Friday, September 26, 2014

Food Fright_Science World

After reading the article student's shared their responses.

I learned that extra crispy or burnt toast is a red flag, possible higher levels of acrylamide. Pronunciation

Whenever you cook french fries make sure that you cook them to yellow. When you make toast don't burn it.

The culprit is a chemical called  acrylamide which forms in cooking.

There is a lot of acrylamide in burnt toast and over cooked french fries. Acrylamide is an ingredient in grout and cement.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

The List_Siobhan Vivian

About The List

Author Siobhan Vivian Blog
Video: Siobhan Vivian Author
 Vocabulary: Use your reading notebook (write the vocab) or Microsoft word (type the word)

putrid p. 9
allegiance p. 10
homecoming p. 13
compliments p. 14
mandatory p. 15
genetics p. 15
recognition p. 15

  •  If you know the word, find the sentence in the book (Copy it)
  • If you don’t know the word, you may use http://wordsift.com/visualizehttp://dictionary.reference.com/ or  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/  to define the word
A group decided to read this selection. The List, will your name be on it? The List explores the power of labeling.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
We have three books and waiting for additional books via UPS.
The-List-Siobhan-Vivian 
Each year before the Homecoming, a list is posted throughout Mount Washington High School. Use The List after the prologue. The List includes the Freshman, Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors

Character Chart
Students will identify similarities and differences between the characters in the story. Students will use the chart to identify the girls as the read.

Use the following to track each character. You may use a single color pen for each character. I hope this helps in keeping track of each personality. Think about who is your favorite so far.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Speak_Laurie Halse Anderson

A reading group selected Speak to read. Purchase B & N
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Summary 
Speak follows Melinda (narrator) through her first year of high school. Nobody at school will talk to her. "I see a few friends - people I used to think were my friends - but they look away."


Her art class offers solace. In the beginning of the novel, Melinda wasn't able to draw a tree in art class. She was disconnected, depressed and retreated into herself. Eventually she is able to draw a tree using various mediums.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

Students will be drawing an outline of a tree. They will look at the negative space and add definition.

They will use Picasso's Cubism technique by drawing a face with two angles. Melinda is a complex character and each angle will represent before High School and during her freshman year.
Picasso's Influence: 
Picasso's Art Lesson
Picasso's Style
Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Dora Maar Seated
Note the elimination of one facial perspective
Cubism provides several viewpoints of a single object.
 
 How to draw a face is a math lesson
Drawing Face Proportions


  1. Eyes are halfway between the top of the head and chin.
  2. Nose is halfway between the eyes and chin.
  3. Mouth is halfway between nose and chin.
  4. Ears line up above the eyes and on the eyebrows.
  5. Ear bottom line up with bottom of the nose.How to draw a human face.
 Think about how Melinda changed as you were reading. Use the following character analysis template to record your thinking.Character_Analysis.pdf


Art Activity Pack 
Picasso Portraits 

Students are creating a tree like in the story.
Trying different mediums

You may read ahead
Welcome to MerryWeather High
Vocabulary
attitude p. 4
rival p. 4
abstinence p. 4
clans p. 4
inconspicuous p. 7
demerit p. 9
viola p. 11
flutters p. 12
Use http://www.wordsift.com or author's words in the text to become familiar with the vocabulary.
Speak anticipation guide
Write whether you agree or disagree beside each statement.








Powerful visions: page 12
“You could paint a picture of it with people fleeing from the hole,

with a wet muzzled dog chewing Alaska~ the opportunities are endless.”


Plot diagrams
Begin recording parts of the story from 1-5

  1. Melinda began her freshman year being ignored.
  2. Everyone is ignoring her.
  3. "I am Outcast", clanless.
  4. But a new girl Heather says, "I'm Heather from Ohio.
  5. In high school they tell you 10 lies. pg 5-6
List the Protagonist:
              Antagonist:

Setting - Time:
Setting - Place:
Listen to Welcome to MerryWeather High page 3-6 (part) The instructions from Melinda's art teacher, "You will spend the rest of the year learning how to turn that object into a piece of art." I picked out, "Tree" pg 12  I've been painting watercolors of trees hit by lightening. pg 30 The character Melinda struggles to draw realistic trees.
Student's are beginning to draw a "Tree" and trying to turn it into art.
How to Draw-a-Detailed-Tree

Draw a tree with lighting ~ Dark Moody-Tree-in-Thunderstorm (Painting)

Tree's Place

Tree has staked its claim,
anchoring itself firmly to Earth.
Tree owns this place in the universe.
Turf, shaft of air, even slices of sun. 
Tree will not step aside for anyone.
Tree stands its ground.
When you
Meet Tree,
You must
 
go around.

Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems
Kristine O'Connell George



Using oil pastels to draw a tree How to Draw a Tree in Oil Pastel

Hot Seat  Wild Card & Say It

Provide a deck of "Say It" cards one number cube
  1. Each student rolls the number cube. The student rolling the highest number is
    in the Hot Seat.  
  2. Student in the Hot Seat draws one card from the deck and responds to the prompt.
  3. Sudents in the group listen to the response and providefeedback using a point system of 1-5.
  4. The student in the Hot Seat records his/her points. The student with the highest points at the end of the game wins. Handout Reading.pdf
































































Read the Poem: "Elephant in the Room" (author unknown)

There’s an elephant in the room.
It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get around it.
Yet we squeeze by with, “How are you?” and “I’m fine,” and a thousand other
forms of trivial chatter. We talk about the weather. We talk about work.
We talk about everything else, except the elephant in the room.
There’s an elephant in the room.
We all know it’s there. We are thinking about the elephant as we talk together.
It is constantly on our minds. For, you see, it is a very large elephant.
It has hurt us all.
But we don’t talk about the elephant.
Oh, please, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
For if I cannot, then you are leaving me….
alone….
in a room….
with an elephant. Taken from

In the book the author wrote 
Discussion:   NIGHTMARE
"I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aburey Cheeleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up." pg 45-46
Journal:
  • Have you been in a frightening situation where you felt you had no control of what was happening around you?
In the chapter Job, the class took a test to determine their desires and dream pg 52
Do I (a) prefer to spend time with a large group of people?
        (b) prefer to spend time with a small group of close friends?
        (c) prefer to spend time with family?
        (d) prefer to spend time alone?
*
1. Merryweather High School - This institution is located in Syracuse, New York. Describe your High School. 

2. Melinda's Closet - This is a cozy hiding place for the main character in the school. Describe a place that you like to hang out. 

3. Melinda's Room - This location is primarily pink and rose with bunnies everywhere. Describe your sleeping area.
4. The Art Room - This is the only place the main character feel safe. Describe a place that you feel safe.
 
 Find out what You were Born to do in life. Take a Skillcow Test
Reading Handout pdf 
Book Trailer
How Did the Author Use Symbolism in "Speak"?
Speak  Novel Study
Speak
Listen to the Author
Speak Free Quiz
English Teacher Lesson Plans

Saturday, September 13, 2014

If I Stay_Gayle Forman

 A reading group (9th graders) selected this book to read.
In a blink of an eye everything changes 

As your listening to the story today (1st time) page 196 due to technology issues.
  • What was Adam’s reaction when he first saw Mia (Mee yah) Use the author's words to describe his response.
  • If you could pick out a song to describe Adam . . . What song would that be? Think of the lyrics in songs you've heardListen after the lesson (Song) 
Savy, For Mia "Wait for Me Theory" of a Dead Man
Audrey, "Far Away" from Nickleback for Mia "Never Going to be Alone" Nickleback
Tenisha, "Follow Me" by Uncle Cracker and "Need You Now" by Lady Anteblem. She said something about see if he crosses his mind.
Savannah, "Truly Madly Deeply" because in the song it says truly, madly, crazy, deeply in love with you ~ it is good for Adam.
Gabe, "Sure Got Cold After the Rain"
Bert, "Say Something" A Great Big World
Lovey, "Sick of It" made me think of Mia. Skillet" "Hey There by Deliah" by Plain White Tease
Jacob, "Big Jet Playing" by Agnus and Julis Stone

It is your job to share observations about the main character(s). Look at the list of common character traits: A list of adjectives.

Say, Mean, Matter Chart

Vocabulary: Use your reading notebook (write the vocab) or Microsoft word (type the word)
  •  If you know the word, find the sentence in the book (Copy it)
  • If you don’t know the word, you may use http://wordsift.com/visualizehttp://dictionary.reference.com/ or  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/  to define the word
Cardiac arrest p. 19
Frantic p. 20  eg. excited, mad, delirious (using wordsift, write 3 synonyms)
Ablutions p. 20
Bequeathed p. 22
Ironic p. 23
Hyperventilating p. 24
Ferocious p. 25
Interjected p. 26
Medic’s p. 27
Collapsed p. 27
Concussions p. 28
Nonresponsive p. 28
Emergency p. 29
Bystander p. 30
Adrenaline p. 31
View Hawthorne Street in Portland, Oregon 
Mystery Envelopes: Hand each group a "mystery envelope." Inside is an index card with a question for the group to answer. Surviving a Shark Attack
Here are some sample questions: What is the single most important word in this chapter? Why?
Read on Ahead to page 159 Draw or write about the

cha·os ˈkāˌäs/ at the hospital.


Barnesandnoble.com/

Discussion Guide 

Cello sounds like . . .
Cornell Notes

If I stay Audiobook by Gayle Forman Chapter 1
If I stay Audiobook by Gayle Forman Chapter 2
If I stay Audiobook by Gayle Forman Chapter 3
If I stay Audiobook by Gayle Forman Chapter 4 

Comparing Book vs Movie Source: Book vs Movie

Compare and Contrast: 1. Think about the main setting in the book. In which ways was it different in the movie than how you imagined it?

2. Now think of the main character. How was he or she different than you had imagined?

3. Think of a character or part of the book that was not in the movie. Give 3 possible reasons for why the people who made the movie left that part or character out.
4. Do you think the people who made the movie did a good job of portraying the book?




Author: Gayle Forman
3 years later . . .
Or additional books if you likedIf you liked, If I Stay . . . additional books

Vocabulary:
  1.  attempting
  2.  bemused
  3.  frenetic
  4.  patience
  5.  paralyzed
  6. preferable
  7.  presence
  8.  proportion
  9.  rationalized
  10.  shuddered
  11.  suffocated
  12.  sympathy
 The story brings us into Portland. See what there is to do while in Portland
If I Stay Original Trailer 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Drones in Your Future


  1. What do you know about Drones? 
  2.  What are the pros and cons?
    What are the cons?
    What are the Pros?
    They can invade people’s privacy.






    To keep soldiers safe.

RTI Reading Group will read non-fiction this week.
Drones are used in wars; Amazon has announced plans to use them to deliver packages in the future; etc. (A friend shared the magazines to use)
What are some pros and cons of drones? Scienceworld.scholastic.com/

Will unmanned aerial vehicles—drones—soon take civilian passengers on pilotless flights?

Drones have regulators, hobbyists on collision course
CBCNews
Smithsonianmag.com/science



Space Needle Aerial Drone Footage In Seattle 
3:30 min

Drones may be used to take dog for walks.
News.discovery.com/

Monday, September 8, 2014

Hydaburg's Bell-Holter Ready for Next Challenge

Students are reading . . .
After year in NBA 'grad school,' Hydaburg's Bell-Holter ready for next challenge. by Beth Partow
Alaska Dispatch News

Reading Stragies
  • Read the title and tell what you think is Damen's next challenge? 
  • Read the entire text.
  • Discuss your predictions with a partner.
 Damenbellholter Instagram

Pressure ~ Short Film 6:32 min.






Wednesday, September 3, 2014

"Magic" by Bo Burnham

"Magic" by Bo Burnham. "Magic"
Read this to yourself.
Read it silently.
Don't move your lips.
Don't make a sound. Listen to yourself.
Listen without hearing anything.
What a wonderfully weird thing, huh?

NOW MAKE THIS PART LOUD!
SCREAM IT IN YOUR MIND!
DROWN EVERYTHING OUT.

Now, hear a whisper.
A tiny whisper.
Now, read this next line with your best crotchety-old-man voice:
"Hello there, sonny. Does your town have a post office?"

Awesome!
Who was that?
Whose voice was that?
It sure wasn't yours!
How do you do that?
How?!
Must be magic.