Team 843

Mockingbirds -- 05-05-13

2013-05-05T18:48:47-05:00

In To Kill a Mockingbird, who are the andquot;mockingbirdsandquot;?andnbsp; Why do you say that?andnbsp; Who in today's society might be considered mockingbirds?andnbsp; Why?

Hidden Rules -- 04-22-13

2013-04-22T16:23:25-05:00

In Part I of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem learn many of the andquot;hiddenandquot; rules of Maycomb and society at large.andnbsp; These are rules that everyone seems to operate under although they are never explicity taught.andnbsp; What are some hidden rules in our society?andnbsp; You can think of the microcosm of MRMS or the wider world at large.

Goals of School -- 04-15-13

2013-04-15T16:00:40-05:00

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout's early experiences with school areandnbsp;disappointing.andnbsp; What do YOU think school should be about?andnbsp; Use at least three of your List Two vocabulary words in your description.andnbsp;andnbsp;Please rememberandnbsp;blogs must use correct punctuation and capitalization and be at least five sentences long.

Lunch Tables -- 04-08-13

2013-04-08T19:04:30-05:00

What would you andquot;titleandquot; the table where you sit for lunch?andnbsp; Why did you choose it?andnbsp; What might other people andquot;titleandquot; your table?andnbsp; Why might they say that?andnbsp; What table can you not picture yourself at?andnbsp; Why?andnbsp; How might titles and labels lead to prejudice?andnbsp; Are any prejudices okay?

The Diary of Anne Frank -- 04-01-13

2013-04-01T11:26:24-05:00

Both in the dramatization of The Diary of Anne Frank and in the novel we will be reading next, To Kill a Mockingbird, characters are faced with moral dilemmas regarding how they choose to treat other people.andnbsp; About the Holocaust, Marion Pritchard said andquot;We are our brother's keeper.andnbsp; When you truly believe that, you have to behave that way in order to be able to live with yourself.andquot;andnbsp; Who in the Anne Frank situation would agree?andnbsp; Who would disagree?andnbsp; What actions or attitudes from those characters lead you to your conclusion?

Mood in Film -- 02-19-13

2013-02-19T09:43:30-05:00

Now that you have read the short story and watched a film version of andquot;The Monkey's Paw,andquot; please compare and contrast these two genres.andnbsp; How did the writer convey mood?andnbsp; How did the director?andnbsp; What elements of the story line did the director find crucial?andnbsp; Which did he leave out or change?andnbsp; Is the theme the same in both?andnbsp; Which do you think is more effective in communicating the theme?

Pest Control, Curiosity, or Culture Shock -- 02-06-13

2013-02-06T10:11:52-05:00

Good readers find ways to connect what they read to their own experiences.andnbsp; Think of a situtation that relates in some way to Laurence Yep taking on the rat with his dad to feel a sense of accomplishment; a Pandora's Box situation with great potential for good or bad that made you very curious; or a culture shock similar to Naomi Shihab Nye's experience moving from the United States to Jerusalem.andnbsp;

What was your situation?andnbsp; What did you learn from it?andnbsp;

(Only complete, well-written, grammatically correct responses will be published and recorded.)

Fairy Tale Perspective -- 01-23-13

2013-01-23T10:39:24-05:00

Fairy Tales often center on the perspective of the andquot;heroandquot; or andquot;heroineandquot; exclusively.andnbsp; However, other characters have motivations, too, that could be considered.andnbsp; For example, the novel and stage playandnbsp;Wicked tell the Wizard of Oz tale from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West.andnbsp;

For your blog entry, choose a well-known story and write an editorial to the local paper from a different character's point of view.andnbsp; Be sure to use proper punctuation, spelling, etc. as you try to andquot;set the record straight.andquot;

A joke or a poem? -- 01-16-13

2013-01-16T12:50:53-05:00

In the story andquot;Who are you today, Maria?andquot; the main character has to decide if she considers her cultural heritage a joke or a poem.andnbsp; How would you respond to that question?andnbsp; What do you value about your heritage?andnbsp; What do you not know about or understand well?andnbsp; Please write a grammatically accurate, complete paragraph about what you think of your heritage and how it relates to your identity.

Your Strongest Card -- 01-08-13

2013-01-08T09:12:39-05:00

This quarter our unit question is andquot;How will you play your hand?andquot;andnbsp; After playing a round of cards and hearing some of Randy Pausch's andquot;Last Lecture,andquot; I want you to think about whatandnbsp; the strongest cards in your andquot;handandquot; might be.andnbsp; What are the greatest assets you possess that you really didn't have much to do with?andnbsp; Do you have great family support?andnbsp; Are you naturally very focused and determined?andnbsp; Do you have musical or athletical ability that you were just born with?andnbsp; Have you always made friends easily?andnbsp; Describe one to three andquot;cardsandquot; that you think are the strongest in your hand right now.

Holiday Traditions -- 12-12-12

2012-12-12T12:09:55-05:00

Mrs. Hardin, our library media specialist, has set up a database that explores some interesting holiday traditions from around the world.andnbsp; Follow the directions below to research the site, then write a blog on some of the traditions you found most interesting:

Country Reports, one of our subscription databases, has a worldwide andldquo;Christmas Traditionsandrdquo; feature you might be interested in.andnbsp; -Go to the Library Information Center page. -Click on andldquo;Country Reports.andrdquo; -Click on Sign In. -Username = mountain, password = ridge -Click on andldquo;Activities,andrdquo; upper right.andnbsp; Then andhellip; -Click on andldquo;Learn by Topic,andrdquo; lower left.andnbsp; Then andhellip; -Click on andldquo;Christmas Traditions,andrdquo; lower left.andnbsp;

andnbsp;

We All Have Issues -- 11-14-12

2012-11-14T09:56:16-05:00

What issues concern you most?andnbsp; As you've discussed in previous blogs, Suzanne Collins was clearly concerned about some of the directions our society is currently heading.andnbsp; What issues would you like to see dealt with in the upcoming new year?andnbsp; Are there global concerns that you feel are paramount?andnbsp; What national issues need addressed right away?andnbsp; Are there things at school that should be changed?andnbsp; Please be mature with your topic choices--I'm looking for a serious, thoughtful response.

The Road to Panem -- 10-29-12

2012-10-29T10:14:00-05:00

A characteristic of dystopian literature is that it looks at current negative social trends and then tries to image what those trends might look like expanded tenfold in the future.andnbsp; In the world of Panem created by Suzanne Collins there are many examples of this idea.andnbsp; What issues in our world today do you think might have been some of Collins' inspiration for the world that Katniss inhabits?andnbsp; What do you think should be done to ensure our world doesn't end up as Panem?

Bread and Circuses -- 10-23-12

2012-10-23T09:42:55-05:00

In her book Guide to The Hunger Games, Caroline Carpenter points out an interesting comparison between the Roman Empire and the empire created by Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games.andnbsp; andldquo;Panemandrsquo;s name comes from the Latin expression, panem et circenses (meaning andlsquo;bread and circusesandrsquo;), which describes the frivolity of the Roman Empire before itandrsquo;s decline.andnbsp; It was first used by the Roman poet Juvenal around AD 100 to describe a strategy used by Roman politicians to win votes from the poor by providing circus games as a form of entertainment and a constant supply of wheat grain.andnbsp; This way, politicians rose to power and the Roman people were kept happy without ever really questioning how they were being ruled.andnbsp; There is quite a clear link between this idea and the society of Panemandhellip;The people of the Capitol never question the unfair way that their nation is governed because they live in luxury and are kept entertained by lethal gladiator-style battles, presented as andlsquo;gamesandrsquo;.andnbsp; Panem et circenses is also about ignoring your moral duty to others, which we can certainly see in the thoughtless citizens of the Capitol.andnbsp; Viewing the Hunger Games as nothing more than a bit of fun, theyandrsquo;ve no appreciation for the lives of the children killed on screenandrdquo;(13).andnbsp;

What examples of 'bread and circuses' do you notice in our world today?andnbsp; In what ways do leaders keep people distracted, and/or how do we distract ourselves from unpleasant realities that need our attention?andnbsp; Explain your thoughts in a well-organized paragraph written in third person point of view.

Utopias -- 10-08-12

2012-10-08T06:15:03-05:00

Throughout history leaders as well as authors have sought to create utopian societies either to showcase how life could be or to expose faults in a current system. The third definition both in Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Dictionary.com define a utopia as "any visionary system of political or social perfection." Choose of of those realms and describe in a well-written 8+ sentence paragraph what a perfect political or perfect social system would be in your opinion.

Poetry Analysis -- 09-26-12

2012-09-26T13:23:01-05:00

Write out one of the paragraphs from one of the plans you wrote for the poetry unit.

Perspectives of Middle School -- 09-17-12

2012-09-17T22:37:38-05:00

Welcome to eighth grade! As our poetry unit shifts from "Identity" to "Perspective," I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at Middle School from a couple of different perspectives. Your task is to create two top ten best or worst lists about Middle School from two different points of view. You may do your lists from a 6th grader's perspective and an 8th grader's perspective, or you may look at things from a student vs. a parent point of view. Feel free to use any school-appropriate perspectives. After your lists, please explain why you chose the perspectives you did.