Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Dear Junior English Kids,

If you missed class, we completed the following:

1. We completed your first journal entry. From now you will experience a journal entry on a more frequent basis.

JOURNAL ENTRY #1 entitled "Boy, 12, faces grown up murder charges"/ Article #1

Please use your annotated article to respond to the following journal prompt.

After reading and annotating the article, identify two points of interest from the article. In addition, indicate two points that you found confusing, and then two points that you found emotional. Tell me about those "colors." Basically, why were you interested, confused, and emotionally connected to the text?

Next, justify your opinion regarding the prosecution of minors as adults.
I look forward to your response.


2. Next we completed the "triangle" that we started on Monday, August 29th, and then we wrote a paragraph using the triangle as our guide. This is the paragraph that we wrote together.

Due to hectic schedules, many teenagers fail to eat a healthy breakfast.
One reason for this pertains to the fact that young people wake-up late. Late nights spent on homework can cause exhaustion, and therefore a lack of desire to eat. In addition, teens must work to pay for expenses and to assist their families. This, of course, adds to the fact that they are tired, and therefore not interested in eating a healthy meal. A second reason involves laziness on the teen's part. Lack of motivation to complete responsibilities takes place because students don't see a purpose with their "jobs." Therefore, laziness kicks in and teenagers fail to eat. The above points illustrate why teenagers struggle with eating a healthy breakfast.


HOMEWORK:
1. Complete a colored body paragraph choosing from the list below. Your paragraph needs to include the "triangle" and appear in color. You may hand write your paragraph!

  • Divorce
  • Uniforms in secondary schools
  • Marrying young
  • Taking the ACT
  • Liposuction
  • Freedom
  • Racism
  • Year-Round school
  • Cell Phone Policy
  • ARC

Monday, August 29, 2011

Class on Monday, August 29th, 2011

Dear Juniors,
If you missed class today, we completed the following:

Dear Juniors,


Let me "enlighten" you on what we worked on today in class:
1. We finished the green handout that we started on last Thursday. We completed the sections regarding "Academic Voice."
2. We "outlined" the five paragraph essay format using the COLOR CODING format.
3. Students recorded the following information on the Five Paragraph essay structure:

INTRODUCTORY Paragraph
Eye Catcher
Transition Sentence
THESIS statement with three defining points

BODY #1
Body Thesis/Topic Sentence
Commentary
Concrete Detail
Concrete Detail
Commentary
Concrete Detail
Concrete Detail
Concluding Sentence

BODY #2 and BODY #3 contain the same organization format

CONCLUDING Paragraph

3. We then "TRIANGLED" (an organization method) our ideas regarding why teenagers rarely eat a healthy breakfast.
4. As a group we wrote the color body paragraph for "Why teenagers rarely eat a healthy breakfast. We started with the "triangle" format for A1 and finished with A2. We will write the paragraph together on Wed.


HOMEWORK:
1. Complete your "Article of the Week" #1. Remember that you may use all your colors and that 7-10 annotations/notations are required/page.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Lesson for Thursday, August 25th

Dear Juniors,

We completed the following on Thursday, August 25th:

1. Students submitted their Disclosure Documents (50 points).
2. A1 and A2 completed the writing assessments in order to determine if their placement in junior English is accurate. I can have you take these when you return to class.
4. We reviewed some "Writing No-No's." Please cut and paste the following aspects into WORD and then place them in the "Vocab./Mechanics" section of your notebook.

NO-NO #1: The following words are called "Dead Words" and they should not be used in your formal writing work: got, get, very, a lot, cool, stuff, sort of, kind of, like, really, good, thing,and pretty.


NO-NO #2: Please avoid the use of SECOND PERSON when writing. Second person includes the following words: you, your, yourself, and  yours.

NO=NO #3: Avoid passive voice in formal writing. Active voice adds clarity, where as passive voice makes writing flat and dull. Passive voice uses the "be verbs" (is, are, was, were, be, been, being). For example, the following sentence uses passive voice: The check was cashed at the bank. It is not difficult to use the active voice in re-writing the sentence. Molly cashed her check at the bank.

NO-NO#4: Avoid redundant phrases such as In my opinion...., I believe that....., I think that....., I am going to write about.....

NO-NO #5: Avoid absolute terms such as never, always, everyone, all, always, none.

NO-NO #6: Make sure that your structure in writing is parallel. For example the following sentence is NOT parallel. Sarah loves playing volleyball, reading poetry, and to study history.  This sentence is easy to correct  by doing the following: Sarah loves playing volleyball, reading poetry, and studying history.

HOMEWORK:
WHAT DOES ANNOTATE MEAN, Crampton? "ANNOTATE" means to underline text in order to strengthen understanding. "NOTATE" means to record information next to text in order to strengthen understanding.

So.........Your first annotated article is due on Wednesday, August 31st!
  • If you  find a section of text confusing then you would underline it using BROWN.
  • If you are able to make a connection ot your own life then you would underline that section of text using your PURPLE.
  • Another way to annotate is by asking QUESTIONS about the text. RED is the color you will use for this annotation.
  • If you come across a VOCABULARY word that you don't know use YELLOW!
  • If a piece of text touches you emotionally, then BLUE is the color for that annotation.
  • If a piece of writing is poetic to you, then use BLACK!
  • If text gives you a different perspective then GREEN is your annotation color.
  • ORANGE is the color you will use if you come across text that you find interesting.
HOMEWORK CONTINUED........
1. Your "Where I Stand" introduction is due on Monday.
2. Your Article of the Week #1 is due on Wednesday. You need to use ALL your colors and include 7-10 notations/page. I have included the color coding key for you above.


Enjoy your weekend!
Cheers,
Crampton

 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Welcome to Junior English!


Dear Junior English Students,

Welcome to "American Literature," otherwise known as "Junior English." I am so excited to work with you this year. Our study will pertain to American authors and their impact on society. You will have the opportunity to read exceptional pieces of literature that will effect change within your lives.

HOMEWORK for Thursday, August 25th:
1. Remember to return your signed copy of the Disclosure Document
2. Remember to have your notebook organized and labeled with the following dividers (homework, handouts, notes, vocab./mechanics, and journal)
3. Remember that your "Where I stand" Introduction is also due on Monday, August, 29th!
Introductory Writing Prompt for Tuesday, August 23th

In relationship to your own abilities to write, to comprehend text, and to communicate overall, I ask that you respond to the following quote by Plato, "The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life." Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Plato? Consider your desires regarding your educational goals and your goals for the future in junior English. Finally, consider your attitude towards learning.

I am significantly interested in your thoughts on the subject of education. Please write your name in the upper right hand corner, along with your period and seat #. Please do your best to structure your writing in an organized and thorough manner. You will have approximately 10 minutes to write your paragraph.

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Cheers,
Crampton