDA(Door) #1
- SSR
- Finish Medieval Times Study Guide pg.74(old text)
AGENDA(Door)#2
- Finish Medieval Times Study Guide pg.74(old text) for only 40 minutes
- Surprise Activity for rest of the class
HW for both: Work on polished draft due tomorrow at 8pm, Revolution Magazine due Monday, & bridges.access.com career assignment due Monday
Before class started Mrs.Edwards explained and called for a poll of which door the class wanted to enter. Seventeen people wanted door one, but the rest of the class as Mrs. Edwards put it wanted to “risk it” and gamble on door two. So the deal with door two was that the class had only forty minutes to finish the Medieval Times Study Guide from yesterday and whoever completely finished said time will receive a homework pass. Those who didn’t will have an extension on Monday. Although since no one actually finished and everyone was working diligently, Mrs. Edwards kindly lessen the agreement and gave those who made it to the back side of the guide a homework pass. Then came the secret activity that most of us betted on. It just turned out to be a viewing of ”Doctor Who”, Mrs. Edwards Halloween treat for the class.
October 28, 2009
- SSR + welcome scribes
- New W.W. dates + the Pohlman
- Medieval Times Study Guide Pg. 74(old text book)
- HW: Work on Polished Draft due Friday by 8pm & Magazine due Monday
The class began with SSR as usual. Then Mrs.Edwards made a couple announcements. First she announced the new due dates for thenxt writing workshop which are:
- Draft 1- Nov. 6
- Peer Review- Nov. 9
- Draft 2- Nov.16
- Peer Review-Nov. 20
- Polished Piece- Dec.4
Mrs.Edwards continued that there will be no longer be writing workshop in class (with the exception of maybe the day before a polished piece is due every now and again) as the class should understand the process now. Then she talked about how the next writing workshop piece needs to be a different genre or the same just this once as their is one free choice. The next thing mentioned was the pohlman and how it has gone into effect for three people in this class. Mrs.Edwards re-emphazied how serious that is when she spoke of a student in another house that had his grade dropped from a 85% p to a 70% ap minus because of that. Mid-Semester Grade Reports was then thrown into attention. They are due next weekend, but they will not include the grade for the writing workshop polished piece due this Friday. That then brought up the format of how the polished piece should be submitted Friday:
- Name and house top right hand corner
- Title in the center of the next line
- Underneath should be the genre and the 3-5 sentenced blurb that will not count against word count
- Then followed by polished piece.
Announcements ended and the rest of the day was filled with the independant task of reading and answering the Medieval Times study guide. Two class days was given to finish this, but 3 sections were required to get points for today. This was signified by a stamp. The time today we had to do this was from 10:16 to 11:02.
October 28, 2009
Today Mrs. Edward was absent and Mrs. Hunsecker substituted. However, instead of doing english, the class consisted of the introduction into the future career help website bridges.access.com. This was taken place in Cal Poly’s Science lab building also known as the pointy thing on campus. Once there our school’s counsler, Michelle Parker, took us through step by step of how to sign up for the website the school has paid so much to have. Immediately when everyone was signed on, a personality aptitude test was given to see which careers fit best for each person. Conclusively, this was in order for the junior class to start preparing for what classes they want to take in college. Even though this was not a normal class, a homework was assigned that will count as an actual grade for english. Basically the assigment is a list of steps you need to accomplish on the site to help you get used to the site. That is due next Monday. Finally, it was required for all juniors to visit bridges.access.com for at least 30 minutes every week for the rest of the school year.
October 19, 2009
So, people, let’s crack open that Lit book! Next week we shall be embarking on a journey into the Middle Ages – aka the medieval period – and we begin with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. For those not familiar with the Arthur legend, it would be a good idea to at least wiki ‘King Arthur’ and get a general sense of the story.
But that is not the assignment for the week. This week, I’d like you to start getting comfortable with the vocabulary used in the poem. So, go to page 209 of your text – yes, the big, purple book! – and find the 15 words listed in a box marked ‘WORDS TO KNOW’. Go ahead and find the definitions of these words on your own, if you don’t know them already, then come back to the blog and complete this:
Compose a short paragraph using the vocabulary words correctly and inventively. No, you may not change the form of the words (i.e. changing it from a noun to an adjective) and yes, the paragraph has to make sense. You need to put each word in ALL CAPS within the body of your paragraph. Using 5 words appropriately gets you an AP; 10 words is the P; all 15 words earns the AE. Of course, if you have egregious grammar/conventions errors, your grade will go down, regardless of how many words you do use.
Have fun!
October 15, 2009
Game Plan
- SSR
- Book Orders?
- Minilesson:Reflective Essay
- Workshop
We started off class with SSR and then Mrs. Edwards asked if we had any book orders. The book orders were due today. She told us about the peer reviews that are in a bucket that we can do for extra credit. She then gave us a mini lesson on Reflective Essays. Reflective Essays are composed of four elements: the incident,thoughts and feelings then and now, and the universal truth. We then worked on our new essay or our second draft of our old story for writing workshop.
HW: Blog Assignment #6 due Friday 8pm
Work on 2nd draft due Monday 8 pm on turnitin.com
Project Revolution Article due Friday in house/10:30 am
October 12, 2009
Game Plan
- SSR & Welcome Scribes!
- Collect Progress Reports
- A word about peer reviews & Blog Assignment #6
- Mini Lesson : S.T.A.R.
- Workshop
We started off our class with SSR for 20 minutes. Then Mrs. Edwards explained our schedule for tomorrow and collected our progress reports. She went over Peer Reviews, that are due tonight at 8 pm, because there was some confusion on how it is done. She also explained our blog for this week and a mini lesson about S.T.A.R.- substitute, take out, add, and rearrange. We then were able to do writing workshop and/or our peer review.
