Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Poetry Blog Post Model
Poem: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
What is the poem about? This poem is about a man who comes to a fork in the road while walking through the forest. The two roads seem pretty equal, but one seems to be slightly less worn. He tells himself that he will come back and take the other road in the future, but he knows deep down that this decision will probably be permanent. The poem ends by the narrator saying that he will look back on this decision later in life and realize that taking the “road less traveled by… has made all the difference.”
Reflection Prompt: Please, discuss one theme that you recognize in this poem and support your claim with evidence from the text.
‘Choice’ is a major theme in The Road Not Taken. The poem focuses all of its attention on a single, ordinary decision – the kind of choice we make hundreds of times a day. Reading the poem though, I get the feeling this choice about which road to take represents more than just a path in the forest. It seems to represent all the decisions we make and the importance of the ACT of choosing in itself.
I see two major ways to interpret what this poem says about choice. On the one hand, we can focus on the final lines of the poem: “Two roads diverged in a wood and I,/ I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference.” In this case, Frost seems to be saying that in life we should choose to try things that haven’t been done before and do things our own way. On the other hand, if we focus on the earlier part of the poem in which the traveler describes the two roads as “really about the same,” we might argue that Frost is really saying that it’s not so much WHICH path you choose in life that matters, but rather that you consider your options, make a decision, and stick with it. I think the second way of thinking about choice in the poem makes the most sense because the title of the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” draws the readers attention not to the “road less traveled” but instead to the choice the traveler DOESN’T make, suggesting that both choices are of equal importance.
What is the poem about? This poem is about a man who comes to a fork in the road while walking through the forest. The two roads seem pretty equal, but one seems to be slightly less worn. He tells himself that he will come back and take the other road in the future, but he knows deep down that this decision will probably be permanent. The poem ends by the narrator saying that he will look back on this decision later in life and realize that taking the “road less traveled by… has made all the difference.”
Reflection Prompt: Please, discuss one theme that you recognize in this poem and support your claim with evidence from the text.
‘Choice’ is a major theme in The Road Not Taken. The poem focuses all of its attention on a single, ordinary decision – the kind of choice we make hundreds of times a day. Reading the poem though, I get the feeling this choice about which road to take represents more than just a path in the forest. It seems to represent all the decisions we make and the importance of the ACT of choosing in itself.
I see two major ways to interpret what this poem says about choice. On the one hand, we can focus on the final lines of the poem: “Two roads diverged in a wood and I,/ I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference.” In this case, Frost seems to be saying that in life we should choose to try things that haven’t been done before and do things our own way. On the other hand, if we focus on the earlier part of the poem in which the traveler describes the two roads as “really about the same,” we might argue that Frost is really saying that it’s not so much WHICH path you choose in life that matters, but rather that you consider your options, make a decision, and stick with it. I think the second way of thinking about choice in the poem makes the most sense because the title of the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” draws the readers attention not to the “road less traveled” but instead to the choice the traveler DOESN’T make, suggesting that both choices are of equal importance.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Book Club Post 1 Mentor
Club Name: Team H Book Title: The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake Pages Read: 1-16
What happened in my reading this week:
Beginning of Week: Ms. Saunders starts teaching at Maleeka's School. She used to be in the business world and dresses like she has money. She also has disfiguring scars on her face. Maleeka thinks that she's going to be a problem. "So you see, I got my own troubles. I don't need no scar-faced teacher making things worse. But I got this feeling Miss Saunders is gonna mess things up for me." (pg. 5)
Middle of Week: Maleeka gets made fun of my John John and other students for having dark skin. They sing the "boom, boom song" and she decides that it's time to stand up for herself, but she doesn't seem confident that she can do it.
End of Week: Maleeka and her 'friend' Char cut class in the girls bathroom "like they always do" (pg 9). Char is a troublemaker who takes advantage of Char for her school work. Maleeka does Char's homework but not her own.
Weekly Reflection: Blog about your first impressions of your book (do you like it? Are you intrigued?). What do you think of the way our book clubs are organized? Please describe the way each book club period will work and whether you think it's working well. Please, respond to these questions in AT LEAST SIX SENTENCES. (Note to teachers: it may not make sense to have the students actually copy this into their blog. The prompt could be projected or posted in some other way.)
From the moment I saw the picture on the cover and read the back of this book, I knew I was going to love it. Maleeka Madison has such a strong voice that I was immediately struck by the depth and richness of her character. She's in a bad place right now. Her confidence is low, she's trying to figure out who she is, and things seem to be changing all around her. I think it's going to be an interesting ride.
So far, I think that my book club is going well. Each day, the teacher teaches us a new idea, and then we read our book club books silently thinking about what we learned and filling out the "As you read" sheet. After 20 minutes of reading, we all put our books down and fill out our section of the team book club log on Google Docs. This week I'm the Character Hunter. I have to answer the reflection question that the teacher gave me and write down major things that happen to Maleeka in my reading. As I'm writing, I can check out all the work my teammates are doing too. When we're all down filling out the log, we read each other's writing then have a brief conversation to come up with a "Bring it together" statement that summarizes the WHOLE group's thoughts on the reading from that day. Then on Thursday (TODAY:-)) we use everything we wrote that week in our logs to write a blog like this one.
What happened in my reading this week:
Beginning of Week: Ms. Saunders starts teaching at Maleeka's School. She used to be in the business world and dresses like she has money. She also has disfiguring scars on her face. Maleeka thinks that she's going to be a problem. "So you see, I got my own troubles. I don't need no scar-faced teacher making things worse. But I got this feeling Miss Saunders is gonna mess things up for me." (pg. 5)
Middle of Week: Maleeka gets made fun of my John John and other students for having dark skin. They sing the "boom, boom song" and she decides that it's time to stand up for herself, but she doesn't seem confident that she can do it.
End of Week: Maleeka and her 'friend' Char cut class in the girls bathroom "like they always do" (pg 9). Char is a troublemaker who takes advantage of Char for her school work. Maleeka does Char's homework but not her own.
Weekly Reflection: Blog about your first impressions of your book (do you like it? Are you intrigued?). What do you think of the way our book clubs are organized? Please describe the way each book club period will work and whether you think it's working well. Please, respond to these questions in AT LEAST SIX SENTENCES. (Note to teachers: it may not make sense to have the students actually copy this into their blog. The prompt could be projected or posted in some other way.)
From the moment I saw the picture on the cover and read the back of this book, I knew I was going to love it. Maleeka Madison has such a strong voice that I was immediately struck by the depth and richness of her character. She's in a bad place right now. Her confidence is low, she's trying to figure out who she is, and things seem to be changing all around her. I think it's going to be an interesting ride.
So far, I think that my book club is going well. Each day, the teacher teaches us a new idea, and then we read our book club books silently thinking about what we learned and filling out the "As you read" sheet. After 20 minutes of reading, we all put our books down and fill out our section of the team book club log on Google Docs. This week I'm the Character Hunter. I have to answer the reflection question that the teacher gave me and write down major things that happen to Maleeka in my reading. As I'm writing, I can check out all the work my teammates are doing too. When we're all down filling out the log, we read each other's writing then have a brief conversation to come up with a "Bring it together" statement that summarizes the WHOLE group's thoughts on the reading from that day. Then on Thursday (TODAY:-)) we use everything we wrote that week in our logs to write a blog like this one.
Apologies
I would like to apologize to my fans for the long stretch of radio silence that has occurred since my last post. I have been busy working on our fabulous new student news blog The 339 Hard Line and have neglected my other blogging responsibilities. With the start of our new Book Club Unit, I am back and better than ever so look for regular new posts!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Evocative Language/ Ledger's Funeral
Article Used: Heath Ledger's Final Farewell ends in sunset swim
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Teachers, don't forget that we will be using this blog post for our common assessment tracking.
Summary: Heath Ledger, the critically acclaimed actor who died several weeks ago of drug-related causes, was buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia. More than 500 people attended the memorial service. After the service, there was a wake near his favorite beach. About 50 people entered the water at sunset in celebration of Ledger's life.
Prompt: How does the author of this article use language to evoke images and feelings in the reader?
While we generally think of news articles as objective and unbiased accounts of events, journalists can affect the way that readers process information by choosing their language carefully. For example, in this article the writer says that the people at the wake "threw off their clothes," evoking the image of clothes flying through the air in a cartoonish way. It also evokes the feelings of a playful loss of control and reckless abandon. At another point in the article, the author describes the event as a "sunset wake." He could have described the time at which the wake occurred in several ways (such as late afternoon, the actual time, or dusk), but by choosing 'sunset' he evokes the feelings of peace, beauty, and awe that people associate with watching a beautiful sunset. It also taps into feelings associated with endings in general because sunsets are often used as symbols or metaphors for closure and death.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Making Inferences
URL: Winehouse rejected for visa
See My "Blog Post Planning Page" Here: Blog Post Planning Page
Summary: Amy Winehouse, the English music star who is currently caught up in a drug scandal, will not be attending this year's Grammy awards. She was scheduled to perform at the awards ceremony, but the United States embassy rejected her visa application, making it impossible for her to enter the country.
Prompt: What information can you infer from the article that was not EXPLICITLY stated in the text?
Whenever issues involving celebrity scandal arise in the media there is more to be understood than first meets the eye. For example, the article says that Winehouse's "application for a visa to enter the United States of America has been rejected at this time by the American Embassy in London," but it doesn't say why. The U.S. doesn't withhold visas from UK citizens without good cause because the UK is a close ally and we have an open door policy. Therefore, Winehouse must have done something really wrong for the embassy to deny her entry, especially considering she's a celebrity coming here to perform. Also, the fact that she's even under investigation for possibly having smoked crack tells me that she's got some major issues. People don't accuse you seriously of a thing like that unless you're showing major signs of being out of control. The only truly positive thing I can infer from the blog is that she seems serious about getting her life together. Based on the statement she made, it sounds like she understands why she didn't get her visa and wants to get better. I wish nothing but the best for Amy Winehouse!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Comparing Articles
URLS: Fox News Article on Super Tuesday; CNN Article on Super Tuesday
Summary: Yesterday was Super Tuesday, the closest day our country has to a national primary. Nearly half the states in the country selected their party nominees for president. On the Republican side, John McCain emerged as the clear front runner, winning a majority of the most important states. For the Democrats, the result of Super Tuesday is less clear cut because Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton virtually split the field.
Prompt: Compare and contrast the way in which two different media sources covered this event.
For this post, I looked at cnn.com's and foxnews.com's coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries. For the most part, the reporting was similar. They presented the same facts about wins, losses, and delegate counts. Both articles also mentioned that John McCain is now the Republican front runner and that Mike Huckabee is reemerging as a legitimate candidate. Both sites also agree that the Democratic race is as split and undecided as it has been at any time during the campaign.
While the sites presented the same basic facts about the election, they differed in the way they presented the information. For example, the headline on CNN.com was "No Super Tuesday Crowns." This headline emphasized the fact that despite the hype that Super Tuesday is a "national primary," none of the elections were officially decided. They article focused more on looking forward to the coming races than Foxnews.com did. The Foxnews.com headline, by contrast, read "McCain emerges as front runner while democrats spin Super Tuesday wins." This headline seems designed to present the Republicans as united and the democrats as divided, 'spinning' the results to make it fit their purposes. In keeping with this focus, the rest of the article focused on McCain's acceptance speech in which he declared himself the front runner.
Predictive Questions
URLs: "Rhianna's 'Umbrella' was the perfect storm that almost didn't happen"
Summary: Rhianna's song "Umbrella" was probably the most popular song of the year in the United States and definitely at CIS 339. According to this article, however, it was almost never made. The song was originally written for Britney Spears, but because of the personal issues with which she was dealing it didn't work out. Then the song almost went to Mary J Blige, but Rhianna's people were more persistent. According to the article, "Two days after "Umbrella" was created, Rihanna was in a Los Angeles studio laying down her vocals. Stewart said he was still unsure whether Rihanna was the right choice for the song, but when the singer nailed the now famous "ella" refrain, he knew they were all onto something." The rest, as they say, is history.
Predictive Questions I asked before reading the article:
1. Who as Rhianna before "Umbrella" came out?
2. Why did "Umbrella" almost not happen?
3. What was Jay-Z's role in making the song.
I found the answers to all of these questions in the article that I read. I learned that Rhianna was a lesser known pop artist whose future as a star was uncertain before "Umbrella" made her world famous. The song wasn't originally written for her, but fate was looking her way that year. Britney was distracted by a personal meltdown and Mary J Blige was too caught-up in Grammy fever to close in on the gold gem of 2007. Jay-Z became involved in the production process AFTER Rhianna had recorded her vocals. They were never actually together in the recording studio. He actually recorded two different versions of his rap because after hearing the first cut of the track he wanted to make his lyrics tie-in more closely with the rest of the song.
Summary: Rhianna's song "Umbrella" was probably the most popular song of the year in the United States and definitely at CIS 339. According to this article, however, it was almost never made. The song was originally written for Britney Spears, but because of the personal issues with which she was dealing it didn't work out. Then the song almost went to Mary J Blige, but Rhianna's people were more persistent. According to the article, "Two days after "Umbrella" was created, Rihanna was in a Los Angeles studio laying down her vocals. Stewart said he was still unsure whether Rihanna was the right choice for the song, but when the singer nailed the now famous "ella" refrain, he knew they were all onto something." The rest, as they say, is history.
Predictive Questions I asked before reading the article:
1. Who as Rhianna before "Umbrella" came out?
2. Why did "Umbrella" almost not happen?
3. What was Jay-Z's role in making the song.
I found the answers to all of these questions in the article that I read. I learned that Rhianna was a lesser known pop artist whose future as a star was uncertain before "Umbrella" made her world famous. The song wasn't originally written for her, but fate was looking her way that year. Britney was distracted by a personal meltdown and Mary J Blige was too caught-up in Grammy fever to close in on the gold gem of 2007. Jay-Z became involved in the production process AFTER Rhianna had recorded her vocals. They were never actually together in the recording studio. He actually recorded two different versions of his rap because after hearing the first cut of the track he wanted to make his lyrics tie-in more closely with the rest of the song.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Great CAT Meeting Today
I just wanted to say thanks and offer praise to the eighth Content Area Team. Today's meeting with it's new location and hands-on activity had more universal participation than any meeting we've had all year. Excellent work y'all!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sample Blog Post
AIM: How should I structure my blog posts?
Websites Used: www.google.com, www.blogger.
URLs Used: www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7272733172969993852
Reflection Assignment/Question:
Please write one short paragraph explaining important information about yourself (don’t use your last name). Then write a second short paragraph explaining why you have chosen to specialize in your your specific media content area.
Response:
Hello and welcome to my Blog. My name is Mr. Himowitz, and I’m an eighth grade teacher at CIS 339 in South Bronx. I teach reading and writing, and I love to work technology into my lessons. I am originally from Baltimore, MD, but now I live in Brooklyn and teach in the Bronx. My favorite color is blue, and I dislike olives.
I chose to specialize in music and movies because I find both of those topics fascinating. My favorite music group is Dipset, and my favorite filmmaker is Ron Howard. I like movies because I think they can tackle complex themes in ways not possible in books, and I like music because I like to dance.
Websites Used: www.google.com, www.blogger.
URLs Used: www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7272733172969993852
Reflection Assignment/Question:
Please write one short paragraph explaining important information about yourself (don’t use your last name). Then write a second short paragraph explaining why you have chosen to specialize in your your specific media content area.
Response:
Hello and welcome to my Blog. My name is Mr. Himowitz, and I’m an eighth grade teacher at CIS 339 in South Bronx. I teach reading and writing, and I love to work technology into my lessons. I am originally from Baltimore, MD, but now I live in Brooklyn and teach in the Bronx. My favorite color is blue, and I dislike olives.
I chose to specialize in music and movies because I find both of those topics fascinating. My favorite music group is Dipset, and my favorite filmmaker is Ron Howard. I like movies because I think they can tackle complex themes in ways not possible in books, and I like music because I like to dance.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
First Proper Post
Hello Students and other Readers,
This post will officially start the new age of Mr. Himowitz's Blogging. Please, stay tuned for Internet awesomeness the likes of which this school, this cyber community -- nay -- this world, has never seen.
This post will officially start the new age of Mr. Himowitz's Blogging. Please, stay tuned for Internet awesomeness the likes of which this school, this cyber community -- nay -- this world, has never seen.
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