Predicting what your books will be about.

One way to get started with our new books is by making predictions about how we think the stories will turn out. Depending on which book you are reading - Black Boy, Frankenstein, The Color of Water - Please complete the following prediction quiz:

Make a prediction about the book based on a specific passage from the first section. Select a passage that has something to do with one of the main characters. Explain how that passage illustrates something significant about that character. How will the character change over the course of the story? What lessons will he/she learn. Use the passage as the starting point for your response.

Alienation & Isolation

Our next unit of study will focus on the idea of alienation and isolation, and specifically how those concepts are reflected in one of three novels, either Frankenstein, The Color of Water, and Black Boy.

To get us started, we will read the first chapter or chapters of each novel, then use that to help you decide which novel you'd like to read in its entirety. Although each of the novels is quite different, All three novels address these concepts in various ways. The following slideshow helps provide an overview of alienation and isolation.

Literature Circles Post #6

This will be the final wiki posting for this unit. It is due before class starts on Thursday, March 8.

By now, you should be finished with your novel - Black Boy, The Color of Water, or Frankenstein. Your wiki page also should contain numerous quotes, themes, and personal responses from your novel that were posted by you and your classmates. It is likely that there is little formal organization to your group's wiki page, but rather a collection of ideas and thoughts.

For this assignment, post some closing thoughts about an important theme or broad topic that has been discussed already on the wiki, and identify a passage from the fourth part of the book that connects to your ideas.

Record your response on your group's wiki page - click here to access the wiki. Select a passage from the fourth part of the book that somehow illustrates how that idea or broad theme has evolved during the novel. Discuss how that relates to important ideas that have been raised throughout the novel. What happens at the end of the novel to resolve a major conflict related to the theme?

Write about 100-120 words to explain your ideas.

Remember to put your first name after your posting, so I can keep track of it.

Literature Circles Post #5

This post is due before class starts on Thursday, Feb. 15.
This post is due before class starts on Monday, Feb. 26.

Now that we've gotten at least halfway through our books - either Frankenstein, Black Boy, or The Color of Water - many themes and ideas have come out through your discussions and the postings on the class wiki.

1. Select a theme that has been discussed on your wiki page already. (Or, if you'd like, from the page of another group reading the same book)
   


2. Record that theme on your group's wiki page - click here to access the wiki.


3. Select a passage from the second part of the book that somehow illustrates an aspect of the theme. Write about 100-120 words that explain how the theme is shown and how it is progressing in the book so far.


4. Remember to put your first name after your posting, so I can keep track of it.

Literature Circles Post #4

This post is due before class starts on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

You should be almost halfway through with your books, and it should be apparent that there are some important themes - or large ideas - that stand out.

Review the ideas and opinions posted on your group's wiki and select what you think has been a predominant theme so far. In literature, the central theme is typically revealed through the conflicts in the book. Your assignment is to write a posting that explores one or more recurring conflicts in the book. How does the conflict help illustrate the complex ideas involved in the theme? How has the author developed the theme through different events and conflicts in the book? What does the conflict show about people in general?

Record your work on your group's wiki page - click here to access the English 10 wiki.

Remember to put your first name after your posting, so I can keep track of it.

Literature Circles Post #3

This post is due before class starts on Thursday, Feb. 8

For this assignment, you are asked to review the Post-it notes you have made for yourself in your book. Select the two (2) best Post-its and record them on your group's wiki page.

On your group's wiki page, record what you wrote on the Post-it and explain where you put it in the book. Be as specific as possible.

In choosing the best Post-its, you may want to consider the following:
-examples of thinking shown
-a good discussion question raised
-important conflicts or other story elements noted
-insightful analysis of the novel's themes
-other relevant ideas

Literature Circles Post #2

This post is due before class starts on Tuesday, Feb. 6

Now that you have begun familiarize yourselves with the English 10 class wiki, this next assignment will ask you to take it a step further. Read what some of your classmates are posting and then post your own response to their ideas. Your homework response will go on the wiki, not on the comments section here.

Directions:

1. Click on the wiki and search through the groups in the other class who are reading the same book as you. Read what those group members have been posting.
2. Post a response to an idea from a classmate - from any class period.
3. Post your response (100-200 words) right on the other group's page by clicking Edit Page. Be sure to leave you name and to be respectful of one another.

Some possible ideas for responding to a classmate's idea...

• Ask a follow up question and provide some of your own thoughts...
• Answer a question or questions posed by someone...
• Add further comments to someone else's thoughts to help them extend the depth of their ideas...
• Make a connection to someone's ideas...

Literature Circles Post #1

This post is due before class starts on Thursday, Feb. 1.

Now that you've had a chance to get started on your book - either Frankenstein, Black Boy, or The Color of Water - you should be thinking about some of the important themes or big ideas that are starting to emerge.

1. Select one of the themes listed below, or identify your own.


2. Record that theme on your group's wiki page - click here to access the wiki.


3. Write about 100-120 words that explain how the theme is shown in the book so far, and point out an important event that helps illustrate this theme.


4. Remember to put your first name after your posting, so I can keep track of it.

Some possible themes:
racism, isolation, alienation, hunger, family, perseverance, the search for identity

To earn credit, evidence of your work needs to be on the class
wiki. If you have questions or problems, please use the comments section.

Pulling out a passage from the excerpts

This blog posting is due before class starts Monday, Jan. 8. Good luck...

We read three novel excerpts - Frankenstein, The Color of Water, & Black Boy - and you've been asked to highlight passages that made you stop and think, and those that raised questions, and those that provoked a strong reaction. If you're reading carefully and thoughtfully you should have no problem encountering such passages.

Here's your chance to share one of them with your classmates. Your assignment is to post your passage - it should be at least a sentence and most likely a little more. Write a 100-150 word response about why you chose it, what ideas it may raise about the book, how you may connect it to something significant outside the text... or other related thoughts about it.

Cite your passage with the title of the novel and page number like so - "Words and sentences from the book, blah, blah, blah..." (Book title, 12)