Due: Monday, November 30th

As you begin to read your first independent novel, I want you to pay close attention to character. Look for instances of characterization (the author developing the character and providing details for the reader). After you've read the first couple of chapters, write a blog post detailing what you know about the main character. What is he or she like? What type of personality does he or she have? Character traits? Habits? Include a quotation from the book to ba… Continue

I was never the most practical kid. If you rented a time machine, hunted me down anywhere from 1977 to 1995, gently pulled me aside and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d respond in one short sentence. For eighteen years I’d stare intently into the ground, nudge the grass, snow, sand or dirt with my foot, and say, “I want to be a baseball player.” A random survey of my 6th grade papers would reveal that I did not just include my name on the top line of the heading, but also my self… Continue

For the second quarter, we are going to begin working in a reading/writing workshop atmosphere. We are going to migrate away from looking at longer works in common and will instead do an extended inquiry into the young adult literature (also called "coming of age" or bildungsroman).

For the next two months, you can read any novel you want as long as it is young adult literature. (Young adult literature is a type of literature that features a teenage protagonist coming to grips with a crisis.) B… Continue

Tomorrow we are going down to the library to get a novel for independent reading. Today in class, I'd like you to take some time to think about yourself as a reader. Pick the item/set of questions below that you most strongly identify with. Then, write a blog post exploring those issues:

* When did you learn to read? How did you learn? What did you read the most? Why? Was there an individual who influenced what you read? If so, you might want to describe something about that that person,… Continue

What were the major differences you saw between the book and the film? How did these alterations change the meaning of the story (these could be big differences or small differences)?

It's time to finish with Speak. Unfortunately, with everything else going on, we are going to have to end this unit less cleanly than I would like. On the other hand, I am excited with the writing I am seeing and can't wait to see you bring your one minute video essays to fruition.

Choose one of the following essay topics. Write an essay exploring this question. Your essay may be typed or handwritten but it must be in the neighborhood of 400-500 words (two page if typed and double spaced, front… Continue

You have three assignments to complete this week.

Film Prewriting - On Friday you began your freewriting in order to start thinking about the ideas and voiceover narration for your film. You must hand in this piece of writing on Thursday. If you wrote your thoughts out on the blog, publish them. If you wrote out your journal, leave it on my desk. If you typed up your journal in Google Docs, share it with me.


Blog Post #7: Monologue Reaction
We watched film clips in class today t… Continue

Next week we're going to start to wrap everything up. We are going to have an assessment on Speak, a giant super quiz on the 4th quarter, and we're going to be constructing a final project based on the novel and American Teen.

This project is going to be a short film. You are going to be turning a short excerpt from your journals into a 30 second to one minute film. Today, I want you to take 40 minutes and write an extended journal. I am giving you the entire class period. You may… Continue

You have two blog posts due by next Monday. These must be done outside of class time.

Blog Post #5: American Teen
This week we're watching American Teen, a documentary exploring the lives of several high school seniors from the Midwest. Write a blog post of at least 250 words exploring the ideas of the documentary. How do you see the different people defining themselves? Are they being defined by pressures? Goals? Parents? Sports? Wealth? Expectations? Society? How do you see the differe… Continue

Grab your notebook. Quickly jot down the following two terms in your notebook:

flat character - a character who is not developed by the author (one dimensional)
static character - a character who does not change throughout the story

Then, write a quick blog post (I'm giving you eight minutes). (Hold down the command key and click on "Blogs" to open a blog in a new tab.)

Title the post "Andy's Motivation"
Andy is what we would call a flat character. He is also a static charact… Continue