Finals Day

Today's Goal: Try not to be too sad that it's the end of the year.

The plan:

1. Take your test
2. Read this letter

I won't be at Sage Creek next year. I will miss you all very much. Keep me posted on all the amazing and wonderful things I know you are going to do. 

Instagram

(There are other ways to get in touch with me but my Carlsbad email will eventually stop working. :/ Sorry.)

Final Review!

Today's Goal: Prepare for the rest of the week. I believe in you.

A few things should happen today:

1. No Red Ink - due by the end of the day
2. Of Mice and Men character chart (on Google Classroom) - due by the end of the day
3. Study for your finals

You have been provided with your study guide for the final.

I highly suggest you make yourself some quizlets for the vocab and literary terms and characters of Of Mice and Men.

Last Essay

I believe in you!

You have the whole period for your essay. If you are absent, you have only a few days to make it up. Please speak with me ASAP.

Social Issues that Affect Characters from Of Mice and Men... A day for essay preparation

Today's Goal: Gather evidence and prepare for your final in-class essay, which will take place tomorrow in class.

Please see Google Classroom for all resources you may use to play for your essay tomorrow.

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Thursday, June 9
• We will use this day to prepare for your essay.
• Friday, June 10
• Your last essay of the school year. It will be in-class, just like the moral courage essay.
• You will receive more information on this later this week.
• Monday, June 13
• Character Chart Due
• Last NoRedInk assignment due (the one you got on June 7)
• We will go over things to review for the final
• FINALS:
• Period 4: Thursday, June 16, 8am
• Period 5: Thursday, June 16, 10:20am

Book Chat #2

Today we participated in our 2nd book chat of the trimester.

If you were absent today, you'll need to make up the Oral Communication half of your Book Chat grade when you return. After school.

See yesterday's post for important dates/reminders.

The Allegory of Of Mice and Men

Today's Goal: Identify the connections between the social issues we've been reading about and the characters in Of Mice and Men

We shall share out our reading first, and you as a listener will take notes on the important points that the speaker makes, without judgement or opinion. (This is an opportunity to listen and absorb, not argue or persuade.)

Then, when this is done and you have submitted your jigsaw notes to me, you have three options:

1. Work on Book Love (Our chat is tomorrow. If you come with an empty document, you will not get to participate. You will not get the points for Oral Communication.)
2. Begin working on your Essay Prep.
3. Complete your last No Red Ink activity (your final WILL have things related to the most recent assignment)

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Tuesday, June 7
• Article Jigsaw Document due on Google Classroom at the end of the period
• You will also receive a short NoRedInk Assignment that is directly associated with some of the content of your final exam. Do it for your own benefit.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• You will not get the in-class points if you do not show up with a complete Book Chat Document.
• The document for this can be found in your Google Classroom folder in Drive, or on Google Classroom.
• Thursday, June 9
• We will use this day to prepare for your essay.
• Friday, June 10
• Your last essay of the school year. It will be in-class, just like the moral courage essay.
• You will receive more information on this later this week.
• Monday, June 13
• Character Chart Due
• Last NoRedInk assignment due (the one you got on June 7)
• We will go over things to review for the final
• FINALS:
• Period 4: Thursday, June 16, 8am
• Period 5: Thursday, June 16, 10:20am

Social Issues in Our World

Today's Goal: connect the dreams, ideas, and messages from Of Mice and Men to the current and historical figures and data in our society today.

The Plan:

1. Debrief of the ending of Of Mice and Men
2. "Begging" - An article about poverty
3. A social issues jigsaw (I will explain) (You will need the document on Google Classroom)

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Tuesday, June 7
• Article Jigsaw Document due on Google Classroom at the end of the period
• You will also receive a short NoRedInk Assignment that is directly associated with some of the content of your final exam. Do it for your own benefit.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• The document for this can be found in your Google Classroom folder in Drive, or on Google Classroom.
• Thursday, June 9
• We will use this day to prepare for your essay.
• Friday, June 10
• Your last essay of the school year. It will be in-class, just like the moral courage essay.
• You will receive more information on this later this week.
• You will receive your study guide for the final on this day.
• Monday, June 13
• Character Chart Due
• We will go over things to review for the final

Vocab Quiz/Finish our novella!

Today's post is a short one:

We're going to take our vocab test, and then we're going to finish Of Mice and Men. Brace yourselves; a lot happens in the last twenty pages.

This weekend, please work on:

1. Book Love! (Book chat takes place on Wednesday, June 8)
2. Character/Social Issues Tracker (This WILL help you on your final in-class essay. We will talk more about this next week)

Don't fall behind! Finish the year strong! I will see you Monday. Have a beautiful weekend.

Crooks

Today's Goal: Meet Crooks, the man of color on the farm George and Lennie work on. Evaluate the many characters, their motivations, and their conflicts. 

The Plan:

1. Quickwrite (You have 5 minutes from when the bell rings)
2. 10 minutes to work on two-chunk paragraph from yesterday (you should have comments. If you don't, I couldn't open it. Please share the document with me directly)
3. Read Chapter 4
4. Google Classroom Exit Ticket and work on our character chart on Google Classroom - You've met most, if not all, of the characters in some capacity.

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Tonight, June 2
• Work on your character chart
• Study your vocab. You have a quiz on Friday
• Your words: attract, traction, extract, detract, contract, abstract, fratricide, incision, excision, genocide, homicide
• Friday, June 3
• TRACT/CIDE Vocab Quiz
• 10-point revision due, if choosing to take the opportunity.
• Click here for the document you need.
• You will need to PRINT it, ATTACH it to your original essay, and TURN IT IN by 2:45pm on Friday, June 3.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• The document for this can be found in your Google Classroom folder in Drive, or on Google Classroom.
• Friday, June 10
• Your last essay of the school year. It will be in-class, just like the moral courage essay.

Analyzing Mood

What's the mood of this scene?

Today's Goal: Practice identifying the mood of a scene in Of Mice and Men, followed by a partner two-chunk paragraph.

The Plan:

1. Read a short passage from Chapter 3.
2. Write a two-chunk paragraph.

MOOD: the feeling or atmosphere that is created for the audience. Mood refers to how the reader is supposed to feel when reading, watching, or listening to a text. The character might be happy, but that doesn't necessarily mean the audience is supposed to feel happy, too.

You might start your paragraph with a sentence that looks like this one:

In the scene where ______________, Steinbeck creates a __________ mood through his effective use of _________ and __________.

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Tonight, June 1
• Make sure you have finished chapter 3 (up to page 66). There is audio on Youtube!
• There are a lot of new characters in that chapter, and many relationships (and conflicts) building. Work on your character chart. Take note of all of these interactions.
• Study your vocab. You have a quiz on Friday
• Your words: attract, traction, extract, detract, contract, abstract, fratricide, incision, excision, genocide, homicide
• Friday, June 3
• TRACT/CIDE Vocab Quiz
• 10-point revision due, if choosing to take the opportunity.
• Click here for the document you need.
• You will need to PRINT it, ATTACH it to your original essay, and TURN IT IN by 2:45pm on Friday, June 3.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• The document for this can be found in your Google Classroom folder in Drive, or on Google Classroom.
• Friday, June 10
• Your last essay of the school year. It will be in-class, just like the moral courage essay.

Chapter 3, and a bit of grammar

Today's Goal: Practice with more grammar, read chapter 3, and discuss the characters.

The Plan:

1. Talk about essay revision
2. NoRedInk.com practice.
3. "A Day in the Life" activity
4. Read Chapter 3.

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• TONIGHT:
• Finish chapter 3 in Of Mice and Men (work on character chart on Google Classroom)
• Finish NoRedInk practice
• Complete your TRACT Practice Sheet
• Wednesday, June 1
• TRACT Practice due
• There are no slides. You will need to look them up on the internet or in a dictionary
• Friday, June 3
• 10-point revision due, if choosing to take the opportunity.
• Click here for the document you need.
• You will need to PRINT it, ATTACH it to your original essay, and TURN IT IN by 2:45pm on Friday, June 3.
• Friday, June 3
• TRACT/CIDE Vocab Quiz
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• The document for this can be found in your Google Classroom folder in Drive, or on Google Classroom.

Chapter 2

Today's Goal: Meet more of the characters in Of Mice and Men and address the social issues that are present in the story so far. Attempt to live a day in the life in the 1930s through a small simulation activity.

The Plan:

1. A Quickwrite on Google Classroom
2. Read Chapter 2 and work on character/issues tracker (on Google Classroom)
3. A Day in the Life activity

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Today, Friday, May 27
• I will no longer accept ANY revision requests after 4pm. 
• There will be no exceptions. 
• Take this seriously.
• Today, Friday, May 27
• You are receiving your in-class essay back at the end of class.
• DO NOT throw it away.
• Wednesday, June 1
• TRACT Practice due
• There are no slides. You will need to look them up on the internet or in a dictionary
• Friday, June 3
• TRACT/CIDE Vocab Quiz
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• You will get the document for the written portion of that assignment soon.

Of Mice and Men - Let's begin!

Today's Goal: Read the first chapter of Of Mice and Men and begin to track the characters, what they look like, and what they might represent.

The Plan: 

1. Book Love?
2. Read Chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men
3. Character/Social Issues Tracking Chart (we will fill out the first two columns for George and Lennie.)

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Today, Thursday, May 26
• I'm collecting your Anticipation Guide
• Vocab Practice CIDE due
• No other homework unless you have make-up work.
• Tomorrow, Friday, May 27
• I will no longer accept ANY revision requests after tomorrow at 4pm. 
• There will be no exceptions. 
• Take this seriously.
• Friday, June 3
• Vocab Quiz
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• You will get the document for the written portion of that assignment soon.

Grammar Practice and an activity

Today's Goal: Practice our comma placement using a new tool called No Red Ink. Begin to think about some of the new themes and ideas you will encounter in Of Mice and Men with an activity.

The Plan:

1. No Red Ink
2. Activity

No Red Ink

• CLICK HERE to visit the website
• You are going to sign up using your CARLSBAD Google acct. (@carlsbadusd.net)
• I will provide you with the class code. (It will also be on the School Loop assignment if you are/were absent).
• No Red Ink is a tool that we can use to practice grammar and sentence composition.
• We will take the first 20-30 minutes of class to work on the practice that you have been assigned. If you finish, great! If you don't, you have until 10pm tonight to get it completed in order for it to be on time. It shouldn't take you very long.

Intro Activity for Of Mice and Men

If you weren't here, you missed out.

IMPORTANT DATES/ASSIGNMENTS

• Today, May 25
• No Red Ink Practice assignments due today. Please finish the activities you don't finish in class. 
• Tomorrow, Thursday, May 26
• Vocab Practice CIDE due
• There are no slides available. Use the internet or a dictionary. I believe in you.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat
• You will get the document for the written portion of that assignment soon.

Monday/Tuesday

This is a post for two days.

Ask and ye shall receive: we're going to watch To Kill A Mockingbird (the movie).

Your homework is to read your Book Love book, since you'll have a book chat on June 8, and you'll need to have finished your book by then.

Other than that, do something awesome with your family, go outside, and enjoy the fact that you get to be here.

Also, if you didn't get Of Mice and Men today, you'll need to get it by Wednesday.

On-Demand Essay

Today's Goal: Complete your on-demand writing assignment

The Plan:

1. Complete your on-demand writing assignment

If you are absent, there are only two opportunities to make it up after school. You may want to email me about those plans.

Homework/Important Dates:

• Friday, May 27
• This day is the LAST day I will accept any revisions for anything related to TKAM that you feel like you could improve on
• This may include P4R questions and any other classwork we have done since the beginning of the trimester
• I will not look at anything if you do not send me the appropriate email about it, on or before this day.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat #2

Outline Time!

Notice how this picture is out of focus and confused?
This will NOT be you today.
Focus is going to be your middle name. 

Today's Goal: Prepare for tomorrow's in-class essay!

The Plan:

1. Take a quick look at the rubric.
2. Note a shortened, condensed version of your outline.
3. Get to work.
4. A MODEL essay about a different topic, if you'd like to look at it!

A giant list of things you need tomorrow!

• Blank Lined Paper
• Writing utensils
• Your yellow (or white) outline
• Your book, To Kill a Mockingbird
• The other texts that have been provided, which include:
• "The Roots of Moral Courage"
• The article about Malala
• The article about Schindler
• The article about Mandela
• The two political cartoons
• literally nothing else is needed, nor allowed.

Homework/Important Dates:

• Friday, May 20
• On-Demand Written Essay. You can find lots of information about this on School Loop.
• You will be required to write a Works Cited Page at the end. This means you need to look up and create the citation for To Kill a Mockingbird (YOUR VERSION of the book)
• Click here to see the rubric.
• Friday, May 27
• This day is the LAST day I will accept any revisions for anything related to TKAM that you feel like you could improve on
• This may include P4R questions and any other classwork we have done since the beginning of the trimester
• I will not look at anything if you do not send me the appropriate email about it, on or before this day.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat #2

Organizing Your Essay

It's an outline! Get it?!

Today's Goal: Write a solid, clear thesis statement to be approved by Ms. Black. Work on organizing your essay for the on-demand writing on Friday.

The Plan: 

1. Book Love
2. Thesis Statements!
3. Time to work on essay organization!

Here's some real talk:

You will get today and tomorrow to work on your essay outline in class. If you use that time, your life will be much easier on Friday. If you do not, it will not change the expectations set for you. You will receive the same time as everyone else, and your grade will be based off of what you have written. You need to be able to advocate to yourself on your behalf - I believe in you. Make this time together, here, in the present, count.

Thesis Statements:

• I will be visiting every person to read over their thesis statement today.
• See yesterday's blog post for some models for you!
• You will receive a 1, 2, or 3 if you did it. 
• 1: Need to revise; will meet with Ms. Black to work on it! (This is a good thing)
• 2: minor revision needed; please see the models for examples
• 3: Awesome! You're headed down a great path. Share it with someone else to see if there are any other details you could add/change to improve, and then get started on your outline!
• From there, I will work with students who need to revise based on these numbers.

Homework/Important Dates:

• Friday, May 20
• On-Demand Written Essay. You can find lots of information about this on School Loop.
• Friday, May 27
• This is the LAST day I will accept any revisions for anything related to TKAM that you feel like you could improve on
• This may include P4R questions and any other classwork we have done since the beginning of the trimester
• I will not look at anything if you do not send me the appropriate email about it, on or before this day.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat #2

Example Thesis Statements

Today's Goal: Assess the last two "texts" you are provided for your synthesis essay, and begin to plan out your essay in advance. Use models for thesis statements to write your own thesis statement.

The Plan:

1. Book Love
2. Political Cartoons - A Discussion
3. Synthesis Essay Organizer
4. Model Thesis Statements

Model Thesis Statements

As I read through your responses on Google Classroom, I noticed a bit of struggle in answering the question about what moral courage is. 

SO. Here are some examples. Yay! I've chosen other concepts like "moral courage" to model with. 

Empathy:

Empathy is having the ability to understand and share someone else's feelings. A person who is empathetic would challenge prejudices against disadvantaged people, find commonalities with people different from themselves, and always try to put themselves in others' "shoes."

Optimism: 

Optimism is when one has hope and confidence that the future is bright, or that there will be successful outcomes of plans, projects, or ideas. Characteristics of optimistic people include: expressing gratitude for all aspects of life no matter how small, donating free time and extra money to causes that work to help the future, and having the will to keep trying even with a possibility of failure.

Prejudice:
Prejudice is the act of harboring an unreasonable and unjust opinion or attitude towards a person or group of people based on race, culture, beliefs, appearance, or other identity. To act with prejudice is to laugh at or make jokes about any of these identities, to fear that a group of people different from oneself will become too successful or more successful, and to believe or assume that stereotypes generalizing a group of people are true for all people.

Confidence: (Bonus: I wrote a whole opening paragraph for this one. The thesis is bolded.)
            Speaking in front of crowds is never easy. Neither is telling your crush you like them, or being a starter in your first-ever Varsity game, or simply having a difficult conversation with someone you respect, or admitting your bad choices. Everyone experiences those scary moments, and everyone gets through them the best they can. It's no secret that it's easier for some than for others though, and the key to why might be in their confidence levels. As Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." Having confidence means that a person has the feeling of self-assurance due to their appreciation and belief in his or her own abilities or qualities. Someone who exhibits great confidence in their everyday life would be unafraid to be wrong and/or ask for help when they need it, would seek out reasons to celebrate even small victories and the victories of other people, and would speak with certainty (avoiding "um" and "I'm not sure" and "I think).

Homework/Important Dates:

• TONIGHT: Write your thesis statement. I will be reading and assessing them tomorrow.
• Friday, May 20
• On-Demand Written Essay. You can find lots of information about this on School Loop.
• Friday, May 27
• This is the LAST day I will accept any revisions for anything related to TKAM that you feel like you could improve on
• This may include P4R questions and any other classwork we have done since the beginning of the trimester
• I will not look at anything if you do not send me the appropriate email about it, on or before this day.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat #2

Nelson Mandela

Today's Goal: Read one more article about a person in our history that might exhibit "moral courage."

The Plan:

1. Book Love!
2. Read the Nelson Mandela article together
3. Something else if we have time (It's a weird schedule. We're going to have to play by ear.)

Homework/Important Dates:

• Friday, May 20
• On-Demand Written Essay. You can find lots of information about this on School Loop.
• Friday, May 27
• This is the LAST day I will accept any revisions for anything related to TKAM that you feel like you could improve on
• This may include P4R questions and any other classwork we have done since the beginning of the trimester
• I will not look at anything if you do not send me the appropriate email about it, on or before this day.
• Wednesday, June 8
• Book Love Book Chat #2