03.28 - Meat

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I met and spoke individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

Next, we started work with a text that is more of a vignette than a short story (a vignette is a scene exploring a topic, character, idea, setting, or emotion). To prepare for this vignette we talked a little bit about making inferences.

The Inference

An inference is something that goes deeper than what is immediately observable (a direct observation). A direct observation could be that a person on the bus is carrying an umbrella. An inference would be that that person is going to be outside later and suspects it is going to rain. If the umbrella were hot pink you could infer that that person has a bold and fun personality.  

 We then practiced making inferences by using some activity cards to infer meanings beyond what was immediately observable (If you'd like to continue practicing this, check out my activity card Tumblr).

Next, we read the vignette "They're Made out of Meat" by Terry Bisson. Two students alternated reading the piece. Then everyone wrote down their first impressions on what this story was about on the "Inferencing with Meat" sheet provided in class. We will continue working with this sheet next class.

Handouts:
They're Made out of Meat
Inferencing With Meat


Homework:

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.26 - Malaysia Airlines Discussion

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I met and spoke individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

We then returned to our work researching the missing Malaysia airlines plane. Today, we were discussing the information that we had gained through our research and the perspectives that that had given people on the disappearance. Our discussion was focused around two main questions with everyone posing and discussing additional questions as they came up.

1 - What facts do we know about the disappearance of and search for this plane?

2 - Based on the information that we have about this disappearance and subsequent search, what seems to be the most likely scenario that caused the planes disappearance?

Resources:
Google News
Article Fact Spreadsheet

Homework:

If you have not yet done so, finish your research and respond to the research prompt from last class.

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.24 - Malaysia Airlines - Facts and Perspectives

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I met and spoke individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

We then returned to our work of finding facts/information from articles about the missing Malaysia airlines plane. The requirements for this search are as follows:

1 - Find at least three reliable articles on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
2 - Record at least ten facts about the flight on a Google Doc.

Resources:
Google News
Article Fact Spreadsheet

As people finished their research of the missing Malaysia airlines flight, they began responding to the prompt below. Responses should be 100 words or longer.

Prompt: Identify and explain what you think happened to the Malaysia airlines flight. Explain your perspective based on the facts you found in your research.

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish responding to the research prompt above.

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.20 - Malaysia Airlines (Research cont'd)

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I met and spoke individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

We then returned to our work of finding facts/information from articles about the missing Malaysia airlines plane. The requirements for this search are as follows:

1 - Find at least three reliable articles on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
2 - Record at least ten facts about the flight on a Google Doc.

Resources:
Google News
Article Fact Spreadsheet

Video explaining how to copy the spreadsheet doc and create your own copy:

Homework:


Finish reading all three of the articles you found.
Keep an ear out for other information related to this case.

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.18 - Non-Fiction Reading - Malaysia Airlines

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I met and spoke individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

We then began some work with non-fiction reading. For this reading we are using Google News to find articles about the missing Malaysia airlines plane. The requirements for this search are as follows:

1 - Find at least three reliable articles on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
2 - Record at least ten facts about the flight on a Google Doc.

Resources:
Google News
Article Fact Spreadsheet

Video explaining how to copy the spreadsheet doc and create your own copy:

Homework:


Finish reading all three of the articles you found.
Keep an ear out for other information related to this case.

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.14 - Outcasts of Poker Flat Essay Wrap-Up

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I conferenced individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

Everyone then had the rest of class to finish writing the essays that were started on Wednesday with the substitute. Some people had submitted initial drafts of this essay. I met with these people individually to critique and discuss their essays. They then had the remaining time to revise their essay.

Handouts:
Essay prompt for "The Outlaws of Poker Flat"

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish your essay for homework.
Essays can be shared with me via Google Drive at the following email address: caleb.collins.lhs@gmail.com

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.12 - (Sub) Outcast of Poker Flat Essays

I was not in school today as I was attending a professional conference. Today's work focused on writing an essay to wrap up our work on the story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." The instructions I left with the sub were:

Everyone should read from their free choice books they can record their progress on the provided reading log sheets.

Everyone has the rest of the period to work on the “Outlaws of Poker Flat” essay.

If anyone finishes early they can return to reading from their free choice books.

Handouts:
Essay prompt for "The Outlaws of Poker Flat"


Homework:

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.10 - Revisions

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I conferenced individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets.

Next, I returned work that was handed in last week. We reviewed the assignment from last week in which people were asked to discuss two identified elements from the story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" which we had incorporated into a skit. In this discussion, everyone was asked to discuss what role that element played in their skit and the story and discuss any possible symbolic values the element carried. The most significant area of revision for those who had completed the assignment was to get more into detail discussing the role the element played and to explain it's symbolic value.

We took the rest of the period to write these up properly and discuss them (especially in light of our brainstorming activity that we did last class).


Homework:

If you did not do so in class, complete your discussion of two elements from the story/your skit.

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.06 - Elements of Outcasts

We started today's class with fifteen minutes in the library for people to get new free choice reading books or to continue adding to their next reads sheets.

Back in class, we returned to looking at the elements that formed the core of people's skits on Monday. To further analyze these elements we had an activity in which pairs of people rotated through stations focused on each element and described how that element was represented in their skit and in the story and what symbolic value it might have carried. We took time to review and discuss these responses at the end of class.

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Homework:

Read for two hours from your free choice book and/or novel-style class texts.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv

03.04 - The Outcasts of Poker Flat - The Good Show (activity)

We started today's class with fifteen minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books (or any class novels that are currently being read). During this time I conferenced individually with people about their books. At the end of this reading time, everyone recorded their progress on their reading sheets and turned those sheets in. I then handed out reading sheets for our next block of reading (3/4 - 3/12).

Next, we returned to our work with "The Outcasts of Poker Flat". To explore some of the themes and ideas in this story, we returned to an activity (The Good Show) that we learned earlier in the year from a student in the class. Today we did the activity and next class we will debrief the experience. Directions for the activity are below.

Direction set one:

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Groups then shared their skits.
After we had seen all of the skits, everyone received the following directions:

Click Image to Enlarge

Homework:

Choose two of the elements that you included in your skit today and then write a response which discusses the following for each element:
What role did the element play in your skit?
What was the significance (symbolic value or importance) of this element in your story?

We will discuss these responses and debrief the activity next class.

Complete missing work and revise any assignment that scored below a 92.

 

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/piv