Class Nov 24 & 30

BELLWORK: The Crucible, Act 3, reading quiz.

CAUSE\EFFECT NOTES (POWERPOINT): Add to the list of reasons for why a religious community would hang nineteen people and two dogs for witchcraft.

THE CRUCIBLE DVD: We watched the final act, Act 4, of The Crucible.

COMPARE/CONTRAST PAPER TOPICS: see post below that lists the connections we discussed.

HOMEWORK:

• Read The Crucible, Act 4.
• Continue Reading Log reading (500 pages individual reading required this term).
  

Class Nov 20 & 23

BELLWORK: Paragraph puzzle. Arrange the 7 sentence strips so they create a cohesive paragraph. If you're doing this at home, write the sentence numbers on a piece of paper, bring it to me, and I'll tell you if you got the correct order. This activity is a follow-up to our work last time about writing strong paragraphs--a good body paragraph starts with a topic sentence and ends with a concluding sentence. In between, use "commentary" to introduce examples and quotes and use "commentary" again to explain the examples and quotes.

IRONY ACTIVITY: Study the four examples in this activity. Write your answer on an index card and give it to me.

CRUCIBLE READING QUIZ (23 points): Answer multiple choice and fill in the blank questions about Acts 1 & 2.

CRUCIBLE DVD: We watched to the end of Act 3. Next time we'll finish.

HOMEWORK:

• Read The Crucible, Act 3. Every student should have his/her own copy of the play checked out from the Writing Lab. Reading quiz next time.
  
• Reading Log reading.
  

New Moon midnight showing

The midnight showing of New Moon took in more money than any previous movie. Read the story.

Crucible paper: ideas for compare/contrast

1. "Churches denounce child witches"
2. On Thursday, November 19, in Provo, a University of New Mexico soccer player gets violent against BYU. ESPN commentators wonder why her teammates and her coach didn't react.
3. Rules of women under the Taliban.
4. Pat Tillman, former Arizona Cardinals player, left the NFL after 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan. Shortly afterwards, he was killed by friendly fire.
5. Senator McCarthy and the Red Scare: in the early 1950s, some Americans feared that Communists might take over the world and were beginning to infiltrate the United States.
   
6. Current DNA evidence sometimes exonerates innocent people who were in prison.You could examine the case of Jamie Bain who was recently released after spending 35 years in prison for a 1974 rape he didn't commit.
   
7. Cleveland riots in reaction to LeBron James "taking his talents" to the Miami Heat.
8. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114308726 "Number of Arrests Growing in California Gang Rape"

Class Nov 18 & 19

BELLWORK: Identify main parts of paragraph. On the back of "The Crucible Comparison/Contrast Paper"  you'll find a sample paper written by a student last year. The paper is titled "The Crucible and Me." Use three colors to highlight the sentences in paragraphs 2 & 3 of "The Crucible and Me."  These are the parts of the paragraph I want you to identify (use whatever 3 colors you want):

• pink = topic sentence and concluding sentence
• brown = concrete evidence (a quote or an example)
• green = commentary (comments)

GROUP/CLASS ACTIVITY: On a piece of binder paper, write "What are the causes of the trouble in Salem?" at the top. Then make two columns: label the left one "Causes" and the right one "Effects." In the "Effects" column, write--Nineteen people and two dogs are hanged for witchcraft. Now try to complete the left column by thinking of "causes" or reasons for this tragedy.

WRITING LAB: Check out your own copy of The Crucible. You will be reading Acts 2, 3, and 4 at home.

HOMEWORK:

• Read The Crucible, Act 2. Reading quiz next time.
• Reading Log reading--500 pages total this term. When you finish a book, see me for a "book chat." This assignment is 10% of your final grade.

THE CRUCIBLE DVD: continued watching; we are in Act 2.

Internet sites about The Crucible

The Crucible is based on a historical event, and the playwright Arthur Miller used actual court documents to write the play. This site has links to actual documents (like arrest warrants) and transcripts of what was actually said in court.

This is an attractive interactive National Geographic site. Students enter the world of The Crucible and make choices similar to the choices the characters in the play make.

This site has information about The American Colonial Period, McCarthyism, and Puritanism and includes links to various historical information--good for research.

This site called Which Witch if Real? allows you to enter the lives of characters such as Rebecca Nurse. You can see a photograph of her house (which is still standing today in Salem).

Class Nov 16 & 17

BELLWORK: Writer's Notebook entry--choose a topic from the Acts 2 & 3 writing prompts and write a page.

BOOK REPORT BOOK: I sent around a sign-up list. I want to know what you're reading for your "book chat" with me. This Friday is mid-term. If you don't have a book yet, GET ONE and START READING!

LYRICS PRESENTATIONS

THE CRUCIBLE:

• turn in homework--"Churches denounce child witches" article
• turn in Act 1 questions
• watch DVD to one hour point
  

Class Nov 12 & 13

BELLWORK: Choose one of the Act 1 topics listed on "The Crucible Comparison Paper" (last page in The Crucible  packet) and write a page about it in your Writer's Notebook.

LYRICS PRESENTATIONS

HOMEWORK: Read Associated Press article "Churches denounce African children as 'witches'" and answer 8 questions.

CRUCIBLE ACT 1 READING QUIZ: Identify speaker of 4 quotes and draw inferences about the meaning of the quotes. If you missed this quiz, see me during Advisory or before/after school.

CRUCIBLE DVD: We watched about 30 minutes and will continue next time.

"Agitated BYU football fans get personal"

Class Nov 10 & 11

BELLWORK

• Choose a piece of colored paper that you feel represents your personality.
• Cut it into a shape that you feel represents your personality.
• On one side, write your name and why you chose the shape you did.
• On the other side, use your "Sample Character Traits" handout to choose character traits you think you have and write them down.
• Staple to the top of "Geometrically Shaped Characters."

LYRICS PRESENTATIONS

THE CRUCIBLE

Finish Act 1.

• Complete "Geometrically Shaped Characters" by listing character traits along with a personality shape and color  for each of the 8 characters. Turn in.
  
•  Answer "Questions for Act 1 of The Crucible" (it's on the back of the front cover the The Crucible packet. You don't have to answer Q 7 yet). Turn in.
  

Class Nov 6 & 9

BELLWORK

Bananagrams. Students wrote one of the words they created on an index card. Then students searched the word's origin in the dictionary. I want students to list ALL the origins. For example, the word "cheese" is listed first as ME (Middle English), but before that it was OE (Old English), and before that Grm (Germanic), and before that IE (Indo-European), and, finally, before that L (Latin). All of these origins are listed in the dictionary.

LYRICS PRESENTATIONS

THE CRUCIBLE

• Main characters--I drew a chart on the board that showed how all the main characters are connected to each other, and students took notes. If you weren't in class, get these notes from someone in the class or see me.
• Act 1--read to the part where Reverend Hale enters. If you need to catch up, please check out a copy of The Crucible from Mrs. Palmer in the Writing Lab.

HOMEWORK

• Reading Log reading of your choice. As soon as you finish a book, see me before or after school for a book chat.
• Prepare your Lyrics Presentation.
  

Class Nov 4 & 5

BELLWORK (no A-day bellwork due to assembly schedule): write a Writer's Notebook response to this prompt--How would you feel if you came home and your house had burned in a fire? What would you miss most?

READ PURITAN POEM by Anne Bradstreet (textbook pp. 69-70): refer to the yellow "Character Traits" handout you should have in your binder. Based on your reading of this poem, make a list of character traits Bradstreet seems to have.

ASSIGNMENT--NOTES (on binder paper): I showed a PowerPoint presentation called "Puritan Characteristics." Students took notes. If you missed class, do some research on the internet about Puritans. Make notes about their religion, Calvinism, their domestic life, their work and industry, how they disciplined their children, etc.

EXTERNAL TEXT FEATURES: look at The Crucible in our textbook, pages 825-887. On the other side of your binder paper notes about Puritans, list at least 5 external text features before we start reading the play. Examples: picture of a dirty man and woman, bold font to highlight the character names in the dialogue of the play, captions, graphic boxes with information about the setting, etc.

TURN IN the binder paper notes and list (5 points).

THE CRUCIBLE: we viewed the first 8 minutes of the play on DVD and then listened to an audio of the first few pages of Act 1. If you missed class, you can check out a copy of The Crucible from the Writing Lab and read the first three pages of Act 1.

Class Nov 2 & 3

BELLWORK: "What do you think?" Get this assignment from me. Consider which statements you agree with.

CLASS DISCUSSION of "What do you think?"

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS packet: we graded the last two pages together and turned them in: "Reading Comprehension: New Words" (13 points).


PURITAN CULTURE: Read a paragraph from Jonathan Edward's "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" and complete "Jonathan Edwards: Puritan Preacher" (5 points). You need the textbook to do this assignment.

We're starting The Crucible this week

The same year that Fahrenehit 451 was published (1953), playwright Arthur Miller wrote his play The Crucible. The Crucible tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials that actually took place in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Go to this link to see pictures and learn more about this historical event.