Drama: 1/26/10

1. Students will watch the behind the scenes excerpts from Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium about costuming, character development, set design, and more regarding what it takes to put together a dramatic performance. The content and implications will be discussed in class.
   
2. Students will be assigned a page long journal based on the video and class discussion and be given time in class to write it.
3. Go over and assign Chapters 7 and 22 to respective levels. Students for Chapter 7 will choose, explain, and perform one of the audio exercises. They will also be required to choose a short passage from a story, make a copy, and mark it for reading with inflection marks as shown on page 68.
4. Chapter 22 students will follow the project assignment as described on page 280.
5. Both chapters were summarized and discussed. Test requirements were outlined. Value, importance, and application of the chapters were outlined.
   

English 4: 1/26,27/10

1. Students give 30 minutes to work on independent reading and other current assignments. Laptop computers are available.
2. Today is the final deadline to turn in the "Political Language" handout assignment. Some assistance and Q & A provided. This will be discussed in context with next discussion/assignment as well.
3. Discussion: Persuasion writing: misuse of logic and reasoning. Story - the uniform prank. Class materials: Writer's Inc., items 558-574. Cover logic fallacies and how they work and how to apply that knowledge to public information.
4. Assign: find an editorial or an editorial cartoon and bring it to class next class. Be ready to discuss the editorial regarding the good or fallacious use of logic and reasoning. If students are unprepared to discuss, they will be required to do the assignment in a written format.
5. Assign literature book pages 580 to 587, Daniel Defoe and "A journal of the Plague Year." Students are to do all end and margin questions.
6. Reminder to do their vocabulary homework and the vocabulary test is next class.
   

Drama: 1/22/10

1. Push all desks aside and complete chapter presentations.
2. Discuss costuming, especially as to how it relates to our understanding the people around us. Include learning to perceive others.
3. Mini-lesson on method acting: learning to use your own experience and emotions to understand others and to perform in character.
4. Give detailed instruction about the point and purpose to reflection to grow and improve as an individual and in the craft of acting.
5. Give students 20 minutes to complete and turn in evaluation and reflective journal
6. Explain hambone. Show students examples of hambone and washboard performances.
   

English 4: 1/22, 25/10

1. Students given 30 to 40 minutes to work on any or all of the following: ISR, Samuel Pepys Diary, discussion journal from last class, Political Language handout assignment.
2. Last day to turn in margin and end questions for Samual Pepys Diary
3. Last day to turn in discussion journal from last class
4. Turn in Political Language assignment for full credit today, for partial credit next class
5. Review, go over, discuss Samuel Pepys reading, then give test.
6. Major point for the day: P.A.S. make a personal connection to your reading. Connect through your own experience, knowledge, emotion.
7. Reminders: Vocabulary test begins end of next week. Vocabulary homework due before.
   

Drama 1/20/10

1. Today is the final deadline for "application journal" assignment
2. Take up project preparation assignment when student presennt.
3. Go over evaluations pages 60 and 275 in detail, and assign students to evaluate one presentation.
4. Give students 30 minutes to work, prepare, and finalize their presentations
5. Give and evaluate presentations
6. Assign the reflection journal
   

English 4: 1/20, 21/10

1. Students given time to work on Pepys questions, ISR, and/or Political Language handout
2. Overhead: read internet information about the plague and the great fire of London in the 1660's. Discuss the impact and reality of the two tragedies. Compare to the hurricane disaster to New Orleans and the current crisis in Haiti. Focal point - put yourself in these situations to discover the power and reality of the events. Second focal point: fear and disaster cause people to react in common ways, then and now.
3. Test on Pepys diary at the beginning of next class.
4. Next vocabulary list test assigned from "critique" to "inconsiderable." Each student is to pick any two words from the list and do as last assigned, create word wall work. Next test is 1/28, 29/10.
5. Political Language handout assignment postponed to next class, but will be taken up as final deadline.
   

Drama 1/15/10

1. Go over chapters thoroughly.
2. Go over current assignments that are due and answer all questions.
3. Go over evaluation for chapter projects.
4. Discuss current Gone with the Wind project and schedule.
   
5. Give students time to prepare for project presentation. Presentations will begin at the beginning of next class.
   

English 4: 1/15, 19/10

1. ISR is on the board, reminder to use every spare moment. 3 to 5 journals due by the end of the month.
   
2. Re-give students history test open book.
3. Study, review, and give the Unit 3 vocabulary 1 test.
   
4. Hand out Political Language 1 and 2 with the following assignment: A. give a brief summary/interpretation f the printed speech (no more than 1/2 page, but not less than 1/4 page). B. Students need to give their best idea of the point of the speech. Interpret point as you will. I think of it as what is the writer trying to do, possibly adding why or how or both. C. Students are to back up the point with proofs of the point with support from the material and with their own reasoning. I'm looking for thoughtfulness and detail. D. Parts B and C of this assignment, together, should be between 250 and 500 words (about 1 to 2 handwritten pages or 1/2 to 1 page typed. E. This is homework to be completed by next class.
5. Spend the rest of class working on ISR, literature book pages 568 to 576, and/or the handout assignment.
   

Drama: 1/13/10

1. Study, review, prepare and take chapters 6 and 21 tests.
2. Go over all current assignments: project preparation, application journal, and performance. Discuss in detail the elements of the chapters, importance, impact on performances, and requirements for a grade.
3. Take up the application journals that are ready and expect rest next class.
4. Reminder: Gone with the Wind rehearsals begin now. Students are to meet in my class before school beginning tomorrow to work on their lines. Regular practices will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday after school from 3:45 to 6:00 p.m beginning next Tuesday (Monday is a school holiday).
   
5. Give time to work on assigned work with teacher assistance.
   

English 4: 1/13,14/10

1. Read/work on ISR assignment every available moment from now until it is complete.
2. Review and test over pages 550-561. This is P.A.S. information, background history required as context for understanding the coming literature reading.
3. Check note taking for a grade. Handout on three styles of note taking modeled in class.
4. Take up late vocabulary homework.
5. Literature book: pages 562-567. Legacy of the era, nonfiction of the 18th Century, and biographical information about Samual Pepys in preparation for our literature work (more P.A.S. process)
6. Read and assign for homework pages 568 through 576 including all margin and end questions. due next class.
7. Vocabulary test next class reminder.
   

Drama: 1/11/10

1. Review over assignments and directions given recently.
2. Extensive discussion of chapters 6 and 21 and chapter assignments with modeling and examples.
3. Gave students over 30 minutes to read and study their respective chapters so they will be empowered to take the test and do the work.
4. Test will be at the beginning of next class. Students will not be given any additional time to prepare since they used the time given them so poorly.
   

English 4: 1/11,12/10

1. Take up word wall vocabulary homework.
2. Reminder: The vocabulary test will be January 15 & 19.
3. Show history notes for a grade
4. Talk, discuss, review history section in preparation for the test. Use book prompts and slide show.
5. (P.A.S.) Read Daniel Defoe biography (page 578, 579) and set the stage and purpose for those who will choose to read Robinson Crusoe.
6. (P.A.S.) Read Jonathan Swift biography (page 608) and his letter to Alexander Pope (page 642) to set the stage for those who chose to read Gulliver's Travels (copies will be available in class).
7. Discuss persuasion and assign journal amounts (10), length (good paragraph each), and style (persuasive based on some literary element in the story).
8. History test will be at the beginning of next class (January 13, 15)
   

Drama: 1/7/10

1. Review notes from last class: 6 required assignments for each chapter, 8 qualities of good storytelling, evaluation assignment. All the points were re-explained, particularly the 8 qualities of good storytelling
2. Students are to create a 3 column chart for poor, medium, and good. They will watch the video of all the storytelling presentations and sort each each performance into one of the three columns. At the end, each student will write an essay explaining which person was the best and why.
3. Books for Chapters 5 and 20. Review the evaluation criteria for each chapter.
4. Give students the rest of the period to prepare for the chapter projects which will begin at the beginning of next class. This is the last opportunity to prepare.
5. Assign the next chapters.

English 4: 1/7,8/10

1. Warm up writing: Literature book page 548, "What can fix society's problems."
2. Review of thesis: point, support, example/illustration. Use Relmo to show students work on the projector. Have students evaluate as to whether provable points were given and adequate proof and detail given.
3. Emphasis on P.A.S. The warm up essay was to access background knowledge. All three parts discussed and exampled. Time spent creating a metaphor, microcosom and macrocosom, as individuals reflect the society and society reflects the individual.
4. Vocabulary assignment, due next class. Each student was assigned one of the twenty words for the next vocabulary test and allowed to choose one other word from the list. Students are to create word wall art or examples which will clearly show the meaning of their two words.
5. Notes and explanation were given for the following three ways of note taking: outlining, 2 column notes, Q & A notes.
6. Students were assigned for class and homework, due next class, read, study, take notes on the historical context information in the literature book, pages 550 to 561. Students are only required to take enough notes to prove to me they understand one of the three techniques taught in class. However, all students are strongly urged to take notes over the entire section because it is a good study technique and they will be allowed to use the notes on the second semester exam.
7. Students were given time to work.

Drama: 1/5/09

1. Hand out papers
2. Go over grades and answer all questions
3. Go over the ongoing expectations. For each chapter, each student will: A. Turn in a project preparation paper; B. Turn in a project journal based on how the chapter content applies to the world outside class; C. Perform/present the chapter project; D. Evaluate one of the presentations according to the chapter criteria; E. Write a reflection journal based on their self awareness for growth; F. Take the chapter test. Students are to copy the detailed list of expectations.
   
4. Go over general opportunities provided by Alligator Community Theater
5. Create a criteria of values as to what makes a good storyteller. Students are required to copy down the criteria for use with the evaluation project.
   
6. Assign: Students will create a three column chart. They will watch all the storytellers and sort them into the three columns: poor, medium, good. After sorting all performances, students will write an essay of which performance was best and why.
   

English 4: 1/5,6/10

1. Go over, discuss posted grades
2. Pass out all papers and check for corrections
3. Review cause and effect essay. Explain expectations. Play oral evaluations. Discuss process, insights, and evaluations
4. Focus on purpose of class and how the skills embedded in essays like the C and E apply globally
   
5. Hand out Unit 3 vocabulary
6. Introduction to P. A. S. P is for preview; A is for access background knowledge; S is for set the purpose. Explain this as the process we have been using and why it works in all venues.
7. Thesis: define thesis and the need for provable points that create continuity throughout an essay. Give example on Mary Lewis paragraphs.
8. Assignment in class: Write a provable thesis statement (My holiday/Christmas break was _____). Student fill in the blank. Then write the paragraph proving the statement with vivid details. Turn in before leaving.