Assignments for Week of September 8 - 12

Mon, 9/8               LIT          Read chapter 3 of Secret Life of Bees twice.
                                              Write 3 points to bring to the discussion.
                                              Be prepared for a reading quiz.

                              Writing     Fairy Tales Revisions due.

Tues, 9/9              Writing    Edit final version of speech for grammar and punctuation.

Wed, 9/10              LIT         Read chapter 4 of Secret Life of Bees twice.
                                              Write 3 points to bring to the discussion.
                                              Be prepared for a reading quiz.

Thurs, 9/11             RCG        1-page response to the film The Color of Fear

Fri, 9/12                 LIT         Read chapter 5 of Secret Life of Bees twice.
                                              Write 3 points to bring to the discussion.
                                              Be prepared for a reading quiz.
                                              Bring in photo/report on the Black Madonna.

                               RCG      1-page response to Fish Bowls.

Assignments for Week of September 2 - 5, 2014

Tues, 9/2          Read ch. 1 of Secret Life of Bees twice.
                         Be prepared for a reading quiz.
                         Bring in 3 points to discuss in class.


Wed, 9/3           Fairy Tale Revision due.


Thurs, 9/4         Read ch. 2 of Secret Life of Bees twice.
                         Be prepared for a reading quiz.
                         Bring in 3 points to discuss in class.


Fri, 9/5              Speeches due for delivery to class.
                          Response to Color of Fear due.

Assignments for Week of August 25 - 29, 2014

Mon, 8/25          Story due.
                           Develop with character description, scenes, dialogue and interesting details.
                           Be sure to check twice for grammar and punctuation.

Tues, 8/26           Read Kareem Abdul Jabar's article "The Coming Race War Won't Be about Race."
                            http://time.com/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/

                           Then read Dave Zirin's response "The Major Problem with Kareem Abdul Jabar's
                            Powerful Essay on Ferguson."
                            http://www.thenation.com/blog/181310/my-major-problem-kareem-abdul-jabbars-powerful-essay-ferguson

                            Be prepared for a reading quiz on the two pieces.

Wed, 8/27            Original fairy tale due.

                             Questions for Tom McNeal due (3 or more).

Thurs, 8/28         Socio-identity form due.

Fri, 8/29              Story revision/speeches due.

Welcome Back to School!

Wed, 8/20          Prepare an introduction of the person you interviewed.
                       
                          Write at least 3 six-word memoirs.  Send your best one to Martha via email.

                           7th graders: bring in your iPad User Contracts.

                           7th graders: bring in your summer reading lists.
                       
                            8th graders: update the blog to make sure you're reads are current.
                             www.pisummerread14.weebly.com

                            Review Far, Far Away in preparation for the trivia game on Friday.

                            Start preparing for a current events News Bowl contest on Friday.



Thurs, 8/21         Write a story about a time you needed courage

                           7th graders: bring in your iPad User Contracts.

                            Review Far, Far Away in preparation for the trivia game on Friday.

                            Continue preparing for a current events News Bowl contest on Friday.



Fri, 8/22              Trivia game on Far, Far Away

                            News Bowl contest over current events.

                            8th graders: have an idea for a story for your speech.

Assignments for Week of May 12-16

Mon, May 12       SLAM     Final draft due

                             RCG       Answer questions about A Force More Powerful, Part 5. Answer these
                                              questions:

 1    Why did the workers in Poland go on strike?

2     What are the workers’ demands?

3      Some activists called for expanding the list of demands to include free elections and an end to censorship. What might have happened if these demands had been added?

4      Industrial workers have played key roles in several stories presented in this series.  Why have workers and their unions been such effective vehicles for nonviolent action? What leverage do workers possess that ordinary citizens don’t?

Tues, May 13        SLAM      All class poetry slam

Wed, May 14        RCG        Action Project Presentations

Thurs, May 15      RCG       News Bowl          

Fri, May 16          EVALS      Self-evaluations due.

Assignments for Week of May 5 - 9

Mon, May 5    SLAM     Slam poem due.        

Wed, May 7     WTG       Screenplays:  Scenes due.

                         SLAM       Revisions due.

                         RCG:         Answer these questions about A Force More Powerful, Part 3:

 1.  How did activists in both India and South Africa use these three forms of nonviolent sanctions: protests (such as parades and demonstrations), noncooperation (such as boycotts, resignations and civil disobedience) and direct intervention (such as factory occupations and blockades)? How did the sanctions neutralize or limit the power of the regime?

2. Early in his career Gandhi once labeled a campaign of nonviolent action as “passive resistance.” Is this a good description of what the Indians shown in the program were doing? Is it a good label for nonviolent action in general? Explain.

3. Starting in the mid-1980s anti-Apartheid movements in the United States and Europe succeeded in pressuring governments and corporations to take economic measures against South Africa. At the time, some people in these countries opposed such economic punishment; they argued that it harmed the people it was supposed to help more than it harmed the oppressive regime. What impact did these sanctions have on the South African government’s ability to sustain apartheid?

Thurs, May 8    RCG       Action Project check-in.

                                          Post annotated citation and link for News Bowl article at
                                          http://newsbowlrcg.wikispaces.com

                                          Send 5 good questions on your article to Martha. (Make one of
                                           them inferential.)

                                          Read pages 1-10 of A Force More Powerful study guide. Answer these
                                          questions:

1  What are some of the lessons nonviolent resisters learned?

2  What is the most vulnerable characteristic of all hierarchical institutions and governments?

3  Who is James Lawson?

4  What does the term satyagraha mean?

5  What is apartheid?

6  In South Africa Mkhuseli Jack’s mission was to win the “high ground in the community.” What did this mean?

7  What were the demands of the nonviolent resisters in South Africa?

8  What methods did the resisters use to topple apartheid?

Fri, May 9          RCG         Answer questions about A Force More Powerful, Part 4.

1      How did the Danes resist the Nazi invasion?

2      How did they organize to protect their Jewish citizens?

3      The Danes did not defeat the Germans, but how did their resistance thwart Germany’s progress?
 4   What were the Ten Commandments for Danes?

                          SLAM     Revised poem.
                                  

Assignments for Week of April 28 - May 2

Mon, Apr 28        Questions on Freaks and Geeks, Episode 1
                              Plot and subplot or original situation comedy episode


Tues, Apr 29         Definitions for RCG Terms: Define each term and give 2 examples.

                              List and descriptions of characters for comedy episode.
                              List of scenes for Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3

                         
Wed, Apr 30         Essay on Purple Hibiscus due.


Thurs, May 1         Action Project check-in

                              Topic for Poetry Slam due.

                              Questions on A Force More Powerful due.
                                 

                           1.     Participants in almost every nonviolent movement this past 

                                 century have confronted the question of how to prepare for 

                                 a possible crackdown. What risks did the Nashville students 

                                 run by going ahead with the sit-in?

                           2.     What might have happened had the students fought back when 

                                  attacked on February 27, 1960?

                           3.     Why did they decide to remain in jail, when they could have just 

                                 as easily walked out?

                           4.     Did the events of February 27 work to the advantage of the 
                                 students or the segregationists?  How so?

             


Fri, May 2      3 scenes for screenplay due.