Preparing for the end of Term Dec. 11

Writing Portfolio
Today we studied some tips for writing dialogue in short fiction.

Core
Bellwrite #41: Describe and effective approach to studying for a final exam. What do you intend to do to prepare for your history final?

Students have received a study guide for their history final exam. They should begin preparing immediately. The final exam will be Wednesday, Dec. 17.

We are continuing to read Man's Search for Meaning in class. As we read, we are identifying vocabulary words together on which students will be quizzed upon completion of the book. This will take the place of the individual spelling/vocabulary plans. Students received a writing prompt for their final personal reflection essay on Man's Search for Meaning (see separate post). This essay is due on the last day of school before Christmas break (Thursday, Dec. 18).

For the past two days in class, students have completed proofreading exercises that focus on the following: colon use, semicolon use, comma use, correcting sentence fragments and run-ons, and correcting faulty parallelism in lists.  We will do one more practice exercise before a quiz.

For history, students have two more readings to complete this term. They received one of these today: excerpts from Hiroshima  by John Hersey. This book follows the lives of 6 individuals living in Japan at the time of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The excerpts we are reading follow the lives of 2 of these individuals. The purpose of this reading is to help students understand the impact of nuclear weapons. It should also raise a question, "Why did the U.S. military leaders feel it was necessary to use such a weapon on Japan at the close of WWII?"

The second reading students will complete should help answer this question. It is an excerpt from the book, Flyboys by James Bradley. The excerpt helps students understand the mindset of Japan's emperor Hirohito as well as the Japanese soldiers who were "trained" in a most brutal manner. This reading should help students understand why U.S. officials may have felt the atom bomb was the best option for ending the war in the Pacific Theater. Students will receive this reading tomorrow.

Homework:

• Study for history final.
• Work on reading excerpt from Hiroshima.
• Continue reflecting on the meaning of suffering in their own lives.