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.