Correction   From monday's H/W (C/D and G/H)
H/W - Finish your piece -100 words -USE JUST TOOLS AND SIMPLE SENTENCES (Due Tue)

If you didn't turn this work into SeeSAW on Monday night - Because I didn't say - Add to Seesaw - You have an opportunity to resubmit this to SeeSAW  before next Wed. if you want to change your PS grade

Poetry Oscars (POscars)

POSCARS - Begin on Wed. Each day there will be two matches per class. Make sure you are ready

Voting
-Up to 1 min speech explaining the poem
-Class votes for winner - teacher may override vote
-Quality of Recitation (PIPES)

- New poem for every new round.

How to win?

• Choose a poem with 'meat'
• Give an interpretation of the meaning of poem.
• Practice performing and memorizing the poem
• Use facial expressions, body language etc. (PIPES)
• Props possible.

H/W Finish your two voice poem. (You should have at least 5 compound sentences in it.)
You will deliver it in class tomorrow

Classwork - Copy/paste these sentences into your digital notebook

1. The man walked into the room, greeted the guests, and left.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

2. Peter played football; he loves being out on the field.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

3. The island was filled with many trails winding through the thick underbrush, a small hill, and dangerous ravines.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

4. Mary peered at the beautiful village, for it reminded her of home.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

5. Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880 and died in 1968.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

6. Standing in the corner, the child pouted and sulked all morning.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

7. Eventually, she entered Radcliffe College, an all girls’ school, and she graduated with honors in 1904.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

8.   To show enthusiasm, Sara began planning and preparing her summer vacation in December.

Number of independent clauses_______________ Sentence Type_______________

H/W tonight. Spend 10 minutes working on the NoRed Ink exercises.

Make sure you are thinking about your poems for your POscars performances

Secret Word: The Road Less Traveled

Poetry: Preassessment Day

RETURN ALL CLASSROOM LIBRARY BOOKS YOU HAVE AT HOME THAT YOU ARE NOT READING - No H/W tomorrow night for you if you return 3 or more that you have sitting in your house. My shelves are empty... BRING THEM BACK!

Sentence Fluency Preassessment: NoREdInk must be completed by END of CLASS Thursday.

Poetry Digital Notebook: see link

Grammar Recap

Using tools and simple sentences

The secret word is Superbowl

H/W - Finish your piece -100 words -USE JUST TOOLS AND SIMPLE SENTENCES (Due Tue)

POscars begin Wed. after CNY. How far will you go?

Champion 2014-15

Enjoy this sophisticated essay bu Subi. for those interested in wanting to see 'exemplary' - read below

Changing for Change The inspiring writer and leadership speaker, Robin Sharma once said “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Everyone knows that abrupt change is inevitable. If you choose to accept the hardest part of the situation, only then can many new opportunities come. The engaging and relatable story All-Ball by Mary Pope Osborne is about a young girl whose father has to move to Korea for a year. This leads to the rest of her family to move out of the military post she has lived in for her whole life to a drastically different place, Florida. The Last Kiss by Ralph Fletcher is a heartwarming story in which the main character used to always get a kiss from his mom and dad before going to sleep but one day that was changed when his father didn’t kiss him goodnight. In both these encouraging stories, the main protagonists had to go through the continuum and struggles of abrupt change. It was hard and confusing at first but in the end it leaded to a greater understanding of their situation and opened up many new opportunities. Going from living in a perfect world to a difficult situation is never easy but both main characters from All-Ball and The Last Kiss had to go through this common struggle. It is clear the main character of All-Ball lives in a utopia. “I loved the neat lawns, clean streets, trim houses and starched uniforms.” (page 1) This shows that every aspect of her life at the moment is perfect, everything is clean, neat and nothing is out of order. By saying ‘I loved’ she is showing that she is not prepared for change and wants her life to remain the same for as long as possible. Another section of the story that proves this is her vivid dream of the guards chasing away a couple of ghosts that tried to come onto their military post. The ghosts are a symbol of her insecurity and the guards are stopping the reality from entering her world, but this would soon change. It was a spring night when the main character learnt that her father would be leaving for korea in six weeks, and stay there for an entire year. Although it may not seem significant, but the setting warns the reader that change is coming. Spring is when the snow melts and flowers start to emerge from the ground, since it was a spring night it shows that change is about to take place. The main character is placed in a difficult situation when she learns her family will be moving out of her unblemished world and instead to Florida. It is not abnormal to move to a new country, but it is relatable and hard when it is out of the blue and completely new. Likewise, in the short story The Last Kiss, the main character experienced a change in his normal routine. Every night before going to bed, the primary character would always get a kiss from his mother and father. “These kisses were a regular part of the bedtime routine” he says on page 81. A key word from this quote is regular, this shows that he never had to worry about anything. A kiss usually symbolizes support and since he got two every night, you could easily tell he had a lot of love surrounding him and people to rely on. Also on page 81, he says “After that I got under the covers and it was an easy glide to sleep.” Most people find it hard to automatically drift into a deep sleep. Since he specifically states it is an easy glide into sleep it shows that he has no worries and can experience life without a single doubt. It was a turn of events when one night instead of a goodnight kiss, he received a handshake from his father. In summary, both main protagonists’ lives and routines were altered, leaving them in a difficult situation. Moving deeper into the story, the authors of both stories provide many clues that suggest a fixed mindset from the main characters. On page 11 of All-Ball, the main character chooses to only focus on the bad side of moving. “There were no kids in the whole neighborhood. There were no real trees in our small yard-just a few scrubby ones. There was no wide open parade field to play on.” She chooses to point out the differences between her old military post and her new home which just makes her hate Florida even more. Not only this but she also points out “a huge water bug scuttling across the floor of the TV room, and a gigantic black spider hovering in the corner of the garage.” These bugs were never there in her military post and, like the ghosts from her dream, they symbolize impurity and insecurity. The gigantic black spider is almost like her view of reality, creepy, disgusting and unwanted. By failing to see the advantages of moving to a wonderful state like Florida she just built a wall in her head that blocks out everything except the disadvantages of her new life. This wall is her fixed mindset, with this wall she would never realize the pros of her new home.

Correspondingly, in the story The Last Kiss the main character had had a fixed mindset and didn’t want his routine to change.“Two more times I went to Dad for a good-night kiss.” He keeps trying and trying to make sure his routine stays the same, this shows that he doesn’t believe he is ready for change and doesn’t want it to happen. Also, on page 83 the main character is stunned and “For a few seconds I didn’t move". This shows that he is scared and confused. As many people know, change can be frightening. If I was in this character’s shoes, I too would have been confused. I think it is normal for an individual to try to keep things as they are, but in the end change is inevitable and the outcome will gorgeous. Towards the ends of the stories, the main characters from both short stories the character’s perspective changes and the wall that blocked the positives of their situation was finally knocked down. In the story All-Ball, the main character started to show signs of perspective change when her dad visited her in her room to give her a new ball. The first sentence he said was “I like your barrette” (pg16), he was referring to the “pink Scottie dog barrette locked onto (her) tangled hair”. This is significant because barrettes are used to hold your hair back from blocking your face- specifically your eyes. Her tangled hair are her problems and the barrette in her hair is symbolizing the main character being able to realize a new aspect of moving and change that she hadn't been able to see before. “The truth was I hadn’t thought much about his coming home.” This sentence is showing that the wall blocking her from seeing the good side of situations has been knocked down because when the wall was still up, she hadn’t thought about how her father would come home and they would be a family again. The new ball her father gave her is like her new open mindset, even though she didn’t want the ball at first, at the end she gave in which is like her accepting her new growth and open mindset. Not only this but her father had also said he would bring back a pearl ring for her. Pearls are often thought of being able to strengthen relationships and keep children safe and rings are a symbol of commitment. This shows that the pearl ring is very significant as if to say that her dad will always be there for her- at least in spirit. Adding on to that, at the end of the story, the main character was “clutching the pieces of All-Ball along with the new white ball.” (pg18) Like the pearl ring, this also shows that a little piece of her past and her dad will always be there with and for her. Now that she has grown into a new mindset, new opportunities have opened up for her. For instance, the imaginary friends she had made up with All-Ball can be replaced with real friends. Not only this but with an open mindset she is able to learn and experience new places other than the military post. This would give her a better grasp of reality and she will be able to expand her knowledge on many subjects. This message is also reflected in The Last Kiss. For example, on page 82 the main character recalled, “At first I just stood there, confused. Finally I took his hand and shook it the way I’d seen men shake hands.” Just standing there is almost like he is not sure of change and still wants to get a kiss from his mom and dad every night. After a while, he shook his father’s hand. This symbolizes he is accepting the fact that he won’t always get a goodnight kiss and is okay with this new routine. Just like in All-Ball, at the very end of the book everything was clear to the main character. “My father and I had drifted away from each other in a small but important way, a way that I couldn’t explain, not even to myself.” (page 84) By accepting the hardest part of abrupt change, the main protagonist was able to morph his relationship with his father into a much more mature bond. Just like the pearl ring in the story All-Ball, a kiss signifies a bond and commitment to someone, a kiss on the cheek also symbolizes support. The father took a big step by suddenly changing his son’s routine, but I am very proud of that. It must have been hard not knowing how he would react to this change, but he did it anyway and the result was beautiful. This is because by changing one part of the main character’s, he completely strengthened his bond with his son. According to the Oxford Dictionary the definition of mature is “fully developed physically; full-grown”. The main character in this story is now mature and does not need to rely on his father as much as before. This has opened up many new opportunities for them because their relationship can keep getting stronger now.

The charismatic stories All-Ball by Mary-Pope Osborne and The Last Kiss taught not only the main characters of the stories but also the readers a very important lesson. Although challenging at times, the outcomes of change are gorgeous, but to get there you must keep an open and growth mindset. Having a growth mindset is key because that way you are open to new possibilities. Not only this but with a growth mindset it is easier to gain a deeper understanding of situations as you are not blocking out anything. This way new opportunities will be knocking at your doorstep in no time.

Transmediation: Final Day

Lesson Recap

H/W - You will turn in piece into Seesaw with an image/photo at the end of Friday's class. You will have one hour in class Friday to finish your piece, proof read, edit, and turn in your piece

Summative Rubric

Membean Test Friday

Reading across texts: Planning Day

Examples of possible graphic organizers and how you might use them.

You should be close to finishing your graphic organizer by the beginning of Thursday's lesson.

Side note: there will be Membean test on Friday.

H/W - Bring in a photograph that captures a 'CLAIM' that could go across both texts:ALL BALL and LAST KISS - DUE WED

How deep is your thinking?

The Secret Word is: SUCCESS

Transmediation Day 4 Responding with Music

Lesson Recap

Summative Rubric

Read Hunter's piece: comments appreciated - What did he do well?

The Cages In Society

You can’t write out your life before you know what is coming your way. In the short stories Stolen Party and Everything will be Okay both main characters have a conflict with their parents. However, the boy in Everything will be Okay was declaring his independence where Rosaura should have heeded the advice of her mother for she was the wise character in the story. Splattered paint represents chaos, fear and confusion on the painting. Both a cellar and cage come up in the story both representing deep and dark places and secrets. He goes to his cellar (pg. 40) when he was mad and upset symbolising that he is hiding within his own fears. The kitten is describing what he is seen as to the world. Weak and scrawny is how the kitten is described (pg. 37) and phrases are used like “Be a man” (pg. 43) when his brother is telling him how to act and who to be. Most people would think of this situation as a shadow dooming them and describing them. But unlike in The Stolen Party this character found his switch and declared that no one will decide who he will be when he says “I will decide what kind of boy I am, what kind of man I will become.” (pg. 44) he is showing that he will write out his own life and from now on he is the one making his own decisions. Similarities come up in the “Stolen Party” Rosaura dreams of power and even says that one day she would like to have the power over life and death over her subjects. But that is not all. There is a cage with the monkey in it, trapped but yet so peaceful as if it was unaware that he was isolated. She is the monkey, except her cage is social status. She does not belong with the rich kids in the sense that she does not have the same amount of power and wealth as them. She was fueling her own fire when she continued to do slave chores such as passing out the cake (pg. 3) The monkey was trapped in the place where the servants work, the kitchen proving that she has been trapped in a cage told who she is and what defines her. Her light switch, yellow with the glowing ability to heal and help, was the magician. Who when performing with the monkey out of the cage and calling him “partner” (pg. 3) and then goes on saying, “I need a volunteer for his act and choosing her.” (pg. 3) he showed her that there was a way out of the cage and out of the kitchen. She did not have to become a rich kid, that would not make her happy she just needed to realize that her life was not there for her to take and that even though she does not have money or power she could choose what she wanted to become. Others do not make us who we are, money does not make us who we are, the way we choose to be different and separate us from everyone else.

H/W

Bring a song that you know to class tomorrow and say how it relates to the short story you read in groups today. Make sure you can discuss different elements of musician's craft, see image below, and say how they relate to your short story.

This WEEK

Membean test on Friday. This is a membean week. You are expected to reach 30 minutes all 40 minutes for exemplary. 

On Friday you must turn in your summative reading across text. You will receive the second story in class tomorrow. The rest of the week you'll be given time to read and reread both stories and find connections that go across both texts. You'll be able to select your own medium to show your thinking. For example, photography, art, music, image etc.

Make sure you keep up with your independent reading this week. Eventually, We will be writing reading responses that go across multiple stories.

Coming next week: Poetry unit and the Poscars 
(The Poetry Oscars) 

Students go head-to-head in a competition of poetry recitation. If you win a round, you move to the next round. For each round you need a new poem. It takes approximately one month to finish the Poscars. In the end, we will have a Poscar champion for  each class and then the finals for the entire C-Side. What you be ready with beautifully recited poetry and claim your position, reap fame and fortune, and become internationally recognized as a POSCAR Champion? Start memorizing your favorite poems!

Transmediation Day 3: Reading Across Texts

See sample answer from today

H/W - Come with an idea for your painting that captures the essence of a theme that goes across the two texts we read this week.

Trnasmediation: Day 2

Today we learned some strategies on how to find that essence of any story.



Homework: Go to Seesaw and comment on at least two posts from today's class. Things you might say could include
I was impressed by your thinking on
I disagree with your opinion about
I never thought about

Read for 25 to 30 minutes

Trans-mediation: Day 1

Lesson Recap, photography techniques you learned today.

H/W - ALL CLASSES - Take a photograph that represents a big idea in the book you are reading at the moment. Paste your photographs into seesaw and write a brief explanation about what the photograph represents. (Due Wed)

Read for 30mins

Membean Week - 30minutes by end of class FRIDAY (40 for exemplary)

e.g

Welcome Back

H/W - Make sure you finished your goodreads set up and completed your post for seesaw - Due Tue

Good Reads: Link to Set Up

Video Explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=o7BQ0AqjPZ4

READ for 30mins - You should finish your first book by FRIDAY. (we will read a lot in class this week)