Dear beloved 8-1 section...

My apologies for this not being up exactly "one minute after school." I'm sure you'll find it in your merry hearts to forgive me!

Here is the link to the "ways to phrase questions" handout that I was not able to print out for you today. Click here (file name: ways to phrase questions)

Gerunds as Subjects/Subject Complements

Let's review.

Write 3 entertaining sentences that have a subject complement.
Write 3 entertaining sentences that have a direct object.
HINT: "be" verbs and linking verbs=subject complements
           action verbs=direct objects

BONUS:
Identify a participle on this blog post so far.

GERUNDS AS SUBJECTS: helpful hints

A gerund phrase will include everything starting from the gerund to the verb (action or state of being) of the subject.

GERUNDS AS SUBJECT COMPLEMENTS: helpful hints

When a gerund phrase is the subject complement, it will appear after a "be" or linking verb. REMEMBER: just because a word ends in -ing does not mean it is a gerund. Exhibit A: the word "thing"

Dangling Participles, Gerunds, Vocab

What's wrong  with this sentence?

Carrying a heavy pile of books, his foot got caught on a step.



Carrying a heavy pile of books, he caught his foot on a step.

Please work together to complete workbook page 65 B.



Verbs can also be used as nouns. A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that is used as a noun.

Swimming can help improve lung capacity.

A gerund phrase  may include a direct object and modifiers.

Riding an old rusty bike is dangerous.


HW: 1.  65 A
         2. Scan your book for 3 possible vocab words and write them in your notebook

Participle Poems (updated with homework)

The raging storm, replete with freezing rain,

Crashed upon my window pane.

Slipping and sliding upon concrete,

I became insecure, a retired athlete.

A known fact of life is that all things must pass.

And I’ll be as I was: a warm purring cat.

Your task:

1. Come up with three different phrases that include a present or past participle (raging storm, burning log) (2 minutes)

      -Can't think of any? Think of any verb in its infinitive form: to swim, to bark, to kick, to cry, to break, to injure. Then add an -ed, -n, -en for past participle, or -ing for present participle: swimming, barking, kicking, crying, broken, injured. Now add any noun after your participle. There it is!

2.  Pass your three phrases to your right

3. Come up with an original poem, that includes all three participial phrases.

HW: 1. workbook page 63 and 64 A
         2. Bring book for book club tomorrow. You may bring e-readers if that is most convenient to you.
NOTE: Please don't read ahead of schedule without first consulting all group members. You are to experience the book as a group. This will not be possible if one or two members read ahead.

-Mr. B.

Important Book Club Reminders

On Monday, you will have 2 minutes, and only 2 minutes to complete your contracts for this project. You must know the book and its page length in order to complete this.

***Your books must be in class by Tuesday, December 18. That gives you Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to either ask if I have a copy, get one from the public library, buy it yourself, or ask a family member or friend if they have a copy. Bringing your book to class on book club days is part of your participation grade. Being unprepared will negatively affect your group discussion grade.

Free Style Friday- The Singer Solution to World Poverty

Dickens's Christmas Carol  deals with our moral and social responsibility to the poor. Read this article by controversial philosopher Peter Singer.

Once you're done reading, what are your reactions to his ideas on how to solve poverty? Do you agree or disagree?

Prompts for Singer article:

Do believe Americans are obsessed with luxury? Explain

Do you agree with the author’s argument? Why or why not?

Does this article make you feel guilty? Explain

Verbals

Verbals: a verb that can turn into a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

There are three types of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

We're going to start with participles.

Participles: a verb that can be used as an adjective or an adverb--as an adjective, it modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun. As an adverb, it modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Present participle verbs end in -ing. The raging storm destroyed several houses.
Past participle verbs end in -ed:The defeated army trudged back to base.

Book Club

Over the next 4 weeks, you will participate in a semi-independent reading project with 3 or 4 of your classmates. Each week you will you have two opportunities to discuss the readings. These discussions will be monitored and given a grade.

Aside from the weekly discussions, you will occasionally have to provide written "check-ins." These will come in several forms, but will often require some summary work.

Midway through Book Club, you will be providing a short presentation to the rest of your class aimed at creating an interest in your book. This can either be a reenactment of an important scene, a talk show interview with a few of the characters, a formal presentation, or anything your group deems necessary to create a classwide interest in what you're reading.

During this project, you will be keeping track of vocabulary you come across that is unfamiliar to. Eventually, we will be making a list of vocab words compiled from your own personal lists. This list will contribute to vocabulary activities and instruction.
The final project project will be a creative work of your own choosing that ties in your special talents/interests. More details on this a bit later.

Some suggestions for your book club:

Animal Farm- George Orwell
Lord of the Flies-William Golden
The Westing Game- Ellen Raskin
Stargirl-Jerry Spinelli
Speak-Laurie Halse Anderson
The Giver- Lois Lowry


Your group may select a book that is not on this list. Please keep in mind:
1. The book must be new to everyone in the group
2. The book should be of an 8th grade reading level or higher
3. I must approve of the book by Friday, December 14 (so have a backup plan just in case your book doesn't get the green light)

Check out this website to research your books. Click here
HW:
Research three books that interest you. By Friday, you must decide with your group members what book you'll be reading. During that class, you will also create your reading expectations (i.e. the amount of pages read by the end of each week), so you must know the specific page length of your book.

Books must be in class by Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Mini Lesson on MLA Formatting/Heading

Please write the following in your notebooks.

Essay requirements/format
1.  Include a thoughtful, creative title that reflects your main idea. This must be centered.
2. Type in 12 pt. font, Times New Roman
3. Double Spacing
4. 1 inch margins, all around
5. Your last name, followed by the page number in the top right hand corner (*I will show you)
6. Correctly formatted in text citations: (Douglass 2).
7. A Work Cited page

Your heading must include the following (put a space between each one):
1. Your name
2. Teacher
3. Class
4. Date: Day Month Year (no commas)

This is located in the top left-corner of your paper.
FOR EXAMPLE, CLICK HERE: (file name: Formatting and Heading Example)
It should look like this:

Bob N. Furapples

Mr. Misses

ELA

10 December 2012

ESSAY DUE DATES (be sure you pay attention to the class section):
8-1, 8-4: Final Essay is due Tuesday, Dec. 11
8-2, 8-3, 8-5, 8-6: Final essay is due Thursday, Dec. 13

Mini Lesson: Conclusion

Hello, team! I figured I would provide y'all with the Conclusion notes, just in case you were absent in class (or take sloppy notes!):

In your Concluding paragraph, you should do the following:

1. Reiterate or summarize your thesis/main point
2. Explain why the ideas you presented are important or necessary when you consider Douglass's purpose or audience.

Some advice: You chose your examples. You chose the rhetorical devices you discussed in your essay. You chose how the paper would be organized (the order and presentation of ideas). Most importantly, you chose your thesis statement and the general topics to focus on. Your paper is original and very much a reflection of your own experience with the narrative. Your conclusion, therefore, should address why your paper accurately represents what Douglass was trying to accomplish by writing this slave narrative.

HW: First draft complete by Monday, typed!

Side Note: To the students who feel lost, confused, or even a little unsure with any aspect of this essay, I've been making myself available during lunch so I can address your concerns. We are reaching the due date for this assignment, and it would be in your best interest to set up a conference with me if you're struggling. 

Mini Lesson- In Text Citations and Works Cited

In text citations: After you quote a text, you need to give a parenthetical reference. Usually, this would include the author's name and the page number where the text usually appears: (Douglass 45). Note: no commas, no mention of the word "page," and the punctuation mark comes after the closed parenthesis.

 If you include an author's name in a sentence, you need not repeat the name  in the parenthetical page citation that follows:

As Douglass points out, "The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart" (14).

Versus

It is argued that "The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart" (Douglass 14).

We are going to do something a little different, given that we aren't working with page numbers (unfortunately!). Use the chapter number instead.


Work Cited page:

Author's name. Title of the Book. Publication information.

Author's name:  Reverse the author's name for alphabetizing purposes: Franke Damon= Damon, Franke.

Title of Book: State the full title of the book, capitalizing the first letter of "important" words (leave the first letter of words like "the", "a", "an", "of" and "and" in lower case, unless it is the first word of the title ). Place a period after the entire title.

Publication information: In general, give the city of publication, the publisher's name, the year of publication, and the form (if it's from a book, the form is "print"). All this information is usually found in the first couple of pages, most likely the copyright page--you know, that page with all the small print.

Use a colon between the city of publication and the publisher (this is usually a company or office).

Place a comma between the publisher and the date of publication, and a period after the date. Add the form, followed by a period.

Example:

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Group, 1967. Print.

HW:
1.Type intro and body paragraphs one and two. (If you want to complete the essay, knock yourself out)
2. Circle a section you want me to look at (intro, body paragraph 1, or body paragraph 2)

Back to IREEC!!!

But first let's look at those intro paragraphs

Does the writer have a good hook that relates to their topic?

Is background information there? Is it appropriate?

Is the thesis well-developed?

Does the speaker explain why their thesis matters?




Then IREEC!

HW: Complete a draft of your first body paragraph (in IREEC format)

Mini Lesson #2: Introductory Paragraph

In a literary essay, the writer tries to prove that an idea, or a thesis, is true. This all begins in a land called. . . THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

The first sentence in your introduction, called the hook, is a broad, general sentence about the topic or theme of your paper, intended to hook your audience in.

Ways to write a hook
1. Start with a question
2. Start with a shocking fact or idea (but please avoid the cliche: "Did you know...")
3. Start with an image--be descriptive
4. Describe an idea that is relevant to your topic (i.e. the idea of education, the idea of equality, the idea of corruption, the idea of freedom, etc.)

      Then provide some background information about the story. For example, Who is the main character? What is the main problem or conflict in the story? Any other characters that are important? Should we know anything about the setting? In a non-fiction work of literature, you especially want to pay close attention to Audience and Purpose of the author.

Next, state your thesis (your main argument).Your thesis sentence must include the title and author of the book.  (i.e. In Douglass's Narrative, he argues/shows/reveals/describes/exposes/demonstrates_______in order to_________
Your thesis should have a "what" and a "why" (Douglass does this (what), in order to do this (why)  

In other words, your thesis should answer this question: What does Douglass argue/reveal/demonstrate/explain, and why does he do it?

*After your thesis statement, you may want to include a sentence that explains the importance of your thesis--what are the costs of not knowing this information? This will give you something to return to in your Concluding Paragraph.

HW: DRAFT AN INTRO PARAGRAPH.  For the outline of an introductory paragraph, click here and select the file: Outline For Intro Paragraph.

Maniac Monday

It’s time to get a little crazy. It is my belief that if you’re ever going to produce something valuable, you have to go a little insane in the process. No rules, no long moments of contemplation, just rapid fire thinking by writing.

Please number your points of interest, one through six, on your chart. Begin trying to think in terms of body paragraphs—how might you divide up your evidence into three body paragraphs.

-Start jotting down similarities between ideas/rhetorical devices

-What patterns do you notice about your points of evidence or the rhetorical devices you looked at

-What interests you about the work you collected

-Develop charts, lists, webs that will help you break down the ideas you want to explore

Some of your evidence might not work as you get a clearer sense of the direction you’re going in. That’s okay. Get rid of it.  Dive back into the text and sniff around for evidence that will support your claims.