Analyzing Capote...getting ready for Thursday's gathering

• Opening Moments: Kenny, Nick O, Joe
• Trivia
• Diction, Syntax, Tone, Detail, Figurative Language-->What do you already know?
• Analyzing Capote: "A Christmas Memory"

Substitute Day!

Good afternoon everyone!

Thank you in advance for being awesome for the substitute.

Four things things for you to know:

1. Nick O (today), Joe (from last time), and Kenny...all opening moments NEXT time.

2. After practicing your hard news skills and your straight leads, it's now time to look closer at feature articles.  Truly, features are the majority of the stories you will be covering when writing for The Falcon Outlet here at school.  Consider the handout a "scavenger hunt" of sorts; you are welcome to work with a partner or alone to complete this activity.  The substitute should have hard copies of the handout, but if you want it digitally, here it is.

3.  Sorry...no trivia today! Not to worry, we will have MEGA trivia on Tuesday.

4. Read the next section of In Cold Blood for Tuesday: Pages 224-250

Have a great weekend!
Ms. Peterson

ICB 174-199

• Opening Moment: Julie (Dove movie commercial)
• ICB symbolism/summary activity over last night's reading
• ICB trivia!  
• Read next section for Friday (see reading calendar for pages)

Lady Gaga/Biebs/Obama Article Finish/Share

1. Opening Moment: Nick N (and Julie?)
2. Lady Gaga/Biebs/Obama Article
3. Assign a new article--come up with a feature for next class.
3. In Cold Blood--Trivia
4. Reading for next class IN COLD BLOOD (see calendar)

Trivia Round #2 AND Your first article!

• Trivia--build your own question.
• Lady Gaga. Justin Biebs. Obama.  Write your first article with a partner decided by the fates. (You will have time next class to finish this with your partner)
• Come to class on Monday with the next reading section done: 152-174. No worksheet.

Follow up...all the reasons Nick O is great:

• "He knows what is best for him, and he is willing to stick by it even if others disagree."
• "He plays ultimate frisbee"
• "He always argues about anything."
• "He takes chances"
• "He talks really fast!"
• "He's really good at history."
• "Talks super quick like an auctioneer."
• "He is a gambler takes chances."
• "His smart remarks make the class laugh."
• "His excellence in reading Spark notes."
• "Hilarious!"
• "Good to complain with."
• "He gives me homework sometimes.
• "He is smart."
• "He's a good friend."
• "He never contradicts himself."
• "A cool guy."
• "He's always funny."
• "He likes to play sports and goes all out."
• "He makes lots of friends."
• "He has his life on track."
• "He has a nice talking voice."
• "He shares the best name in the world with me."

Hard vs. Soft News

Hard vs. Soft News

1. Opening Moment: Alisha & Nick O (?)

2. News Article Analysis Activity (To use this, make a copy of it and save to your own Googledocs.  You will then be able to edit it.)  Check out these news sources:

• New York Times
• Portland Press Herald
• Boston Globe 

4. Watch 15 mins of In Cold Blood

HW: Read to page 123-152 for next class.

ICB Day #4 Conversation/Leads

• Opening Moment: Gabby B
• NPR Story Corps: http://storycorps.org/listen/glenda-and-larry-rike/
• Sign Thank You cards for our guests
• Fairy Tale Leads--Wrap up examples!  Share!
• In Cold Blood chat fest...use your questions you completed for HW.

Example:

Straight: Mr. James Wolf was found dead in a boiling kettle of water yesterday, after reportedly destroying the homes of three young pigs. No motive has been found for the destroying of these homes.

Descriptive: Three little pigs were found to be distressed after the big bad wolf blew down their three respective homes with just the power of his breath.

Quotation: “I knew he was coming, you can hear him from a mile away,” said the first little pig, the inhabitant of the straw home, “He’s just such an angry creature you know?”

Question: How would you feel if you found the monster that blew down your home, dead in a boiling kettle of water? That is the dilemma these three little pigs face.

Guest Speaker Day!

Come to 108 during Flex to visit with our guest speakers.  The trade?  You don't have journalism today!  Check with the main office if you usually sign out.

Next class:

Read for next time: pages 60-79 in ICB

HW Discussion Questions:

Jot down  five questions you would like to discuss with your group.  They could be questions that came to your mind while reading, questions you’d like to ask the author, questions you’d like to investigate, or any other questions you think the group might like to discuss.  You will need to have a written answer for one of them that is at least one paragraph.

In Cold Blood #3

In Class:

• Homework review
• Hard vs. Soft News
• Fairy Tale Leads!!!  
• The fates pick your partner
• Pick one fairy tale and write a headline for each
• Next time: Come to Falcon for panel of journalists & class time becomes a study hall

HW due Friday:

Read for next time: pages 60-79 in ICB

HW Discussion Questions:

Jot down  five questions you would like to discuss with your group.  They could be questions that came to your mind while reading, questions you’d like to ask the author, questions you’d like to investigate, or any other questions you think the group might like to discuss.  You will need to have a written answer for one of them that is at least one paragraph.

ICB Day #2

• Opening Moment Schedule is revised!
• "Drawing" Conclusions about Dick and Perry
• Capote/In Cold Blood film
• Homework due Monday:
• Read pages 42-60 in ICB
• Pick three questions to answer on your blog
• Why would Perry choose to purchase stockings from a nun?  What is this detail telling us about his character?
• Note Willie-Jay's description of Perry.  How is Capote playing with the readers' emotions?
• To what extent is Perry a tragic hero?
• On page 46, how does an act of fate change Perry's future?
• How do we feel about Perry's 'confession' about killing the
  “colored” man with a bicycle chain on pages 53-56?
  
  

ICB Day #1--Padlet

• Opening Moments: new schedule is up!
• Reply to my response on your blog.
• Breakdown the people we have met so far based on what Capote has allowed us to know about them.  We will be using this Padlet site.  http://padlet.com/wall/8fqf8mq0wa
• Looking ahead: Reading Schedule for ICB
• Capote movie if there is time

Thursday: In Cold Blood begins!

• Please place your one-page Page One: Inside the New York Times movie response in your BLOG!
• Make predictions about the book based on the following covers...no peaking at the back

• With your partner, look up information on the author.  Divid topics across the room (we brainstormed these in class).  Report out on white-board.
• Family
• Where he lived
• History with drugs and alcohol
• Education
• Why he was drawn to this story
• What makes his writing special
• Watch about 30 minutes of Capote the film.
• Blog entry exit ticket: 
• 3 things you know about Capote you didn't know before
• 2 things you learned about the Clutter murder case
• 1 question you have about either Capote or the Clutters.
• HW: Read pages 1-22 in ICB

Page One Documentary Wrap Up

• Are your grades an accurate reflection of the work you completed?  
• Finish up watching Page One documentary 
• Write, in class, a one-page piece over one of the four questions presented on your handout.
• Post your one-page answers to your BLOG.  Again, YOUR BLOG! I know we haven't been there in a while, but let's get it cranking again!

Groups for Thursday and Monday: Come prepared!

Draft Letter for College Essay/Personal Narrative & 5 Author Questions

Goals for today's class:

• Opening Moment: Joe N
• 5 Author Questions--due today
• Silent Conversation: http://nyti.ms/1fPUfhK
• Watch the above video and then respond to one of the two following questions in comment on THIS POST!
• HOW does this video show that sometimes the facts can get lost in sensational news stories?
• HOW does this video show how sometimes special interest groups can distort the facts of an event to further their own goals?

Draft Letter Assignment: College Essay/Personal Narrative

Overview: It’s never a good feeling to get a paper back only to be criticized for something you already know isn’t going well, or worse, for something that you thought was pretty great. Your draft letter will give you the opportunity to tell your reader(s) what you think about your piece before it’s evaluated. As a teacher, it’s easier for me to help you improve when I know what you think about a particular assignment!  Please use reasons and examples to support your judgements- try to incorporate at least one direct quote from your writing piece.

Task: Write a letter addressed to your reader (today...that's me!) that reflects on several aspects of your writing. Here are some reflection questions to consider examining in your letter:

• What is your favorite part of this particular piece and why?
• Are there any weaknesses you see in this piece? Tell me about them.
• What techniques did you try which differed from your regular process?
• How does this piece compare to other pieces you have written?
• What difficulties did you encounter when creating this piece and why?
• What really worked in this piece? Why did it seem to work well?
• What’s one thing you would like to do to improve this piece, if only you knew how to do it?
• What do you think is the one thing a reader is most likely to take away from your piece?

You are free to respond to as many or as few of these as you wish. The goal is to think about your writing process and also evaluate what worked well and what didn’t.

Length: 350-500 words

Location: At the bottom of the page of your College Essay/Personal Narrative in GoogleDoc.

Format: Follow letter conventions (date, greeting, body, closing, and signature)

This will count for one participation assignment and will be graded using the homework rubric.

Reader's Response #5 & Author interview example

• Reader's response #5 (Who have you never been in a group with?)
• Author interview example
• HW: Polished draft of college essay due Tuesday

Reader's Response #5--postponed

Noteworthy
Grading for Journalism is as follows:

• Major Assignments 50%
• College Essay
• Favored Personality Profile
• Author Interview 
• Participation/In Class Activities 20%
• Homework 30%

Opening Moment: Nick O.

Reader's Response #5

Punctuating Quotes Correctly

Resume & Reader Response #4

1. Opening Moment: Nick N.
2. Book Project
3. Resume work (see examples from class)
• Good for giving to teachers to help write letters of rec.
• Getting a job
• Guidance 
4. Reading Response #4

• Alisha, Sam, Deanna
• Kenny, Joe,   Nick N, Gabby T
•  Zoe,  Gabby B, Nick O

• What's the six-word memoir for your book?  Post individually to this blog post.

College Essay #2

Opening Moment: Deanna

GET READY TO WRITE!
It's a draft...so crank it out.  Come prepared with the prompt you would like to use.

Make a time to meet with Ms. Peterson to look at essay OR make an appointment in the Writing Center.

Visit the prompts for the common app here:
Common Application: 650 words! New Prompts

Reader Response #3, Personal Narrative #1 due, Opening Moment

Goals:

• Opening Moment: Reilly G
• This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/504/how-i-got-into-college
• Readers Response #3...share out.

1. Dillon, Julia, Nick N.
2. Deanna, Joe,  Gabby T
3. Nick O, Luke, Gabby B
4. Kenny, Zoe, Alisha, Sam

Group Question: What is the best way for you (and your group members) to keep up with the reading? Can Ms. P do anything?  Can your peers do anything? The books should be finished by October 23rd.  Respond to this question by responding to this blog post.

•  Personal Narrative Draft #1--Check this out.
• Due next time:  Interview for Career Personality Profile (100 points HW grade)

Favorite Mistake & Grade Evaluation

Goals for Wed 10/2/13:

1. Opening Moment: Alisha
2. Look at printouts of grades to make sure my calculations and yours are on track
3. While I'm checking up with grades: 
•  Go to this link and then answer the following question on this blog post: Do schools provide students with enough opportunities to be creative? Feel free to reply to the replies of your peers. http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/do-schools-provide-students-with-enough-opportunities-to-be-creative/?_r=0#more-137660
4. Come in with Favorite Mistake Worksheet complete...start drafting!
5. Second profile of a career you're interested in: interview on October 9th.  Please plan ahead to complete your interviews. 
6. Next class: 3rd reading response and first narrative draft due! Good thing you have Friday off!

Reader's Response #2 & Personal Narrative

1. Opening Moment: Deanna & Julia 
2. Time to read: 15-20 mins 
3. Reader's Response #2 due today
1. Reading Response Groups (15 mins)
1. Dillon, Zoe, Gabby B, Sam
2. Deanna, Julia, Alisha
3. Nick, Joe, Nick (abs), Reilly
4. Kenny, Luke, Gabby T

After book discussions, create a list of questions you would like to ask the authors of the books you are reading. Each group should come up with 2-3 questions for each author. Questions should be focused on the book's subject matter, the author's writing of the book, research done, etc.  Post as a response to this thread...include the name of everyone in your group.

1. Common Application: 650 words! New Prompts!   
2. My Favorite Mistake: Worksheet (Like Prompt #2 on Common App)
3. Huffington Post Article on Essay Writing Advice
4. Second Personality Profile: Where are you in terms of getting an interview?  Deadline is TBD.

Ms. Bennell has given contacts for you to "warm call."  This means you will need explain how you received their information, and how you hope to contact them for an interview.  See the shared googledoc for details.  

What makes a strong essay?

• It's about you, not just the event/situation (Gabby B)
• Humbling situation (GB)
• Funny, uses humor (GB)
• Easy to follow message, "You don't have to be first"
• Clearly understand the author's characteristics ("good sport")
• Understandable why people would want author around (Z/R)
• Unique story (Z/R)
• Not bragging (Z/R)
• Stop when you need to, don't max out word count just to fill space. (NN)
• Let's the reader in on something personal, like family and values (JN)
• Combine important aspects of life to showcase both (KS)
• New topic (AG)
• Good hook (AG)
• Playful, spirited  (JF)
• Short sound-effects only

To be avoided:

• Grammar/spelling: check it
• Don't sound like you haven't moved on
• Focus on you
• Avoid too much dialogue 
• Make sure conclusion matches the point of your essay

Personal Narrative (College Essay) & Personality Profile #2

1. Opening Moment: Gabby B & Deanna 
2. Ms. Bennell has given contacts for you to "warm call."  This means you will need explain how you received their information, and how you hope to contact them for an interview.  See the shared googledoc for details.  
3. Common Application: 650 words! New Prompts!   
4. Examples of a good Reader Response (#2 is due next class)

Example #1: Double-Entry Journal

Quote 1: "Four hundred vertical feet above, where the summit was still washed in bright sunlight under an immaculate cobalt sky, my compadres dallied to memorialize their arrival at the apex of the planet, unfurling flags and snapping photos, using up precious ticks of the clock. None of them knew that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh. Nobody suspected that by trend of that long day, every minut would matter." pg.9

This quote is from the first chapter, a chapter that talks about the authors time on the summit of Everest. This chapter merely sets the stage for the rest of the book which explains nowhere got to this point, and what happened after. This specific quote is the last paragraph in chapter one and is a good way to end it. I really brings the reader into the story and makes them want to know what happens. For me it was also a really strong quote because it shows how much of extreme climbing is the unknown and sudden changes that take place. And it really showed me how unforgiving Mt. Everest is.

Quote 2: "Once Everest was determined to be the highest summit on earth, it was only a matter of time before people decided that Everest needed to be climbed. After the American explorer Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909 and Roald Amundsen led a Norwegian party to the South Pole in 1911, Everest–the so called Third Pole–became the most coveted object in the real of terrestrial exploration." pg.14

This passage is from chapter two, in which Krakauer gives a brief history of Everest. This quote stood out because it shows two things, human's need to be first and to conquer nature. The fact that humans want to be the first to do something, or have something is quite obvious if you just look at our societies. One good example of this is that the Guiness World Record book exists. Tis quote also does a great job of showing this phenomena by sayingthatEverest became priority after the North and South Polesr had already been conquered, making them "obsolete." Evidence also presents it self proving that humans want to beat nature, showing that we were, and are, dedicated to discovering and reaching every last piece of land that nature has to offer.

Quote 3: "As I gazed across the sky at the contrail, it occurred to me that the top of Everest was percisely the same height as the pressurized jet bearing me through the heavens. That I proposed to climb to the cruising altitude of an Airbus 300 jetliner struck me, at that moment, as preposterous, or worse. My palms felt clammy." pg.30

It's quote gave me a really good understanding of what hiking Everest entailed. I have read a couple other books about hiking Everest and still didn't have a great idea of what they had to over come, this passage gave me something to judge the mountain by. And I have to say that I have always had a slight want to climb Everest or a similar mountain as most people in the books end up being okay, usually surviving by sheer will, this gave me a false sense that I too might be able to climb the world's tallest mountain. These coupe of sentences though just about brought that just formulating dream almost to a close.

Example #2: Letter to the Author

Letter to the Author of Born To Run

Dear Christopher McDougall,

    Before picking your book to read, I already had intentions of reading your novel regardless of my English assignment. As a runner myself, reading your book, Born To Run, always seemed like a requirement. Both of my track coaches have read your book and suggested it to our team at every chance they got. So when the opportunity finally presented itself, I made sure not to let it pass by.

    I haven't made it that far into your book yet but so far, I have to say it has exceeded my expectations. Before reading your story, I expected a generic but intriguing story about a normal runner and his or her struggles. I was quickly deterred from the initial assumption when I read the first chapter of your book. I was very interested to read of the Tarahumara tribe and the Caballo Blanco. I really liked that you hit the ground running with this book. By that I just mean you began the book with no hesitation into getting into the story of the running tribe, Tarahumara. I was immediately interested from the first chapter and I look forward to reading the rest of your book.

Sincerely,

A reader of your book  

Personality Profile: Professional Careers

Deanna: Medical, MRI
Alisha: Nursing 
Sam: Animal Care/Rescue
Dillon: Acting/ kinesiology/financial planning/insurance 
Kenny: Business (wear a suit!)
Nick O: Engineering/mathematics/history 
Joe N: Marines 
Gabby T: Sports Medicine 
Nick N: Engineering, mechanical (alternative energy)
Reilly: Homemaker/House Organizer 
Zoe: writing/journalism/advertising 
Julie: Large animal vet
Gabby B: Nursing/medical profession 
Chris: (absent)
Luke: Environmental science 

Silent Conversation and Personality Profile First Draft

Silent Conversation and Personality Profile First Draft

Goals and agenda for today:

1. Gabby B Opening Moment
2. Silent Conversation: 
• follow this link to a New York Times article on the dangers of young people playing football: . http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/sports/football/would-i-let-my-son-play-football.html.
• Post a comment to this post that does one of the following:
• agrees/disagrees with something that is being said in the article (reference at least one passage)
• makes a personal connection to your life and experiences (reference at least one passage)
• References the comments of another person- builds off of them, challenges them, agrees with them, etc.
3. Personality Profile reflection
4. Second personality profile assigned: select a person with a career you are interested in and make a time to meet and interview.
5. Reading time

Journalism as a metaphor

Sometimes an interview might be awkward but it isn't impossible

When doing an interview you start off by asking small little questions that break the surface. Then you get into the "big picture" which is the big open ended question that sparks a good interview question. The big interview question is the lit up house and the lights leading to the house are the "scratch the surface" questions. 

The balloon represents how some articles lift us up.
The water represents endless ideas that can come from the mind.
The people represent reflection on what you see.

Check out Nick N's post as well: 
http://nelsonwood.blogspot.com/

    

TGIF!

1. Opening Moment: Zoe

2. Share first draft with interviewee of profile

3. Reading Response #1 (groups posted last time)

4. Set up reading schedule for book.

5. Reading time

Reading Response #1 and Personality Profile Interviews

1. Opening Moment: Dillon
2.  Reading Response Groups (15 mins)
1. Dillon, Zoe, Gabby B
2. Deanna, Julia, Alisha
3. Reilly, Sam, Sarah....all absent
4. Nick, Joe, Nick
5. Kenny, Chris, Luke, Gabby T
3. Partner Interviews (Rest of class)
• Please record your interview on your iPad 

Interviewing for Personality Profile: Starts today

Odds N' Ends:

• Please check out the calendar for upcoming assignments and your opening moments.

• Add something new to your blog!
• Go to "design" in upper right corner
• Layout (left sidebar)
• Try adding a gadget like:
• image
• slideshow
• poll
• profile
• list 

Hearst Journalism Awards:
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, was founded in 1960, to provide support, encouragement, and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. The program awards scholarships to students for outstanding performance in college-level journalism, with matching grants to the students' schools.

Links to Hearst Journalism Award Winners: Visit the section marked Personality/Profile.  Feel free to look at other years as well.


Blog Entry #3 (Three Questions)---write in class today.

1. Which personality profile did you read?  Please link to it.
2. What questions must the interviewer have asked in order to gain the story written?
3. Reflect on what makes a personality profile distinctly different from a hard news (front page of the paper stuff) article?

Interviewing Partners:

Dillon & Reilly
Gabby T & Nick N
Julia & Deanna
Nick O & Luke
Alisha & Sarah
Joe & Gabby B
Sam & Chris
Zoe & Kenny

1 1/2-2 page (approx. 375-500 words) personality profile is due next class. 

Interviewing!

Goals:

1. Learn the basics of interviewing.  Create "vines" of each important step with a partner.
2. Get a partner to interview (random!)
3. Begin background information and question development for next class

For example personality/profiles visit: http://hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/championship.php?year=2013

Opening Moment Example

I was driving home from work the other day and caught a portion of an interview on Fresh Air (90.1 NPR) with Jimmy Fallon.  I love Jimmy Fallon...Fever Pitch, SNL, Late Night.  It's all great.  He was being interviewed by Terry Gross, an award winning journalist, about his transition into the Tonight Show this coming year.

Gross is able to create a candid conversation with Fallon as he talks about his career, family, and his journey to stardom.  I enjoyed the back story to performing as Neil Young with Bruce Springsteen (see video below) and his unabashed struggles to learn how to interview.  I think the 38 minute interview is entertaining, but if you're in a rush the 3:15-4:29 clip discusses how he prepared to become and interviewer.

Interview:
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/29/214910159/late-night-thank-you-notes-from-jimmy-fallon

Entertaining Video cited in Interview:
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/neil-young-and-bruce-springsteen-whip-my-hair/n16435/

Opening Moments, Non Fiction Book Choices, Blog Post #2

Goals for today:

1. Pass in, digitally, your All About You paper.  We will create shared Google Folders--please name it "Last Name, First Name" and share with me.  
2. Opening Moment example and sign ups.
3. Look at Non-Fiction Journalism Reading Responses Project
4. Visit library for books!
5. Blog Post #2: What do you think goes into having a successful interview? What do you think makes a good interview question? You may use a combination of personal experiences an online resources to help answer these questions. If you use online resources, please cite them.   1-2 paragraphs.  
1. Next Step: Visit and read someone else's Blog Post #2 and ask them a "good interview question."
2. Reply to questions you get asked :)

Grading of Blogs:

+ = 100

Assignment is done completely and thoroughly.  Knowledge of topic is demonstrated in a complex manner with evidence of critical thinking.

✔+ = 92

Assignment is done completely and knowledge of topic is demonstrated.

✔ = 84

Assignment is done, but may not be completed thoroughly and/or missing components.

✔- = 76

Assignment is only partially completed and/or shows incomplete or inaccurate understanding of the topic.

- = 68

Incomplete, carelessly done, or unacceptably vague answers.

* In our shared google folder, I have put a list of books that would work well for this project.  Our library has the ones that are highlighted yellow.

Writing Assignment #1: What is Journalism? & Blog Set Up

Step #1: Reply to Ms. Peterson's email with your blog address

Step #2: The first post to your new blog is to explore what journalism means to you.  Some directions you can take this prompt include (but you are not limited to):

• What does journalism look like?
• Is there "good" or "bad" journalism?
• Where do you see journalism in your life?
• Talk about journalists you pay attention to.
• Why are you interested in journalism?
• What are you curious to learn more about in terms of this class? Journalism in general?

150-200 words.

Welcome bloggers!

Journalism is all about audience.  Journalists are constantly testing the waters of the world around them to figure out ...what do people care about?  What should they care about?  What do we need them to care about?  Their job depends on them being able to understand and capture an audience.

This blog will be our chance navigate this very challenge.  Our audience? Each other (and Ms. Leavitt's  journalism class).  It will be your opportunity to share the information you uncover---note: this isn't just information you already know, this class is about discovery.  

You'll be writing to make all of us think, question, and smile.  Good luck journalists; may the odds ever be in your favor.