Homework: December 16-18

This week students are finishing their Shakespeare projects as well as their Outsider skits.

For the next three days I would like students to continue to work on their speeches and practice public speaking in front of friends and family members.

How can you help:  Ask questions about your child's day, ask them about their teachers and their favorite things.

My goal is to have the students ready to talk in front of their classmates.

Parent Sign: ___________________________________



Questions for discussion:

Would you rather fly or be invisible?  Why?
If you could be any animal what would you be?  Why?
What is one thing you want to get better at?
What do you want to be or do when you get older?
If you won 1 million dollars what would you do with it?

Homework: December 15

Congratulations to Manhattan School for Creative Debating for their win! 

For Homework:  Continue working on your speeches.  Presentations will start next week. 


Parent Sign:___________________________________________ 

Homework: December 14

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope everyone had a safe and restful weekend.

As we approach the holiday seasons let's remember to be kind and caring.

For Homework: 

With someone from home, discuss what makes a good public speaker?  What helps to make someone interesting.

Make a list of the qualities and characteristics of a good speaker.

Parent sign: __________________________________________________

Homework: December 10

Hello Everyone!

For Homework: Read the section of text below.  Use your own experiences and the reading to answer the question that follows.

Mr. Raymond is a white man who chose to marry a black woman and have "mixed" children. He pretends to be a drunk so that the townspeople will have a way to more comfortably explain his behavior and life choices.

"When I come to town, […] if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey—that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does.”

Level 1: Why does Ms. Raymond pretend to be drunk?  What is he trying to hide/make an excuse for? (Think about historical context)

Level 2: Why are Mr. Raymond's life choices considered a problem? 

Level 3: What are Mr. Raymond's life choices ?

Parent Sign: _______________________________________

Question/Comments:

Homework: December 9

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great beginning of the week.

For Homework:  Read the following quote.  Use the readings and your own experiences to answer the questions that follow.

"As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”  

Level 1:  What does Atticus mean by this quote?  How does it relate to the relationships we have seen in the Outsiders? 

Level 2: Why does Atticus want Jem and Scout to not forget this piece of advice? 

Level 3:  What does Atticus mean when he says that the "white man is trash?"

Parent Sign:_________________________________________

Question/Comments:  

Homework: December 7

For Homework:

Read the following quote.  Use your own experiences and class discussions to answer the following questions.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”

Level 1: 

What does Atticus mean? Give one example. How can we do this in our everyday lives?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Level 2: 

1. What does Atticus mean?

_______________________________________________________________________

2. How can we do this in our everyday lives?

_______________________________________________________________________

  

Level 3: 

What does Atticus mean?

Atticus means___________________________________________________

Folks at home sign:

Questions/Comments:

Homework: December 3

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful day. 

For Homework: All Levels

1. Would you want to live in the 1930's?  Why or why not?
2. Who is telling the story?  How do you know?

Homework: December 2

Hello everyone!

Today we began looking at the 1930's (the setting for To Kill A Mockingbird).

For Homework: Discuss the following topics with someone at home.

1.) What are the Jim Crow Laws?
2.) Why did people follow them?
3.) Who did they Jim Crow Laws help/hurt (if anyone)?

For video we saw in class: Jim Crow Law

Homework: Dec 1

Welcome to December!!!
 Today we are starting To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

For Homework: All Levels Answer the following questions.  You can use the internet to look up the information.

1.) When and where was Harper Lee Born?

2.) How many books has she written?

3.) Who are the main characters of To Kill A Mockingbird? 

 Level 2 and 3:  What do you notice about the author of The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) and the author of To Kill A Mockingbird?  *How are they the same?

Homework: November 30

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a wonderful few days off from school.   Today is our last day of The Outsiders and I would like to use this time to reflect.

For Homework:

All Levels:  Write a review for The Outsiders.

1. How many stars (1-5) would you give The Outsiders?
2. Give one reason supported by the book.
3. Rank the books we have read so far, 1 being the best (Part-Time Indian, Of Mice and Men, The Outsiders)

Homework: November 25

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful break and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Be safe

For Homework:  Read the passage below from page 59-60 in our Close Reader books.

Simply, my uncle Chico stayed

back in Cuba, against the family’s

advice, because everyone left

And he chose to stay.  This is where he was born,

why should he leave and live in perpetual longing

within exile?

EXILE: to be away from one’s home

PERPETUAL: Constant, never ending, all the time

Level 1:  What is his uncle afraid of happening?

Level 2:  Compare the state of longing Uncle Chico feels to the Chibok Girls.

Level 3:  What feeling of longing to the Greasers feel?  Why?  How do you know?

Folks at home sign: ________________________________________________

Comments/Concern:

Homework: November 24

Hello Everyone!  Below is your homework for tonight.  The full version of the poem can be found on page 58 of your Closer Reader book.

  

“My parents split, and I felt

absolutely halved, though what was left of me

was unclear.”

The author uses her words with power.  She creates a powerful image so show her heartache.

SPLIT: to break, tear

Level 1:  Why does the author feel split?  Do you ever feel split?

Level 2:  Why does the author feel split?  Describe a time one of the characters from The Outsiders feels split.

Level 3: Why does the author feel split?  Explain how our society can be seen as “split.”  How can we mend this separation?

Folks at home sign: __________________________________

Comments/Concerns:

Homework: November 23

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

For Homework: All Levels
 
Why is the 'gang' important to Johnny? 


Also answer:


Level 1: Do we need friends?  Why or why not?

Level 2:  Do you have this type of relationship with your friends?  Give an example.

Level 3:   Do friends always help us to do the right thing?  Why or why not?

Homework: 17-20

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

This week we are working on summarizing and planning.  We are picking two events from The Outsiders to summarize.  We are going to use those summaries to create a comic strip.

Folks at home:  Please sign each night's homework

Homework:

November 17:  All levels

Pick a comic you find funny.  

Answer the following questions:

What do you notice?  What is the comic about?

November 19: All levels
Pick an event from The Outsiders

Level 1: Who is involved and where does the scene take place?

Level 2: How are the characters feeling in this scene?  How do you know?

Level 3:  How does this scene effect the rest of the story?  Explain your thinking.

November 20: All levels
Explain the relationship between the  Greaser and Socials.

Level 2 and 3:   Does it stay the same throughout the book?  How do you know?

November 21: 

Level 1:What role does Cherry play in the rumble?
Level 2: How has Ponyboy changed int he book?
Level 3: How has Ponyboy and Darry's relationship changed?  How do you know?

Homework: November 16

Good morning!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

For Homework: Answer the following

Level 1:
1. What did Ponyboy and Johnny do?  Why?

Level 2:
1.What did Ponyboy and Johnny do?  Why?
2.Why do you think Ponyboy saw this church as a premonition?

Level 3: 
1.What did Ponyboy and Johnny do?  Why?
2.Why do you think Ponyboy saw this church as a premonition?
3.Do you think this act is Johnny's redemption?
 

Homework: Nov. 9-13

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Here is your homework for the week.  Please be sure to have a parent sign your work!

Monday:  P/T Conferences (5:30-8:00)

For Homework: Today we talked about the differences between groups and what actions we can take to make groups work together.

Level 1: What are two groups of people you think should work together?  Why?

Level 2: What are two groups of people you think would benefit from each other and why?

Level 3: What two groups of people would change out society as a whole if they worked together?

Tuesday: P/T Conferences (12:30-2:50)

 For Homework: Today we discussed the actions of our characters and whether or not we agree with what they do.

Level 1: What does it mean to be LOYAL?  Give one example. 

Level 2:  What does it mean to be LOYAL?  Should Ponyboy be loyal to Johnny?  Why or why not?

Level 3: Would you consider yourself to be a loyal person?  At what point does your loyalty fade away?  At what point should Ponyboy leave johnny (if ever)?

Wednesday:  No School

Thursday

For Homework: Today we discussed how point of view changes our understanding of a story.

Level 1: What is Point of View?  What is the POV of The Outsiders?

Level 2: What is Point of View?  How does the narrator’s POV affect you as the reader?

Level 3: What is Point of View?  Which POV do you think if the most effective?  How would The Outsiders change if they POV were different?  Explain your thinking and provide evidence from the text.

Friday

 For Homework: All Levels- Explain Ponyboy and Johnny’s relationship.  Do you have someone you can count one like they have each other?  Explain your thinking and provide evidence from the text.

Homework:November 6

Hello everyone!!!

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend!!

Today we reviewed concepts we have learned this week.

For homework: all levels

Who do you think you are more like, the greasers or the socs? Why?

Ask someone at home the same question. Be sure to ask why!

Someone at home please sign the homework!

Thank you

Homework:Nov 5

Good morning everyone!!!

We are about to finish our first week of The Outsiders.

Today we talked about Point of View.

For homework:

Level 1: what is the difference between third person omniscient and third person limited?

Level 2: what is the point of view of The Outsiders?  How do you know?  What is the difference between third person and first person point of view?

Level 3: what is the downside of having a narrator with an objective point of view?
How would The Outsiders be different if the narrator had a third person omniscient point of view?

Homework: November 4

Welcome back!

Today we talked about Code Switching.

Code Switching-  Being able to switch the way we talk based on the group of people we are around.

In The Outsiders, Pony Boy and the other Greasers have a certain way they talk to each other.

For Homework:  All levels

Why is it important to be able to CODE SWITCH?


Level 1: Three sentences

Level 2: Three sentences and one example of a time we would have to code switch

Level 3: Three sentences and one example of a time we would have to code switch AND a  time YOU code switch.



Folks at home sign: ____________________________

Homework: Nov. 2

Hello and Welcome to November!

I hope you all had a safe Halloween!

This month we are going to be reading The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

Today we talked about S. E. Hinton and were introduced to Pony Boy.

Review Quiz:  Why does S.E. Hinton use initials instead of the full name? (you may have to look up the answer if you can not remember  Check Here!)

For Homework: All Levels

In the Outsiders there are two groups of young people, The Socs and The Greasers.

Why do you think the two groups are separated (Why do they not like each other)?


Folks at home sign: _____________________

Homework: Oct 29

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Today we reviewed current events and looked at different sites in the Lower East Side.  We discussed how things change over time.

For Homework:  All Levels

Find a current event.

Level 1: 
Where did you find your current event?
Give me one fact from your current event.

Level 2: 
Where did you find your current event?
Give me 2-3 fact from your current event.

Level 3: 
Where did you find your current event?
Summarize your current event.


Parent Sign: __________________________________________

Homework: Oct 28

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday.

For Homework:  all levels

Write a review for Of Mice and Men.


Level 1: Be sure to include

1.) A rating (out of how many stars would you give the book) and why


Level 2: Be sure to include

1.) A rating (out of how many stars would you give the book)
2.) Your opinion

Level 3: Be sure to include
 
1.) A rating (out of how many stars would you give the book)
2.) Your opinion
3.) An example from the book to support your opinion

Homework: October 27

Hello Everyone!

Today we looked at a map of the LES and selected places we think are the MOST important places for people to go to when they visit our school.

For Homework:  All Levels

George tells Lennie that if he is ever in trouble that he needs to go back to the river bank and wait for George to meet him there.  That is Lennie's safe place. 

What are important places that people should know about in your neighborhood?  Why?

 (Pick 2-3 places)


Folks at home sign: ________________________________

Homework: October 26

Hello Everyone!!

Below is a list of words and their definitions. 

For homework: Write a sentence using the words for your level.

Level 1: Writhe, Woe, Console

Level 2: Console,  Cringe, Confide

Level 3: Coarse, Confide, Console

Word	Definition
Writhe	to move in a twisting or contorted motion
Console	give moral or emotional strength to
Cringe	draw back, as with fear or pain
Woe	misery resulting from affliction
Confide	reveal in private; tell confidentially
Coarse	of textures that are rough to the touch