Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Background Work for OMAM: Woody Guthrie


You'll need to be able to access this site to answer your OMAM Q's!








In order to prepare for Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck,please complete this webquest below so you can learn about the Dust Bowl and its effects. 

On a separate piece of paper, respond to the questions for each website.If you don't finish in class, please finish at home. If you don't have the internet at home (or it's down), you'll need to make a point of going to the library or working with a friend because this work is due tomorrow.



Blogwork for Wednesday, Jan. 4
Due: Thursday, Jan. 5

 General Background (from Wikipedia)

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land". Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress.[1] Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg and Tom Paxton have acknowledged their debt to Guthrie as an influence.
Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, earning him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour".[2] Throughout his life Guthrie was associated with United States communist[3] groups, though he was seemingly not a member of any.

To find out more specific information, go to each link below and answer the questions.
Woody Guthrie.


 http://www.woodyguthrie.org/biography/biography1.htm 
  •  List three interesting facts about Woody's childhood.
 http://www.woodyguthrie.org/biography/biography2.htm
  • How did the Dust Bowl affect Woody?
  • When did Woody die? From what disease did he die?
 http://www.woodyguthrie.org/music/doremi.htm
  • Listen to this song by Woody called "Do-Re-Mi." You need Quicktime. If you can't listen to it, just use the lyrics to answer the question
  • After you listen, read the lyrics below. What comment is this song making about the social and economic situation in America during the 1930's?
Do Re Mi
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie (1937)

Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today." 

Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi. 

You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say: 

If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.









 

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Socratic Seminar Questions for "Flowers for Algernon"

  • Your HW tonight is to prepare for our Socratic Seminar on "Flowers for Algernon."
  • The more thoroughly your respond to the questions, the better prepared you'll be.
  • You can bullet your thoughts and ideas, and you can bring your responses with you to the seminar.
  • Respond to the questions in JE #4/left and right. Please copy the question before you respond.
1. Is it morally right or wrong to experiment with altering intelligence or personality through artificial means (experimental operations, etc.)? Make sure to support your opinion well. Anticipate the challenges of those who disagree with you.

2. In the writing of the story, some of Daniel Keyes's editors wanted him to make it have a happy ending with Charly and Miss Kinnian getting married and living "happily ever after." In what ways would this have changed Keyes's message?

3. Is ignorance bliss? Was it harder for Charly to find out what he used to be like, or would he have been better off never knowing? What did he learn about tolerance (and intolerance)?

4. What other movies, books, or stories have you read or heard about which deal with this theme of altering the mind? Why do you think it's a prevalent theme in science fiction?

5. Do you believe the doctors in the story acted responsibly or irresponsibly in dealing with Charly? If you believe they acted irresponsibly, what should they have done differently?






Wednesday, December 7, 2011

NEWSFLASH!!!

I fixed the webquest so that Resource #3 (Section #3) will take you to an IQ test (of sorts). It doesn't require any personal information, so you don't have to provide your email address.


****************************
Many of you are using comma splices in your writing (horror of horrors!).  For some extra practice, go to these links:



Comma Splices: Exercise 1
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/comma_splices_ex1.htm


Comma Splices: Exercise 2 
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/comma_splices_ex2.htm

If you can print out your results, do so. Bring them to class and I'll give you extra credit












Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Webquest!

Flowers for Algernon Webquest:
Exploring Various Types of Intelligence Testing



1. Click on this link to go to the webquest site.

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=82310

2. Everything you need is right here on this page. Just go down the list of links and do what the worksheet asks of you.

3. Answer ALL questions!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Parts of Speech Practice

If you still aren't feeling confident about basic parts of speech, here are some links to online activies that might help.


Grammar Gorillas
http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/gg.cgi?A1=m&A2=0&A3=0&AFUNCT=1&ALEVEL=1

Parts of Speech Practice
http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos.htm






Grammar Monster: Go to "Eight Parts of Speech Tests"
http://www.grammar-monster.com/free_grammar_tests.html

For extra credit, take any of the tests above and print them out with your results.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Journal Grading for Journal #3: Tuesday, Dec 6!

Table of Contents: Journal #3

JE#
Left
Right
1
“SOH” Q’s & A’s
cont’d
2
3 P’s
Irony Chart
3
Irony Essay Prewriting
Portfolio Info Sheet
4
MDG Q’s & A’s
Cont’d
5
+    /   -   /  ?’s
Pretest: MDG Vocab
6
--“Jabberwocky” :
POS color coding
--FFA Quickwrite
--“Jabberwocky” Comic


--23 helping verbs

7
Testmaker Info
RD Test
cont’d
8
FFA Q’s: Pt. 1
1-9, p. 40 LLA
cont’d
9
FFA Q’s: Pt. 2
1-13, p. 54; also “Writing”
cont’d
10
Practice Test:
FFA Vocab
Design a RD of a movie poster for FFA. Which movie star would play Charly? Algernon? 


Note that JE #10/right is to make a RD of a movie poster for FFA. You are the director, producer, and designer, so how will you want it to look? Have a look at these examples below for ideas. This will weekend HW, so if you do it tonight,
you'll be ahead.