Posts for 12/9 - Last blogs of the semester!

Reminder: All posts must be two fully developed paragraphs (at least five sentences each) to be considered for full credit.  Do the best writing you can in about fifteen minutes per post.

1. Describe what you learned from visiting the writing center this semester and what changes you made to your paper as a result.  If you did not visit the writing center this semester, please just indicate that.  Remember to avoid last names in your description, and only use names at all if your comments are positive.

**Please record your reading / working times for the week.

2. Choose from one of the following student-generated prompts.  If your name is listed as a prompt author, you do not need to write this post!

Student-generated prompts:

Chanler - What would happen in a world where it was the child's choice to go to school? Would you go to school?


Jamiee - "day in the life" post


Meredyth - Pretend that you were sent to the future or the past. Describe what it is like there. What things happen. Whats  different? A good way to do this would to write it as a journal entry.

John - What LOTF character do you relate most to and why?

Paul - what is the best part of your day, week, month, and life?

Martie - What is a book that has made you think or changed your mind?

Omar: The next time you're in a public place such as a coffeehouse, park, or a store observe the people around you. Pick a person, couple, or a group and imagine what their lives might be like. 

Mary Beth - Write a Letter to younger me.

The assignment is to write a letter to a younger version of your self trying to help them through tough times or giving advice. Write about whatever you think a younger you would need.

Ellie - This week you will be blogging on your favorite thing would have covered this year. You can write about any acquired knowledge in English 1 with Dr. D this year. It can be about Lord Of The Flies, Literacy Narratives, or Literary Analysis. Complete two paragraphs describing what is your favorite and why it is? If it happens to be a small topic then go into detail about it please.

Audrey - 

How is ninth grade english different from eighth grade english?

Maddie - Human nature - what is it?

No posts for 12/2

Just post your reading / work times since 11/18.  Don't forget to update your LOTF Reading Focus Journal in Blackboard!

Posts for 11/18

You have two posts this week.  You do not need to incorporate LOTF in either post but of course are welcome to.  As I've said before, treat these like timed writing and give yourself about 15 minutes per post of focused writing.  If you are spending much longer than that, you may be overdoing it or you may be trying to multitask unproductively.

1. Write your own blog prompt and answer it.  If I choose your prompt to give to the whole class in a future week, you will get a pass that week.

2. Free post.  Remember that these should have a real topic and should not just be stream-of-consciousness.

(Reading details, either attached to one of those posts or separately. Please count your LOTF reading time and any out-of-class time spent working on class work other than blogs and vocabulary.)

Reminder: Submit your comments here.  You may want to bookmark that address for future reference.  Alternately, if you click on "Commenting" near the top of this page, you will find the form embedded.

For 11/11

Two posts this week:

1. Reflect on your deserted island simulation experience in class Thursday or Friday.  How do you think the situation would have played out in real life, over a longer period of time?  What do you think your class would have managed well?  What challenges would they have faced?

Please include your reading or work time (you can include class time and out-of-class time spent reading LOTF, work time on your essay, tutorial, writing center appointments, etc.).

2. Free post!

For 11/4

No posts are due this week. Please post your time (include reading, out-of-class work on your literary analysis, and your peermark reviews).

***You may choose to post blogs this week to make up for a missed or partial week, or to earn an exempt week later in the quarter.

Optional Post 1: An update on your literary analysis.  Where are you with the analysis?  What activities or resources have been helpful for you or not?  What struggles or questions do you have?  What are your plans for moving forward?

Optional Post 2: Free post.  May I recommend flash fiction? (a short short story)

Commenting Change

Instead of keeping your own log of blog comments this quarter, you can submit your comments through this form.  Please submit for each comment you make (2 per week), when you make the comment.

Posts for 10/28

Two posts this week:

1. A reading response to the three stories you are reading independently. Include anything you notice in a story that you think might be promising for your literary analysis.

Don't forget to add your reading / work times!

2. A free post!

Posts for 10/14

No assigned posts for 10/14.

However, please:

1. Edit your literacy narrative based on my comments on your final draft.  You don't need to make any large scale changes, but you should fix any mistakes that were pointed out for the ebook.  You will need this for class on Monday.

2. Continue to work on your short story. A draft will be due the Monday back from fall break (10/21), but I encourage you to finish your draft before the break.

3. Review the "Personal Questions" ppt on the Reading topic page, and identify a personal question to begin this quarter.  You may want to choose a few.

4. Post your reading / working times AND your personal question(s) to your blog by Monday night.

Posts for 10/7

No assigned posts this week!  Instead, spend at least 30 minutes working on a draft of your short story.  Any time you spend beyond 30 minutes you can count towards your 120 minutes for the week.  If you would like to post your story draft, you are welcome to.

Please do post your reading details, including short story reading, short story writing (beyond the 30 minutes replacing blogs this week), and Siddhartha, if you are reading it.

Posts for 9/30

Post 1: We are two weeks, five stories, and three literary elements into our short story unit.  In this post, you can respond to a story, note trends or patterns across the stories, or let me know what you do / don't understand and what has / has not been helpful in our work with these stories in class.  This is not an invitation to just complain about (or praise) stories, so be mindful of your rhetorical situation.

Report your reading times for the week at the end of this post, including time you spent reading short stories.  If you spent additional time on your own story outside of class (not the post below or making up class time spent), you can count it, too.

Post 2: Spend 15 minutes working on mapping out the plot of your short story.  Consider (and identify) the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.  Will you use any plot devices or structures we discussed (like parallel plots, subplots, episodes, frame narratives, etc.)?  You can type this or use a story board template to draw and write your plot structure, and then take and post a picture of it (please don't use your computer's webcam for this, as it will reverse the image and writing).

FYI: We are about two weeks from the end of the quarter, so this is a good time to begin getting organized.  In the next week, I will ask for your comment logs and ideabooks.  See here to make sure you have everything in there that should be in your ideabook so far, and get your blog comment log up to date.  (Remember, guidelines for these assignments are in the "Routines" document). We will also be reflecting on our personal questions in our ideabooks this week.  Make sure you have a personal question that goes with your current reading and that you bring your ideabook to class each day.

Blog Posts for 9/23

Two posts this week:

1. Reading Response - same guidelines as always, and you may write about short stories if you'd like.

Don't forget to include your reading/working times, including time you spent reading short stories this week.

2. Write in the voice of the character you worked on in class today, as that character might be thinking just before he or she falls asleep.  Imagine you are this character, and write in first person ("I").  What are you, the character, thinking in the last few minutes before you fall asleep?  Do you have a problem or a goal on your mind?  (This may be a little jumbled and stream-of-consciousness, but it should be at least two paragraphs and represent 15 solid minutes of writing).

For comments, remember you need to keep track of the posts you are commenting on each week!  I have no way of seeing all of your comments together, so you need to keep a record of whose blog you comment on and when.

Posts Due 9/16

Two posts for this week!

1. Reading Response - I know some of you haven't been reading this week because you have been working on your paper, so the options are broad here.  You could respond to:
- your outside reading book (of course)
- something you are reading in another class
- something you read in our class (such as another student's blog or paper - of course, be kind)
- any of the videos from this previous assignment that you did not respond to that week

*List your reading / working times at the bottom of the post, including any time you spent working on your literacy narrative outside of class

2. We're making a(n e)book!  
In this post, please discuss any concerns you have or anything you'd like to change about your narrative to "go public."  (These will be semi-public, accessible from our course webpage and from QR codes in my class.  Your classmates and parents will have access, but it won't be on the front page of the school website or anything).  Are there names you need to change to protect the innocent?  Would you like another round of proofreading assistance?

Also, think about ideas for making it cool - both your own piece and the class compilation.  For instance:

• What kinds of images would enhance your writing? Try to make this pictures you take, draw, or paint yourself to avoid complicated copyright issues, and keep in mind you can't have an identifiable picture of you with your piece because of school privacy standards.  You might also think about graphic text pieces, like the Wordle I made of my "Graceland" poem below.
• Freed from the formatting constraints of MLA, what would you do?
• Cover? Title? Design / Layout?  Stuff readers should know?
• Other kinds of media (video, audio, links) that you'd like to include?

Happy blogging!

Great Posts!

Read these and be inspired!

Great Scenes / Vivid Imagery:

- Jacob
- Emelia

Great reading responses:

- Kaylin's reading recommendations
- Chanler + Chanler's personal reading question
- Martie
- John
- Jill

Other great posts:

- Alex D. on "This is Water"
- Azzie on "I Have a Dream"
- Kate on "This is Water"
- Amanda on "Rebel Music"

One blog you should just read all of: Kaylin's Wonder and Ponder

Blog Posts for 9/9

As we get the hang of blogging, the scoring on these will get a bit tougher.  Make sure you are writing a minimum of 2 fully developed paragraphs (a minimum of five sentences, but five short sentences may not give you a developed paragraph).  Don't summarize what happened in your book.

Our posts for this week:

1 - Reading response - push yourself for new things to talk about and use the sentence starters and/or your personal question to guide you.  Alternatively, you can update us on your literacy narrative (what you are excited about, what you are struggling with, what you have questions about, what you'd like advice on from your classmates).

**Please include your reading / working time this week, including all time you spent on your literacy narrative outside of class.

2 - Dialogue - your second post should be a dialogue between at least two people or characters.  It should be engaging and be punctuated and formatted correctly.  The length and substance should be equivalent to a regular blog post, though you will have more than two paragraphs if you are formatting correctly.  Here are some ideas for conversations:

• a conversation between two liars in which each line has a double meaning
• a conversation among three characters in which no line is more than three words long
• an exchange between two characters in which one character only asks questions and the other only answers
• a conversation between two characters from two different books or works (make sure to tell us who the characters are and what books they come from)

Posts for 9/3

Posts will be due Tuesday next week instead of Monday because of Labor Day.  Remember, each post should be at least two developed paragraphs, and you should devote about 15 minutes of focused writing to each.

1. A Reading response to your current outside reading book.  Yes, I know you are probably reading the same book.  Push yourself to make new observations and connections.  Add your reading days/times at the end of this post.

2. A response to some other text, following the same guidelines.  You could respond to any of the literacy narratives you read this week, something you are reading in another class, or even a film.  Here are a couple of suggestions (If you choose one of the films below, count the time you spend watching toward your reading total):

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech," given 50 years ago today (8/28):

Text of "I Have a Dream"

- "Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream, Revisited" - BBC video in which international leaders, human rights figures, and writers perform Dr. King's speech

- This 10-minute video, "This is Water," based on a David Foster Wallace's 2005 Commencement address at Kenyon College:

Posts for 8/26

Now that the blogs are set up, posting should go easier this week.  Once again, you will have two posts:

1. A reading response to your current outside reading book.  Please include in this response the personal question you are beginning with from our work last week in our idea books.  If you picked up your current book before deciding on a question, consider what you will read next that will help you to answer your question.

Add your reading log information to the end of this post.  Remember, you can include coursework completed outside of class, but not vocabulary or writing your blogs.

2. For your second post, think about something exciting or story-worthy from the past week or two.  Limit your story to about a five-minute period, and tell it as a scene, using as much vivid detail and imagery as you can.  Try to make your readers feel like they are right there.

Happy writing!

Reading Response: _Never Fall Down_

Never Fall Down, by Patricia McCormick, is narrated by a young Cambodian boy, Arn, who is 11 in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge comes into power. The novel is based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond.  I am embarrassed to admit that I knew very little about the reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and I was truly shocked to learn about the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia at that time.  While many genocides involve one group persecuting another, the brutality of the Khmer Rouge was directed at their own people.  One thing that made the book difficult to read was my inability to understand what would motivate a group to do such awful things.  They seemed to have a vision of a happy Cambodia in mind, but for some reason that vision did not seem to include any Cambodians.

The recent and ongoing violence in Egypt and in Syria are reminders that struggles for power and struggles for ideals (religious, economic) within a nation can result in terrible casualties.  Arn is incredibly lucky to survive the brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge and to be adopted by an American family, but he is permanently scarred by the deaths of his family and friends, the death and torture he witnesses, and the injustices he is forced to commit to survive in Cambodia.  Though his post-Khmer Rouge life in New Hampshire seems like a dream come true, he faces intolerance, ridicule, and suspicion in addition to having to learn a new language and culture and process his own trauma and guilt.  He thinks, "after all the thing I been through, now being rescue [sic] is something I also have to survive" (195).  This part of his story really struck me because as a reader, I was so wrapped up in hoping for his survival that I didn't consider the challenges he would face afterward.  His experience suggests that there are no easy endings to the kind of violence and fear he encounters in Cambodia; there is no return to normal for a child who spends his formative years surviving genocide.  But he still finds a way to make his experience meaningful for others by telling his story and organizing survivors.

Welcome to English I!

Welcome to English I!  I am looking forward to our year together!

As you know, blog posts will be a routine assignment in my class.  They will be an opportunity to share and think through our reading, to try out new genres and writing strategies, and to communicate with each other and with me about how our work is going.  Please read the "Blogging Instructions" and "Commenting Instructions" pages on this site for details on how to set up your blog and some overall guidelines.  Also, make sure to review the "Routines" document handed out in class or available on my course website for tips and scoring details.

For this week, you will make two posts, due Monday, 8/19 (you may post any time before the end of that day):

1. A free post.  This is a good opportunity to introduce yourself and your blog, and to discuss your expectations, goals, or concerns about the course, but you may choose another topic if you'd like.

2. A response to your summer reading, either Knife of Never Letting Go, Divergent, or your free choice book.  Remember that a plot summary is not a response.  For examples of responses, look at the "reading response" label (to the right), or read some blogs from last year (see 2012-2013 Blogs, also on the right).  Please add your reading (or coursework) log to this post.  Include any work/reading you did outside of class except vocab and blogging.

Happy Blogging!

Portfolio Reminders / No blogs for 4/29

There are no blog post assignments for 4/29, not even reading details!
No vocabulary for 4/29!

What you do need to do for 4/29: Your Portfolio

• Please review the assignment sheet and rubric, both of which are posted on our course webpage in the "Portfolio" section of downloads
• Don't forget the Analysis of Rhetorical Situation, also posted on the course webpage
• If you are working on conventions or sentence structure (fixing issues such as comma splices and fragments) as one of your two traits of focus, you need to complete the supplemental Conventions/Sentence Structure assignment.  You can email this to me.
• Remember that the Cover Letter and Essay Revision must also be submitted to turnitin.com in MLA format.  Those assignments are posted on turnitin.
• Everything should be posted on a separate page on your blog called "Portfolio," with the cover letter at the top and the remaining items in the order of your choice.  Do not use full names on this page.  It is your responsibility to make sure that this page is posted and visible by the due date/time.  I will not accept "it was a draft" lateness excuses for this assignment; go to your blog and make sure you can find it before you call this done.
• You may email me with submission questions, but please consult the posted documents first.

You also have a commenting assignment this week that will count as two weeks of comments, due Wednesday as usual.  Please comment on two portfolios posted by your classmates.

For 4/22...

Reading Details only!  You may include time spent on your portfolio.

Posts for 4/15

Note: These (or the first post, at least) will be more valuable for you if you do them before the test on Monday.

Reading Details: You may include reading and time spent on your portfolio (including visiting the writing center).

Post 1: Write a poem!  In no less than 15 lines, use a minimum of 3 of the techniques we've been discussing, and identify the techniques at the end.

Your poem can be about anything, but if you need ideas:
- describe an object or place that means something to you with dense imagery
- narrate a memory from childhood
- use figurative language to describe an emotion
- a letter to someone or something
- a list

Post 2: (This could be a poem, too, if you like)  What do you want most in the world?  No greater good / world peace stuff - envision something that would mainly benefit you.  If someone told you you could have that thing (or quality or position or what have you), whatever it is, what would you be willing to do to get it?

Also, think about two characters we've met this year, what they have wanted most in the world, and what they've been willing to do (or believe or accept) in order to get it.


Reading Lunch Exemption: If you attended or led discussion at "The Reading Lunch," you may be exempt from two blog posts any time between now and the end of the year.  You may also split between two weeks, skipping one post each week.  Please post your reading details and a statement that you are using the exemption, along with which discussion you attended.

Posts for 4/8

Post 1: Analyze a Song

For your first post, analyze a song of your choice.  Your analysis should identify the major techniques being used, how those techniques are used, and what effects they have in the poem.  How do these techniques contribute to your overall interpretation of the poem?  Your post should be at least two developed paragraphs in length but may be longer. Make sure to include the song's title, author/artist, and a link to the lyrics.  You may also want to type out any particularly relevant sections (this doesn't count toward the length).

You may choose any song you'd like if it is school-appropriate and the lyrics are available online.  Make sure you choose a song that has poetic devices in it for you to analyze.  End rhyme and a repeated chorus do not count - find a song with other techniques.  Your analysis should identify the techniques being used, how they are used, and what effect they create.  Use one or more of the close reading techniques we have been working on from your handouts to consider aspects of the poem such as tone, theme, diction, speaker, and purpose.  As always, your analysis must be your own, but you may look up any allusions that you need to.

If you are having trouble finding a song, here are a few suggestions:

"I Must Belong Somewhere" by Bright Eyes - Lyrics, Song
"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon - Lyrics, Video
"Dark Turn of Mind" by Gillian Welch - Lyrics and Video (scroll down)
"Love" by Mos Def - Lyrics, Song
"Float" by Aesop Rock - Lyrics and song (scroll down)
"Umbrella" by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Lyrics 

Post 2: Reading response, 2 developed paragraphs, no plot summary!

Reading Details: 150 minutes - be specific with title, author, days, etc.

Don't forget to RSVP for The Reading Lunch!

Also, make schedule an appointment with the Writing Center for this week if you have not already.

Posts for 3/25

Reading Details: Include the new outside reading book you are working on (which you haven't read before and is at your reading level or above) and the time you spent.  You may include reading time required for the two post assignments below.

Post 1: Read this story about Jane Goodall's new book and write a post based on it and your knowledge of plagiarism.  How serious is what Goodall did?  What information do you need to evaluate this situation, and which details provided make the situation more serious or less serious?  How do you think Goodall, her co-author, and the publisher should correct it?  Your post should be a minimum of two paragraphs with five or more sentences per paragraph.

Post 2: Read all comments on all of your major papers so far (literacy narrative, literary analysis, and research paper).  Make sure to look at the in-text comments, summary comments, and the rubric.  Based on these comments and your own assessment of your papers, choose which paper you will revise for your portfolio and which two traits of good writing you will focus on improving in that paper.  In your 2-paragraph post, discuss why you selected that paper and those two traits, using specific examples from the paper and/or comments.

Note that all students will be expected to correct surface errors in papers, so avoid choosing conventions unless conventions are a major, ongoing issue for you and you are prepared to go beyond correcting mistakes.  Also, please avoid general formatting, since your portfolio will ultimately be posted on your blog.

Once you've decided what traits to work on, please make an appointment at the Writing Center through the Writing Center homepage.  You can go during study hall or tutorial.

Blog Posts for 3/18

Reading Details: Include out-of-class time spent on your Nervous Conditions projects and time spent reading.

Post: For a combined, 20-point post, let's open the can of worms.  In a minimum of four paragraphs, make a supported, formal argument about whether Nervous Conditions should be part of the 9th grade syllabus.  This is not a post about whether or not you liked the book.  Instead, focus on what makes it worth reading and teaching, our overall course questions, and our specific questions and goals for this book.  Consider suggesting a different text that you believe would better that raises similar questions and serves similar purposes.

A-Layer Projects Reminder: For the film study and novel comparison, your comparisons and discussion should focus on postcolonial issues and themes that are common across texts.  Do not simply summarize the second text you read or view, or make superficial comparisons.

Reading Lunch Reminder:
For your next outside reading book (which you will need to be reading next week), consider a book that will be discussed at The Reading Lunch, planned for the week after spring break.  Here are the selections:

Sarah - Split - Swati Avasthi

Diamond - Crank - Ellen Hopkins

Terrell - World War Z - Max Brooks

Katherine, Skye - Mortal Instruments Series / City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Maegan - Gone Series - Michael Grant

Emma, Wendy - The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Courtney - Seventeenth Summer - Maureen Daly

Emory - Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexi

Morgan, Cameron - Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Posts for 3/11

Post 1: Chapter seven highlights how different the expectations are for Tambu at the mission and at the homestead.  The differences in these social settings are related in part to Tambu's identities as educated niece/daughter/beneficiary of Babamukuru and rural, poor Shona girl.

Consider how different places and identities in your life create different expectations for how you will act and who you will be.  You might think about home(s), school (including different classes), church, activities you participate in, social circles, or virtual, online environments.  Explain at least two of these places and/or identities and the different expectations they create.

Post 2: Option A: Skip post 2, and instead write a longer, more developed post 1 (minimum 4 full paragraphs),  OR, option B: free post.

Reading Details: Don't forget!

Blogging for 3/4

Reading Details: Include time your spent reading or working on your Nervous Conditions layered project outside of class.  You may count the 10 minutes/day we had in class several days this week only if you were reading the entire time: you were reading when the bell rang and read for the entire 10 minutes with no bathroom or locker trips, etc.

Post 1: You should now have completed the first part of your Nervous Conditions layered project.  Evaluate your work so far.  What adjustments will you make as we move forward with the project and why?  What have the most useful or satisfying and least useful or satisfying assignments been and why?  Note: I expect reflection, responsibility for your learning, and deliberateness here - "I like this assignment because it was easy" is not enough.

Post 2: Write a post in the persona of one of the characters, providing your perspective on the events of the novel so far (you may want to focus on one or two events).

Blogging for 2/25

Congratulations on turning in your research paper! For this week, please post your reading/work details.  No vocab cards or full length blogs.

You may submit your research paper reflection with your paper process materials in class Monday or via your blog by Monday at midnight.


To reflect on your research paper process, please answer these questions/prompts:

1. Summarize your writing process on this paper, pointing out what you found most difficult, most useful, and least useful.  Is there anything you would do differently next time?  Is there anything you think I should do differently next year in preparing students for this assignment?

2. What feedback did you receive (from peers, me, or anyone else), and how did you respond to it?

3. Using the traits of good writing and features of strong research papers, what are the strongest and weakest aspects of your paper?

4. Is there anything else you would like me to know as I read your paper?

Blogging for 2/18

Reading (and paper work) details only again this week.  Note I've also pushed the vocab unit 10 cards back a week.

Have a great break!!!

Blogging for 2/4

Just post your reading/research work details.  Be specific: days, times, and what exactly you worked on or accomplished.

We will be drafting next week, but will have other things going on in class as well.  You should make any changes to your outline or finding any additional sources before Monday so that you will have time to write next week.

Blogging for 1/28

Work on your research!!!  You should be creating notecards with the goal of having a detailed outline prepared from your notes for class on Wednesday.

Reading details: Count your research time spent outside of class (English or History) toward your 150 minutes.  Be specific about what you accomplished and when.

You only need to make one post this week, but it will count as two.  Make sure each paragraph is fully developed and that you address the whole prompt.

Post 1 (20 points): In your first paragraph, explain your research topic and preliminary findings to a friend (or sibling, parent, etc.).  Tell this person why you are interested in this topic and what, specifically, you have learned about it so far in relation to your research question.  This can be informal - try to keep the person's interest and maintain a sense of conversation in your writing.  Try to give a one sentence answer to your research question.

In your second paragraph, explain your topic again more formally, like you might in a paper or a formal class presentation.  Include the same type of information and level of detail--including providing an answer to your research question--but work on more sophisticated word choices and sentence structures.

Posts for 1/22

Posts will be due Tuesday this week due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Reading Details: 150 minutes, include your out-of-class research work, and be specific (e.g. "45 minutes - found, read, and annotated 2 articles")

Post 1: Research update - what you've found, how you see your project shaping up so far, what's been helpful or not, questions or concerns

Post 2: A free post, but it should have a defined topic and use as many of this week's vocab words as possible

Welcome Back! Posts for 1/14

Welcome back, classes!  We jump back in this week with 150 minutes of reading and two blog posts.  Please select a book to begin your second semester with and remember to bring it to class every day.

This week, please post:
- Reading details (dates and times, title and author, pages)
- A reading response post (2 paragraphs)
- A free post! (2 paragraphs, must have a real topic)

You will have 2 comments due Wednesday.  Please remember to comment on a post from your class that has not yet been commented on, and to record your comment in your log.

Have a great week, and happy writing!