Friday, June 3, 2016

Finals Weeks

The final exam will be based on a portfolio review activity.

Mr. Zartler will be at a training for the new GeoTech Course in Loveland Colorado during finals week. If you need to contact him, please email him at jzartler@pps.net

He will try to reply each evening; and will return to Grant on Friday, the 10th of June.


Friday, 3 June

Today students turned in their interlocking rubiayats on the topic of Persepolis today.

They did this attached to a analysis of the poem that addresses the following questions:

1) What was the overall main idea of your Interlocking Rubiayat? What were the individual Rubiayats designed to do to support that? Did you meet your goals? Why or why not?

2) How is your poem an example of an interlocking rubiyat? What are it's strengths and weaknesses?

3) Process:
How did this project effect your thinking about Persepolis? Why?
Describe the process of writing a poem: what was hard? easy? challenging?

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

23-27 May

Persepolis Journals are due on Friday, March 27th


Class spent time reviewing key passages of Persepolis on Monday and began creating a three column chart with quotes; paraphrases; or examples from the text showing:

Who Marji was          Significant Events that         Who Marji is
                                                                   Led to Changes


Students shared their evidence.  

Next Mr. Zartler reviewed the Rubiayat handout with the class (see below). Students were then given the following criteria for their final Persepolis project.

Write an "Interlocking Rubiayat"
At least five stanzas
Showing Understanding of Marji's development
or
A theme explored by M. Satrapi in Persepolis
The poem should make sense to someone with a basic understanding of history
The poem should make sense even to someone who has NOT read Persepolis.



The final exam will be an activity built around each students writing for the year and their writing portfolio. Barron will be teaching the class because Mr. Zartler will be in Loveland, CO being trained to teach GeoTech next year. He will be available by email (jzartler@pps.net) and will be back on Friday to evaluate the final activities.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

17 May, 2016

We will read this news story about women in Iran as part of class today.



We will also read this story about men supporting women.


Turning in Research Papers

Students were given a chance to double check the finer points of MLA formatting.
Students were given the following questions for self-reflection and self-evaluation.

What did you learn about researching and writing research papers?

What do you need to learn or learn more about doing research and writing research papers?

What are strengths of this paper, why?

What are weaknesses of this paper, why?

What grade would you give to this paper, why?

Monday, May 9, 2016

Monday, 9 May

Students were reminded that research papers are due 17 May.

Students should bring drafts to work on to class on Wednesday.

Students should read Persepolis to page 81 for Wednesday and 93 for Friday.

The class discussed Fear in Persepolis; shared some student writing about Persepolis and discussed questions raised by students about the text. Mr. Zartler asked students to consider the questions of forgiveness and justice raised on page 46 and elsewhere.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Thursday, 5 May

Students were reminded that research papers are due 17 May.

Students practiced writing analyses of Marji's relationship with God, by comparing the photo of Marji in the bathtub with God next to her to another panel showing the two together.

Students worked in small groups and shared their answers to questions about the first forty (40) pages of Persepolis.

Students should have read at least through page sixty-two (62) of Persepolis for Monday.

Students have gotten their rough drafts back from Mr. Zartler.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Tuesday, May 3rd

Students received research paper rough drafts back.

The final research paper is due on Friday, May 17th.

There was a lesson on properly citing sources in the research paper:


Class also was given a lesson on how to "read," analyze, and discuss graphic in Perseoplis.

Examples include


Students were given time to work on research writing; to conference with Mr. Zartler; and to read and write about Persepolis.




Friday, April 29, 2016

Friday, April 29th

Students turned in the rough draft of their research paper. Many of the students in periods 5 and 6 got theirs back.

The class considered several themes that will be important in Persepolis: Political Changes; immigration & exile; clothing as sign and signal; social pressure & gender; Human Rights; religiosity; culture and customs; kinds of education; family; social class.

Students wrote about one of these topics.

Periods 5 and 6 discussed the opening of Persepolis.


Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Wednesday, April 27th

Students had a final opportunity to turn in their outlines and get feedback on them before rough drafts of the research paper are due next class.

Students were given a journaling assignment to work on during our study of Persepolis.

The class participated in a Tea Party introducing the characters of the memoir.


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Monday, 25 April

Students checked Persepolis out from the library.

Students were given several short lessons on how to organize note cards into stacks with topic sentences in order to create a well organized research paper.

Students were asked to turn in an outline according to the following annotated drawing. Many turned it in and were given it back with comments in class. All students should get one to Mr. Zartler NO LATER then next class. Students should get feedback on the outline BEFORE typing their rough draft (due Friday, April 29th).

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Thursday, 21 April

Next Due Dates:
Students are to bring all (20-25) Note Cards to next class.
Research Paper Rough Draft is due on Friday, 29 Apri

Students will check Persepolis out from the library on Monday, 24 April.

Class spend time considering coming of age activities and markers; and we spent time considering the questions that keep teens up at night.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Tuesday, 19 April

Students turned in:

Two (2) annotated bibliographies
Showed five (5) note cards
Six Panel Memoirs and a self-evaluation that answered the questions: What change is shared? Is / do you think this is a common experience.

Next class 15 notes are due.

The class reviewed 4 visual mystery texts (5th period read expert texts) 6th and 8th periods read a provocative text. Students worked in group to create a mind map of what they knew, discovered, and learned about Iran and Iranian society.


We also reviewed how to create a hanging indent for bibliography entries:

Word: Select the entry; choose format; choose paragraph; choose special; choose "hanging".

To format a hanging indent in Google Docs, use this link for instructions.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Friday, April 15th

Today students had time to work on their 6-Panel Memoir and to work on research for their research paper.

Mr. Zartler presented lessons on MLA Format (required for the research paper) and making Note Cards.


Note cards are the best way to organize your notes, because you only have to make one Bibliography card for each source, and then by physically moving your cards into different piles you will have a pretty easy time organizing your essay.

You might begin with Google Doc entries that looks like this (3 notes and the Citation):


Our society seems more interested in sending young, African-American males to prison than to college. (2)

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that many use as an example of how to unlearn racism. (4)

The School-to-Prison pipeline is one sign of both white privilege and intrenched racism. (18)

Maher, Steffany Comfort. "Using To Kill a Mockingbird as a Conduit for Teaching about the 
     School-to-Prison Piplein." English Journal. 102.4 (2013): 45-52. Print




In order to turn these notes into note cards, you need to make three (3) separate note cards and a bibliography cards (4 cards total). Each card would end up looking like this one:


You will also have one card that is just the MLA citation



                  Maher, Steffany Comfort. "Using To Kill a Mockingbird as a Conduit for Teaching 
                       about the School-to-Prison Piplein." English Journal. 102.4 (2013): 45-52. Print

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Wednesday, 13 April

Students met with their counselors for forecasting.

Students receive feedback on their first annotated bibliography.

Common key points are:
Annotated Bibliography
A) Purpose is to let others know if a source will help them.
B) Answers two (2) questions:
     1) What kinds of information are included (BE SPECIFIC) 3-5 sentences
     2) Is it reliable? Why? 1-3 sentences.

Students met with their counselors for forecasting.

The class also discussed the six panel memoir assignment and reviewed some of the conventions of graphic story telling.

Due date for the notes and memoir were changed: both are now due on Tuesday, April 26th. Students will have some time to work on both or either in class on Friday.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Monday, 11 April

Students turned in a printed copy of their first annotated bibliography at the start of class.

The class then worked on identifying the key words for researching: Genocide; who; when; where; what; how; why; victims/ targets; perpetrators; bystanders; key events; motivation; experts; emotional and political energy.

Students then generated and shared a number of questions that could be used be answered by their research.

Next the class began talking about Memoir; Persepolis, the main book we will focus on fourth quarter is a graphic memoir.

on 15 April, students will turn in a graphic memoir of at least six panels.

Class generated a list of topics that students could explore for their memoir. The class focused on events that often cause change: new schools; new experiences; divorce, marriage; puberty; transitions; religion; romance; love; heart break; injury; new activities.

The class began by writing about some of these events, and considering how a story arc could be translated into six panels.

Students had some time to work on their memoir.


Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Wednesday, 6 April

Class met in the computer lab to receive expert instruction on research from Ms. Battle.

Ms. Battle stressed that using the appropriate Online Databases is:

EFFICIENT & EFFECTIVE & ETHICAL

The two databases she recommends are
OSLIS @ OSLIS.org 
and
Multnomah County Library @ Multcolib.org

You will need the school password (shared in class) for OSLIS or a library card for Multnomah Co. Library (Ms. Battle helped any students who didn't have a card get one).

Ms. Battle suggested that students begin with "Opposing Viewpoints" data bases; she also pointed out that searching on the home screen would bring students to lots of information; often one will need to "narrow the results."

Ms. Battle pointed out that Ebooks are easy to search using the "control f" function.


Mr. Zartler asked students to use an online document such as Google Docs to take their notes on.

For each article write the article title then write notes: quotes; summaries; paraphrases. At the end of each source in the databases is the appropriate bibliographic citation that should be pasted into the note taking document.

The first annotated bibliographic entry is due next class!

Monday, April 4, 2016

Monday, 4 April

Night essays were turned in; before turning them in students were asked to complete the following self-evaluation activities.

1) Check for an interesting title
2) Using a pencil A) draw a single line under the introduction to each quote B) draw two lines underneath each explanation for each quote C) ensure that a page citation is used
3) Make a table that lists strengths and weaknesses of your  essay with specific examples
4) On lined paper respond to the following: What did you do better on this essay than on previous essays (include all examples)? Why?
5) Assign a grade to the essay and provide a rationale.

Class then began our Research unit. In this unit students will be researching a genocide. As background to all genocides we began by watching a short documentary on Raphael Lemkin. the video that explains that the term had to be created. Facing History: Raphael Lemkin and the Crime of Genocide

Students then did some background reading from various examples of genocide in the 20th Century.

Next class will meet in Lab #16 and include expert teaching in research by Ms. Battle.


Next class handout:
Sophomore Research Project

Name ________________________________________________ Date _____________________ Period ________

Over the next several weeks you will be working independently and in-class (some) to research a topic related to Genocide. The purpose of the research is to write a 4-6 page paper that explains the facts of an atrocity. At a minimum your expository essay should explain the journalistic “Ws” (who, what, when, where, how – ok it’s an H, and Why, but it should also go further, providing an analysis of the key events. Your essay should identify the victims/ targets; the perpetrators; bystanders; and any allies who tried to prevent or end the genocide. When it is possible your essay should identify the motivation of the perpetrators. You may also discover that the perpetrators claimed one motivation, but experts believe that there was something else in play.

As we have discussed, the emotional and political energy, surrounding genocide makes it particularly important to carefully evaluate the reliability and validity of your sources of information. As part of this you will be required to submit four (4) annotated bibliographic entries. Your annotations will describe the resource; the nature of the information available from the resource; the author(s) of the information; and the sponsors of the resource. The annotation will also state your confidence in the resource and the reason for your confidence in the resource.

You will be asked to turn in a set of note cards. There will be two main types of note cards: Bibliography Cards and Note Cards.

-        Bibliography cards should be made for EVERY source you study; it should include: Publican information for your Works Cited page: author(s), article title in quotes,  web address; magazine title, publication date/ date of visit, and page numbers.
-         
-        Note cards contain discrete bits of information that might help you:  paraphrases of  ideas, direct quotes from the article, and thoughts/ideas you come up with based on reading a source.

Due Dates
Work product that is due
Notes
11 April
One (1) Annotated Bibliographic Entry (due at start of class)


13 April
Research Topic

15 April
Five (5) note cards
One (1) Additional Annotated Bibliographic Entry (2 total now)

19 April
Fifteen (15) Total note cards
Four (4) total Annotated Bibliographic Entries








We have listed in class a number of infamous genocides; Wikipedia provides to lists appropriate to remind yourself.  
The first lists recent genocides by numbers murdered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides_by_death_toll

The second lists genocide by time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history

Monday, March 28, 2016

Tuesday, 28 March

The Holocaust will be at the center of your essay on Night. However, terribly, there have been many genocides in human history. We briefly studied the case  of Reinhold Hanning who was a guard at a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. Recently, another war criminal was convicted. His trial took years and years to accomplish as well.

After listening to this story, students will work on refining their argument or their draft for their essay on Night.


Friday, March 18, 2016

Friday, March 18

Today the class worked through a variety of activities designed to help students identify a question for their Night essay (Final due April 4th; Rough due March 31st).

The following handout as well as class discussion was used.

Night  Final Essay
 _____ answers a "big question"

_____ is about Night 

_____ a clear thesis statement that says how the theme or themes you have been following is / are important to understanding Night.

_____ an introduction with the name of the book in italics and the name of the author

_____ three pieces of evidence (quotes) from the book for the highest grades. You may have fewer quotes, but you will likely not earn an “A”. You must include at least two quotes.

_____ properly embedded quotes. This means
            An introduction for the quote explaining who is speaking to whom and in what context
            The quote inside quotation marks
            A citation in the format (#)
            An explanation following the quote explaining how it supports your topic sentence or thesis statement.

______ Clear topic sentences for each body paragraph that support your thesis


You may use the following questions as prewriting:

What clear statement can you make about your theme? How is it important to understanding the Night , the holocaust, or Elie Wiesel?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


What quotes help illustrate this idea? What do you need to explain about each quote in order to make your ideas clear to your reader? (You may want to do this activity on line paper.)

Quote ________________________________________________________________________

What do I need to explain _________________________________________________________



Three possible questions include:
Did Ellie Wiesel lose his faith?
Did Ellie Wiesel regain his faith?
Was Ellie Wiesel lucky?
What is the most important lesson one receives from Night? How is it presented?

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Thursday, 10 March and Tuesday, 14 March

Thursday students began by sharing their analysis of the Nuremberg Trials and the current trial of a Holocaust War Criminal.

Then the class learned about viewing and learning from primary source documents, and then examined (facsimile) documents from Gerda Weissman's life.

On Monday we are going to view a video documenting a Ellie Wiesel returning to Auschwitz in the company of Oprah Winfrey. The subject matter and images of this documentary are disturbing.


If this link works, I'd love to show this to my class. 

Tuesday, 8 March


Class today is focused foremost on survivors of the Holocaust.

Students who attended the talk by Alter Wiener last Friday will be asked to share about their experiences.

Students will then be asked to take a survey that follows up on one taken earlier this year.

Then students will be asked to read and respond to the following stories from the news this month.

First students are asked to read about the Nuremberg Trials that followed World War II. Students should take notes on WHO was involved; WHEN they happened; WHERE they occurred; WHAT prompted them to be held; WHAT happened; and WHY they were important.

Then students are to read the following stories from the news this month. Students may read all the stories, or stop and respond in between, or work with the material in another way that makes sense to them. Students might consider how the current trial is similar to and different from the Nuremberg trials.


1) Auschwitz trial: survivor urges guard to reveal his role at death camp


Updates through 8 March


Thursday, March 3, 2016

Friday, 4 March

Guest teacher Mrs. Robbins has a great lesson, so we will review the SOAPS+Claim & Response analysis on Tuesday (when your journals are due).

Class will begin or end with reading the Grant Magazine on the "N-word".

Students will do a gallery walk of quotes with Mrs. Robbins that is designed to help them create a thesis statement for an essay on Night.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Wednesday, 2 March, 2016

Night Journals are due on Tuesday, March 8th; Mr. Zartler will evaluate them in class.

Next class will be taught by Mrs. Robbins; topics will include a brief activity using the Grant Magazine's current article on race. Class will also be analyzing documents from the Holocaust.

Students have an extra credit opportunity this coming Friday; please see the 
information at the bottom of this post.

Class began with a time to reflect on and share about One Survivor Remembers.

Today's lesson  begins with understanding the concept of "Remembrance Day".

Next we will consider the facts that there are regular attempts to deny the horrors and atrocities of the Holocaust.

Facts and resources about the horror (crime in Germany) of Holocaust denial.

Students will work individually or in pairs to examine one of the resources below. Students will complete a SOAPS+Claim(s) Analysis and present their findings to the class.

SOAPS + Claim
Subject: What is the essay’s topic? (Is there a more specific answer than "Holocaust Denial"?

Occasion: What was the impetus for the writer’s writing the essay at this time?

Author/Audience: Who is the writer? What are his/ her credentials? Why should readers take seriously what she/ he has to say? To whom does the writer address his /her concerns? (See Mr. Zartler if you need help.)

Purpose: why did the writer write the essay? What does he /she want to convince readers of or persuade them to do?

Significance: To what does this piece relate? How might it be important to me, to others; to the world?


Claim: What is the writer intending to prove or establish?

Additionally Reflection or Reaction: What thoughts would you like to share after studying the link below, or what questions do you have?










8) http://archive.adl.org/holocaust/response.html#.VsuoIJMrKHo

PPS Focus on Diversity Film & Lecture Series
The Holocaust: Words of a Survivor


       
Alter Wiener
Holocaust Survivor, Author, Speaker

Friday, March 4th
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Boardroom, Portland Public Schools, 501 N. Dixon Street

Alter Wiener is one of the very few Holocaust survivors still living in the Portland area. Since moving to Oregon in 2000 he has shared his life story with more than 950 diverse audiences, and has received various honorary degrees and awards. His autobiography “64735 From A Name to A Number” is a personal testimony of the WWII tragedy, and a description of his survival during 35 months in five different Nazi concentrations camps. Through his speeches and writings, Alter hopes to eliminate hate, vengeance and intolerance.  Join us to hear his incredible story of resilience and tolerance.

Autographed copies of “64735 From A Name to A Number” will be available at the end of the program for $20.00. Autographed copies of Trudy Ludwig’s children’s book "Gifts from the Enemy” recounting an episode from Alter's life, will also be available for $15.00.