TU FUI EGO ERIS
Week of 5/23/16 - 5/27/166/2/2016 This was our final week of onsite classes. Firstly, we had an in-class writing assignment to finish up with I, Robot. Students chose one prompt from a list (attached below) and wrote a full page response. It was due by the end of class. On Friday, I handed out your homework to be completed at home over the next two weeks. It is attached below. Then, we watched a movie to celebrate the completion of the school year. A full-credit grade has been put into Engrade as though you have completed the final two-weeks' assignments. If you do not complete it by the due date, your grade will drop.
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LA MESA ONLY: Week of 5/2/16 - 5/6/165/11/2016 On Wednesday, I collected the final drafts of your argumentative essays. The rest of the week, we focused on science fiction. We actually began by looking at an intriguing bit of science fact consisting of mysterious radio signals received from space. Remember, the work of a science fiction author is to look at what we know about science and the universe and to speculate about what we don't know. We began with a video introducing the topic: http://www.universetoday.com/122409/what-was-the-wow-signal/ Next, in groups, students read two articles on recent discoveries regarding these radio signals. The articles are located in the resources section of my website. After reading the articles, students wrote in response to the following questions: What is an FRB? What are the 2-3 most important things you learned about FRBs in the article that you read? What do you think is the most reasonable explanation for FRBs? Next, we began a piece of speculative science fiction writing on the topic of these radio signals. The prompt for the writing piece is also located in the resources section of my site. The completed writing piece is due next class. On Friday, students shared their short science fiction writing pieces. Then, we focused on the popular science fiction concept of time travel. We read an article on the theoretical possibility of traveling through time. Next, we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, which covered some of the common problems that occur in fictional time travel scenarios. Link to the video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3lpfgi The video response questions are attached below. Homework: We will not be having onsite classes the next two weeks due to standardized testing. Over these next two weeks, please finish reading the novel I, Robot. Then, complete two books projects for I, Robot from the list attached below. Lastly, read and complete the response questions for the following news article: http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/want-to-know-what-facebook-really-thinks-of-journalists/
This week, we began with a peer critique of the rough drafts of your argumentative essays. Your final drafts of the argumentative essays are due next Tuesday. On Thursday, we focused on the popular science fiction concept of time travel. We read an article on the theoretical possibility of traveling through time. Then, we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, which covered some of the common problems that occur in fictional time travel scenarios. Link to the video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3lpfgi The video response questions are attached below. If you did not finish the video response questions in class, please finish them by next Tuesday.
LA MESA ONLY: Week of 4/18 - 4/224/22/2016 This week we continued with our science fiction unit and our argumentative essays. On Wednesday, we looked into the subject of artificial intelligence (AI). We began with a quickwrite: 1. What do you currently know about artificial intelligence? 2. What movies, TV shows, or books have you seen or read that involve artificial intelligence? 3. Do you think developing advanced artificial intelligence is a good idea? Why, or why not? After discussing these questions, we watched a video on recent advances in AI. Here is the link: After the video, I handed out some questions to answer and discuss. They are as follows:
There was no additional homework from this class. See the post from last week for the homework due Friday. _____________________ On Friday, I collected the homework for chapter 2 of I, Robot. Then, we had a peer critique session on the rough drafts of the argumentative essays. Your Homework for next week (meeting week) is to complete the final draft of your argumentative essay and to read to page 111 in I, Robot. Week of 4/11/16 - 4/15/164/19/2016 This week, we began our class novel, I Robot, and we continued working on the argumentative essays. The homework from the first class this week was to read chapter 1 of I, Robot and complete the response questions for the chapter (attached below). In the second class of this week, I went over some important aspects of argumentative essay writing (resources attached below). Then I went over your homework. Homework 4/14 - 4/15 If you are a Chula Vista student: By the time you return to classes (May 3rd), complete the rough draft of your argumentative essay. Also, read to page 111 in I, Robot, and complete one of the book projects from the list attached below. If you are a La Mesa student: By next Friday, read chapter 2 of I, Robot, and complete the attached response questions. Also, complete your rough draft of your argumentative essay by next Friday.
Week of 4/4/16 - 4/8/164/12/2016 This week, we began working on argumentative essays. First, we went over the remaining pages of the "ethos, pathos, and logos" packet (handed out before meeting week). Next, I gave out the assignment sheet and grading rubric for the argumentative essay. I also gave out an outline template to be completed before beginning the rough draft. Over the course of this week, we completed steps 1-5 according to the assignment sheet. All resources are attached below.
Week of 3/14/16 - 3/18/163/18/2016 This week, we focused on the concepts of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. These concepts are often referred to as rhetorical strategies. We will be using them when writing our upcoming argumentative essays (which we will begin after spring break). To study these concepts, we used the packet attached below. The completed packet is due on our first day back from spring break. Have a wonderful break!
Week of 3/7/16 - 3/11/163/14/2016 This week consisted of a focused unit on using quotes to support ideas in an essay. We began our study by practicing with a fictional piece of writing, "The Necklace," by Guy De Maupassant. We used this text as though we were writing a character analysis essay on the characters in this story. The worksheet template is attached at the bottom of this post. The object of our practice was to find quotes that revealed a significant trait of one of the main characters (like we did in our recent character analysis essays), then generate a claim from the quote, introduce the quote, and write an explanation to tie the quote to the claim. Here is an example: I selected the following quote: “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her” (Maupassant 1). Then, using this quote to fill out the worksheet: Your claim: Madame Loisel is dissatisfied with her lot in life, and feels that she was born for a better life than the one she is living. Introduce and present a quote that supports your claim: The author gives an example of Madame Loisel’s dissatisfaction when he writes, “She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her” (Maupassant 1). Explain how the quote supports your claim: From this moment early on in the story, Madame Loisel is shown to be unhappy with her financial situation and her living conditions. She feels herself to be born for luxury, and yet, she is living in near-poverty. Her dissatisfaction is significant to the events of the story as it influences her to borrow the necklace that causes her, and her husband, so much trouble. Your homework from this class was to complete both sides of the worksheet (with two different traits). Next class, we went through the same process using a non-fiction source. We used this topic/website as our source: http://socialnetworking.procon.org/ You can use the same worksheet template for the non-fiction portion of this assignment. With the non-fiction source, you were to find quotes that present a convincing point and then develop a claim, introduction, and explanation. An example: Your claim: When social media is used intentionally for education, it can aid in student success. Introduce and present a quote that supports your claim: One specific instance of an increase in student success due to social media occurred when, “George Middle School in Portland, OR introduced a social media program to engage students. Grades went up by 50%, chronic absenteeism went down by 33%, and 20% of students school-wide voluntarily completed extra-credit assignments” (ProCon.org). Explain how the quote supports your claim: In this specific case, a school utilized the popularity and capabilities of social media to get students involved at school. This online involvement improved student performance in a number of different ways including attendance and academic achievement. Your homework from this class was to complete both sides of the worksheet (with two different claims).
Week of 2/22/16 - 2/26/163/2/2016 **Sorry for the late update to the website. Weebly's site editor has been out of service.** This was the last week of LP 4. During the first class of this week, we had a peer critique session on students' short stories. Then, we did a written reflection on this past LP that will be your sample for LP 4. During the second class of this week, students shared out their sci-fi "design a robot" projects. Then, I introduced the homework for the next week of no onsite classes. It is attached below with instructions. The link to the homework news article was incorrect on the homework attachment. Click here for the article. *Note: to aid in understanding the news article, watch the video at the bottom of the article page before reading.
Week of 2/15/16 - 2/19/162/20/2016 This week, we continued with creative writing. Tuesday/Wednesday consisted of time to work on your short stories along with checks for completion.
The complete rough draft of your story is due next class. We will be having a formal peer critique, so please make sure your rough draft is ready to be reviewed. On Thursday/Friday, we began our dip into the world of science fiction. We began with a Powerpoint on some of the dominant trends in the science fiction genre. We then had an in-class activity. If you were absent, please read below for instructions: Science Fiction is sometimes referred to as Speculative Fiction, as one of the main roles of a science fiction author is to speculate about how certain aspects of society and culture (technology, space travel, politics and government) might play out in the future. We did an in-class assignment based on this role of the science fiction author. It was your job to design a robot. For this assignment, you must complete a drawing on a blank piece of paper illustrating your robot and labeling its various parts and their purposes. Then, you must write (in paragraphs) a full page that includes of following information: 1. Name of robot 2. Purpose of robot 3. Personality / Demeanor 4. Level of artificial intelligence 5. What "rules of robotics" (see I, Robot) will you incorporate into the robot's coding 6. How many will be made? 7. Who will have one? 8. Effects on society (positive & negative) Bring this with you to our next class, and be ready to share them. CategoriesArchives
June 2016
AuthorpagesChris Trompas - English teacher at the Learning Choice Academy in Chula Vista and La Mesa, CA. |