All-Excusing Humor Jan. 29

WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
Students worked on the prewriting for their media essay. They received a handout with a sample hierarchical outline.

CORE
Bellwrite #44: What is humor? Is it good or bad?

After discussing the bellwrite, we read together Screwtape Letter #11. We explored C.S. Lewis's thoughts on how humor is used to excuse bad behavior, to eliminate shame.

I began sharing a presentation on World War I. We discussed the militarism and alliances which took shape in the build up to the war.

HW

• If you haven't yet finished the vocabulary exercises for Screwtape Letters 10-12, please spend at least 20 minutes working on it tonight.
• Angel Letter #3 due tomorrow. (Please make sure to label it at the top of the page, so I know which letter it is.)
• Media essay prewriting and outline due Monday.

Silent When He Ought to Speak Jan. 28

Bellwrite #43: What is peer pressure? Is it usually verbal or nonverbal? Have you ever been with a group where it was not "cool" to be too good? Have you ever felt pressure to do or say things you wouldn't do or say around your parents?

We finished reading Screwtape Letter #9 (on the law of undulation). Then we discussed the bellwrite in preparation for reading Screwtape Letter #10. We noted that much peer pressure is exerted silently, almost subconsciously. Sometimes the pressure is to remain silent when we ought to speak. Students read in small groups Letter #10.

For history, students finished reading the primary source documents on Hitler's Youth and Boy Scouting. They turned in their three-column t-charts.

Homework

• Complete short stories due tomorrow.
• Angel Letter #3 (for Screwtape Letters 7-9) is due on Friday (typed).

During Trough Periods Jan. 27

WRITTEN PORTFOLIO

 

Students received a new writing assignment today. They will be writing an essay for one audience and then rewriting the essay for a different audience.

Prompt

How does media threaten the liberty of today's youth? What should youth do to gain/maintain freedom from and through media?

Write a persuasive essay responding to these questions. Your first audience is LDS; your second, secular. Both audiences are intelligent youth (think of college students). Your voice should still be formal/academic.


We discussed how your essays will be different for these two audiences. Please consider the following:

Evidence: What kinds of evidence will each audience find convincing?

• The LDS audience is more likely to be persuaded by the words of prophets and scripture.
• Both will be persuaded by scientific facts and statistics.
• Both will be persuaded by stories/examples/analogies.
• The secular audience may be persuaded by quotations from wise people.

(Could you quote a prophet like President Monson as a wise person for a secular audience? Yes, but you do run the risk of alienating your audience if they feel you are biased. Thus, it would be wise to also quote other wise men and women from a variety of religious or philosophical traditions so that your readers can see that the truths the prophet speaks are universal.)
Personal experiences

Assumptions What assumptions does each audience bring to the topic?

• Although the LDS audience may already be familiar with the potential dangers of media, the secular audience may not readily acknowledge the dangers of media. Thus, for the secular audience, you may need to spend more time showing the potential threats of media.
• The two audiences might have different assumptions about what is meant by liberty or freedom. For example, an LDS audience is likely to think of spiritual liberty, but a secular audience might associate freedom with a list of rights or the ability to do "what I feel like."

Word Choice What words will have different meanings for each audience?

• For example, with an LDS audience you might use the word agency, whereas for a secular audience you might need to use terms such as conscience, liberty, choice, and accountability.
• An important part of this assignment is learning to translate gospel truths learned from scriptures and the prophets into language that a secular audience can understand and appreciate.

Prior Experience How might the two audiences have different prior experience with media?

• For example, in considering how media could be used to gain/maintain liberty, the LDS audience may think of how they have used media to build the kingdom of God (missionary work, family history work). The secular audience, on the other hand, may be at a loss, or might be thinking about how they have used media to spread political messages.

Next, we discussed the writing process students will follow to write this paper. We will write for the LDS audience first. Students need to use the following pre-writing processes:

• Break down the prompt. (For example, note that the second question in the prompt actually has two questions.)
• Generate questions you will need to answer about the prompt.
• Research.
• Reflect on your personal experiences with media. What truths do your experiences illustrate?
• Develop your opinion (thesis statement). Be open to letting the research influence your opinion.
• Outline. For this assignment, you are required to produce a typed hierarchical outline.
• Pray (throughout the process).

Next Monday, Feb. 2, students need to turn in documentation that they have completed each of these prewriting steps, along with their outline. Each prewriting step should be a heading with notes/documentation beneath it.

The full first paper is due Friday, Feb. 6. Before turning it in, students must have a parent/adult review it with them.

HISTORY
Bellwrite #42:

Congratulations to the country teams for their great work in War Games. We're excited to move on to a new adventure in history.

Today students worked in pairs to generate a three column T-chart (differences and similarities) comparing/contrasting the Hitler Youth and Boy Scouting. Students received a packet of primary source documents from early Hitler Youth and Boy Scouting handbooks.  The T-chart will be due at the end of history class tomorrow.

ENGLISH
I introduced a helpful website we will be using to develop vocabulary: www.vocabulary.com.  Students should, with parent permission, create an account. Then they should search for the Vocabulary List titled, "Screwtape Letters 10-12" (by Mr. Dye). They should use the "Practice" exercises to learn the words.  This will help students know the vocabulary before we read the corresponding letters from the book.  This website has adaptive teaching technology that assesses individual's vocabulary knowledge and systematically teaches/reteaches/reviews new words. When you miss a question, it will provide feedback on the word. Please be sure to read all of the feedback.

We read together from Screwtape Letter #9. Here, Screwtape continues to discuss the trough periods (low points) in the patient's life. He notes that God uses the trough periods to accomplish most of His work, but also suggests that the devils may make use of these periods as well. He suggests two strategies:
1) Get the patient to seek pleasure in the way least intended by God, thus creating an "ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure" (Lewis 44).
2) Don't let the patient suspect the law of undulation exists, so that he believes something is wrong when he is in a trough period. At this point, he can either be tempted to despair or to grow complacent in his lowness.

We discussed the idea that God is the author of all true pleasures in their healthy and satisfying form. For example, God seems to want us to take pleasure in eating good food...until we are satisfied. Contrast that with the person who eats past satisfaction and actually pays very little attention to how the food takes or how he feels.

Homework:

• Complete vocabulary practice for the "Screwtape Letters 10-12" list in vocabulary.com.
• Complete short stories are due Thursday.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Jan. 15

WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
First period played, "Show, Don't Tell"--a game designed to help them learn the writing skill of specificity.

Seventh period took the computer-based reading comprehension test.

CLASS A
For history we continued watching the documentary on the Rise of the Third Reich. Those who missed class should watch minutes 11:30-43:00 (link to video). Please DO NOT watch any portions other than this segment. This film contains some nudity and graphic violence that I will be skipping during class.

Please take notes during the documentary. I will be asking you to help me write a picture book modeled after "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" but about how the Germans gave power to Hitler. In the mouse story, it is interesting to ask which of the characters has the power--the boy or the mouse? Clearly the boy could remove the mouse if he chose to, yet he surrenders himself the serving the mouse. We will be drawing parallels with Germany and Hitler. As you take notes, please keep track of the progression, "First Hitler will ask for.... And if you give it to him, then he will want...."

Please also place a star in your notes next to the phase in the story when you feel the German people have crossed the point of no return in giving power to Hitler.

I recognize that this documentary is a little silly in its editing choices--creepy horror film style soundtrack and scene editing. This sometimes leads to unintentionally comic effects and/or a "heaviness." The subject is indeed dark, for it depicts the rise of evil in the form of Hitler's Third Reich. Nonetheless, it is rich in warnings and lessons to us as we face those who want to gain power over us. For example, note the way the German people are caught up in their materialistic comforts so that they ignore the seemingly obvious; sounds a lot like Screwtape's idea of "contented worldliness" doesn't it?


For English, students worked on writing their 2nd Angel Letter (corresponding with Screwtape Letters 4-6). This should be typed and proofread and is due on Tuesday at the start of class.


CLASS B

For English, students worked on writing their 2nd Angel Letter (corresponding with Screwtape Letters 4-6). This should be typed and proofread and is due on Tuesday at the start of class.

For History, we had another guest speaker today. He is a veteran of the US Marines from WWII. Those who were on the field trip are excused from this event, though I'm sorry that you missed out! Hope the field trip was great.

Serious Intention of Praying Jan. 13

WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
First period took a reading comprehension assessment this morning. Seventh period will take the same assessment on Thursday.

Seventh period practiced the writing skill of "Showing, not telling." Students should apply this skill to their short stories (though this skill is applicable to most types of writing, not just fiction).

HISTORY
We finished the "live" student presentations.

ENGLISH
We discussed Screwtape Letter #4 on prayer. For each Screwtape Letter, we will identify at least one vocabulary word to learn. Students should keep track of these words and try to use them in their writing and speaking.  We will have a quiz on them once we have collected 10.

HW
Read Screwtape Letters 5 & 6.

WWII Presentations Jan. 12

Today we had 6 of the country presentations. We look forward to participating in the remaining 2 tomorrow.

HW
Please read Screwtape Letter #4 by tomorrow.

Daily Pinpricks Jan. 8

WRITING PORTFOLIO
Students worked on rewriting their first scenes for their short stories and writing their second scenes.

HISTORY
Student groups continued to develop their storytelling presentations.

ENGLISH
We discussed Screwtape Letter #3. This letter reveals Wormwood's strategies for stirring up pride and conflict between the patient and his mother. It shows us some of the temptations we face with our own family members (or those individuals with whom we are closest). Screwtape advises Wormwood to stir up a "good settled habit of mutual annoyance; daily pinpricks" (Lewis 11). Students identified (privately) a person with whom they may have a tense or contentious relationship. Then they identified which of Wormwood's strategies is most often used against them. Students also identified a key phrase from Screwtape's letter that best encapsulates the strategy.

Students began writing their first Angel letter. They will have additional time during class tomorrow to finish; the letter will be due at the end of class tomorrow.

HW

• Short story, scenes 1 and 2, due tomorrow (Friday).
• History storytelling presentations are on Monday. 

Disaapointment on the Threshold of Endeavour Jan. 7

HISTORY
Country groups continued research and began outlining plans for their storytelling. Please note: we have moved presentations of stories to MONDAY instead of FRIDAY. I listened to groups explain what they have learned to help them identify other aspects of their topic they may still need to research.

ENGLISH
Students passed off their memorization from Man's Search.

A key reading comprehension strategy is identifying passages of text that you do not understand. I had students mark 2-3 passages from Screwtape Letter 2 that they did not understand fully. Then we practiced re-reading and discussion strategies to strengthen reading comprehension.

We discussed Screwtape's idea that "The Enemy [i.e., God] allows ... disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour" (Lewis 7). We considered why marriages, even LDS marriages, often fail in the first year or two. We also considered how disappointment sets in after the start of a school year, after beginning a New Year's Resolution, when an investigator starts learning about the Church, and in other endeavors such as joining a sports team. We considered that in these moments of disappointment, we have a moment of decision: will we keep our commitments? Screwtape points out that "In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing." Why would God allow this discouragement? Screwtape explains that God does so because he wants humans to become his "free lovers and servants--'sons' is the word He uses."

HW

• Read Screwtape Letter #3. Look up vocabulary that you do not understand. Put difficult passages into your own words, writing your paraphrases in the margins of the book.
• History storytelling on Monday.
• Second scenes of short stories are due on Friday.

Pressure of the Ordinary Jan. 6

WRITING PORTFOLIOStudents received written feedback on the first scenes of their short stories. We reviewed the definition of a story: watching a character try to work his way out of a problem. In powerful stories, the external problems are interconnected with internal problems (emotional/social turmoil).

Students worked on rewriting portions of their first scenes and began working on writing their second scenes. These will be due on Friday.

HISTORY
Country groups conducted research on their story topics.

ENGLISH
We finished reading and discussing Screwtape Letter #1. We discussed what Screwtape means by the "pressure of the ordinary"--the day-to-day details of life that can distract us from paying attention to truth. I gave the assignment description for Angel Letters (see separate post), and we examined a sample letter.

Due dates for each letter will be set after we read each set of three corresponding Screwtape Letters. Angel Letters should be typed, double-spaced, and at least 2 pages. This assignment should be thoughtfully completed. It is not simply something to "get done" but should help you "connect thinking with doing" and "alter [your] way of life as a result of a chain of reasoning."

HW
Read Screwtape Letter #2.
Memorization from Man's Search due Wednesday.

Ministering Angel Letters

You are to write letters from an experienced ministering angel to a less experienced angel of “The Patient.” Pretend that these angels are writing the letters about you, their patient. Feel free to make reference to actual people and events from your own life over the next few weeks. The ministering angels are fully aware of Screwtape’s intentions and plans. Write letters advising the inexperienced ministering angel about how to help the patient remain faithful and continue to grow spiritually in the face of and through the temptations of Wormwood. How can the patient defend against these attacks? Recognize that your purpose is not only to help the patient avoid giving in to temptation, but also and more importantly to help the patient progress spiritually so he may qualify for exaltation.

Have fun with this. A few ideas—

·         Name your ministering angels.

·         Make puns about Heaven.

·         Consider what motivates the ministering angels.

·         What setbacks are they experiencing?

·         How do they respond to these setbacks?

·         What defensive and offensive weapons/armor are at their disposal?

·         Which scripture verses or stories should the ministering angel help the patient remember?

·         Which General Conference talks should the ministering angel help the patient remember?

·         How do the angels use other people in the patient’s life to further their cause?

·         What positive character traits are the ministering angels trying to help the patient acquire?

·         How does their reverence for agency affect what they will and will not do to help the patient?

 For every three letters in The Screwtape Letters, you are to write one corresponding letter from an experienced ministering angel to a less experienced ministering angel of “The Patient.” The letter should address at least one of the topics Screwtape discusses in the three corresponding letters. Since there are 31 letters in the book, and you are writing one for every three, you will be writing a total of ten letters.

Screwtape Letters	Angel Letters
1-3	1
4-6	2
7-9	3
10-12	4
13-15	5
16-18	6
19-21	7
22-24	8
25-27	9
28-31	10

Intro to War Games and Screwtape Letters Jan. 5

No bellwrite

HISTORY
Today we began a unit on World War II. During this unit, we will be playing "War Games." Students are divided into teams, each of which represents a country from WWII (USA, UK, France, USSR, Germany, Japan, Italy, and China). The teams will compete for the prize of extra credit. When teams demonstrate excellence in academic knowledge  or teamwork, they can earn "army men" which count as points.

This week, each team will be working to prepare to tell an assigned story from WWII. Each team will tell their story on Friday and Monday, using creative and effective storytelling methods. Teams might use puppetry, illustrations, slideshows, songs, skits, etc. Stories will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1) Story helps the listeners understand the complex motivations of the characters (an entire nation might be a character).
2) Storytelling uses interesting and accurate details to bring the story to life.
3) Storytelling uses some of the 5 senses, including at least some type of visuals.
4) Story helps listeners understand true principles.
5) Story is well structured with a beginning, middle, and end.
6) Storytelling presentation is creative.

All members of the team must be involved in the research, planning, and presentation.

Class members will have one class period each day in preparation for Friday's presentations. I recommend groups stick to the following general schedule:

• Monday: familiarize yourselves with the topic; divide up the research
• Tuesday: conduct research
• Wednesday: outline the story, organize and plan
• Thursday: create any visuals, scripts, etc. and rehearse

Assigned topics:

Germany: Germany's economy before, during, and after the war (please include Germany's economy before the war, Germany's occupation of the Netherlands, and the welfare services of Dutch Latter-day Saints in helping rebuild Germany after the war)
Soviet Union: the Eastern front
England: the Battle of Britain
China: the Chinese Civil War and the Massacre of Nanking
Japan: Iwo Jima (should include background on island hopping, the Japanese mode and philosophy of warfare)
France: Resistance to Nazi occupation of France
United States (two stories): D-Day and Pearl Harbor
Italy: Mussolini

ENGLISH
Students worked on memorizing the following sentence from Man's Search for Meaning (p.66):
"[E]verything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

We began reading Screwtape Letters today. We reviewed what students already know about C.S. Lewis and Screwtape Letters. We then read together the introductory quotations by Martin Luther and Sir Thomas More, the Preface, and the first letter. This book is very dense: it has a lot of ideas packed very compactly into complex sentences with academic vocabulary. Thus it will require students to do a lot of decoding. During class, we practiced having students explain difficult sentences in their own words and defining vocabulary. Students will need to get into the habit of re-reading difficult passages, looking up vocabulary words, and applying concepts to concrete examples from their own lives and observations of the world we live in.

Today we asked why Lewis would begin this book with a letter about the value of argument and the need to connect ideas with our actions. It seems Lewis is inviting us as readers to reason carefully and to apply to our own lives the principles we see proven as true.

To help students do this, I will be asking them to complete an "Angel Letters" assignment (please see separate post).

HOMEWORK

• Memorization from Man's Search due on Wednesday
• Bring any resources you will need to conduct research for history in class tomorrow.