Harrison Bergeron Day 1

Big Idea: Ideology, utopia, and imagination

Nuance Academy: Infinitive clauses

After today I should be able to: annotate a short story and participate in a discussion.

Reading: You should have two books read by October 1st.

Agenda:

1. Write 10 infinitive clauses.
1. Start with an infinitive clause. An infinitive clause tells why the action of the verb occurs. Start with the infinitive clause and follow it with an independent clause.
1. Loose sentence:
1. Mr. White carefully planned the stages of his essay, and then he wrote it.
2. Infinitive clause
1. To write a good essay, Mr. White needed to plan carefully.
2. Think about a goal that the subject has and then write what they need to do to achieve that goal.
1. Goal: to write a good essay
2. Action: Mr. White needed to plan carefully
2. Begin reading "Harrison Bergeron." Divide it into sections and look for:
1. Contrasts and Contradictions
1. A character thinks and behaves in a way that we don't expect.
2. An element of a setting is something we would not expect.
3. Question: Why did...How can this help us understand or predict...?
2. Patterns
1. A word is repeated again and again
2. An idea is repeated again and again (but with different words, i.e. war, battle, fighting, etc.)
3. An image is repeated several times
4. An action keeps happening
5. Really, anything that gets repeated throughout the book can possibly be a pattern.
6. Question: Why is the author continually bringing up...?

Homework:

1. Work on your first vocabulary list. It is due by Sunday at 9PM.
2. Read your independent reading book.

First Class Discussion

Big Idea: Ideology, utopia, and imagination

Nuance Academy: Adverb clauses

After today I should be able to: annotate a short story and participate in a discussion.

Reading: You should have two books read by October 1st.

Agenda:

1. Write 10 adverb clauses.
1. Start with an adverb clause. An adverb clause tells when or where the action of the verb occurs. Start with the adverb clause and follow it with an independent clause.
1. Loose sentence:
1. Mr. White carefully planned the stages of his essay, and then he wrote it.
2. Independent clause
1. Before he wrote the essay, Mr. White carefully planned it.
2. Participate in a practice discussion.
1. What is one thing that is really popular right now but future generations will think is silly?
2. What is the worst piece of advice a person can give?
3. “Instinct is no match for reason.”
4. “Chocolate is my Achilles Heel.”
5. If we ever find evidence of intelligent beings beyond Earth, should we try to contact them?
3. Begin reading "Harrison Bergeron." Divide it into sections and look for:
1. Contrasts and Contradictions
1. A character thinks and behaves in a way that we don't expect.
2. An element of a setting is something we would not expect.
3. Question: Why did...How can this help us understand or predict...?
2. Patterns
1. A word is repeated again and again
2. An idea is repeated again and again (but with different words, i.e. war, battle, fighting, etc.)
3. An image is repeated several times
4. Question: Why is the author continually bringing up...?

Homework:

1. Work on your first vocabulary list. It is due by Sunday at 9PM.
2. Read your independent reading book.

The Sniper Day 2

Big Idea: Ideology, utopia, and imagination

Nuance Academy: Loose Sentences

After today I should be able to: annotate a short story and participate in a discussion.

Reading: You should have two books read by October 1st.

Agenda:

1. Write 10 independent clauses.
1. Start with an independent clause. An independent clause has a subject, verb, and often a direct object. You can follow the independent clause with a modifying phrase.
1. Loose sentence:
1. Mr. White carefully planned the stages of his essay, and then he wrote it.
2. Independent clause
1. Mr. White wrote the essay after carefully planning it.
2. Work on your vocabulary list for 5 minutes.
3. Read the short story, "The Sniper"
1. Annotate the short story using the prompts from yesterday.
2. Participate in a practice discussion.
1. What is one thing that is really popular right now but future generations will think is silly?
2. What is the worst piece of advice a person can give?
3. “Instinct is no match for reason.”
4. “Chocolate is my Achilles Heel.”
5. If we ever find evidence of intelligent beings beyond Earth, should we try to contact them?

Homework:

1. Work on your first vocabulary list. It is due by Sunday at 9PM.
2. Read your independent reading book.

The Sniper Day 1

Big Idea: Ideology, utopia, and imagination

Nuance Academy: Loose Sentences

After today I should be able to: write a loose sentence

Reading: You should have two books read by October 1st.

Agenda:

1. Write 10 loose sentences.
1. String ideas together using and or but, and sometimes who, which, when, where and while.
2. Example: Mr. White carefully planned the stages of his essay, and then he wrote it.
2. Choose your first vocabulary list from the Big Book of Words. You must use 20 words from the letter A or B list. You will add these words to a list you create on Vocabulary.com You should finish your list by Sunday evening.
3. Read the short story, "The Sniper"
1. Break the short story into sections
2. We will practice annotating the short story together. You should look for:
1. Contrasts and Contradictions
1. A character thinks and behaves in a way that we don't expect.
2. An element of a setting is something we would not expect.
3. Question: Why did...How can this help us understand or predict...?
2. Patterns
1. A word is repeated again and again
2. An idea is repeated again and again (but with different words, i.e. war, battle, fighting, etc.)
3. An image is repeated several times
4. Question: Why is the author continually bringing up...?
3. Epiphanies
1. A character or group of characters suddenly understands something.
2. For example, "In an instant I knew..."
3. Question: How might the realization that...change...?

Homework:

1. Work on your first vocabulary list. It is due by Sunday at 9PM.
2. Read your independent reading book.

First Day

Big Idea: Ideology, utopia, and the imagination

Nuance Academy: none

After today I should be able to: find the agenda for this class and access Google Classroom.

Reading: Finish two books of your choice by October 1st.

Agenda:

1. Find your seat and complete the Rare Birds.
2. First Day of School slides
3. Sign in to Google Classroom and bookmark the blog
4. Briefly go over the syllabus.
5. Why are you at BMCHS?
1. Write a letter about your reasons for coming and what you hope to get out of being at the middle college.
1. Be around students who care
2. smaller campus overall
3. smaller classes and better access to teacher support
2. You can have three sections to your letter.
1. Who I am and my experience at BHS
2. Why I am at BMCHS
3. What I hope to gain over the next three years

Homework:

1. None