Monday, May 7, 2012

To be criminally insane or not to be?

Use these links to find out more about some of the mental illnesses Hamlet might have. For each one, collect a list of at least ten details that would help you diagnose or rule out this mental illness

Bipolar Disorder (Trastorno Bipolar)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Trastorno de Estres Post Traumatico)


Depression (Depresión)

Schizoaffective Disorder (Trastorno Esquizoafectivo)


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Thou shalt talk like Shakespeare

Good morrow gentles all!

For thine blog assignment today, thou shalt write a comment in the language of Shakespeare.

Thou mayest choose to write:

- Advice for a scholar new to Paul

- Directions for how to cook thine favorite food

- A friendly note for someone else in the class describing that which be good about them

Take heed - thine comment must be at least five sentences in length.

Use the poster uon the wall to help if thou art stuck or confused.

Enjoy thyself!
Mistress Davis

Monday, March 26, 2012

Background Information Activities- Day One

Hi guys! Read the directions below and them complete the activity for your book - I'll be checking your work by reading the comments. You can also ask me any questions you have about what you are reading.

1. Watch the assigned video on brainpop

2. Use the fact you learned from the video to help you answer the question for your book in the comment. REMEMBER: you need to use a username I will recognize!

Brave New World:

Watch the brainpop video on conditioning (click on science and then ecology and behavior) The Director talks about how children are taught using conditioning. How does the explanation of conditioning in the video connect to the teaching methods described in the book?

The Giver

Watch the brainpop video on adolescence (click on health and then genetics, growth and developmtn) Jonas is 12 - right in the middle of adolescence. How do the rules of the community affect him during this time in his life? How do you think he will react? What do you think will happen if he starts to have romantic feelings for someone?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Background Information Activities- Day Two

Hi guys! I read all your comments from Tuesday and Edwin and Kiana both did really good jobs! Make sure you answer all parts of the question
and write in complete sentences. We aren't doing free writes anymore. If you need to watch the video again or reread a section of the book that's fine, but you need to make sure your answer is complete.

In case you need a reminder, you should:

1. Watch the assigned video on brainpop

2. Use the fact you learned from the video to help you answer the question for your book in the comment. REMEMBER: you need to use a username I will recognize!

Brave New World:

Watch the brainpop video on drug use (click on health and then personal health) What type of drug (stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen) do you think soma is most like? Why? Do you think that characters in the book are addicted to it? Why or why not?


The Giver

Watch the brainpop video on dreams (click on health and then personal health) Families in Jonas's world start every morning with a "dream-telling." Why do you think the community decided that everyone should have to share their dreams with others. Use details from the book in your answer.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Our last free write!

Finish this sentence: "I was so proud of myself when I __________________."Then explain why you were proud.

If you could change one thing about Paul what would it be? Why? (Be polite)

Finish this sentence: "The nicest thing anyone ever did for me was ________________." Then explain why it was so nice.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Exploring Victory City

These links are from a website describing a utopian community called Victory City that a man named Orville Simpson started planning when he was 23 years old

Use each link to answer each question. Then explain your opinion about each plan - will it work? why or why not?

What are the rules about money?

Where will food come from? Who will work to provide the food?

Where will you get the news?

What about pets?

After you have answered all the questions, give you overall opinion - would you want to live in Victory City? Why or why not?

Friday, March 16, 2012

Finding persuasive writing

Use these links to help you find up to date examples of persuasive writing:

REMEMBER - MAKE SURE YOU CAN READ AND UNDERSTAND BEFORE YOU PRINT

The Washington Post Opinion section

For reviews of movies that are in the theater now, click on this link, pick a movie, and then click on the "our review" tab

The USA Today Opinion section

This site
has reviews of the latest video games

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Finding poems for your theme

You can use the following websites to help you find poems by PUBLISHED poets for your project:

The Academy of American Poets website lets you search by occasion/theme.

You can also search by theme on Famous Poets and Poems

You can search by subject, occasion, or holiday on the Poetry Foundation website.

If you find poems on any other websites, please check with Ms. Davis to see if they are published poets are not. You can just use google to search or try these websites:

Teen Ink has lots of poems written by teenagers.

There a lots of song lyric sites, but lyrics.com and azlyrics.com will let you cut and paste the lyrics into a word document so that your can save and print them.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Write back to the blog!

Pick one of these prompts to write about in your comment:

If you could be any animal on earth, what animal would you be? Why?

If you had a magic carpet that could take you anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why?

If you found out the world was ending in one week what would you do with the rest of your time on Earth? Why?

Monday, February 27, 2012

Organizational structures webquest

Click on each link below and read the page it send you to. Then write at least two complete sentences explaining how it is organized and how you can tell:

Link #1

Link #2

Link #3

Link #4

Monday, February 13, 2012

Birth Order Articles

Read this article on birth order and then click on the section for your birth order.

Articulo sobre el orden de nacimento en español.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Learning Styles

Take this quiz to find out your learning style


This longer test will tell which of your multiple intelligences are strongest

Articulo sobre estilos de aprendizaje en español

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Make a shopping list

Practice your reading and note-taking skills by making a shopping list of the things we will need to make each of the following recipes:

Pupusas and curtido

Salsa de tomate

Then decide what you want to order from the Thai Market Menu

Sunday, February 5, 2012

OMG! LOL!

What is the difference between the way you write when you text and the way you write in school?

Think of at least five abbreviations, acronyms, or other shortcuts you use when you text, then write the "translation" for each. Don't repeat things that other students have already posted and remember to keep it appropriate for school.

For example:

OMG = oh my god

LOL = laughing out loud

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Friday Free Writes

Happy Friday Everyone!

For today's free writes, pick one of these prompts that students found on the internet:

What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and....

....you were 80 years old?

....you had a billion dollars?

....all the cars, buses, trains, boats, planes. etc in the world had disappeared?

....you were in another country where you could not speak the language?

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How Can You Tell?

We make inferences every day. Pick one the the questions below to write back to. Make sure to post you comment AND reply to at least one other comment from this post or an earlier one.

- How can you tell if your one of your parents had a bad day at work?

- How can you tell if someone is lying to you?

- How can you tell if one of your friends likes somebody (romantically)?

Present Progressive Practice

Hi Victor!

Use this link to practice the present progressive tense:

http://basicesl.blogspot.com/2010/05/practice-with-present-progressive.html

6th Period Writing Activity

Read the following prompts, pick one, and then write your response in a comment (follow the directions on the wall). Make sure you put your name on it so that you can get credit. This is like a free write - don't worry about spelling or grammar - just write!!


Think of a time when you were embarrassed by a teacher. What happened? How did you feel?

If you could go back to being any age, what age would you pick? Why?

Which birthday do you remember the most? What happened that day?

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

4th Period Writing Activity

Read the following prompts, pick one, and then write your response in a comment (follow the directions on the wall). Make sure you put your name on it so that you can get credit. This is like a free write - don't worry about spelling or grammar - just write!!


Think of a time when you were embarrassed by a teacher. What happened? How did you feel?

If you could go back to being any age, what age would you pick? Why?

Which birthday do you remember the most? What happened that day?

Monday, January 30, 2012

Keep talking!

For our free write questions today, I picked some of the writing prompts you guys found on the internet and wanted to write about. Pick one and write your response in a comment. You should also write at least one reply to other people's comments on this post or the one from yesterday.

If you could be any superhero or have any super power, which would you pick? What would you do with your new superpower?


What was the best field trip you ever went on with school? What did you do? Why was it so great?


Who are/were the best friends you ever had? How did you meet them? What did you do together? Why do you think your were/are such good friends?

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Write back to the blog!

Read the following prompts, pick one, and then write your response in a comment. Make sure you put your name on it so that you can get credit. This is like a free write - don't worry about spelling or grammar - just write!!

Think of a time when you were embarrassed by a teacher. What happened? How did you feel?

If you could go back to being any age, what age would you pick? Why?

Which birthday do you remember the most? What happened that day?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Writing prompts

This site will give you a new writing prompt every time you push the button - write down the ones you like to turn in


This list
is organized by grade level. Click on 6-8 or 9-12 and write down the topics you like.

The questions on this list are organized into categories. Skim the list and write down the ones you like.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Exploring Line Breaks

Use this interactive activity to review what we learned about line breaks and experiment with them on your own