Life Studies Essay:
Use the following guidelines to prepare to write your essay:

Write down and properly format an MLA Citation for your book

Write an introduction that tells us: 
          • who this person (or group) is that you read about
          • why you read about him or her (or them)
          • what this person (or group) is known for
          • why the person (or group) is important (not just to you, but to others)

Identify the major challenges or obstacles this person (or group) faced during life or the time you read about. Describe and discuss these challenges or obstacles in separate paragraphs. Be sure you: 
          •   Establish a clear and effective focus in each paragraph
          •   Provide examples from the book. 
          •   Explain how these examples relate to your main idea.

Discuss the strategies this person (or group) used to overcome these challenges or obstacles. Be sure to include examples and to explain how these strategies helped them overcome the obstacles and eventually succeed.

Write a concluding paragraph in which you identify and discuss those lessons you learned from this person’s life and how those might relate to your own life now or in the future.  Also include any obvious similarities or differences you noticed between the two people that might be of some significance to you.

WHAT MISS LAMB IS LOOKING FOR:
o   Organizational Structure
          o   Introduction
          o   Several Body Paragraphs
          o   Conclusion
o   Discussion of 2 books
o   Relation of yourself to people
o   Relation of people to each other

DUE AT THE END OF THE HOUR!

OBJECTIVE:  Demonstrate our understanding and application of two different stories to our own lives through a compare/contrast essay.

CCSS:  Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats.       

Today we will continue yesterday's activity, where we looked for the following items:

EVIDENCE: How is the handling or use of evidence similar or different from today’s use of evidence, or the use of evidence during the McCarthy hearings?
COURTROOM PROCEDURES:  How are courtroom procedures in The Crucible similar or different to those during the McCarthy hearings or today?
MCCARTHY ERA CHARACTERS:  Which characters resemble McCarthy the most?  Who resembles those accused of communism?  What other characters are representative of people from the McCarthy hearings?
INTEGRITY:  How is integrity questioned in Act III?  How is questioning someone’s integrity a strong thing to do?  How does it influence the power structure between two people?

Use your knowledge from American history, and from the McCarthyism/Red Scare review we completed last week to locate examples from the text.

OBJECTIVE:  Recognize the parallels between the McCarthy hearings and The Crucible.  

CCSS:  RL.11-12.1:  Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.  RL.11-12.9:  Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem.

Finally!  Back to The Crucible!


Today as we read, we will be looking for the following four items:

EVIDENCE: How is the handling or use of evidence similar or different from today’s use of evidence, or the use of evidence during the McCarthy hearings?
COURTROOM PROCEDURES:  How are courtroom procedures in The Crucible similar or different to those during the McCarthy hearings or today?

MCCARTHY ERA CHARACTERS:  Which characters resemble McCarthy the most?  Who resembles those accused of communism?  What other characters are representative of people from the McCarthy hearings?

INTEGRITY:  How is integrity questioned in Act III?  How is questioning someone’s integrity a strong thing to do?  How does it influence the power structure between two people?

Use your knowledge from American history, and from the McCarthyism/Red Scare review we completed last week to locate examples from the text.

OBJECTIVE:  Recognize the parallels between the McCarthy hearings and The Crucible.  

CCSS:  RL.11-12.1:  Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.  RL.11-12.9:  Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem.

After we finish up our vocabulary (both copying the words and writing our sentences), we will then move on to our Life Skills book.  Today, you will be writing a brief summary of your book.  It is due at the end of the hour.  Your summary should consist of the following things:

At the top of your paper, create an MLA citation for your book.  If you forgot what an MLA citation should look like, use the following example as your guide.

Henley, Patricia.  The Hummingbird House.  Denver:  MacMurray, 1999.  Print.

Next, answer the following questions using as much direct information from your book as you can:
First, write an intruduction that explains:
     -who the person (or group) is that you read about
     -why you read about him or her (or them)
     -what this person (or group) is known for
     -why the person (or group) is important (not just to you, but to others as well)

Next, write AT LEAST 1 PARAGRAPH in which you identify the major challenges or obstacles this person (or group) faced during their life or during the time covered in their book.  Describe and discuss these challenges or obstacles in separate paragraphs, if necessary.  Also, include the strategies this person (or group) used to overcome challenges or obstacles.  Include examples to explain how these strategies helped them overcome their obstacles.

Next, Miss Lamb will give you a study guide for your Life Skills essay, which will combine the two books you read.  Look over it and be prepared for your essay on THURSDAY!

OBJECTIVE:  Summarize our second life skills book in preparation for our in-class essay on Thursday.

CCSS:  Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats.                           

Today we will take our twelfth vocabulary quiz.  We will start #13 on Monday, so when you are finished, you may read your Life Studies book, which is also due Monday, or find something else to work on.  Texting, talking, sleeping, video gaming are not permitted....  Please.  :-)

OBJECTIVE:  Today we will assess our learning of last week's vocabulary terms.

CCSS:  Language 11-12.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues and analyze meaningful word parts.  

Today is a catch-up day!  We will finish our Act II assessments and begin reviewing some background information for Act III of The Crucible.


See yesterday's post for objectives.

After the 15 minutes of reading time, we will return to The Crucible to finish yesterday's assignments.  If/when we finish these, we will begin reviewing McCarthyism by reading two selections about Joseph McCarthy and watching a few YouTube clips.  

(See Monday's assignment for objectives and CCSS.)

OBJECTIVE:  Understand the historical context of Miller's courtroom scene in Act III of The Crucible.

CCSS: RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem.

First on our agenda is to complete the vocabulary for this week.  You will essentially be writing your own quiz, so keep that in mind as you create your sentences.  

OBJECTIVE:  To know and understand a new set of words and their roots.

Our roots and words are:
ULTIMA:  ultimate, penultimate, ultimatum
FIN:  infinite, definitive, infintesimal
NOV:  novel, novice, innovative
PRIM:  primal, primeval, primacy

CCSS: Language 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and 
phrases by using context clues and analyze meaningful word parts.

Next, we will finish reading The Crucible Act II.  We will continue with our examination of INTEGRITY, INFIDELITY, BLAME, and SHAME.  For our end of act assessment, we will individually look for an example of each of these instances in the text and, using direct textual references, write about how each instance is displayed.  Miss Lamb will give you further instructions.  When you finish this, you will examine the characters we studied in Act I, providing more post-it note descriptions of their motivations, conflicts, personalities, and effects on the plot of the story.

OBJECTIVE:  To correctly site the text to support our examples of integrity, infidelity, blame, and shame in Act II of The Crucible.

CCSS:  Literature 11-12.1:  Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Lots to do today.

1.  Bellwork
2.  Go over Act I Quiz
3.  Vocabulary #11
4.  The Crucible Act II 

First, we will begin our class by examining the 8 sentences we explored in our anticipation guide to The Crucible.  Do any of them stand out to you as applying to situations in the first act?  Which ones?  Why?  Take a few moments to reflect on the statement and what we have read so far.

Courage means doing something even though it can be difficult and fearsome.
A person is innocent until proven guilty.
It is more difficult to forgive yourself if the person you have hurt doesn't forgive you.
Beliefs in opposition to common values should be illegal.
Justice is best determined in a court of law.
It is better to die for what you believe in rather than to lie to save your life.
The difference between right and wrong is clear.
Confessing to a crime you didn't commit in order to avoid punishment is wise.