What is a hero?

Today we did some online investigation to better answer that question. Only 3 people turned in their completed Hero Assignment from today (Molly from 1st hour, Swen from 3rd hour, and Rachel from 6th hour). So, for the rest of you, it must be completed by Monday.

You also received your 2nd quarter outside reading assignment today. Here it is (a word version is also on Edline):

Quarter 2 Outside Reading Assignment – 250 pages of text.
Our first quarter outside reading assignment is for you to read text, including novels, nonfiction books, periodicals, websites, weblogs, etc., totaling 250 (do your best to approximate the number of pages you read if you’re reading online texts). The texts you read should have literary merit and be age-appropriate.
Assignment Due Date
Blog #1 Sunday, November 9
Blog #2 Wed. November 12
Blog #3 Sun. November 16
Blog #4 Wed. November 19
Blog #5 Sun. November 23
Blog #6 Wed. December 3
Blog #7 Sun. December 7
Blog #8 Wed. December 10
Blog #9 Sun. December 14
Blog #10 Wednesday, December 17
Blogs #11 & #12 Posted by Sunday, January 4
Blog #13 Wed. January 7
Blog #14 Sun. January 11
Blog #15 Wed. January 14

The Blogging
You must post TWICE a week (by Wednesday and by Sunday). I've explained below what should go in the post. Wednesday posts—11/12, 11/19, 12/3, 12/10, 12/17, 1/7, 1/14—are due before school; Sunday posts—11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 12/7, 12/14, ¼, 1/11—are due by 11:59pm (i.e. before bedtime).

Free Response
A thoughtful response to the book of approximately 150 words. You must cite the selection, author, and page you're referring to. Some possible ways to respond to texts include: pick a quote and comment on its significance, make connections to the book (self, text, world, media), analyze the protagonist, pretend you're writing a letter—or blog response—to the author or main character, identify the thesis and supporting evidence (of nonfiction) and discuss the arguments from your perspective, etc. There are many, many ways you can do this.
You must attempt to use correct spelling and punctuation and capitalization

GRADING OF BLOG POSTS: Here's how the grading will work out of 75 points.
A -
You have all of the posts.You have always posted on time.
You post a thoughtful comment to a peer’s blog each week.
Your response was always highly thoughtful and reflective.
You used correct mechanics almost all of the time.

B -
You have all of the posts.You mostly posted on time.
You post a comment to a peer’s blog each week.Your responses were mostly thoughtful and reflective.
You used correct mechanics most of the time, but there are some glaring errors.

C -
You have 6-7 of the posts.You sometimes posted on time.
You post a comment to a peer’s blog most weeks.You responded to the book.
You have several errors in mechanics.

D -
You have about 4-5 posts total.You rarely posted on time.
You occasionally post comments to peers’ blogs.You somewhat responded to the book.
Your responses do not make an attempt to use proper mechanics.

F -
You have 0-3 posts.You did not do what was asked of you in the post.
You do not post comments on the blogs of your peers.
Your responses do not make an attempt to use proper mechanics.

**You will receive a separate grade for sharing your blog and leading the reading minute once during 2nd quarter.

The Odyssey Concludes

Odysseus has killed the suitors and reunited with his wife. As we wrap up our study of the epic, we will continue to explore Odysseus as a hero. We have begun a more indepth study of the text with the "test" that you began yesterday. Your homework tonight is to finish the "test." We will do more with the text as a whole tomorrow.

Our new president...

...wants you to read The Odyssey, Book 22 tonight. So, as you are watching the election coverage, read about Odysseus's slaughter of the suitors. Periods 1 & 3, you should also complete the sheet tracing the events in book 22.

VISION TESTING TOMORROW!! We'll work on prewriting for our essays while we are waiting outside the nurse's office.

The Odyssey Continues...

Tonight's reading homework: Book 20, lines 357-the end; Book 21.

We're getting into the themes and larger ideas of The Odyssey. This explication will lead to a final essay.

9 Blogs...

...and you're done (for the quarter). The outside reading handout refers to a final overall response. You can just cross that out--we don't have time to complete it AND those of you who have worked diligently on your blogs have done amazing work already.

Read Book 9 for tomorrow.

The End is Near...

Today we took an open book quiz on Book 4. I've graded the quizzes from 1st Hour--most students have done pretty well considering that 6th heard it was "extremely difficult." It's the end of the quarter, so we have big things coming up:

1. The Heroes in a Box assignment is due today.

2. Your 9th blog post was due before school today--if you're behind in blogging, just get the posts done. We will not do a "Final Overall Response" as the outside reading handout says--the 9 blogs are sufficient.

3. I am collecting notebooks tomorrow after we complete a Book 5 activity.

4. Read Book 5 for tomorrow.

5. TOMORROW IS AMNESTY DAY. YOU MAY COME IN BETWEEN 8:30 AND 10:00a.m. TO SUBMIT LATE WORK FOR HALF CREDIT. IT IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED AND I NEED TO TAKE WORK FROM YOU PERSONALLY, SO DON'T COME TOO CLOSE TO 10a.m. YOU MUST COME IN--EMAILING WORK OR SENDING WORK WITH SOMEONE ELSE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Box O' Heroes

Let's make the Heroes in a Box assignment due Monday--it takes quite a bit of time to sift through all that is available on the internet!

If you find video artifacts, please embed them in your blog rather than simply providing the link that will take the viewer to youtube. Here are the directions for embeding a video:

1. Go to blogger. Either start a New Post or click on the pencil icon below the post you already
started.
2. Open another window, and go to youtube. Find the video you want and click on it.
3. To the right of the video box, you will see two lines: URL and Embed. Highlight the entire
code in the Embed box and copy it (ctrl+c).
4. Return to your blog post. You are likely in Compose mode, so click on the Edit Html menu
tab above the post box.
5. Paste (ctrl+v) the youtube embed code into the Edit Html box on blogger.
6. When you publish your post, you should see the first frame of the video in a box with an
arrow in the middle. Your viewer should now be able to click on the arrow and watch the
video.
...several steps, but it is actually quite simple.

DON'T FORGET!!!!!
AMNESTY DAY IS NEXT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. IT IS A STUDENT-CENTERED LATE-START DAY. YOU MAY TURN IN ANY OUTSTANDING LATE WORK ON AMNESTY DAY. TO DO SO, YOU MUST SHOW UP AND TURN IN WORK BEFORE THE LATE START--BETWEEN 8:30 AND 10:00 AM. YOU MUST SHOW UP IN PERSON...NOBODY MAY TURN IN WORK FOR YOU, AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT EMAILS WITH LATE WORK ATTACHED.

Also, don't forget to read Book 2 for tomorrow.