Mother/Daughter Talks

Today, we meet Juliet, her mother,
and her Nurse.

The Plan:

1. Book Love
2. Act I, Scene iii
3. Writing

Act I, Scene iii Questions for your English Journal:

1. What does the Nurse's monologue in lines 21-54 tell us about Juliet's childhood? How do you know?
2. The extended metaphor in lines 87-104 draws comparison between what two things? What are some of the specific aspects of those two objects being compared? Why does Lady Capulet make this comparison?
3. How do Juliet and her mother differ in their opinions on the marriage? How does she progress the plot of the play?

HOMEWORK:

• Read your current Book Love Selection
• Finish answering your Romeo and Juliet questions in your English Journal
• If you don't have internet access, there are ways to deal with this problem. You should chat with me if you need some ideas!
• If you're struggling with the questions, there are ways to deal with this problem, too! You should chat with me if you need some ideas!

Planning a Party

Lord Capulet wants to throw a party!

Today's Goal: Learn some important terms related to Shakespeare and figurative devices. Find out about Lord Capulet's plans for Juliet, and what his solution is.

The Plan:

1. Book Love
2. Romeo and Juliet, I.ii
3. English Journal Writing

NEW TERMS TO KNOW

• Soliloquy: a monologue spoken to one’s own self
• Rhyming Couplet: two lines of iambic pentameter. They usually signify a shift, or something that you should take note of. Sometimes it summarizes a thought or idea.
• Pun: an expression that achieves humor by a word or phrase that has two distinct meanings.
• Dramatic Irony: when a character says something related to the plot in which the audience knows something that the characters do not.

Act I, Scene ii Questions for your English Journal:

1. What do we learn about Lord Capulet’s character? (Use textual evidence!)
2. What are the reasons that Benvolio and Romeo decide to go to the party that Lord Capulet is throwing? (Hint: They each have a different reason.)
3. What is the difference between prose and verse? Why do you think the serving-man might not get to speak in verse, and instead has lines that are in prose? (This can be 1-2 sentences)

HOMEWORK:

• Read your current Book Love Selection
• Finish answering your Romeo and Juliet questions in your English Journal
• If you don't have internet access, there are ways to deal with this problem. You should chat with me if you need some ideas!
• If you're struggling with the questions, there are ways to deal with this problem, too! You should chat with me if you need some ideas!

Meet the Parents (and other people of the two families, of course)

Today's Goal: Listen to Act I, Scene i of Romeo and Juliet, in order to make ourselves more comfortable with the language and to identify the important characters we meet along the way.

The Plan:

1. Book Love
2. Review the prologue, and what short answer responses should look like.
3. Read Act 1, Scene 1!
4. Write in your English Journal.

P.A.S.S. Strategy for Reading
Use this strategy before every scene!

• P:  Preview the text (scan definitions, note punctuation, read summary)
• A: Annotate anything important you want pointed out (use post-its)
• S:  Set a purpose for reading (we'll do this together)
• S:  Stop after reading and reflect on how the story progressed (this will happen in your English Journal.)

Remember those questions from yesterday? Here are some examples of "A" level analysis based on our conversations, and the analysis that YOU are capable of doing.

1. Why is the word "two," the very first word of the play, so very important to the story?
   In the prologue, we learn that there are two families that dominate the play, and that there is an impending romance between their two children. "Two" seems to be important because it represents the opposing forces and how they attract to each other, such as the two warring families. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground between Capulets and Montagues, and the love and hate that dominates this story.
2. In what ways is fate against these characters?
   Fate is against these characters because they are "star-crossed" (I.i.6). They are fated to meet, but because their families despise each other, it is already "written in the stars" that they will meet their death. Their meeting is necessary for resolving the strive between the two families, but their very meeting is what will lead them to their death.
3. Why does Shakespeare tell us the plot of the play before it has begun?
   Shakespeare tells us the plot because "fate" plays an important role in the story. We do not need to know the story to understand it, but we need to know their fate in order to understand how that fate was fulfilled. He does not care about the plot as a whole; instead, he cares about "the fearful passage of their death-mark'd love" (I.i.9).

PURPOSES FOR READING: Act 1, Scene 1 (you're going to answer these in your English Journal)

1. Who are Tybalt and Benvolio, and how are they different from one another?
2. What is Prince Escalus upset over and what stipulations does he set forth? 
3. Why isn’t Romeo involved in the fray? Why is he upset?
4. When we first meet Romeo, he says, "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love" (I.i.188). What is he talking about in this line, and why does he make this statement?

Romeo and Juliet: The Prologue

Today's Goal: Look closely at the writing structure used by Shakespeare, and use it to read the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet. 

The Plan:

1. Book Love Reading!
2. Learn about the Shakespearean Sonnet (Take notes.)
3. Read the Prologue and annotate together.
4. Do a bit of writing to respond to the following questions on the back of your prologue

On the back of your prologue paper, these are the questions you will be answering, in complete sentences, with at least 2-4 sentences for each question, because you are practicing your short response skills:

1. Why is the word "two," the very first word of the play, so very important to the story?
2. In what ways is fate against these characters?
3. Why does Shakespeare tell us the plot of the play before it has begun?

HOMEWORK:

• FID Root Practice due Wednesday, January 27
• CLICK HERE for the slides!
• You're receiving your Book Reviews back today. I've written a lot on them. Read the notes. Come see me after school if you have further questions. Use these notes to help you write your second one, which will be due near the end of the trimester.

Mini-Research Presentations

A map of London in Elizabethan times

Today's Goal: Practice your communication skills by presenting with your group on the Elizabethan Era topic you received in a clear, concise manner.

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Vocab Root Test (AB/TRANS)
3. Mini-Research Presentations

Homework:

• Pick one:
• Find an hour to spend outside enjoying the fresh air.
• Listen to your favorite album top to bottom.
• Finish that art project you've been meaning to do.
• Hug your mom.
• Take a meal to someone that needs it.
• Cook for your family.
• No. I'm not checking to make sure you did one of these. Have a wonderful weekend. We officially start Romeo and Juliet on Monday.

Mini-Research Assignment

This is the Globe Theater, in London, where Shakespeare's
plays were performed.

Today's Goal: Work collaboratively to learn about Elizabethan England, in preparation for our literary analysis unit using Romeo and Juliet.

The Plan:

1. Get Romeo and Juliet from the library.
2. Mini Research Project/Presentation Preparation

Mini Research Assignment

CLICK HERE for the mini-research directions, rubric, and list of the topics you chose yesterday.

You will have all of today to work on this. Remember, it's a MINI research assignment. 4 minutes, at the most. 4 slides, at the most. Equal speaking between all 4 members. This is a chance to learn about Shakespeare's era, and practice your communication skills.


IMPORTANT HOMEWORK/DATES

• THIS WEEK - Take your House on Mango Street book back to the library.
• Thursday, January 21st - Book Review PRINTED VERSION due, with MLA formatting
• BY MIDNIGHT Thursday: Book Review submitted on Turnitin.com
• Please see Ms. Black to create a turnitin.com account if you were absent on Thursday.
• Friday, January 22nd 
• Vocab Root Test (AB/TRANS)
• CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDES
• Short Group Presentation for Mini-Research Assignment

GROW: Adverbs, Subjects, and Predicates

The Goal: Catch up from yesterday, learn about some parts of speech, and begin our new unit!

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Catch up. What do I need to know? What questions need answering? 
3. GROW notes
4. turnitin.com
5. Your mini-research assignment

Mini Research Assignment

CLICK HERE for the mini-research directions.

You will have all of tomorrow to work on this. Remember, it's a MINI research assignment. 4 minutes, at the most. 4 slides, at the most. Equal speaking between all 4 members. This is a chance to learn about Shakespeare's era, and practice your communication skills.


IMPORTANT HOMEWORK/DATES

• THIS WEEK - Take your House on Mango Street book back to the library.
• Wednesday, January 20th
• TRANS vocab work is due
• Thursday, January 21st - Book Review PRINTED VERSION due, with MLA formatting
• BY MIDNIGHT Thursday: Book Review submitted on Turnitin.com (you'll learn about this on Thursday.)
• Friday, January 22nd 
• Vocab Root Test (AB/TRANS)
• Short Group Presentation for Mini-Research Assignment

Book Reviews and Other Things

I'm sorry I can't be with you today. I expect that you treat your guest teacher with the same respect that you treat me. Actually, scratch that. Treat your guest teacher 187% better than me!

Today is a bit of an individual work day. You get to use most of your time working on things that are due in the next few days.

Each of the colored boxes? They represent
about a paragraph in your book review.

Choices!

1. Work on your book review. It is due on Thursday, in class and printed on paper in correct MLA format (like you learned on Friday), and then you will submit it to turnitin.com by midnight. Use the chart to help you organize it.
   (P.S. I will teach you about turnitin.com on Thursday)
   (P.P.S Make your own document to write your book review in. I did not sent you a template.)
   
2. You can work on your Vocab Root worksheet/studying. You have a AB/TRANS Test on Friday.
   Click here for the slides.

IMPORTANT HOMEWORK/DATES

• THIS WEEK - Take your House on Mango Street book back to the library.
• Wednesday, January 20th
• TRANS vocab work is due
• Thursday, January 21st - Book Review PRINTED VERSION due, with MLA formatting
• BY MIDNIGHT Thursday: Book Review submitted on Turnitin.com (you'll learn about this on Thursday.)
• Friday, January 22nd - Vocab Root Test (AB/TRANS)

Book Reviews!

Does your book love book get the stamp of approval?

The Goal: Review some models of book reviews from past 9th graders in order to learn the ways in which you will write your own book reviews.

The Plan: 

1. Read
2. Read some example book reviews
3. Write in your English Journal 
4. Time to work on your HOMS essay (or your book review if you are done)

GOAL 1: Looking at Awesome Book Reviews!
Book Reviews are a little more informal than the essay you are finishing up today. I need to teach you about them now because I, unfortunately, will not be here on Tuesday.

Step 1: Read the awesome book reviews below! They were written by my former students.

Example One: Uglies

Example Two: Winger

Step 2: In your English Journal, write about what makes these book reviews excellent. What are the qualities that make it strong? What is the difference between a book review and a summary?

GOAL 2: Work on your essays!
They are due today at 4pm. I'm locking you out of your essay at that time, unless you sent me an email yesterday indicating your request for an extension and the date/time you are requesting.

We need to talk about MLA Formatting. Your essay (Just the writing portion at the top) needs to be double spaced. The following is a picture of what your heading should look like:

IMPORTANT HOMEWORK/DATES

• Tuesday, January 19th - I will not be here. You will have time to work on your vocabulary work and to write your book review (in your own document). I expect you to be respectful to your guest teacher.
• Wednesday, January 20th
• TRANS vocab work is due
• Thursday, January 21st - Book Review PRINTED VERSION due, with MLA formatting
• BY MIDNIGHT: Book Review submitted on Turnitin.com (you'll learn about this on Wednesday.)
• Friday, January 22nd - Vocab Root Test (AB/TRANS)

WRITE

See how busy they look? That's going to be you today.

The Goal: So much writing.

The Plan: So much writing.

Okay, so there's not much here for today, because today is a day dedicated to your writing process. I will answer questions and help as much as possible.

Use the tools at your disposal.

I am available for writing conferences/discussions after school today. I am helpful, and you should take advantage of it.

Homework:

• WRITE YOUR TWO PARAGRAPHS (you'll get about 30 minutes in class tomorrow)

Another note about this piece of writing: If you feel like you will need longer than until 4pm tomorrow, you MUST send me an email (before tomorrow) politely requesting for an extension, including the due date (and time!) that you believe you will need to complete the task. I am absolutely understanding of the fact that sometimes your brain needs a bit of extra time to think through a task and complete it, but you must be able to think about that before something is due.

Thesis Statements

Make your thesis as clear as this ocean.

The Goal: Establish a concise thesis statement for your essay that clearly answers the prompt and guides the essay's development.

The Plan:

1. Book Love Reading!
2. Thesis Statement Discussion
3. Click here for Socrative (Yes, we're actually going to use it today)
4. Time to work on your essay.

Thesis Statement: a proposition stated or put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or to be maintained against objections

Basically, the main argument you're going to prove and defend over the course of your essay.

Your thesis statement goes in front of your two paragraphs. Usually, it goes into a complete introductory paragraph. But I'm not asking you to write that for this essay (you're welcome). I want you to focus on the body paragraphs and how you are creating them to support your thesis thoroughly.

Prompt: How do we establish identity within cultural and societal expectations?

Possible Thesis Statement Frames (these MIGHT work for your argument, but you have to clearly state what your argument is, and that might not fit in these sentences):

• In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros illuminates/unmasks/reveals/conveys/suggests Esperanza's need/desire/goal/__________________________________ because of/in spite of/so that/regardless of/in hopes of _________________________________________________.
  
• Through Esperanza's struggles in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, it is argued/illuminated/revealed/ that ___________________________________
  
• The character of Esperanza, in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, wants ______________________ and is capable/incapable of achieving that end due to ____________________________.
  
• Sandra Cisneros argues, in The House on Mango Street, that one develops their identity by ___________, which is especially difficult/important/relevant to Esperanza, who ____________________________________________.

Homework:

• Work on your essay
• On Friday, we will be talking about book reviews for your Independent Reading Book Love Book. (You'll need to have finished a book by then.)

Your Essay Prompt

Today's Goal: Identify all of the parts of the final House on Mango Street essay prompt you receive today, so that you can address all necessary pieces in your essay. Begin writing.

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Finish Mango Street
3. Examine your new essay prompt and requirements so that you may begin writing.
4. Begin writing!

Your essay:

You will find it in Google Drive. It is entitled, "period# Last Name, First name - HOMS Final Essay." This is your copy. DO NOT make a new copy!

Your essay is DUE by the 4pm on Friday, January 15.


Homework:

• AB Root Practice due tomorrow, January 13
• Click here for the slides
• Work on your essay!

Read Around

The Goal: Examine peer writing with a critical eye to gather strategies for improving paragraph structure, making clear arguments, and providing detailed and insightful commentary.

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Read 1-2 chapters of HOMS together
3. Participate in a read-around
4. Examine the best examples of writing from our classmates.
5. English Journal Writing.

If you are absent today, you cannot make up this class activity, but you'll have missed out on some important helpful tips, so make sure you talk to a friend about it!

English Journal Writing!

What did you learn about your own writing from participating in this activity today? What feedback will help you the most? How will you apply today's lesson to your future writing?

Homework!

• AB Root Practice Due Wednesday, January 13
• CLICK HERE for the slides!
• Think about and reflect on the following question for your own benefit. It will help you tomorrow: How does Esperanza establish identity within cultural and societal expectations?
• On Friday, we will be talking about book reviews for your Independent Reading Book Love Book. (You'll need to have finished a book by then.

Ending Mango Street

The Goal: Finish writing your partner two-chunk paragraph, and then work to read through the end of The House on Mango Street as a class.

The Plan:

1. Vocab Test! Woo!
2. Read while your peers finish their tests.
3. Time to finish your two-chunk paragraphs (ten minutes; be prepared)
4. Read The House on Mango Street.

Homework:

• Read your book love book (seriously.)
• NOTE: At the end of next week, we will be talking about the book review you will be writing about this book, and you will have some time to work on it in class. This means you have been given some extra time to read your book, but that means you have less time to read the next book, since you are required to read at least one more before the end of the trimester. If you've finished one book, that's great! Make sure you have another to bring to class for reading time.

Writing a Two-Chunk Paragraph

Today's Goal: Work with a partner to create a written analysis of Cisneros' use of literary devices to convey a theme.

The Plan:

1. Quiz
2. Read for Book Love
3. Write a two-chunk paragraph

TWO-CHUNK PARAGRAPH:

You are writing with a partner (that I have assigned to you).

PROMPT: Examine the way in which Cisneros uses literary devices to reveal aspects of Esperanza's identity?  For this two-chunk paragraph, you will be using the vignette "Four Skinny Trees."

STEP 1: Choose an aspect of Esperanza's identity that you want to write about.

STEP 2: Find evidence from the text that support the characteristic you choose. Make sure that your evidence involves a literary device AND supports the characteristic. (woah.)

STEP 3: Write a two-chunk paragraph! Make sure it has EVERY PART of the two-chunk paragraph.

HOMEWORK:

1. Prepare for your Vocab Test tomorrow (MAL/LUM Roots)
2. Don't forget about Book Love reading!

Using Models to our Advantage

The Goal: Examine the rhetorical structure of a two-chunk paragraph and how each sentence contributes to the overall argument of the paragraph.

The Plan:

1. Read!
2. Review a text-analysis paragraph using a model
3. Start working on your new two-chunk paragraph assignment using your English Journal and Socrative to brainstorm.

Reviewing a Model Paragraph

You will receive a piece of paper (that you will turn in to me) that will act as notes and practice for understanding the structure of a text-analysis paragraph.

New two-chunk paragraph assigment

Tomorrow, you will work with a partner (that I will assign to you) to write one two-chunk paragraph in response to the following prompt:

Prompt: Examine the way in which Cisneros uses literary devices to reveal aspects of Esperanza's identity?  For this two-chunk paragraph, you will be using the vignette "Four Skinny Trees."

Today, we will work together to practice brainstorming and writing a thesis statement.

Homework:

• Read pages 84-89
• "Minerva Writes Poems" - How is the window portrayed asa symbol for Minerva? How are Minerva and Esperanza alike/different?
• "Bums in the Attic" - What is the shift that Esperanza is showing toward Mango Street? What realization does she come to in this vignette?
• "Beautiful and Cruel" - What has Esperanza decided in this vignette? 
• Quiz tomorrow on pages 76-89 of The House on Mango Street
• Vocab Root Test on Friday
• Don't forget about your independent reading book.

Four Skinny Trees

Today's Goal: Learn about indirect characterization through a close reading of an extended metaphor of "Four Skinny Trees" in The House on Mango Street. 

The Plan:

1. Read! Yay!
2. Quiz on last night's reading
3. "Four Skinny Trees" Close Reading
4. Writing in your English Journal

Terms You'll Learn Today:

Indirect Characterization: when the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, rather than directly told to us.

Extended Metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem

The Slides from today:

Writing (on the back of your close-reading page)

In what ways does Cisneros use literary devices to reveal aspects of Esperanza's identity in "Four Skinny Trees?"

Homework:

• Reading Homework: HOMS pages 76-83
• "No Speak English" - How are Mamacita and Esperanza alike? How are they different?
• "Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays" - How is Rafaela literally trapped? How is she trapped figuratively?
• "Sally" - How does Cisneros reveal Esperanza's opinion of Sally? What do shoes continue to symbolize?
• LUM Handout due tomorrow
• MAL/LUM Root Test on Friday in class
• Don't forget about your Book Love book!

Welcome Back!

Today's Goal: Work together to remind ourselves what has happened in The House on Mango Street thus far, to prepare ourselves to read the second half.

The Plan:

1. Read! 
2. A quickwrite/discussion to get our brain juices flowing
3. A group activity

Quickwrite:

It's a new year. Pick one of the following topics to contemplate and write about in your English Journal. No judgements, just reflections. I ask that you write for the full 7 minutes I give you, which means no matter which one you choose, you'll write at least a paragraph, probably more:

1. Describe one moment from your holiday break with as much detail as you possibly can. What happened? What did you learn? What could you see/hear/smell/feel? Why does it stick out in your mind?
2. It's a brand new year. How does that affect you, if at all? What are you looking forward to? Do you have resolutions? Are you letting go of anything?
3. How are you doing?

Group activity:

As a table you will be assigned vignettes we have already read. You job is to:

1. Be able to summarize your vignettes in writing and to a new group of people.
2. Identify important thematic concepts that present themselves in those vignettes, and why they are important to Esperanza's growth.
3. Identify at least one literary device (two for good measure) in the whole section. Explain what it means and why it matters.

Group A: Vignettes 1-4, pages 3-11

Group B: Vignettes 5-8, pages 12-20

Group C: Vignettes 9-12, pages 21-28

Group D: Vignettes 13-16, pages 29-38

Group E: Vignettes 17-20, pages 39-52

Group F: Vignettes 21-24, pages 53-64

Homework/Important Dates:

• Read HOMS pages 65-73 and flag a thematic concept for each vignette
• Here are some Purposes for Reading (You may see some of these same things on your reading quiz tomorrow. You will also be asked what a theme is, so you should review that.):
• "Geraldo No Last Name" - Read to determine why Esperanza included the story of Geraldo, even though she never even met him. 
• "Edna's Ruthie" - Ruthie is an adult. Read to determine what Ruthie and Esperanza have in common, and what themes might be portrayed in this vignette.
• "The Earl of Tennessee" - Read to determine who the Earl's wife is. Read to find an example of a literary device used by Esperanza.
• "Sire" - Read to determine a source of conflict for Esperanza. What might Lois' inability to tie her own shoes be symbolic of?
• LUM Root handout due Wednesday, January 6
• CLICK HERE for the Vocab Root Slides!
• You will have a quiz on LUM and MAL on Friday, January 8
• Book Love Reading! (Remember you should have at least one independent reading book completed by Friday, January 8)