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Davis School District

January 17-21, 2011: Third Term Begins

Monday, January 17

  • Human Rights Day
  • Thank you, Dr. King!
    (And not just for the day off!)

Tuesday, January 18

  • No School for Students
  • Lots of Meetings for Teachers :-(

Wednesday, January 19: A Day
Thursday, January 20: B Day

  • New Classes/New Seats
  • Hall Passes
  • Class Tools: Shelfari & Wiki
  • Choices and Voices
  • Copy "The Road Not Taken" (MPT p. 315) into your journal.

  • Journal #1: You are now standing at the place where two roads diverge. Which road will you follow? Explain your metaphors and symbols.
  • (Segue/Theme: Choices have consequences.)
  • The Pigman: Narrative Voices
  • Chapter 1: Meet John!
  • Chapter 2: Meet Lorraine!
  • First Impressions: Write about your first impressions of each of the narrators. Who is more like you? Why? Also, find and copy one sentence from each chapter that you think perfectly captures the voice of the narrator (one from John, one from Lorraine).
  • Grammar Punk: Semicolon Rule #3 (Wiki that!)
    Use a semicolon to separate items in a series that already contain commas.
    Example: I have been swimming in Layton, Utah; San Diego, California; and Greeley, Colorado.
  • (Homework) Article of the Week: Writing By Hand Makes You Smarter! (due Jan. 25/26)


Friday, January 21: A Day


January 24-28, 2011: Spirit Week

Monday, January 24: B Day (Hat Day!)


Tuesday, January 25: A Day (Pajama Day)
Wednesday, January 26: B Day (Ugly Sweater Day)

  • AoW (Homework due!): Write (by hand!) a reflection in your Writing Notebook about the article you are turning in marked with evidence of a close reading.
  • Grammar Punk: Colon Rules #1 & 2 (Wiki that!)
    Rule #1: Use a colon at the end of sentence to emphasize another word, phrase, clause, or list.*
    Examples
    • There is one main benefit of swimming: health.
    • I have a simple motto: “Born to swim.”
    • I swim for many reasons: health, endurance, strength, and fun.
    • I took these items to the pool: towel, swimsuit, goggles, and flippers.
      *A complete sentence (independent clause) must come before the colon!
  • Rule #2: Use a colon before an announcement, instruction, or directive.
  • Examples
    Caution: No running! Warning: Do not drink the water!
  • The Pigman: Chapters 5 - 6


Thursday, January 27: A Day (Super Hero/Villain Day)
Friday, January 28: B Day (Socks and Sandals Day)

  • Computer Lab 202
  • Correct your Shelfari and Wiki display names to reflect your new class period: 01BiffB, 02WolfmanT, 03ElizabethH, 04JamesZ, 05EmilieT, 06MiriamW, 07HaroldK
  • When you have done all the stuff up there, click here for....
  • ...The Pigman: Genre Writing Lab Activity
  • Don't forget the Writing Contest Assignment: Everybody has to enter one by February 7th.
    (See handout.)
  • The Pigman: Read Chapter 7

January 31 - February 4, 2011

Monday, January 31: A Day
Tuesday, February 1: B Day

  • The Pigman: Finish Chapter 7
  • Journal #3: Are you afraid to die? Why or why not? What is your attitude about death? Is it a natural part of the life process, or is it something to be avoided at all costs? Discuss. (100+)
  • The Pigman: Chapter 8 (MrT)
  • Pigman Chapter Titles (In Writing Notebook): Review the eight (8) chapters we have read so far. None of them have chapter titles...yet. Assign each chapter a title that you believe works for the content of each chapter. After each title, write a brief explanation of why you think that is an appropriate title for the chapter. Leave room on the same page to do this with the remaining 7 chapters, as well.
  • Read Chapter 9 (silently)
  • Writing Contest Entries due February 7th! Don't forget!
    (A and B Day Classes!)

Wednesday, February 2: A Day (SOM Breakfast)
Thursday, February 3: B Day

  • Pigman Personality Profile
  • The Pigman: Chapters 10 (MrT) & 11
  • Journal #4: You know you're an adult when....(100+)
  • The Pigman: Chapter 12 (MrT)
  • Word Cells CRT Review List: Assignment
    Assignment due next time. Quiz: Feb 10/11.
  • Writing Contest Entries due February 7th! Don't forget!
    (A and B Day Classes!)

Friday, February 4: A Day

  • Word Cells List #6 Assignment due!
  • Grammar Punk: Roll the Bones! (Use your reference handouts!)
  • Finish The Pigman
  • Finish Pigman Chapter Titles (in WN)
  • Discuss/Write about Themes in The Pigman
  • Consider all the instances of lying you can think of in this novel.
  • What are the different kinds of lies that are told?
  • Are all lies bad/wrong?
  • Discuss lying in The Pigman.
  • Don't forget the Writing Contest Entries due on Monday!


February 7-11, 2011

Monday, February 7: B Day


Tuesday, February 8: A Day (Common Core: Sub)
Wednesday, February 9: B Day


Thursday, February 10: A Day
Friday, February 11: B Day (Midterm)

  • Word Cells List #6 Quiz!
  • Midterm Reading Evaluation
    • Fill out the form completely and turn it in.
    • Post your final draft of your Pigman book review on Shelfari by Sunday night. Update your shelf, too!
  • AoW due now! Write a reflection on the next clean page in the Writing Notebook. Turn in your annotated paper.
  • Intro to the Bard: Shakespeare in the Classroom (video)
  • Handout: Shakespeare Web Quest-ions
    Answer as many questions as possible by watching the film. Bring the handout back next time.


February 14-18, 2011

Monday, Februrary 14: A Day
Tuesday, February 15: B Day

  • Journal #1: Are you a "romantic" person? Why or why not? Who's your Valentine? Are you going/Did you go to the dance? Discuss. (100+)
  • Shakespearean Quotes o' the Day -- Copy and discuss these quotes:

    "If all the year were playing holidays,
    To sport would be as tedious as to work."
    -- Henry IV, Part 2: Act II, Scene 1

    "O, it is excellent
    To have a giant's strength,
    but it is tyrannous
    To use it like a giant."
    --Measure for Measure: Act II, Scene 2
  • Finish Shakespeare in the Classroom video
  • Begin Romeo and Juliet: The Prologue
  • Translate the Prologue into modern English (back of Web Quest-ions).
  • Why is Shakespeare hard?
    • The Point: Part of the reason modern readers consider Shakespeare boring and/or incomprehensible (besides the fact that most of them have the critical thinking skills of third graders) is because Shakespeare's plays and language are the product of a world that is nothing like ours. His characters, however, illustrate that while the world is very different now, people are still much the same. We have the same emotions, flaws, and passions as people have had throughout history. By understanding a little about the time and place in which the plays were written, it can help modern readers get past all the unfamiliar stuff and enjoy the human stories that we can all relate to.
  • Three Ways to Present The Prologue: Audio/Video
  • Assignment of R&J Passages: Analyze (close read) your passage. Your job is to become the expert on your assigned part, so that when we encounter that passage in our study of the play, YOU can help us understand it. Also, you will later memorize a section of your assigned passage to recite aloud for the class. (But more on that later. For now, just do the analysis. This website will help.)


Wednesday, February 16: A Day (P.T. Conferences: 3:45-7:15 P.M.)
Thursday, February 17: B Day, No Intervention
(50-min. Homeroom for HS Counselors; 5 & 6 shortened)


Friday, February 18: A Day

  • Shakespearean Quote o' the Day -- Copy and discuss this quote:
    "Talkers are no good doers: be assured
    We go to use our hands and not our tongues."
    Richard III, Act I, Scene 3
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act I, Scenes 2 - 4
  • Three Ways to Present Queen Mab: Video
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act I, Scene 5 (They meet!)


February 21-25, 2011

Monday, Februrary 21: Day of Presidents

  • No School


Tuesday, February 22: B Day

  • Shakespearean Quote o' the Day -- Copy and discuss this quote:
    "Talkers are no good doers: be assured
    We go to use our hands and not our tongues."
    Richard III, Act I, Scene 3
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act I, Scenes 2 - 4
  • Three Ways to Present Queen Mab: Video
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act I, Scene 5 (They meet!)

Wednesday, February 23: A Day
Thursday, February 24: B Day

  • Paraphrased Passages due now!
  • Shakespearean Quote o' the Day -- Copy and Discuss this quote:
    "The harder matched, the greater victory."
    Henry VI, Part 3: Act V, Scene 1
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act II, Scenes 1 & 2 ("The Balcony Scene")
  • The Balcony Scene x 3: Video
  • Act II, Scenes 3 & part of 4


Friday, February 25: A Day

  • Shakespearean Quote o' the Day: Mix & Match (Choose three to copy into your Writing Notebook just as we have all the others before today. Write a sentence or two explaining each.)
  • R&J Memorization Assignment: Memorize at least 12 lines of your assigned passage to present aloud on March 7/8. Make sure that the lines you choose express a thought completely. (Don't just stop in the middle of sentence.) Also, make sure you understand the lines and present them with some enthusiasm or inflection that illustrates your understanding. Extra credit is available for extra long passages that are well performed.
  • Romeo and Juliet: Finish Act II: Scenes 4, 5, & 6
  • Act III: "A plague on both your houses!"
  • Close Read Act III Scene 4: Put detailed stage directions in the left margin (What are the players doing while the lines are being spoken? Include all of them, not just those who are speaking.) In the right margin, explain and discuss the meaning of the lines. "Translate" to modern English when necessary and discuss the underlying implications. (What are the characters' motivations and concerns? What do they not know? What will probably happen?)


February 28 - March 4, 2011

Monday, February 28: B Day

  • Shakespearean Quote o' the Day: Mix & Match (Choose three to copy into your Writing Notebook just as we have all the others before today. Write a sentence or two explaining each.)
  • R&J Memorization Assignment: Memorize at least 12 lines of your assigned passage to present aloud on March 7/8. Make sure that the lines you choose express a thought completely. (Don't just stop in the middle of sentence.) Also, make sure you understand the lines and present them with some enthusiasm or inflection that illustrates your understanding. Extra credit is available for extra long passages that are well performed.
  • Romeo and Juliet: Finish Act II: Scenes 4, 5, & 6
  • Act III: "A plague on both your houses!"
  • Close Read Act III Scene 4: Put detailed stage directions in the left margin (What are the players doing while the lines are being spoken? Include all of them, not just those who are speaking.) In the right margin, explain and discuss the meaning of the lines. "Translate" to modern English when necessary and discuss the underlying implications. (What are the characters' motivations and concerns? What do they not know? What will probably happen?)


Tuesday, March 1: 8-Period Day Schedule
Wednesday, March 2: 8-Period Day Schedule

  • March 1: Word Cells Gigantic Test
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act III, Scene 5 (if time....)
  • March 2: SRI Reading Test
  • &
  • Assignment: Voices and Choices in Romeo and Juliet
    This genre wrtiting assignment is to be done mainly on your own time. If you do not have access to a computer at home, you need to make sure to come to the open lab on an "Intervention" day OR come to my classroom before or after school. Computers are readily available at the school and you do have time during the school day to use them, so there is no excuse for not getting this assignment completed on time...but it may require some planning on your part.


Thursday, March 3: A Day
Friday, March 4: B Day

  • Shakespearean Quotes o' the Day: Share some of the Mixes & Matches from last time.
  • Romeo and Juliet: Act III, Scene 5
    (Wishbone's summary; your performance!)
  • Act IV: Scenes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 on video...but compare the important speeches to the text to see how they differ from movie.
  • Act V, Scene 1: You play the parts! ("Table Read")
  • Update Study Guide: Answer all questions through #5 on Act V.
  • Have your 12 lines memorized for Monday/Tuesday!



March 7-11, 2011

Monday, March 7: A Day
Tuesday, March 8: B Day

  • Finish Romeo and Juliet: Act V, Scenes 2, 3 (You play the parts!)
  • Present Romeo and Juliet Memorizations
  • Turn in R&J Study Guide + Shakespeare-related stuff
  • Extra Credit Opportunity: Comparing a Play and a Film
    Massive Purple Text, p. 926-933
    Compare a film version of Romeo and Juliet to Shakespeare's written version. Follow the instructions in the Massive Purple Text.
    Due March 16th!


Wednesday, March 9: A Day
Thursday, March 10: B Day (ESL Hell)

  • Intro to Epitaphs: Meet Aragog!
  • The Spoon River Anthology: Voices from Beyond the Grave
  • Using the Vocabulary (Poetic Terms) List analyze two epitaphs. (Treat this handout like a "close reading." Write on it. Mark areas of confusion. Show evidence of your interaction with the text. Answer the questions.
  • "Test" on Romeo and Juliet: Use study guides and the text to write Paired Epitaphs of your own about Romeo and Juliet. Write one for each character, illustrating not only your understanding of the play and the characters, but also employing some of the poetic devices on the vocabulary handout. (These are poetic epitaphs!) Write your epitaphs so that each tells one character's side of the story but when they are read together they give a fuller picture of what was actually going on.
  • Requirements of Test as Written on Board in Classroom
    • Illustrate your understanding of the play and the characters.
    • Use any two (2) kinds of figurative language in each epitaph.
    • Use any two (2) poetic devices in each epitaph.
    • Cross-reference the epitaphs so that when read together they tell "the whole story."
    • Make them look like poems using line breaks, spacing, etc.
    • Extra Credit: Decorate them in a creative or suitable way.
    • Final Drafts due on the Ides of March (March 15/16).


Friday, March 11: A Day



March 14-18, 2011

Monday, March 14: B Day

  • Welcome to Spoon River: "The Hill"
  • Over the next few days, we will be taking a virtual stroll through the Spoon River Cemetary and hearing the voices of some of the spirits that still haunt that sad place. This experience will take place in the environment of a game called Voices of Spoon River.
  • Intro to Interactive Fiction: Zork
  • Computer Lab: Voices of Spoon River
  • Download Game Here


Tuesday, March 15: A Day
Wednesday, March 16: B Day (Extra Credit Essays due!)

  • Romeo and Juliet Epitaphs due!
  • Computer Lab: Voices of Spoon River
  • (Need a hint?)
  • Reading Practice Evaluations Today! (Update Shelfari!)
  • End of Term Info:
  • If you didn't complete the Romeo and Juliet Wiki Assignment on time but you still want some credit for doing it, write your response on paper and turn it in by Thursday morning (before school).
  • Make sure your Writing Notebook is in the box today!
  • Extra Credit essays due Wednesday (today); bring extra credit slips and hall passes next time.


Thursday, March 17: A Day
Friday, March 18: B Day

  • Last Day of the Term
  • Journal #1 (New Page in WN): What did you think of the Spoon River Game? Do you think it was "educational"? If so, what did you learn while doing it? (If not, why not?) Did the game motivate you to solve problems? Why do you think I had you spend a day and a half playing it? Did you download it at home? Was your brain engaged while you played? Did you get frustrated? Discuss this in a detailed journal entry. (150 +)
  • Use the Spoon River Anthology to complete both assignments:
  • Assignment #1: Spoon River Anthology Review
  • Only if there is time (and there was not):
  • Spoon River Collections: Discover "The Whole Story"
    (Choose one collection to explore and share.)
    Spoon River Assignment: Main Ideas
  • "Reduced" Romeo and Juliet (video)
  • Final Grade Conferences
  • Thank a teacher! (Don't forget 7th and 8th grade teachers, too!)
  • See you next term!

"Did I miss anything?" This is the most annoying question students who have been absent can ask. My usual sarcastic reply is something like this: "Oh, heck no! We knew you were gone, so we just sat around all day and looked at each other. You don't really think I'm going to assign work on a day you're not here, do you?" So, in order to keep everyone (students and their parents) apprised of what exactly is going on each day in class, I am going to put it here. Check back often!

We have made every reasonable attempt to insure that our web pages are educationally sound and do not contain links to any questionable material or anything that can be deemed in violation of the DSD Acceptable Use Policy. We have also made every effort to insure that our web pages are free of personality, character, or any other small uniqueness that students might enjoy.
This page is maintained according to the DSD Internet Publishing Guidelines by FFJH Webmasters.
©2011 Michael Thompson - All rights reserved.
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