Happy Holidays!

Enjoy your break, juniors!

Voice Poems

Empathy truly is a gift, and voice poems make this clear. After watching the stage performance of The Little Mermaid, the juniors were challenged to compose voice poems, sharing the point of view of a character and seeking to understand this perspective. 

Here are a few peeks at the poems the students shared on the class message board: 

Ariel

I am waiting, dreaming, and longing for a life beyond the sea

And this is my one and only plea.

I'm tired of swimming around with these fins

I want knees, legs, feet and shins.

I want to run and walk and live like them

I'd trade my crown, a ring and even a gem.

I want to walk on the sand and feel the sun on my skin

And this is when my life will begin.

I will meet a Prince, handsome, and strong

And finally find the place where I belong. 

Flotsam/Jetsam

Wriggling and writhing,

Just a part of Her body.

Once a young seahorse,

Now bound to this "Mommy."

One simple mistake;

That's all that it took

To take me from swimming

To being Her crook.

"Go here!" and "Grab this!"

Screams loud in my ear.

I'm a poor, lost soul

Wanting out of here!

-- K.K. 

King Triton
I am seen as the mighty King,
the ruler of all the reef,
the leader.
But they do not see
the person under the title
the husband who lost his wife,
the father of daughters without a mother.
I try to do what's best
to be a good father,
to teach with words I do not know,
to find what has been lost;
The instinct of a father,
lost long ago,
replaced by the instinct of a ruler.

T.L. 

Ariel 

How hard it is to be at loss of words

not by choice, but by force.

How hard it is to be unable to tell 

the man you love, that you think he's swell. 

I must get him to kiss me, and not by force.

I have to let true love take its course.

I need to do this in three days time, 

that's the only way to make him mine.

If I fail, it's more than just hard luck...

it's my corpse in Ursula's muck. 

Prince Eric's Poem:

(When he first hears Ariel’s voice)

One day while I was out at sea,

I heard an angel's voice calling to me.

It seemed to come from the sea below,

Anything more divine could never be known.

This voice was more beautiful than anything I had ever heard,

It embodies the sea itself and seemed to be as alive and free as a bird.

The sea itself seems to respond to her song,

It seems to sway to her notes and dance along.

Her voice seems to surround me and it takes my breath away,

No other girl has ever made me feel this way.

Could she be the girl? Could she possibly be the one for me?

Her voice alone is enough to set my heart off beat.

Her voice is gone as soon as it came.

Oh how I wish her voice didn’t go away.

I must find the owner of this voice, this voice of the sea,

And make her my bride for the rest of eternity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am grateful for those moments

when words fail

when I am humbled

by the realization

that I don’t have all the answers.

I am grateful for every chance to say,

With honesty,

“I don’t know,”

Because it welcomes

An opportunity to learn.

I am grateful for the hands and mouths and minds

That transform the tasks of word-work

into the wonders of word-play,

for days that end not in periods

or exclamation marks,

but with question marks,

or hopefully, with ellipses.

Most of all, 

I am grateful for a God 

who guides me toward

A greater understanding

of the extraordinary story 

at the heart

of every one of us.

Moving Poems Project : "Heaven Is What I Cannot Reach"

Moving Poems Project: "Heaven Has Different Signs To Me"

Moving Poems Project: "I Went to Heaven"

Moving Poems Project: "I Had No Time to Hate"

Moving Poems Project: "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain"

Happy National Day on Writing!

On October 19, students and teachers in English 11 and English 12 participated in the 2012 National Day on Writing.  People across the globe were invited to share their writing selves by posting tweets with the hashtag #WhatIWrite.  As an alternative (or in addition) to using Twitter, some posted on Facebook, blogs, and message boards.  One English 11 class gathered for photos sharing what they wrote, and another generated ideas via post-its, reflecting not only on this year's #WhatIWrite prompt, but last year's #WhyIWrite as well. 

In So Many Words

With the close of the quarter last week, students in English 11 concluded a unit on the study of rhetoric. 

Scholar James Berlin notes that in ancient Greece, "...Rhetoric was at the center of education because it was at the center of political life." Today, rhetoric is still at the center of political life, and thus, an understanding of rhetoric is crucial for American citizens.  As one English 11 student writes, 

It is important for Americans to be aware of rhetorical devices because they are used everywhere and we might not even know it. From commercials to campaigns, there are constant uses of rhetorical devices to guide us in the direction they want to go. ...The decision of what toothpaste we will buy to what America's future will be all depends on how these rhetorical devices are used.  ...The rhetorical devices that we hear are sometimes so well thought out and written that we aren't even aware of them. If we can identify them, we become more aware of the decisions we make and what the outcome will be. We can see the real message that is being shown to us instead of what the writers want us to hear. This way we will make better decisions that can affect our lives and those around us. 

-- Elizabeth S. 

Our study began with an overview of various rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questions, anaphora and epiphora, parallel structure, anecdotes, analogies, and appeals to values, emotion, logic, and character. Students then identified various rhetorical techniques at work in Patrick Henry's famous speech ("Give me liberty or give me death!") and the Declaration of Independence. After working collaboratively to carefully analyze passages, the groups then guided the rest of the class through the passages, pointing out the rhetorical devices at work.  

As we progressed through the unit, students asked three questions of every text we  studied, moving from basic identification of rhetorical strategies (What is the strategy being used?) to an analysis of these strategies (Why did the speaker/writer choose to use this strategy? To what effect is it being used?).   

After practicing this approach with texts from Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, students then entered the political arena and put their skills to work by analyzing the rhetorical strategies in speeches from Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. 

In addition to analyzing texts, English 11 students were also challenged to create texts.  After reading an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin's journal regarding the thirteen virtues that he identified as "necessary," groups worked together to compose speeches addressed toward today's teenagers, urging them to embrace one of these virtues in their lives. The catch?  The speeches needed to use rhetorical devices effectively.  

The speeches revealed the successful use of repetition...

...We can have fun, but at the same time we need to be just as focused on school so that we may have a better future ahead. This is moderation. We can’t be distracted by things that are unimportant. This is moderation.  Be in charge of what you need versus what you want. This is moderation.

-- Tiffany L., Innika P., Nicole F. 

...hypophora and conduplicatio... 

So what can we do to get that peaceful silence? Turn off the technology we worship daily. This technology fills us with ideas and thoughts that aren’t even our own, ideas that influence us and everyone around us.

-- Elizabeth S. and Jamie Y.

... and metaphor and parallelism.

Practicing chastity is a battle, and it’s definitely not going to be easy. Being chaste may feel like you’re lacking something or holding back, but when you hold back, you learn, and when you learn, you grow, and when you grow, you know what you’re doing, based on all the mistakes you have made in the past.

-- Janelle D., Ashley B., and Samantha C.

We concluded our unit on rhetoric with debates on various topics of concern to students. 

Hopefully, the skills that the students have developed this quarter will enhance their understanding of texts and reinforce the value of close reading, and beyond that, make them more active, informed, and discerning citizens.  

"Peer" into Our Classes

The students in English 11 have been busy over the past few weeks, composing narratives that challenge them to explore mother/daughter relationships, and collaborating with peers to compose creative retellings of Native Hawaiian myths and legends.

Through working with others, students are learning to lead through influence, cooperate effectively to achieved a desired outcome, consider multiple perspectives, and embrace a spirit of innovation.

We are so very impressed and inspired by the passion, focus, and imagination revealed through the students' efforts.

American Dreams and Six-Word Memoirs

Although we are only days into the school year, it is clear that the Class of 2014 is full of intensity and imagination. 

One of the first assignments of the year was to compose a six-word memoir, inspired by the video "Six-Word Memoirs by Teens." Here are a few glimpses at what the students shared in the class compilation of memoirs: 

The full compilation may be viewed through the students' Google Apps accounts. 

Throughout this year, a concept that students will return to time and again will be that of the American Dream. We will explore how the American Dream materializes as myth and reality in the course of our study of American literature. The best way to begin was to explore what the American Dream means to us as individuals. 

The full compilation of student collages may be accessed via the student Google Apps accounts. 

Now that we are entering the second cycle, we are working on composing multi-voiced narratives, inspired by the summer reading book, The Joy Luck Club.  Some excerpts from these will be shared in the next post.  

Thanks for visiting today! 

Welcome!

Throughout the year, this blog will serve as a wonderful way for the students in all sections of English 11 to connect with each other and with their families, and to share the important work that we do with a larger community of learners.  Stay tuned!