Shakespeare Wish I to Understand

Shakespeare's language sounds a little weird at first. But really, once you try to read those "fancy" words and funky word order, the story isn't that difficult to get. Check out this awesome example by comedian John Branyan: A Triune Tale of Diminutive Swine (recorded live show video here).


Shakespeare's language sounds funny because it is Early Modern English, not our Modern English that we speak every day. You see, our language has morphed from Germanic roots of Old English to the Latin influence of Middle English and additions of French during the Renaissance to create Early Modern English. Now this all happened through a series of mini, simple changes to the everyday language (known as vernacular) that later became a significant shift in how the language was spoken and written. Etymology and linguistics is supremely interesting, so be sure to check out some resources if it intrigues you to know why we spell some words "ie" and others "ei" (or "ph" and "f").

Zombie-Unicorn Stories!

For the next round of Independent Reading, 

I want you to read from an anthology of short stories, Zombies vs. Unicorns. 

Here is the worksheet that you will need to complete in two weeks time. You will have two full days in class to read the story and work on your worksheet. We will spend an additional day for the "Research" section of your work. I think you will really enjoy these stories!

Identifying Thesis and Supporting Claims

Today, we looked at a hilarious, but well-structured "This I Believe" Essay.  Even though Elizabeth talks about Rice Krispies as heroes, this essay is a GREAT example of what I am looking for in your personal reflective essays. Be sure that you are elaborating like she does about each of your examples and character traits. 

Check out these articles about Real-Life Heroes from CNN. These articles are much more thorough, detailed, and researched but still offer insight into writing your own personal essay. See if you can identify the theses and main supporting claims in the articles!

Freshmen Vocab Resource

To get further practice for  your vocabulary or to access the vocab list at home, check out this awesome textbook-sponsored website! There are games for you to play, practice test questions, and other activities that you can practice using your vocab words to become more familiar with the terms before your quizzes every other Friday. To see all the dates of vocab quizzes for the semester, please click “Read More” below.

Vocabulary Quiz Dates (Subject to Change)

1st Quarter

Aug 29

Sep 12

Sep 26

Oct 10

2nd Quarter

Oct 24

Nov 7

Nov 21

Dec 12

SOAPS and The Declaration of Independence

Convincing the world to believe a text or an advertisement is an important technique for persuasion and rhetoric. Rhetoric is the the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences. After looking at some awesome advertisements and The Declaration of Independence, we will continue with "The Crisis" Wednesday to analyze its text for the same rhetorical techniques. 


SOAPS Analysis Worksheet

Freshmen Hero's Journey Homework

Remember that today or tomorrow, you should create some sort of visual representation of one of the twelve steps of the hero's journey (Hero's Journey Post).  Be sure to include at least two sentences describing what you have drawn and telling why it is a good representation of the journey step.

1st and 6th Period: Choose your own step.
2nd, 3rd, and 5th Period: Remember your number assigned from class!

First Day Back! Welcome to High School!

Welcome to Mrs. Heck's class in Room 109! Now is the time for a fresh start, leaving behind any mistakes or mishaps from last term. It is time to step up to excitement, enrichment, and the many challenges of the coming year. I am delighted to be a part of your lives this year as we work toward personal victories in and outside the classroom.

Over the next two days, we will complete these tasks:

1. First Day on the Blog "WebQuest"
2. Join Google Drive
3. Find Your Multiple Intelligences Survey

For Homework (Due Friday):

1. Show your parents the syllabus.
2. Have your parents sign and return the Acknowledgement Sheet (!First HW grade!)
3. Sign into ClassDojo with your username and passwords.  You can even download the app on your Apple or Android products to keep track of your daily participation!

Also, check out this funny video from YouTube Vloggers Glove and Boots! A perfect recap of how to transition from summer break back to school! (NOTE: Start at 43 sec to avoid bleeped words!)

First Day--Welcome to THE BLOG!

Welcome to THE BLOG! This blog will serve to complement and support our daily class by providing duplicate materials from class, reminders and schedules, communication to parents, and links to valuable resources. Use the blog to your benefit as a "one-stop shop" of accessing my students' work.

A few key tricks to using the blog to your benefit:

1. Sign up to "Follow by Email" in the left tab. You can even have "emails" sent to your phone via text with some cell plans. Or, subscribe via an RSS feed to which you can additionally add news, entertainment, or other informational updates. If you need to create an email, use this article to choose one of the most popular, free, online mail clients.
2. Use "Labels" in the left margin to narrow the blog's content to only those posts that you need.
3. Click on hyperlinks embedded in the posts to access copies of worksheets, notes, or resources used in class.
4. There is a search bar at the top right of the page. Use that to type in key words when searching for class content.
5. Peruse the extra links for real-world content that connects our classroom learning to your extracurricular lives.
6. Leave comments or questions on individual blog posts or email me if you would like further help when you are not at school. I will answer all questions posted either place.

Gatsby Humor

Now that we've finished the novel, it is time for some dark humor and pop culture references you never understood before you read The Great Gatsby!

The Simple Life

Walden Pond

We began reading all our Transcendentalists today and are now on the journey be an independent, self-reliant soul who is in touch with the natural gifts of life, leaving behind all the material things in the world...

"Sell your clothes, keep your thoughts."

The Cabin at Walden Pond 

Here is the checklist for this unit, due November 20: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12QFrTZWiNsMFqtgySvA7PqNW86VMYSnJboAvtJSaUWk/edit?usp=sharing

Here is a copy of the chart that will be due on November 20:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByVKpn2OdpFAOHFvVnF6Wlh2TFU

Here is a Transcendentalist PowerPoint:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByVKpn2OdpFAYW1EcU41OGhwWm8

Here is your Poetry Independent Reading: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PA3j2jVtKIcEVJV1JnZ0lvcUk/edit?usp=sharing

Tomorrow we will begin your Transcendentalism Project!
http://egheck.blogspot.com/2012/11/transcendentalist-playlist.html

No Heavy Books!--Macbeth Text Online

Here are some great resources for making Macbeth more accessible to read and to carry!

• In class, we will be listening to the dramatized audio version of Macbeth.
• SparkNotes has the entire text of Macbeth in both Shakespearean English and Modern English. 
• The entire text on a searchable website can be found from MIT. 
• The Google Play store has an android app to play Macbeth as an audio book.

Take any one of these to complete your Act dramatization

Fellow teachers and parents, read this well-crafted article that demonstrates how fun (and wild) reading Shakespeare in school can get!

The Pardoner's Tale

Over the past week, you have read several of the Canterbury Tales, Today, we will finish things up with The Pardoner's Tale. Full of greed, money, and death, the Pardoner certainly spins a morality tale to enchant those "yokel minds." Below, you will find the Tim McInnery version of the tale for review and comparison.

But don't think the Pardoner is the only one that can tell such a tale. Modern writer J. K. Rowling also tells a story of three brothers' interaction with Death. Watch below to see some similarities (as I am sure she must have had The Canterbury Tales in the back of her mind while writing)!

Canterbury Tales (A Long Journey)

Today, we looked into the history behind The Canterbury Tales using this prezi. Our class also looked into the direct and indirect characterizations of several of the twenty-nine pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. There are plenty of images and interactives online that you can explore the Cathedral, the journey to Canterbury, or life in Chaucer's time. Get ready to listen to two pilgrim's tales next week!

If you want an entertaining summary and recap of our lesson today, 

just watch the video below by The History Teachers on YouTube. 

Enjoy!

Halloween Independent Reading

It’s time for our favorite spooky, creepy, and imaginative time of year: HALLOWEEN! To celebrate, our Independent Reading will be chosen from two magnificently scary authors, Edgar Allan Poe (Eng III) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Eng IV).

Once you choose a short story by your course’s author, you may choose to EITHER (1) complete the assignment below OR (2) complete a typical Reading Log with Creative Role, Research, and Log. Both choices will STILL REQUIRE you to complete a Vocab Mini Project, as found on the blog.

Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories:

http://poestories.com/stories.php

http://www.americanliterature.com/author/edgar-allen-poe/bio-books-stories

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Short Stories:

http://www.online-literature.com/doyle/

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/read_db.pl?search_field=author_id&search_for=ArthurConanDoyle&order_by=author_id,title&page=1

Create a visual representation of the plot using the plot diagram that you have known since elementary school. I want you to take this basic literature analysis tool and expound upon it to create a high-school-level interpretation and presentation of your short story. This means that I will be looking for AT LEAST the following elements to be added to your plot diagram storyboard:

• 30 points: Each of the categories found in adjacent picture in legible and detailed accuracy

• 25 points: Identify AT LEAST FIVE literary devices used in the short story by creating a flipbook to go along with your plot storyboard. Each device should have a definition, an example from the text, AND one to three sentences explaining the device’s use in the story.

• 20 points: Images, film clips, sound recordings, or drawings to represent the plot for each moment of action on the chart

• 15 points: Five-question quiz for your classmates to complete. Must be typed. Put two quizzes on one page, please.

• 10 points: Presentation to the class over Halloween Week

Translating Shakespeare's Language

The Three Little Pigs: Shakespearean Style (Branyan)

Today in 3rd Period, we looked into decoding Shakespeare's language into our everyday words. Shakespeare really had over 5,400+ words in his vocabulary because he was one of the elite educated. Now that everyone is educated and uses written words in everyday life (think facebook and twitter), we are down to 3,000+ words.

However, some of Shakespeare's words have made it in tact to our modern era. These phrases are used in our daily life without many of us ever knowing! Check out this massive list for a few! Definitely fun to see how many YOU use!

We used the following chart to look at translations of Shakespeare into modern language and phrases.

Social Commentary

In order to look at the social commentary of the Canterbury Tales' medieval era, we first looked at political cartoons of our modern era for social commentary. Here are the cartoons we looked at today with a few bonus slides for practice in case you see these questions again. We will continue to share and analyze our own creations in class tomorrow! Enjoy!

Your Own Informational Text Sources

Today, we are looking into informational texts that can be catered to YOUR interests, needs, and education. I have created a Symbaloo with hyperlinks and RSS feeds to various reliable and teen-friendly news sources. Heck, I even like the "teen" version as it gives clearer and more straightforward news.

I want you to leave at least one sticky on this virtual pinboard with a useful website you find for RELIABLE news sources. Make sure you leave your name on the sticky note so I can give you credit for the assignment!

You may find sources to pin or use the sources your classmates and I post to complete the News Scavenger Hunt today in class. Make sure you write down the urls (the www.... web address) so that we can access these sources tomorrow!

Revolutionary Vocab

I want us to try something totally different than your previous experience with vocab. Each of you will always be reading an individual text. While you read, I want you to find at least one delicious new vocabulary word that you didn't know even know existed before your reading. Then, I want you to create some form of presentation that you can share your wonderful new vocab word with the rest of your class. This will be how you are graded rather than by icky vocab quizzes that don't really help you permanently learn the words anyway.

After the jump are a few options and examples I have found for you or created myself! I hope you enjoy!

Stay Frosty during those Hot Summer Months...

The BEST way for you to improve your intelligence (which will improve your grades AND success in life in general) is to READ. Keep READING with the following recommendations: 

The following books are Summer Reading for South View High, which you need to take the online quizzes that will count for your next English class:

Or, check out some of the following suggested reading lists from social media and pop culture sites like facebook, Pinterest, RealSimple, etc that are AFTER THE JUMP!

Click on each picture to find out more about the image and reading suggestions!