First Poetry Response

In 300 - 500 words consider the Father-Son relationship in either "My Papa's Waltz" or "Those Winter Sundays."  This is a formal, academic response. As such, this paragraph cannot be written in first person.

Include:

• A catchy opening
• A clear thesis statment - author, title, your main idea, and a sense of direction
• Several supporting points.
• Many, many supporting quotes. See examples here.
• Evaluate your ideas.
• Use transitions. PEET model.
• Conclusion - check your thesis.

Tara, this is Stupid Stuff (or, into the wild...)

1) Questions to ask of a Poem  - click here. 

2) Picture this. I'm a poet. I write a lot of sorrowful, questioning poems. I share them with my friends. Maybe I post them on Facebook, or I actually read them to my friends. And then, one day, I'm in a bar, having a beer (maybe some nachos too, I like nachos...) and my friend says to me, "Why do you write such sad stuff all the time?" I pause. I ponder... and then in a long-winded poetic way I provide an answer:

Tara, this is stupid stuff!

Like short stories, we first ask about setting and speaker. (We are entering into the wilds of a dramatic situation - we need to figure out who, where... and then what, when, how... )

3) Time to work on questions (or time to finish test or time to work on creative project).

4) Tomorrow we'll check in with your answers.

Getting Wild with Leonard

Book Talk first.

Unit handout. No textbook. Return The Kite Runner.

Discussion:

What do we think of, when we think of "The Wild?" 

Think of the last wind storm...think of a crazy night... think of whirlwinds of emotion... think of huge concerts and crazy people and...................

What do we think of when we think of poetry?

What do the two share in common?

I didn't always like poetry. Until I came across Batter my Heart Three Personed God. What did I see and hear and feel in it?

There's a storm inside us all. The sounds. The feelings. We are poetry!

~~ Leonard Cohen Creative Activity...

Journals are due next week!

1) Vocab Overview - Quiz moved to Monday...

2) New Journal Topics - and a sample.

3) Review Chapters 18 - 19

"How could I have been so blind? The signs had been there for me to see all along..."

"I was learning that Baba had been a thief."

"There was a way to be good again. A way to break the cycle."

"Again, the car sickness."

Farid is ________________________....

The hospitality at Wahid's house. An ancient code.

The dream. pg 252 - foreshadowing.

"Once over these mountains, I had made a choice. And now, a quarter of a century later, that choice had landed me back on this soil."

The watch. "The fistful of money." - Karmic cycle? All events come full circle in this story - an Afghan tradition.


4) Read Ch. 20 Or, time to work... really work, not pretend to work.

• Homework: read chapter 21 
• We'll finish the book soon. I will read the last chapter (a condensed version) on Monday. 
• Prepare to read this weekend!

Vocab and Stuff

1) Chapter 18 - two question quiz:

• Why does Amir now call Baba a thief? 1 mark
• Why does Amir decide to go to Kabul? Explain. 4 marks

2) Vocabulary - check... one student per word... Friday vocab quiz - sentences.

Hazara Kids

3) Life is a lottery - Hazara or Pastun?

4) Read

5) Time to work on journals and chapter questions...

Secrets

1) True Story - once upon a time I lived in an old house with my best friend, Shauna. We were young students. We worked hard. We played hard. We were tough cookies. We had it all going on... then, one day the phone rang....

2) Quiet Think - heads down.... remember a time when you told a big lie, maybe to cover up something you did, maybe just because you weren't really thinking... whatever the case, you knew what you were saying was wrong, maybe you even knew that people would get hurt, as a result. Remember it? Now, ask yourself, has the truth been told? If not, should you clear the air and come clean? Would it be better to hold the lie? Would it be healthier to tell the whole story?

3) Class Discussion - Way back when, I asked, "Why Do We Lie?"

Today, I am asking you, "Why do we sometimes decide to stop lying and tell the truth?"

4) Review Chapter 16 - quick summary.

Read Chapter 17 - all stay... this is one of the most important chapters in the book.

Your job, as you listen, is to think about how this peripheral character, Rahim Khan, is integral to the whole of The Kite Runner. What would this book be without him? What does he represent?

5) Time for journals, chapter questions, vocabulary. 

6) Read to the end of Ch. 18 for homework. And, get vocab sheet done.

Chapters 11-13 Review

1) Chapter 11-13 - review chapters - discussion questions on board.

2) 

Journal topics - what makes you happy? What keeps you from being happy? In your opinion, why do people become unhappy? Why is Amir becoming happy?

What is love? Why do we want/need it? Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

3) Reading and working time...