Ms. Simonson

Monday, January 7, 2019

Welcome back! We are completing a self-assessment of our essays today! We will also be submiting the essays to www.turnitin.com

Thursday, December 20

Continue film!

Wednesday, December 19

Work on essays for the first twenty minutes of class! Your final draft is due Monday, January 7 at 8:00am in the Google Classroom. Please bring a hard copy with you to class when we get back from break!

Begin film the last half of class.

Tuesday, December 18

Today is a late start!

Please have your printed copy of body paragraph one as you walk in the door!

Many students are still struggling with their body paragraphs, so we are changing things up a little bit. Today, we will have a Socratic Seminar on this unit and if you are really struglling you have a new thesis statement that you can use. At the end of class today, you need three notes from the Socratic as well as your thesis statements and two details for your body paragraphs. You will have time in class tomorrow to get started.

Monday, December 17

Grab your computers!!

Work on and complete rough draft.

Please bring in a printed copy of your thesis and body paragraph one TOMORROW!

Friday, December 14

Today is a rally schedule!

News!

Today you need to write your thesis statement. Your thesis statements must be approved. Gather your supporting evidence.

Once you have your thesis and some evidence, please finish blogging. All three responses are due by 3:00pm today!

Here is the blog: https://mscurranerwc.blogspot.com

Thursday, December 13

Finish annotating Feinberg article. Read and annotate Steve Jobs commencement speech.

Please fill in the Charting Multiple Texts Chart for the following three articles:

• Amanda Ripley: "What is a Life Worth?"
• Kenneth Feinberg: "What is the Value of a Human Life?"
• Steve Jobs: "Commencement Address"

Finish your responses for the Human Life Value Calculator blog:

• These three responses are due at 3:00pm TODAY!

Begin "How do you Value Life?" blog.

Using the persona of one of the people/characters we have read about so far, Hamlet, Roger Ebert, Kenneth Feinberg, or Steve Jobs, please answer the following question. Include textual evidence. Be sure to respond to one of your classmate's posts as well.

How do you value life? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Why? Do you see life as worth living?

Your initial post and two responses are due TOMORROW by 3:00pm!

Wednesday, December 12

Today is 4A/4B schedule!

1st and 2nd period:

• Blog: https://mscurranerwc.blogspot.com

3rd, 5th and 6th period:

• First reading of Feinberg article.

Read and annotate Feinberg article.

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech.

Tuesday, December 11

Today is a late start!

We have a guest speaker coming in, so please be respectful!

Human Life Value Calculator:

• Using the information you found out last night, please complete the calculator.
• Now please write a response based on what you learned from the outcome and how that made you feel.
• Blogger

https://mscurranerwc.blogspot.com

First reading of Feinberg article: "What is the Value of a Human Life?"

Annotate Feinberg article.

Monday, December 10

Finish "What is a Life Worth?" annotations.

On the bottom of page 62, please write a summary of article's description of how life is valued and how people have responded to that valuing of life. Your summary should include only the most important ideas and should be no more than six sentences. I will be signing off on your summaries!

"What Is a Life Worth?" Discussion

In your tables, please answer the following questions (only periods 1 & 3 did this):

• Would Hamlet agree with any of the ideas presented in the article? If so, which ones?
• Would Ebert agree with any of the ideas presented in the article? If so, which ones?
• Would Ebert and Hamlet agree at all in the way they might interpret this article's ideas? If so, how?

Charting the text for "What Is a Life Worth?"

Human Life Value Calculator:

• What do you think might be the purpose of a text like this?
• Who might use this text?
• This text claims to calculate human life value. Do you anticipate that this will have the most connection to Hamlet's sololoquy, Ebert's autobiography, or Ripley's Time article? Why?
• Since this text claims to calculate human life value, what is your opinion:
  • Does your life have a particular value?
  • If so, how would you calculate this value?
  • What would you estimate your value is?

Your assignment tonight is to ask an adult in your life the following questions:

• Their age?
• How much money they make?
• How many dependents they have?
• Please bring this information with you to class tomorrow so that we can complete the calculator.

Friday, December 7

News!

First reading of "What Is a Life Worth?"

• As you read, please take note of how "life" is defined in this text.

Second reading of "What Is a Life Worth?"

• Mark the text with at least three margin notes per page.
• You will need two different colored highlighters or pens. Using one color, please highlight where the article describes the value of life in legal and financial terms. Using your other color, please highlight where the article describes the value of life in human and emotional terms.

Last 15 minutes: SSR

Thursday, December 6

Finish filling in Charting the Text for "Roger Ebert, The Essential Man"

Watch this Ebert TedTalk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNXOVpN8Wgg

Prereading of "What is a Life Worth?"

This article appeared in Time Magazine.

• How many of you have ever read Time Magazine?
• What do you know about Time?
• What kind of articles are generally published in this magazine?
• Who do you think are the primary readers of this magazine?

The subtitle of the article is "to compensate families of the victims of September 11, the government has invented a way to measure blood and loss in cash. A look at the wrenching calculus."

• What predictions can you make about the content of the article based on the subtitle?
• What connections do you think you might see between this article and the previous two texts you have read?
• The first two texts look first-person perspectives on the subject. Do you anticipate that this article will continue in that vein, or will it be different? Why do you think so?

9/11 video: https://youtu.be/UVhhu5OjMf8

First reading of "What Is a Life Worth?"

• As you read, please take note of how "life" is defined in this text.

Wednesday, December 5

Let's do a happy video today :)

https://youtu.be/PT-HBl2TVtI

Second reading of "Roger Ebert, The Essential Man". Please annotate as you go! If you missed any evidence of pessimism or optimism, make sure you mark it!

I want at least three margin notes per page in your readers (that means about 20 margin notes)! I will be signing off on readers as we share our annotations.

Fill in Charting the Text notes for "Roger Ebert, The Essential Man" and complete how it is related to Hamlet

Tuesday, December 4

10 minutes:

• Quick write: Based upon the "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy, is Hamlet an optimist or a pessimist? Include one examples (quotation) from the text. Be sure to cite properly.
• Continuing "The Value of Life"

2. Today we will move on to our next reading, "Roger Ebert, The Essential Man"

Who is Roger Ebert?

Do you know anything about Roger Ebert?

He was a famous movie critic. He and Gene Siskel would give movies a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Watch this clip quickly:

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/nZ3taEufae0

Complete the appropriate boxes on your "Charting Multiple Texts" chart as we go.

3. Turn to page 49 in your reader. What genre do you think this is?

4. Do a first reading, read with the grain. As you read, pay attention to the way Ebert talks about the value of life. Along with you normal annotation symbols and notes, place an O next to examples of optimism and a P next to examples of pessimism.

Is he generally pessimistic or optimistic?

Does Ebert also present an argument about the value of death?

Be sure to distinguish Jones's words from Ebert's words.

5. Watch this video about Roger Ebert and his voice: https://youtu.be/_0KUw3xr7cA

Monday, December 3

First, we need to copy down Charting the Text in our notebooks!

Hamlet: https://youtu.be/ei0fnP9s0KA

Today we will begin with our first reading of Hamlet's soliloquy. After your first reading, please answer the following question in your notebook:

• Based on this first reading, would you say that Hamlet is an optimist or a pessimist? What are your reasons for thinking so?

Second reading of Hamlet.

• Please annotate as we go.
• Be sure to mark anywhere Hamlet discusses what it means to be alive.

After, please work with a partner to see if you agree on your markings.

Friday, November 30

News Day! Today we will do the news and then work on body paragraph three. Remember they are due Saturday, 12/1/2018 by 11:59pm.

Thursday, November 29

We are going to start with a video and a quick response. After the video, please write down your reaction on page 20 in your notebooks.

• https://youtu.be/cZGghmwUcbQ

Introduction to Hamlet PPT. Please take Cornell notes on the PPT. We are only discussing slides 1-11 and 21.

On page 21 of your notebook, please copy the Charting Multiple Texts table that is on the board. We will be adding to this throughout the unit.

Jack's Lament: https://youtu.be/Wv1HX80u5x4

Time permitting: First reading of Hamlet's soliloquy and quick write.

*PLEASE BRING YOUR SSR BOOKS TOMORROW!*

Wednesday, November 28

Today, we are going back to writing. Please mark up the third body paragraphs that you turned in yesterday.

Ms. Curran is going to have you find some happy videos that we can use throughout our unit.

Tuesday, November 27

Today is a late start!

Please turn in your printed copy of body paragraph three. Tomorrow, we will distribute them and have you mark each sentence.

Today, we will work on the Trolley Problem.

Trolley Problem Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i2-Dj1e2wM

Please come up with your decision, and discuss with your table.

Good Place Trolley Problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHI2QV_-mF0

Page 20 in your Interactive Notebooks: HAPPY VIDEOS :)

• This unit can get kind of depressing, so throughout the unit we will be watching happy videos and writing down how they made us feel

Monday, November 26

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful break!

Today we begin our unit on "The Value of Life."

*Please make sure to bring your readers and notebooks everyday!*

Let's start the unit with a quickwrite. In your notebooks, please answer the following questions:

• What does being alive mean to you?
• How do you assign value to life?
• What makes life challenging?
• What makes it worth living? Describe a few examples that help show your thinking about how people should value life.

Once you are done, please share your answers with your table. If you want some tribe points, please share with the class.

Now let's do an activity! The Life Raft Problem. Please copy down the list of 15 people that are on the board. Individually, please choose nine people to save and why you think they need to be saved.

DON'T FORGET TO BRING A PRINTED COPY OF BODY PARAGRAPH THREE TOMORROW!