Friday, October 30, 2009

Empathy - "Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds"

Today, we read the Greek Myth of "Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds". For homework, please retell the story in the FIRST PERSON using "I". You can tell the story from the perspective of any character you like. You can be Persephone. You can be Demeter. You can be Zeus or Hermes or Pluto. Have fun and have a great long weekend!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Compare and Contrast Creation Stories

Please write two paragraphs comparing and contrasting the Greek creation myth and the Bible creation story. Your paragraphs should take the following form.

Paragraph 1: Compare "In the Beginning and Pandora's Box" and "Genesis and Paradise Lost". What are some of the similarities between the two?

Paragraph 2: Contrast "In the Beginning and Pandora's Box" and "Genesis and Paradise Lost". What are some of the differences between the two?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Recipes - Final Drafts

Please submit the final draft of the text of your recipe assignment as a comment here. Please remember that the full text of this assignment needs to be on your poster and that we will be presenting posters on Friday.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Recipes!

In our next project, we will work with writing recipes for dishes we enjoy eating. The final version of this project will involve a poster that will be presented to class, but for the moment, we will concentrate only on the project’s written component. On the day next week when we present posters, you may bring in and share prepared recipes. This means that, on that day, we will eat in class. However, you will not be assessed on the quality of your food and you are not required to bring food.

In class today, please think of something that you like to eat that you could write a recipe for. (Maybe someone at home could help you.) By the end of class, please submit the name of your recipe, and the ingredients and materials you think will need to make it. (You may need to change some or all of this later. This is not a problem. Consider this the first of several drafts.)

When we begin writing, your recipe should have the following parts.

  1. A title (This will be the name of the dish.)
  2. An introductory paragraph – This will tell your readers about why you chose this dish, when you have eaten it, what it tastes like, what it looks like, what it smells like, etc.
  3. A list of at least four ingredients.
  4. Directions – This will include at least four ordered steps written in full sentences using imperative verbs.
  5. An original labeled illustration in color of your ingredients.
  6. An original labeled illustration in color of your final dish.

When we have all the parts, we will make posters for presentation to the class. As with previous projects, your work will be assessed with reference to language, content, structure and style.

Here’s an example of what your recipe might look like.

_________________________________________



Super Chunky Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Nothing is more delicious at lunchtime than a nice sticky, crunchy, peanutty peanut butter and banana sandwich. Whenever I play football on the weekends this is what my mom makes for me. One of my favorite things about this dish is that, since it has two halves and isn’t served hot, I don’t have to eat it all at once. I eat one half at “half time” and the second when the game is over!

Ingredients

2 slices of white bread

4 tablespoons of chunky peanut butter

1 large ripe banana

2 glasses of your beverage of choice

Materials

1 small kitchen knife

1 toaster

1 butter knife

1 bread knife

1 plate

Directions

  1. Peel the banana.
  2. Using the small kitchen knife, slice the banana into about ten circular slices about 4 cm. thick.
  3. Using the toaster, toast the two slices of white bread.
  4. Using the butter knife, spread 4 tablespoons of chunky peanut butter on one side of one piece of toast.
  5. Place as many banana slices as possible without stacking on top of the spread peanut butter.
  6. Eat leftover banana pieces.
  7. Put second piece of toast on top of banana slices.
  8. Push down gently on sandwich until peanut butter begins to squeeze from its sides.
  9. Cut the sandwich diagonally into two equal triangular halves.
  10. Serve with two glasses of your beverage of choice. (Peanut butter sticks inside your mouth!)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

"My Memorable Day" - Final Draft

Please submit the final draft of your autobiographical essay, "My Memorable Day" as a comment here by Thursday, October 15. Please also bring a printed copy of your final draft to class on Thursday. Have a nice day off on Wednesday!

Reading Log - Entry 4

Today in class, we read independently and wrote reading log entries again. Please submit today's reading log entry as a comment here.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Reading Log - Entry 3

Please post your reading log entry from today as a comment here.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Reading Journal - Entry 2

Whoops! I almost forgot! (Thanks for reminding me, James.)

Please write reflectively for ten minutes about today's reading and submit your writing as a comment here.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Reading Log - Entry 1

Please submit your "Reflective Writing" on last week's independent silent reading as a comment to this entry. Be sure to include your book's title and author. Remember that while reflective writing may include summary, it should be more than just summary. Try to include something more than just description (your personal reaction, predictions, what it reminds you of, etc.).

"My Memorable Day" - First Draft

(We have fallen a little bit behind schedule, but don’t worry. We will finish oral presentations tomorrow.)
_______________
In today's class, please write the first draft of a short non-fiction prose essay titled “My Memorable Day” about a day that you will never forget. This first draft should take the following form and be as close as possible to complete by the end of class. It is not for homework!
________________
I. Introduction: What was your memorable day. Why have you chosen to write about it. Why might the story of this day be interesting to your readers (your classmates, for instance)?
II. Setting: Where and when did this story take place? Be descriptive. Were there any special features to this place? Buildings? Other things that were important to what happened? What time of day was it? What time of year? What was the weather like?
III. Characters: Who was there? Again, be descriptive. What are some words you would use to describe them to someone who never met them? How old were they? What do they look like? What is your relationship to them? Why were they there?
IV. Action. What happened? (You may want to use more than one paragraph for this.)
First?
Next?
Next?
Next?
Next?
etc.
V. Conclusion: Why was this day so memorable? Was it an important day in your life? Did you learn anything important on this day? Did this day change you in some way?

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Introduction to a Classmate - Final Draft

Here is the place to leave the final draft of your introduction to a classmate. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this. I also have not yet given specific written feedback on earlier drafts to everyone, but will do this by this evening. I am confident, though, that you all understand the assignment well and will all be able to produce a strong final draft. Remember to meet the word minimum (250 words) and to have at least four paragraphs including strong "opening" and "closing" paragraphs.

Please try to have this EITHER printed OR submitted to the blog by Monday and BOTH printed and submitted by Tuesday. (If you have big, big computer problems, please just write it out by hand for now.)

I also noticed on Friday that the door to our room was being repaired and that a few incomplete posters were left behind. If you couldn't retrieve your poster from the room, please don't worry. We'll make what accommodations we have to and have fun with our oral presentations.

Have a good weekend!