As with the first two chapters, as we read I want you to make notes and afterward, write:

a. Observations: What do you know? Find details from the book that describe each person or place.

b. Critical Thinking: What do you think? Give me your own thoughts & opinions about each.

c. Extending Understanding: What do you wonder? What kind of questions do you have about or for each person or place? What else would you like to know? What don’t you understand? What other information would you like to have?

Here, I also want you to pay attention to some of the more important characters. Use proof/examples from the book in your answers:

1. How has Julilly changed since being taken from her home? What role has she taken on?
2. What do you know/think about the men/boys following behind the wagon, Ben, Lester, Adam, and Sam?
3. What do you know/think about the two men leading them to their new home, the driver and the fat man? Why do they not have names?
4. I would like you to take a situation or character from the book and relate it to your own experience. Talk a bit about how someone you know or something you’ve gone through is like (or perhaps totally different from) someone/something in the book.
5. These 4 chapters have a kind of similar theme. What would be a good title for this section of the book and why?

Pretend that you are a slave planning your escape to Canada and freedom. What 5 things would you try to bring with you and WHY? You need to explain your reasoning for choosing each one.

Keep in mind:

• The time period. This was a long time ago. Think about what they would actually have had access to (no cell phone! Sorry!)
• These are slaves with limited resources. They have no money and don’t really have access to a lot of things. What do you think they could actually get their hands on?
• Think about what you would actually want/need. Don’t bring something that isn’t genuinely going to help you survive.
• Remember that you will have to carry these things long and far, and you’ll have to move fast at times, so make sure that they don’t slow you down.
• You need to clearly explain what benefit each item would have.

How are you going to explain this to me? Be a bit creative. You do not necessarily have to write a bunch of paragraphs to explain. You could present, draw, create something on the computer, or think of some other fun way to do this. You could choose to work with ONE partner if you wish, however, you BOTH need to contribute to the planning/writing/explaining, and you want to choose your partner wisely.

I want this done SOON. You’ll only get 1-2 periods to work on this. Use your time wisely!

Here’s your chance to see whether you’ve got what it takes to make it out alive when you finally decide to escape from slavery!

Start here (Firefox does NOT work as well for this one, sadly)

On that page(not here) click “Go to the interactive”

You will have to allow Flash to run. You’ll probably see something like this:

If you click on it, you’ll probably get a box that looks like this. Click “Remember this decision” and “Allow”:

Read the instructions:

Then watch for some important controls:

ex:

Research Presentation

(download instructions: MysteriesProject)

On your own or with ONE partner, you will research and prepare a presentation examining one of the following mysteries of the universe. Ideally, you will present these to the class. Other options need to be discussed with and approved by Mr. Robson.

Only one person/group per topic, so you need to choose your topic ASAP and TELL Mr. ROBSON! If another person/group has claimed your topic already, you need to choose a new one.

Possible Topics:

• Atlantis (Ward/Nolan)
• The Bermuda Triangle (Frances/Jhel)
• Sasquatch/Yeti/Bigfoot (Sky/Nevaeh T)
• The Egyptian Pyramids (building) (Zanna)
• The Loch Ness Monster (Alanna)
• The Dyatlov Pass Incident
• The Holy Grail (Chris) (Janessa)
• Ghosts/Apparitions/Poltergeists (Jordan & Matthew)
• Auras
• Dreams (Honey)
• ESP (Aliyah/A.Non)
• Destiny/Fate
• Easter Island (Lian)
• Crop Circles
• Stonehenge (Kevin/Juan)
• Reincarnation
• Miracles
• Vampires
• Zombies (Woody/Reagan)
• Pirate Treasure
• Mutants
• Magic (Amber)
• Psychokinesis
• Aliens
  
• UFOs (Brooke/Nevaeh M)

If you have another topic you’d like to suggest, it must be cleared by Mr. Robson BEFORE you begin.

Your presentation should deal with the following:

• A detailed explanation of the mystery surrounding your topic
• Different theories that have developed, BOTH PROVING AND DISPROVING your mystery
• Include some famous stories/examples of this mystery
• Your opinion/explanation. Which theory do you believe?

You should present this the same way that a typical mystery story is laid out, with a predictable structure: present the mystery, outline the clues, then present possible solutions/explanations, including your own.

You will need to include RELIABLE sources of information (AT LEAST 3. Even that might not be enough.)

DO NOT COPY AND PASTE ANYTHING. Any plagiarism will result in lost marks and possibly a zero. Take point form notes based on your sources of information and then write something IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Teachers have kind of a sixth sense about these things, so be very careful with this one.

You may wish to include visual elements (pictures, charts, maps, video clips, etc.) because they will make your presentation much more interesting and informative.

DUE: Presentations will take place November 21 & 22. You must have something in before your report card is written on November 10, or else you will have a zero and it will affect your mark a great deal. A good job on this will help your report card mark. Not completing it… not good.

The amount of class time you get for this will be dependent on how effectively people are using their time in class. If it seems like everyone is working on this, we will keep going with it in class. If it seems like we aren’t doing much, we’ll move on to other things and this will still be due BEFORE November 23.

You will be assessed using the following ELA categories:

Reading: The student makes meaning before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing a variety of oral, literary, and media texts.

Speaking/Representing: The student communicates his/her own understanding through writing, speaking, and representing to learn and to communicate with others.

Critical Thinking: The student applies thinking skills to interpret and evaluate ideas and information; explores and researches big ideas and questions about self, others, and the world.

And, of course, I’ll be watching for proper rules of grammar and deducting marks for fragments, run-ons, and simple errors that you should by now know to avoid.

I think we can all agree that war is a terrible thing that should be avoided at all costs. But different people view war different ways. Some people see it as more of a heroic & noble experience, and some just see it as sad & horrible. Our own experiences and thoughts can be different, so war is represented in different ways in writing, music, and movies.

Writers us specific words, forms, and devices to create a tone and mood in their work. The most effective writing is one that can make the reader feel or at least understand a certain mood. Poetry is especially linked to mood and tone. Here’s how:

For each of the poems below, I want you to go through and pick out words that are positive (make war sound heroic) and words that sound negative (a terrible tragedy.) Make a list of each kind of word and try to figure out whether the writer was portraying war as a noble/heroic experience, or something horrible that is to be avoided at all costs.

Look at this poem and consider the tone and mood that are created by the poet:

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Describe the mood of this poem. With its mood in mind, why do you think army recruiters used this poem to inspire young men to join up at the start of The Great War?

DULCE ET DECORUM EST-WOwen

or

Describe the mood of this poem. What words & devices does the author include that help create that tone & mood? Pick out some examples and explain why they’re used and what the effect is.

Assignment: War Words

1. Using words/proof from the poem as proof/evidence, how does the poet feel about war in The Charge of the Light Brigade.
2. Using words/proof from the poem as proof/evidence, how does the poet feel about war in Dulce et Decorum Est.
3. What does the last line of Dulce et Decorum Est mean?
4. Explain your personal opinion about war. Use examples and descriptive words.

Hopefully our previous work on creating perfect paragraphs helped you to see how they should look. If not, take a look back at our Halloween example.

Now, we’re going to take that idea a little further and create THREE paragraphs, linked together to help prove ONE point.

You’ll need to come up with a strong opinion that has at least 3 reasons that you can explain to help prove your point. Choose a topic that you are passionate about and have some strong opinions about, like your very favorite show, movie, music, etc.

You’ll have to make sure that you have some reasons that you can explain, so come up with an opinion and 3 or more reasons that help prove your point. Come up with a few possible topics so that you can choose the very best one.

Here is the boys vs. girls example that we did in class. You could choose to use these ideas if you wish.

Here are some examples:

Pizza is the best food on Earth

Versatile

Popular

Cheap

4 food groups – full meal

Disney World is the very best vacation spot

Fun

Adventure

Visit different countries/experiences

Something for everyone

Weather

Travel is the best experience

See new things

Learn about different ways of life/customs

Eat new foods

Meet new people

Dogs make the best pets

Loyal

Sensitive

Exercise

Smart

Here’s my finished example

Previously we talked a lot about what a good non-fiction paragraph might look like:

Paragraph Structure

Topic Sentences and Detail

Example

Let’s go back to that and work through an example together. How do you feel about Halloween?

You’ll choose a topic sentence that explains how you feel about Halloween, then explain AT LEAST 3 reasons why you feel that way, and then conclude your sentence. It’s easy!

Sample ideas

The Dark Knight example (total & complete spoilers!)

Info: .pdf or Word

Worksheet (contains big time spoilers for The Dark Knight & Star Wars)

Yesterday you spent some time coming up with descriptions of one of 4 heroes:

• Spiderman/Peter Parker
• Luke Skywalker
• Harry Potter
• Katniss Everdeen

With your group, a partner, or by yourself, you will take those descriptive words & phrases and write a biography of your hero.

Use your descriptive words & phrases and others to write a complete biography of your chosen hero. You may talk BRIEFLY about her/his adventures, but don’t spend a lot of time retelling the story. I just want to know about this person and what he/she is like.

• Remember to talk about the hero before and after his/her journey.
• What kind of person is (s)he?
• Mention important things like appearance, interests & activities, family, friends, job, experiences, etc.
• Talk about what (if anything) has changed about the hero’s personality/outlook/etc. After the adventure. Does this person have more confidence? More friends? A happier life?

Mr. Robson’s example:

Kyle Barnes is the main character in a comic book and TV series called Outcast. Kyle is in his late 20s or early 30s and had a wife and daughter. He was raised in a town called Rome, West Virginia, by his mother, but she was very abusive and dangerous. This has made Kyle very reserved and unhappy. He has trouble relating to other people and spends much of his time alone. He seems to have no real friends and is estranged from his wife and daughter. He is contacted by the Reverend John Anderson who believes that Kyle has special powers and can help him to rid the town of demons which seem to be possessing people in the town. Kyle is reluctant to get involved and afraid of hurting people.

Eventually Kyle goes along with the Reverend and they exorcise demons from people in Rome. Kyle comes to understand that he has a special power that the demons seem to be afraid of. His experiences help him to understand terrible events that happened with his mother and wife, and helps him to realize that those events were not his fault, so he becomes a more confident person. After helping the Reverend, he is able to reunite with his wife and daughter and becomes more liked and respected in his community. It seems as if he will always be surrounded by dark forces, but in the end he knows that he can do something to fight those off and help people.