Nov 26

Hello everyone! 

For homework: please complete multiple choice take home quiz on the themes of Things Fall Apart.

Nov 27

Hello everyone! 

Today we talked about the final chapters of Things Fall Apart.  

For homework: write an alternate ending for Things Fall Apart.

This can be completed in the comment section below or on loose leaf paper.  

Nov. 25

Today We talked about Self-Efficacy and Self-fulfilling prophecy.   

FOR HOMEWORK: Please complete the graphic organizer for homework.

Self-efficacy: the belief that one has control over one’s own life

Self-fulfilling prophecy: is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true

Today you are going to set goals for yourself.  Taking part and having control of your life is called SELF-EFFICACY.

Below is a graphic organizer.  Fill out the graphic organizer with the information needed.

One Day: At the end of the day I will…	One Week: At the end of this week I will…	One Month: At the end of this month I will…	One Year: At the end of this year I will…
To meet this goal, I will need the support of…	To meet this goal, I will need the support of…	To meet this goal, I will need the support of…	To meet this goal, I will need the support of…
These are the skills I need to meet this goal…	These are the skills I need to meet this goal…	These are the skills I need to meet this goal…	These are the skills I need to meet this goal…
Here is my plan to meet this goal…	Here is my plan to meet this goal…	Here is my plan to meet this goal…	Here is my plan to meet this goal…

Nov. 21

Hello folks!
 Great job on your writing today. Tomorrow we will finish up your writing and begin talking about sins.

For homework: How do you know if you did something wrong? What rules do you have at your house?

Write down the rules your family lives by.

Nov. 20

Hello Everyone,

For Homework:

Finish writing your essay on proverbs and their meanings.  

Be sure to include: What is a proverb?  What proverb did you choose?  What is the meaning of the proverb? And why did you choose this proverb?

Any questions please feel free to contact me.

Nov. 19

Hello Folks,

 

For Homework:  Finish writing the meanings of the proverbs.  You will be using them for class tomorrow.

Nov. 18

Good Afternoon!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

FOR HOMEWORK: Write the meaning of the Proverbs below.

1.     Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

2.     The grass is always greener on the other side.

3.     It takes two to tango.

4.     A leopard cannot change its spots.

5.     Money doesn’t grow on trees

Nov. 14

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a great day!  Today we reviewed chapters 1-4 of Things Fall Apart.  

These chapters help the reader understand the clan of Umuofia and our main character Okonkwo.

For Homework: Read the following quote and discuss it's meaning.

"Okonkwo did as the priest said. He also took with him a pot of palm-wine. Inwardly, he was repentant. But he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan. His enemies said his good fortune had gone to his head. They called him the little bird nza who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his chi." (This quote can be found in chapter 4, the 23 paragraph).

HINT: Okonkwo is not a person to show his emotions, but what did people think of him because he didn't show others he was sorry.

Nov. 13

Hello Folks!

I hope everyone had a great day back to school.  Today we are continuing our conversation on masculine and feminine traits as they pertain to Okonkwo and Things Fall Apart.

For Homework!

Watch the video on TED Talk.  

What does our society tell us about what it means to be a man?

What does Okonkwo believe makes a man?

Nov. 12

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  It was also a pleasure to meet your families.  If there are any family members who were not able to make Open School Night please let me know and I will set up a phone conversation or send a letter home.

For homework: Below are the quotes we read in class today. Please answer the question written in BOLD.

In Okonkwo’s clan, what traits are men and women given?  Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

1.) Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper […] (2.12)

2.) Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken to title. (2.12)

3.) “He belongs to the clan,” he told her [Okonkwo’s eldest wife]. “So look after him.”

“Is he staying long with us?” she asked.

“Do what you are told, woman,” Okonkwo thundered, and stammered. “When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?”

And so Nwoye’s mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. (2.16-19)

4.) His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop. (3.28)

5.) Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said. “This meeting is for men.” The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit. (4.1)

6.) Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one gravest to another was a very great man indeed. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. (4.32)

7.) [Okonkwo]: “I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands.” (4.33)

8.) As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. Okonkwo’s second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food, and she said so. Without further argument, Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative, “It is enough, Okonkwo,” pleaded from a reasonable distance. (5.10)

Nov. 6

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a good and safe day off yesterday.

Reminder: Parent/Teacher conferences are tonight and tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon.

For homework: Read the following quote and answer the question  (this will be used for Friday's writing).

"The first cup went to Okonkwo, who must taste his wine before anyone else.  Then the group drank, beginning with the eldest man.”  

Question:  Why did Okonkwo have to drink first? 

Nov. 4

Hello Hello!

Today we started reading chapter 1 from Things Fall Apart.

For Homework: Read the following sections and answer the questions.

 Section one:

Okonkwo was known in the nine villages. When Okonkwo was 18 he beat the Cat.  The Cat was the great wrestler who never lost.   He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. 

1.) What did it mean if Okonkwo beat the Cat?

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 Section Two:

When Okonkwo walked, his heels hardly touched the ground.  He seemed to walk on springs.  He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out, he would use his fists. 

2.) Some would say that Okonkwo walked as if he was going to POUNCE on somebody.  What does the word POUNCE mean?

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  Section three:

Unoka was never happy when it came to wars.  He was in fact a coward and could not bear the sigh of blood.  And so he changed the subject and talked about music, and his face beamed. 

3.) What traits would you give Unoka?  How does Unoka compare to Okonkwo?

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REMINDERS: Parent/Teacher conferences are WEDNESDAY NIGHT and THURSDAY AFTERNOON.   There is NO SCHOOL tomorrow.

Be safe.  See you Wednesday.