The Evolution of Hip-Hop

Good morning everyone,

Today we are going to watch the following spoken poetry videos:

"Motives And Thoughts" by Lauryn Hill
"Knock Knock" by Daniel Beaty
"What I Will" by Suheir Hammad

After we watch each video, you will be asked to write for two minutes. You must write the whole time. Write about your reaction to the poem.

Answer the following questions in you EJ:
1. What affect did the sound of the language have on the meaning of the poem?
2. Was it easier to determine the tone of the piece when hearing it read outloud? Why?
3. Look back at the poems we have read/heard so far. What poems did you like the best? Explain.

Don't forget to read the PLHS bulletin!

A look at Maya Angelou

Good morning everyone,

Today we are going to start by going over some literary devices. In your EJ write down the following literary devices and their definitions as we go over them in class:

1. Tone

2. Mood

3. Imagery

4. Personification

We are going to discuss what the definitions of the literary devices AND how they are used.

Poems we will read today:

1. “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou

2. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou

Directions:

1. Copy and paste each poem into awesome highlighter. (Yes, it is working now)

2. Highlight in blue examples of personification in each poem.

3. Highlight in yellow examples of imagery in each poem.

4. Copy and paste both URL's into your EJ.

5. For each URL, answer the following questions:

a. What is the tone of the poem? Support your response with evidence from the poem.

b. What is the mood of the poem? Support your response with evidence from the poem.

c. Look at the examples of imagery you highlighted. What images came to mind?

d. Look at the examples of personification you highlighted. How do you think using personification affected the poem?

Don't forget to read the PLHS Bulletin!

I am Joaquin

Good morning everyone,

Warm-up questions:

1. What shapes who you are as a person (identity)?

2. Does your identity change throughout your life? Explain

3. Is your identity ever forced to change? Explain.

Today we are going to tackle a longer poem then we have read but trust me it is worth it. The poem is called I am Joaquin by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales. Warning: You are going to have to read through the poem atleast twice. After you have read the entire poem, complete this form. It will be graded so put effort into your responses and u

se complete sentences.

Here is the link to the PLHS Bulletin. Make sure you read it before leaving class today. It has some important information you will need to know for the rest of the year.

Close: Write about your favorite poem we have read so far.

http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects05/cam/siquieros1.jpg

Poetry and Pride

Good morning everyone,

First and foremost, here is the link to the PLHS Bulletin. Make sure you read it before leaving class today. It has some important information you will need to know for the rest of the year. Also check out the Gatsby projects and word clouds from your classmates that are now on the blog.

In your journal answer the following questions:

1. What does the word revolution mean to you?

2. What about pride?

*If you do not know these words you can look them up BUT make sure you write the definition in your own words.

Directions:

1. Read the poem “Revolutionary Dreams” Nikki Giovanni.

2. In your EJ write down what you think the tone of the poem is.

3. Copy and paste the poem into awesome highlighter.

4. Highlight all of the words in the poem that support the tone.

5. Copy and paste both links into your EJ.

6. In your EJ explain what you think the poem is saying about life (theme)?

then...

1. Read the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay.

2. In your EJ write down what you think the tone of the poem is.

3. Copy and paste the poem into awesome highlighter.

4. Highlight all of the words in the poem that support the tone.

5. Copy and paste both links into your EJ.

6. In your EJ explain what you think the poem is saying about life (theme)?

Close/Reflection: What similarities or differences did you notice in the tones of both poems? What about the themes?

What does poetry mean to me? Does it mean anything?

Good morning everyone,

First and foremost, here is the link to the PLHS Bulletin. Make sure you read it before leaving class today. It has some important information you will need to know for the rest of the year. Also check out the Gatsby projects and word clouds from your classmates that are now on the blog.

In your EJ answer the following questions:

1. What has been my past experience or exposure to poetry?

2. What images, words, or ideas do I associate with the word poetry?

3. What are my expectations for a unit on poetry? (It's OK you can be honest)

First poem we are going to read, “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll.

Questions to discuss and answer in your EJ with your partner:

1. What is this poem about?

2. Describe the Jabberwocky.

3. Describe the Bandersnatch.

Second poem we are going to read, “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks.

Questions to discuss and answer in your EJ with your partner:

1. What is this poem about?

2. Describe the people in the poem.

Reflection in your EJ: Which poem did you like better? Why?

Daily learning objective: To reflect on your current feelings on poetry. To understand that poems can be literal or figurative.

The End of Gatsby

Good morning everyone,

Today we will finish watching the rest of The Great Gatsby movie. After we finish in your EJ answer the following questions:

1. What did you like better the book or the movie? Why?

2. What were some differences you noticed between the movie and the book?

3. Did you think the characters were portrayed well? Did you think of them differently?

Some awesome word clouds by my awesome students:

The Great Gatsby Comes to a Close

Good morning all,

Gatsby projects are due today! Before you turn them in we have a few things on the agenda.

Agenda:

1. You must complete a self-evaluation form.

2. Create a word cloud image for your Gatsby project.

Directions:

a. Go to this website.

b. Paste in the entire text of your Gatsby project.

c. You can change the fonts, shape, colors, etc.

d. The words you used the most will appear the largest.

e. You can save the image you create and then insert it at the end of your Gatsby project.

3. Work on your project.

4. Make sure that the formatting is the same as if you were going to print it out.

The Gatsby Movie

Good morning everyone,

As you have probably already noticed I will not be in today. Mrs. Roberts will be showing you the rest of or some more of the movie. Over the weekend I want you to work on your Gatsby projects since the final draft is due on Tuesday. I will be checking on Monday and giving you a homework grade for working on your drafts over the weekend. Have a good day!

Good morning everyone,

It has been awhile since we did writing groups so I want to quickly review the writing group procedures.

It will also be helpful to refer back to the Gatsby Project page. ALL of the project options require the writing piece to be 800-1,000 words.

One person from each group will be the ‘note-taker’. This person is responsible for reporting out what was discussed in the group. The ‘note-taker’ must fill out this form.

STEPS:

1. Share your Gatsby project document with ALL of the members in your group. You guys are experts at this so t should not take long!

2. Complete the writing group procedures.

3. Make sure the note-taker fills out the form.

4. When everyone is finished UNSHARE your document with your group members.

5. Be kind to each other! Feedback can be hard to receive and difficult to give.

Gatsby Projects

Good morning everyone,

Today you will have time to work on your Gatsby projects. On Friday we went over the project options and you were supposed to write in your EJ which one you were going to work on. Very few people did that. Make sure you look at the project options under important links and select one today.

Once you have selected a project make sure that you do the following:

1. Create a new document. Share it with me as an editor (my email address will be on the board).

2. Begin brainstorming ideas/working on your project.

IMPORTANT DATES AND THINGS TO REMEMBER:

1. ALL of the project options include an essay that must be 800-1,000 words. Yes, even the art project option.

2. If you want to create your own option, it must be approved by me first.

3. Draft Due Thursday May 13 (10 points)

Final Due Tuesday May 18 (20 points)

***Note I will NOT accept late drafts***

4. Wednesday we will probably be watching the movie.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the future that year by year recedes before us."- Nick

Good morning everyone,

Today we are going to finish reading chapter 9. Then you will take the chapter 9 quiz. Now that we have finished Gatsby let's talk about some projects. Take a look under important links and click the link that says "The Great Gatsby Projects".

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"- Nick

Good morning everyone,

Testing is officially over and today we will finish the rest of Gatsby. Things to keep in mind as we read chapter 9 (ctrl+f catastrophe):

What happens to Daisy and Tom?

How does Nick feel about Gatsby?

Are you satisfied with the ending of the novel?

Once we are finished reading, take the chapter 9 quiz.

Picture from: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1409/856476198_26438e1460.jpg

"I suppose Daisy'll call too."-Gatsby

Good afternoon,

Today we are going to finish reading chapter 8 and then you will take the chapter 8 quiz. For homework you were supposed to read the next 5 pages of the chapter. If you are following along in the book we will pick up on page 163. If you are reading on the computer type in Ctrl+F "ashheaps".

The Aftermath

Good morning everyone,

Today we return to Gatsby after taking a few days away from the novel. For homework you had to finish reading chapter 7 and answer the questions on the slide show presentation on the blog.

1. In your English journal write about the novel. You can write anything you want about it. You can talk about a specific character, an event, a chapter or the novel as a whole. We will take 10 minutes to write.

2. Take the chapter 7 quiz. Go to important links and click on "The Great Gatsby" quizzes.

3.When you finish the quiz take the poll on the blog.

4. We are going to start reading chapter 8. Below are some questions to think about as we read:

1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his past?

2. How does Wilson find out that it was Gatsby's car that hit Myrtle?

3. What does Wilson do?