The Final Moments of 2014

Here we are, into the final days of 2014.  What a year it's been!  To celebrate, I have pictures (and a video) to share.  First, here are photos from early in last week when my freshmen were doing an activity with Romeo and Juliet and punctuation:

 

 

 

Next, here are some pictures from the Ugly Christmas Sweater day:

 

These guys didn't have ugly sweaters, but they wanted their picture taken, anyway.

The back of my favorite one of the day; personally, I think he should have won the contest!

 

 

Finally, here are some pictures from a service project my son was a part of last night.  For those of you who don't know, my kids train llamas for 4-H.  The llama shown here is Mojo.  My older son, who was not able to go last night, trained him.  My younger son is the one showing him around a senior living center in Chelsea.

 



His reward for a job well done?  Sushi, of course.  Yea, we're weird.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and I'll see you all in 2015!

 

The Final Moments of 2014 by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 





Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanza (Basically, Well-wishes to You and Yours!)

Yay!  We're finally to one of my favorite times of the year!  It's so joyous to spend time stepping back from ordinary life and celebrating life, family, and the good aspects of being a part of a society such as ours.  I love the lights, I love the music, I love the love and laughter, it's just a wonderful life (one of my favorite movies, by the way).

As we close out 2014, it's time to reflect on where we've been.  For both classes, we've been visiting Shakespeare and his plays, and it's time to be finished and say "God gi' gooden".  English 9 is still reading Romeo and Juliet, but we're towards the end.  I'm moving their test to Thursday, so we will spend the early part of the week finishing the text, and then prepare to test on that day.  We'll deal with projects/papers when we get back in January.  English 11 is pretty much done with the play, so their test is still Wednesday.  They will be working on their motif projects and review on Monday and Tuesday, test on Wednesday, and then we'll be writing poetry to present our motifs on Thursday and Friday.

They worked hard last week, and here are a few pictures from 2nd and 3rd hours working on their projects:

 

2nd Hour Worked in the library.  When it's just us in there, such as this day, it's a wonderful place to work!

3rd Hour worked in a lab.  In this lab they can choose to work on a tall island; many of them like this.

 

As we head to Friday and the beginning of two weeks off, I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season.  I hope everyone gets a chance to relax.  My gift to my students is that we will not have vocabulary this week, and I'm giving them a homework-free vacation!  Enjoy, everyone!

 



My favorite moment in the Charlie Brown Christmas special!

 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Kwanza (Basically, Well-wishes to You and Yours!) by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 





"For In That Sleep...What Dreams May Come." ("Hamlet" III, i, 66)

You know you're spending too much time with the Bard when you dream words and phrases from his plays all night long.  Not only that, but I spend all night mixing quotes from both Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, and then try to sort out which ones belong with which play.  Add to that the fact that my husband and I went to see UM's production of Fuente Ovejuna which was written by a Spanish poet in the 16th century, and so last night I had Spanish words and phrases mixing in with Shakespeare, and I'm not getting a good night's sleep.  Last night I kept dreaming, "Wisely and slow...and we'll not fail...Fuente Ovejuna!"  This kept replaying in my mind all night.  The first is from R&J, the second from Macbeth, and the third is obvious, but in my sleepy mind, I kept trying to put them together to make them make sense.  Aaargh!

Anyway, here's what we did last week:

In English 9 we have now completed Romeo and Juliet Act II.  They have completed study guides and notes and read the text.  We're in the process of completing some activities (this is what slows us down).  They also completed Blog Post #3 for their Independent Reading; I gave them time in the computer lab since I was pulled to go to a conference on Tuesday, so the substitute took them to the computers to work.

In English 11, we have finished reading Macbeth through Act III, scene i (although 3rd hour has gone a little ahead and read through scene ii).  They also have completed study guides and notes and read the text.  In addition, they also have completed Blog Post #3 in the same way that the English 9 group did.  I have also added on a Motif project for them that is completed online with Google Presentations.  They are finding two quotes a piece, all completely different from each other, and entering them into the presentation by act.  I have graded Act I, though they are not yet on HAC, because I'm combining all the quotes together for a 20 point grade (2 points/quote).  They spent Monday and Tuesday on the computers completing both the blog and the project through Act I, so they had plenty of time online.

Here are a couple of pictures from 2nd Hour working in the lab on Monday:

 One thing I like about Google Presentation is that each student is responsible for entering their own information into the presentation, but they can all work at the exact same time on the same document.

Another cool aspect of the Google Apps is that they can even create on their phones, so they can pick their comfort zone and create from there.

 

 

Coming up this week:

• English 9 will be doing vocabulary.  I will give out worksheets on Monday, they are due Tuesday, and the quiz will be Friday.  They will also be given the Blog Post #4 directions (the final blog post) and it will be due by Friday; they will complete this element independently.  In class we'll be finishing our Act II activities and reading Act III and Act IV for Romeo and Juliet.   If possible, I'll even move them into the final act.  I'm trying to get their test in by Wednesday 12/17.
• English 11 will also be doing vocabulary and their final blog post for the independent book.  In class they will be finishing Act III on Monday, work in the computer lab on Tuesday for the Motif Project, and then we'll try to finish the play Macbeth.  I am also trying get their test in by Wednesday 12/17.

I hope everyone has a great week, and hopefully you're getting more rest than I am! Ciao!

"For In That Sleep...What Dreams May Come." ("Hamlet" III, i, 66) by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.







Well...that was a crazy week!

It's that time of year when I get nostalgic and wax poetic.  I was opening up the boxes and getting out the decorations for the tree and living room, and I can't help but miss my grandmother.  She would have been 104 this year (104!).  When she passed away ten years ago I inherited many of the Christmas decorations that I spent years cleaning and loving, and while I love each and every one of them, the ache in my heart grows.  If only for one more phone call, one more hug, one more moment to hold her hand.  Her last remaining sibling passed away on Friday night, which just increases my nostalgia.  It's hard to watch a generation pass on, and to know that your parents are now the "old" generation, and you've taken their place as the middle generation.

My grandmother on my wedding day - she was 87.

 

I remember these camels from when I was a really little girl - they always went next to the fireplace at Christmas.

I gave her the nutcracker about the time I was performing in the ballet for the 8th time.

 

My Uncle Bob, my grandmother's youngest brother who passed away on Friday night, and who recently turned 94.  I'm thinking I have really good longevity genes.

But enough of the sappy...on to business!

Ok.  Can I just say, "Re-do" on last week's post?  Between technology issues and a day off school, we didn't accomplish much.

Here's what they should have accomplished last week:  English 11 students should all have their vocab. quizes on Edmodo complete; all students should have their 2nd blog post for their independent book complete.

Here's what's coming up: 

• English 11 - we will be completing the information for Act I on their group project on Google Drive Slides; we will continue reading both Act II and Act III of Macbeth - work on the Google Drive Slides will continue; all need to work on completing their independent reading and blog post #3 needs to happen this week independently.
• English 9 - we will finish discussing Act I of Romeo and Juliet and move into Act II and III; all need to work on completing their independent reading - blog post #3 will happen this week.

I'm cancelling vocabulary for this week because we have our hands full.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week as we head into the Christmas season!  Ciao!


Well...that was a crazy week! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to Thanksgiving week!  My, the year is flying past, and this is a week I always look forward to.  How can you beat a 3-day work week and a 4-day weekend?  Despite the short week, however, we continue to work on both our Shakespeare unit and our independent books.  Both classes are doing essentially the same things, just with different texts, so here goes:

Both groups finished Act I in their Shakespearean play, and we're now dissecting it.  They all have study guides, notes, and various activities to do.  English 11 is spending more time in their seats, but they're doing more writing.  I have them digging in and doing Cornell Notes, which is simply a system of note-taking developed by Cornell University.  I like it because they use a lot of textual evidence.  They are also going to be doing a Motif Project for Macbeth which will be done in groups, but each person is solely responsible for their own material, so the grades will be individualized and not dependent on the group.  English 9 has been sitting, listening, reading, and doing a study guide with a few notes, but we've also been playing with words and lines, so I was able to take some pictures.  One of the activities we did this week involved creating statues to go with certain lines from the Queen Mab speech which focuses on dreams.  Here is some of what they came up with:

"O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight..."

 

"O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees..."

 

Ok, this one is a little disturbing, but the line is: "Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck, And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats..."

 

This was super cute!  The line is: "Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love..."

 

On Friday they learned how to dance the Prevane before we read the masquerade party scene where Romeo and Juliet meet:

 

 

I have to say, your kids are really great sports and lots of fun to work with!  They probably thought I was totally insane, but there has been lots of laughter and I'm hoping that they are enjoying the play.  In my mind, that's half the battle.  If they enjoy it, they're more willing to put in the effort for understanding it.

 

This coming week, we will continue the plays (I'm hoping to read through Act II), though Monday will be spent mostly on the computers.  They are all going to create their second Reading Blog post for their independent novel (which they should be diligently reading, every night), and then English 11 will remain in the lab to work on the Motif project.  There will not be any vocabulary this week.

 

As a side note, I was able to go to the Jets hockey game on Friday night and enjoyed a great Jets win.  I love seeing them outside the classroom doing something they love, so what a joy to see so many of my students skating!  I watched the hockey game, and then I found some of them skating on the rink next door.  What a great night!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and is able to spend time away from work focusing on friends and family...I know I will.  Enjoy!





 

Happy Thanksgiving! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

It's Shakespeare!

It's November, so that means that my life is all about Shakespeare!  I'm looking at, studying, thinking about, and talking about the Bard 24/7!  Therefore, my mind is kind of swimming, so if you're talking to me and I suddenly break into Iambic Pentameter, it's not my fault.

In English 9 we're reading Romeo and Juliet.  This is all done in class, and it takes forever because I try to throw in lots of activities.  This past week we started by throwing a ball around while saying words that come from the play in order to think about and anticipate what the play is all about.  I also had them walk around the lobby, giving orders to each other by using names from the play so that they become used to the words and they will remember them.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I was playing a part in the activity, so this week as we move forward through Act I and II, I'll try to snap a couple.

In English 11 we're reading Macbeth, again - all done in class - which is time consuming.  We also ran around the lobby shouting words, but their preliminary game had to do with the memory/word association game "I just got back from Scotland and I brought with me...".  Here's a picture from 5th Hour playing it on Friday:

As we began Act I, they read the script and acted out the parts of the Three Witches.  It's all about getting the words into their mouths and letting them play with it.  Here are pictures from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Hours:

In my opinion, getting up and moving makes Shakespeare seem much more do-able to them.  When they're sitting in chairs doing nothing but feeling confused, they get frustrated and quit.  Getting them up and involved takes Shakespeare from the impossible level to the comfort zone.  My plan is to do as much of this as possible.

What this means is that most of the Shakespeare work is done in school, but we're still working on a couple of things:  vocabulary continues, week to week, though I will not give any on the short Thanksgiving week; also, they need to be reading their own independent book and we'll be creating blog posts.  I will show them how to do the posts and give time in class, but the reading needs to be done on their own.  They should have the book they chose in their hands by Monday. 

I hope everyone has an enjoyable week.  I sure will since we're going to take Shakespeare's words to heart:

All the world’s a stage,
        And all the men and women merely players;
        They have their exits and their entrances,
        And one man in his time plays many parts...

                                                                                                                        "As You Like It"

Ciao!


It's Shakespeare! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

It Was So Nice To See You...

Last week was wild and crazy, but I really enjoyed conferences because it's always nice to meet with parents face-to-face.  I love to make the personal connections, so thank you to all who came out!

Even though we only had three days of class time, I feel like we accomplished quite a bit.  Term Two is already off to the races, so here we go:

• English 9 - last week we previewed Romeo and Juliet with activities and background information. I have a bulletin board for posting connections to Shakespeare in our modern world and media, so I'll introduce the extra-credit option for bringing in something to post on this board; all extra credit will be applied to Term 2. This week we will be moving into the text.  Vocabulary will pick back up this week, so they'll receive the words on Monday with a quiz on Friday.  This week I'll introduce the extra-credit option that will connect to vocabulary.  It will be applied to Term 2.  We will be reading Act I of our play and working on activities for understanding.  Many activities are group activities where we get up and move and cannot be made up independently.  Please make sure that when your student misses school, it's a necessary absence, or they will most likely feel lost.  I excuse people from the activities, but they miss the comprehension help.
• English 11 - last week, we finished our medieval unit and they turned in their own tale, written in Heroic Couplets.  Kudos to your kids for tackling a complicated task, and doing it with good humor!  Now we move into Macbeth and Shakespeare.  Everything I said in the English 9 paragraph above will apply to English 11, with the added task of taking notes from a video posted online.  This will need to be finished within one week, and will have a worksheet to go with it.
• Because we're all reading Shakespeare in class together, all students in my English classes will be choosing an independent book to read.  They will have three weeks to read it; the project will be to create a reading blog of their own and to follow someone else's blog.  Step one will be to choose a book.  I will post the assignment online on my webpage and will instruct them as to how I will be grading them.  This should be a great new adventure!  I did this last year with my English 9 students, but there were far fewer of them, so this should be a new challenge!

I'm very excited for Term Two.  Since I attended a workshop in Stratford, Ontario a couple of years ago (and I intend to go again this year), I have learned to love teaching Shakespeare.  I think we've done a disservice to students for generations having them sit and read his plays in a chair.  It's done nothing but create boredom and animosity.  My goal is to get the words off the page and into the mouths of my students and to get them out of their chairs and moving!  Yes, we still have to sit and read and "get" the text, but through many, many activities, reading, and viewing the plays, I'm hoping that my students will have a new appreciation for the Bard!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Sunday, and a great week!  Ciao!


It Was So Nice To See You... by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Parent/Teacher Conference Week

Welcome to the first week of November and parent/teacher conference week!  This week's schedule is as follows:

• Monday  - regular school day
• Tuesday - regular school day
• Wednesday - parent/teacher conferences are from 12:00 - 7:15 in the high school gym and cafeteria; report cards will be available in the lobby.
• Thursday - no school for students; teacher professional development day
• Friday - regular school day

Thus, there is not a lot happening this week in English, but here's what I've got!

In English 11, I'm working on finishing up their grades for Term 1.  The test they took last week, along with the study guides are going to be on Term 2 because I have students who are not finished.  In the meantime, they are writing their own tale in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer, so it's in rhyming couplet poetic form!

In English 9, we started preparing for Romeo and Juliet.  We're still working on background information early this week, and then we'll be ready to start the text on Friday.  Last Tuesday I took many of my students to see the play at Wayne State, which was a lot of fun!  Here are some pictures I took from the day

 Intermission Photos

One of the very full busses.

McDonald's with 100 students converging at once!

 

 

I hope to see everyone at conferences this week!  Enjoy!

Parent/Teacher Conference Week by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.