The American Experience

The New Year Teaser

I know everyone is anxious to get back to school and begin the second half, so here is a little teaser of a new tool we will be using. I've set everyone up with an account. You'll have a variety of ways to contribute to he conversation. We will use this to facilitate discussion and brainstorm as we work on writing/editing personal narratives. 

Twas the Night Before Bowl Week (video)

From ESPN

Work for Additional Credit and Hours

Each absence requires two hours of make-up work. Remember, if you have more than four absences, you will not receive credit for the class (even if you have a passing grade). If you have more than 11 absences in this term, there is not chance for credit recovery.

Each test listed below is worth 4 hours (two absences). The multiple choice is equal to one absence and the essay will satisfy another.

Complete these tests over the break and turn them in when you return on January 5th/6th. We must submit attendance corrections by January 8th.  

Print and complete:

March 2009 (10th)

March 2009 (10th - ELA Make-Up)

March 2009 (11th)

Spring 2006 (10th - just to page 35)

February 2006 (10th - ELA Make-Up)

October 2005 (11th - retest - just to page 35)

Fall 2005 (11th - restest - just to page 33)

February 2006 (11th - retest - just to page 35)

April 2006 (11th - restest - just to page 35)

July 2006 (11th - retest - just to page 33)

A.I. Highlight Video and an Apology

I went back to do the research, and I am publicly apologizing to the men in 1st period. You all have strong points about Iverson's career (on-court), and while I am not a big fan of his, those personal opinions may have clouded my judgement of his play.  

Remember that research is the key and let logic be your guide. Interestingly, despite reading the stats, it was this highlight video that swayed my stance (the power of visual media). I do have to add though that most of these plays (if not all) are from his early days with the Sixers. Enjoy.

Allen Iversons Best 10 Plays Ever - The funniest videos are a click away

Dec. 14/15: Parodies and "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

1. Define the vocabulary:

Stanza, Quatrain, Couplet, Meter, Syllable, Rhyme Scheme, Scansion, Parody, Hyperbole

2. Know the benefit of reading a text using an eReader like the one by Barnes and Noble.

We looked at Irving mentions of St. Nicholas in "The History of New York." So fast.

3. This lead us to Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Link

4. We looked at a few parody versions of the poems. 

One we particularly enjoyed was the Tex-Mex version. Download Tex-Mex Twas the Night Before Christmas

5. We analyzed the meter, language, and rhyme scheme to make sure the parody has characteristics of the original.

6. Students wrote at least the first two stanzas of their original parodies of Moore's work.

7. We also watched "Weird Al" Yankovich's musical parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad."

1

Weird Al Yankovic - Fat (Official Music Video) - Click here for this week’s top video clips

Night Before Christmas - SNL

Make sure to work on your original parodies for next class.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Dec. 11: Friday, ...from the Future

Hello and welcome to the future of learning. I'm sorry about my voice; I have a little bit of a virus. Ha ha. OK. Enough with the jokes. Please answer the following questions on your own sheet of paper...............................Paper...ha ha. 

 

Please pause my voice if I go too fast for you humans. 

 

1.     If you are being DILIGENT in school, what grade would you get for effort?

 

2.     Where would you go for a RUSTIC vacation?

 

3.     Describe the best restaurant in the VICINITY of your school.

 

4.     What is the name of the biggest RIVAL of your favorite sports team?

 

5.     Where would you be most likely to hear a PSALM?

 

6.     How would you react if you saw a SPECTER?

 

7.     Lots of people have superstitions, like rubbing a rabbit’s foot for good luck.  What is one other SUPERSTITION that you have heard of?

 

8. If you are feeling DROWSY, what are you about to do?

 

9. Describe some place that you like to LINGER.

 

10. What is a SUFFICIENT amount of money to spend on a Christmas present?

 

Great job, but you aren't done. I need to learn more from you. 

 

Being that I am a computer, I am obviously much more intelligent than your teacher. He insists that if you write a story, that I will not be able to tell if it is real or not. In order to help us settle this bet, please write a one page story that is either fake or true. 

 

Write this on the back of your vocabulary. Forgive me. I know I spoke too fast for you. I'll repeat myself. When you have finished, please turn in your paper to the human sub.

 

Being that I am a computer, I am obviously much more intelligent than your teacher. He insists that if you write a story, that I will not be able to tell if it is real or not. In order to help us settle this bet, please write a one page story that is either fake or true. 

Dec. 9/10: "Sleepy" Vocab, Abridged Analysis, "Seeing is Believing"

1. Download and complete the fill-in-the-blank vocabulary document. Download Sleepy fill in the blank

2. Use the TPCASTT model (Download Tpcastt color) to analyze two paragraphs from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Download Abridged Version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

3. For Level 3, we will consider the notion that "seeing is believing." This is inspired by the text but does not require reading the text to participate in the discussion.

Watch the following videos:

OK for Media to Make Maybe Movies?

Thank Your Hero by Making a Movie (I made this one)

And read this article about labeling photographs that have been retouched

For your grade, write a one-page response to these pieces and the idea that "seeing is believing."

Dec. 7/8: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

1. Pick one of the 15 vocabulary words and create a poster with the word, definition that matches the part of speech, a picture, and a sentence. List of words: Download Sleepy hollow vocab list 

2. Read the detailed summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Write ten level one questions that cover the entire summary.

3. Outline a list of similarities between this tale and Rip Van Winkle.

4. Write a paragraph explaining the similarities between the two. Grade: 50% content/50% conventions.

5. Reflection: Why is Irving writing stories like this at the beginning of the 19th century?

Extra credit: leave a comment about today's lesson or bring a toy (by Friday) for the band's toy drive.

Music and Performance of the Future?

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Nicholas Bryan plays multiple iPhones during the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra’s Music for Iphones concert at the the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics on Dec. 3. 

PALO ALTO, Calif. — An expectant hush fell over the audience as the director of the chamber ensemble, Ge Wang, came out and asked them to turn off their cellphones. The seven other musicians, dressed in black, filed in and took their positions in a circle.

read the rest and watch the video here.