Annotating Novels Sept. 18

Writing Portfolio
Students shared peer feedback on their two practice body paragraphs. I delivered written feedback from me on students' first 5 paragraph essay (on school uniforms). Students need to attach this feedback rubric to their next 5 paragraph essay. They are responsible to show improvement on the areas I indicated. All students are also responsible to demonstrate on their next essay what they have learned about writing effective introductions and body paragraphs.

Students received the prompt for their next 5 paragraph essay. Today they did prewriting for the essay, so they can be prepared to write it during class on Tuesday.

Prompt: Some educational policy makers argue that grades kill the love of learning. They argue schools should get rid of grades. Others argue grades provide important feedback to students which enhances learning. Please write a 5 paragraph essay in which you respond to the question whether or not schools should eliminate grades.  Please support your position with three main ideas.

Core
Bellwrite #10: Diagram the following sentences from The Chosen.

I had lived in it all my life.
I never really saw it.
I had spent five days in a hospital.
The world around seemed sharpened.

We read Chapter 5 from The Chosen. I taught a method of indexing annotations from the novels we read. Students should create their own index in the front or back cover of their novel to track significant symbols and themes. For example, we came up with the following categories for The Chosen:

• silence
• friendship
• microcosms
• eyes/perception
• father-son relationships
• being chosen

For each category, students should note the page number for significant passages related to the topic. Along with the page number, include a brief note to yourself about why the passage is significant. When we finish reading the novel and you need to write an essay, this index will be invaluable to you. Furthermore, this process helps you become a deeper reader, noticing themes as they develop across a novel.

We also began studying a documentary on radical Islam. Please note, this documentary is disturbing because of the nature of the topic. In class I have tried to be sensitive to the tender spirits of students. We only watched a portion of the documentary so that we could understand what would be helpful. If families intend to watch this documentary, I do not recommend it for small children and caution should be practiced. There is a scene in it near minute 45 which is particularly violent and offensive. In class, students watched for information that would help them answer the following questions:

1. How do Islamists view the West?
2. How do Islamists use the media?
3. Is this documentary biased?

Homework:
Revisions of State of the World projects are due Friday.
Chapters 6-7 of The Chosen due on Monday