Prompts+2015-2016

__**Quarter 1: All prompts and other revisions are due on October 14, 2015 for this quarter**__


 * October 14, 2015:** Please read this[| NY Times article] and answer the questions posed about your own self- control. Here is a video of the experiment: [|Marshmallow]


 * October 7, 2015:** View this [|painting] and write whatever comes to mind. Try not to lift up your pencil or pen while you write for five minutes.


 * October 6, 2015: View the [|video] and respond by paraphrasing what you think the artist and film maker wanted you to understand. For more information about the artist's project, watch his [|TED talk]. **


 * October 5, 2015: View the painting by Vincent Van Gogh **Van Gogh’s [|//Portrait of Dr. Gachet//] . and on one side of the prompt page list the __explicit details__ while on the other side, list the __implicit details__.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)
 * September 30, 2015:** paraphrase this quote and then respond to it; do you agree? disagree?

===September 29, 2015: Write a poem about one of the following topics and be prepared to share your poem tomorrow:=== 1.being underwater 2.a person whose life you're curious about 3.your mother's perfume 4.falling asleep or waking up 5.growing older 6.the feeling of getting lost in a book 7.how to know if you're in love 8.a bad dream 9.a ghost 10.your city, town, or neighborhood 11.an important life choice you've made 12.spring, summer, fall, or winter 13.something most people see as ugly but which you see as beautiful 14.jealousy 15.becoming a parent 16.an event that changed you 17.a place you visited -- how you imagined it beforehand, and what it was actually like 18.the ocean 19.forgetting 20.the speed of light 21.a voodoo doll 22.reflections in a window 23.a newspaper headline 24.holding your breath 25.a specific color 26.your greatest fear 27.time travel 28.a particular toy you had as a child 29.being invisible 30.a time you felt homesick 31.having an affair, or discovering your partner is having one 32.birthdays 33.a favorite food and a specific memory of eating it 34.an imaginary city 35.driving with the radio on 36.life in an aquarium 37.dancing 38.walking with your eyes closed 39.what a computer might daydream about 40.your grandmother's hands

"There is no doubt that I have lots of words inside me; but at moments, like rush-hour traffic at the mouth of a tunnel, they jam." -John Updike, writer (1932-2009)
 * September 28, 2015:** Write about your reactions to this author's words and your own experiences with writer's block:

"There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with." -Harry Crews, novelist and playwright (b. 1935)
 * September 23, 2013:** Explain the irony in this quotation.


 * SEPTEMBER 21, 2015**: WATCH THE VIDEO and respond. Then connect to the assigned book for class.


 * September 16, 2015**
 * Respond to this prompt: "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher."** -Japanese proverb. First define any words you don't know in the quote; then **paraphrase** (put in your own words) the quote; **then respond** to the meaning by describing what makes a good teacher and give examples of teachers or mentors who have had an impact on you or changed the way you saw yourself and what you can do.


 * September 15, 2015:** free write

"New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)
 * September 9, 2015:**

Paraphrase this quotation and then respond to it. "Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold." -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910) What is the difference between truth and fiction?
 * September 8, 2015:**

====What does this poem make you think about and why?==== Revision by Kimberly Marcus
 * September 3, 2015**
 * Watch this video with a parent and discuss it. Then, read the poem below. Connect what you learned from both.**

Life is full of twists and turns and, with each bend, a person learns that fire warms and fire burns - a matter of degree.

Life is good and life’s not fair and in this whole wide world out there some will love and some won’t care - a harsh reality.

But in this life you get to choose how you cope with things you lose, a mortal wound or healing bruise - it’s all in how you see. © Kimberly Marcus. All rights reserved.


 * September 1, 2015**: Read an article in Ms. Foughner's Paperli and respond to it. What is the author trying to do - persuade, inform, or tell a story? Article of the Week: Paper.li


 * August 31, 2015:** Watch this video and write about how it may relate to your understanding of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication (the four C's)