English 9 Class Notes
Freshmens, we completed Of Mice and Men today, and we discussed George’s justification in shooting his friend. An ironic idea was suggested by students on both days: George had to kill Lennie to save him. I was dubious of this claim, but we worked with it and expressed yourselves in practice composition. We briefly reviewed the six traits of writing, particularly ideas, organization, and conventions, and I presented you with a paragraph template, a graphic organizer for controlling placement of your ideas. It looked very familiar to you because it mimicked the format you’ve been using to answer questions related to all of the reading we’ve been doing since August. Such paragraphing will be the main method of assessment next semester.
You composed a practice paragraph in which you argued whether George acted in his and Lennie’s best interest by shooting him in the back of the head at the base of his skull and spine. You completed this by the end of the period, and some had time to do homework and read independently.
I was very pleased with the discussion the novella engendered. Many of you made great points. if you’re interested in reading and learning more, I’ll direct you to the “Euthanasia” , “Friendship”, “Honor”, and “Sacrifice” at Wikipedia.
We’ll begin The Odyssey next week, kids. I’ll see you then.
APELC Class Notes
Objectives: APELCers 1) processed satire, and 2) researched their worldviews.
Periods 1 and 3, today we tackled the satirical piece from The Onion that appeared on the 2005 APELC exam before we headed to the liberry for your final day of research.
Here’s the first part of the piece from Sunday’s 60 Minutes about stem cells magic I talked about in class, “21st Century Snake Oil”:
And here’s more from of Brian Dunning at Skeptoid related to bad or pseud0-science:
And here’re two more to ponder that have to do with the paranormal but that some view as vaguely, quantumy and sciencey: “All About Astrology” and “What’s Wrong with The Secret “. Also, don’t forget to read over the James Randi Education Foundation’s One Million Dollar Challenge. (Maybe you’ll accept the challenge and claim the prize?)
I look forward to your presentations next class, and I’d like all students in all periods to print the texts I’ve listed on your class page for next time. We probably won’t get to them, but I’d like you to have them read and in reserve for when we do have the time.