English 12B - Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) (Period 2) Assignments

Outline Template for Research Paper

Instructions for Annotated Bibliography

Benchmark Exam

Catch-up Day (End of 10-Week Grade Reporting Period)

Self-Portrait Mini-Poster (25 pts.): To conclude our unit on Language, Gender, and Culture, and to prepare for writing the final assessment paper on how these factors influence your identity, you will create a mini-poster depicting who you are at this stage in your life. It may be as realistic, stylized, or abstract as you choose, but must include the following:

• an image or images depicting your identity
• one caption describing your gender identity
• one caption describing your language(s) spoken
• one caption describing the cultures that form your identity
• captions should be a minimum of three sentences

Students completed a Pre-Writing Activity in preparation for the final assessment paper for the unit. Graphic Organizer attached.

Students read "Phylosophe," a short transcript of a video of Judith Butler, and wrote a 1-page response, addressing the questions posed in the third paragraph of the text.

Students completed entries in their reading charts (in their composition notebooks) for the two videos we viewed the prior week.

Students did not attend class today due to senior activities and CAHSEE testing.

Students did not attend class today due to senior activities and CAHSEE testing.

Students went to the media center to attend a presentation regarding the new digital library system and obtain their  sign-in information

Students completed a community-building activity in which they filled out a graphic organizer regarding daily occurrences in life that bring happiness, they shared their responses with the whole group, and wrote a reflection on their reactions and experiences with the activity.

We watched two videos in class and discussed the issues of language, gender, and culture presented in the videos:

 

"Killing us Softly 4 - Part 1" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_SuJJh6Gso

 

"Tough Guise" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI

Students continued their five quick-writes from Monday, and we had a class discussion regarding issues relating to Language, Gender, and Culture.

Benchmark Exam - Students receive 20 points for taking the exam, regardless of their score, and can earn up to 10 points of extra credit if they successfully complete the written portion of the exam.

Introduced the current unit: Language, Gender, and Culture

 

Students were asked to write reflective quick-writes in response to a series of prompts, and discussed the responses as a whole group.

Students finished work on their infographic posters.

Students began work on the Infographic portion of their final projects for the bullying unit. They were asked to work with a partner to create an infographic poster. The poster includes information from the outlines, along with illustrations and graphics.

Students began work on the outlines for their final projects for the Bullying unit.

Complete: Students were asked to complete the last two entries in their reading charts for the unit on Bullying:

 

- "Bullying in Our Schools: A Different Perspective" by Maggie Dent

- "Bully" Documentary directed by Lee Hirsch

Rally was canceled due to rainy weather.

 

Students were asked to answer reflective questions to get them to think critically about the documentary film we watched in class.

 

1. Write a paragraph reflecting on the film. Did you like it? Explain why or why not. Give examples from the movie that show why you liked or disliked it.

 

2. Choose one story from the film that grabbed your attention and write a paragraph describing why it stood out to you. Did you relate to that student? Why or why not?

 

3. Think of one thing you would criticize about the film (constructive criticism, please). What are its weaknesses? Why?

 

4. Do you think this film has the potential to reduce bullying in school in the US? Why or why not? Explain your answers.

Finished: Viewing "Bully" documentary

Began: Viewing "Bully" documentary

Read: "Bullying in Our Schools: A Different Perspective" by Maggie Dent

Completed: Created Bullying mini-posters using words and images to depict what the victims of bullying experience emotionally.

Catch-up Day: Students will have the duration of the period to review the notebook checklist and make sure their composition notebooks are up-to-date before submitting them.

Turn in: Composition Books for first notebook check.

Finish: Descriptive Outline for "How to Handle a Bully"

 

Complete: Reading Chart entry for "How to Handle a Bully"

Completed: Mapping the Organizational Structure assignment for "How to Handle a Bully" and began the Descriptive Outline (graphic organizer attached).

 

Counselor Michelle Cervana gave a talk to all senior English classes concerning FAFSA and other important deadlines and college-related information.

Read: "How to Handle a Bully" by Kathiann M. Kowalski (pg. 152 of textbook. Copy of article attached)

 

Began: Mapping the Organizational Structure of the article activity. We annotated and sectioned off the text, indicating where the introduction and conclusion begin and end, and dividing up the rest of the article into sections based on their main topic.

Read: "Key Policy Letters from the Education Secretary" (pg. 157 of the textbook. Copy of article attached) and had a class discussion regarding the topics addressed in the reading.

 

Completed: Third entry on the reading chart for the above article.

Finish Understanding Key Vocabulary chart as a class.

 

Students were asked to draw a reading chart in their composition notebooks to keep a record of the articles we read for the unit on bullying. We filled out the first two rows for the first two articles we already read. Chart attached.

"Good readers know that when they learn the definition of a word, they can often understand the meanings of other forms of the word. For example, if they learn what a verb means, they can figure out what a noun or an adjective based on that verb means." Students were given a list of twelve terms relevant to the topic of bullying, and asked to research the definitions of these verbs, to provide the noun form of the words, and to research the definitions of the noun forms of the terms.

 

Read: "School Bullies are Often Also Victims; Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying

Students were asked to answer the following prompt at the beginning of class:

 

My definition of bullying:

 

Questions about bullying that I hope to answer by reading the articles assigned for this module:

 

1.

2.

3.

 

Read: "Bullying in Schools" by Ron Banks. Held class discussion to determine the author's claims and arguments.

Students were asked to bring a composition notebook by Thursday for all of the classwork they will be doing this semester.

 

Suicide Awareness Prevention Day PowerPoint and class discussion.

Students were asked to write two Quickwrites about bullying:

 

Quickwrite 1: Have you ever been bullied? What happened? How did you deal with it? What were the consequences?

 

Quickwrite 2: Have you ever bullied anyone or been an onlooker when bullying was happening? What did you do? Why did you do it? What did the person who was bullied to in response? What happened afterwards?

 

Students then completed the following vocabulary activity:

 

 

Students brainstormed words or phrases related to bullying, and were asked to classify them as either "formal" or "informal" in a chart.

Check-in Questions: Students were asked to answer some questions about how they feel they did during the first semester of the year.

1. How do you feel about the grades you earned during the first semester?

2. Did you accomplish the goals you set for yourself?

3. What can you do this semester to avoid some of the mistakes you made last semester? (If you don't feel you made any mistakes, list the things you did right.)

4. What are some academic goals you wish to achieve this semester? (List at least three.)

5. Write an action plan for how you are going to meet these goals (one paragraph).