January 26, 2012

READING: There will be a quiz next Wednesday over the following:
Author's purpose (persuade, inform, entertain)
Main Idea (where/what it is in a paragraph)
Theme (lessons we have to INFER from a story)
Fable (short stories with lessons)

DON'T FORGET READING LOGS FOR MONDAY!

ENGLISH:
Debates: tomorrow is the last day to research and add information to your group essay.  On Monday, the debates will start, and go as follows:
Mon: Medical testing on animals should be banned
Tues: The U.S. should ban cigarette sales
Wed: The U.S. should ban the death penalty

Monday, January 23 update

READING: Today we started talking about THEME.  The class took notes.  If you missed it, please see me for the notes and homework.
I'm also handing out an outline for your next book project tomorrow, which will be due on Friday, Feb. 17.

ENGLISH: Debate rough draft essays are due tomorrow.  The final drafts will be due on Friday and we'll start debating on Monday.  Each debate will take the entire class period.

ENGLISH: DEBATES!

We are starting to debate in English class!  Today I separated the students into groups and we decided on the following topics to debate:
1) The death penalty should be banned in the United States
2) Medical testing on animals should be illegal
3) Cigarettes should be banned in the United States

Check out some of these websites to get some research:
Death penalty ban: AFFIRMATIVE:

• www.antideathpenalty.org

Death penalty ban: NEGATIVE:

• www.wesleylowe.com

Medical animal testing ban: AFFIRMATIVE:

• http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/using-animals-testing-pros-versus-cons.html

Medical animal testing ban: NEGATIVE:

• http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/using-animals-testing-pros-versus-cons.html

Cigarette ban: AFFIRMATIVE

• http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/index.htm

Cigarette ban: NEGATIVE

• www.philipmorrisusa.com (this is a leading tobacco company in the US)

January 5, 2012

READING: Today we are reading a short story by Walter Dean Myers, called "The Treasure of Lemon Brown".  There are comprehension questions that should be completed for homework if not done in class.

ENGLISH: We're watching The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington, to get us ready for our debate unite.  This movie is a true story of the all black debate team at Wiley College in Texas in 1935.  It's very inspirational.