Command vs. Market Economies Oct. 31

Bellwrite #25: How does Walmart decide how many pumpkins to order each year? How do farms know how many to produce? Who decides how many pumpkin farms there will be?

We played a simulation game today to help us understand how and why market economies are more responsive to customers (demand), than command economies.

I also shared some information on the significance of Martin Luther choosing the date of Oct. 31, 1517 to post his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Students who are absent will need to get notes from a friend.

Oct. 30

Writing Portfolio
Students began composing their rhetorical analysis essays on the propaganda poster "Mao is Our Reddest Sun." They received a checklist for parents to use in helping them revise their essays before submitting them on Wednesday (see separate post).

Core
Instead of a bellwrite, students responded to the following prompt on lined paper: What are the costs of the Cultural Revolution in Red Scarf Girl? Please write a four-part evidence analysis paragraph in response to this question.

Students turned in their paragraph for a grade. They will be evaluated on their proper use of the four-part analysis pattern as well as on the quality of their deep reading. Students also submitted a reading check to ensure they are keeping up with their reading in Red Scarf Girl.

As a class, we read together from the article "China's Gilded Age." Students should identify the main idea of the essay as well as the supporting evidence. Students are annotating the article in detail. To introduce the idea that modern China is full of contradictions, we considered some clips from the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies. We saw that China is communist, but also capitalist. It values collective identity, but also celebrates pop star individualists. It celebrates a rich traditional history but also strives to be the leader of the modern world. (We discussed the significance of China's plan to put man on the moon, in light of the Space Race during the Cold War.)

Homework: Read to page 190 in Red Scarf Girl.

Questions from People's Republic of China History Quiz

To help students in studying, I am posting the questions from our quiz.

1.       What two groups fought in the Chinese Civil War?

2.       What group did Chian Kai-shek lead?

3.       What nation invaded China, causing a “time out” from China’s Civil War?

4.       What was Mao’s family class background?

5.       In what year was the PRC founded?

6.       Who settled in Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War?

7.       Why did the CCP (Communist Party) attack the landlords specifically?

8.       What did Mao do to the Nationalists who remained in China after 1949?

9.       What did the CCP do to Chinese intellectuals?

10.   How did the intellectuals respond when Mao tried to cut back on repression and let the “flowers bloom”?

11.   What was a farming “cooperative”?

12.   The CCP had a 5 Year Plan to build up what?

13.   What did the CCP do to improve the rights of women?

14.   True or False? The Great Leap Forward was intended to raise production by inspiring peasants in their work.

15.   How did communes affect family life?

16.   True or False? The Great Leap Forward resulted in an abundant harvest.

17.   True or False? The industries did more poorly than agriculture in the Great Leap Forward.

18.   What happened in 1966?

19.   What was Deng Xiaoping’s approach to communism and capitalism?

20.   True or False: The standard of living in the cities declined under Deng Xiaoping’s policies.

21.   What was the intent of the one-child policy?

22.   What effect did radios have on Chinese attitudes towards their government?

23.   How did the government respond to student protests at Tiananmen Square?

24.   True or False: In the 1980s and 1990s, China essentially kept a communist economy while allowing a democratic government to take over.

25.   Name two of the Eight Bigs.

 

Update Oct. 29

Writing Portfolio
We are working this week on writing rhetorical analyses. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. In a rhetorical analysis essay, students examine how a text persuades (A text could be a poster, a commercial, a speech, an essay, a song, even a wardrobe. Anything that attempts to persuade others.) We are doing rhetorical analyses of propaganda. For practice, we conducted an analysis in class on Tuesday of a propaganda poster from Mao's Cultural Revolution. We started by observing as many details as we could in the image. As we discussed the details, we considered how they contribute to the overall message of the poster.

We next answered two key questions:
1) WHAT is it saying?
"The poster is saying that following Chairman Mao will lead to a new, prosperous, and equal society."

2) HOW is it saying?
"The poster communicates its message through symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions."

The thesis statement is constructed by uniting these answers:
"Using symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions, the propaganda poster 'Mao is Our Reddest Sun' argues that following Chairman Mao will lead to a new, prosperous, and equal society." (Note that since this poster is untitled, we have used the caption as the title.)

On Thursday, students will write the essay based on this thesis statement. The essay will have four body paragraphs based on the four "Hows": symbols, lines, colors, and facial expressions. Then next week, students will write a rhetorical analysis of a propaganda poster of their choosing (anything from WWII forward).

Core
On Monday we had a read-in day. Students had both class periods to read from The Red Scarf Girl.

On Tuesday Class A completed Bellwrite #24 and discussed it at length in preparation for the essay they will write at the completion of the book. Class B enjoyed a Q&A session with guest Abdul Raman from Saudi Arabia. Thanks to Mr. Holmes for helping arrange this opportunity!

On Wednesday, students took an in-depth reading quiz on the reading packet about the history of the People's Republic of China. Class B completed Bellwrite #24.

Bellwrite #24: What are you learning about communism from reading Red Scarf Girl that you did not learn from Marx's "Communist Manifesto"?

Homework: Read through page 155 in Red Scarf Girl by Thursday.

Communist Manifesto Oct. 24

Bellwrite #23: Evaluate Marx's communism. What do you think of it? What is true? What is not true or not completely true? What part(s) of his theory are you still trying to understand?

We have diagrammed Marx's vision for world history.

In discussing the bellwrite prompt, we considered some of the following:

Truths:

• The good society can only be built on the consent of the governed (respecting agency).
• Marx touches on true values: the equality of men and women of all social classes, overcoming contention/enmity/pride (or class struggles) which is at the heart of most social problems, attitudes and beliefs are generational (get passed from grandparents to parents to children), hearts and minds must change for a perfect society.
• Private property is essential for people to be accountable (Law of the Harvest).
• Families, religions, and government have many times in history been misused in a way that victimizes others; however, families are essential to God's purposes and when built on true principles can unlock human potential. Likewise, religions, and governments can support human liberty and the exercise of agency in righteous ways.

Falsehoods:

• The ends justify the means. (Actually, the ends of a good society do not justify the means of force or "despotic inroads on the rights of property," as Marx puts it.)
• Schools in and of themselves can educate hearts and minds. (Actually, only Christ and His light can change hearts and minds. If schools help students experience the light of Christ, then they can facilitate the process.)
• Private property is the cause of exploitation. (Actually, private property allows humans to exercise agency and choose whether they will use it to do good and build others or take advantage of and tear down others.)
• Families (marriage), religions, and government are creations of man to institutionalize and insulate tyranny. (Actually, families, religions, and government are instituted of God to bless all mankind.)

Homework:

• Spelling/vocabulary proposals were due today.
• Read Red Scarf Girl through page 71 by Monday.
• History questions about communism are due Monday. Please respond to each of the following in 1-2 fully developed paragraphs:

1. According to Marx, what is the good society like?
2. According to Marx, how will the world get there?
3. Evaluate Marx's theory.

The Good Society Oct. 22

Bellwrite #22: Describe your idea of a perfect society. What role would each of the following play in that society?

• business
• money
• family
• religion
• the arts
• government
• schools
• science/technology
• media

What would be the defining characteristic of your society?


We discussed at length the concept of a good society. Through the discussion, many students drew on their understanding of Zion. We raised some interesting questions:

• Would there be money? For what purpose(s)?
• Would there be private property?
• What kind of equality would there be? Equality of opportunity? Equality of material possessions? Equality of rights?
• Would there be government? Would there be laws? What kind of laws?
• What would the people be like? Do they have to be perfect for the society to be perfect?
• Would there be only one religion, or would there be room for various religions?
• Who would run schools? Government, private organizations, or families? What would be taught?
• How would the society ensure people are motivated to work hard?
• Can the society be perfect if people are forced to obey?
• How do you help people want to obey? Can schools do it?
• If the society was not an anarchy (no laws), but it valued individual liberty, then it must have laws. How can you have laws while respecting agency? Someone suggested there are two kinds of laws. 1) Eternal laws that everyone is subject to, whether or not they want to be. For example, in this life everyone is subject to gravity, whether or not they want  to be. 2) Laws that individuals accept to be bound by (through covenants), in order to gain greater opportunities/liberties/powers.

We noted that recent world history has several examples of leaders trying to establish a perfect (or good) society:

• Mao in China
• Lenin in the Soviet Union
• Hitler in Germany
• Founding Fathers in the United States

Is there something unique about the way the United States goes about trying to create a good society?


Next, students worked on reading excerpts from Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto." We are looking to this founding document to help us understand how communists envision the good society and how they propose we get there.  Tomorrow in class we will play the game "Who Wants to Be a Communist?" (modeled after "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"). In this game, students will demonstrate to what extent they understand the Communist Manifesto from Marx's point of view.  Students should do their best to prepare for the game, but they should also know that the game will help them grasp some of the more difficult concepts of Marx's theory.

Homework:

• Work on the Spelling/Vocabulary Proposal (due Friday with parent review).
• Finish studying the "Communist Manifesto."

Sample Proposal

Proposal for Introducing Electric Pencil Sharpeners at St. Mary’s School

Executive Summary

So that students at St. Mary’s School will have pencils that work well, limiting distractions during class and lost instructional time, I propose that the school invest $415 in purchasing durable quality 12 Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners

Problem of Ineffective Pencil Sharpeners

The pencil sharpeners have presented a recurring problem at St. Mary’s School.  The problem is that the pencil sharpeners in the classrooms are very old and do not work effectively anymore.  Students and teachers continually become frustrated because it is difficult to sharpen a pencil with the current sharpeners, and pencils that are sharp are crucial for effective learning. There are 217 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Mary’s School.  These students occupy 12 classrooms each day.  None of these classrooms has a pencil sharpener that works well; it takes several minutes to sharpen just one pencil. This means that if all of the students need to sharpen their pencils once a day (depending on how much writing is being done, a pencil may need sharpened more than once a day), it could take an average of thirty minutes to sharpen them all before the students can sit down to their desks and start learning the day’s lessons.  Thirty minutes of time spent sharpening pencils takes away a great deal from instructional time. Furthermore, not all the students need to sharpen their pencils at the same time. This need arises at various times throughout the day, often at the beginning of a test or a new lesson. Because of the length of time it takes to sharpen a pencil, the teachers have continuous interruptions in their lessons throughout the day.  The current pencil sharpeners have been in the classrooms for over thirty years.  They do not work well because they have been in use for so long.  Even after sharpening for several minutes, the pencil points still are not as sharp as they should be, and the points break off easily, causing them to need to be sharpened yet again.  

Solution

I propose that we purchase electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom.  These work quickly and effectively, and take only a few seconds to sharpen a pencil.

Office World carries several pencil sharpeners designed specifically for schools and the high volume of use the sharpeners get in classrooms.

I propose we purchase 12 of the Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners.  These sharpeners have received strong reviews on the Office World web site.  In addition, Central Elementary School purchased these for all their classrooms four years ago, and their principal has told me how well they still work.

Costs

The Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners cost $42.29 each.  However, Office World gives a discount if purchasing ten or more, reducing the cost to $35.29 each.  Because we are a member of the Office World Schools frequent shopper program, we will receive 2% of our purchase back at the end of the school year.  This makes the total cost of the purchase $415.01.

Several electric sharpeners exist that cost more and less than this one, but because of the recommendations of others, I believe that purchasing a middle-priced sharpener will be a wise choice for St. Mary’s School. Because Office World offers free shipping for purchases over $50, we will not have any shipping costs.  

Installation

Upon purchase of these electric pencil sharpeners, I will work after school with Janitor Bradley to help install them in each of the classrooms. At that time we will also remove the old pencil sharpeners which we will recycle. Mr. Bradley will provide the tools necessary for installation, including a drill. Because I already have to wait after school for basketball practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I will work those days on instrallation. Mr. Bradley has agreed that this works with his schedule. He intends to train me on installation with the first three sharpeners, and then to check back with me at 4:00 each day to ensure that I am doing it correctly.

To ensure the quality of my installation work, I will leave the following evaluation rubric with each teacher in whose classrooms I install a new electric pencil sharpener:

Criteria	Points Possible	Score
Johnny let me know he was coming the day before the installation.	2
The holes in the countertop from the old pencil sharpener were patched professionally.	4
Johnny left the work site clean: he vacuumed up and left no tools behind.	2
Johnny left me a set of instructions for how to operate and maintain the new pencil sharpener.	2

Teachers will be instructed to leave the completed evaluation forms in the principal’s box.

Conclusion

In conclusion, purchasing new electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom would be of tremendous benefit to St. Mary’s School.  It would put an end to the constant frustration of students never being able to find sharp pencils, and of losing instructional time because of the length of time it takes to use our current sharpeners. With these new sharpeners, students will be able to focus on their main task in school: learning.

 

Signatures

I submit this proposal, certifying that I will carry out the installation of new pencil sharpeners as indicated above.

____________________________________

Johnny Dullsome

 

I have consulted with Johnny in writing this proposal and have verified that he has done due diligence in researching product prices and quality. I also certify that Johnny has developed a plan for installation that is realistic and efficient.

_____________________________________

Mr. Bill Bradley, janitor

 

I accept this proposal and agree to allocate the requested funds and initiate the purchase.

_____________________________________

Mr. Mark Ticonderoga, principal

Spelling/Vocabulary Proposal

Instructions: Please compose a formal proposal for how you will improve either your spelling or your vocabulary during second term.  If you have received feedback on your essays indicating you need to improve spelling, then you are required to do a proposal for spelling. If your spelling is satisfactory, then you may propose a plan to develop your vocabulary.

This assignment is intended to give you experience in writing a formal proposal as well as helping you improve your wordcraft. Your proposal should consist of the following components. Please include section headings for each of the components. The proposal will be due, typed and proofread, on Friday, Oct. 24.

1.      Executive Summary: In ONE sentence, provide a brief summary of the proposal so that a reader can quickly grasp the essence of the proposal.

 

2. Problem: Write one paragraph explaining the problem or opportunity your proposed plan will address. In writing the paragraph, please use specific examples from your own writing as evidence to support your claims.

Please carefully diagnose the nature of spelling problems by examining samples of your own writing. What are the causes of the spelling problems? What types of spelling problems do you have? Are they problems with commonly confused words such as their, there, and they’re? Are they problems with double letters such as commitment/committment/comitment? Are they problems with vowel blends such as receive/receive? Are they words you know how to spell but have not paid attention to?

Or please carefully describe your current approach, or lack of approach, to learning vocabulary. What strategies have you used in classes in the past to enhance your vocabulary? Which ones worked or did not work and why? Evaluate your current knowledge of Latin/Greek roots. Evaluate how you deal with words you do not know in your reading. Evaluate to what degree you actually use new vocabulary in your spoken and written communications.

3.      Detailed Plan: Please explain with specific details your plan for improving spelling or vocabulary. What will you do? When will you do it? Who will help you do it—and are they willing? What resources will you use? Why is your plan practical?

When thinking about improving spelling, you might consider one or a combination of three general approaches:

1)     Learning phonograms and spelling “rules.” (For example, Riggs)

2)     Memorizing lists of commonly misspelled or commonly confused words. (available on the Internet)

3)     Identifying personal spelling lists from your own writing.

When considering vocabulary, you might consider three approaches:

1)     Studying Latin/Greek roots

2)     Studying lists of college-prep vocabulary (For example, SAT or ACT lists)

3)     Identifying vocabulary words from your reading.

 

4. Accountability:
Every Friday during Second Term, you will be asked to turn in a score out of 10 possible points for your success in improving spelling/vocabulary that week. Please write a rubric for yourself to show what it will take to earn a 10, a 9, an 8, a 7, and so on. Besides being accountable in class for a grade, please indicate another person to whom you will hold yourself accountable. What will that person do to hold you accountable? Will they quiz you? Will they review your papers looking for spelling problems? Will they have a conversation with you where they evaluate whether you are using new vocabulary words correctly or not?

 

5. Conclusion/Benefits: Please write a paragraph conclusion explaining how improving your spelling/vocabulary will contribute to some of your specific long-term goals (college, career, missions, serving in callings, future family, etc.)? What will success look like for you?

 

6. Signatures: Please include a space for a parent signature, indicating your parent has reviewed your proposal and finds it professional, realistic, and sufficiently detailed. Please have your parent review your proposal, make suggestions for improving it, and then sign it before submitting it on Monday.
Please include another space for your own signature, indicating your agreement to be held accountable to your proposed plan should Mr. Dye accept your proposal.

Term 2 Begins Oct. 21

Writing Portfolio
Students need to write a formal business proposal (see separate post with instructions). Since parents need to review it, students should work on it right away.

Core
Bellwrite #21: Review the part of the Allegory of the Olive Tree that deals with these latter days (Jacob 5: 50-76). Relate the Allegory to what we studied in our history unit on the Middle East. You might consider the founding of Israel, the spread of terrorism, the rise of Islam, and the Arab Spring. Extra mile: What does the Allegory have to do with The Chosen?

We began our study of Red Scarf Girl, considering some of the symbols of communism: the red scarf, the flag of the People's Republic of China with its field of red as a symbol of revolution (and blood), and the Soviet Union flag with the hammer and sickle as symbols of the working class. We learned the significance of the years 1949 and 1969 for China and considered some of the other world history events occurring simultaneously. We learned about Chairman Mao and the Communist Party of China.  We are grateful to the international students in our class who bring such a richness of experience and perspective to these discussions.

Homework: Read through page 37 in Red Scarf Girl.
Work on the spelling/vocab proposal.

Final Essay on The Chosen

The Chosen Final Essay Prompts

To synthesize your learning about The Chosen, you are invited to write an in-depth essay. Please select ONE of these prompts for your final essay. Your essay will need to be longer than a five paragraph essay, but should still use what we have learned about effective academic essay writing:

·        Academic, 3^rd person voice

·        Introduction with hook, background on the novel and topic of the essay, and thesis statement (thesis will NOT have 3 “becauses”)

·        Body paragraphs should use the four-part quotation analysis format:

1.     Claim

2.     Background on Quotation: Who is speaking, to whom, at what point in the story, about what?

3.     Quotation

4.     Commentary on quotation: several sentences explaining the significance of the quotation

·        MLA format, typed, Times New Roman size 12 font

·        Editing for spelling and grammar

·        Transition sentences between body paragraphs

·        Conclusion reviewing your main points and explaining how your thesis changes the way we understand the central messages of The Chosen.

 

1.     What is Potok saying about silence in The Chosen? In terms of silence, compare and contrast the father-son relationships of Danny and Reuven. What experiences help Reuven come to understand the value and the pain of silence? (Explore in depth 2-3 specific experiences Reuven has with silence and how they enlarge his understanding of silence.)  What is the significance of Reb Saunders’ final conversation with Reuven? How are the boys’ experiences with silence and their fathers a microcosm of God’s silence in the Holocaust? By the end of the novel, how has his understanding of silence changed or deepened?

 

 

2.     What is Potok saying by including microcosms in The Chosen? Explore each of the following microcosms:

·        The ballgame and WWII

·        Insects and the human condition/Holocaust

·        Boys’ father-son relationships and man’s relationship with God (Caution: In discussing this topic, do NOT impose LDS beliefs on these Jewish characters.)

How do these microcosms reveal the central message(s) of the novel?

 

3.     What is Potok saying through the friendship of Danny and Reuven in The Chosen? What does Danny need/learn from Reuven and what does Reuven need/learn from Danny? Explore the symbolism of eyes, blindness, and glasses in the novel. How do these symbols help us understand how Danny and Reuven are changing and how they are affecting each other? How are Danny and Reuven like the left and right eyes? If Reuven represents more Westernized Jewish Orthodoxy and Danny represents Hasidism, then what is Potok saying about these divisions within Judaism? How might Potok’s message about friendship apply to broader historical events such as WWII or Zionism?

Preparing for End of Term Oct. 9

Writing Portfolio
On Tuesday next week, students will write their final 5 paragraph essay of the term. The essay will be a rewrite of the essay they have already completed on the question of whether or not schools should eliminate grades. Grading will focus on two areas:

1. Transitions (between paragraphs and between sentences within a paragraph)
2. Sophistication of ideas (developed by anticipating counterarguments and rebutting or revising claims accordingly)

Today in class we continued to work on the second skill.

Core
Bellwrite #20: Does God ever parent in silence?

We continued presentations from the students who were chosen to explicate chapters from The Chosen. We discussed the ending of the novel. Which parenting style is better: that of Mr. Malter or Reb Saunders? Why does God watch in apparent silence, the silence of the veil, as humans struggle and suffer? The final chapter of the novel is a testament that God is not silent, that He speaks through various means from "Talmud" (scripture) to gestures to friends He has chosen for this end. The final chapter is also a testament that God weeps. God weeps because we suffer and He could stop it, but He doesn't because there is not another way for us to learn and become what we must become; there is not another way for us to experience full agency. That God weeps is one of the beautiful truths of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In class we also prepared for our history unit assessment on the Middle East. The students identified the main topics we have studied and wrote a question for each topic. As a class, we finalized the questions each student will answer:

Instructions: Please respond with one fully developed paragraph (unless otherwise noted) to each of the following questions. You may use notes and other resources; however, you must not plagiarize. What you write should demonstrate your own understanding and not simply a rewording of someone else’s sentences. Please type your responses and proofread them for clarity and grammar/spelling before submitting. Due date: Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Class A Questions:
1.      Explain in one sentence the 5 Pillars and 6 Articles of Faith of Islam. (11 sentences)
2.      What are the origins of the Shia/Sunni division in Islam?
3.      Where did boundary conflicts in the Middle East today originate?
4.      Explain the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict from both sides. (2 paragraphs)
5.      What role did media play in the Arab Spring and Islamic Extremism?
6.      Choose ONE:

a.      Compare and contrast U.S. intervention in Iraq and Iran.

b.      How have U.S. interventions in the Middle East added fuel to the Islamicist fire?

Class B Questions:
1. Why are Palestinians and Israelis still fighting? (Please explain from both points of view.)
2. With one sentence each, explain the 5 Pillars and the 6 Articles of Faith of Islam.
3. Why is Islam divided into Sunnis and Shiites?
4. Where did the current Middle Eastern national boundaries come from?
5. What are Islamic Extremists trying to accomplish and in what ways do they go about it?
6. What role has social media played in the Arab Spring and Islamic Extremism? (bonus *How have technological advances been used to build the Kingdom of God?)
7. Choose ONE:

a. Compare and contrast U.S. intervention in Iraq and Iran.

b. How have U.S. interventions in the Middle East added fuel to the Islamicist fire?

Homework: Work on the Chosen essay (due Wednesday) and the Middle East history questions (due Tuesday).

Interpretting from Evidence Oct. 8

Bellwrite #19: What, besides grades, might motivate you to write the final essay on The Chosen? What might you learn from the process of writing the essay? What motivated Reuven to study Talmud?

In discussing the bellwrite, we practiced providing evidence from the novel in support of different interpretations of Reuven's motivations. We saw that effective interpretation requires sufficient and relevant evidence from the novel.  This is the process students will use in writing their essays on The Chosen.

I shared a pattern for students to use in presenting evidence in support of their interpretations. This pattern is called the 4-part evidence analysis. Each body paragraph in an essay includes these four parts:

1.       Claim [1 sentence]
2.       Background on the Evidence (Who said/thought it? To whom? At what point in the story? About what was he/she talking?) [1 sentence]
3.       Evidence (Use a dialogue tag and include an in-text citation with the author’s last name and the page number. For example, He said, “Yadda, yadda…” (Potok 103). [Give only as much of the quotation as is needed to support the claim.]
4.       Explanation of the evidence (Highlight important words or phrases and explain why they are important. Discuss connections between the words in the quotation and other parts of the novel. Explain things that a casual reader might not understand or notice. Connect the evidence to the claim.) [4-6 sentences]

Sample paragraph using the four part evidence analysis:

For Reuven, the baseball game initiated a change in his outlook on life which also changed his identity. After returning home from his stay in the hospital, Reuven reflected on the significance of the baseball game. He thought, “Was it only last Sunday that it happened, only five days ago? I felt I had crossed into another world, that little pieces of my old self had been left behind on the black asphalt floor of the school yard alongside the shattered lens of my glasses” (Potok 102-103). Reuven has a sense that a long time has passed since the accident, indicating that much has changed since then. Usually we only gain perspective on our experiences long after they have occurred and we have changed enough to see those events objectively; however, Reuven has acquired this kind of perspective in only five days, indicating something fundamental has changed inside him. Just what has changed? The answer lies in the shattered lens of the glasses on the playground blacktop. Reuven equates himself with that lens, as if his old identity has been shattered. The glasses represent the way he sees the world, his perspective, which has been completely changed by the baseball game, his eye injury, and his interactions with Danny. He can no longer see the world as he used to. It is significant that his glasses, and old self, lie shattered on the playground, a location closely connected with childhood. It is as if Reuven has crossed a threshold from the world of childhood into the world of self-awareness, of questioning assumptions, of seeing with new eyes. Because his perception will never be the same again, neither will he.

Next in class, a couple of select students took time to explicate chapters 13 and 14 from The Chosen. This activity will help students appreciate the approach to Talmud study employed in Reuven's university class. It will also help students develop their understanding of themes from the novel in preparation for their final essays.

 

Homework: Finish reading The Chosen.

An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind Oct. 7

Writing Portfolio
We reviewed our practice exercises on writing transitions both between paragraphs and between sentences within a paragraph.  Students turned in these practice exercises for credit.

Our final writing assignment for this term will be a rewrite of the essay on the prompt regarding whether or not schools should eliminate grades. On the rewrite, students should focus on two skills in addition to those we have already practiced:
1) transitions
2) anticipating counterarguments and rebutting them

To help develop the latter skill, we began examining both sides of the grade question, considering counterarguments and rebuttals.  We will continue this work on Thursday.


Core
Bellwrite #18: Please respond to the article on the Promised Land. Which ideas stood out to you? What questions do you have? What does the article mean to you personally?

After discussing the bellwrite, we spent the majority of our time in class finishing the documentary on Israel. Considering the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict brings to mind the words of Gandhi who said that an eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind. Thus the history we are studying echoes the theme of blindness in The Chosen. While viewing the documentary, students have taken notes.

Whereas the Israel-Palestine Conflict is the final topic for our history unit on the Middle East, we will now be reviewing and preparing for a unit assessment. Students will be writing responses to questions we have considered in this unit. This is an open-note assessment. We will be taking time in class tomorrow to select the questions for this assessment.

Students also received final essay prompts for The Chosen (see separate post).  Students will be asked to finish reading the novel (Chapters 15-17) by Thursday. Tomorrow in class a couple of students have been selected to read from and discuss Chapters 13-14. This learning experience is meant to echo the student-led Talmud discussions in the novel. Then on Thursday, we will hold a class literature seminar on Chapter 17.

Homework: Begin preparing for the essay on The Chosen by gathering your thoughts. If you haven't yet finished the novel, please work to finish it by Thursday.