30 April, Julius Caesar Day 3

Today, students...

1. worked together to put events from Act I in order.
2. finished reading Act II.
3. worked together to answer Act II questions/worksheets.
4. were given a test review for the test over Acts I & II on Wednesday, May 6.
5. were given vocabulary practice (below) they should complete in order to prepare for the test.
6. were directed to BBC version of Acts I and II (below)

Vocabulary Practice Recommendations (Students should do these for the words they are most uncomfortable with.)
•A) Share word webs: –Work with a partner to create more word webs or to combine all of yours.
•B) Create a cinquain or acrostic for the words that are most difficult for you. The poem must relate to the meaning of the word! –This is an individual assignment!
•C) Find pictures that relate to the words that are most difficult for you. Write sentences explaining how the pictures relate to the words.
–This is an individual assignment!

28 April: JC Day 2, Acts I & II

Today's Agenda:

1. Vocabulary
2. Paper Corrections
3. Finish Act I, begin Act II
4. Homework: vocabulary, study questions/worksheets

Students were given the following vocabulary assignment at the beginning of class. They should be prepared to make more webs as new vocabulary words are defined. These should be kept in their binders.

Students whose papers did not contain correct parenthetical citations or a works cited page were returned. These should be corrected and returned next class, April 30.

Students finished Act I and began reading Act II. We read through Act II, scene i. We will finish Act II next class.

24 April: Julius Caesar Day 1

Late papers, folders, PowerPoint handouts, and note cards were turned in.

Students identified qualities of
- a good leader
- a bad leader
- a good friend
- a bad friend

Pre-Reading Vocabulary definitions:

1. bard – a poet. Shakespeare is known as “The Bard.”


2. ambition – n. a strong desire


3. Caesar – title of a Roman emperor (Czar)


4. pulpit – n. platform for giving sermons


5. taper – n. candle


6. ides – n. the fifteenth day of March, May, July, or October, and the thirteenth day of the other months


7. triumvirate – n. group of 3 rulers


8. fickle – adj. easily changeable; unstable

Act I Notes (students filled in blanks on a handout)

• Anachronism – historically, something is out of chronological order (ex: in the play, a clock strikes. The play is set more than 2000 years ago when clocks didn’t exist)


• Lupercalia - A fertility festival in ancient Rome, celebrated on February 15 in honor of the pastoral god Lupercus.
  - Julius Caesar begins on this day.
  - But the next day is the Ides of March. This is why we don’t read the play as a history. Shakespeare squeezes months into days.


• Themes in Julius Caesar (copied into notes)
  -Friendship
  -Leadership
  -Betrayal
  -Ambition
  -Superstition & fate

Students received handouts for Act I. These included detailed study questions for all scened and separate handouts for each scene.

• Act I, Scene i handout: read the definition of "pun" and identify which of the 7 sentences at the bottom are puns.
• Basic background for scene i:
  **The play opens as Julius Caesar is returning to Rome after defeating Pompey.
  **He used to be friends with Pompey. They used to rule together with Crassus, the first triumvirate. ***First triumvirate = Caesar, Pompey, Crassus
  **Marullus and Flavius are tribunes (police officers). They are angry with the people for cheering for Caesar.

Students read Act I, scenes 1 and 2 aloud in class. We will finish Act I and begin Act II next class.

HOMEWORK:

• Define Acts I and II vocabulary (students had time in class to use the book or a dictionary). Direct links to definitions on dictionary.com can be found here
• Worksheets pages 2 & 3 (These are individual worksheets for Act I: scene i and ii (scene 1 and 2)
• Links to copies of the play online can be found on the left-hand side of this blog.
  

22 April: Papers Due! Introducing Shakespeare

Students turned in:

• Folders (3-prong, NOT binders), these included the revised and edited rough drafts
• Note cards to clear box

Students were given the opportunity to proofread their final drafts one last time. They should have made minor corrections with a pencil or black pen. Final drafts were then turned in.

Students gave presentations. Many students did not though. Presentations were to be turned in to the 2nd period folder in the "Turn in Work Here" folder. Those who didn't must still turn in a copy of their PowerPoint by Friday. They will give their presentation at a later date. This date is yet to be determined.

INTRODUCING SHAKESPEARE

1. KWL Charts. Students created 2 KWL charts, one for "William Shakespeare" and another for "Julius Caesar." They filled in the K & W columns for each.
2. Students worked in pairs to find 20 facts on the Shakespeare Mind Map (click to view)
3. Students were given a page from the "Shakespeare Trivia Anthology" to find 4 interesting facts to add to their list.
4. Students then read and paraphrased Puck's speech from the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream. They then watched a youtube video of the Animaniacs performing the speech. (see below)
5. Students read Hamlet's "Alas, Poor Yorick" speech, paraphrased it, and watched the Animaniac's performance. (see below)
6. Scavenger Hunt: Group Project. Students were given a handout with 44 words all related somehow to The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. They should divide up the words in their groups, find images/words/phrases that relate to the words, or they can draw their own. Bring these images/words to class on Friday. Extra credit for those who bring glue sticks! They will then start working together to create a collage of the images.

HOMEWORK: Use the Internet to finish finding facts about Shakespeare (24 facts in all)

A Midsummer Night's Dream Animaniacs


Hamlet (Poor Yorick) Animaniacs

20 April: Research Day 12, Preparing the Final Draft

Today students

1. Prepared the Final Draft. Specific instructions given on a handout can be viewed here (attention: 2nd period students may not have the handout about museum curators. Don't worry about it if you can't find it! This means you should have a total of 13 handouts rather than 14.)
2. Worked on PowerPoint Presentations

Due Wednesday, April 22:

1. Final Draft
2. Folder, including all rough drafts, graded work, handouts
3. PowerPoint Presentation, including a handout of the presentation (6 slides per page)

Instructions for turning in/saving the PowerPoint:

16 April, Research Day 11: Editing

Students were to edit their revised rough draft today. The should have followed the instructions on the "editing instructions" handout. Those instructions can be found here: Editing Instructions Handout
These instructions include following more instructions for preparing a Works Cited page. Those instructions can be found here: Preparing the Works Cited Handout

After students finished editing and preparing the Works Cited page, they had the opportunity to print it and bring it to Mrs. Woodliff to be checked for accuracy.

Presentation Assignments were handed out. That handout and tips on how to make a good PowerPoint can be viewed here: Presentation Assignment

14 April: Research Day 10, Revision

Students were given the following instructions and information:

•Take 3 handouts (click on these 2 links to view these instructions: revision instructions, highlighting/finding instructions, and peer revision handout)
•Follow instructions carefully. Notice, you will be printing multiple drafts. Remember: the revised and edited drafts are a MAJOR GRADE!
•Peer Revision Handout: When revising Draft #1, if the paper only has 3 body paragraphs, skip #s 5 & 6. If it has 4 body paragraphs, skip #6

IMPORTANT DATES:
•Tuesday, April 14: Revise Rough Draft
•Thursday, April 16: Edit Rough Draft; Presentation Assigned
•Monday, April 20: Prepare Final Draft; Work on Presentation
•Wednesday, April 22: Final Draft Due; Give presentation

31 March: Research Day 9, Drafting the Paper

• Students should be finished with their note cards (these were to be finished BEFORE coming to class).
• Next, they organized the note cards into stacks according to topic. Each stack will make up much of one body paragraph. (3 stacks = 3 body paragraphs; 5 stacks = 5 body paragraphs). There should be no more than 5 body paragraphs. Information on "stray" cards may be used in the introduction or conclusion, or it might not be used at all.
• After sorting note cards, students were to open the "Drafting the Paper" PowerPoint found on the y-drive. They should follow the instructions on the PowerPoint. First: view the entire slideshow. This gives them an idea of what they will be doing/how they will be writing the rough draft.
• After viewing the PowerPoint, they should start writing their body paragraphs. After the first body paragraph was written, students were to get it checked. There should be parenthetical citations in these paragraphs.
• After getting the first body paragraph checked, they should continue drafting the body, then the conclusion and introduction.
• Students will be using this PowerPoint until the finish the rough draft.
• The rough draft should be finished before spring break!