Debate Grades

Period 1 has debate grades in the computer.

I also hope to have period 4 grades in by the late afternoon.

I'm missing debate prep. notes from some of you, so be sure to turn them in. If you had a speaking role make sure to check your grade and to come talk to me about it if you feel that your grade is not as high as it should be. If you had a leadership role and you think someone was particulary productive (or not) let me know.

Mr. J

DUE FRIDAY 2/2 Prep for Socratic Seminar

THIS IS MANDATORY FOR EVERYONE - Reply to this comment board for credit

1. Develop a question that you think would make for a good Socratic Seminar discussion starter that could also serve as a good essay question for Fahrenheit 451.

2. You can choose a question from one of my blog prompts or think of your own. Whether you choose one of mine or come up with your own, it has to be related to one (or more) of the following things:

A. Plot

B. Theme (Censorship)

C. Character

2. Comment here for credit, but also write it down and bring it in, in case you forget.

3. I will take a look at the questions and choose some of them for our Socratic Seminar.

4. Later, I will choose a number of essay questions based on what you wrote and let you chose which ones you would like to write about for your essay. This means you will be able to listen to a discussion and participate in a discussion before you write about the topic. BUT, you won't know the essay topic yet so you will need to pay attention to everything that is discussed.

5. Have fun! I know that some of you really got into this novel and I hope that the energy it has generated comes out in discussion! If you still have lingering questions about any aspect of it, especially regarding plot, theme, or character, then this is a great opportunity to clear that up.

Mr. J

DUE THR 1/31 Prep for Debate

DUE THR 1/31 Prep for Debate

Don't forget professional dress - boys that means ties, girls that means slacks or dress/skirt at least knee level.

Tomorrow is debate day! Like I said before, I’m really excited about it. We will have visitors and some 10^th graders will help judge. With all of that said, remember that this is only our first debate and that the lessons learned from it will help us with future ones.

EVERYONE: I will collect your debate notes tomorrow. Those are the handouts with the columns. A big part of your grade will be based on those notes. If anyone was especially productive or helpful for their team I will add points to it. If anyone was counter-productive or wasted time I will take points away.

CONSTRUCTIVE ARUGMENT SPEAKERS: Don’t forget to practice your speech tonight. You should time it to make sure you are within one minute plus or minus.

RESEARCHERS AND SCRIBES: Don’t forget to come prepared with a master list of class notes.

Your Grades and Debate

Your grades are in powergrade/powerschool.

Some of you never got back to me with needed information and have zeros for blogs. If you are in this category, scroll down and read the update that I directed you to a couple of days ago (Grades and minor problems), and follow the procedures.

Some of you are showing zeros or low grades because you were sick for awhile and need to make up work. Make sure you get back to me so you can get the credit you are due.

If you have a grade that is lower than what you think it should be, talk to me and we will look at it together.

After seeing some of the debate teams prepare today I started to get excited for our debate on Thursday. I was especially impressed with how the affirmative team, period 4 was working together as a cohesive team, but others were also doing well.

Some of you out there in both periods are really taking this seriously and putting in a lot of effort. Congradulations! I think we are looking toward a good debate, and if our first debate is good, just think how great the others will be. Hang in there !

I think the teams with the most success will be the teams that communicate with each other, those that let each other know what their groups are up to, and those who go beyond the sources I gave you. To facilitate the former, don't forget to share phone numbers, email address etc...

Good luck!

Mr. J

DUE WED 1/30 Prepare for Debate

“Populate the list” - Prepare for debate by adding to your debate notes. Add three new arguments, cross-examination points, or rebuttals (per page) depending on the group you are in.

Constructive Argument Group: Fill out the argument and evidence columns three times per page.

Cross-Examination Group: Fill out the evidence and cross-examination columns three times per page. Remember your job is to predict what the other side is going to say in the constructive speech.

Rebuttal Group: Fill out the rebuttal column and the cross-examination column three times per page. Remember your job is to predict what the other side is going to say in cross-examination.

DUE, WEDNESDAY 1/30 Fahrenheit 451 pp. 154-165

Read Fahrenheit 451 pp. 154-165 (finish the book)

Read the Afterward and the Coda if you like; It’s interesting but it’s not required reading.

1. Ask a question

2. Visit a couple other blogs from classmates and try to answer someone else’s question(s) and/or comment on their blog.

3. Answer one of the following sets of questions.

A. What does Granger mean when he says, quoting his grandfather, “Shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass”? Why is this quote important? How does it fit into the novel, what is Bradbury trying to say with this?

OR

B. What does Montag mean when he says, “And when they ask us what we are doing , you can say, We’re remembering” ? Why is this quote important? How does it fit into the novel, what is Bradbury trying to say with this?

DUE TUESDAY, 1/29 Debate Prep and …

DUE TUESDAY, 1/29 Debate Prep and …

1. Read the updates and announcements on my blog (scroll down).

2. Find at least two on-line sources, pro or con and take notes on whatever you find valuable or interesting.

The notes should not be extensive, just a couple sentences explaining wheter it is a good (or bad) source to refer to in the future. Remember that Wikipedia under “9/11 Conspiracy Theories” or “Loose Change” is a good place to start. It has links to both sides. Also remember that Debunking has lots of links and books for both sides. The purpose of this is just to get an idea of what is out there so you can go back to it if it looks good.

3. “Populate the List” – Start filling out the handouts I gave you in class with at least two arguments for each topic (i.e. "Pentagon," "Twin Towers," and "Flight 93" and the corresponding cross-examination and rebuttal points. Just like we discussed in class.

4. On Tuesday I will check the chapter 3 and chapter 4 work you did from Debunking, so if you are behind on that be sure to catch up.

5. Scroll down for the Fahrenheit assignment.

I know this is a lot of homework for tonight. It's because we are in debate prep mode and need to get certain things done. If it makes you feel any better you will finish reading Fahrenheit this week and won't have a reading assignment the night before the debate. I also promise that I won't give you any homework over the weekend - and it's here, in writing, so you will have to make me stick to it.

I can't believe that the winners of the class lotto have not been hounding me for their money ... what's the matter with you guys !?

Mr. J

DUE TUESDAY, 1/29 Fahrenheit 451 pp. 138-154

Read Fahrenheit 451 pp. 138-154

1. Write one or more questions that you have. Don't just say "I don't get it." Ask a specific question about what is happening in the story.

Answer ONE of the following questions/prompts. If you don't have any questions with the basics of the story try to challenge yourself with question #2. If you have questions about what is going on, or find it difficult to follow try to answer #3. You might have to re-read certain sections.

2. How has Montag changed from the beginning of the novel to this part? In writing about this you might want to notice that the environment has changed from the city to nature. Is this a coincidence or is the author trying to say something by contrasting the city to nature in relation to the ways Montag has changed.

OR

3. Summarize the main things that happen. You can stick to the following questions if you like or just summarize on your own - What happens to Montag after he escapes? Who does he meet? How do they help him? What do these people do in life?

Grades and minor problems

I have graded the bloging assignments and will have them in Powerschool this upcoming week. A lot of you have been sick. Don’t forget to make up the posts and tell me what you want me to comment on.

The following students need to tell me what posts they want me to respond to in order to get the full points that is due to them. You need to go to my posts of 1/26 entitled “PERIOD 4 DUE …” and “PERIOD 1 DUE ...” read what I request and send it. I realize that some of the people on this list might have been sick when we talked about this in class or have had some tech. issue.

Eli

Yesenia

Austin H.

Lishane

Martin

Anjelica

Jonathan V.

Danielle

Julian

Kate

Mike C.

IMPORTANT:

I’m having RSS aggregator problems with a few of you. Please comment here with your blog URL. This is the only way you can get graded.

Eli,

Antonio

Beth,

Amiry

Danielle (don’t forget to show me your handwritten journal entries so you get blogging credit).

I know I asked this before, and some of you have complied, but please do it again, simply because it saves me a lot of time if they are all in the same place.

Mr. J

Update and Props ...

All,

I have just finished commenting on the blogs that you requested I comment on. For the most part, I’m very impressed! Most of you have thoughtful posts on Fahrenheit and I truly enjoyed reading your descriptive writing. Read my comments ! If you don’t read and/or respond to comments you are not sharing in the fun and benefits that can come from blogging. If you replied to one of my comments on your blog, let me know by commenting here and I’ll check it out.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on your past posts and check them out for comments. For some of you I wrote comments on posts other than the one you requested and I commented on the past comments of others. For this to be effective, you can’t just post and run, you have to post, scroll, and comment. In other words, take time once in a while to scroll through your blog checking to see if people commented. If you comment back, let them know on their blog or some other way, especially if the original post is old. I noticed that Laura and Austin C. have a special post for people to comment on or to leave notes on. This is a great idea !

Special props to the following students who I noticed have done a lot of commenting:

Brittany

Kit

Austin H.

Austin C.

Mike C.

Laura M.

Beth K.

If there are others who comment a lot and I missed you, let me know and accept my apologies.

Mr. J