Redwood Work (9/19-9/20)

Wednesday (9/19) Block Periods:
American Literature:
1st period: In class, we finished Rainy River and answered a mastery question.  We talked about Blank White Page and every student filled out the Google Form.  We discussed grades, which are available in Edmodo.  The assignments I checked were: Smoke Mastery, Snapshot Mastery, Hero patterning notes, Definition Essay posted to Kidblog, and Photo Essay. 

Language of Humour:
3rd period: In class, we posted to the new Edmodo group (code is 5vexsl) to introduce ourselves to the Forestview Desktop Publishing students.  Then we worked on the Style Alike Essay #1 - finished individual essays, then revised collaboratively.  The essay should be finished and peer-reviewed by the start of class on Friday.
Then we read "Shiner Like a Diamond" in class and looked for the eight elements of humour from our toolkit.  We chose the four most prominent and highlighted them throughout the story.  The eight elements are:
1. Narrator/character who is oblivious to the seriousness of the situation
2. Exaggerated and/or unexpected responses to situations
3. Explicit content
4. Repetition
5. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
6. Irony. Lots of it.
7. Unusual or exaggerated interaction between characters (real or imagined)
8. Lots of vivid description, especially of an object that doesn't seem important or interesting.

The story should be read and patterned by the start of class on Friday.

We also discussed Blank White Page, and the Google Form is due by Friday.

Thursday (9/20) Block Periods:
SAX:

• We started the period in the computer lab to work on the second partner's collaborative essay revision and to start the "Snapshot of a Redwood Learner" task.   
• We checked grades on Edmodo as well.  If you don't have a grade, it's because you didn't complete the Google Form yet, or don't have the work turned in.
• In class, we worked on the Rainy River/Hero at 30,000 Feet Mastery Task.  It consists of three things:

1. Answer this question with three specific examples: "How does Elroy feel about O'Brien's decision?  How do you know?  For this question, you CANNOT use O'Brien's inferences about what Elroy thinks.  Only what he says/does."
2. Turn in your notes for Hero from the video and from class on Tuesday.
3. Answer this question: "What do all of these texts have in common?

"Snapshot of a Modern Learner"
"Smoke in Our Lights"
"Hero at 30,000 Feet:
"On the Rainy River"
The following due dates are important to know about:

• The mastery task for Hero/RR is due on Friday at the start of class
• The collaborative revision for your essay is due (posted as a comment to your original essay on kidblog) by the end of the day on Friday
• The Snapshot of a Redwood Learner is due in class on Thursday, 27 September
• The first BWP project is due in class on October 3rd

American Literature:

• We watched this video, and talked about the difference between group work and collaboration.  There was a written task that went along with it too.
• In class, we worked on the Rainy River/Hero at 30,000 Feet Mastery Task.  It consists of three things:

1. Answer this question with three specific examples: "How does Elroy feel about O'Brien's decision?  How do you know?  For this question, you CANNOT use O'Brien's inferences about what Elroy thinks.  Only what he says/does."
2. Turn in your notes for Hero from the video and from class on Tuesday.
3. Answer this question: "What do all of these texts have in common?

"Snapshot of a Modern Learner"
"Smoke in Our Lights"
"Hero at 30,000 Feet:
"On the Rainy River"
The following due dates are important to know about:

• The mastery task for Hero/RR is due on Friday at the start of class
• The collaborative revision for your essay is due (posted as a comment to your original essay on kidblog) by the end of the day on Friday
• The Snapshot of a Redwood Learner is due in class on Thursday, 27 September
• The first BWP project is due in class on October 3rd

We will be meeting in Classroom 2020 on Friday, and you will have some time to work on the colla


Language of Humour:
We started by doing this warm-up.

Then we read Shiner Like a Diamond (see me to get a copy, as it is not online) by David Sedaris and watched Imaginationland (South Park - #3 on that list) and applied our Humour Toolkit.  We revised the toolkit based on the humour in the Sedaris piece and South Park episode.

We also discussed Blank White Page, and the Google Form is due by Friday.