Monday Monday!

You have some things to give to me this week:

1 - 4 quote logs for the books you have read this semester

2 - poetry portfolio assignment (Tuesday - but I will also accept it Monday)

3 - anything you have been given that you would like to revise/make better to receive an additional grade toward your oral grade

Give it to me!

My job:

to teach you how to write commentary in 4 class periods. I accept the challenge.

Independent Reading on Monday!

Animated Poem Checklist

Writing a Commentary for a poem is hard, but that is why we are practicing. Whenever you have a writing assignment in class - don't waste time! Get to writing. I can only help you with your writing and ideas if you actually write something, so the more you write, the more I can help --- AND nothing you write is ever a waste of time.

The commentary is only one part of the animated poem checklist. Here are the rest of the things that are due on May 25th:

___ Copy of the 15-20 line Poem

___ List of Students in the Group with Responsibilities listed next to each student
– editing, storyboard, oral presentation (reciting the poem, presenting analysis of the video, presenting analysis of the language of the poem, etc.)

___ Storyboard

___ Written Commentary – analysis of the poem (structure, metaphor, simile, personification, meter, alliteration, rhyme, mood/tone, diction, etc…and WHY they are used) – rough draft and final draft

___ Animated Poetry Video (uploaded to facebook for presenting purposes)
- presentation includes oral defense of choices made in the video and oral commentary

Upload Upload Upload

Upload those scavenger hunt videos by Wednesday! I want to see them there and I want to show the best/funniest one to the class. Please work on getting them uploaded. I will not show yours unless it is there. It may take a while to upload it, but get it done.

Poetic Commentary

Remember - the poem that your groups chooses for their animated poem is one that you will have to complete a commentary for as a group. You will have to orally share the poem and video and talk about the poetic techniques that the poet is using and WHY the poet uses them -- so choose a poem that you understand as well as one that can be displayed visually.

Friday is coming soon! That means the scavenger hunt! Yipee! Get ready. Make sure you have fun and do the best you can in the time you have.

Animated Poem Groups

Current Groups:

Although many people were absent on Friday, we started creating our animated poetry groups. On Monday we will make sure that everyone is okay with the groups, but here they are for now...

The Sexy Bombs and the Slow One - Buğçe, Buse, Deniz T., Elican, and Deylem

Queen Bees - Ayşegül, Zeynep, Benan, Lara, Eray

Un-named Groups:

Deniz Ç., Başak, Selen, Irem Ş.

Doruk, Ahmet, Burak, Can

Kerem, Caner, Tolga, Selin, Irem E.

We can make sure this is what everyone wants on Monday. If you want something different, please let me know!

Reading and Thinking

I want you guys to read and think this weekend (I know - it takes a lot). Think about how what is going on in the novel fits together. We will be writing essays about the novel, so I need you guys to have some thoughts about what to write about when the time comes. We will be doing a practice essay this week, so prepare yourselves.

Make sure you have finished the novel by Tuesday! Also - report to the computer lab on Monday (Burak - you are responsible for getting everyone there).

AFTER POST: Reminder "NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!" - have as much fun as you can!

PHOTOS

I need those photos! Please bring them in on Monday.

What do you guys think having photos in digital form vs. having photos in print form does for memories?

Essays? Really?

We have been told to teach you guys how to write an essay and that it will be the next Exam you take. My first question is WHY?

Why in the world do we have to write an essay? And why in the world does it have to be about The Giver?

Well, we don't and it doesn't, but we are going to write one and it will be about The Giver.

Click here for a web site about how essay writing came about and why in school we usually write about literature when we write about an essay in English class.

Discussion Topics

I want to start spending the first 10 minutes of class with a discussion that has nothing to do with what we are doing in class, and I want YOU guys to come up with the topics. So suggest any topic you would like to talk about in class (in English) in the comments for this post!

Soo good

You guys have been getting so good at blogging! Your comments are getting smarter, you are paying attention to other people's comments more - way to go! Keep blogging yourselves and I will keep reading. Many of you have lots to write about - so keep thinking and keep writing. Nice job!

Another good thing -- I want you guys to do something nice for Ms. Sevimli before she goes. (shhh...don't tell her). Each class should get together and think of something they could do/buy/celebrate to thank her for all her hard work while I was away. Make sure it is unexpected though and something you all think she would like. I know I always like food, so start with that.

Exam Preparation

Write a newspaper article. Tonight, while you are worrying about what you will be faced with tomorrow, write a newspaper article. Come up with a Hard News article and practice writing something. Even if it is not perfect, it will give you a sense of what you will be expected to create tomorrow morning.

And remember, you are smart and your English is really really good! So I will wish you good luck, but I don't think you will need it.

Büyükada Week

How has writing the second article been going? Is it easier or harder after writing the first? Are there any new difficulties or anything that became easier the second time around?

A question about order came up today -- think most important information to least important information. For instance in the Strike Article: lead that includes information about what happened during the strike (most important) to a quote about what the lawyer thinks the outcome of the strike might be (least important).

So - depending on the focus of your article, you need to determine what you think the most important information is for the reader of the newspaper and for the story itself and what the least important information is for the reader and the story. It will change from article to article.

Büyükada Week

What is the best quote you have from your interview subject from the Büyükada interview? Post it in the comments and explain why it is so good.

Your Büyükada article drafts are due for the next class you have (my last class with you :(). So glad blogger is back!! Hopefully it will not go away again!!

Yay!

Büyükada Week

No leads should ever be the same!

I want you to post your lead for your Buyukada Times article in the comments and claim it as yours. No one else can use the same exact lead after it has been posted. I will also give feedback in the comments on your leads.

Happy article writing!!

Strike at Birling Factory Week

Be sure to bring in your second drafts of the Strike at the Birling Factory article tomorrow during class time. (9H - even though you have Independent Reading, I am still going to collect the second draft from you. Please bring it because I will not accept it from anyone on Tuesday).

Strike at Birling Factory Week

What are some of the problems you are having with your second drafts? What is hard about writing the article and what is easy?

Strike at Birling Factory Week

How will writing the article about the Strike be different from writing the article about Büyükada? Why will it be different? What part of the newspaper will it be in? Is it soft news or hard news?

Reminder:
Your Oral Grades will consist of the assignments you have been doing up until the start of the exam. This includes comments on the class blog and maintaining and updating your own personal blog. You will also receive grades for the interviews you conducted for the Strike as well as the articles you will be writing about the strike and about Büyükada.

You can also do assignments from the Enrichment Folder in 302E as well as revise/correct any assignments that I have looked at and returned to you according to this post.

Strike at Birling Factory Week

What will the focus of your story be? Will you focus on the business aspects or will you focus on the human story of the workers?

Which one will you choose and why? How will choosing one or the other change the lead of your story?

Strike at Birling Factory Week

You will be conducting interviews in class for the "Strike at the Birling Factory" article. Remember you are a reporter when you ask the questions, but you are a character when you are being interviewed.

Be sure to get the notes from your own interview from a group member after the interviewing process is complete. Also remember to be "in character" when you are being interviewed. It will help the other group members to get really good quotes and to create really strong articles!

Type it Up! AND Print it Out!

Make sure you take the information you gathered on Wednesday (Excursion Day) and type it up into a clean format for Monday (both classes!). You can embellish (add to) the responses you got from the person you interviewed.

Many of you had rough notes, so I just want to see it "cleaned up." We will soon be writing newspaper articles using the primary source (the person you interviewed) you have, so keep reading the English news sources I gave you in this post.