Wednesday, November 1 ~ I'm sad to see the POO go....

Let's take a survey to help Ms. Fenwick's students.


WORD PARTS

• Prefix
• port - carry
• post - after
• Root 
• tele - far
• grad, gress - step, go

GRAMMAR

• In your Grammar Section, please record both subject and verb for Bedford Section 21-2 (a-e & 1-5)

POO

• Discuss Ch.15
• Any questions about projects?

HW: Study for your Word Parts & Grammar Quiz on Block.

Tuesday, October 31 ~ Happy Halloween!

WORD PARTS

Prefix

• ped - foot
• peri - around

 Root 

• pedo - child
• phil - love

Let's take a survey to help Ms. Fenwick's students.

GRAMMAR

• In your Grammar Section, please record both subject and verb for Bedford Section 21-1 (a-e & 1-5)

POO

• Discuss Ch.14
• Take a looksie at projects here.

HW: Finish the book tonight! For Journal 25, write a short reaction to the book. Do you believe that Bryce Courtenay was successful in creating a book to inspire South Africa to maintain its true identity as a unified country of equality? 

• 

Power of One ~ Final Project

The Power of One

Final Project Options

* * *

Your assignment is to complete a combination of the following projects (your choice) that will total 50 points. 

Note: If you have an idea for an assignment that is not included on 
this list, email or talk to me for approval.

* * *

50 Point Assignments

• Four Letters: Write a series of letters between two main characters in the novel who might have written to one another during the course of the entire novel. (To gain full credit, you must include at least four one-page letters.)

• Fine Art: Create one large or several small high quality pieces of art about the novel. These cannot be on poster board or printer paper. They must be of higher quality. Be sure to include the major themes and/or characters.  These should be accompanied by written pieces explaining them.  

•  Cooked Points: Prepare a signature dish from South Africa, possibly a Dutch or Zulu flavor. Be able to present about why the people ate these types of foods due to their customs, demographics or geographical locations. Then prepare one dish with enough food to serve our class of 24 people. Don't forget to bring napkins, and whatever we need to eat it...like plates, forks, etc...

•      Sound Track: Select 10 songs or write ten songs that you feel say something about the theme, mood, characters or settings of the novel. Turn in a written play list with the artist, title and a brief description of why you chose each song. Be prepared to host a quick listening party in class, letting us sample each song and explaining why you chose each one.

• My Music/Poetry:  Perform an original composition, song or spoken word related to a theme or character from our book. 
• Character Come True: Come to school "in character" (that means attire and personality) for one of the characters besides Peekay. Prepare to give a 3-5 minute performance in which you tell your side of the story and give us a chance to ask you a couple of questions about your experience.

• Alternate Ending: Write a new ending for the story, a new adventure for the main character, or the beginning of a sequel. Keep the same first-person narrator. This should be 900-2100 words.

• Bible Theme: What is your personal power of one? Consider the passage in Ephesians 4:3-6. Then write a two page essay comparing the meaning behind the scripture with the meaning found in several passages in the novel. How are these passages similar or contrasting in meaning? What is the power of one offered by Jesus? What does that mean for you? (Personal pronouns are okay for this writing.)

25 Point Assignments

• Character Quotes: Select a character from the book.  Then select ten quotations from the text that you feel reveals the character’s personality.  You must explain what each quotation/sentence tells you about the character.  You must also tell which page the quotation/sentence came from.

• Story Bag:  Put together a bag that contains at least ten items that would be useful to or significant to a character in your novel.  Include a description of each item and its relevance to the story.

• Bio Research: Research the author of the novel. How much of the story is really fiction or autobiographical for Courtenay? What parts of his life could have inspired the themes from our text?  You should also include the names of other books that s/he has written, what awards/honors s/he has received. What themes are explored in his other books? Create a powerpoint slideshow to teach us your findings. This must be in your own words.

The Power of One

Rubric

	A	B	C	D
Understanding	This project shows that you really understand the events, characters and deeper themes of the book.	This project shows that you have a clear understanding of the events and ideas in the book	This project shows that you generally understand the events and meaning in the book.	This project shows that you may have misread or were somewhat confused about the story.
Interest Level	This product explicitly reveals an insight that is personally significant that you’ve gained beyond the text.	This product adequately reveals an insight that is meaningful and/or significant from our text.	This product shows that you grasp something interesting or meaningful in the text.	This project is really more of a summary of some part of the novel, rather than an insight.
Quality	This product is beautiful, creative and inspiring.	This product is clean and shows care.	This product has a few problems or errors.	The errors/issues are distracting from the meaning behind the product.
Presentation	You shared this with the class confidently and thoughtfully, thinking through all the details.	You shared this with the class clearly.	You shared this with the class nervously or without thinking through all the details.	Your presentation was hard to understand or hear.

     

Monday, October 30 ~ POOped

Prefix

• olig - few
• pater - father

Root

• arch - chief, first, rule
• cide, cise - cut down, kill

POO

• Discuss Ch.13 & J23
• How is it a force of evil when the picture is taken? 
• Describe the system of the black market.
• Why do you think Courtenay included the character, Miss Bernstein? 
• What can you gather about the legend that is developing around Peekay? 

GRAMMAR

• Finish Notes on 21g-21k
• EQ: Which rule are you most likely to mistakenly break? 

HW: Read Ch.14 & be ready for a reading quiz.
Journal 24: From Chapter 14, record two quotes that you believe are thematically significant. Briefly explain what each one reveals about the meaning of the book. 

Block Day, October 26-27 ~ Last Fishbowl!

Want to be part of an experiment? Click here.

WORD PARTS

• Prefix
• mortis - death
• nomen - name
• Root
• phage - eat
• pop - people

GRAMMAR (We must watch our time to leave an hour for the fishbowl.)

• In the Grammar section of your journal, take brief notes about the mishaps that can cause problems with Subject/Verb Agreement (21a-k). 
• Then record answers to Exercise 21-1 a-e in your journal. 

POO

• Last Fishbowl! Group three is on!

HW: Read Ch.13 & complete J23.

Journal 23:

1. Explain the legend about Peekay that is developing among the prisoners.

2. Explain the multiple layers of significance around the photograph.

3. Why do you believe that Courtenay included Ms. Bornstein in the story? 

Tuesday, October 24 ~ POO Ch. 11

WORD PARTS

• Prefix
•  mitt, miss - send
•  mono - one, single
• Root
•  poly - many
•  poli - city

POO

• What does Geel Piet teach us about Africans? the prison system?
• How does Peekay (with his helpers) help bring justice without overhauling the prison system?
• What do you think it means to be the "tadpole angel"?
• What do you think of Geel Piet's advice on avoiding bullies? Would you give that advice to your son? 

HW: Read Ch.12 (Continue accumulating questions to bring to the Fishbowl on block day).

Group 3, be ready to lead on Block Day. I won't see you before then! Good luck on the PSAT.

Monday, October 23 ~ EQ: How fast can you read?

Prefix

• meter - measure
• micro - small

Suffix

• ure - state of, act, process, rank
• ward - in the direction of
• y - inclined to, tend to  
• Suffix list is officially complete!

POO

• What conclusions can you draw from Doc's explanation of religion and God?
• Chapter 10 questions/thoughts.

SPEED READING...since PSATs are on Wednesday, let's try out some quick reading tips here.

HW: Journal 22 ~ Read Ch.11 and record two discussion questions.

Block Day, October 19 & 20 ~ Second Fishbowl

Word Parts

• Prefix
• macro - large
• mania - obssession
• Suffix
• some - like, apt, tending to
• tude - state of, condition of
• Root
• alt(us) - high, deep

Roots Quiz #3 Returned

Oral Quiz on Chs. 8 & 9

Fishbowl #2

In honor of the late, great Morgan Freeman as Geel Piet.

HW: Read Ch. 10 & do J21.

Journal 21: For chapter ten please.

• Make a list of the new characters so that you don't get confused.
• Explain what Doc's "wolves" were and how they can be gone now (last line of Ch.10).
• Explain what societal significance is riding on the concert for all participants.

Wednesday, October 18 ~ EQ: When can you come see me for your edits?

Word Parts
Prefix

• liber - free, book
• locus - place

Suffix

• ous - full of, having
• ship - state of, office, quality

Root

• ag, agi, ig, act - do, move, go

Discuss Essay Editing Process

Finally! Fishbowl #1: Second Session

HW: Read Ch. 9 and prepare for Fishbowl #2 and a possible quiz.

Tuesday, October 17 ~ Articulate little fishies!

Word Parts

Prefix

• legis - law
• lexis - word

Suffix

• nomy - law
• oid - resembling

Root

• aster, astr - star

Journal 20

• Review your J3. What writing goals did you have at the beginning of the year? Now look over your Apartheid/Mandela essays. What goals have you met? What will you add or continue working toward? How. Record at least four areas of strength and/or weaknesses. 

**In the case that there is a sub, please spend this class working on your essay edits.  That's right, as long as you can present the original next to the new, I will give you up to ten points back on your grade. Keep that graded essay! We can hold the fishbowl on Wednesday.

Fishbowl #1: Second Session

HW: Read Ch.8. Be prepared for a wee small oral reading quiz.

Monday, October 16 ~ First with the head, then with the heart...

WORD PARTS
Prefix

• im, in - not
• inter - between

Suffix

• ment - act of, state of, result
• ness - state of

Root

• aug, auc - increase 

POO ~ Discuss Ch.6 in small groups

• What social skills does Hoppie teach Peekay? 
• This chapter is full of thematic quotes. Read us one and describe its meaning.
• How does finding "an equalizer" compare to using "camouflage"?
• What is Hoppie's lasting affect on Peekay's identity? 
• What questions will you bring to the discussion tomorrow? 

HW: Read Ch.7 and prepare for Socratic Fishbowl tomorrow. Group 1, you will be leading again for this short session, but all may participate of course! 

Block Day, October 11 & 12 ~ EQ: Will I see your parents at the conferences?

Roots Quizze #3

• When you finish the quiz, review Chapter 5 and make sure J18 is complete. If this is done, feel free to start working on the homework - J19: Write two discussion questions for Ch.6.

EQ: What is a Socratic Fishbowl? Click here for an explanation.

• Group 1 will lead this Tuesday, October 17 
• Group 2 will lead on Block Day, October 19 & 20
• Group 3 will lead on Block Day, October 26 & 27

Per. 1

G1 - Marisa, Terrell, Nasim, Lauren H., Ty, Kaylin, Megan S.

G2 - Summer, Sophia, Madison, Joshua, Aiden, Jai, Nate, Ariana

G3 - Megan C., Byron, William, Lauren G., Ryann, Brenyn, Kristina

Per. 3

G1 - Sophie, Elise, Emily, Stefan, Joshua, Barb, Blake

G2 - Joshua C., Taylor, Bryce, Jacob, Tiffy, Allie, Clairey

G3 - Nathan, Andres, Will, Sarah, Alayna, Erin, Maddie, Kendal

Per. 5
G1 - Kaitlyn, Cameron, Carly, Joelle, Katy S., Nathaniel, Alison
G2 - Megan C., Tyler, Taylore, Jordan, Rachelle, Katelyn W., Reed
G3 - Ethan, Jack, Austin, Morgan, Mia, Abby, Grace

Per. 6
G1 - Jade, Lukas, Allison, Chris, Espe, Alex, Elizabeth, Justin T.
G2 - Josiah, Delaney, Matt, Maddy, Frank, Justin N., Estelle
G3 - Mackenzie, Emily, Justin M., Chimay, Anthony, Daphne, Taylor

HW: Journal 19 - Write two discussion questions for Ch.6

Tuesday, October 10 ~ Essays Due!

Dearest Students,
Thank you so much for all of your hard work on these essays. Please turn in your hard copies to our substitute.

Today will be a quiet work day. Please complete these tasks:

1. Get your essay onto turnitin.com. Click here for the codes again.
2. Read Chapter 5 
3. Complete Journal 18: After reading Ch.5, please compose three discussion questions about our novel. You may expand the topic toward Apartheid research or explore deeper themes within the novel. Either way, your questions should invoke interesting discussion that students in our class have the knowledge/life experience to discuss.

Monday, October 9 ~ Rough Drafts Due!

Before we begin the peer-editing process, here are a couple of helps:

• A bit of extra help with parenthetical citations (Like, what if I don't have an author?). 
• The Rubric
• Example Essay

Peer Editing Check list:

• Heading, header & title
• Intro paragraph- Interesting hook? Clear thesis?
• Body paragraphs- TIED structure? organized with topic sentences that match thesis?
• Sweet critical thinking? Could this paper be more interesting or better proven?
• Evidence-Is every quote relevant and powerfully used? Correctly cited in the text? 
• Conclusion- Is this essay well resolved? Is there a meaningful end beyond the summary? (Could do a call to action or a bridge to something today.)
• Are these citations up to speed with MLA format? Are the alphabetized by first letter? Drop indented? 

HW: Polish and print this beast! It is due tomorrow as a hard copy. (If your world has been rocked by this new no-printing life, email me a copy as a pdf or shared google doc.)

Block Day, October 5&6 ~ TIE them in for a well-informed thesis

Prefix

• idios - one's own
• in - in

Suffix

• logy - study, science, theory
• ly - like, manner of

Root

• fin - end, ended, finished

GRAMMAR

• Click here for some parallel structure practice.
• Now double check your thesis for parallel structure.

ESSAY PREP

• Journal 17: Please record notes on the TIE Method.
• EQ: How can I incorporate quotes in a fluid way that uses the quote to build momentum rather than in a way that interrupts the text of my essay? 

TIE METHOD = Tag it, Introduce it, or Embed it.
• TAG: Tag the context to the end of the quote.
• Example: "But Rooineks [the British] are not designed to be permanent heroes," mentioned Peekay as he realized that his stitches would not bring him lasting respect (37).
• Introduce: Introduce the context of the quote to lead into the text.
• Example: After Peekay faked his falling out of the tree, he reflected: "But Rooineks are not designed to be permanent heroes" (37).
• Embed: Embed the quote inside of the context sentence.  
• Example: Peekay reflected that "Rooineks are not designed to be permanent heroes" as he realized that his troubles with the Judge were far from finished (37).

• Punctuation Notes: Notice in the Tag section that [the British] was added for clarity. You may add words for clarity within a quote by using the brackets too. Also, notice that the introduced quote can use a colon because the first sentence before the colon is a complete sentence and introduces the next. 
• Activity...Write a quote down and pass it around...only three methods to TIE it up now!

If we have time, we should play flyswatter tag.

HW: Complete your rough draft by Monday. (Word Parts Quiz on Tuesday.)

• Here is a link for the three master lists (Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots)
• Some check points for the essay:
• Don't forget to parenthetically cite your quotes and include a Works Cited page.
• Don't forget to use a CAB thesis,
• and TIED paragraphs
• and the TIE method for integrating quotes.
• Do your best with MLA but we will proofread these on Monday. 

Wednesday, October 4 ~ May your paragraphs be TIED to your thesis

Prefix

• idem - the same
• ideo - idea

Suffix

• ize, ise - make
• ive - causing making

Root

• pend, pensive, pond - hang, weigh

Journal 16: TIED Paragraph Notes & Practice
Using one of the topics from your thesis, write your first body paragraph. 

Topic Sentences	T: The topic sentences lets the reader know what your subject is and what you are going to prove.  Never use "I" or talk about the essay/paragraph in this sentence. Always include a key word that correlates to the list in your thesis.
Introduce Evidence	I: After the topic sentence, you should introduce  the context of your evidence (or quote).
Evidence          (this could be a quote           or logical reasoning)	E: In a Literary Response essay (the type we are working on), this is the quote that demonstrates your point.
Discuss (aka commentary)	D: You must discuss how the evidence is important in proving your assertion from the thesis. Always button up your evidence on the thesis...never let your evidence speak for itself.

To incorporate more evidence, repeat the IED portions...TIEDIED or for a large body paragraph TIEDIEDIED. Extra Discussion sentences are good too.

HW: Cite your last article (#5) and write at least one body paragraph. (You should move over to a Pages document if you haven't yet.)

Tuesday, October 3 ~ CAB Thesis Apartheid Style

WORD PARTS

• Prefix
• hetero - mixed, unlike
• homo - same, alike

• Suffix
• ite - nature of, quality of, mineral product
• ity, ty - state of, quality
• Root
• cap, cip, cept - take 

RESEARCH/ESSAY SKILLS

• Journal 15: Write a CAB style thesis in response to your research question.

EQ: What makes a good thesis?

For starters: Are these Strong Thesis Statements?

1. My essay is about the lesson on greed in Midas. 
2. The myth, Midas, has a great lesson about disaster, greed and people!
3. While greed is universally known to lead to disaster, Midas is one Greek myth that shows the painful effects of greed on the individual, the family, and society. (Note the parallel structure.)

How do you write a STRONG Thesis Statement?
      *In this case, strong means clear and specific.

1st -Figure out the prompt question.
         
2nd - Answer the question.  
  The "Assert" section is the most basic part of your answer.

       Contest
                   Although the Greek heroes were often demigods and quite selfish,
          Assert
                   they do have some major similarities with the typical modern hero
          Because
                    because they share the traits of self-sacrifice, loyalty and courage.

Example: Practice Prompt: What is the best advice for a young teen about fighting?

3rd - Check it.

• Did I take a debatable position? No Summary!!!
• Is my thesis specific enough? Avoid general words. For example, if you contain words like "good" or "successful," then state what makes it good or specifically what the standard for success is.
• Does it pass the "So What?" test? If not, you may need to clarify, connect your ideas to a larger issue, or narrow your topic down somehow. 
• Does my thesis match my body paragraphs? If the topics of your body paragraphs do not match your thesis, then one of them has to change. It is ok to change your thesis. This often happens as your write and think more deeply about a topic. For this reason, many people write the introduction to the essay last. 

For more help, go to this website.
For more practice, go to this website.

POWER OF ONE

• Read as much of Chapter 4 as we can in class. 

HOMEWORK

• Find and cite a fourth article and record any quotes that may be of use in your essay. (These would best be kept in a Pages document.)

Monday, October 2 ~ EQ: Did the citation format stick?

WORD PARTS

RIP Granpa Chook

• Prefix
• geo - earth
• graph - write, record
• Suffix
• ism - system, manner, condition, characteristic
• ist - one who, that which
• Root
• psych - mind, soul

"The great drought was over, the inside
man was out, the rains had come to Zululand" (52). 

POWER OF ONE

• Discuss Chapter 3 (J14)

RESEARCH

• Share your research question with a neighbor. Explain how your article answered your question. Ask the partner to check your citation and ask for help if you both are stuck on a detail of MLA. 

HOMEWORK

• Tonight, find and cite one more article that contributes information in answering your research question. Time to up the ante though.... Go back to the last two articles and again to the third, this time highlighting one or two lines from each article that may be worth quoting in your future essay. Add this citation to Journal 13 (You'll have five articles by block day).