Book Trailers Assignment

Today (December 11th/14th) in class, we will be exploring some new book trailers for your independent reading over the Holiday Break.

We will be filling out a chart about book trailers that I show you and ones you pick as a class, which includes:

- Book Title:
- Author:
- Have you read this book before?
- Would you want to read this?
- Most interesting part of the trailer:
- Additional Thoughts:

Once we are finished as a class, you will be set to watch trailers on your own and come up with three additional books that you are interested in personally.

Use this link to find trailers and record the three trailers you pick, along with the information above, in your journals - YA Book Trailers.

Hero's Journey

An extension on our study of Hercules, all hero's modern and older, follow a pattern. You find this in books you read today.

This pattern is called the Hero's Journey - Ted Talk Hero's Journey

This relates back to your Greek Hero notes you took earlier this month. Try to relate the two together.

Vocaulary List #4

Your quiz will be after you return from Thanksgiving break.

To help you study, make sure to use the quizlet - LCPS List 4

Hercules Storyboard

To get an example of a Hero in reference to the Greek Hero notes you recently took, you will read through the trials of Hercules.

- Read through the story - Hercules Life

- There are 5 sections, Introduction, Early Life, Hera's Revenge, the 12 Labors, and Immortality. Read all sections.

- You will then each create a storyboard of Hercules early life and Hera's Revenge, the 12 trials he had to overcome, and what happened to him after he completed them.

- Write a sentence in each box accompanied by a picture. Fill in each of the 16 boxes provided on your page. 

- If you finish in class, turn it in, if not, this is homework.

- If you finish you may Silent Read your own book, read the next chapter of Of Mice and Men, or continue work on your poem.

Poetry Process Writing

Due December 7th/8th. You have nearly a full month to do this since you also should be working on your children's book.

Pick a meter (a number of syllables per line)
Pick a rhyme scheme (I recommend either alternating, ABAB, or couplets, AABBCC)
Proper punctuation, no blank verse. You need to have sentences, commas, and periods.
    - Remember to use enjambment when your thoughts are too long to fit the syllables in your line.

At least half a page (single spaced)
Have the MLA header.

This will be graded on the same process writing rubric we have used for our other two papers so far. It is in an older blog post.

Children's Book Rubric Checklist

Rubric (Checklist) for Children’s Book: Due November 30^th, December 1^st.

______ ZERO Grammar mistakes. This is to be published for people outside of the school to read. Triple check your grammar.

______ Ten pages minimum plus a cover page. (11 total MINIMUM)

______ One to four sentences per page. Do not overload each page with text. Remember, these are aimed at 2^nd graders.

______ Fully colored pictures to accompany each page. Your own art, nothing pulled from the internet. Paint is acceptable on a case to case basis, see Ms. Hall to ask for permission.

______ You must have a title and by: (your name) on the cover.

______ Simple and easy to follow story.

______ If dialogue is used, make sure it is correct, see blog attachment.

______ No stains, rips, folds in the final papers you turn in for publishing. If there are any, you will be asked to redo that page.

______ See the older blog posts for initial instruction (typed words at the bottom of each page, readable font, size 16 or up, etc.)

                                                                                                                         __________ / 75 points

Poetry Punctuation

Should all poetry lines end with a comma or period?

Some lines of poetry end at a natural point of pause, accompanied by punctuation, such as a period, comma, or semi-colon. These are called “end-stopped" lines. The first and last lines in this first stanza from Mark Doty's poem “The Embrace" are end-stopped:

You weren't well or really ill yet either;
just a little tired, your handsomeness
tinged by grief or anticipation, which brought
to your face a thoughtful, deepening grace.

The other two lines in this stanza—the second and third—are “enjambed." That means one line run right into the next. The line break doesn't occur at a natural pause. Instead, it separates pairs of words that, in prose, would read without a pause.

Poets use these different kinds of lines—end-stopped and enjambed—to create specific effects. In the first stanza of Doty's “The Embrace" the two enjambed lines create a forward motion. Some poets will use several enjambed lines in a row to create even more urgency. Once you get to the end of the sentence and to the end-stopped line, there's a brief release in tension. You are invited to pause for a moment and consider.

Be thoughtful in where you break the line. Your choices impact the reader's experience of the flow and motion of the poem. 

-Gotham Writers

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instructions on writing 5 different types of poetry. Read this as homework to decide what direction you want your poem to go in. There are multiple pages, be sure to click the orange 'next' button at the bottom of each page. - How to Write Poetry

Vocabulary List #3

You will have a quiz at the end of this week, Thursday (11/12) and Friday (11/13)

Here is a link to a quizlet you can use to help you study - LCPS Vocab List 3 Quizlet

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month!

We are going to take some time today to explore this site http://nanowrimo.org/ and see who in here is willing to accept the national writing month challenge.

By the end of class today you must:

- Explore the nanowrimo site, specifically the nano prep and nano resources pages under the 'inspiration' tab. Scroll down to #3 for helpful links and activities.

- Sign up if you are willing to make an attempt, even if you don't finish, it would be a great thing to try!

- Search YouTube Videos for 'NaNoWriMo' and see if you can find anything informative or inspiring. If you find any you really like, include the links in your email to me below.

- Fill out the character questionnaire. Try to create a person who you would like to create a life and world for (SCROLL DOWN TO GET TO THE QUESTIONS) - http://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/61118193819/nano-prep-the-official-nanowrimo-character

When you finish this, email it (along with any helpful links you found on YouTube) to turnintomshall@gmail.com. This will be your formative grade for today.

If you complete all of these steps within the time given, start brainstorming where you can start your character, a setting, a plot, etc.

MLA Example for Narrative Essay

Here is a helpful video if you are still having trouble formatting your MLA papers.

Example:

Peer Review Guidelines

Children's Book Story Line

Here is a story line and explainations that you can use to help you write your children's story! Make sure you have a parent/teacher read your work to check for grammar and subject problems!

They need to be appropriate for 2nd graders! 

Vocabulary List 2

Here is a link for a Quizlet I have made for students to use to study their Vocabulary. Your in class quiz will be next week.

- LCPS Grade 9 List 2

Children's Book Info

For homework you are adding just the text to the bottom of pages to start creating your Children's Book. You need at least 10 pages with 1-4 sentences. You can chose a readable font, make sure it is at least 16 point. Make sure your subject matter is appropriate for a 2nd grader and that you have a complete story. NO PICTURES NEEDED YET. MAKE SURE YOUR PAGES DO NOT GET FOLDED OR STAINED. IF THEY ARE THEY CANNOT BE USED FOR YOUR FINAL.

Due Wednesday (10/14) for A Day.
Due Thursday (10/15) for B Day.

EXAMPLE:

Writing Dialogue Instruction

Here is a helpful link for a few of the students asking about the rules on writing dialogue into your stories! Let me know if you have any more questions. Remember, researching things online is your friend, you will often find answers there very quickly!

- Instruction on Writing Dialogue

Narrative Writing Info and Outline

This will be completed in class for A day students tomorrow (10/7) and Tuesday (10/13) for B day students. Use this to help write your Narrative Paper due on October 22nd and 23rd.

REMEMBER: MLA Format, 2-3 pages in length.

Writing Rubric

Here is a quick look at our writing rubric. The full version you all took home from class and I have extras in my room!

Vocabulary List and Practice

MLA Format Guidelines

All papers turned in must be in MLA Format. We went over this in class, here is an additional resource to help you.

Hall Agenda

Hey guys! I found a way to post your agenda on the blog every day. If you follow this link, it will take you to our agenda page.

HALL ENGLISH AGENDA

It is also linked under Important Class Information, and to the right side of this page under 'agenda'.

Added Page in Tool Bar

Hey Guys!

I added a new page above that will allow you to download and print PDF copies of the shorter readings we do in class. So far I have our first few stories linked there. Check it out when you have a chance!

Welcome to Ms. Hall's English Class!

This blog is where we will post and comment on my work and yours. We will share our best writings, our pictures, our happy moments, all through the class blog. This blog will be visible to your parents and others in the community, which means that what we post must be the best of what we can produce.

As we post new things this post will get bumped lower, the newest posts show up first. To track down certain posts use the labels section on the right. Anything labeled 'FromHall' is something I have posted to the blog. Anything labeled 'StudentPublishing' will be a post from one of your classmates. We will add labels as we go throughout the year.

I am looking forward to this year with you!

Ms. Hall 

Bumble

I present to you, Bumble. The toothless Australian Shepard.

We got Bumble about four years ago. She was brought into my Mom's vet clinic as a puppy because her little face was just getting fatter and fatter and none of her teeth were coming in. My mom had x-rays done on her and found that the stem cells which were supposed to form her teeth had exploded before their formation. This means that she had hundreds of shards of little teeth all throughout her gums that were not coming through the surface. The condition was called Quadruple Odontoma, and Bumble was the first known case of this happening in all four parts of her mouth. It required four surgeries to remove all of the teeth shards and most of her gums. The surgeries were spread out every few weeks over the first two months of her life and were all very experimental. We knew going in that this might not be something that could work, my mom warned us not to get to attached to her when we first brought her home. There was even a K9 Dentist who agreed to do all the oral surgeries for free in order to attach his name to such a revolutionary case (They would have cost upwards of 20,00 dollars otherwise.). Bumble triumphed through the four massive surgeries and now lives a full and happy life with my parents. She headlines in medical journals and gets brought up in veterinary conferences regularly, they even teach other vets classes about her. Her tongue hangs out all the time, she swallows regular dog food whole, and we never taught her not to bite (since she didn't have teeth to hurt anyone with) so she regularly slimes people by attempting to clamp down on their arms. It's funny, but pretty gross. She is my favorite little dog in the whole world!

Can anyone think of where her name might have come from?