What message is reflected in this image? What visual techniques are used to back up the message? Explain in detail.

How to Meditate - 10 Important Tips!

Check out the following link:

http://goodlifezen.com/how-to-start-meditating-ten-important-tips/

Mindfulness TEDTalks for use as exam preparation!

The Runner by Anand Mahadevan

          Read the text, The Runner and answer the following TWO part question:

  

                                  1.  Using specific reference(s) to your chosen text, write an extended response

                                       in which you 

                        

                                             * identify and explain what you consider to be a main idea of this text

                                             * explain how this main idea connects to you or people you know

         Due:  Monday, December 1

LEARNING...Image Analysis - Using your image analysis notes - Which image best exemplifies the idea of LEARNING for YOU? Explain with reference to your notes.

OR

OR

Image Analysis - What message is the artist trying to convey?

Image Analysis

Using your art analysis notes - analyze this image and discuss with supporting details - your thoughts on what message the artist is conveying.  Keep in mind the title is Literature.  

Narrative Forms: Gossip, secrets and the pain they can cause...

 List both positive and negative ways that secrets can be used in relationships. What can you conclude about secrets? 

October 20 - 24th - Conflict in the Novel

          All stories are based on conflict; if everyone is happy and no one fights, there isn’t much to write about.  What conflicts provide the basis for this story?  Do other conflicts develop as the story goes along?  Are these conflicts settled by the end of ‘Angela’s Ashes’?  How?  Keep in mind the types of conflict we have discussed in class:  Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, Character vs. Society, Character vs. Nature. 

The Catholic Church and its Impact - October 13 - 20th

Ever present in Angela's Ashes is the Catholic Church. In what ways does the Catholic Church of McCourt's Ireland hurt its members and limit their experience? Explain and give specific
evidence to support your answer
.

Turning points ... Weekly Blog Response - October 6 - 10th

In a short response, discuss what YOU think the most important part/character/event has been in your reading so far... Bonus marks for including a WISH and a STAR by commenting on someone else's response.

Question for the Week: Hope and Survival?

What does this novel (Angela's Ashes) tell us about hope and survival? OR how does Frank McCourt's writing connect to the following quote by Thomas Jefferson?

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. “

- Thomas Jefferson

Write your response...Read someone else's and give them a STAR and a WISH!

40SC Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Pre-Reading Activity...

Respond to the following question: "What is poverty, and who experiences it?"  Answer as a comment on this blog - please include your name.

Listen to the "linked" interview with Frank McCourt

Poetry Is...

Just some of the 40SC students' metaphors and similes - as a starting point to our study of Poetry...

Poetry is like "money"!  It's fun to use but hard to make.                                                                                  
Poetry is like getting stuck in quicksand!  Help!!

Poetry is like money.  I'm forced to give it value.

Poetry is like a knife, cutting its meaning into my soul.

Poetry is like walking alone at night...Terrifying!

Poetry is a deep ocean, no one dares to go there...

Poetry is like CO2, it's in all of us but too much will give you a headache.

Poetry is like rap...rhymes that tell a story, strong words, hard beats, deep bass.

Poetry is like a Rubix cube.  Sure at the beginning it can be strange, hard, and screwed up.  But with practice, you can make an amazing, solid piece of art.

Ms. Kopetsky's Grade 9 ELA - February - June, 2014

These are the blogs of the Grade 9 ELA Class of 2014 - (February - June)

Andrew

Ashley

Ashton

Breanna

Colin

Emmanuel

Faith

Fany

Isabel

Janica

Janine

John

Juan

Kaizer

Lauren

Mack

Nason

Robin

Sean

Tristan

Trixie

Valentina

Zeth

Short Stories in Progress!

Our Grade 9 students finished off their year with a unit on What is Beauty?  If you check out their blogs you will see that they have included a number of posts related to the topic:

• They chose an image and and wrote a post explaining their idea of beauty. 
• They listed qualities that they feel are related to their definition of beauty. 
• They chose a poem that "spoke" to them about beauty and then did a short analysis of the poem.
• After our study of the elements of short stories - the students created a Vine video and used that as their starting point for writing their own short stories.  Once they had completed a story planner and chart - they had the choice to write their own story or work within their group to create a story together.  An image and music were also to be added. 

We're running out of time - but please read our blogs...and see what has been completed to date...

Short Stories on your Blog...Extra bits to deal with!

Added bit - as you write your story...Can you include something, even just a little something that relates to our theme of "beauty"?  Could it be a character's name? Could some part of the description of your characters, or setting include "beauty"?  Could it be included in your title? 

HOW TO Add A Creative Commons Image from Flickr on Your Blog

  by  Moyan_Brenn (back soon, sorry for not commenting)

To do this we used two websites:

1) We started our search at search.creativecommons.org (to find images we can legally reuse).

2) We used imagecodr.org to get the HTML code to paste the image with attribution on our blogs.

3) On our  blogs FIRST we clicked the HTML button to paste the code then COMPOSE to write our blog posts.

Final Thoughts...about Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Question:  What will you remember the longest about this story?  Did you find anything humorous in the story?  Which part was the saddest?  The most surprising?  The most thought-provoking? Did you learn anything from the book – about the Depression, about California, about ranch life, etc? 

Historical Information - The Dust Bowl

John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize speech!

"Livin' off the fatta the lan"...

George, Lennie and Candy all share the dream of owning their own farm.  For each one, however the dream, is a little different.  Explain why having their own farm (or ranch) is attractive to each character:  (See p. 56 - 61).  Explain in PEACE format.
  

What are your thoughts so far?

To infer:

1. in·fer

   inˈfər/

   verb

   gerund or present participle: inferring

   1. 1.

      deduce or conclude (information) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements

As we're just finishing up Chapter Two...respond to the following question.  "If you were to empty either George or Lennie's pockets at this point...what are three items that you would likely find?   Explain how these three items reflect that character's personality.

 

Letters of Introduction

Grade Nine Students...
Consider uploading your letters of introduction to our blog!

Other potential images of beauty?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...What is BEAUTY?

 

 

Is this image a thing of beauty?  I think so.  Do you? Why? Let's explore this question further...

Happy New Year!

Today ".... is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.”  Brad Paisley

New Years in Indonesia!