I'm getting to to know your writing better and it is so exciting! Today we used the Self-Portrait poems as inspiration for new pieces. I was amazed with what you came up with. Luna wrote a dark piece with beautiful images, Kaya wrote an awesome short story inspired by just one line--it's nothing special--and Sylvia showed us her more complicated side (in a meadow). Luke wrote a great haiku using all found words while Vivek and Pascal had a lot of fun writing crazy stories (suddenly a dead fish hit me in the face). Mesoma showed us that in the end it's just a "chicken wing frozen in a box". Good times, good times.
I'm really enjoying writer's workshop and it seems like you all are too. There was a hush in the amphitheater minus the click of frantic keying. You may notice that I've been giving you a little more direction, prompts, activities to inspire your writing. This is not meant to take place of the free-writing you're all used to, but will hopefully push you in new directions. Try to stay open, you may learn something.
I do want to address some upcomings since you all are off to Mexico esta fin de semana.
Primero--no more book reviews. I still need the one from when Liz was still here, but no new ones. Look for more news on that in the near future.
Segundo--Don't forget to turn in Philosophy work! I'm missing Chapters 6, 7 and 8 from many of you!
Finalmente-- There are two things that will be due when you get back from Mexico. Your Philosophy argument based on the NYTimes article and your Literature circle work. That's it!
Have a wonderful trip!
emma
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tuesday
Today was our first Literature Circle and you guys were awesome! There were some great discussions and you all led the conversation maturely and efficiently. I loved hearing you pull in the shyer voices and ask authentic questions even when they may have been embarrassing ("I really didn't understand this part").
I also saw you guys getting creative in how you presented your material. Many of the Vocabulary Highlighters played guessing games instead of just telling the group the correct definition. (Luna promised to come up with a great game for our next lit circle!) Evan illustrated the house in How I Live Now and Vivek urged him to explain his reasons for including each detail. Max drew a "coughy house" for Fever 1793 and Nina pointed out how clever that was considering that is how germs are passed. I loved listening to your conversations about these books.
I also have some reminders:
1. I won't see you tomorrow because you get to hear from a Holocaust survivor. So I passed out your next Philosophy assignment which is an article about teaching Philosophy in school. Your job is to choose a side and argue for or against teaching Philosophy in school (k-12). Be sure to support your position with evidence from the text. I am expecting 2 persuasive paragraphs from you. Since you'll be in Mexico, that will be due the Wednesday you get back, May 5th.
2. Philosophy Chapter 8 is due tomorrow. You won't have me for class but you can easily hand me your work, email it to me: battenbowman@gmail.com or put it in the folder in the amphitheater.
Hasta manana!
emma
I also saw you guys getting creative in how you presented your material. Many of the Vocabulary Highlighters played guessing games instead of just telling the group the correct definition. (Luna promised to come up with a great game for our next lit circle!) Evan illustrated the house in How I Live Now and Vivek urged him to explain his reasons for including each detail. Max drew a "coughy house" for Fever 1793 and Nina pointed out how clever that was considering that is how germs are passed. I loved listening to your conversations about these books.
I also have some reminders:
1. I won't see you tomorrow because you get to hear from a Holocaust survivor. So I passed out your next Philosophy assignment which is an article about teaching Philosophy in school. Your job is to choose a side and argue for or against teaching Philosophy in school (k-12). Be sure to support your position with evidence from the text. I am expecting 2 persuasive paragraphs from you. Since you'll be in Mexico, that will be due the Wednesday you get back, May 5th.
2. Philosophy Chapter 8 is due tomorrow. You won't have me for class but you can easily hand me your work, email it to me: battenbowman@gmail.com or put it in the folder in the amphitheater.
Hasta manana!
emma
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday
Today you all presented your poems--what a treat! They were filled with detail, creative imagery and even some alliteration (we didn't even talk about this poetic device. Well done, well done). I was impressed by what good presenters you all are. You stood up straight, spoke loudly and clearly and looked up from your paper. Evan even memorized his! I was, however, disappointed by how many of you only shared a part of your poem instead of the entire piece. It is important to be proud and confident in everything you do. We will work on that.
Shout out to 8A who went above and beyond with beautiful decorations and creative presentations of who they are. You all obviously spent extra time and really put thought into your final product. I appreciate your effort and commitment to excellence.
NOTE: You all need to check Wednesday's blog for the Philosophy Chapter 8 questions. Choose ONE question and write at least TWO paragraphs about it.
Great job today!
emma
Shout out to 8A who went above and beyond with beautiful decorations and creative presentations of who they are. You all obviously spent extra time and really put thought into your final product. I appreciate your effort and commitment to excellence.
NOTE: You all need to check Wednesday's blog for the Philosophy Chapter 8 questions. Choose ONE question and write at least TWO paragraphs about it.
Great job today!
emma
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Today we had the music assembly so schedules got switched. I didn't get to see you guys but Mitch did pass our your Philosophy Chapter 8. Based on your feedback from yesterday, I changed the assignment a little bit. Through our discussion we came up with 3 questions:
1. Is it okay to change your reality--shaving, dying hair, plastic surgery, make up--or should everyone just accept their own reality?
1. Is it okay to change your reality--shaving, dying hair, plastic surgery, make up--or should everyone just accept their own reality?
Ava felt that there are different levels of changing your reality. I mean, is wearing make up as extreme as surgery? Does it matter? What would Zeno say? Mario argued that all of those examples are now a part of our reality! Someone else felt the world would be so boring if we didn't ever change our realities. What do you think?
2. Argue for or against stoicism. Is it better to have ups and downs, highs and lows, or would it be ideal to live life evenly and unemotionally?
Ben brought up a great example of Spock from Star Trek. His race can't experience emotion as a way to avoid war. Is this a good thing? They can avoid horrible experiences like war, but aren't they also missing out on the good things in life? Someone else pointed out that your birthday wouldn't be as fun if it happened every single day. You need the monotony of every day to provide contrast to the fun of a celebration. Would vacation get boring if it never ended?
3. (From the packet) Do you agree with Zeno that the laws of nature necessitate everything you do or do you agree with Epicurus that your actions are free?
Your job is to choose ONE question to write a two paragraph response. Don't forget to write your heading in the top right hand corner, title your paper and please copy the question so that I know which one you are answering. Turn in your responses by next Wednesday.
IMPORTANT!
Tomorrow you guys get to turn in and present your fantastic Self-Portrait poems! I want to see what you've been working on all week. Practice reading it out loud in the mirror tonight so you'll be ready to give a great presentation.
I can't wait!
emma
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tuesday!
Don't forget to turn in your book reviews and Philosophy Chapter 7!
And of course you're spending every free moment working on your Self-Portrait Poem. Voracious Vivek has promised us a fabulous poem and presentation on Thursday. I can't wait! Remember to decorate it, make sure it represents you, be creative and have fun with it. You will all present on Thursday but you do not have to present the entire poem if you're somehow feeling shy with the peers you've known since kindergarten --ahem--
Today was a big improvement over yesterday. Thanks for your great comments and suggestions about English class. I'm getting more and more excited about working with you and creating some great new norms that will make the class more rigorous and engaging. Feel free to email me with more thoughts on the class: battenbowman@gmail.com
You also got your Literature Circle books today. I think you all will really enjoy the self-led discussions. It seemed like most of you are already really excited about your books. Speaking of, does anyone have an extra copy of Fever? I think I want to read that one along with you all. Let me know if I can borrow it.
My next step is figuring out how to upload the new reading assignments to this blog so that you can have access to a copy with the right dates and with Pascal in the right group. You should have all five handouts for the various roles and if you do lose those they are on the blog ready for you to download.
Hasta manana!
emma
And of course you're spending every free moment working on your Self-Portrait Poem. Voracious Vivek has promised us a fabulous poem and presentation on Thursday. I can't wait! Remember to decorate it, make sure it represents you, be creative and have fun with it. You will all present on Thursday but you do not have to present the entire poem if you're somehow feeling shy with the peers you've known since kindergarten --ahem--
Today was a big improvement over yesterday. Thanks for your great comments and suggestions about English class. I'm getting more and more excited about working with you and creating some great new norms that will make the class more rigorous and engaging. Feel free to email me with more thoughts on the class: battenbowman@gmail.com
You also got your Literature Circle books today. I think you all will really enjoy the self-led discussions. It seemed like most of you are already really excited about your books. Speaking of, does anyone have an extra copy of Fever? I think I want to read that one along with you all. Let me know if I can borrow it.
My next step is figuring out how to upload the new reading assignments to this blog so that you can have access to a copy with the right dates and with Pascal in the right group. You should have all five handouts for the various roles and if you do lose those they are on the blog ready for you to download.
Hasta manana!
emma
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Okay, so this is my first time blogging ever! Please forgive any errors as I learn.
We changed things up a little bit today--thanks for being flexible and understanding. We did a little 'getting to know you' through metaphors. It was fun to hear all of the creative answers. There were so many great ones, here's only a sampling of what I remember:
"I would be an avocado because I can be both sweet and savory!"
"I would be a road bike because I'm skinny. And it would have a yellow basket because I'm unique!"
"I would be a lollipop because I'm hard on the outside and soft and sweet in the middle."
Then we talked about how to turn those metaphors into a great Self-Portrait poem. I passed out a guideline and my own example of a complete poem. I'm asking you all to spend the week writing your own Self-Portrait Poem where you are detailed, honest, and creative. Unlike my own example, I want you all to make your final drafts beautiful. Decorate them with pictures, colors, cool fonts, or whatever else represents who you are. I can't wait to see and hear them when we share on Thursday <--notice the due date change!
I'm learning your routines and reading some of your past work. I know Liz expected you all to be reading independent books throughout the year. You were supposed to turn in a Book Review of one of those books last week. I do not have Book Reviews from all of you. Make sure you turn that in to me this week. You also needed to turn in your Philosophy Chapter 7 work to me. Again, I do not have this from everyone. Please get that to me this week.
NOTE: Be sure to put your name on all of your work. I've already got a stack of stuff and I don't know who it belongs to! This includes stuff that you email. I print that stuff out so the actual attachment needs to include your name. This is a good habit to work on!
Lastly, I'm excited to continue getting to know all of you. Feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, or work: battenbowman@gmail.com
emma
We changed things up a little bit today--thanks for being flexible and understanding. We did a little 'getting to know you' through metaphors. It was fun to hear all of the creative answers. There were so many great ones, here's only a sampling of what I remember:
"I would be an avocado because I can be both sweet and savory!"
"I would be a road bike because I'm skinny. And it would have a yellow basket because I'm unique!"
"I would be a lollipop because I'm hard on the outside and soft and sweet in the middle."
Then we talked about how to turn those metaphors into a great Self-Portrait poem. I passed out a guideline and my own example of a complete poem. I'm asking you all to spend the week writing your own Self-Portrait Poem where you are detailed, honest, and creative. Unlike my own example, I want you all to make your final drafts beautiful. Decorate them with pictures, colors, cool fonts, or whatever else represents who you are. I can't wait to see and hear them when we share on Thursday <--notice the due date change!
I'm learning your routines and reading some of your past work. I know Liz expected you all to be reading independent books throughout the year. You were supposed to turn in a Book Review of one of those books last week. I do not have Book Reviews from all of you. Make sure you turn that in to me this week. You also needed to turn in your Philosophy Chapter 7 work to me. Again, I do not have this from everyone. Please get that to me this week.
NOTE: Be sure to put your name on all of your work. I've already got a stack of stuff and I don't know who it belongs to! This includes stuff that you email. I print that stuff out so the actual attachment needs to include your name. This is a good habit to work on!
Lastly, I'm excited to continue getting to know all of you. Feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, or work: battenbowman@gmail.com
emma
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