Tuesday, November 30

We had an eight question quiz on the pre-reading for "Antigone." I took up homework. Then, we began reading "Antigone" today. My different classes completed different amounts of it:

Block One- completed the entire play
Block Two- read up to the start of Scene Four; homework was to do the Study and Discussion questions up to Scene Four (on page 351)
Block Four- read up to the start of Scene Four

Monday, November 29

Students learned about Greek tragedy. They read pages 489-493 in their textbooks as an introduction to the topic. They also completed a worksheet about the Greek theater.

Here's the week's schedule:
Monday- Pre-reading to Antigone; introduction to Greek tragedy; textbook pages 489-493; worksheet on Greek theater

Tuesday- cast parts and begin reading Antigone

Wednesday- continued reading of Antigone

Thursday- finish reading Antigone; begin watching film version of the play

Friday- finish watching film version of the play; handout and discuss the requirements for our Antigone project Students will imagine that they are proposing an Antigone movie to production companies. For this project, they will need to complete a variety of tasks, such as writing a cover letter, writing a sample script, creating a movie poster, etc. Next week, I will give a small amount of class time and instruction on how to complete these tasks.

Friday, November 19

Students analyzed how dramatic literature can be enhanced in a performance or film.

We read an excerpt from the script for "Dead Poet's Society", the 1989 Academy Award winner for Best Screenplay. Students began a worksheet asking questions about the plot, characters, and theme.

We then watched the corresponding clip from the movie. Students completed the worksheet.

Thursday, November 18

All of my classes took benchmark exams today. These exams are meant to track student progress from the year's beginning. These benchmark exams will be graded.

The classroom content after the benchmark exam varied by block.

Blocks One and Four: Benchmark exam, Mrs. Morris's reading cards activity, worksheet on using context clues to uncover meaning, and time to finish up yesterday's storyboarding activity.

Block Two: Benchmark exam, time to finish up yesterday's storyboarding activity, read "The Third Man" in the textbook and do the "Reading Check" questions.

Wednesday, November 17

Today, we continued our reading of "I Never Sang For My Father." We finished Act Two. Students were responsible for the "Study and Discussion" questions.

Tuesday, November 16

We learned about the different types of drama today, such as modern comedy, history play, or Elizabethan tragedy. I presented a PowerPoint to the class.

We took a quiz where students had to identify the different types of drama after reading a plot summary of different plays.

We started reading "I Never Sang for My Father", a modern drama. For homework, students had to finish reading Act One (up to page 662) and do the "Reading Check" questions.

Monday, November 15

Students learned all about the "Elements of Drama" today, via a PowerPoint. The elements of drama include things like the Aristotle's 3 Unities, dramatic irony, soliloquy, and others.

We had a quiz on the elements of drama at the end of class.

Students also went on a class trip to the computer lab to take a survey on safe and drug-free schools.

Here's the week's schedule:
Monday- Discussion of the “Elements of Drama”, which include things like Aristotle’s 3 Unities, dramatic irony, and soliloquy; students will have a quiz on these different elements; students will also go to our computer lab take a survey on Safe and Drug Free schools
Tuesday- We will examine different “Types of Drama”, such as comedy or tragedy; students will have a quiz on the different types of drama; we will also being reading I Never Sang for My Father, a play in our literature textbook
Wednesday- Students will take a benchmark exam to assess their academic progress; we will finish our reading of I Never Sang for My Father
Thursday- Students will read a scene from a movie script and answer questions; we will then watch the scene of that movie and students will answer further questions. It’s meant to get them thinking about how works can be adapted to different media and how dramatic works are enhanced by their performance element.
Friday- Guided reading of E.A. Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” As students read, they will enter answers into our remote controlled Classroom Performance System.

Wednesday, November 10

Today, in class, students read a newspaper story about a teacher who was recently fired from her job because the school district disagreed with the content she was teaching. The article calls into play issues of censorship and freedom of speech.

As we read the article, students completed a series of question using our Classroom Performance System remote controls.

Tuesday, November 9

Today, we looked at “Creation” stories, such as Rudyard Kipling’s “Just So” Stories. He wrote stories about things like how the camel got its hump, how the leopard got its spots, etc.

We watched a 10 minute video on “How the Whale Got its Throat”, where a narrator reads the story and there’s some animation to it. As they watched, students took a 5 question quiz on it.

After that, students wrote either a creation story or a fairy tale, based upon the characteristics we discussed in class.

Monday, November 8

We discussed common archetypes (similarities) in stories. We talked about how the stories of Batman, The Lion King, Superman, and Harry Potter are similar; they all feature heroes whose parents have died.

We transitioned into a discussion of fairy tales. We discussed some of the common archetypes of fairy tales. We then looked at the fairy tale of "Rumpelstiltskin" and versions of it from different cultures.

Friday, November 5

We continued work on logic and persuasion.

First, I handed back the worksheet on logical fallacies. We went over it so that students could learn from their mistakes.

We then watched several persuasive speeches and analyzed them for their organization.

Finally, I gave students another worksheet on logical fallacies. Hopefully, they will do better on the worksheet since I reviewed the material over two days!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Next week, we're going to get into archetypes and probably even read E.A. Poes' story, "Masque of the Red Death" (which is awesome).

Thursday, November 4

We discussed logical fallacies in class today. A logical fallacy is when someone tries to argue a point, but makes an error in logic. We looked at 7 of the most common logical fallacies in class.

Following this, we completed a worksheet on logical fallacies.

Students were also given time to complete persuasive essays (which were due yesterday) and advertisements (which were due yesterday).

Wednesday, November 3

We continued our focus on advertisement. Students designed advertisements of their own based upon products they invented.

After designing an advertisement, students were responsible for writing two paragraphs. In one paragraph, they wrote what the product was and how it was used. In another paragraph, they wrote which of the three appeals-- ethos, pathos, and logos--were present in the advertisement.

Students also handed in their persuasive essays. Late essays will be 15 points off, per day.

Tuesday, November 2

We examined the methods of persuasion that advertisers use:
Ethos- argument from authority
Pathos- argument from emotion
Logos- argument from logic

We looked at examples of advertisements taken from magazines and talked about why they were effective (or ineffective).

Monday, November 1

We discussed the author's purpose today. Whenever an author writes something, they write for a reason. The most common reasons are to persuade, inform, and entertain (P.I.E).

Figuring out the author's purpose is easy as PIE!

We did a worksheet on figuring out the author's purpose. If you were absent today, you should make up this worksheet.