2/26-28/08 8th

We published our stories by reading them aloud. We are also having individual conferences with Mrs. Cheney to finalize grades. Hope y'all have a fun three-day weekend!

2/26-28/08 9th

We're watching Romeo and Juliet and tying up all the loose ends of the trimester.

2/25/08 8th

We spent the day in the writing lab typing up the old final draft of our perspective stories. They will be due tomorrow (if you didn't already turn them in today).

2/25/08 9th

Happy Romeo and Juliet final test day! Good luck.

2/22/08 8th

We read our drafts aloud to our peer editing group today. We paid particular attention to the four parts of the plot, making sure each member of the group has included all four parts. If you weren't here today, read your draft with a parent and ask them to help you to determine whether or not you have all four parts of the plot. Check out this power point as a good source of plot pointers.

We will be typing our final drafts on Monday.

2/22/08 9th

Today is a catch-up and reading day. If you have missed a quiz, you should plan to take it today.

Also, we will be taking the Romeo and Juliet final test on Monday. Here are some drama terms you will need to know:

Drama: a story that is written to be acted for an audience.
Comedy: a story that ends happily; comedies usually end with a wedding
Tragedy: a story that ends in the death of the main character or characters
Aside: words that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character but that are not supposed to be overheard by the others onstage
Soliloquy: a long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud
Setting: the time and place of the story or play
Theme: the central idea of a work of literature; tells what the writer wants to reveal about the subject; is usually expressed in a sentence
Motif: a repeated structure, contrast, or literary device that helps to develop the theme
Allusion: reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture
Foreshadowing: the use of clues to hint at events that will occur later
Comic Relief: comic scene or event that breaks up a serious play or narrative

Character: person in a story, poem or play
Static Character: a character who does not change much in the course of a story
Dynamic Character: a character who changes as a result of a story’s events
Flat Character: has only one or two traits
Round Character: has many different traits, which sometimes contradict one another
Protagonist: the main character in fiction or drama
Antagonist: the character or force that works against the protagonist
Motivation: the fears, conflicts, or needs that drive a character
Foil: a character who is used as a contrast to another character

Irony: a contrast between expectation and reality—between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected to happen and what really does happen, or between what appears to be true and what is really true
Verbal Irony: a writer or speaker says on thing but really means something else
Situational Irony: occurs when there is a contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens, or when there is a contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really happens
Dramatic Irony: occurs when the audience or the reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know

2/21/08 8th

The second step of the writing process is drafting. When you draft, it is a good idea to write as fast as you can to get all of your ideas down on paper. You can go back and make changes later.

Your story needs a plot. There are four parts of every plot. You should start with a basic situation. Readers need to know some background information about the setting and characters in order to understand the story. After you've established a basic situation, you should give your characters some sort of a conflict. Generally, stories have a set of complications that rise to the main conflict. This set of complications is called rising action. The high point of the conflict (when it seems that all will be lost as a result of the problem) is called the climax of the story. The main character of the story must overcome his/her conflict at this point. The actions the character takes to overcome the conflict is called the resolution. Your story is over when the resolution is completed.

You must include all four parts of the plot in order to get full credit. Remember, your story is to be told from a different perspective from the one we normally hear. You should be creative, have fun, and add some new and interesting twist to an old story.

Here is a good example of telling a story from a non-traditional perspective.

2/21/08 9th

Today was the Utah Direct Writing Assessment.

2/20/08 8th

Today we did some pre-writing for a new assignment. Stories are written from the main character's perspective. Would we get a completely different story if it was told from another character's perspective?

We brainstormed a list of stories that are well known in our culture. Then we listed the characters involved in each stories. Each of us chose a character, and we began to rewrite the story from that character's point of view. (Example, the wolf in "The Three Little Pigs" might claim that he wasn't really going to kill the pigs. He just wanted to introduce himself to his new neighbors and bring muffins to be friendly.)

Choose a character and a story for tomorrow.

2/20/08 9th

We finished Act V today. We talked about the different emotions the different characters are feeling during this act. Specifically, we spent a lot of time talking about Friar Lawrence. He is in a very difficult position. His initial decision to marry Romeo and Juliet has lead to all sorts of less-than-honest behavior in the hopes of covering up his less0than-priestly advice. It is an interested path--one small lie leading to a slightly bigger lie, and so on and so forth until he finds dead Romeo, Juliet and Paris and feel the weight of his behavior. In the end, the prince decides that the Friar has always been a holy man in the passed, so he doesn't punish his deeds. What happens in our society when a high-profile person who has always been known to be good makes a decision based on poor judgement? Do we consider past behavior? Or are we quick to condemn?

We took the quiz on Act V today.

2/19/08 8th

Today we test on Touching Spirit Bear. Good luck!

2/19/08 9th

Act V. I'll write more about this later.

I loved this learning activity submission. I hope you'll give me your very best work for the last submission next week.

2/15/08 8th

We had a review-for-the-test game today. Hope it helped! Good luck on the test on Tuesday.

2/15/08 9th

We finished our persuasive essays on www.myaccess.com today. I look forward to reading your submissions next week. I'm taking full advantage of the three-day weekend to have some fun. I hope you have some fun too!

2/14/08 8th

We finished the book today! Tomorrow we will have a review, and we'll take the test on Monday.

You will need to know:

Vocabulary words

omen: a sign of something about to happen
banishment: to be forced to leave a country or place by official decree; exile
elder: of higher rank; senior
smirk: to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way
feigned: pretended, faked
cowering: To cringe in fear
depositions: law testimony under oath, especially a statement by a witness that is written down or recorded for use in court at a later date
skiff: a small boat
sparse: scarce or few
shrouded: covered
moseyed: walked casually
brandished: to wave or flourish in a threatening manner
moron: a stupid person
sullenly: showing irritation or ill humor by a gloomy silence or reserve
corny: old fashioned or cheesy
smoldering: a very hot flameless fire
barrage: a steady stream
spewing: to expel forcefully
defiant: boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
inferno: an extremely hot fire; hell
stifling: suffocation
slouch: to stoop; stand or sit with bad posture
subside: to lessen
manic: unreasonable enthusiasm
scoff: to show contempt or to mock
arraignment: the charging of a crime in court
illusion: a misleading image or idea
conjure: to call up or summon
taunt: to challenge in a mocking or insulting way
manipulate: to play upon someone to serve one's own purposes
quest: a pursuit or search
skepticism: uncertainty or doubt
incessant: unceasingly or continual
gluttonous: excessiveness in eating or drinking
mauling: beating, bruising, mangling
grimacing: a facial expression showing pain or disapproval
haphazard: random or without order or plan
pummel: to pound or beat
detonated: to explode or set off
vulnerable: open to attach or damage
toy: to play with an idea
defy: to challenge or confront
teem: to abound or become filled to overflowing
stench: stink
ingenuity: inventiveness
irk: to annoy
stifle: to smother, muffle, or repress
orb: a sphere
hectic: excitement and confusion
resignation: to have surrendered or submitted
amble: to walk in a leisurely manner; stroll
saunter: to walk in a leisurely manner; stroll
trancelike: in a state where one is unable to function
ancestry: line of descent, lineage
scour: to search
sarcasm: a sharp type of comment intended to hurt
gingerly: cautiously or carefully
bout: an attack or a period of time spent in a particular way
clan: a group of related people

Literary terms

imagery: painting a picture with words
simile: a comparison between two unlike things using the words like or as
metaphor: a comparison between two unlike things saying one thing is the other
inference: when an author says something indirectly and we guess what was meant based on the clues in the text
irony: a conflict between reality and expectation
foreshadowing: hints of what will happen in the plot of a book, story, movie, etc.
symbolism: an object or idea that has a deeper meaning than its actual self
analogy: a story that has parallel meanings in life

Characters:

Cole Matthews: 15 year old protagonist (main character of the story)
Peter Driscal: 9th grade boy Cole beat up
Edwin: Tlingit elder who helps Cole
Garvey: Cole's probation officer (also Tlingit)
William Matthews: Cole's father
Cindy Matthews: Cole's mother

Symbols:

spirit bear: dignity, honor, pride
a.toow': trust, friendship
hot dog/feast: life is what you make it
sunny sky/cloudy sky: life if what you look for
cake/ingredients: life has good and bad ingredients
stick: anger/joy
Cole's name: coal is black, burns long and hot, and turns into a diamond with time and pressure
totem: you can learn something about yourself from animals
tree in anger dance: Cole, his father, everyone who has ever hurt Cole
circle: any cycle, the world, Cole's need to help the one he hurt, healing, trust, friendship, etc.

2/14/08 9th

Happy Valentine's Day. And to celebrate, we're taking a quiz on Act IV. Make sure to make it up on your own time if you missed class.

The rest of the hour we read silently.

2/13/08 8th

With our short day we discussed all the important stuff from yesterday's silent reading. We are on track for finishing the reading on Friday. At long last.

2/13/08 9th

Today is a short day because of late start. We read and discussed scene 5. We will finish the act tomorrow and have the quiz.

This week I'm getting some really great learning activities (finally). Most of you are putting a lot of thought and creativity into your projects. I hope you are having fun with them, and more than that, I hope you are making important connections between the play and real life. Real life is where we live, and if we can't connect what we learn from literature to real life, is almost isn't worth reading. Almost.

2/12/08 8th

We read pages 217-146 today. Cole has all sorts of realizations in this section. He realizes that he only sees the spirit bear when he clears his mind, he realizes that he can only truly heal if he helps Peter, and he realizes that he must forgive his father if he wants to control his anger. This is a pretty big deal for a 15 year old kid.

Cole gets an idea in his head about what he can do to help Peter. There are some hints about what the idea may be, but it isn't fully revealed until chapter 25. What could the idea be? And will it work? Stay tuned to find out.

Look forward to a test on the book on Tuesday, February 19.

2/12/08 9th

We read through Act IV scene 4 today. Things are looking pretty bad for our star-crossed lovers. Through her pure, innocent, eyelash-batting eyes, Juliet looked her father straight in the face and lied, lied, lied. He is thrilled, of course, that his daughter has finally seen the light and agreed to marry Paris, so he moves the wedding up a day. OOPS! Things are just getting more and more complicated. So Juliet has to move her plans up a night without any way to communicate this to Friar Lawrence. The messenger is going to have to kick into high gear to get the message to Romeo in time. Will he make it? Will Romeo find out in time? Or are we headed for certain tragedy and despair.

Of course we already know the answer to that question, but we decided that it is kind of fun to exercise our temporary suspension of disbelief and hope for a happy ending.

We won't get it.

The Act IV quiz will be Thursday.

2/11/08 8th

Today we practiced adding details to our writing. We also talked about analogies. An analogy is a story which has different levels of meaning for individual readers. There are all sorts of analogies in every day life. We often find analogies in religious services and literature. We have all sorts of analogies in Touching Spirit Bear.

We had a fun time making up our own analogies in class.

2/11/08 9th

We spent the class hour in the writing lab today. We will be writing a persuasive paper this week to continue in our preparation for the Utah Direct Writing Assessment. This writing assignment will be assessed by a program called My Access. This is an online program designed to help students learn about specific ways they can improve their writing.

We will start our writing assignment today, but you can log on to http://www.myaccess.com from your home computer to work on it all week. Your user name is your first name and your student number (no spaces) and your password is 999 and your last name (no spaces). For example, a student whose name is George Washington with ID #167014281 would have the user name, george167014281 and password, 999washington.

We will return to the writing lab on Friday to finish up and submit our essays for a final evaluation. This process should give you an idea of what you still need to work on to improve your writing for next week's UDWA.

2/8/08 8th

We read to page 217 today. We also spent some time reading silently. I sent home progress reports for your parents to sign. Please bring them back on Monday.

2/8/08 9th

We took the quiz on Act III today.

The rest of the hour we read silently.

2/7/08 8th

We read through page 208 today. Cole is progressing, but it is slowing going. For every two steps he takes forward, he seems to take one back. Edwin and Garvey lose their patience with Cole, and he is faced with the task of truly earning their trust.

When Cole truly clears his mind, he sees the Spirit Bear again. What does this mean?

2/7/08 9th

We finished reading Act III today. I will add the details of our discussion after class.

2/6/08 8th

We read chapters 16 and 17 in Touching Spirit Bear today. Your job was to keep a chart of positive and negative behaviors Cole exhibits. Cole's attitude change will not happen over night. He will slip back into his former ways now and again. We are going to keep track of his progress.

We were introduced to a bucket full of new symbols today: hot dogs, sticks, clouds and sun, the ancester rock, the whale, the dance, and the list goes on. Pay attention to these symbols and what they represent. In particular, pay attention to the symbols that represent life in some way (there are several). What is Cole supposed to learn from these symbols? What do we learn from these symbols?

I graded your part 1 quizzes, and found that many of you are not catching some of the essential ideas that we have talked about in class. If you missed some of these ideas (symbols, Cole's epiphany, the meaning of the blood on Cole's hand), you need to do something to increase your memory of our class discussions. An obvious solution is to take notes on class discussions. When we hear something and then write it down, it is far more likely to stick in our brains. Please do something to make these important discussions stick in your brains.

2/6/08 9th

The vocabulary squares you turned in were not quite up to snuff. We're going to have a talking-to in class today to staighten out just what the expectations are, and since you seem to be bent on giving the bare minimum, I will spell it out precisely for you. I was not pleased.

I was also not pleased that many of you ignored your second learning activity deadline. Your A will not be handed to you on a platter. You must earn it. At the moment, there are only three A's in your class. Three. Yep, that was a three. On the other hand, there are eight F's. Yes eight. This is not good. With only three weeks left in the tri, your chances for raising your grade are slip, slip, slipping away. Show me now that you mean business, and I'll work with you. Do not procrastinate the day of your make-up work.

*End of Mrs. Cheney's tirade*

Today we read through scene 4 in Act III. Tybalt kills Mercutio (thanks to Romeo's clumsy fumbling), Romeo kills Tybalt (thanks to Romeo's hasty reaction to Mercutio's death), Romeo is banished (be sure to pronounce the ed), Juliet threatens suicide (as Romeo's banishment is worse then 10,000 dead Tybalts), Romeo threatens suicide (as life without Juliet's presence is not worth living), Friar Lawrence calls Romeo a woman (the ulitmate insult) and we learn that Matua is pronounced Man-choo-ah, not Man-oo-ay. Wow! Who knew?

We also learned that Lord Capulet has promised Paris that he can marry Juliet on Thursday. It would have been Wednesday, but the family needed some time to mourn Tybalt's death. What will Juliet do? What will Romeo do? What will Friar Lawrence do? Turn in tomorrow for another episode of Five Days in the Lives of Two Young Lovers Who Seal Their Fates With Their Hasty Decisions, otherwise known as Romeo and Juliet.

2/5/08 8th

Today we read chapter 16, then we completed this worksheet:

Name____________________________

Touching Spirit Bear, chapters 13-16

Who said it? Choose from this list of characters: Cole, Garvey, Edwin, Cole’s mom, Feather Keeper, Rosie, Peter’s lawyer

Write the character’s name and the page number below each quote.


“But helping others is how I help myself.”


“No more chances!”


“All of life is a hotdog.”


“Circle Justice isn’t blind. It is about facing consequences.”


“In a few months your body will heal, but time won’t heal your mind as easily. Helping others can help heal your wounds of the spirit.”


“We all have things we wish we could do over again.”


“You gonna eat that thing, or play with it all day?”


“He’ll be okay if he ever finds a reason to live.”


“I’ve quit drinking.”


“If I like the cake, maybe the ingredients are okay, too.”


“You don’t need to think about the truth.”


“Why don’t we just send him to Disney World for a year?”


“You didn’t trust me.”


“The song we hummed is a song of friendship.”


Discover yourself . . . Celebrate being alive.”


We, as readers, get to watch Cole’s change of heart from inside his head. Each of the following quotations show Cole is going through an attitude adjustment. What is Cole thinking about or saying in each quotation? How is he changing? What is he realizing? What does the quotation mean? Use complete sentences to answer these questions for each quotation.

“Are you okay?”



“Cole’s eye grew moist. He couldn’t stop thinking about the tiny birds strewn in the grass.”



“But how had the world benefited from his living?”



“He wanted to live.”



“All of his life he had squandered his choices.”



“He wanted to live, but for that he needed help.”



“A strange thought occurred to Cole: the world was beautiful . . . how much beauty had he destroyed?”



“Cole forced a nod. ‘I am okay.’”



“Whatever happens now, I’m done being mad.”



“I . . . I know now I was wrong . . .”


I also gave a list of vocabulary words and a worksheet designed to help you learn them. See me to get a worksheet. The words are listed in the column to the right.

2/5/08 9th

We are reading the first part of Act III today. More to come . . .

2/4/08 8th

We read chapters 14 and 15 in class today. Make sure you catch up on your reading if you weren't here.

We are witnessing Cole's change of heart. Change comes slowly when we have life-long habits to break. Cole is having a difficult time convincing people he is really changing. But as with everything else in life, good things are worth the hard work. Cole's mother has also come to a realization that she can change her life for the better.

Tomorrow we'll do some connecting with Cole's thoughts, actions, and the probably outcomes.

2/4/08 9th

After journals, we took the Act II quiz. If you missed it, make it up as soon as possible.

We talked about learning activities and vocabulary squares today. If you are having a hard time finding word origins, synonyms and antonyms, dictionary.com is a wonderful resource. The word origins are included with each entry in brackets after the definition. You can also click on the thesaurus button to find synonyms and antonyms.

We talked a bit about The Globe Theatre today. We talked about how all sorts of people from all stations in life would attend the theatre together. The poor folks would pay a penny to stand on the ground in "the pit", and people of higher status would purchase tickets in the balconies. The Globe could house 3000 audience members. Imagine that! One student brought in an excellent paper model of The Globe. If you didn't get a chance to see, ask me in class.

We also talked about sonnets. We read these sonnets in class:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

by William Shakespeare

and

This frigid wintry wind still blows forlorn;
From blue-black north the steel-grey clouds are sent.
The mountains with white fur themselves adorn,
And with that heavy fur, the firs are bent.
Look! Lacy crystals, gossamer they seem;
Yet look again, their jagged edges found.
And sifting down from heaven? No, they teem--
Collide, cascade, conflict, contend, crash down.
Benumbed are all by endless brumal skies;
All flesh is bit with brisk and bitter breath.
Forsooth, a boundless winter -- future lies,
Hell frozen o’er, in truth’s a hellish death.
What’s this? In snow, a crocus head I see.
Thou, Winter, who deals death, soon dead shall be.

by Mrs. Cheney

A sonnet is comprised of four parts--three quatrains (four lines each) and a couplet (two lines). Each quatrains has its own subtopic that relates to the main topic of the sonnet. The couplet generally sums up the point of the poem, and sometimes adds a bit of a twist. Sonnets are written in iambic (syllables alternate between unstressed and stressed) pentameter (5 pairs of syllables--or ten syllables per line). The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Shakespeare loved to include words and phrases that have double meanings. *bonus* Find my examples of words and phrases with double meanings for 10 extra credit points (you must find three examples in my sonnet for the full ten points). The structure of a Shakespearean sonnet is rather rigid. If you choose to write a sonnet as one of your learning activties, please make sure it fits the requirements.

We talked so much about all these things that we didn't have time to start reading Act III. We'll do that tomorrow.

2/1/08 8th

Each group presented their newspaper today. Good job on this assignment. I thought you were very creative.

The rest of the period was devoted to individual reading. You should have aroun 600 pages by now.

2/1/08 9th

Today is a reading day!

Have a nice weekend.

1/31/08 8th

We took a longish quiz on Part 1 of Touching Spirit Bear today. It took most of the class period. For the rest of class we handed back some papers and talked a little about the ending of Part 1. See me to take the quiz if you were absent.

1/31/08 9th

We read the rest of Act II today. We found parallel reactions to Romeo and Juliet's intention to marry from both Friar Laurence and Juliet's nurse. They both felt the teen lovers were being hasty. We decided that the warnings against being hasty were both forshadowings and motifs.

We also discovered Mercutio's allusions to all sorts of mythological figures during his lengthy and flowery talkings-to that he gives Romeo. We imagined that Mercutio should be played by an actor who uses his body language to help communicate his ideas. We imagined lots of large movements on the stage as speaks. Mercutio is becoming more and more of a foil to Romeo.

We also talked about why Shakespeare did not include the actual wedding scene in this play. We decided it may have something to do with the tragic nature of the play. It's not really supposed to be a romance (though many regard it as such). It is a tragedy. Tragedies end in death. Comedies end with the marriage. We thought that perhaps Shakespeare was staying true to the tragic nature of this play by leaving out the actual wedding scene.

There are certainly other possibilties. What do you think?

Tomorrow we will be reading our own books silently. Monday we will have a quiz on Act II.