Today's Menu ~ May 24

Take a few moments and reflect on Mrs. Huff's summer assignment here.

Of Mice and Men -- Essential Question: Am I my brother's keeper?

• Discuss the "detail" writing assignment.
  
• Discussion Questions for today:

1. In your group discuss, are you your brother's keeper?
2. Had George and Lennie lived in a more affluent situation, would George have felt so compelled to be Lennie's keeper?

Next, phase of this blog post.

• Point of View: Check your Google Docs for your next form/graphic organizer.
  

Review a test...

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
Robert Burns, Scottish poet
"To a Mouse"

Today's Menu ~ May 20

Take a few moments to make any final corrections/changes to your synthesis essay.

Of Mice and Men -- Essential Question: Am I my brother's keeper?

1. Finalize thoughts on your blog post about Dorothea Lange's photographs.
2. Discuss Jodi Picoult's bookcovers to My Sister's Keeper.
3. Analyze this photo for support of our essential question/big idea. What detail(s) would you select to use if writing a paragraph on this topic?
4. Steinbeck Short Biography here.
5. Discuss setting...check out Google Maps.
6. Discuss Reading Notes.
7. THIS UNIT'S WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Part 1 - Under a heading entitled DETAIL, complete the critique on your blog. See your Google Docs for the graphic organizer I shared with you. As I gave you "view" rights only, you will need to "make a copy of" and then draft your thoughts.

   
   “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
   Robert Burns, Scottish poet
   "To a Mouse"

Today's Menu ~ May 18

3B ~ Vocab Test

Synthesis Essay...due today.

• Draft your introductions/conclusions. Color-code fonts so that I will know which sentences you contributed!
• Create a cover page for this essay.
• Using Easy Bib, create a Reference Page for the sources you utilized.

Of Mice and Men

Essential Question: Am I my brother's keeper?

1. Steinbeck Short Biography here.
2. Discuss setting and characterize George and Lennie.
3. Blog: Respond to Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photos.
4. Discuss Jodi Picoult's bookcovers to My Sister's Keeper.

Assign:

• Reading Notes.

Reading Schedule:

• Thursday: Chapter 3
• Monday: Chapter 4-5
• Wednesday: Chapter 6

Today's Menu ~ May 14

3B: Animal Farm Vocab Test...next time!
4B: Vocab Test Today!

Synthesis Essay:

• Sample "real" prompt here.
• Sample student essay here...notice use of embedded quotes and documentation of sources.
• Draft outline and body of essay...then draft intro/conclusion.

Homework:

• Of Mice and Men ~ read Chapters 1-2.
• Read this PowerPoint "History of the Great Depression."

Today's Menu ~ May 10

Please read "Notorious Spelling Mistakes: Famous Mashed Words." Has a spelling error ever "cost" you?

Read "Richard Corey"...one of your sources for your synthesis essay. Answer the multiple choice questions. You will see this format next year on the End-of-Level Literacy Exam.

Synthesis Essay: A synthesizing song! :)

Synthesizing Song
Let’s go into the book!
Jump in! Take a look!

When you read it,
read it,
Then you learn it,
learn it.
See with new eyes! Synthesize!

Read another book.
Take a different look.
See with new eyes! Synthesize!

Take the things that you are reading every day.
Take the things that you are reading every day.
Piece them all together in a new way.

Let’s go into the book!

Good synthesis papers DO acknowledge the OTHER SIDE.

HOW-To-Synthesize Resources:

• Synthesis Writing from Drew University
• TECHNIQUES FOR DEVELOPING SYNTHESIS ESSAYS

Review for test....test on Wednesday!

Today's Menu ~ May 6

Work on synthesis essay:

1. Create outline.
2. Develop questions for your survey.
3. Create survey.
4. Post on a page on your blog.
5. One of you post a link to one of your surveys on the class wiki.
6. Here's a "How-To" list of the steps.

TEST date change...we will test on this unit next Wednesday!

HUGE thanks to 3B for helping me put the cookbooks together...the singing and teamwork were wonderful!

Today's Menu ~ May 4

Today:

1. Presentations!
2. New synthesis essay...one per group! Here's the prompt.
3. For your topic create a survey of questions.

Thursday:

1. Test over three novels.
2. Good news! The test is open-novel!