All Boys, All Blogged: February 1, 2013

Focus: How does Shakespeare transform through performance?

1. Warm-up: "Look up! Boo!"

2. Watching and learning from Act 3 performances

3. Reading banned books (if time)

HW:
1. Spend at least 30 minutes with your banned book.  Then, post on the "Banned Books" blog by Monday (directions will be on the blog itself).

2. Complete the green grammar packet by Tuesday.

3. Make sure your word trace entries are up-to-date through Act 3.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 31, 2013

Focus: How does Act 3 transform through performance?

1. Warm-up: A little mini lesson on the art of emoting (i.e.showing emotion)

Quick game: Pass the boulder
Bringing it back to Shakespeare with emoting cards (2.4.46-48):

Ross: Will you to Scone?

Macduff: No, cousin, I'll to Fife.

Ross: Well, I will thither.

Macduff: Well, may you see things well done there...

2. Finishing up everything you need for your performance tomorrow:

a. Your paraphrasing (one copy must have an MLA heading with all of your names and your acting company; it should be proofread and printed)

b. Your yellow sheet

c. Rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing--remember that all members need to be on stage and that some people will be used symbolically

HW: 
1. Bring your banned book to class tomorrow.
2. Complete the front and back of the third page in your grammar packet (quiz has been moved to next Friday).
3. Bring in costumes, copies of the script, props, music, fog machines, etc--everything you need for your performance tomorrow.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 30, 2013

Focus: What causes a person to lose control, and it is possible to regain that control once its lost?

Please turn in your word traces as you walk in.

1. Warm-up: Be a cowboy, or an alien, or Peyton Manning, or Honey Boo Boo, or a Jersey Shore girl, or...whatever you are, be a creative and thoughtful paraphraser!

Task #1:
Donalbain: "There's daggers in men's smiles; the near in blood, / The nearer bloody." (2.3.166-7)








Task #2:
Macbeth: "Whence is that knocking?
                How is't with me when every noise appals me?
               What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes!
               Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
               Clean from my hand?" (2.2.78-82)








2. Overview of your preparation and performances (and your REWARD)!

3. Take care of your paraphrasing and your yellow prep sheet in class by the time you walk in tomorrow.

HW:
1. Complete the front and back of page 2 of your grammar packet (verb quiz this Friday).
2. Finish the paraphrasing and yellow prep sheet by tomorrow.
3. Continue reading your banned book, and remember to bring it on Friday.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 29, 2013

Focus: What causes a person to lose control, and is it possible to regain control once it has been lost?

A word about your participation grades...

1. Warm-up: Agree, disagree, unsure

Macbeth is evil.

Lady Macbeth is evil.

Macbeth can still redeem himself.

Macbeth has completely lost control of himself.

Macbeth is insane.

Duncan's murder is Macbeth's fault.

Now that Macbeth has been corrupted, there is no turning back.

2. Finish watching Act 2, scenes 2 and 3 with a focus on directorial choices

3. Taking over Act 3: Forming acting companies, assigning scenes, and getting down to it!

• Task 1: Paraphrase your scene
• Task 2: Start working through your yellow prep sheet

HW: 
1. Complete the front and back of the first page of your new green grammar packet.
2. If you have not yet received feedback on your word trace entries (or you'd like more), please PRINT your entries and turn them in tomorrow.
3. Complete any work assigned by your acting company.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 28, 2013

Focus: What pushes a person over the edge?

Help yourself to a new green grammar packet!

1. Warm-up: Taking a mini quiz on Act 2

2. Discussing symbolic choices in the film and finishing the film version of Acts 1 and 2; performing a close reading of different performances of the dagger scene.

3. Setting up Act 3 for your acting companies by reading all scene summaries and deciding on a plot level and a deeper meaning level what each scene is about.

Acting Company #1: Act 3, scene 1, lines 1-51 ("Bring them before us")

Acting Company #2: Act 3, scene 1, lines 52 ("To be thus is nothing) - end of scene.

Acting Company #3: Act 3, scene 2 (all)

Acting Company #4: Act 3, scene 3 (all)

Acting Company #5: Act 3, scene 4, lines 1-103 ("Than such a murder is.")

Acting Company #6: Act 3, scene 4, lines 104 ("My worthy lord") - end of scene.

HW:
1. If you did not finish in class, finish reading all Act 3 scene summaries and establishing what each is about on a plot level and a deeper meaning level.
2. Make sure your word trace entries are up-to-date for Act 2; if you have not turned in a draft yet, please do so THIS WEDNESDAY.
3. Complete the front and back of the first page of this week's grammar packet.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 25, 2013

Focus: Can a good person commit an evil deed and still be a good person? 

Please staple and turn in your essay revisions as you walk in.  Thanks!

1. Entering the exciting literary world of your banned book!

2. Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for...the film version of Macbeth, Acts 1 and 2

• As you watch, please find TWO choices that the director made that you think are symbolic.  
• Analyze what they symbolize and how.
• Ex: In the opening scene, the film version shows the witches burying items in the ground even though the original play does not indicate that they're burying anything. The items include a noose, blood, and a severed hand holding a dagger; the director included these objects to symbolize and foreshadow not only death, but murder, greed, and punishment...perhaps even retribution of some kind.  Also, the act of burying suggests that they're making a grave of some kind, and that this play will contain buried secrets.

HW: 
1. Please finish reading Act 2 of Macbeth on your own (the end of 2.3 and all of 2.4). Prepare for a mini quiz on the reading this Monday.
2. Spend at least 30 minutes reading your banned book.
3. Update your word trace entries for Act 2.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 24, 2013

Focus: Can a good person commit an evil deed and still be a good person?

Laptop Carts of C-9, Part II: A Story of Redemption...Or Is It?

1. Warm-up: Defining "good person," "evil," and "conscience" on the blog; turning in word traces.

2. Acting out Act 2, scenes 2 and 3: Using your sticky notes or your notes, please take charge of the following:

If your card is a heart...please mark any lines that a show the goodness and/or guilt in a character's heart

If your card is a diamond..please mark and analyze the use of sounds in these scenes.  These can be actual sounds in the stage directions and also sounds referenced in characters' speeches.

If your card is a club...please keep track of all references to nature (weather, birds, water, etc) and consider how nature reflects what's happening onstage.

If your card is a spade...please keep track of all references to fear.  What does each character fear, and how does this fear affect him or her?

HW: 
1. Essay revisions are due TOMORROW.  They are required if you received a 39 or below.  Follow the revision policy posted on Tuesday's blog.
2. Bring your banned book to class tomorrow.
3. By next Monday, please read Act 2, scene 4; update your word trace entries for Act 2.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 23, 2013

Focus: Can a good person commit an evil deed and still be a good person?

Ms. Leclaire has a story to share with you.  It's called "The Shameful Tragedy of the Laptop Cart."

1. Warm-up: Exploring the two sides of Macbeth's conscience in 1.7 (and does Lady Macbeth have a conscience?)

2. Acting out Act 2, scene 1 with the following tasks:

• When you see any passages that have to do with good, evil, or guilt (or lack of guilt), please mark them.
• Keep looking for your word trace word.

3. Viewing the film version of Act 1 with the following focus:

• What are TWO symbolic choices made by the director, and what do they signify?

HW:

1. Update your word trace entries for Act 2, scene 1, print them, and bring ALL ENTRIES to class tomorrow.  Please follow the example given to you in class (it's a yellow packet).

2. Work on your essay revisions (due Friday). Remember that these are required if you received a 39 out of 50 or below.

3. Bring your banned book to class Friday.  If you have time, start reading it this week.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 22, 2013

Focus: What motifs and themes emerge when we view Act 1 as a whole?

1. Warm-up: Making self-improvements for the week!
    a. Explaining your weekly participation grades
    b. Handing back your timed writings and discussing revision possibilities

REVISION POLICY
Please note that your revision will not be accepted unless you follow the policy below:

1. You must highlight all changes on the new draft in TWO colors: One color for all grammatical/mechanical changes (the marks I made in orange), and one color for all content changes (the comments I made in black).

2. You must attach the new draft to the original draft with my comments and the rubric.

3. You must type a brief explanation (3-6 sentences) of how your revisions specifically improved your essay.


2. Recapping Act 1
    a. On a plot level, scene 1 is about...; on a deeper level, scene 1 is about...(do this for each scene)
    b. Performing a double-reading of Macbeth's soliloquy at the end of Act 1
    c. Viewing the film version of Act 1; what are TWO symbolic choices made by the director, and what do  
    they signify?

HW:
1. Essay revisions are due this Friday.  Please refer to revision policy posted above.  Conferences are highly recommended--set one up today!
2. Bring in a typed copy of your word trace entries this Wednesday.
3. Bring your banned book to class this Friday.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 18, 2012

Focus: Whom do we trust?  To what extent can we trust ourselves?

1. Warm-up: Thinking about the English classes you wish to take next year...

2. Taking Grammar Quiz #2: Nouns and Pronouns

3. Finally...back to Macbeth!  Going over the yellow sheet from yesterday and continuing to watch the film version of Act 1:

• What makes Lady Macbeth so untrustworthy/deceptive?
• Specifically, what techniques does she use to manipulate Macbeth? 
• How would you describe Macbeth in these scenes?

HW:
1. Finish reading Act 1 of Macbeth on your own.
2. Compose a Level 1, a Level 2, and a Level 3 question about Act 1 (see link above Google calendar if you can't remember what this means).  Write them at the bottom of your yellow Act 1 "Quiz."
3. Complete word trace entries for the ending of this act.
4. Purchase your banned book and bring it to class next Friday.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 17, 2013

Focus: Taking the English 10 common assessment

1. Warming up with ACT trickery

Did somebody drop  [ his or her  /  their ] wallet?

People in the class were careful not drop [  his or her  /  their ] laptops on the floor.

2. Taking the common assessment

3. If you finish early, please start on the Macbeth "quiz" (it's not so much a quiz as a comprehension check; you can use your notes, and we will continue filling it in as we watch the film version tomorrow).

HW: 
1. Make sure your green grammar packet is completed and review it to prepare for tomorrow's grammar quiz.
2. Acquire your banned book by next Friday.
3. Double check your work for the week (Blog entries?  Banned book proposal? Word trace entries?)

All Boys, All Blogged: January 16, 2013

Focus: Whom do we trust?  To what extent do we trust ourselves?

1. Collect banned book proposals and answer any grammar packet questions

2. Warm-up: The trust spectrum

•Are there people in this world whom you trust entirely?  Do you fully trust your family?  Your friends?  Your teachers? Yourself?

•Explain what makes you trust person and what makes you distrust a person.  Do you consider yourself a trusting person?

•Which is more dangerous—being overly trustful, or being skeptical of everyone?

Rank the following characters based on the extent to which you trust them: The witches, Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, Duncan, the former Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm, Roman Polanski (be prepared to defend your responses)

3. Finish reading Act 1 with a focus on trust and deception

4. Interpreting the film version of Act 1: Select TWO specific directorial choices that you think are symbolic and explain what they reveal/emphasize.

HW:
1. Complete your green grammar packet (quiz on Friday).
2. Continue creating word trace entries.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 15, 2013

Focus: Whom do we trust and why?  To what extent can we trust ourselves?

1. Warming up with Mumford and Sons: "Roll Away Your Stone"

Clues: 
          In each stanza, highlight or mark what you see as the most significant line/phrase.
          What does the line, "Stars, hide your fires" mean?  
          Who do you think the "you" is?  In other words, to whom is the speaker talking?

Bigger picture: 
           What do you think this song is about?
           Why does this song reference Macbeth?  Find specific connections between the song and the play.        

2. Getting to know Lady Macbeth

     a. Interpreting an image of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
     b. Acting out the rest of Act 1 with a focus on trust and deception.

3. Responding to the focus question using an example from Act 1 of Macbeth (post your response on today's blog).

HW:
1. Banned book proposal due tomorrow.
2. Finish responding the focus question on today's blog.
3. Complete all word trace entries for Act 1 (or at least what we've read so far).
4. Finish the front and back of the second page of your green grammar packet.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 14, 2013

Focus: Whom do we trust, and what do we believe?

1. Warm-up: Glimpsing your own future
Write down predictions/prophecies for your personal life... 

• For the next two and a half years of high school
• For what happens right after high school
• For your life as as an adult (career, education, family, successes and failures, location, etc.)

Each of you will receive two slips of paper: One with "a prophet" and one with "a prophecy." Create a two-columned chart on your "Superstitions" document with "believable" on one side and "unbelievable" on the other side.  As we pass around the slips of paper, decide whether not you find each "prophet" is believable, as well as which "prophecies" are believable.  Write them in the appropriate columns.

Discussion: Which ones were believable and why?  Which ones were unbelievable and why?  What do we like to believe in? 

2. Finish acting out 1.3
How does Macbeth respond to the witches' prophecies? Why does he respond this way?
How does Banquo respond to the witches' prophecies?  Why?
How would  you have responded?

3. Act out 1.4 and 1.5
What do these scenes suggest about trust and deception?

HW: 
1. Complete word trace entries for each time your word appeared in our reading today.
2. Complete the front and back of the first page of your new grammar packet.
3. Banned book proposal due this Wednesday (see link in Friday's homework and handout from today).

All Boys, All Blogged: January 11, 2013

Focus: Why do we believe in superstitions and rituals?

1. Warm-up: Quick noun Q&A

2. Taking grammar Quiz #1: Nouns

3. Writing a smart, well-organized paragraph on superstitions

Topic: There are more people in our country believe in the power of superstitions and rituals than people who believe in evolution.  Why do superstitions and rituals play a significant role in our lives? 

Please compose a well-organized, thoughtful paragraph in response to the topic above.  You should have an attention-grabbing opening sentence, a topic sentence that established your three main points, three specific examples to support the main points, analysis of each example, and a concluding sentence.

Step 1: Brainstorm (personal, literary, historical, political, cinematic, musical, psychological, scientific, etc.)
Step 2: Outline: Which three points are you going to use, and which examples will you use to support them?
Step 3: Draft your paragraph
Step 4: Proofread
Step 5: Print

4. If time, finishing Act 1, scene 3 of Macbeth

HW: 
1. Make sure your word trace journal is complete so far (you should have an entry for every instance in which your word has appeared in Act 1); please make sure journals are TYPED, and follow the example on the yellow handout.

2. Read the overview of the banned book independent reading project, and start thinking about which book you might want to read.  Please click HERE to read about the banned book project and to download the proposal.  The proposal will be due Wednesday, January 16.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 10, 2013

Focus: How do the witches infect Act 1, scenes 2 and 3?

1. Warm-up: Performing a close reading of a witchy, witchy picture

2. Turning in signed class policies

3. Introducing the Macbeth word trace (handout and example given in class)

4. Performing Act 1, Scenes 2 and 3

Directions: Each time you find a speech, a line, or even a word that responds to any of the questions below, please mark it with a sticky note.

The basics:

• What do we learn about Macbeth?  What kind of guy are we dealing with here?
• What do we learn about the other characters?
• Which things happen by chance, and which things happen by choice?  In other words, what is determined by the characters' actions, and what seems out of their control?

The big, deep question:

• Respond to the focus question: How do the witches infect Act 1, scenes 2 and 3?  Try to find at least three specific moments in which you see the infection spreading.

HW:

1. If your word has appeared in the first three scenes of Act 1, complete a word trace entry for each time it has appeared. Be sure to follow the directions and the example very closely.

2. Complete the rest of your green grammar packet.  You will have a short quiz on it tomorrow.

3. Respond to today's focus question on the class blog if you did not finish doing so in class.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 9, 2013

Focus: What does the opening scene of "The Scottish Play" reveal to us?

1. Warm-up: Is it concrete or abstract?  Recapping last night's grammar teaser on nouns by exploring this slideshow on bizarre baseball superstitions

2. Interpreting the three versions of Macbeth's opening scene:

•Describe the three witches’ physical appearance in each film.

•Describe the setting of each film; what effects does the setting have on the tone (the emotional undertone) of the film?

•What do you think is happening in this scene?

•Why do you think Shakespeare chose to start his play with a scene like this?  What was he trying to establish?

3. Reading 1.1 together with questions and interpretations

4. Revisiting today's opening question on the blog, if time

HW: Please finish responding to the focus question on the blog if you did not finish in class; complete grammar teasers 3 and 4 by tomorrow; also, BRING STICKY NOTES TO CLASS.

All Boys, All Blogged: January 8, 2013

Focus: To what extent are we controlled by our superstitions?

1. Opening: Yes, no, sometimes--which superstitions do you adhere to?

Do you believe in beginner's luck?

 

 

Do you avoid stepping on cracks?

 

 

Do you refuse to open umbrellas indoors?

 

 

Do you go out of your way to avoid walking under ladders?

 

 

When you blow out your birthday candles, do you make a wish?

 

 

Before a big sports game, performance, test, etc., do you perform some kind of ritual or carry a good luck charm?

 

 

Do you try to avoid the number 13? 

 

 

Do you ever cross your fingers?

 

 

Do you ever knock on wood?

 

 

When you see a penny, do you pick it up for good luck?

 

Do you believe that bad things happen in threes?

 

 

Do you consider yourself to be a superstitious person?

2. Investigating the witchy, superstitious world of the play that shall not be named

Directions: Please start a new folder in Google docs and call it Macbeth (or The Play that Shall Not Be Named).  Then start a new document and call it "Superstitions."  Please take careful notes on your research in response to the questions below.  Enjoy!

a. Why won't people in the theatre business refer to this play by its name?  Describe some of the "incidents" that have played into this superstition.

b. What is this play's reputation?  Hint: It is referred to as Shakespeare's " ___________ iest play."

c. Was Macbeth a real person?  Where did Shakespeare find the inspiration for this play?

d. Roman Polanski produced one of the most famous film versions of this play.  What horrific event happened just before he created this film? 

e. Based on your research so far, make a prediction: I think that Macbeth is about...

3. Overviewing second semester

HW:
1. If you're a bit iffy on the Shakespeare stuff, consider purchasing the Shakespeare Made Easy version of Macbeth.
2. By tomorrow, complete the first daily grammar teaser (given out in class and linked at the top of the class calendar).
3. By Thursday, please return the signed class syllabus and policies.
 
Optional: If you're curious about why humans are drawn to superstitions, click here.