Compare and contrast

After you have written your Open Response practice, please take a minute to go to the student work for the 2010 ELA MCAS and look at the rubric and the anchor papers.

How would you score yourself? Why?
How is your answer similar to a 4?
how is your answer different from a 4?

What are you going to do when you are studying this evening?

FYI: Test date moved

I just read the blog again and saw that I said the test would be on Tuesday.
Since I want to do a practice activity, I am moving the test to Wednesday.
Study, post on the blog, and come in ready to practice Open Response writing on an authentic MCAS item.
Our test, to be clear, is Wednesday.
Feel free to visit the MCAS links to other items from other years.
It is amazing what looking at other students' work will teach you.

What did you learn about the Grade 10 MCAS today?

So, the Grade 10 MCAS should be demystified.
What did you learn about what people expect you to know and be able to do

• as a reader and
• as a writer

on this assessment?

What did you learn from looking at other students' work?

Your reaction to Team Testing?

I had an idea this weekend that I would like to provide as an option on future Open Response tests:
The Team Test!

My idea?
Anyone who wants to take the test as a four person team would sign up.
Then on the day of the open response test, the team would sit at a table together.
They could huddle for 5 minutes to divide the questions.
The total points would be based on an addition of the points earned by the team.
The entire team would share the same score.
What do you think?
I am open to any variations on this idea.

Also, do you know what pod-casts are? I thought about you being able to record a spoken response to test questions, but I am curious as to where you are with the technology. I know of a way where you could speak your answers into your phone... Are you up for that?

Open Response Test: Tuesday

We will have a test on Tuesday, Open Response style.
You will be able to use your books and notebooks, just as on MCAS you always have a test to refer to.
Needless to say, you will be expected to quote from the story to support your answer.
So, what does that mean to you?

Do you have a strategy to share for successful writing?
What about writing open response items is stressful for you?
Do you have a question about writing for that type of item?

The Veldt: Response and the Price of Progress

So, what DO you think?

How is "The Veldt" similar to and different from other Bradbury stories?

How would it fit into the textbook unit: The Price of Progress?
Would you remive a story in the unit and replace it with "The Veldt" ? Why or Why not?
Is you answered yes, what story would you remove and why?

The dream essay question on the price of progress unit

The directions are simple here:
Write the essay question of your dreams that allows you to make a strong statement as a writer.

Possible topics include :
how the stories are related
how the characters are related
how the themes are related
how you think about the future as a result of these stories
what these stories have inspired in terms of television and movies

or, if you would like to take the creative writing option...
how about writing a short story of your won about the price of progress?

What kind of test do you want to take?

In your comments below, describe the kind of test that would best show me what you know and are able to do as a result of reading, discussing and writing on the blog.

Consider tests you ahve taken in the past and a test you would like to take in the future.
Think outside the box if you would like to ...

Dandelion Wine: Your response to a different Bradbury sample

Bradbury doesn't always write about the future in the same way that Stephen King doesn't always write about horror and the supernatural.
For instance, did you know that Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile are all Stephen King stories?

Please record your response to the excerpt from Dandelion Wine by Bradbury.
What stylistic features are similar to what you have read?
What stylistic features are different from what you have read?

The Pedestrian: Your Response, please

So, what do you think?

Now focus in on the following from question #3, page 101:

What are your impressions of Leonard's world of 2053?

• hat Leonard hasn't seen in ten years of nightly walks
• what passes for normal night behavior in the city
• the condition of the city's sidewalks

Now consider Bradbury's style...

You have read two short stories by Ray Bradbury:

• The Sound of Thunder
• There Will Come Soft Rains

How would you describe Bradbury's style?
Concentrate on selecting examples of:

• specific word choices that reveal a pattern
• specific sentence types
• specific images
• specific emotional adjectives that capture Bradbury's attitude toward character, settings or the situation.

There Will Come Soft Rains: #5

What effect does Bradbury create by including the Teasdale poem in his story?
Think about:

• the message or the theme of ech selection
• the settings of the poem and the story

There Will Come Soft Rains : Response

So, what do you think?

How does this feel like a "Bradbury" story?

Is it more like Vonnegut or more like Benet or something different?

How does this story connect to any of the other stories we have read?

The Sound of Thunder : Question # 5

In your opinion, what theme is Bradbury conveying through the story?   Think about:

The Butterfly effect?

• the society Eckels returns to as compared with the rest of the society depicted at the beginning of the story
• the significance of the butterfly

Response: The Sound of Thunder

So, what do you think?

How would you describe Bradbury as a writer in comparison to Vonnegut and/or Benet?

How is this author connecting to the idea of paying a price for progress?

Bablyon :#s 3, 5, &6 but with style

Return to  one of the questions from the previous post [3,5, or 6 p.53] and support your answer with evidence that comes from an author's style choices.

By the Waters of Babylon: 3,5, & 6

Why do you think it is forbidden for anyone but a priest to visit the Dead Places? Explain.

How does the title of this selection ass to your understanding of the story?

What do you think is the theme of the story?
Remember, the theme should be expressed as a sentence.
The author is usually making an assertion:
readers should do something
readers should not do something
or, regardless of what readers do, this is the way humans will behave.

Use examples from the text, of course.

By the Waters of Babylon Response

So what do you think?
Consider...
Did the references to the forbidden lands of the East make sense to you?
Did you know where you were? What do you think happened?
(Be careful--look up when the story was written before you jump to conclusions.)


Did you like it the same, more or less than Harrison Bergeron?
Explain, of course.

Vonnegut, page 27, #5...same question, but with style!

Same question:
What do you think Vonnegut might be trying to say

• about today's society and
• the role a government can play in achieving equality among people?

Use examples from the style of Vonnegut's writing  (not so much the facts of the story) to support your opinion.
Please note page, column, and paragraph # so we know what you are commenting on.
Think of as many examples as you can and share your best two.

Directions and guidance:

Look for word choices, individual particular words, that are clues to the author's attitude.
Focus in on syntax, or sentence structure.
 by counting things like the number of words in a sentence or the number and kind of punctuation marks.
Are all the sentences "equal" in structure?
Does Vonnegut make any analogies, use similes or metaphors? If so, what is the basis of his comparison?

Start there...if there is any level of detail, any kind of texture of the writing that communicates an emotional sense, list the adjectives that come to mind...do you notice a pattern? What about the proper nouns or names? Do they seem to be symbolic? Is there any foreshadowing you can identify?

. Write on paper if the blog is not working!





You can comment again later if you'd like to add something.

9/11

This is a space to add your thoughts and feelings about 9/11, given that we have just seen a powerful video account of this day. You are not required to post here or say anything, but you may if you would like.
You may add either comments or questions.

Bergeron, page 27, Question 5

What do you think Vonnegut might be trying to say

• about today's society and
• the role a government can play in achieving equality among people?

Use examples from the story to support your opinion.
Please note page, column, and paragraph # so we know what you are commenting on.
Think of as many examples as you can and share your best two.

You can comment again later if you'd like to add something.

Response to Harrison Bergeron

What do you think of this story by Kurt Vonnegut?

• What did you like about it?
• What didn't you like about it?
• If you have a mixed response, give the positive and negative a % [50/50, etc]

Post any questions you have...
And if you can answer someone's question, please do.

You may comment more than once if you are inspired.

SSR? 10, 25, or 47?

SSR is an important component of an ELA class that is designed to prepare you to become lifelong learners.
A person who takes time out regularly to read for pleasure in school is more likely to take that time and more to read for pleasure out of school.The more you read, the more fluid a reader you become, the better your vocabulary will be (if you read at your challenge level).

SSR is your choice. You many read in any school appropriate genre; ask me if you are not sure.
Read beyond novels--try history, science, biography, self-help, essays, humor--whatever.
Read magazines or newspapers.
Take the netbooks and read --many newspapers and magazines have great sites; so do TV channels.
Try reading other blogs...you can use the netbooks to discover ereading.
If you have an ereader (I have a kindle), bring it.
If you have an ereader app on your phone, you may use it--I have iBook and kindle apps.

Please comment: What would you like to for SSR this quarter?
5 ten minute periods?  2 periods of 25 minutes? Just one whole class?
Please say why, and what you plan on reading.

Welcome to our class blog!

This space can be used for discussion, homework, links, and connections to other resources.
We can prepare for discussions here and continue them later.
This can be a brainstorming and drafting place, too.

Search across the web using keywords like: blog, classroom, high school, and English.
What features do you find that you would want to see here?
What kind of posts?
What kind of widgets or gadgets?

Comment on your findings below.