Ms. Boyd: The Write Stuff

WL & MCL: Feb. 6-17

With ACCESS testing for all ESOL students and some other unexpected things, I've combined two weeks' worth and both classes into one extended post.  Next week, the regular weekly blog per class will resume.

World Lit:  We have finished Ibsen's drama and students created character profiles on Facebook for one of the main characters.  We are presenting this week before moving on to our next unit, The Middle Ages.  We'll begin exploring the Middle Ages by going on a Webquest before launching into our literature.  

Multicultural Lit:  We are continuing with our parallel text:  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, and students will be examining both Junior's "split personality" and how their individual backgrounds and cultures may lead to their own.

Senior Projects are due on 2/27.  No exceptions.

Weekly vocabulary quizzes continue on Fridays.  Check quizlet.com for practice games, word lists, tests, etc. 

Quizlet.com

user name:  mjkboyd

password:  quizlet

Click on the links below for journal prompts and other information:

Download Journal 2.6.12_MCL_pronto cartoon

Download Journal 2.8.12.11_WL_Warmup_poetry_figurative language

Download Journal 2.8.12_MCL_priorities

Download Journal 2.9.12_MCL_Dreams

Download Journal 2,13,12_WL_Last night_life skills

Download Journal 2,13,12_MCL_Last night_life skills

Download Journal 2.14.12_MCL_Is hope white

Download Journal 2.14.12_WL_Valentines warmup

 Download Journal 2.16.12_MCL_discrimination

Download Journal 2.16.12_WL_simile and metaphor

Download Free Write Friday_2.17.12

 

WL: Week of Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2012

Students continued their study of realism with the Ibsen drama, A Doll House.  Students compared the actual play to a movie version which lead to rich discussion about choices.  Students identified strategies used to inform, persuade, and entertain, and why certain choices may have been made.

Student pairs presented their body biographies and later began creating either a Facebook profile for their character or a persuasive essay.  Not surprisingly, most students have chosen the social media option for their final assessment. 

This week we applied our knowledge of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, and we began injecting "image grammar" into our writing.  Students learned the first two brush strokes (Harry Noden) as they work toward painting a picture with their words rather than merely "telling" a story.

Please study/practice vocabulary using our quizlet account.  Quizzes are every Friday, retakes are on Wednesdays.

Click on the links below for this week's journal prompts and other informtation:

Download AAAWWUBBIS_Subordinating Conjuctions

Download AAAWWUBBIS_vertical explanation

Download AAWWUBBIS_rules

Download Brush Strokes_Image Grammar

Download Doll House_Facebook rubric

Download Journal 1.30.12_MCL_WL_Boyd Bash

Download Journal 1.31.12_MCL_Is it okay to offend

Download Journal 2.1.12_MCL_WL_pinata cartoon

Download Journal 2.2.12_WL_Warmup_AAAWWUBBIS

Download Free Write Friday February 3.12

MCL: Week of Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 2012

Students continued working on our Senior Projects as we began our Native American Unit.  Students were introduced to Sherman Alexie through some of his shorter pieces and next week will begin his autobiographical book, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian.  Make sure your student has paid his library fines and has a copy of the book by Tuesday.

Students enjoyed "How to Write the Great American Indian Novel" before pairing up to write their own versions with a nod to their unique cultural experiences.

We ended the week by beginning the acclaimed documentary entitled:  "When Your Hands Are Tied," examining life on the rez for Native American teens.

Visit quizlet for past and current vocabulary words.  Weekly quizzes are on Fridays.  Journals were collected and graded this week.  Our next journal due date is March 2nd.  Senior Projects are due on Feb. 27th.

Click on the links below for this week's journal prompts and other information:

Download Journal 1.30.12_MCL_WL_Boyd Bash

Download Journal 1.31.12_MCL_Is it okay to offend

Download Journal 2.1.12_MCL_WL_pinata cartoon

Download Journal 2.2.12_MCL_Mexifornia license

Download Free Write Friday February 3.12

Download Senior Project Revised- Fall 2011

 

World Lit: January 23-27, 2012

This week we began reading Ibsen's A Doll House as our study of realism continued.  Students examined various artifacts from the 19th Century as they learned more about gender roles in that society.  Students speculated on how Nora's lot in society played a part in her decisions and deceit before selecting character traits to best describe her and the others in the play.  Students will have their choice of a final essay or creating a Facebook profile for their chosen character.

Our first vocabulary quiz will be on Friday.  Please use quizlet to study.

Quizlet.com

User name:  mjkboyd

Password:  quizlet

Click on the links below for this week's information:

Download Journal 1.23.12_WL_Victorian women_role

Download Journal 1.24.12_WL_Doll House_realistic drama_1

Download Journal 1.25.12_WL_Vocabulary words

Download Journal 1.26.12_conjunctions warmup

Download Free Write Friday_vocab quiz

Download Intro-to-a-dolls-house-characters

Multicultura Lit: Jan. 23-27

We wrapped our immigrant experience by reading several name pieces from different cultures.  Students then mapped, researched, and drafted pieces about their own names and how their names connected them to their families and cultures.

We spent two days in the Career Counseling Center working on the Senior Project which is due on Monday, February 27th.

Students finished their "Where I'm From" poems and presented them to each other during Spartan Stories.

We also spent time learning about and putting into practice our peer editing guidelines.

Our first vocabulary quiz is Friday.  Study on quizlet.com. 

User name:  mjkboyd

Password:  quizlet

Click on the links below for this week's information:

Download Journal 1.23.12_MCL_Name

Download Journal 1.25.12_MCL_My Name_rewrite Cisneros

Download Journal 1.26.12_MCL_My Name rewrite

Download Free Write Friday_vocab quiz

Download Name Pieces_excerpts

Download Name Piece_Kirby's editing guidelines

Download Senior Project Revised- Fall 2011

 

 

World Lit: Week of January 16-20

This week we created our Twitter Autobiography projects.  After "tweeting" our life stories, we "re-purposed" them for a new audience and wrote traditional autobiographies.  We presented them in class with our debut of "Spartan Stories" where students publish their writing and share it with our writing community.  Students wrote and delivered thank you notes to their peers after receiving such heartfelt gifts.

We began our semester-long trek through World Literature by examining women's roles in society, beginning with the Victorian Era.  Both boys and girls were shocked at the rules of society and how poorly women were treated.  We will be reading Ibsen's Doll House, as well as other parallel texts for the next few weeks.

Upcoming:  Our first vocabulary quiz will be next Friday, Jan. 27th.  Journals will be collected and graded on Jan. 31st.

Click on the link below for this week's information:

Download Alligator River_Rita y Josue_ESOL

Download Free Write Friday rules

Download Journal 1.17.12_WL_Who Am I

Download Journal 1.18.12_WL_Beauty

Download Journal 1.19.12_WL_Ideal Woman

Download Doll-s-House

Download A Doll’s House - preview

Download A Doll House_I Enjoy Being A Girl - Wide Screen

Download Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy

Download Barbie Doll

Download Barbie Doll

Download Barbie Doll_1

Multicultural Lit: Week of January 16-20

This week we began our study on the Immigrant Experience.  Analyzing poetry, writings, music, and even video clips of the Eastern European immigrants' journey to the New World, students were able to better understand how the immigrant journey then differed from the journey now.  Students shared their first writing project, the Mandala about what is important in their lives, and we ended the week examining who we are and from where we come.  Students will present their "Where I'm From" poems next week. 

Upcoming:Our first vocabulary quiz will be on Friday, Jan. 27th; journals will be collected and graded on Jan. 31st.

Click on the links below for this week's information:

Download Journal 1.17.12_MCL_Immigrant Experience

Download Journal 1.18.12_MCL_Why America

Download Journal 1.19.12_MCL_Becoming American

Download Free Write Friday rules

Download CHS_Mandala Project

Download MCL_Where I'm From poem template

Download What-is-Multicultural-Literature

Download Multicultural-Literature-Vocab1

 

Welcome (January 10-13, 2011)

Welcome to Multicultural and World Literature!  After this post, each class will have its own separate posting, but since this one is just the introductory entry, I decided to combine both classes.

I'm Marsha Kindrachuk (formerly Boyd), your student's ESL English Lit teacher for the next five months.  I am new to Campbell HS this school year, but I'm very excited to be working with your students.  Feel free to look over my blog posts from last semester to get an idea of how things run in our classroom. 

This is the place for you or your student to download information, check up on missed assignments, review journal prompts, etc.

This week we're settling into a new learning community.  I want your students to feel safe and secure and empowered in our classroom.  I want to challenge them to do their best. To that end, we are going over classroom expectations, procedures, and guidelines.  I encourage you to take a look at the presentations your students viewed in class.  Feel free to email me with any questions.  I'll include my email at the bottom of this post. 

I look forward to getting to know your student better in the coming months.  Please don't hesitate to contact me with any concerns.  Thank you.

Marsha Kindrachuk (Boyd)

marsha.boyd@cobbk12.org

cellphone:  404/808-9889

Click on the links below for this week's information:

Download Mind Movie Success

Download Boyd_Parent-Guardian letter

Download CHS Spring 2012_Welcome to my class_first day expectations

Download CHS Spring 2012_The Rules of Writing_Letter to myself

Download CHS Spring 2012_World Lit syllabus

Download CHS_Multicultural syllabus_spring 2012

Download Ice breaker_two truths

Download Multicultural-Literature-Vocab1

Download What-is-Multicultural-Literature

MCL: Nov. 28-Dec. 13

As we wrap up our semester, we enjoyed various texts from both Asian-American and African-American literature.  Students identified the various voices throughout the semester as they "listened" to what the speaker (author) was expressing.  Their final project has them indentifying their various voices and sharing them with the class via individual soundtracks that speak to them, for them, and of them.  We will share those on December 16th. 

Our final journal grade is this month, so journals will be collected on Dec. 16th.  Our final exam will be on Dec. 21st.

Click on the links below for journal prompts and other information:

Download Journal 11.28.11_MCL_Thanksgiving break

Download Journal 11.29.11_MCL_Asian American_first language

Download Journal 11.30.11_MC_American Dream

Download Journal 12.01.11_MC_Vanity Plate

Download Journal 12.05.11_MCL_beauty

Download Journal 12.06.11_MCL_skin color

Download Journal 12.07.11_MCL_Vocabulary words

Download Journal_12.08.11_Boyd bash

Download Journal_12.09.11_FWF

Download Journal_12.12.11_Ideal Woman

Download Journal_12.13.11_MCL_How have I grown as a writer

Download VOICE product option

Download MCL_Voice Soundtrack

Download MCL_Voice Soundtrack

Download MCL_Voice Soundtrack assessment

 

WL: Nov. 28-Dec. 13

As we wrap up our semester, we experimented with sonnets, both Italian (Petrarch) and Elizabethan (Shakespeare), before ending with Ibsen's modern realistic drama, A Doll House.  Our final journal grade is this month, so journals will be collected on Dec. 16th.  Our final exam will be on Dec. 22nd.

Click on the links below for journal prompts and other information:

Download Journal 11.28.11_WL_Thanksgiving break

Download Journal 9.29.11_WL_Warmup_poetry_figurative language

Download Journal 11.30.11_WL_Pronoun warm-up

Download Journal 12.01.11_WL_Object Pronouns

Download Journal 12.05.11_WL_beauty

Download Journal 12.06.11_WL_Victorian women_role

Download Journal_12.08.11_Boyd bash

Download Journal_12.09.11_FWF

Download Journal_12.12.11_Ideal Woman

Download Journal_12.13.11_WL_How have I grown as a writer

Download Sonnet_Petrarchan Sonnets Imagery Chart

Download WL_sonnets cheat sheet_definitions

Download Sonnets_Character development chart

Download Barbie Doll

Download Study Guide Questions

Download Doll-s-House

Download Intro-to-a-dolls-house-1229602294440057-2