Prompts

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=Homework=

Prompt Rubric


==PROMPTS QUARTER 4: (second prompt check for this quarter will be Friday, May 27, 2011 from 5/11-5/26)This includes May 11,16,23,24, and 26. Please pick one to brag about because you were so thoughtful, added examples, and made meaningful connections.== Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, May 18, 19, 20, 2011: No prompts Thursday and Friday no prompts No prompts the week of May 2, 2011 and May 9-10, 2011
 * Thursday, May 26, 2011:** Respond to the quote on my home page by writing what it means and why I might have put it on the home page:"Every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty" -Gandhi
 * Tuesday and Wednesday, May 24 and 25, 2011:** Watch either this[| video] or this [|video] and respond to what you think has happened as a result of this creative technology.
 * Monday, May 23, 2011:** Watch the[| video] and then respond by discussing the ways in which you think metaphorically.
 * Monday and Tuesday, May 16 and 17, 2011:** Respond to the [|video]about being wrong.
 * Wednesday, May 11, 2011:** "No one can make you feel small without your consent." -Eleanor Roosevelt What does Mrs. Roosevelt mean? Explain and give connections to life and other written works.
 * Second prompt check starts 5/11/11**

(first check on April 29th for prompts April 6-29, 2011)
Friday, April 29, 2011: no prompt; books turned in to Ms. Foughner Wednesday, April 27, 2011: No prompt. Tuesday, April 26, 2011: no prompt Friday, April 22, 2011: Good Friday/No School/No Prompt Thursday, April 21, 2011: No prompt “In all affairs [human activity] it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.” -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) Hawks like it. Wings cast no shadow, hovering,
 * Thursday, April 28, 2011:** Explain literal and figurative meanings and provide connections: "Words differently arranged have different meanings, and meanings differently arranged have a different effect." -Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)
 * Monday, April 25, 2011**: Write about how changing the words makes something more effective or thoughtful after viewing the [|video.]
 * Wednesday, April 20, 2011:** What does Russell mean and how do you know? How might you apply this to your life?
 * Tuesday, April 19, 2011:** Take a pocket poem and practice reciting it out loud. What is the difference between reading it silently and reading it aloud?
 * Monday, April 18, 2011:** Watch the [|videos and read the essay.] Then write about the uses for these inventions:
 * Friday, April 15, 2011:** Free Write
 * Thursday, April 14, 2011:** Discuss the following quote as it may apply to you: "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."
 * Wednesday, April 13, 2011:** -George Washington Carver, scientist (1864-1943)Explain the figurative meaning of the[[file:Scarecrow on Fire.doc]]
 * Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and 12, 201**1: Watch the [|eagle and her eaglets] for a few minutes and then write a story using them as your characters.
 * Friday, April 8, 2011**: no new prompt
 * Thursday, April 7, 2011** - Analyze the following poem using the TPCASTT method:
 * Overcast on Ellwood Mesa** by Mark Jarman ( **[|Dispatches from Devereux Slough] [excerpt]** )

And white crowned sparrows are easier to pick out Among the foxtails, scurrying like mice.

Under the gray cloud cover, blue birds course Like running water through the fennel stalks,

And the shrike, color of the sky, keeps watch From the barbed wire of the startling green golf course.


 * Wednesday, April 6, 2011** - Analyze the following poem using the TPCASTT method:

by Mark Jarman
 * ||  ||   || **Dispatches from Devereux Slough [excerpt]**

Dispatch from Devereux Slough

//Fall, 2008//

The gulls have no idea. The distant bark of sea lions gives nothing away. The white-tailed kite flutters and hunts. The pelicans perform their sloppy angling. The ironbark eucalyptus dwells in ignorance and beauty. And the night herons brood in their heronry like yoga masters, each balanced on a twig. The world has changed. The news will take some time to get here. ||  ||

=**__Prompts: quarter 3 January 10, 2011-March 25, 2011__**= Do It Anyway by Mother Theresa People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered Forgive them anyway If you're kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motive Be kind anyway If you're successful, you'll win some false friends and some true enemies Succeed anyway If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you Be honest and frank anyway What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight, BUILD ANYWAY If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous be happy anyway The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow Do good anyway Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough, Give the world the best you've got anyway
 * __Friday, March 25, 2011: Prompt Check__**
 * __Thursday, March 24, 2011: Free Write__**
 * __Wednesday, March 23, 2011: Paraphrase, explain and evaluate the following quote -__** "The strongest natures, when they are influenced, submit the most unreservedly; it is perhaps a sign of their strength." -Virginia Woolf, writer (1882-1941)
 * __Tuesday, March 22, 2011: (7th grade: List 10 truths) (8th grade: List your favorite 10 things about Career Day 2011)__**
 * __Monday, March 21, 2011: Discuss your thoughts about the following poem.__**


 * __Thursday and Friday Prompt:__ Create a [|concrete poem] ([|Concrete poem maker 1])to share on Monday. [|Concrete Poem Maker]**
 * __Wednesday, March 16, 2011:__** “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” **-Ralph Waldo Emerson**
 * Paraphrase Emerson's quote and give examples of people who followed this advice.**
 * __Tuesday, March 15, 2011:__ Paraphrase Nietzsche's quotation, explain what he means, give your opinion of his ideas and provide life examples of your opinion and his. "**A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions." -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)
 * __Monday, March 14, 2011:__ What does Wolfe mean and how do you know? Do you agree or disagree and why?**
 * "**Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows."-David T. Wolf (b. 1943)

-Albert Camus, writer, philosopher, Nobel laureate (1913-1960) “Many of our problems are created by ourselves based on divisions due to ideology, religion, race, economic status, or other factors. The time has come for us to think on a deeper level, on a human level, and appreciate and respect our sameness as human beings.” -the Dalai Lama What do you think coach Lombardi meant and do you agree or disagree? Why? “I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.” -Khalil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it." -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745) From what you have read this year so far, what do you think is the most valuable lesson you have learned? “Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
 * __No Prompts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (3/7, 3/8, 3/9, 3/10)__**
 * __No Prompts on Monday through Friday (2/28, 3/1, 3/2, 3/3, 3/4)__**
 * __Friday, February 25:__ Free Write**
 * __Thursday, February 24: no prompts for eighth grade__ (7th grade question: What do you think of __Midsummer Night's Dream__ so far?)**
 * __Wednesday, February 23, 2011:__ "**In matters of conscience the law of majority has no place." -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
 * __Tuesday, February 22, 2011:__ What does Camus mean? Paraphrase the quote and then interpret what you think it means. Do you agree or disagree and why? "**Absolute justice is achieved by the suppression of all contradiction: therefore it destroys freedom."
 * __Monday, February 21, 2011: NO SCHOOL__**
 * __Friday, February 18, 2011:__ Free Write**
 * __Thursday, February 17, 2011:__**Paraphrase the quotation and explain whether you agree or disagree**__.__** "I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law." -Aristotle, philosopher (384-322 BCE)
 * __Wednesday, February 16, 2011:__** Paraphrase the quotation and explain whether you agree or disagree: "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds." -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)
 * __Tuesday, February 15, 2011:__Paraphrase the quote and explain whether you disagree or agree and why.**
 * __Monday, February 14, 2011:__ Respond to the[[file:Life in a Love.doc]] What does he mean?**
 * __Friday, February 11, 2011:__ Answer the nine questions distributed in class (see your class hand-outs folder)**
 * __Thursday, February 10, 2011: No Prompt__**
 * __Wednesday, February 9, 2011: No Prompt__**
 * __Tuesday, February 8, 2011:__ If your life were a movie, what kind would it be and who would star in it?**
 * __Monday, February 7, 2011:__** "Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. " [|-Vince Lombardi]
 * __Friday, February 4, 2011:__ NO PROMPT**
 * __Thursday, February 3, 2011:__**Visit this [|virtual field trip site] or [|google art]and choose a piece of art that prompts you to write about it or something it inspires.
 * __Wednesday, February 2, 2011:__ Free Write about the snow day.**
 * __Tuesday, February 1, 2011:__** "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. " [|Jackie Robinson]
 * __Monday, January 31, 2011: Watch the video on my latest [|blog]posting and respond to my blog and the video.__**
 * __Friday, January 28, 2011:__ (Free Write For Seventh Grade) __Eighth Grade:__ What do you think when you view the poem (hand out) by Mary Szybist?- [|Poem] Connect the poem's meaning to either __Warriors Don't Cry__ or __Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian__.**
 * __Thursday, January 27, 2011:__ Respond to the literal and figurative meaning of the quote.**
 * __Wednesday, January 26, 2011: No Prompt__**
 * __Tuesday, January 25, 2011:__ Respond to the following quote by explaining what Swift means and giving examples of what he means.**
 * __Monday, January 24, 2011:__Respond to the picture. [[image:Drop_of_Water_(Solidarity).jpg width="62" height="37"]]**
 * __Friday, January 21, 2011:__** Free Write.
 * __Thursday, January 20, 2011:__ Answer the following question--**
 * __Wednesday, January 19, 2011:__** Respond to the following quote with a paraphrase and examples of real-life situations.
 * __Tuesday, January 18, 2011:__ Respond to the slide [|presentation] about the __King's Speech__. Consider your past experiences and what you may learn about yourself and your learning needs.**
 * __Monday, January 17, 2011: No Prompt__**
 * __Friday, January 14, 2011:__ "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent." -Martin Luther King, Jr.**
 * __Thursday, January 13, 2011: "__What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do." -John Ruskin**
 * __None on Thursday (1/6/11) through Wednesday (1/12/11)__**

=__ Prompts:Quarter 2 second prompt check on January 7, 2011(Dec. 8- Jan.6) __= __Wednesday January 5, 2011:__ Respond to the following quote both literally and figuratively-- "Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known." -Michel de Montaigne (essayist) __ Tuesday January 4, 2011: __ Marilyn vos Savant's readers asked some answerless question in Parade Magazine (12/2/11.) List four or five of your own. __ Monday January 3, 2011: __ View the [|picture] __your highest and lowest point during the break.__

__ Friday December 17, 2010: __ Free-Write __ Thursday December 16, 2010: __ Explain what you think Senator Proxmire is saying. How do you feel about his statement? What literary connections can you make and why? **“Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous.”** -William Proxmire, US senator, reformer (1915-2005) __ Wednesday December 15, 2010: __ What gift of yourself can you give to others? __ Tuesday December 14, 2010: __ Respond to the picture literally and figuratively-

__Monday December 13, 2010:__
"So many people try and put two and two together that they almost never end up with four." -Brian Omo __ Friday December 10, 201: __ Free Write __ Thursday December 9, 2010: __ Respond both literally and figuratively to the following quotation."Elitism is the slur directed at merit by mediocrity." -Sydney J. Harris, journalist __ Wednesday December 8, 2010: __ Respond both literally and figuratively to the following quotation. "In a free country there is much clamor, with little suffering: in a despotic state there is little complaint but much suffering." -Lazare Hippolyte Carnot, statesman (1801-1888)

__ Quarter 2 Prompt check: October 11-December 3, 2010. __ __ Thursday, December 2, 2010: __ Respond to the following prompt,"Some people get so expert at reading between the lines they don't read the lines." -Margaret Millar, novelist

__ Wednesday, December 2, 2010: __ Respond to the following quote: Some people get so expert at reading between the lines they don't read the lines." - Margaret M illar, novelist
__ Tuesday, December 1, 2010: __ Respond to the following quote: "You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends." -Joseph Conrad, novelist __ Monday, November 29, 2010: Respond to the[| video]literally and figuratively. __ __ Monday, November 15, 2010: __ Respond to the [|video]. What do you think about it? What questions does it provoke in you? How might you use this information?

__**Friday, November 12, 2010**__: no prompt
__ Thursday (no school so remember our vetrans) __ __ Wednesday, November 10, 2010: __ no prompt-complete animoto for Friday __ Tuesday, November 9, 2010: __ respond to the following quote- “In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. “-Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator and author (1902-2001) __ Monday, November 8, 2010: __ -explain what you learned after viewing the movie, give a few irony examples of your own, Connect to the novel we are reading.

__ Friday, November 5, 2010: __ none for seventh grade; poem for eighth __ Thursday, November 4, 2010 __ : Free write your own topic

__ Tuesday, November 2, 2010: __ no school and no prompt =__Monday, November 1, 2010:__ View this video and then respond. Write what you think the video is about and then compare that to your creative process. [|Video]= __ Friday, October 29, 2010: __ no prompt __ Thursday, October 28, 2010: __ Go to the //New York Times//[| Learning Site] and read about the young man who risked his life for the sake of journalistic integrity. Then, explain for what you would risk your life in your prompt response. If you would like extra credit, send your response to the Times (see the bottom of the page on the link.) __ Send me the link to your response. __ __ Wednesday, October 27, 2010: __ Respond to the photo - __ Tuesday, October 26, 2010: __ Please think about what away-message you could creatively write if you needed people to know you will get back to them when you return. Write yours in today’s prompt and then explain why you chose it and what humor technique you used (irony, sarcasm, understatement) Check out the Best E Mail away message yet published by the New Yorker magazine:

From //The New Yorker//:Posted: 22 Oct 2010 11:37 AM PDT > in the interim, please rest assured that I am attempting to address, resolve, or think about the matter you have described, unless, of course, I’m avoiding the matter entirely. Some possible reasons for this include: > //—Thinking about the matter gives me a headache.// > //—Thinking about the matter takes longer than forty-five (45) seconds.// > //—Thinking about the matter is simple enough, and takes less than forty-five (45) seconds, but, when combined with all the other e-mails in my in-box, it creates a synergy of matterdom, exacerbating the headaches mentioned at the beginning of this list.//

__ Monday, October 25, 2010: __ Birds on a Wire [|video] response __ Friday, October 22, 2010: __ 8th grade has poetry cafe (Humanities students write a sonnet/English students annotate the William Carlos Williams poem) 7th grade must write a poem based on a previous prompt Thursday, October 21, 2010: respond to the picture - __ Wednesday, October 20, 2010: __ Respond to the quote - "Extreme justice is extreme injustice." Marcus Tullius Cicero, (106-43 B.C.) __ Tuesday, October 19, 2010: __** No prompt so review and elaborate on previous prompts. ** __ Monday, October 18, 2010: __ view the [|video] and respond to it.

7th grade has to respond to the following quote: Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active. -Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519)
__ Thursday, October 14, 2010: __ picture of Lake Michigan response (see photo in class folder) __ Wednesday, October 13, 2010: __ no prompt __ Tuesday, October 12, 2010: __ Respond to the following quote: •" It is not pain that undoes us but our response to it, the way we let it keep lingering in the mind." -Epictetus __ Monday, October 11, 2010: __ Respond to the video with ideas about what the monkey and bananas symbolize. [|short video]

__ Friday, October 8, 2010; no prompt __ __ PROMPT CHECK from the start of school to October 6 __

__Thursday, October 7, 2010:__ How is boredom beneficial? Watch this [|video] first and then respond to the question regarding the value of boredom.
__ Wednesday, October 6, 2010: __ No prompt __ Tuesday, October 5, 2010: __ respond to the following quote: Words are loaded pistols. -Jean-Paul Sartre, writer and philosopher (1905-1980) __ Monday, October 4, 2010: __ Write a story that the linked prompt and picture provokes __.__ __ Friday, October 1, 2010: __ 8th grades respond to poetry 7th grade respond to this quote: "Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half of the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it." -Bertrand Russel __ Thursday, September 30, 2010: __ no prompt __ Wednesday, September 29, 2010: __ for 8th Humanities (Respond to "Detective fiction is the most moral type of fiction) for 8th English and 7th Humanities (respond to "The lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul." -Khalil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)

__ Monday: __ see the video on my blog and decide how the video shows what makes a good story __. __ __ Wednesday, September 22, 2010: __ "Confusion is a word we have invented for an order that is not understood." - Henry Miller (paraphrase the quote, explain what you think Miller meant, whether you agree or disagree and why, then make a literary connection to it. __Tuesday, September 21, 2010:__ two pages reactions for Changing Worlds Exhibit.  __Monday, September 20, 2010:__ picture prompt for changing worlds exhibit. I Am poem for your character.

__Friday, September 17, 2010:__
7th graders: Today is constitution day; what does our constitution mean to you? Why? http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/constitution_day/ http://ratify.constitutioncenter.org/constitution/search_results.php?framein=results_Privacy.html

(From //Selected Poems// by Mark Strand. Copyright © 1979, 1980 by Mark Strand. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.) and the following question for 7th grade students:

Thursday, September 16, 2010: no prompt

Wednesday, September 15, 2010: picture prompt - respond with a five minute free write

__ Tuesday, September 14, 2010: __ no new prompt

__ Monday, September 13, 2010: __ periods 3/4 - connect this quote to "Ozymandias" : “ Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.” - [|Will Rogers]

Periods 5/7 and 8/9: Discuss this quote: “ No answer is also an answer.”-German Proverb How is no answer an answer? Use life examples to illustrate what you understand.
__ Thursday, September 9, 2010: __

__ Wednesday, September 8, 2010: __ Make five better sentences than the following- "The house was old." In what ways can you revise the the previous sentence to make it more specific and create imagery?

__ Tuesday, September 7, 2010: __ Losing one glove is certainly painful, but nothing / compared to the pain, of losing one, throwing away the other, and finding the first one again. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist

Prompt questions: How might Hein be correct? In what way does his point apply to life?

__Thursday, September 2, 2010:__ Duck story

__**Tuesday, August 31, 2010:**__ •“Natural talent is like an athlete’s strength. You can be born with more or less ability, but nobody can become an athlete just because he or she was born tall, or strong, or fast. What makes an athlete, or the artist, is the work, the vocation, and the technique. The intelligence you are born with is just ammunition. To achieve something with it you need to transform your mind into a high-precision instrument.” -Carlos Ruiz Zafon Explain what you think Zafon means literally. Then connect that meaning to something you have read, heard or know. Finally, explain whether you agree or disagree and why.

**__Monday, August 30, 2010:__** Review the video "Words" embedded in my blog, and connect what you learned from that video to the act of writing and reading.

__**Friday, August 27, 2010**:__ "I think, therefore I am." (Cogito, ergo sum) - René Descartes Discuss the meaning of this quote by René Descartes. How might it be a syllogism? What connections can you make to it? Descartes was an important thinker during the 17th century scientific revolution; how might that fact impact your understanding of this quote? __ **Thursday, August 26, 2010** __ [] Photo without headline or caption first.  Study the photograph, and then write what you think is going on in it. Extend your thinking and analyze the photo properties like color, shadow and light, placement of people and objects. Try to understand what the photographer had in mind and explain your thoughts. Always support your ideas with details from the photo.

•“Every work of art is aggressive. . . And every artist’s life is a small war or a large one beginning with oneself and one’s limitations. To achieve anything you must first have ambition and then talent, knowledge, and finally the opportunity.” -Carlos Ruiz Zafon

•" I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - [|Dean, Jimmy]
•" It is not pain that undoes us but our response to it, the way we let it keep lingering in the mind." -Epictetus