December 18 and 19

SUB FOR SANTA
BRING YOUR ITEMS AND MONEY FOR A GIFT CARD TOMORROW!
If you need to call me Friday to deliver your items to me, here's my phone number:
503.551.9372
theteacher_sat@yahoo.com

Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales

Finish The Crucible movie

Homework: Read Huck Finn chapters, uh . . . all of them! Finish the novel over winter break. I know that's a lot of reading, but you can do it. It's a page turner and it's very interesting and entertaining. As you read, look for the following:

• How does Huck change during the course of the novel?
• In what ways does Huck follow the pattern of the hero?
• Mark Twain has written a condemnation of the South. What were the problems, according to Twain? Look for more than racism
• What is the dramatic difference between Huck and Tom?
• Is this book racist? Clearly, the "N" word is a problem for many people. What do you think about that? Do you wish that Twain had used the word "slave"?

Friday the Thirteenth

Hand in assignment
Crucible vocabulary   for Friday 
Vocab Test
Check out Huck Finn
Homework=read chapters 1-4.  Try to read ahead, though, because you have to finish the entire novel over winter break.
Watch The Crucible

December 11, 2013

The Crucible: What do you think?  Great play, isn't it?


John Proctor gives up his life rather than lie to the court to save himself. Did he do the right thing? Most people proclaim a resounding "Yes!" and this is the standard interpretation, which is true to a large extent. Arthur Miller, after all, wrote this play to convince people to stand up for the truth during the McCarthy Red Scare when people were falsely accused of being communists and their careers ruined. I think that you can make a strong argument, however, that John shouldn't have sacrificed his life. Perhaps this is why the play is so tragic and also why Proctor is so noble.

Here's your assignment for tomorrow: Argue both sides.
Write 3/4 page supporting the idea that Proctor did the right thing.
Write 1/2 page supporting the notion that Proctor should not have done what he did.
Remember, to support your argument you will need to cite a few specific details from the play, preferably actual quotes with page numbers.
25 minutes

Watch the movie

December 9

Crucible vocabulary   for Friday 
"providence" to "defy"

What caused the girls to appear to be possessed by evil spirits? 
Possible scientific explanations for symptoms Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam manifested

Crucible Interactive Walk through and historical facts. National Geographic article

Student articles--
Megan Did Cold Weather Cause the Salem Witch Trials?
Isaac Salem Witch Trials Followed Cold Weather, New Research Finds
Kaitlyn Encephalitis Lethargica
Emma C
Jacob - Diary of Samuel Seward
Alexa Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Scroll Down.)
         Controversy over Ergot Poisoning
 and Medical Explanations of
Sarah Ergot Theory/Hysteria
Kellie A Fever in Salem: Revisiting and Revising the Evidence from Salem
Encephalitis Lethargica
Anna K Why did a witch scare break out in Salem?
Ricardo G  Ergotism: Satan Loosed in Salem 
Jenna: Salem Witch Trials
Julia - The Salem Times
Elaine Four Theories about the Cause of the Salem Witch Trials
Jonah- Salem Witch Trials
Ajesh- Salem Witch Trials History
Naomi- Salem Witches and Mass hysteria
Kaylene-Bad rye and the Salem witches
Benton- A Fever In Salem: Revisiting and Revising the Evidence from Salem
Faith-http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=4982

Sub for Santa:
Family: Board Games
Mom: JCP Gift Card, Bath & Body Works Basket, Fuzzy Slippers, Winter Clothes
11 yr old girl: Barbies, Friendship Bracelet Kit, Nail Polish, Make Up, Sparkly purse w/ girly things
Dad: Guitar Stuff (Emma)
11 yr old boy: Legos, Action figures, other toys if extra $
5 yr old boy: Legos, Hot Wheels, Dinosaurs, Superhero Pajamas, Hat/Gloves/Coat

December 5

Crucible vocabulary   for Friday 
"providence" to "defy"

What caused the girls to appear to be possessed by evil spirits? 
Possible scientific explanations for symptoms Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam manifested

Crucible Interactive Walk through and historical facts. National Geographic article

Student articles--
Megan Did Cold Weather Cause the Salem Witch Trials?
Isaac Salem Witch Trials Followed Cold Weather, New Research Finds
Kaitlyn Encephalitis Lethargica
Emma C
Jacob - Diary of Samuel Seward
Alexa Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Scroll Down.)
         Controversy over Ergot Poisoning
 and Medical Explanations of
Sarah Ergot Theory/Hysteria
Kellie A Fever in Salem: Revisiting and Revising the Evidence from Salem
Encephalitis Lethargica
Anna K Why did a witch scare break out in Salem?
Ricardo G  Ergotism: Satan Loosed in Salem 
Jenna: Salem Witch Trials
Julia - The Salem Times
Elaine Four Theories about the Cause of the Salem Witch Trials
Jonah- Salem Witch Trials
Ajesh- Salem Witch Trials History
Naomi- Salem Witches and Mass hysteria
Kaylene-Bad rye and the Salem witches
Benton- A Fever In Salem: Revisiting and Revising the Evidence from Salem



Sub for Santa:
Family: Board Games
Mom: JCP Gift Card, Bath & Body Works Basket, Fuzzy Slippers, Winter Clothes
11 yr old girl: Barbies, Friendship Bracelet Kit, Nail Polish, Make Up, Sparkly purse w/ girly things
Dad: Guitar Stuff (Emma)
11 yr old boy: Legos, Action figures, other toys if extra $
5 yr old boy: Legos, Hot Wheels, Dinosaurs, Superhero Pajamas, Hat/Gloves/Coat

Homework: Spend about 10-15 minutes researching this issue a bit further. Print your article and bring it tomorrow to share with the class. Find something other than the Wikipedia article that's found below.

Wikipedia article on 1692 Salem Witch Trial

10 Tests for Witchcraft

Read The Crucible to page 98

November 18, 2013

THANKSGIVING  BASKET  ITEMS 

AND MONEY DUE   FRIDAY!

CONSIDER:

• GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM WINCO OR OTHER STORE
• MONEY FOR MRS. STEIN TO BUY A GIFT CERTIFICATE
• FOOD ITEMS FROM OUR LIST
• POTATOES, APPLES, ORANGES

Crucible vocabulary   for Friday 
"calumny" to "contention"

Salem Witch Trials--19 people killed

What caused the girls to appear to be possessed by evil spirits? Ergotism

November 13

Walden Poster

1. Vocabulary for Friday--last 10 words from list
2. Finish Dead Poets
3. Finish notes on Dead Poets
        (1 page of examples from the film illustrating that the ideas in the film follow the ideas of
         Transcendentalist thought.) Transcendentalists
4. Read the following poem by dead poet par excellence, Walt Whitman:
"When I heard the learned astronomer"

Common traits of American Transcendentalists

As defined in "The Transcendentalist" by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

1. Respect for intuitions
2. Withdrawal from labor and competition
3. Pursuit of a critical, solitary lifestyle
4. Consciousness of the disproportion between a person's faculties and the work provided for them.
5. Repel influences
6. Shun general society
7. An appreciation for nature, specifically nature's symbolism
8. Life in rural settings
9. Work and play in solitude
10. Have a passion for the extraordinary
11. Not good for citizens or members of society
    • Unwilling to bear their part of public and private burdens
12. Childlike; joyous, affectionate, susceptible, more than average wish to be loved
13. Make extreme demands on human nature
14. Disappointed in humanity
15. Sociable
16. Lack private ends to their means
17. United with every trait and talent of beauty and power
18. Idealistic
19. Admits the unreliability of the senses
20. Respects the government only so far as it reinforces the law of their minds
21. Reality originates from an "unknown centre" inside of themselves
22. Accepts spiritual doctrine
23. Do not share in public religious rites, enterprises of education, missions foreign or domestic, activism, or voting
24. Essentially dead or paralyzed
    • Even though their participation in society is out of character, they choose to participate as dissidents
25. Reject routine, because there is not much virtue in it
26. Constantly waiting for a high command
27. Lovers and worshippers of society
28. Disdain for organized education

"Oh me oh life, what good among these. What good are these? That you are here, and may contribute a verse"--Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman's poem  "When I heard the learned astronomy"

November 4, 2013

Great job on your book reports!! I'll get them graded soon. Based on the actual artistic creation, there were quite a few "A's" (about half). A number of you still need to hand in the 1/2 page typed single-spaced summary as well as the 1/2 page response to the book.
Note: I'm guessing that when some of you saw the high quality of the better projects, your stomachs fell a bit when you saw what constitutes an "A." If any of you would like to redo or fix up your projects and written pieces, feel free. I won't mark you down this time (we do another book report this semester and two next semester).

1. Walden project exercise. Check this link: Types of posters that could be made
2. Crucible vocabulary 
3. Romanticism. Page 190 in Lit and Lang. book
Previous info:
District Interim Assessment. Finish if you haven't already.
Journal: 1/2 - 3/4 page
What does the following quote mean to you?

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone"



You need to have finished reading the required parts of Walden.
pp. 1-52
pp. 53-64
pp. 206-216
10 pages of your own choosing
Homework: copy down two quotes from the extra 10 pages you read. Share with class

Your book report is due Tuesday (November 5)
Your Walden poster is due Tuesday, November 12
At that time you will also hand in your Walden "journal," which consists of
1/2 page explanation of what Thoreau is saying in three (3) different quotes as well as
1 page on a 4th quote.

November 1

November already. Wow.

District Interim Assessment. Finish if you haven't already.

Head off on your own nature walk sometime today to enjoy the sun and the beauty of the world!

You need to have finished reading the required parts of Walden by Monday.
pp. 1-52
pp. 53-64
pp. 206-216
10 pages of your own choosing

Your book report is due Tuesday (November 5)
Your Walden poster is due Tuesday, November 12
At that time you will also hand in your Walden "journal," which consists of
1/2 page explanation of what Thoreau is saying in three (3) different quotes as well as
1 page on a 4th quote.

Eve of All Hallow's Eve

District Interim Assessment. Yeah, not fun, but look at it as an opportunity to practice pacing yourself for the one test that matters most--the SAT.

Head off on your own nature walk sometime today to enjoy the sun and the beauty of the world!

You need to have finished reading the required parts of Walden by Monday.
pp. 1-52
pp. 53-64
pp. 206-216
10 pages of your own choosing

Your book report is due Tuesday (November 5)
Your Walden poster is due Tuesday, November 12
At that time you will also hand in your Walden "journal," which consists of
1/2 page explanation of what Thoreau is saying in three (3) different quotes as well as
1 page on a 4th quote.

October 29

1. Read "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson (page 267-268)
In your journal, write down 5 significant quotes. Then 
Choose one of your quotes and write 1/2 page (no more) explaining what Emerson is saying.  

Continue Walden.
Writing: Choose one of your quotes and write 1/2 page (no more) explaining what Thoreau is saying.  You will need to repeat this assignment three more times (a total of 4) and write 1 page on one quote. You will hand these in with your quotes

Share quotes. Continue copying 25 quotes.
Read to page 64 by Wednesday.
Quote of the day: "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone" (or any other quote dealing with the idea of "less is more")
Check out this fascinating comparison of house sizes around the world: Houses
Here's a link to The Little Prince, which shows that we tend to judge people based on what they wear: Little Prince, pages 10, 11
Tomorrow we will look at our carbon footprint.
This week is the perfect time to study the dark Romantics (yeah, weird term, but that's it)
Dark Romantics
    Hawthorne
        Young Goodman Brown
    Poe
    Bauedelaire (French)

Transcendentalists
   Emerson
   Thoreau
British Romantics
    William Wordsworth
         "The Tables Turned"
         Ode: Intimations of Immortality

October 28

Continue Walden.
Share quotes. Continue copying 25 quotes.
Read to page 64 by Wednesday.
Quote of the day: "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone" (or any other quote dealing with the idea of "less is more")
Check out this fascinating comparison of house sizes around the world: Houses
Here's a link to The Little Prince, which shows that we tend to judge people based on what they wear: Little Prince, pages 10, 11
Tomorrow we will look at our carbon footprint.
This week is the perfect time to study the dark Romantics (yeah, weird term, but that's it)
Dark Romantics
    Hawthorne
        Young Goodman Brown
    Poe
    Bauedelaire (French)

Transcendentalists
   Emerson
   Thoreau
British Romantics
    William Wordsworth
         "The Tables Turned"
         Ode: Intimations of Immortality

October 22 and 23

Book Report due November 5
Walden poster due November 12
 Walden: Read pages 1-64, Conclusion and 10 pages of your choosing. 

Nature Walk--Study Transcendentalism under a tree, the way Thoreau would have us do.

Assignment (Homework): 
1. Go into nature and find a natural object that means something to you. Try to think in terms of metaphor and how that object might represent life or perhaps even an aspect of the human drama. This is what Thoreau and other Transcendentalist writers do (it's what poets and authors in general do--they are observers of life).
2. Write 1/2-1 page (no more, please) telling us the significance of that object. If you'd rather, write a poem. (10 points).
Homework assignment #2. Read the autumn poems found here: Autumn Poems
Walden reading schedule:
By Thur, 10/24 read to page 24
By Monday, 10/28, read to page 53
Remember, as you read, copy down quotes from the book and include page numbers.
25 quotes in all due November 4

Discuss Walden
(4) "What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate"
      "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation"
(5) "Age in no better,  hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as you, for it has not profited so much as it has lost"
(6) "If I repent of anythng, it is very likely to be my good behavior"
(8)  "Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind"
(14) "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes"




If you haven't already done so, read at least the following parts of Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality: stanzas 1-4; 9-11. I'll be honest, this is really tough reading, but you should be able to get the main idea (nature is beautiful and inspiring, and although we sometimes go through hard times and become disillusioned, Nature, the great teacher, will show us that life "is beautiful yet" and she will give us healing "thoughts do often lie too deep for tears.")

British Romantics
    William Wordsworth
         "The Tables Turned"
         Ode: Intimations of Immortality

Romanticism in America
Dark Romantics
    Hawthorne
        Young Goodman Brown
    Poe
Transcendentalists
   Emerson
   Thoreau

Monday, October 21

British Romantics
    William Wordsworth
         "The Tables Turned"
         Ode: Intimations of Immortality

Romanticism in America
Dark Romantics
    Hawthorne
        Young Goodman Brown
    Poe
Transcendentalists
   Emerson
   Thoreau

Tuesday, October 15

1. Go over PSAT questions
2. Review ending of The Scarlet Letter
3. Vocabulary
Homework: 
      1 Vocabulary quiz tomorrow.
      2 Read Young Goodman Brown
Print out the story if possible. Here's the link: Young Goodman Brown
As you read, think in terms of similarities between this story and The Scarlet Letter. You will begin the period writing a short comparison of the two works. Tomorrow we will discuss it. Before we discuss the story, you will have a short reading comprehension quiz over the story. Typically, students don't get "A's" on this quiz--most likely because they either don't really read it or because they just pass their eyes over the words and don't think about what they read. To be a strong reader you need to:
1. Look up words and terms you don't know. Most students don't do this.
2. Read without distractions. About half of students don't do this.
3. Read fairly slowly, stopping quite often to reflect. About half of students don't do this.
4. Look for themes and ideas in general. About half of students don't do this.
5. Pay attention to dialog with a mind toward key ideas of the author.
6. Chat with friends about what you read. That's what Facebook is really for, isn't it?  ;~}
Hardly any students do this. Maybe we should start up a FB group or Google circle

Wednesday, October 9

1. Go over PSAT questions
2. Share 6 quotes with class
3. Homework: 
      1 Vocabulary quiz tomorrow.
      2 DISREGARD THIS SECOND BIT OF HOMEWORK. WE'LL DO IT LATER
[

Homework for [NEXT WEEK] night: Read Young Goodman Brown
Print out the story if possible. Here's the link: Young Goodman Brown
As you read, think in terms of similarities between this story and The Scarlet Letter. You will begin the period writing a short comparison of the two works. Tomorrow we will discuss it. Before we discuss the story, you will have a short reading comprehension quiz over the story. Typically, students don't get "A's" on this quiz--most likely because they either don't really read it or because they just pass their eyes over the words and don't think about what they read. To be a strong reader you need to:
1. Look up words and terms you don't know. Most students don't do this.
2. Read without distractions. About half of students don't do this.
3. Read fairly slowly, stopping quite often to reflect. About half of students don't do this.
4. Look for themes and ideas in general. About half of students don't do this.
5. Pay attention to dialog with a mind toward key ideas of the author.
6. Chat with friends about what you read. That's what Facebook is really for, isn't it?  ;~}
Hardly any students do this. Maybe we should start up a FB group or Google circle

Tuesday

1. Take PSAT practice (25 min)
2.Hopefully you finished the Scarlet Letter. It's a must read, I think, to understand the human condition. We'll discuss that this week. Test next Tuesday (since we don't have school Friday).
3. In groups of 3-4, write down 6 more significant quotes from the novel (ch 18- end). With these quotes you will now have 12. You may write all quotes on one sheet of paper with all names at the top (same sheet as first 6 quotes.)
4. Vocabulary. Quiz Thursday.

Homework for Wednesday night: Read Young Goodman Brown
Print out the story if possible. Here's the link: Young Goodman Brown
As you read, think in terms of similarities between this story and The Scarlet Letter. You will begin the period writing a short comparison of the two works. Tomorrow we will discuss it. Before we discuss the story, you will have a short reading comprehension quiz over the story. Typically, students don't get "A's" on this quiz--most likely because they either don't really read it or because they just pass their eyes over the words and don't think about what they read. To be a strong reader you need to:
1. Look up words and terms you don't know. Most students don't do this.
2. Read without distractions. About half of students don't do this.
3. Read fairly slowly, stopping quite often to reflect. About half of students don't do this.
4. Look for themes and ideas in general. About half of students don't do this.
5. Pay attention to dialog with a mind toward key ideas of the author.
6. Chat with friends about what you read. That's what Facebook is really for, isn't it?  ;~}
Hardly any students do this. Maybe we should start up a FB group or Google circle

Thor's Day

1. Finish Scarlet Letter for Monday. Test next Friday.
2. Review vocabulary for tomorrow's test.
3. In groups of 3-4, write down 6 significant quotes from the novel (ch 1-17) that we haven't already discussed. You may write all quotes on one sheet of paper with all names at the top.
4. Watch the film version of the novel

Woden's Day

Homework: Finish your 3/4 page journal and hand it in at the first of the period tomorrow.

Who attended the Beethoven 3rd Piano Concerto last night?
Here's a recording:
Beethoven 3rd Piano Concerto--Argerich
And here's your romantic piece for the day--one of my absolute favorites performed by an amazing pianist, Martha Angerich
Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, 2nd movement--Argerich

Today's Assignment:
Discuss: Should Dimmesdale confess to his congregation? 
Chillingworth: "Yet some me bury their secrets" (Kaplan, p. 259)
Dimmesdale: "[but] can we not suppose . . . they shrink from displaying themselves black and filthy in the view of me; because, thenceforward, no good can be achieved the them?" (p. 259)

And when Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the forest and Hester says that she is planning to reveal just who Chillingworth is and she pleads that he stop torturing Dimmesdale, Chillingworth responds, "No--no! He has but increased the debt!"  Explain


Just so you get your money's worth today, here's my little tidbit of information for the day:
Origins of names of the days of the week

If you were gone yesterday, here's the writing assignment:

In chapter 5, "Hester at her Needle," Hawthorne introduces what was, at the time, a fairlyrevolutionary idea--that people who sin sometimes become better people than they would have had they led pious lives. 
Journal entry (3/4 page): In what ways has Hester's sin helped her to grow as a person? Find one or two examples from chapter 5 to help you develop your point of view.
Examples:
(Kaplan, p. 161) "Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not unfrequently insulted the hand that fed them."
(Kaplan, p. 169) "The scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense. She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in others hearts."

Tiw's Day

Just so you get your money's worth today, here's my little tidbit of information for the day:
Origins of names of the days of the week







 In chapter 5, "Hester at her Needle," Hawthorne introduces what was, at the time, a fairly revolutionary idea--that people who sin sometimes become better people than they would have had they led pious lives.
Journal entry (3/4 page): In what ways has Hester's sin helped her to grow as a person? Find one or two examples from chapter 5 to help you develop your point of view.
Examples:
(Kaplan, p. 161) "Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not unfrequently insulted the hand that fed them."
(Kaplan, p. 169) "The scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense. She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in others hearts."

Homework: Finish your 3/4 page journal and hand it in at the first of the period tomorrow.











Some of you do quite a bit of reading in your own time and I imagine that you might want to start your book report for the Friday reading book. That report will be due Tuesday, October 29th.

Handout: Creative Book Report handout

Example of collage book report (similar to a book report, anyway)
Example of animated movie book report
Example of timeline
Example of timeline book report
How to make a diorama
Example of diorama book report
Example of movie poster book report

Moon Day

*Homework: Read Scarlet Letter chapter 16. Over the weekend you need to finish the novel (gulp! Sorry) and then we will finish discussing it during next week and have our test on FRIDAY the 11th

*Homework Scarlet Letter vocab 31-40 for Friday
Scarlet Letter Vocabulary List

Passage: Kaplan edition, page 141 "Hester, he said . . ." to 143 "presence made there."
Page 69 in other edition.

What is revealed in this passage about the differences between men and women (concerning their view of the world, especially love). Write approximately 1 paragraph and we will share.

Wednesday

Characteristics of the Romantic period, the Romantic world view

Romantic music:

Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, first movement
Beethoven's Heiligenstadt testament letter explaining his despair: Letter to brothers
More romantic music:
Chopin, Prelude  in E-minor (op. 28 no. 4)

Group work: 
find three examples of  Romanticism in The Scarlet Letter (you may select an example we have already discussed and add two others)

Discuss
(58)
(65)
(73)
". . . my child must seek a heavenly father" (ch. 3, end)

*Homework: Read Scarlet Letterm ch. 9,10; Wed 11, Thur 12, weekend 13, 14
*Homework Scarlet Letter vocab 21-30 for Friday
Scarlet Letter Vocabulary List

Tuesday, Sept 24

*Homework: Read Scarlet Letterm ch. 9,10; Wed 11, Thur 12, weekend 13, 14
*Homework Scarlet Letter vocab 21-30 for Friday

Characteristics of the Romantic period, the Romantic world view
Group work: fin Romanticism in The Scarlet Letter

Discuss
(58)
(65)
(73)
". . . my child must seek a heavenly father" (ch. 3, end)

Scarlet Letter Vocabulary List