Interesting opinion article about education

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08nisbett.html?scp=5&sq=education&st=cse



What do you guys think of this?

Independent Reading Assignent #5

Due Friday, Feb. 27th when we return from break. Please use all the skills we have been practicing in class to do this assignment.

Also consider keeping a copy to help you prepare for the Regents Exam -

Here are some good novels that work for many different critical lens essays:

1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Giver by Joan Lowery
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Our Town
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Lord of the Flies by Golding
Any of the Harry Potter books by RK Rowling
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Odyssey by Homer
The Miracle Worker
The Learning Tree
The Color of Water

Spring from the Bluest Eye

After class discussion today when we looked at different passages that met criteria for the independent reading assignment. Select one of the passages we discussed in class and try to analyze it based on the criteria. I will give feedback on this blog to help you all see what is being done well and what needs more work.

Look to older posts for examples of how this should be done.

Remember the 8 different kinds of passages are:
a passage that shows an important quality of the main character (protagonist)
a passage that shows setting
a passage that shows the complexity of a conflict for the main character
a passage that shows effective language
a passage that shows something symbolic, or why the book is titled what it is
a passage that shows the character's situation at the end
a passage that shows why you like the book
a passage that conveys an important theme or insight the book conveys...

You may use passages from Spring or Summer... type the passage in quotation marks and then put the page number... then analyze the passage based on which one you choose to do. As soon as you post, I will try to post feedback on the blog. This way, everyone can see what is good and what needs work.

This will help you focus your analysis for your unified essays and your critical lens essays taking you away from summary and moving into analysis.

Task 4 - lens interpretation and support

Interpret the quote below and list 2 pieces of lit with potential elements you would use to support your analysis.

Bring Bluest Eye on Monday

“The real hero is always a hero by mistake…”
—Umberto Eco
Travels in Hyperreality, 1986

Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Please finish reading the novel for next week and bring your book and notebook with a pen every day. We will be finishing up our discussion of the novel and then ending on Friday with an essay.



You will have the whole period. You will NOT be able to use the book on the essay. It is either going to be a task 3 or task 4 style essay...

I think more likely it will be a task 4... I will give you a quote, you will interpret it, agree or disagree with it and then (instead of using 2 works, you will use just the Bluest Eye)you will use the novel to support your interpretation.



You will need to use literary devices and elements from the novel to support

Low-Income High School Students Can Apply for Summer Journalism Program

Low-Income High School Students Can Apply for Summer Journalism Program
High schools / Deadline: February 20

High school student journalists from low-income families can apply to a ten-day, all-expenses-paid summer program at Princeton University in August. To be eligible for the program, students must meet the following qualifications:

They must currently be juniors in high school.
They must live in the continental United States.
They must have at least an unweighted 3.5 grade point average (out of 4.0).
They must have an interest in journalism.
The combined income of their custodial parents or guardians plus child support payments, if any, must not exceed $45,000.

For more information and the application materials, please visit www.princeton.edu/sjp. The application deadline is February 20. If you have questions, please e-mail sjp@princeton.edu.

Regents and moving forward

There will be Regent review classes starting after school soon. They are designed to be small groups of no more than 10 students to help students prepare for these important exams.

In class we will be working on the exams you all took this week. Those of you who didn't take the Midterm, but plan to will be given a different test on 2 consecutive Saturdays starting this weekend. Please see me about this.

Make sure you have read "Spring" for next week.