English 11 week of December 3

Reading time this week will focus the week on details in text. Activities will include defining, activities, examples, and samples.

Monday – Movie clip from Freedom Writers. In class writing about the clip. Homework: Memoir writing: Write about something you collect - how and why do you collect it? How do you store it? What does it say about you?

Tuesday – Freedom Writers reading excerpt. “What is truth?” discuss with a partner and in group.

Wednesday – Freedom Writer’s writing from Monday – identify idea and write about it. Homework: Memoir writing: What would be the theme song for your life? Why?

Thursday – Through the lens of your focus area – revise the Freedom Writers writing from Wednesday.

 Friday – Freedom Writers movie or revising.

Reflection of Sentence Fluency focus area

Once you receive a + on your revisions; please reflect as follows:

Do you think that you're at the mastery level on your sentence fluency focus area?


If yes, give a specific example of your skill.
What is your recommendation for improvement for others who are working in your focus area?



If no, what is your next step to improvement.
What suggestions do you have for myself as a teacher?

English 11 week of November 26

Reading for 15 minutes in class. Our focus will be on our reading pretest and our learning goal each student generates.

Monday – Interpretation part of Unbroken. Students, using their analysis charts that they created, will answer the following in a paragraph:

What did you discover about Laura Hillenbrand’s writing – are there patterns, particular word choice, more action verbs than linking verbs, variety of punctuation usage?

What do you think Hillenbrand does well in her writing?

Looking at Hillenbrand’s writing, how will you work to improve your focus area through this memoir unit, be specific?

Homework: Memoir writing: Family heritage – how does it affect who you are and how you see the world?

Tuesday – Reading pretest. Students self check and identify focus areas.

Wednesday – What is truth? Students discuss and answer, large group discussion. Learning goal: Reading focus area.

Thursday – Learning goal shared with partner, discuss. Homework: Memoir writing – A place you visit every day – describe it with great detail. What makes this place important? What kind of importance is it?

Friday – Memoir excerpt Freedom Writers; semi colon challenge

English 11 week of November 19

Monday - wrap up NY Image grammar paragraph editing. Listen to Chapter 15 Sharks and Bullets from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Tuesday - wrap up Chapter 15. Activity

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

If you sentence fluency focus areas are:

Sentence Beginnings OR

Sentence Length

Choose a paragraph with 5+ sentences and chart as follows:

First Word of each Sentence	Subject of each sentence	Verb of each sentence	Word count for each sentence

Flow OR

Transitions

Choose a paragraph with 15+ sentences and chart as follows:

Introductory phrases used in the sentence.	Transitional word or phrase used in the sentence.	Prepositional Phrases used in the sentence.

Adjectives OR

Word choice

Choose a paragraph with 7+ sentences and chart as follows:

First word	Adjectives	Adverbs	Prepositional phrases	Action verbs

Grammar OR

Punctuation

Choose a paragraph with 15+ sentences and chart as follows:

Type of Punctuation	Why is it needed:

3 Common Comma Errors

Posted: 12 Nov 2012 08:04 PM PST

The following sample sentences and the discussion that follows each point out three frequently found punctuation errors in which a comma is extraneously inserted or erroneously omitted.
1. “The giant, blue eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach likely came from a swordfish.”
The adjectives giant and blue are noncoordinate, which means they’re not parallel in function. You can say, of course, that an eyeball is giant and that it is blue, but the second test of adjectival coordination, whether the words can gracefully be transposed, does not work; “the blue giant eyeball” is awkward. Why?
A convention in English called the royal order of adjectives assigns specific starting positions to different types of descriptive words, and size precedes color. Therefore, “blue eyeball” becomes a temporary compound modified by giant, and therefore no intervening punctuation is required: “The giant blue eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach likely came from a swordfish.”
2. “Move over vampires, goblins and haunted houses, this kind of Halloween terror aims to shake up even the toughest warriors.”
The introductory phrase in this sentence, a form of address to the subject that is increasingly common in lead paragraphs in journalistic contexts (to the point of becoming a tired cliché), is just that — an introductory phrase. And though short introductory phrases are often inserted at the beginning of a sentence without following punctuation, in this case, “Move over vampires” is a miscue that readers might read to mean “proceed on top of bloodsucking beings.”
I prefer consistency over inconsistency and recommend always punctuating introductory phrases; whether you follow that advice or not, do it here: “Move over, vampires, goblins, and haunted houses, this kind of Halloween terror aims to shake up even the toughest warriors.”
3. “The convention will be delayed until Tuesday because of the threat of the tropical storm Isaac now bearing down on Florida.”
There are at least two effective solutions to the problem here, which is that “angry tropical storm” and Isaac are appositives, which means that one noun or noun phrase refers to the other. As written, without punctuation, the sentence implies that more than one angry tropical storm bearing down on Florida exists at this time, and one is called Isaac.
But because only one storm, named Isaac (“one storm” and “named Isaac” are in apposition), is bearing down on Florida, the interchangeable noun and noun phrase are set off with an appositive comma: “The convention will be delayed until Tuesday because of the threat of Isaac, the tropical storm now bearing down on Florida.”
Another option is to refer to Isaac with the modifying phrase “tropical storm” and follow the wording with a descriptive phrase, set off by a comma, that serves an appositive function: “The convention will be delayed until Tuesday because of the threat of the tropical storm Isaac, now bearing down on Florida.”

Things good readers do!

English 11 week of November 12

Reading 15 minutes in class; reading focus will be on reader’s inner voice.

Monday – Inner voice sheet explained – first inner voice sheet entry. Excerpt from James Earl Jones memoir. Identify voice. Define memoir. Memoir topic writing: Write about a time that you slept outside.

Tuesday – I will collect single subject notebooks to look at two memoir topics. Work on inner voice sheet. Quiz each other on commas – select a sentence during reading time and swap – identify what rule the comma follows. Class discussion on “Emotions take center stage as a memoirist”.

Wednesday – Work on inner voice sheet. Comma challenge – partners work on comma issues provided by me. 5 minute Group writing on Event – break out session with anti bullying speaker.

Thursday  - Inner voice sheet due. Reflect on Peter Elbow quote on Fears. What is your voice in writing? Memoir topic writing:  Possession you own that you would bequeath (will) to your child or grandchild. Why?

Friday – Video on word choice.

English 11 Memoir writing unit

Memoirs and the Writer’s Voice

Emphasis on college application and scholarship essays

Learning goal

 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

*Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole.

*Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

*Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.

*Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic

Memoir excerpts

James Earl Jones Voices and Silences                  Randy Pausch The Last Lecture

Jeanette Walls Glass Castles                                    Malcolm X The Autobiography

Mary Karr The Liar’s Club                                    Demetria Martinez Breathing Between the Lines Paisley Redkal The Night my Mother met Bruce Lee

Bill Bryson Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Sara Grumwell Freedom Writers

Part One: Quantity

Journal writing about 14 entries about those experiences that shaped them as a person. Entries should be 150-250 words in length.

Topics include:

A place you visit every day – describe it with great detail. What makes this place important? What kind of importance is it?

Possession you own that you would bequeath (will) to your child or grandchild. Why?

                 

Create a national holiday. What would be the date and what would it be about?

                 

Family heritage – how does it affect who you are and how you see the world?

                 

Describe one bad habit you have. Why is it bad? Why do you do it?

                 

6 word memoir – write it and explain it.

Write about something you collect – how and why do you collect it? How do you store it? What does it say about you?

                 

Identify a time in your life of transition, change, times of ending or beginnings.

Write about someone who influenced your life in some important way. Show this person in action.

                 

What would be the theme song for your life? Why?

                 

Choose a color – list memories connected with that color.

                 

Write about two people or places or things that pull you in different directions.

                 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

                 

Write about a time you slept outside.

                 

Write about a funny or odd thing that happened in or around your car.

                 

Part Two: Quality

Select an entry to develop and focus according to winning scholarship essays:

As you are explaining why you deserve to win, it is important that you also reveal something about yourself. . .This is why one of the most effective techniques is to share a "slice of your life." In other words, don't try to explain everything. . . if you focus on just one aspect of an experience, you could spend some time going below the surface and share something about who you are, which would be far more memorable. In other words, you would be sharing a slice of your life. (www.supercollege.com/guide)

English 11 week of November 5

Reading for 15 minutes daily

Reading focus on yourself as a reader – notes daily with a paragraph at the end of the week.

Monday – finish October Sky, Celebrate learning, discuss movie as a memoir.

Tuesday – Good writing tips, in class writing – Reading History.

Wednesday – Memoir Except Glass Castle. Memoir Writing topic: A place you visit every day – describe it with great detail. What makes this place important? What kind of importance is it?

Thursday/Friday – Paragraph on self as a reader. Memoir defined.