Good Masters and Sweet Ladies, we are now on our journey to performance! All students have chosen and been assigned their first monologue. We spent time in class introducing some drama warm-up exercises to practice projection and enunciation and then students broke into pairs to work on developing the first few lines or stanzas of their piece.
We specifically worked on developing the characters - what is the character's personality and physical appearance? How would they stand, gesture, sit, walk, and speak? Each student had an opportunity to perform the first few lines of their monologue at the end of class to illustrate their interpretation and ideas.
For homework this week (please read carefully - there are many items and we have much to do!):
with Angela Harris
Analyzing Book Two
We had a good discussion today of Book Two of My Ántonia. We talked about the "hired girls" and how they were different from the townspeople in Black Hawk. They were always the daughters of immigrant farmers from the country and some worked as domestics in homes, some in hotels, some were dressmakers, and some "laundry girls." They sent money home to help with expenses, and in some cases were able to provide wood frame homes for their families that had up until that time been living in sod houses on the prairie.
We also discussed some of the plot that wasn't too clear and set up our discussion of Book Three for next week. Finish the novel this week and check your syllabus for all homework.
Literary Devices Exercise
Before discussing our next essay assignment we read a short Langston Hughes poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." Our challenge was to identify the number of times simile, metaphor, and personification were used. Mr. Langston was fond of figurative language (see quote at left for a good example!).
We agreed personification is typically easy to spot, while occasionally simile vs. metaphor can be a bit trickier! Remember the definitions of each and that simile uses connective words such as "like," "as," or "than," or sometimes a verb like "resembles."
Figurative Language Essay
This week's assignment may be the most challenging to date, and so here is a basic outline you can follow with some ideas of how to address the question(s).
Essay Assignment: How important is figurative language to Willa Cather’s writing style? How does Cather’s use of imagery (or figurative language) communicate the themes of her novel?
First sentence(s): Address the first question--here are some things to think about: What would the novel be like without the extensive use of figurative language? Would it be as interesting to read? How does her language help you see in your mind's eye what the Nebraska prairie looks like? What about the characters? How does it help you get to know them? Hint: the answer to the first question is really in the second question. Figurative language is important because it communicates the theme(s) of the novel.
Your thesis statement can be the answer to the second question. You won't be able to answer the second question and develop your thesis until you do your research. Refer to the worksheet that we went over in class and that I posted to the Community Page.
As a reminder the themes we are focusing on are: humankind’s relationship to the past; humankind’s relationship to the environment; the immigrant experience in America
Preview the three types of figurative language you found (simile, metaphor, personification?) and what theme(s) you think they convey (these can be your three points). Remember the introduction should preview or forecast what you're going to talk about.
Three Body Paragraphs:
Use the worksheet to guide you in selecting the three quotes you want to use. Remember the proper citation after the quote--author and page number (for example; Cather, 12). Do not use a quote that is longer than four lines when you type it out, a longer quote than four lines is very unwieldy and you really want to narrow your focus on the bit of figurative language that conveys the theme(s).
It would be ideal to find one of each: personification or imagery (remember imagery is a word or phrase that refers to the five senses and helps create a physical experience), simile, and metaphor. If you end up using two metaphor and one simile, or some other combination, that is fine. State the type of figurative language you found and work the quote into your paragraph. Tell me how you think the quote communicates the theme(s). This will be the most challenging part, and can be your own opinion, just make sure it is logical!
Remember to pad with your own writing as much as possible. There is plenty of room here for personal opinion and interpretation. Repeat the above for paragraphs three and four.
Does not have to be overly structured. Review and restate in new language the three types of figurative language you covered and how they communicated the theme(s) of the novel. Wrap up with a brief summation of why figurative language is important to Willa Cather's writing style.
If you get stuck, email me and I will do my best to guide you through! See you next week. Two more classes and we have a two week spring break before our final session!
with Leigh Ann Yoder
It was a pleasure to have all of our students arrive early to make their DNA keychains. Hopefully you have seen them by now. If the students would like to make more the directions are here.
Homework is significant this week, so please plan accordingly. Remember - Optional Chapter 2 review at 9:30AM next week.
Finish Multiplying by Dividing Lab (Analysis and Conclusion)
Finish Mitosis Flipbook (Bring in next week)
Read 2.4 Cancer and complete Study Workbook
Read Science and Society pg 68-69 of Text
Online Activity pg. 66 of Text
Chapter 2 Review: Key Terms and Concepts and Connecting Concepts
Study Chapter 2 for test (Test will be given next week)
with Leigh Ann Yoder
We went over both the definition and the two stages of photosynthesis in detail and reviewed the photosynthesis equation. Students are expected to both memorize and understand the equation. I explained that if they can remember the two raw materials, Carbon Dioxide and water, and the number 6 they should be able to balance the equation with the products. We also discussed the difference between autotrophs and heterotrophs and how the sun's energy is passed throughout the food chain via photosynthesis.
We conducted two hands-on activities relating to photosynthesis. The first was a simple chromatography which allowed the students to observe the pigments in a leaf. We had a variety of leaves available and were able to see the differences. I recommend the students conduct this activity at home later in the spring as they are certain to see more stunning results. They can follow the directions on page 47 of the textbook.
Second, the students had an opportunity to mount their very first slides! Using romaine lettuce and forceps they carefully stripped a piece of the upper dermis and mounted it. Using iodine as a stain they observed the stomata on the underside of the leaf. Ask your student what the purpose of the stomata are. We ran out of time, but I believe each student had time to view their slide. We will talk a bit more about the slides next week and compare them to the cross sections we viewed several weeks ago.
Respiration is the opposite of photosynthesis. In class we focused on cellular respiration which takes place within animal cells. The emphasis was on the way in which the cells obtain carbohydrates and Oxygen and use these raw materials to produce energy, water and Carbon Dioxide. Again, we spent time on the equation, so students should easily memorize the respiration formula once they master the one for photosynthesis.
We also talked about both alcoholic and lactic acid fermentations. Students need to remember fermentation is respiration without oxygen. Also, alcohol and lactic acid are the products of fermentation, not the raw materials.
As a class we set up a simple experiment with yeast and sugar to observe the product of alcoholic fermentation. This activity is described on page 49 of the text.
As you can see, our class time is full. I had hoped the students would have made a slide mount of the yeast cells, but we ran short. I do appreciate everyone arriving to class on time and prepared as we don't have a minute to spare.
Read chapter 2.3 on Cell Division and complete the Study Guide
Complete the Math Analyzing Data activity on pg. 60 of the text
Enrichment (in notebook) - History of Fermentation
Online Activity on pg. 59
Remember - We will be making DNA Keychains before class next week. Please arrive promptly at 9:30 if you would like to make one.
with Angela Harris
After analyzing the Introduction and Book One of My Ántonia, we moved into an exercise on characterization. We talked about how, in real life, we get to know what a person is all about. We came up with a list that included actions, clothing, family life, favorite foods, location, names, occupation, physical appearances, props, social status, speech and dialogue, and thoughts and opinions.
We also reviewed the definitions of round and flat characters and direct and indirect characterization. After giving a few examples, I had the students think of a friend or acquaintance and describe him/her using at least three different types of characterization--same person, but three different sentences. After writing the three sentences, they chose the one they liked the best, shared it with the group, and then we decided which tool of characterization was used. Some were obvious and some more subtle. Some even used two types of characterization.
We talked about characterization because our next essay focuses on the characterization of the heroine of our story--Ántonia Shimerda. In crafting your essays this week, follow the Expository Essay Guide that I made for you, but bear in mind these very important modifications:
Introduction: Follow the guide; you still need a thesis, but not necessarily a thesis with tension since we are not really making a debatable claim this time--this is a character analysis. Remember the thesis is the controlling idea of the paper. Try not to simply state the obvious--a thesis statement should be a fresh idea or opinion that is supportable based on facts or evidence taken from the story. This may take some work, since in this case, the thesis statement is not an assertion to a question that was posed. The three points you are making can simply be what we discussed in class--that Ántonia is high-spirited, proud, and generous. If you feel that is debatable, and you want to make a claim that she has different personality traits, that is up to you!
Second - Fourth Paragraphs: Each point should have a quote from the book that supports the claim (she is "high-spirited" for paragraph 2, "proud" for paragraph 3, and "generous" for paragraph 4). After the quote from the book, place the author's last name and page number like this:
"After Ántonia had said the new words over and over, she wanted to give me a little chased silver ring she wore on her middle finger. When she coaxed and insisted, I repulsed her quite sternly. I didn't want her ring, and I felt there was something reckless and extravagant about her wishing to give it away to a boy she had never seen before" (Cather, 23).
Don't use more than four lines of text per quote and don't simply start the paragraph with the quote. It will be up to you to craft the paragraph in such a way that you use your own writing to explain why the quote supports the point. This is a less formulaic approach than our last essay.
Conclusion: You can follow the guide pretty exactly for the conclusion, although you do not necessarily need to "take a stand" or "persuade the reader" for this essay.
Any questions or confusion, just email me!
with Kim Rodgers
This week in Chemistry we learned about acids and bases. A base has an OH group (an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom) and an acid has an H group (just a hydrogen atom). Both acids and bases are important and needed in lots of very useful reactions. We learned that acids generally
taste sour and bases taste bitter and are slippery.
We put our new found knowledge to the test through an experiment. We had 7 liquids: white grape juice, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, milk, baking soda water, mineral water, and water with alka-seltzer tablets. The students first made predictions whether they thought each liquid would be “sour” or “not sour.” I made it clear that the liquid might not taste very good, but that didn’t mean it was sour. Some of them might taste more bitter. It’s very easy to find foods that are acidic, but more difficult to find foods that are basic. The only two safe ones used in our experiment were baking soda water and the antacid. Most household cleaning products are basic, but they obviously aren’t safe to taste!
After they made their predictions, we tested them. The students tasted the liquids and determined if their predictions were correct or not. If a student didn’t want to try one, they relied on their classmates' opinion on whether the liquid was sour or not. We decided that the only two liquids that were actually sour were the lemon juice and the grapefruit juice.
Next we used an indicator (red cabbage water that I had boiled the day before) to see if there was a change in color. The milk turned a gray color, but we thought that was because we added a deep purple color to a creamy white color, so we decided there wasn’t color change, per se. The mineral water also didn’t change much. The white grape juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice changed to pink. The antacid and the baking soda water changed to an oily black color with maybe a green tinge next to the edge of the glass. The liquids that turned the cabbage juice pink are called acids and the liquids that turned the juice blackish green are called bases. Some liquids like milk don’t change color much because they are neutral, which means they aren’t acids or bases.
For Next Week...
For our project the students and I went over the symbolism used in the coat of arms knights used on their shields. People couldn’t tell which knight was which in battle because they were covered in armor from head to foot. Their coat of arms was what gave them away. The students used colors, animals, and symbols to make a coat of arms representing themselves. They took these home to finish if they needed to. Please have them bring them back next week to share, along with their mapping and notebooking pages.
Set Design: The Next Steps
We spent about half the class this week sharing student ideas on set design concepts and discussing how to bring all ideas together into an overall concept. I think we have a great "big picture" plan for the village layout, and now need to start hammering out the details for the individual components. I would like each team or individual responsible for an assigned element to prepare the following:
Remember, we are looking to use everyday, inexpensive materials (large cardboard boxes are fantastic!) to create light, easy to carry and assemble pieces. Students had some fantastic ideas this week - keep the creativity flowing!
Oh What Fun - the Monologues!
When I polled the class this week I was not at all surprised to learn that the monologue readings are everyones favorite class activity. We certainly never lack for volunteer readers! This week we discussed the three monologues assigned for homework, which ranged in mood from poignant and melancholy to silly and humorous. What a great collection of medieval characters and themes we have available for student performances!
I have asked students to provide me with their top two or three monologue (or dialogue) preferences. I will hope to assign everyone to at least one of their top picks in the next few weeks.
Next week we will begin class with work on monologue performance techniques. See you then!
with Angela Harris
Warming up with Willa
After our three-minute free-write in our journals (we start every class this way; it gets us warmed up and underscores a topic or theme found in the novel we are reading/discussing at the moment), we heard about the life and experiences of our current author, Willa Cather, and the model for possibly her most famous heroine, Ántonia Shimerda.
Willa Cather did not want her novels to be read as veiled autobiography, but My Ántonia parallels many of her life’s experiences. Many literary scholars argue that Jim Burden is Willa Cather. For example, Jim and Cather both left Virginia as young children and lived on the Nebraska prairie. Cather’s family then moved to Red Cloud a year later; Jim’s family moves to the fictional town, Black Hawk. Cather gave her high school graduation speech, as does Jim; then they both studied at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. After graduation, they leave Nebraska for the east: Jim to study law at Harvard; Cather to work as editor at Home Monthly in Pittsburgh.
I love this quote from Cather:
Art must spring out of the very stuff that life is made of. The German housewife who sets before her family on Thanksgiving day a perfectly roasted goose, is an artist. The farmer who goes out in the morning to harness his team, and pauses to admire the sunrise—he is an artist.
What do you think this means? How can a housewife be an artist if she hasn't painted anything? How is a farmer an artist if he's simply admiring the sunset? Please think about this and we'll talk about its meaning next week. Cather was an author who was captivated by the simplicity of prairie life and expressed her thoughts in words that truly approach poetry. Cather quotes are absolutely life affirming. H.L. Mencken said, “No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half so beautiful as MY ANTONIA.”
As you read, notice places in the novel that are written in such a way as to conjure up a particular image. Re-read these parts to understand them better. Roll the images about in your mind. Taking the time to enjoy the novel in this way is not only far more engaging but (hint) will help you with another essay coming up in a few weeks!
In preparation for our expository essay writing assignment this week, we took some time to understand what makes a good paraphrase. Each student had selected a piece of research that they had identified last week as being valuable in providing points and particulars for their five-paragraph essay on the topic of immigration.
We read our articles with a view to choosing a point that we could put into our own words. We wanted to look for a point, not just a comment. A comment not worth paraphrasing will not have a specific fact or unique idea to contribute. Look for facts, data, statistics, or conclusions built on those things. Expert opinion also qualifies. (Be sure to include their qualifications: see Citing Sources below). Paraphrasing means taking ideas and putting them into your own words and sentence structure. The length and style of the sentence should be maintained, but the language and structure should be different.
We then chose the quote or piece of information that we wanted to practice paraphrasing and wrote it out exactly as it appeared. Then, on a separate sheet, we wrote out our own version WITHOUT looking at the original. We shared the original and then our paraphrase. These usually need more than one attempt. After the first attempt, you can go ahead and look at the original quote and try a second draft. I actually think all the students did pretty well on their first draft--we didn't have time for a second attempt, but I think they get the general idea! I wanted to practice summarizing as well, but that will have to wait for another day and time.
Important: Citing Sources
At the end of class we went over a guide to expository essay writing that I put together for the students. Please read the sample essay one time all the way through just to get the meaning. The second time compare the essay to the guide to see how this particular student followed the steps to complete the essay. Do not attempt to write an expository essay without reading one first. Would you attempt to write out instructions on how to ride a bike without knowing how to ride one yourself? Writing an expository essay without ever having read one is just as silly!
Once we become more comfortable with essay writing (e.g., next year) we can relax the formulaic approach. For now, follow the steps and you'll have success!
You will need this information to cite sources correctly for this essay:
Researchers place brief parenthetical descriptions to acknowledge which parts of their paper reference particular sources. Generally, you want to provide the last name of the author and page number if it’s from a book. If it's from the Internet, you will just put the author's name in parenthesis after the quote or bit that you are paraphrasing or summarizing. PLEASE UNDERSTAND, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT USING A DIRECT QUOTE YOU MUST GIVE CREDIT. If such information is already given in the body of your sentence, then you don't need a parenthetical citation. Ideally, when citing on-line sources, try to reference the source within your sentence, with either the author or the title to avoid writing a parenthetical citation. Otherwise, place the parenthetical citation where there is a pause in the sentence – normally before the end of a sentence or a comma. If there is no author, use the title that begins the citation, either the article or website title. Be sure it also takes the same formatting as non on-line sources, i.e. articles are in quotes and website titles are italicized.
Next session we will learn how to include a "Works Cited" at the end of your paper (the bibliography).
Example of information taken from the Internet and you know the author's name:
The economy will rebound with the new monetary policies (Smith).
Example when you do not know the author's name, but you know the title of the article OR name of web-site:
Elephants are thought to be one of the smartest mammals (“Smart Elephants”). This came from an article--use quotes so I know it was an article.
Most importantly, if this is not clear, please ask. Citing sources is required for this paper--either within the sentence itself (preferred for on-line sources) or in-line parenthetically as described above.
Good luck and see you next week!
Students identified the theme and mood of each piece, looked at the use of figurative language, and discussed the motivation and circumstance of each narrator/character. We are slowly uncovering the interesting variety of personalities that comprise the young medieval voices of our village.
As you read through the monologues each week, you should be thinking about which characters and scenes you would like to perform. I have asked that everyone provide me with their first, second, and third choice no later than March 30th.
Students broke into small groups to brainstorm ideas for designing and building these components. We will continue work on set design concepts next week, so come prepared to present and discuss your ideas!
To prepare for next week:
with Kim Rodgers
When Molecules Meet!
This week in Chemistry we learned what happens when molecules meet. Sometimes there is a reaction where something changes in the way the atoms are hooked together. The molecules might switch atoms and go from one type of molecule to another. Sometimes when molecules meet they join together to form a new molecule. And sometimes molecules might break apart to form entirely new molecules. In all of these situations atoms are neither created or destroyed. They will never appear or disappear. We learned some examples of chemical reactions we might see regularly in our lives, in our world, or even in our own bodies! But just like atoms, reactions
Our experiment focused on 4 cups of mystery fluids. We wrote down observations about each fluid before beginning to use our senses. We even used taste because we knew the liquids were safe, but we discussed how scientists would never taste something if they didn't know what it was. At first the students wrote down one, maybe two words. But before we shared I had them go through their senses, writing at least one word for each sense that could perceive something. We decided hearing wasn’t a very helpful sense in our circumstances. We shared our observations about each one and came to the conclusion that we were dealing with cups of lemon juice, vinegar, milk, and water mixed with baking soda.
We moved on to mixing. We took each possible combination of two cups. Before mixing them, the students wrote down their hypothesis of what they thought would happen. Some combinations showed no reaction, like lemon juice and vinegar or milk and baking soda. Some reactions showed a little change like lemon juice and milk or vinegar and milk. Both lemon juice and vinegar caused the milk to curdle. And some reactions were VERY obvious, with bubbles overflowing the cups and making us jump! These combos were lemon juice and baking soda, as well as vinegar and baking soda. Vinegar and lemon juice have similar molecules, which is why there isn’t a reaction when they combine. Knowing that, the students could guess which liquids had similar molecules and which had very different molecules.
The students have all of their observations in their notebook, which they can use to write up their Chemistry notebooking page this week to share in class next week.
The Language of Castles
In Middle Ages we learned about the English language. That might sound silly, but it was very interesting to learn how many languages we borrowed words from to form what we use today. We saw examples of Old English, which we could barely pronounce let alone try to understand! Some words we have now from Old English are man, house, sheep, dog, wood, field, work, drink, laughter, the, this, here, and that. When the Anglo-Saxons came they drove away the Celts into Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and their language went with them. English didn’t borrow many words from them because Angles and Saxons spent very little time talking to the Celts! English borrowed many words from Latin and Greek when Augustine brought Christianity with him. Words like apostle, pope, angel, and baptize were adopted into the English language from Greek. Latin words English took were minister, nun, monk, gospel, and sanctified. Then the Viking invasion occurred when English adopted some of their short, plain, simple words like leg, skin, skull, angry, cut, crawl, die, and drown. Most of the days of the week are even named after Viking gods. And when William the Conqueror settled in England he brought with him many of his noblemen, which caused many French words to be added in like peace, curtsy, beef, chair, curtain, garden, castle, and rich.
We also learned about feudalism, which came about when William decided that the king was more than a war leader. He thought the king should own all the land that he ruled. William gave his favored knights pieces of England for their own, while the knights promised to fight for William if ever he needed them. The knights came to be called lords and they gave smaller parts of their land to other knights who would fight for them, and to English farmers, called peasants or serfs. In exchange they would give part of whatever they raised or grew to their lord. Every person served someone, and that person gave something in exchange. The lifestyles of a serf and a lord were explained. Some students decided they would like the life of a serf because they worked outside with animals or land and didn’t have the threat of having to join in battle, while others liked the idea of living in a castle with good food and entertainment even though they might have to battle at a moment’s notice.
From there we moved on to create our own castles. They could choose if they wanted to build one I had copied on cardstock, one they could create on their own from boxes and tubes, or work in a group on one that Finn had brought in that was about 3 feet tall (thanks Finn!). The class split in half. One half did the cardstock version, while the other half wanted to create their own. This project will need to carry over to next week as their creative juices are flowing! I’m considering having a class of finishing up projects next week as we have our embroidering to finish as well.
Students have their mapping page and notebooking for next week. See you then!