Final Summative Assessment for Spring 2020:

ALL CLASSES

To say that this semester has been unusual would be an exercise in hyperbole. In order to fairly assess and grade the last few weeks of the semester, I've decided to have one last Summative Assessment that will count in both the "Reading" and "Writing" categories. On Monday, May 18, we will hold a live Poetry Cafe through Zoom. Students who choose to participate will present a live recitation of a poem of their choice to a virtual audience of their peers. Details on the poem requirements below.

After the Poetry Cafe, students will complete a Constructed Response, detailing their thoughts on the experience and the importance of expressing themselves. This will be written and submitted through Google Classroom.

Poems may be original or they may be chosen by the student from the websites provided below. Any student wishing to present a poem from an additional source must have prior approval from the instructor. All poems presented must be appropriate for school presentation. Inclusion on the website does not necessarily indicate school appropriateness. Use your best judgement. All students will submit the title and author of their chosen poem in the Google Classroom Question by 11:59 PM, Sunday, May 17.

Performances will be assessed based solely on the following categories as used in the "Poetry Out Loud" recitation contest:

Physical Presence

Voice and Articulation

Dramatic Appropriateness

Evidence of Understanding

Overall Performance

Accuracy

The Constructed Response is opinion writing, but should use a formal grammatical structure and clearly demonstrate the student's understanding of the conventions of formal writing.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/browse#page=1&sort_by=recently_added&filter_poetry_teens=1

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/guides

https://poets.org/poetry-teens

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/14/20

2nd Block: For our last class before our Poetry Cafe Zoom on Monday, I'd like you to take time focusing on your poem. Make sure you practice reciting it, knowing where the emphasis should go, punctuation, word choice, etc. It's a small performance, so treat it as such.

For today's Shakespeare activity, check out the link below to a clip from PBS's Shakespeare Uncovered about Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. After watching the clip, answer the question in the Classwork Tab.

3 & 4 B: Today we will continue practicing some important writing skills. No matter what type of writing you prefer, clarity of meaning is key. If your audience cannot understand what you want them to, it doesn't matter how great your idea might be. Grammatical structures help us clarify meaning. Don't forget: it's not a set of perfect, rigid rules. Grammar is the written version of how we formally express ourselves. Today's practice is much shorter than yesterday. Complete the NoRedInk assignment "Commas with Introductory Phrases and Clauses."

For today's Shakespeare activity, check out the link below to a clip from PBS's Shakespeare Uncovered about Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. After watching the clip, answer the question in the Classwork Tab.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/13/20

2nd Block: Today's NoRedInk is some practice on an important piece of argument writing: the counterargument. Complete "Planning a Counterargument Paragraph," posted in the Classwork tab.

The Shakespeare assignment is "Crash Course Literature #15: Shakespeare's Tragedies and Acting." Watch the video and answer the Question in Google Classroom, giving us one thing you learned from this exploration of the play King Lear and how it was staged.

3 & 4 A: Today we will continue practicing some important writing skills. No matter what type of writing you prefer, clarity of meaning is key. If your audience cannot understand what you want them to, it doesn't matter how great your idea might be. Grammatical structures help us clarify meaning. Don't forget: it's not a set of perfect, rigid rules. Grammar is the written version of how we formally express ourselves. Today's practice is much shorter than yesterday. Complete the NoRedInk assignment "Commas with Introductory Phrases and Clauses."

For today's Shakespeare activity, check out the link below to a clip from PBS's Shakespeare Uncovered about Romeo and Juliet's first meeting. After watching the clip, answer the question in the Classwork Tab.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/12/20

2nd Block: Today we will continue practicing some important writing skills. No matter what type of writing you prefer, clarity of meaning is key. If your audience cannot understand what you want them to, it doesn't matter how great your idea might be. Grammatical structures help us clarify meaning. Don't forget: it's not a set of perfect, rigid rules. Grammar is the written version of how we formally express ourselves. Today's practice is much shorter than yesterday. Complete the NoRedInk assignment "Commas with Introductory Phrases and Clauses."

For our daily connection to Shakespeare, I've included Crash Course Literature: Romeo and Juliet Parts 1 & 2. You know how much I love John Green and he nails R&J. I want to be him when I grow up. Check them out and then respond to the Question in the Classwork tab.

3 & 4 B: Today's NoRedInk assignment is "Practice: Embedding Evidence." This entails both how to properly embed a quote and how to cite it in-text. The Shakespeare assignment is "Crash Course Literature #15: Shakespeare's Tragedies and Acting." Watch the video and answer the Question in Google Classroom, giving us one thing you learned from this exploration of the play King Lear and how it was staged.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/11/20

This week, we'll be working on a few practice writing techniques to help hone those skills heading into next year. I'm also going to be posting a video each day about our missing Unit 5, Romeo & Juliet. I'm really disappointed we didn't get to do this unit. I'd like you to watch each video and post a response to a question.

2nd Block: Today's NoRedInk assignment is "Practice: Embedding Evidence." This entails both how to properly embed a quote and how to cite it in-text. The Shakespeare assignment is about understanding Shakespeare's writing in context. There are a few videos about performing and understanding Shakespeare attached to this post. Watch them. Choose one to write a quick paragraph about in the Classwork Question. If we take Shakepseare as he was meant to be: an entertainer who told great stories (including some dirty jokes) to every class of Londoner and whose words have wound their way into our entire language, we'll understand what all of this really means. It's different for everyone.

3 & 4 A: Today's NoRedInk assignment is "Practice: Embedding Evidence." This entails both how to properly embed a quote and how to cite it in-text. The Shakespeare assignment is "Crash Course Literature #15: Shakespeare's Tragedies and Acting." Watch the video and answer the Question in Google Classroom, giving us one thing you learned from this exploration of the play King Lear and how it was staged.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/7/20

2nd Block: As our last bit of poetry, I'd like you to find and share a poem that you enjoy. Post a link in the Question. Sites that might help you find poems based on poet, form, era, etc are: www.poetryfoundation.org, www.poetryoutloud.org, and www.poets.org among many others. Use the rest of your time today and tomorrow to catch up on any missing work and completing your Poetry Anthology. Please look at my example (2 of the poems are slightly different from yours since I changed the assignment for your class due to the distance stuff) for guidance on what your final project should look like.

3 & 4 B: For the remainder of the semester, we'll be working on building up some basic skills to help guide you into 10th Lit. Complete the Thesis Practice assignment from NoRedInk today.

I still want to connect you to Shakespeare throughout this, so I'm going to continue posting links to some interesting and/or fun Shakespeare videos or links. Today, I've included Crash Course Literature: Romeo and Juliet Parts 1 & 2. You know how much I love John Green and he nails R&J. I want to be him when I grow up. Check them out.

EVERYONE: Before we end the semester, we will have one more "summative" assignment to help those who need boosts in those 2 categories. Remember: your assignments CAN NOT hurt your grade. If you do an assignment and don't do so well, it's fine. Try your best and get out of it what you need.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/6/20

2nd Block: Today, I've got 3 smallish items for you to work on. First, continue work on your Poetry Anthology, due on 5/13. Second, tomorrow's assignment will be a Flipgrid recording of you reciting one of your own poems. Decide which poem you will recite. PLEASE REMEMBER: you are in no way required to share a deeply personal poem with your entire class. Share the one you feel best shows off your work without making you uncomfortable that 30 people will watch you recite it. Third, complete the NearPod on Poe's "Annabelle Lea" to determine theme, motifs, and poetic devices.

3 & 4 A: For the remainder of the semester, we'll be working on building up some basic skills to help guide you into 10th Lit. Complete the Thesis Practice assignment from NoRedInk today.

I still want to connect you to Shakespeare throughout this, so I'm going to continue posting links to some interesting and/or fun Shakespeare videos or links. Today, I've included Crash Course Literature: Romeo and Juliet Parts 1 & 2. You know how much I love John Green and he nails R&J. I want to be him when I grow up. Check them out.

EVERYONE: Before we end the semester, we will have one more "summative" assignment to help those who need boosts in those 2 categories. Remember: your assignments CAN NOT hurt your grade. If you do an assignment and don't do so well, it's fine. Try your best and get out of it what you need.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/5/20

2nd Block: Today you're going to work on a recitation of another poet's work. Watch the video below (with my dulcet narration) and choose a poem from the list. They are all in your digital Springboard book (located at the link below). Watch the included videos for some wonderful young poets reciting their own work. Language Warning: "Perfect" by Maia Mayor has some strong language. Turn on captions for Harry Baker, he's got a thick London accent and speaks quickly. The assignment is to record yourself reciting one of the poems from the text on Flipgrid at the link included below. You will also record/write comments on at least 2 of your classmate's recordings, offering specific praise and constructive remarks.

3 & 4 ALL: Had a few students ask about the film/staged versions online. I found another link to the Globe's R&J since the main one is offline as of today. (The Globe has now posted their staging of "Two Noble Kinsmen" if you want to watch a totally different play.) As for the films themselves, some are on streaming services that you may already have (1996's "Romeo + Juliet" and "West Side Story" are on Hulu), some are easily findable with a quick search of YouTube (2013's "Romeo and Juliet" with Hailee Stanfield) and others are available for rent from Amazon and other online services (1963 Zeffirelli "Romeo and Juliet"). I encourage you to watch one or at least listen to the full audio version from Folger.

Next week will begin our final review work of some key skills as we finish the semester. These will be on NearPod, NewsELA, NoRedInk, or a site like that. I will be giving another summative assessment next week to aid those who need a little boost in that department.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 5/4/20

2nd Block: I want to share with all of you my examples of the Poetry Anthology. The first is the Text-Only version and the second is more designed and includes the related image for each poem. You will be completing both as well. The text-only gets submitted to Turnitin.com for an Originality Check and the full Anthology goes to Google Classroom.

The full Anthology is a digital portfolio of your 8 original poems. You will complete them on Google Slides (1 slide per poem) and include a complimentary image along with the poem. You can make the image the background or just post it on the side, whatever you like. Play around with color, fonts, and spacing to make the poem look and read like you want it to. Be creative.

Grading is based on 4 factors: Complete, Complimentary Image, Correct, and Creative.

1) Did you write SOMETHING for each of the 8?

2) Did you include an image that makes sense for each poem?

3) Did you follow the instructions for each (this is important for the sonnet especially)?

and

4) Were you creative above and beyond the requirements?

Today's assignment: Work on your poetry anthology and start to collect your poems into a single Google Slides document for your anthology.

Unless something big changes, your final copies are due on 5/15 by 11:59 PM.

3 & 4 ALL: I have come to a realization. We have 2 1/2 weeks left of school and essentially 5 "classes" left in the semester. This is just not enough time to do Romeo & Juliet justice. It's really unfortunate. Units 4 & 5 are my favorite bits of the class and I hate that we didn't get to do them in person. Also, extended periods of reading bits of a play aren't really worthwhile in this distance learning situation. I want to spend the time we have left working on a few skills that will really help you moving into 10th literature.

So, today's assignment is to finish Romeo & Juliet by watching either the Globe staged production (which will disappear on 5/5) or a film version of the play. There are 2 major films with VERY different settings. The 1968 film by Zeffirelli is considered by many to be the essential R&J. It's set in the period and has some excellent actors. It is rated PG but does show a bit of skin in one scene. The other is "Romeo + Juliet" from 1996 by Baz Luhrman. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Daines and puts the play into a modern context. I absolutely love this version and that might have to do with me being 17/18 when it was released. I've found that you Gen Z folks might be a bit weirded out by the very 90s editing style, but it's worth the watch.

There are 2 other versions I could suggest, depending on what kind of film you enjoy. In 2013, a new period film was released starring Hailee Stanfield and a bunch of other way too pretty people. The look is similar to the Zeffirelli, but modernized. The other is a departure from the script, but not the story: 1957's West Side Story. It's a tale of two rival gangs in New York, one white, one Puerto Rican. Maria is played by Natalie Wood (I've got a solid 10 on whitewashing the roles in this film compared to Broadway) and it's wonderful.

OK, enough from me. Go watch a movie today or tomorrow and on Wed/Thurs we'll work on some writing skills. The DiCaprio version & West Side Story are on Hulu, the Stanfield version is easily findable on YouTube (won't link, but you can Google), and - unfortunately - the Zeffirelli version is pay only on Amazon, YT and iTunes. If you can't find any of those, look for full versions of that stage play on YT. They're not the best, but it'll get you the story.

Virtual Learning Assignments 4/30/20

We have reached the end of another week of virtual learning! Thank you for those who have been participating and communicating with me. I'll be reaching out tomorrow to a few people who need to work a bit more to raise their grades before the end of the semester.

2nd Block: We're working on Poem #8 in your Anthology today and you get to choose the form of your final poem. Check out the Slides presentation attached to the Google Classroom post for some current poets who started their professional careers on Instagram and examples and explanations of each suggested poetry form. After this, we'll be working on our Poetry Cafe presentations, which you'll do through Flipgrid.

3 & 4 B: Today our star-crossed lovers meet at a party one of them wasn't invited to and the other is supposed to meet her future husband, played by Paul Rudd. Read Act I, Scenes iv & v and listen along/watch the Globe version. Time stamp is 20:56-36:15.

Now, while it's important that the kids meet and touch hands and stuff, Mercutio is BY FAR this best part of the play. He gets his first big moment here with the "Queen Mab" speech, which is amazing and weird and wonderful. The Montague boys crash the party and Romeo sees Juliet, promptly forgets about Rosaline (who?) and falls madly in love.

Today I'd like you to do a character profile of someone we've met in Act I. You'll do this by designing their Masquerade mask. Check out the Classwork tab and submit your mask by Monday. Enjoy the play and have a great rest of the week.

NOTE: I'll have "office hours" Friday if you have any questions about grades/assignments/whatever or you can just hit me up on Remind or through e-mail.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/29/20

2nd Block: Today is Poem #7: The Shakespearean Sonnet. We're going to spend a LOT of time with Willy Shakes in Unit 5, but this is some great prep for what we'll read in Romeo & Juliet. The assignment page has links to two excellent recitations of sonnets.

Your Anthology assignment is to write your own sonnet. You need to really know two major things about Shakespearean sonnets: they have a specific rhyme scheme and rhythm.

As far as rhyme scheme, there are 3 quatrains and 1 couplet in an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme pattern. 14 lines. Rhythm is something that takes a bit of time to feel. Iambic Pentameter is the rhythm of each line. The "Iamb" is a measurement of rhythm that is two syllables with the stress on the second. "buh-DUM." Penta means 5, so there are 5 iambs per line: "buh-DUM buh-DUM buh-DUM buh-DUM buh-DUM"

Now, no human being speaks so drastically as to sound like that. Could you imagine? That person would sound insane. "shall I com-PARE thee TO a SUM-mer's DAY?" Buuuut, if we smooth it out a bit, we get a truly beautiful line that naturally flows with the way we actually speak. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Listen to the videos in the assignment and complete it. Have a great day!

3 & 4 A: Today our star-crossed lovers meet at a party one of them wasn't invited to and the other is supposed to meet her future husband, played by Paul Rudd. Read Act I, Scenes iv & v and listen along/watch the Globe version. Time stamp is 20:56-36:15.

Now, while it's important that the kids meet and touch hands and stuff, Mercutio is BY FAR this best part of the play. He gets his first big moment here with the "Queen Mab" speech, which is amazing and weird and wonderful. The Montague boys crash the party and Romeo sees Juliet, promptly forgets about Rosaline (who?) and falls madly in love.

Today I'd like you to do a character profile of someone we've met in Act I. You'll do this by designing their Masquerade mask. Check out the Classwork tab and submit your mask by Monday. Enjoy the play and have a great rest of the week.

NOTE: I'll have "office hours" Friday if you have any questions about grades/assignments/whatever or you can just hit me up on Remind or through e-mail.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/28/20

2nd Block: Today we tackle one of the two complex poetry forms we'll visit in this unit: the Ode. One of the oldest forms of poetry, the ode has its roots in ancient Greece and was revived in the 17th and 18th centuries by English poets who thought everything from ancient Greece was perfect, but just had to steal it and make it very English. Keats was really the master of this form, along with Percy Bysshe Shelley and others.

For your assignment today, watch the video linked below and the complete "Poetry Workshop #6: Ode to Something You Treasure." I included a free verse ode by Pablo Neruda called "Ode to My Socks" that is just excellent. It uses vivid imagery and personification to say something beautiful about a pair of woolen socks.

Your Anthology poem is #6. We're going to use the English rhyme scheme for this ode to something or someone that your treasure. Since you've written a number of free verse poems already, let's stick to the specific guidelines of this rhyme scheme for something a bit different. Don't be afraid to use a Rhyming Dictionary.

3 & 4 B: Today we're starting to read Romeo & Juliet. I'm including several links below that will get you to the text, an audio version, and the staged version from Shakespeare's Globe in London from 2009.

Here's where virtual learning will differ greatly from in-person teaching. In class, we'd be reading the whole thing together with my running commentary to help explain what you're actually saying. Without a lot of patience and planning, that's not going to work for us for the entire play. What I'd like to do is assign a few scenes a day, have you read them while listening the the audio and then watch the scene you just read. I'm going to be posting a running commentary for the play soon to help with our understanding and to get my less-than-reverent take on what's happening.

Remember: Shakespeare is not sacred. It is meant to be funny at times, tragic at others. The people who paid a penny to stand at the foot of the stage in 1600 were poorly educated, often illiterate common folk who wanted a bit of a laugh and a bit of a cry and to be entertained.

Today, read Act I, Scenes 1-3. Timestamp on the YouTube video is 0:00-20:56. The Globe does a wonderful job of seamlessly transitioning from scene to scene in this. No written assignment today, but we'll finish Act I this week and have something on Thursday.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/27/20

Good morning and happy Monday to you all! How did March last a year and April like a week?

2nd Block: This week we're working on Poetry Workshops #5-8. Today is #5: Extended Metaphor and the Hyperbolic Me. Extended Metaphor is exactly how it sounds: take a single metaphor and continue it throughout the entire poem. We'll read and examine Julio Noboa Polanco's "Identity" to explore the idea further.

The Hyperbolic Me is an idea that you are familiar with, even if you don't know it. Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration, but what if you make it all about yourself? Nikki Giovanni's "Ego Tripping" is a wonderful example.

Poem #5 from your Anthology is an emulation of either the Extended Metaphor or the Hyperbolic Me. Check out the Working Guide for examples of each.

3 & 4 A: Today we're starting to read Romeo & Juliet. I'm including several links below that will get you to the text, an audio version, and the staged version from Shakespeare's Globe in London from 2009.

Here's where virtual learning will differ greatly from in-person teaching. In class, we'd be reading the whole thing together with my running commentary to help explain what you're actually saying. Without a lot of patience and planning, that's not going to work for us for the entire play. What I'd like to do is assign a few scenes a day, have you read them while listening the the audio and then watch the scene you just read. I'm going to be posting a running commentary for the play soon to help with our understanding and to get my less-than-reverent take on what's happening.

Remember: Shakespeare is not sacred. It is meant to be funny at times, tragic at others. The people who paid a penny to stand at the foot of the stage in 1600 were poorly educated, often illiterate common folk who wanted a bit of a laugh and a bit of a cry and to be entertained.

Today, read Act I, Scenes 1-3. Timestamp on the YouTube video is 0:00-20:56. The Globe does a wonderful job of seamlessly transitioning from scene to scene in this. No written assignment today, but we'll finish Act I this week and have something on Wednesday.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/23/20

2nd Block: We're halfway through our Poetry Unit today and we've reached the most dynamic form: Slam Poetry. In essence, this is free verse poetry with an opinion. The assignment today leads you through exploring slam poetry, starting with its essence: slam poetry addresses an issue, whether it be with one's self, others, a place, or society. You are going to view and summarize 8 poems from very different artists. When you decide which theme is your favorite (self, others, place, or society), click on the link to head to the 4 slides you'll complete to brainstorm your slam poem.

This poem is a bit more time intensive and this will probably take more than one sitting to complete. In person, we'd watch these as a class and discuss while you summarized. Take your time with it. Your assignment is under "Poetry Workshop #4: Slam Poetry and Brainstorming."

Monday, I'm going to give you more details on your Poetry Anthology Unit Assessment. This is really important for some because I'm going to put half of the grade in each of the "Summative" categories in Synergy. This can really help some test scores. Speaking of grades, don't forget that every grade at this point can only HELP you. If you're confused or stressed about an assignment, please reach out and let's figure out how to make this work the best for each of you.

Don't forget that we have a Meet today from 10:30-11:30 if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

3 & 4 B: We will focus today once more upon the Prologue of Romeo & Juliet, especially since it lays out the entire plot for us! You will record your best recitation of the Prologue on Flipgrid as if you were playing the Chorus (the role assigned to act the Prologue) in Wheeler's pandemic version of the play. If you want to go over the top and Shakespearean, I won't stop you. Have some fun with it. I've recorded my own version to join in the fun. You'll need to use your wheelerhigh.com or wheelermagnet.com address to log in.

Please do complete the Prologue activity from earlier in the week. Next week we're going to start the play itself. There's an excellent audio version that you can listen to while following along in the script and I'll be uploading my own commentary along the way. The Globe Theatre has also put its 2009 staging of the play on YouTube for a limited time. I highly encourage you to watch it. It's very well done (of course it is, it's the Globe) and it shows how the play might have looked in Shakespeare's day. Enjoy the show!

I'm going to have an open Meet today for all skinnies from 12:30-1:30 pm if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/22/20

2nd Block:Today we explore Found Poetry. There's a video attached with some information on where this form originates and the artistic movements that inspired it. Your assignment for today includes creating a Found Poem from book titles in your home. Poem #3 in your Poetry Anthology is a "Verbatim Poem," where you will take words from non-poetic text(s) and find ways to rework them into a poem. There's an excellent and timely example in there, plus a link below to the Verbatim Poetry blog which has a TON of other examples. Please make sure you credit the original text you're quoting when you write your poem.

I'm going to have an open Meet on Thursday from 10:30-11:30 if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

3 & 4 A: We will focus today once more upon the Prologue of Romeo & Juliet, especially since it lays out the entire plot for us! You will record your best recitation of the Prologue on Flipgrid as if you were playing the Chorus (the role assigned to act the Prologue) in Wheeler's pandemic version of the play. If you want to go over the top and Shakespearean, I won't stop you. Have some fun with it. I've recorded my own version to join in the fun. You'll need to use your wheelerhigh.com or wheelermagnet.com address to log in.

Please do complete the Prologue activity from earlier in the week. Next week we're going to start the play itself. There's an excellent audio version that you can listen to while following along in the script and I'll be uploading my own commentary along the way. The Globe Theatre has also put its 2009 staging of the play on YouTube for a limited time. I highly encourage you to watch it. It's very well done (of course it is, it's the Globe) and it shows how the play might have looked in Shakespeare's day. Enjoy the show!

I'm going to have an open Meet on Thursday for all skinnies from 12:30-1:30 pm if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/21/20

2nd Block: Today's assignment is about creating a base for your creativity. To be a writer requires only one thing: that you write. Susan Wooldridge is a creative writing teacher who wrote a series of essays called "poemcrazy" where she gives bits of advice and practice for writing poetry. A few of the essays are excerpted in your Springboard book in Lesson 4.2. You can get to your textbook through Clever.com or read the attached PDF. After reading, complete the assigned activity "Poetry Workshop #2: pomecrazy"

The goal today is to explore your writing. Your poetry should not be a set of one and done boxes you check off. You get the opportunity to really explore what it is to be a writer with some real freedom during this unit. Keep coming back and revising your work as you go forward. Take your time. Explore the language, create a wordpool, play with how things look and sound.

I'm going to have an open Meet on Thursday from 10:30-11:30 if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

3 & 4 B: And thus it begins: your foray into the world of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. At this point, it should be super clear that I love Shakespeare. I didn't always. I don't enjoy acting in his plays ( I was in Taming of the Shrew as a favor to a friend and I was certainly on that stage), but that's mostly about me as an actor, not the works. Once I finally saw a GOOD production of a Shakespearean comedy, I found it so easy to laugh at the (often raunchy) jokes. a GREAT production of MacBeth, reset to the swamplands of Louisiana, I fell in love with the timeless drama of it all. 400 years since his death and he still is the greatest playwright in the English language.

Today we will read the Prologue from R&J and translate it into our own words. This beautiful sonnet (told you it would come up again) is a theatrical trailer for the play. There are no sets on the Globe's stage, nothing to show the audience the beauty of Verona, Italy. The Elizabeathan theatre relied on the audience's imagination, the actors' talent, and the playwright's skill to create the illusion. The Chorus at the start of the play lays the ground work for that illusion, describing these "Two households, both alike in dignity, / in fair Verona, where we lay our scene." Explore the Prologue and listen to / watch the videos embedded in the slide. Feel the cadence and the emphasis placed on the story telling. You'll need the help for our next class.

I'm going to have an open Meet on Thursday for all skinnies from 12:30-1:30 pm if anyone needs to check in, ask questions, whatever. It is not required and I won't be doing any lesson work, just having office hours.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/20/20

2nd Block: I hope you were all able to wrap up your Literary Analyses over the weekend. The real goal of reading any work in a class like ours is the further understanding, not that you remember simple details of the work. What does it mean beyond the page? How can we learn from the lessons it tries to impart? We'll see some more of that over the next 2 week as we work on our Poetry Unit.

I'm going to go ahead and post all 8 assignments and the Poetry Anthology Working Guide today. Each day I'll lay out what we're talking about and some of the assignments will have video guides from me. In the end, you are going to write 8 original works of poetry in different styles and formats. Some are open-ended, some are very strict. The Poetry Anthology Working Guide is there to help you practice, write, and re-write your poetry. In the end, you will create a Google Slide Presentation of your 8 poems with a related image for each. Your poems do not have to have a specific overall theme, but sometimes its more fun if they do.

Today we start with a "Poem About Poetry." Complete the assignment - based on Pablo Neruda's "Poetry" - and write your own by filling in the blanks on page 1 of the Working Guide. Don't worry about being honest about your feelings towards poetry. I get it. I hope that by the end, some of you will change your minds and see how poetry is a positive way to share our innermost self with the world.

Last note: I want you to write about what you want to write about, but I have a few caveats. 1) You are never required to write about or share anything you are not comfortable sharing. 2) The poetry unit is where a lot of emotions can arise. Please remember that I am a mandated reporter and there are things that - if you write about them - I will have to pass on to counseling or beyond. If you are in need of someone to talk to or find yourself in a bad place, please reach out to me or your counselor directly and we will find you the help you might need

3 & 4 A: And thus it begins: your foray into the world of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. At this point, it should be super clear that I love Shakespeare. I didn't always. I don't enjoy acting in his plays ( I was in Taming of the Shrew as a favor to a friend and I was certainly on that stage), but that's mostly about me as an actor, not the works. Once I finally saw a GOOD production of a Shakespearean comedy, I found it so easy to laugh at the (often raunchy) jokes. a GREAT production of MacBeth, reset to the swamplands of Louisiana, I fell in love with the timeless drama of it all. 400 years since his death and he still is the greatest playwright in the English language.

Today we will read the Prologue from R&J and translate it into our own words. This beautiful sonnet (told you it would come up again) is a theatrical trailer for the play. There are no sets on the Globe's stage, nothing to show the audience the beauty of Verona, Italy. The Elizabeathan theatre relied on the audience's imagination, the actors' talent, and the playwright's skill to create the illusion. The Chorus at the start of the play lays the ground work for that illusion, describing these "Two households, both alike in dignity, / in fair Verona, where we lay our scene." Explore the Prologue and listen to / watch the videos embedded in the slide. Feel the cadence and the emphasis placed on the story telling. You'll need the help for our next class

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/16/20

2nd Block: Well, this wraps up TKaM for us. I hope you've learned a few things about how to really understand what a writer is trying to say, why its ok to criticize "classic" literature, and how the problems we see in the world today aren't anything new, but they can be solved. This weekend is your time to work on your Literary Analysis paper. Again, you're taking one of the 5 suggested scenes (you may quote from outside those scenes) and writing a 5 paragraph essay showing how the scene demonstrates a theme through CONFLICT, CHARACTER, and SETTING.

In your introduction, please include a very short summary of your chosen SCENE. Not the entire novel, that's too much. Be sure to include a clear thesis statement. In each body paragraph, please quote the text at least once directly. In the conclusion, summarize your findings and wrap it all up. Your essay is due Sunday at 11:59 PM to turnitin.com.

3 & 4 B: Today's assignment is about understanding Shakespeare's writing in context. There are a few videos about performing and understanding Shakespeare attached to this post. Watch them. Choose one to write a quick paragraph about in the Classwork Question. If we take Shakepseare as he was meant to be: an entertainer who told great stories (including some dirty jokes) to every class of Londoner and whose words have wound their way into our entire language, we'll understand what all of this really means. It's different for everyone. I hope you'll find your attachment to his works as we go through this unit. Check out Google Classroom for the links.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/15/20

2nd Block: Today I would like you to get your body paragraphs moving forward for your Literary Analysis. Identify the primary CHARACTERS, CONFLICT, and SETTING (don't forget that setting includes time, place, and people) of your chosen scene and look at how each contributes to your chosen theme. Does a character learn an important lesson? Does the conflict change the way someone sees the world?

3 & 4 A: Today's assignment is about understanding Shakespeare's writing in context. There are a few videos about performing and understanding Shakespeare attached to this post. Watch them. Choose one to write a quick paragraph about in the Classwork Question. If we take Shakepseare as he was meant to be: an entertainer who told great stories (including some dirty jokes) to every class of Londoner and whose words have wound their way into our entire language, we'll understand what all of this really means. It's different for everyone. I hope you'll find your attachment to his works as we go through this unit. Check out Google Classroom for the links.

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/14/20

2nd Block: Today's assignment is to complete the Say-Mean-Matter from yesterday, watch the videos below, and begin to work on your Literary Analysis. Start by choosing the scene you will write about and the theme you'll explore. Use the attached files to help guide your decisions . There are more details and discussion points about this section of the book on the Google Classroom.

3 & 4 B: We are beginning our final Unit of the course: Coming of Age on Stage by reading and analyzing Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. This week we'll explore Shakespeare himself, the world in which he wrote and lived, why we bother reading 400 year old plays in the first place, and the play itself. Today I'd like you to work on "The World of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet" searching the web for more information on the playwright, his world, and his play.

NOTE: Skinny courses will now be held on the following days:

A Days - Monday & Wednesday

B Days - Tuesday & Thursday

Virtual Learning Assignments: 4/13/20

2nd Block: Good morning and welcome back...kinda! This week, we're finishing up TKaM, including writing our Literary Analysis of how a scene in the novel demonstrates a specific theme. When last we left each other, you had finished up the trial and began to see the aftermath in the town. Today, I want you to explore the text in chapters 24-25 through the "4/13: TKaM Say-Mean-Matter Chart." It's in these chapters that we get to see the kind of underlying racism inherent in upper-class white Maycomb. It's not violent, like the Ewells or the lynch mob, but it dehumanizes in a way that is more insidious.

I also want you to begin your literary analysis. I'm not assigning any practice/pre-writing for a grade, but I'm encouraging you to take a look at the "Lit Analysis Guided Plan" pdf and check out the links in NoRedInk. The details of the Lit Analysis are in the included document. You'll be writing about a specific theme of the novel, looking to see how setting, character, and conflict demonstrate that theme. Since we don't have in-class time to develop theme statements together, I'm suggesting that you either use "coming of age involves understanding others points of view" or run yours by me first. I'll talk more about the essay tomorrow, but it will be due at 11:59 PM on Sunday night, submitted to Turnitin.com

3 & 4 A: We are beginning our final Unit of the course: Coming of Age on Stage by reading and analyzing Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. This week we'll explore Shakespeare himself, the world in which he wrote and lived, why we bother reading 400 year old plays in the first place, and the play itself. Today I'd like you to work on "The World of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet" searching the web for more information on the playwright, his world, and his play.

NOTE: Skinny courses will now be held on the following days:

A Days - Monday & Wednesday

B Days - Tuesday & Thursday

9th Honors ELA Independent Reading Book Club!