The Veldt

Today we read the short story "The Veldt" and the students were shocked at the ending. Many of the stories end in the same way. There is no ending, Bradbury make you think about the final outcome and decide. Afterward, some cores had time to work on the packet. Whatever wasn't finished in class, needs to be finished at home.

Homework:
Read AR
Work on packet (plot summary, character tracker, theme, and vocabulary)

Paper Editing and AR

As with every Monday, we worked on looking at a few papers and making corrections to it. Our focus was on introductions and we also reviewed formatting. For the introductions, we reminded students the intro needed a hook, thesis statement, and a plan. Afterward, students were given time to do AR.

Homework:
Work on vocabulary in packet
Read AR

Aesop's Fabels

We started talking about our major topic of theme today. We defined theme as the message the author wants you to take away from the writing and apply to your life. For the lesson, the students read six different fables from Aesop and the students had to determine which theme matched the story.

Homework:
Read AR

The Twilight Zone

We finished up our history lesson on the '50's today as we focused on the fear that people had of nuclear war. I showed them a clip from Indiana Jones where a town is destroyed during a nuclear test to show them the destruction people feared. Then we watched an episode of "The Twilight Zone" where one person had a bomb shelter and his friends wanted to come in because they hadn't prepared for nuclear war. The episode showed the irrationality people have when fear takes over.

Homework:
Read AR

The Different Ones

To get the students ready for the genre of science fiction, we had a little discussion on what it is and how it differs from fantasy. Science fiction is futuristic in nature, but the ideas put forth by the author are plausible. In other words, with what we know about science and technology, there is a chance that stuff in the book could become a reality. Fantasy on the other hand has very little basis in reality. We also read the story "The Different Ones" by Rod Serling to show science fiction and to show how most of the stories in The Illustrated Man are set up and how they end with a twist.

Homework:
Read AR

AR and Paper Problems

Today the students were given time to do AR as HSA testing will begin soon for the other tracks and the library may not be open as often. With that, it is better for the students to start now instead of waiting until the end like many did last term. Also, I went over formatting problems in the essay turned in last quarter. The focus was on looking at a paper before it is turned in to make sure there are no problems with spacing, indenting, ans paragraphs.

Homework:
Read AR

More History

More history of the '50's today as we prepared to read The Illustrated Man and get to know what was going through people's minds. The focus was on the social aspects of our country. From communism to segregation to how the family was changing, a lot of what was started in the '50's in our society continues today.

Homework:
Read AR

History in English

Today I passed out the calendar for the term and went over the focus of the term. Click here to see it. We will be reading the book The Illustrated Man and focusing on theme. Afterward, I gave a little lesson on the history of the United States to set the tone for the book. Most of the stories were written during the late 40's to early 50's. Also, I showed a little History in Focus clip on the science and technology of the 50's. I'll show a couple more tomorrow on how people lived and what the social environment was like.

Homework:
Get calendar signed

First Day

It was an eventful day as students from the high school came down to inform student about language elective and the different career pathways students can take. Students will be registering within the next few weeks so hopefully they got something out of the presentations.

Homework:
None