Tuesday, October 23, 2012

AGENDA 10/23

Computer Lab T110 to experiment with Audacity

Download my sample audio project to import into and work with in Audacity 
Here's my sample audio project for use on Macs

AUDIO RESOURCES:

Link to SoundBible - search for free, downloadable sound effects and music! Public domain - ok to repost on web
Link to Soungle - search for free, downloadable sound effects!
Link to Freeplay Music - search for free, downloadable background music by style or keyword. FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY.
Link to JewelBeat - search for downloadable music - 99¢ a song gives you licensing permissions to use on web.


Study for Wednesday's quiz over Fallacies and Semicolon Use:

Fallacies Practice #1

Fallacies Practice #2
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint Notes

Semicolons Practice #1

Semicolons Practice #2

Monday, October 22, 2012

AGENDA 10/22

Final call for signups for Election Authentic Audience presentations for PTSA Election Night 10/24 @ 6:30pm in the Cafeteria or to Senior classes at Samohi: - share template to help you plan presentations

Stamp election ads drafts

Review final words in Nature Unit vocabulary list

Begin studying Thoreau's "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"
Brief overview of Transcendentalism

HW: BRING HEADPHONES TO COMPUTER LAB TOMORROW!
Study for Wednesday's quiz over Fallacies and Semicolon Use:

Fallacies Practice #1

Fallacies Practice #2
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint Notes

Semicolons Practice #1

Semicolons Practice #2

Friday, October 19, 2012

AGENDA 10/19

Grammar: Semicolons #4
QUIZ next Wednesday over semicolon use.  You'll need to know how to answer/punctuate the sentences and give the complete semicolon rules. See resources below in the HW section.

Explain Election Authentic Audience presentations - share template to help you plan presentations
PTSA Election Night 10/24 @ 6:30pm in the Cafeteria

Tips for drafting Election Ad script - use brackets/parentheses and italics for sound effects/music descriptions. Look at "Future" ad for guidance.

UNDECIDED: lots of appeals to emotions, includes facts (though not necessarily very specific--e.g., "she created jobs" as opposed to "she saved taxpayers 1.4 million over the last eight years), often story-based with characters people can relate to.  GOAL: Undecided ads are introductions--they give the basics, rely heavily on emotions, and probably won't mention the other side.

BASE: appeals to emotions, esp. at end. May use fallacies sparingly. MUST include specific facts with concrete details and/or numbers. May discredit opponent/opposing side. GOAL:  to affirm your side and encourage supporters to get out and vote, and get even more involved in the campaign.

OPPOSITION: appeals to emotions, esp. at beginning and end.  MUST include specific facts with concrete details and/or numbers.  Often targeted at a very narrow audience, trying to win people over on one part of the issue or based on one common thread or idea.  (Narrower audiences: mothers, environmentalists, people sympathetic to illegal immigrants, etc.) GOAL: to clear up misunderstandings, misrepresentations, or set the record straight and clear up confusion from other side.  Try to win a few votes/change a few minds at a time. (Common phrases include "you've heard..." "____ has said that _____" or "supporters say ____, but ____.")

HW: Indie reading - complete 500 pages by November 7th!
QUIZ on Wednesday over semicolon use and logical fallacies
Logical Fallacies Practice #1

Logical Fallacies Practice #2
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint
Understanding Fallacies PowerPoint Notes

Semicolons Practice #1

Semicolons Practice #2





Monday, October 15, 2012

AGENDA 10/15

next 6 vocabulary words from Nature Unit


Discuss and analyze rhetorical appeals and techniques (including sound effects) in the following political ads:
Listen to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: "Future"
Transcript of "Future" ad
Discuss narrator - how does the narrator come across as likable, relatable, and credible? What helps the candidate come across as trustworthy, reliable, likable? (appeals to ethos)
What facts are included? (appeals to logos)
What emotions does the ad try to stir in the audience? (appeals to pathos)
How does the ad use repetition?
How does the ad use background sounds/music?
What evidence do we have that suggests this ad was created for young, undecided voters?

HW: Independent reading - 25 days left in the grading period. You should be halfway through your indie reading by now!  Bring books Wednesday for a little reading time and check-in.  Begin drafting your election ad.

Friday, October 12, 2012

AGENDA 10/12


Grammar Practice: Semicolons #3
Work on annotated bibliography for Election Project
Model formatting using a student bibliography draft - revised and with my reminders/comments
View rubric on Turnitin.com assignment page (icon is picture of "staircase"
Sample format for print source using the Official Voter Information Guide (the booklet I brought to class)

HW: Submit annotated bibliography for Election Project by Sunday before midnight; read indie book - you should have completed 250 pages by Wednesday!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

AGENDA 10/10

T110 Computer Lab

Use PeerMark to evaluate a classmate's "Owls" essay
Pust's sample "Owls" essay
Rhetorical FLTs sheet
Print out any notes/handouts you want for tomorrow's timed essay.  You might also want my sample annotated "Silent Spring" response

Work on annotated bibliography for Election Project

HW: Complete annotated bibliography for Election Project by Sunday; prepare for tomorrow's timed essay.  Read indie book - you should have completed about 200 pages by now!

Monday, October 8, 2012

AGENDA 10/8

Computer Lab T110
Pass out instructions for Annotated Bibliography and Research Questions for candidates/issues
Work to find four sources for annotated bibliography - include at least one nonpartisan source (see recommended websites on Election Project description handout or on links at the right of this blog!) and at least one "biased" source. Include at least one "media" source (audio/video). Try searching YouTube or local television news stations for footage.  If no media is available (for example, if you're studying measure ES), you can interview a local expert. Include at least one source originally found in print/hard copy. If you are studying a proposition and have an official CA Voter Information Guide at home or a local Los Angeles sample ballot, that will work!  If not, see if you have any mailings related to the campaign, or check local newspapers like The Los Angeles Times (we get newspapers in our school library!).

HW: Continue to draft essay in response to "Owls" prompt and submit to Turnitin.com before 9am tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow we're in the lab again--this time for peer review.  We'll be in the lab a final time on Wednesday to work on annotated bibliographies.



Friday, October 5, 2012

AGENDA 10/5

Continue to move through FLTs for Rhetorical Analysis and examine 2004 Form B Rachel Carson's excerpt from Silent Spring prompt

Draft sample essay for prompt -- annotated with FLTs
Here it is, as a .pdf: sample essay w/ annotations

HW: For Tuesday, type up a draft response to Mary Oliver prompt on reverse side.  Read indie book - 500 pages this grading period.  We'll begin studying for our election projects on Monday and will meet in the T110 computer lab.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

AGENDA 10/4

Examine FLTs for Rhetorical Analysis and work on R1-R3 together in class using the 2004 Form B prompt, excerpt from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

Discuss the passage, identify Carson's central claim and tone(s) created, and discuss which rhetorical strategies help Carson convey her claim and tone(s).

HW: Review the passage again, and think about the instances of legal imagery (courtrooms, etc.) and the repetition of "who has...?" in the final paragraph. How do these two strategies help Carson convey her claim and/or tone(s)?

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

AGENDA 10/3

Reread "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" by Chief Seattle in the McGraw-Hill Reader.  Work on R1-R2 of the FLTs for Rhetorical Analysis as a class.

HW:  Reread "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" by Chief Seattle in the McGraw-Hill Reader and be prepared to discuss the rhetorical strategies (e.g., simile, rhetorical questions, metaphor, diction of _____, etc.) that Chief Seattle uses to convey his claim and/or tone(s).

Also, take a look at the California Official Voter Guide that might be hanging around your house to familiarize yourself with the CA propositions. And don't forget about independent reading--500 pages this grading period!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

AGENDA 10/2

Introduce first five vocabulary words from Nature unit

Discuss "Americans and the Land" by John Steinbeck and introduce the "FATTR" mnemonic for writing persuasive claims:

  • F - focus (paraphrase of the text's/author's argument)
  • A - author's name (capitalized and spelled correctly)
  • T - title (formatted correctly - capitalized and in quotation marks or italics/underlined)
  • T - text type (genre: is this an essay? novel? news or magazine article? speech? letter?)
  • R - response (your opinion or reaction--to what extent to you agree or disagree)
Note that for RESPONSE the following ideas might be helpful:
Is your reaction to the piece more of a "yes...but" or "no...however"? That is, consider both what the author explores that you agree with, and also perhaps note what the author oversimplifies, overlooks, or doesn't explore deeply enough as you craft your response.

Write a complex, "FATTR" claim for "Americans and the Land."

Re-read "Americans and the Land" to notice rhetorical techniques.  
Examine the similes in ¶1, 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 17. What do these similes, taken together, suggest?
Examine ¶1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 16 for patterns of diction. What do you see? (For example, diction of destruction, diction of purity, etc.) What do these diction patterns suggest?
Examine ¶3 and ¶16 for analogies.  What effects do these particular comparisons create?

HW: Read "Letter to President Pierce, 1855" by Chief Seattle in the McGraw-Hill Reader.  Write a "FATTR" claim and note appeals to ethos, logos, or pathos in the speech (remember that it might not contain all three). In addition, reread the speech and be ready to discuss which parts of the language of the speech make it memorable or persuasive. Also, take a look at the California Official Voter Guide that might be hanging around your house to familiarize yourself with the CA propositions. And don't forget about independent reading--500 pages this grading period!

Monday, October 1, 2012

AGENDA 10/1

Select topics for Election Ads Project
Next step: if your group has chosen a proposition or measure, start reading about the issue so you can decide if your group will be promoting "YES" or "NO" on the proposition/measure. You might start by reading the Official Voter's Guide that was mailed to the registered voters in your home. By the end of the week, you'll need to know your position, and determine which of you will tackle each audience: Base, Opposition, and Undecided. Next week, we'll be researching in the computer lab and beginning work on our annotated bibliographies.

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos PowerPoint and cloze notes

HW: Read John Steinbeck's "Americans and the Land" in the McGraw-Hill Reader, pages 667-671. Identify appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos, and be prepared to share when called on tomorrow.