Your First Rhetorical Precis

The Goal: Write a rhetorical precis about Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes

The Plan:

1. Read
2. Open your article in your Google Drive
3. Open your English Journal
4. Learn about rhetorical precis
5. Write a rhetorical precis
6. Submit!
7. Self-Grade English Journals (See below.)

Today you will write a rhetorical precis in your English Journal about the article you have been reading about stereotypes. Review the slides below to help you. 

Even more help: The rhetorical precis is an AP strategy for briefly and concisely analyzing the content, purpose, and persuasive strategies of an expository text. A rhetorical precis is one paragraph, and follows the pattern below:

Sentence 1: Note the name of the author, the genre and title of the work,and the publication date in parentheses; a rhetorically accurate verb; and a "that clause" containing the major assertion or thesis statement in the work.

Sentence 2: An explanation of how the author develops and supports the thesis, usually in chronological order.

Sentence 3: A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an “in order to” phrase.

Sentence 4: A description of the intended audience, the relationship the author establishes with the audience, or both.

Here is a frame of what each sentence should look like. Click on either image to see it larger. 

Here is an example of a precis for Hip Hop Goes Global: 

   Writer and musician, James McBride, in his article, “Hip-Hop Planet,” (2007) argues that though hip-hop is not his favorite genre of music, it is one that demands to be heard. He supports his claim by first explaining that he avoided hip-hop throughout his life as it was first introduced to society and then made its way to becoming one of the most popular music genres of all time. He then explains how he eventually came to understand hip-hop for its message, and finally warns parents that it is here to stay and that ignoring it would be ignoring the voice of a generation. McBride’s purpose is to persuade people to keep an open mind about both hip-hop and other new experiences that may seem foreign to them at first, but in fact are worth exploring. He adopts a serious and urgent tone for the parents he addresses and warns them not to shut out the music of their children’s generation.

Self-Scoring your English Journal

Today you're going to evaluate your English Journal. You'll need to open it in one tab and this SCORING GUIDE in another tab.

Copy and paste this into your English Journal at the top. and complete the blanks based on the scoring guide.

 I believe I have earned a _________ (enter a number from the scoring guide) on my English Journal because _______________________________(explain why you earned that score based on the scoring guide).

Period 7, please stack your chairs.

Charting the Text

Goal: Charting the Text of "Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes" to better understand what the author is saying and doing with the text.

Agenda: 

1. Read your book!
2. Open the Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes essay in your Google Drive.
3. Work with your partner and your group to complete the charting the text activity. This is where you spend time looking at specific paragraphs to identify how Vedantam is making his argument!

If you are absent, you'll need to get today's make up work from me. You can email me or talk to me in class.

Close Reading of "Self-Fullfilling Stereotypes" article

Today's Goal: Take a closer look at several paragraphs of Vedantam's article to develop our analysis skills and gain a deeper understanding.

The Plan:

1. Reading! Yay!
2. We're going to spend some time on a few particular paragraphs today, together, in a form of close reading!

You'll need two tabs open:

• Your Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes article in Google Drive
• m.socrative.com
  Our room number is 504326

How does reading a few paragraphs really carefully help us understand the whole article better?

Reading with SOAPSTone

The Goal: Review the article you read on Thursday and apply the SOAPSTone protocol with a partner.

This is a word cloud of the article.
The bigger the word is, the more times the word showed up in the article.

The Plan:

1. Read while your computer boots up.
2. Debrief your first reading of the text. What was your reaction to the article?
3. Complete SOAPSTone with a partner

Today you will fill out the SOAPSTone FORM about the "Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes" article that you read on Thursday.

Work with your partner to complete the form. Submit the form only once, with both of your names on it. You will need the article from your Google Docs.

Note: You must submit the form before you leave because it will not save your work.

How does doing SOAPSTone help you understand the article better? How and when could you use this in the future?

Does the word cloud at the top of the form help you in any way?

Reading with the Say Something Protocol

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Today's Goal: First reading of "How a Self-Fulfilling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance" by Shankar Vedantam using the "Say Something" protocol.


The Plan:

1. Read for the first ten minutes while your computers load!
2. Go to your Google Drive and open the reading I shared with you on Friday. 
3. Use the "Say Something" protocol to read and discuss the text with your partner.
   This is a challenging text. It is really important that you stop and talk about what you do and don't understand with your partner. If you aren't talking about it, then you'll probably have a hard time understanding it.
4. Write a brief summary of the article in your English Journal. (1-2 sentences)

You can use this frame to help you with your summary:

In the article ________ , the author _____________ 

(describes/argues/suggests) _____________________________.

Reminders:

• You should be opening this blog and skimming it when you get logged-in to your computers.
• Book reviews will be due on April 8. This means you should be about halfway through a choice book right now. When we come back from Spring Break, we will talk about new expectations for book reviews.

Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes Pre-Reading

Today's Goal: Complete pre-reading activities for our next unit on stereotypes.

The Plan:

1. Read! Yay!
2. Quick write in your English Journal. (We're going to talk about formatting your English Journal, first, though.)
3. Pre-reading with your partner.

Quick-write: 
This goes AT THE TOP OF YOUR ENGLISH JOURNAL with the date!
In a few sentences explain how you would describe a party or event you attended to a close friend.
In a few more sentences explain how you would describe the same party or event to a much older relative.
What are the differences in your descriptions (language, information, tone)? Why are they different?

Pre-reading:
Find the article I have shared with you in your Google Drive called "Stereotypes Reading" (Hint: Look in "Shared with me.")
With your partner discuss and answer the questions at the top of the document, part 1 and part 2.

On Monday you'll be looking at the article more closely. Until then have a wonderful weekend!

If you were absent on Thursday, we did an in-class written assessment. You need to come during lunch or after school to make that up.

Period 7, please stack your chairs.

In-class Essay Writing

You should get a book out and read!

Yesterday you received two poems and a graphic organizer.

Today you're going to get the prompt for your in-class writing. You will be comparing the poems!

Use your graphic organizer to help you with this process.

You have the whole period. If you are absent, you need to arrange a time do the writing after school.

In-Class Writing Preparations

Our goal: we will prepare for an in-class essay. You will be writing it tomorrow.

Over the past week, you've been writing an essay comparing a story and a film. Thank you for your hard work in this process. Your essays are now locked for grading. You will get an e-mail when it is graded.

Today, we are preparing for your comparative analysis on-demand in-class written assessment. (Say that five times fast.)

With your partner you will be reading and analyzing two poems. Begin to apply the same skills you used for the Poe/Laughton essay to these poems. Gather evidence, be specific, identify techniques, etc.) Tomorrow you will be writing about them. If you are absent today send me an email and ask for the poems. It's the only way you're going to get to see them ahead of time.

Finalizing your essay

If you do not have a book that you WANT to read, you're reading the wrong book. Tell me. We will find you a new book.

Today's Goal: Work with a partner to peer review your essay so that it is polished and ready for grading!

The Plan:

1. You will be working with a partner to peer edit your essay. You want to make it the best it can possibly be!
2. Share your essay with your partner (press the share button and enter their e-mail.)
3. Use "Suggested edits" to make suggestions as you read through your partner's essay.
4. Below is a list of things to look for.
5. SCORE yourself on the rubric at the bottom when you've revised/edited your essay!

Help your partner by looking at the following things:

• Read her/his thesis to make sure it is clear.
• Highlight and comment on any sentences that seem confusing.
• Does all of the evidence support the claims your partner makes in each paragraph?
• Is there evidence from both the movie and the story in each paragraph?
• Does the conclusion restate the thesis?
  Does the conclusion wrap things up?
• Make sure all names are capitalized (Poe, Laughton)
• "The Cask of Amontillado" has quotes and Night of the Hunter is italicized.
• Are there missing commas? misspelled words?

At 9pm tonight, your essays will be locked for grading.

Period 7, please stack your chairs on the tables.

Introductions and Conclusions!

Reading first!

Today's Goal: Finish up your comparative essays by writing your introduction paragraph and concluding paragraph.


While you read, open the blog in one tab. 

In another tab, open your essay.




Your introduction should have:

• The names of the authors and the titles of their work. 
• A brief summary (one sentence) of the gist of each creation, text or film. Examples:
• "The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story about....
• Night of the Hunter, on the other hand, is a film about... 
• 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. A possible example:
• Both ________________________ and ______________________ (convey/demonstrate/reveal) a ______________ mood while (addressing/ examining/ exploring) the theme that ________________. Poe uses __________________ to explore irony, mood, and theme, while Laughton uses ______________________.

In your conclusion:

• Restate your thesis
• It is clear from these examples that ___(thesis here)______. 
• Explain the ways in which Poe and/or Laughton were more successful with their techniques.
• Although Poe and Laughton created _____ moods, __(choose one: Poe or Laughton)_____ was more successful because ______. 
• ______ was most successful in creating _____ because ___________.
• While both stories had _______, the one that was most clear was ______ because______.

Progressing through the writing process (It might get a little messy)

BY MONDAY: Three body paragraphs!

Today we're all in somewhat different places in the writing process. We'll meet back up on Monday, but for today, take a look at what we're doing according to your period.

Period 1: We must take the Survey we were unable to take yesterday. When you finish, you may work on your essay.

Period 2: On Wednesday you were introduced to the essay prompt and we worked on the mood paragraph. Today, your task is to write other two body paragraphs. On Monday we are moving on to the introduction and conclusion.

Period 4/7: 
You should be done, or almost done with your three body paragraphs. If you are still working on body paragraphs, catch up today.

1. Use the evidence that we collected to help you.
2. Use the sentence frames (pictured below and on the wall) to help guide you. Watch the mood paragraph tutorial video if you are stuck.
3. If you are DONE with your paragraphs on theme, mood, and irony ask a partner to read them. (Exchange papers by "sharing" your Google Docs with each other. Use "Suggesting" mode and comments. I will show you if you aren't sure how to do this.)
4. If you are ready to tackle an introduction I am giving you a list not a lesson. 

Your introduction should have:

• The names of the authors and the titles of their work. 
• A brief summary (one sentence) of the gist of each creation, text or film. 
• 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. 

Resources for Essay Writing!

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Tutorial Video about Mood Paragraph(watch this if you're stuck)

Healthy Kids Survey and More Writing!

You have new seats. They are not permanent. 

Today we have to take a required survey that all 9th-grade students are taking. Then you will be able to continue writing the body paragraphs for your essay. 

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Take the CA Health Survey (I'll give you the link and the access code in class.)
3. When you're finished, work on your essay (you should have three complete body paragraphs!) or read.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

On Tuesday, March 17, you will no longer have access to your essay. You will not be able to edit it. You will not be able to turn it in late. 

Revision requests will only be accepted if you completed your essay.

Important Dates:

• Monday, March 16 - Comparative Analysis Essays are due
• Wednesday, April 8 - Your next book review is due!

Theme and Irony paragraphs

The Goal: Today you will work to write two more body paragraphs, one about how the creators use irony and one about the themes of the two texts.

The Due Date: Monday, March 16

Today's Plan:

1. Read
2. If you need to, you can re-watch the Mood Paragraph Tutorial Video, but your essay needs two more paragraphs before you leave today. Plan accordingly!
3. Write!

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.

Collected Evidence:

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Comparing Text to Film

Books and computers on your desks! 

The Plan:

1. Read.
2. I've sent you a new document. It's called "Poe/Laughton Comparison" and should have your name in it. This is where you will write your comparative analysis paper.
3. You DO NOT need to make a copy. This copy is yours (just like the English Journal).
4. If you did not get yours, I need to know immediately. I can fix that.
5. Take a look at the document, read the prompt, and then we will work on writing the first paragraph together.
6. 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 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.

Collected Evidence:

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Cask of Amontillado

Examples of Theme Mood and Irony in Night of the Hunter

Reminders:

• The last 30 minutes of Night of the Hunter will be shown in Mrs. Roberts room at lunch today (room 864)
• If you are absent, you need to carefully read the blog post for the day you missed. You are responsible for making up any work. If you were absent yesterday, you'll need to fill out the form linked in yesterday's post.

More Evidence of Irony, Mood, and Theme

Books out! Computers on!

The Goal: Now that we've watched Night of the Hunter, we're going to make sure we have lots of evidence to support our understanding of irony, mood, and theme. (This is similar to what we did with "Cask of Amontillado.")

The Plan:

1. You will complete your work today with a partner
2. Use THIS FORM to collect your evidence.
3. Together, you will find evidence in Night of the Hunter that shows irony, mood, and theme.
4. You must explain WHY that scene is good evidence for the way irony, mood, and theme is used.
5. Write in complete sentences.
6. Submit ONE for with both of your names on it.

The Reminders:

If you missed some of the movie:
Mrs. Roberts (room 864) is showing it at lunch.
Part 2 will be shown today (Monday). Part 3 will be shown tomorrow (Tuesday).

Grades are in for the grading period:
Keep in mind that it's just a progress report. If you are concerned about something, come speak with me (really!). I especially encourage you to speak with me if you have lots of missing assignments. Citizenship grades are based on the Point Loma Citizenship Rubric (which includes absences and tardies)

If you are absent:
Check this blog!
It will have all of the information you need, as well as the make-up work. (Yes, you are still responsible for making up work that is on the blog when you are absent. I will not come searching for you.)

Night of the Hunter: Day 3

Hey everyone. Here's what today looks like:

1. Read.
2. Watch the rest of Night of the Hunter
3. Continue taking notes while you watch.

Some important things to know:

• Mrs. Roberts in Room 864 will be showing the movie at lunch starting TODAY. If you missed the first 30 minutes, or want to have better notes, go eat your lunch in her room! 
• I have put in all grades. If you have a zero, I don't have it. Turn it in. 

Night of the Hunter: Day 2

GET YOUR BOOKS OUT, PLEASE!

We will be watching the next 30 minutes of Night of the Hunter today. Watch for ways that the theme is expressed, and scenes that include irony or a specific mood. Continue to add to your notes in your English Journal.



If you were absent, ask a neighbor about the English Journal. They should be able to tell you more about it, and help you find it.


Some reminders:

• Do not pull on cords when you get your netbook and put it away.
• Make sure you shut your computer all the way down.
• The grading period ends Friday and you should get any work to me that you want to make up or ask to be re-graded.

Photo: CC licensed by Depoi on DeviantArt, unmodified

Night of the Hunter: Day 1

First things first: Let's read!


Today we're going to be watching the first 30 minutes of the film Night of the Hunter. We will look for examples of mood, irony, and theme as we watch.

1. I have sent you a new document to your Google Drive. It will have your name and period in it, and be called "English Journal." Open it.
2. As we watch the film, look for settings or shots that reflect various moods in the story.
3. See if you can find examples of irony that occur.
4. Find references to the theme (listen and watch closely; you might be able to find one near the very beginning)

Gathering Evidence

While you are reading, make your way to the blog! You'll need it!

Today's Goal: We want to find evidence of irony, mood, and theme in Cask of Amontillado. This will help you later!

1. You will complete your work today with a partner (the person sitting next to you.)
2. Together you will find evidence (quotes) in Cask of Amontillado that show irony, mood, and theme. 
3. Use THIS FORM to collect your evidence. 
4. You must explain WHY that quote is a good evidence for the way Poe uses irony, mood or theme. 
5. Write in complete sentences. (Do not start with "Because...")
6. Submit ONE form with both of your names on it. 

If you have your orange book, you may use that. 

Click this link to go to a digital version (Since you are working in partners, one of you should have the form open, and the other could have the story open.)

I am also sending a letter home with you. Please share it with your parents and guardians.

Introductions

As you all know, Mrs. Baker is going to be out for the rest of the year. She may pop in here and there to visit, but I am very excited to be spending this time with you!

Soon I will be sending a letter home with you to tell you and your families a little more about myself, but for now we're going to focus on what's happening inside of class, and what the next few days are going to look like.

You will eventually need this link.

A few things you'll need to know about this week:

• The end of the grading period is Friday. If you have any work you need to make up, you'll need to get that in by the end of the week.
• You just turned in book reviews. If you've got any books of Mrs. Baker's, please make sure you bring them in! Other people would like to read them!

I will be updating this blog every single day. This means that the first thing you'll need to do when you turn your computers on is to navigate to this website and see what's happening. 

You'll be responsible for completing work listed on the blog if you are absent.