Thursday, Jan. 21 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Explain One Pager on The Things They Carried

•Assessment on The Things They Carried = Creative One Pager TOMORROW, plan a little now!!

•Things to plan: quotes, sketches of images, overall ideas, what your intention/meaning is

•Career Project work time

•YOU MUST MEET WITH ME TODAY if you didn’t yesterday

•LOOK AT YOUR RUBRIC TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the careers, or explain why, based on the above information, this one career is the best for you)

•Don’t forget that your paper needs an introduction and a works cited page.  Use the rubric to check that you are prepared to hand in your paper tomorrow!!

•You need to meet with me about a portion of your paper: if you have questions on a comment I made, or if you want me to check through a paragraph, or if you want to take a look at what you have created for the artifact(s), those would be good choices to meet about.

•Book Completion sheet due tomorrow!!

Wednesday, Jan. 20 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Read “Ambush” p 131, then in WN: Compare “Ambush” to “The Man I Killed.” How are they similar, how different? Why did he write about basically the same thing twice? Which do you like more? Why?

•When you are done, work on your paragraphs for your career paper after you bring your answers up

•Career Project work time

•YOU MUST MEET WITH ME TODAY or TOMORROW

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the three)

•You should be working on or revising your body paragraphs or reading your book for your book completion sheet (or working on missing work if you have any) [if you have nothing English related to do, come to me and I will give you a task]

•Assessment on The Things They Carried = Creative One Pager Friday

Tuesday, Jan. 19 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Career Project work time: If you had shared your draft yesterday, work on comments, otherwise WORK ON DRAFT AND SHARE ASAP!!!

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the three)

•YOU SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE OTHER PARAGRAPHS AND WORKING ON THIS AND AN INTRODUCTION ROUGH DRAFT TODAY: but most of you aren’t…so GET TO WORK ON BODY PARAGRAPHS AND STOP WASTING TIME

•Contact someone with one of the jobs and ask questions (day in the life, what advice, etc), make sure to record answers to use on the paper (email counts)

•“The Man I Killed” p124

•In Writer’s notebook: How do Kiowa and Tim react to bad situations? Why did the narrator keep repeating the same things? Why did he make up all of this background for the dead man?

•When done you can work on notes for the career research, your body paragraphs or your book completion sheet.

•REMINDER: Your book completion sheet is also due on FRIDAY!!  Make sure you are finishing up those nine sentence starters with a shorter paragraph each

Monday, Jan. 18 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Library for a quick author and media use survey

•English Use Artifact created by you…

•Career Project work time: ROUGH DRAFT DUE TODAY!!

•Another site to use, especially for skills needed: onetonline.org

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the two-three) or explain why the one career is the only one for you

•You need to contact at least one person in one of your careers.  If you contact more, that means you have to do less research (day in the life and reading/writing/speaking/listening information)

•REMINDER: Your book completion sheet is also due on FRIDAY!!  Make sure you are finishing up those nine sentence starters with a shorter paragraph each

Friday, Jan. 15 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Writing on “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” (Google Drive)

•Career Project work time: ROUGH DRAFT DUE MONDAY OF ALL BODY PARAGRAPHS!

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the two or three) or WHY you know this is the only career for you

•You need to contact at least one person in one of your careers.  If you contact more, that means you have to do less research (day in the life and reading/writing/speaking/listening information)

Thursday, Jan. 14 Agenda

•Bell Ringer- Finish “Sweetheart…”pg 105-end: Turn in questions to me when done: due after lunch

•Discussion on “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”

•Career Project work time

•If you haven’t, Finish Notes: again the MOST IMPORTANT PART is the ENGLISH SKILLS section

•Career Cruising site has LOTS of information when it comes to the day in the life part as well as the basic info

•Onetonline.org has lots of the skills information

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the two or three if you have them)

•You need to contact at least one person in one of your careers.  If you contact more, that means you have to do less research (day in the life and reading/writing/speaking/listening information): I need to see questions TODAY!! (at least 10)

Wednesday, Jan. 13 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong pg 89-105

•While reading, answer questions and write own questions when pause: discuss first side of questions with partner

•Career Project work time

•Finish Notes (HOMEWORK IF YOU AREN’T DONE BY END OF HOUR!!): again the MOST IMPORTANT PART is the ENGLISH SKILLS section

•By today (middle/end of work time) your notes should be done and you should be starting your body paragraphs on today

•Career Cruising site has LOTS of information when it comes to the day in the life part as well as the basic info

•Onetonline.org has a lot for the skills (basic, daily, and English related)

•You need to contact at least one person in one of your careers.  If you contact more, that means you have to do less research (day in the life and reading/writing/speaking/listening information): I need to see your questions TODAY!

•Body paragraphs: can be in any order that you feel works for your paper’s organization

•Basic info of career

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•End body para, which is the best choice and why (compare/contrast the two or three if you have them)

Tuesday, Jan. 12 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Steps of the Final

•Career Project work time (Day 3)

•Follow the steps on the step by step sheet (You should be on 3 and 4)

•Contact your person for step 4, which is step 5…

•Make sure to take good notes while researching

•Remember, you will need at least 3 sources per career and KEEP TRACK OF WHERE INFO COMES FROM

•You should be ready to start writing body paragraphs tomorrow (Thursday at the latest)

•“The Dentist” pg 86-88

•Questions while reading

•Dentist Discussion 

Monday, Jan. 11 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Get “How to Tell a True War Story” work checked if you didn’t on Friday

•Discussion: Need to discuss for at least 20 min.  Once all have shared jobs, discuss and be prepared to report to class on these questions:

•According to O'Brien, how do you tell a true war story? What does he mean when he says that true war stories are never about war? What does he mean when he writes of one story, "That's a true story that never happened"?

•What are some challenges soldiers might face in communicating their experiences in war to civilians, using examples from the text. Why is it so hard to tell a true war story? How, according to O'Brien, can we tell if a war story is true?

•What path are you on for your career research?

•Reminder of requirements

•Basic info of career

•Preparation, what the job consists of, etc.

•Benefits and drawbacks

•Reading and Writing needs

•Speaking and Listening needs

•Day in the life

•Skills, tasks, etc.

•You need to contact at least one person in one of your careers.  If you contact more, that means you have to do less research (day in the life and reading/writing/speaking/listening information)

•You need to give me your interview questions ASAP (you should have at least 10, and they should be based of the information you need for the project that you haven’t found in your online research)

•Artifacts (if you are only researching one or two careers)

•Career work time/independent reading time/book completion sheet time

"How to Tell a True War Story" Discussion

Once everyone in your group has shared the work done for their jobs, and you have gone through all of the questions on the sheet, talk about these questions:  Then post your group's ideas/answers as a comment to this post.  Once all have posted, we will read through the answers as a whole class.

•According to O'Brien, how do you tell a true war story? What does he mean when he says that true war stories are never about war? What does he mean when he writes of one story, "That's a true story that never happened"?

•What are some challenges soldiers might face in communicating their experiences in war to civilians, using examples from the text. Why is it so hard to tell a true war story? How, according to O'Brien, can we tell if a war story is true?

What is your group's overall opinion of what O'Brien is saying about war and storytelling?

Then post your group's ideas/answers as a comment to this post.  Once all have posted, we will read through the answers as a whole class.

Friday, Jan. 8 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Read the story “A True War Story” pg 67 (completing your job while reading)

•In Writer’s Notebook: Answer these questions about the story:

•What could the water buffalo represent? Why? (pg 79)

•What is true in all war stories, according to the author, even if the events are not? (82, 83, 85)

•Read the last line on page 85.  What does that mean? Who is he talking about (specific and general)?

•Bring these answers and what you did for your job up to me when completed! Then work on your research notes while waiting for all to finish.

•Work Time on Career Notes

•Notes Template shared with you in Google Drive

Thursday, Jan. 7 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Re-Read Tim’s comments we read yesterday

•Is it different knowing it’s technically not real? Explain in writing whether or not it is important for it to be ‘true’ or ‘real’

•Write this as a comment on the latest blog post

•Read your choice book while you wait

•“Enemies” “Friends” –Lit Circle Assignments

•“Enemies” and “Friends”: What is the point/purpose of these two stories individually, together?

•Discussion of stories

•What should a war story have in it? List as many characteristics as your group can –characters, events, items, places, etc.

•Work Time on Career Project

•Add this site to your list of potential resources: onetonline.org 

BY TOMORROW YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR PATH AND AT LEAST ONE CAREER

Do stories have to be 'true'?

Review your close read highlighting of Tim O'Brien's comments we read yesterday, then write a response to this question:

•Is it different knowing it’s (the story "On the Rainy River" or the whole book, actually) technically not real? Explain in writing whether or not it is important for stories about historical events, or this story in particular, to be ‘true’ or ‘real’

Wednesday, Jan. 6 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Start/Finish “On the Rainy River” Questions (I will be checking post its while you work on answering the questions)

•Once this is done, finish reading the section

•If you finish reading the section before lunch, read your independent book or work on your book completion sheet

•At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator says, "I was a coward. I went to the war." What does he mean by this? Do you agree? You will write three paragraphs: first: explaining how this could be true, second: how this could be false and third: which do you most agree with and why?

•Bring this up to me when you are done

•When done, read your book or work on your book completion sheet

•Small Group:  Discuss “On the Rainy River”

•What are stories for?

•Answers from blog and what Tim says

•Highlight Tim’s comments for important details that connect to ‘storytelling’/what stories are for and the ‘truth’ of “On the Rainy River”

•Talk about what you marked with your group and mark additional things from discussion if needed

•Career Project- Final Project for the Class –due 1/22

•1-3 careers

•Interview with someone in one field

•Paper with research and examples of writing/reading/communicating done in the careers

Career Interest Survey

To start our final research project and paper, you first need to take this survey.

Tuesday, Jan. 5 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Book Completion Sheet Explanation

•Finish small group discussion

•Post the rest of your answers to the questions on the blog post from yesterday

•Tim O’Brien interview 760 orange (do what the post says for after reading the interview)

•Read “On Rainy…” in book

•Read 42-56 (“What would you do?”): bring book with post its up to me when done THIS IS HOMEWORK IF YOU DIDN'T FINISH IN CLASS!

•Questions from “On Rainy…” on the blog: answer them on the blank sheet of paper you took out

•Finish reading this chapter (if you finish the questions/prompts from the blog)

"On the Rainy River" Questions

Questions for pg 42-56 “On the Rainy River”

Answer these on a blank sheet of paper, then write the paragraphs for the bottom two prompts:

1.     What were Tim’s options once he received his draft notice?

2.     Who did he hold responsible for his situation?

3.     What does Tim say is Elroy Berdhal’s role in his life?

4.     What sort of person was Elroy? How did Tim know?

Once you answer the questions, write paragraphs answering these two ideas (be prepared to discuss)

•      Where I told you to stop reading, Tim asked the reader what he or she would do (pg 56). What would you do? Why? (one paragraph)

•      What was Elroy Berdhal’s role the day they went fishing? 

Monday, Jan. 4 Agenda

•Bell Ringer: Find what you wrote about the quote from page 20

•Finish reading 20-26

•Interpret the other quotes.  Bring your interpretations up to me when done, then move on to the next two stories

•Independently Read “Love” and “Spin”

•While reading, mark evidence in the book to help you answer questions as well as keep track of important ideas or events, and mark areas of confusion (where you have questions)

•Check notes on “Love” and “Spin”: when you are done, bring them to me (your book filled with post-its)

•If you finished the two stories, read your independent book or fill out the book completion sheet (grab one from the last folder in the crate, ask questions if you have any).

•Discuss the stories with small group

"Love" and "Spin" Discussion

Write your group's answers to these questions as a comment on this post.

1. What is the purpose of each story? Is there a purpose of them together ("Spin" following "Love", etc)? Why did he put these stories early in the book?  Cite at least one specific piece of textual evidence for each story as to the purpose individually and together (with a page number)

2. Explain why you think Azar did what he did to the puppy? And what does he mean with what he says?

3. Where in both stories are there moments of beauty? Give one piece of textual evidence to show from each story.

4. What are stories for, according to what you read? Do you as a group agree? Do you think there are other reasons? What?

Once you've answered these questions, grab a black-spined orange lit book and read the interview with Tim on page 760,  Add to your answers (the comment your group is writing on this post) some interesting points from the interview that you think apply to what we've read already or will apply to what we will be reading.