Individual British Novel Project

The first thing you need to do is choose a British novel. You can get ideas from lists here, here, and here here,
It is very important that you make a wise decision since this project will count as two grades and it will take you several weeks. Making a good choice of a novel will make this easier for you. Do not choose a book just because you think it is short; this often makes things more difficult. Do not try to get away without reading the book. This is a novel project -- you need to READ a novel.

Step One: Choose a novel from the list, and then talk to me about your choice before you begin. You may want to have several choices since I won't approve everything.

Step Two: Read your novel. You will be able to add this reading to your independent reading record. Once again, trying to complete this project without reading your novel is foolish. I expect you to post three separate responses to your novel as you read. These responses need to be at least four complete paragraphs. You should not wait until the end to do this (keep in mind that Blogger puts a date on all your work). You may want to look over your book and plan where you will write your responses before you begin. The completion of these three responses accounts for 25% of your total grade.

Step Three: When you finish your novel, you should do some research on the author. Go beyond the regular information like where they were born, where they died, etc. Get interesting information about their life experiences, and try to make a connection between the author's life and the novel they created. Maybe you can find the author's purpose for writing the novel the way he or she did. When you are finished with your research, post a 4-5 paragraph biography with your findings. Please remember that you agreed to submit only original work and to include plenty of textual evidence to support your claims. The completion of this biography will be graded according to the rubric for weblog posts, and will account for 25% of your grade.

Step Four: What is the historical significance of the novel you chose? What makes it worthy of study in a literature class? You should search the Internet for some critical essays about your novel for some of this information. Use the information you find to prove how the novel you chose is an important piece of literature. This should be the most intense part of this project, and your final product should be an essay that proves the importance of your novel that includes evidence from the critical essays you have read, as well as evidence from the novel itself. This essay should be written in the same format as your other essays. You will receive an additional three writing grades for this part of your project (rough draft, editing, final draft).

The final draft of this essay will be graded according to the writing rubric, and will account for 50% of your grade on this project.

Siegmund's English Weblog User Agreement

Using a weblog for our classwork will require some parameters for your safety and the quality of everyone's work. First, you should recognize that your work, as well as mine will be published for the entire on-line world to see. This will ultimately make us all responsible for better and more original output than ever before. By visiting other students' weblogs, you will be able to view all their work, and it will also make it easy for me to see who is not making an effort to submit work that is original.

Once you create your own weblog for this class, I will add it to the class blog roll so everyone's work can be accessed from this page. I encourage you to look at your peer's work for ideas or inspiration, but what you submit must be your own. Language Arts lends itself well to this format since you will be asked to respond to the literature and history we study with your own ideas and opinions. There are no right or wrong answers in a Language Arts class, so looking at other students' ideas can help you. It can also create problems if you choose to be lazy.

I will reserve the right to a conference about each of your posts if I find it necessary. During this conference, we may discuss how you can improve your work, or if your work is not original, I may ask you to start over.

Since this weblog will be part of your education at Classic City High School, any activity on your weblog should be considered school activity, even if it is done outside of school. You should feel free to create posts that are not school related, but you should also be sure to refrain from anything that could be considered inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to: references to alcohol or drugs, violence, or gang activity, foul language, nudity, threats, etc.

THE USER AGREEMENT:

1. I agree to submit original work to my weblog. I realize I will have the opportunity to view my peer's work, and I will use this opportunity constructively. I understand that if my work does not appear to be original, I will be asked to adjust or re-do the assignment in question.

2. I agree to keep my weblog appropriate for Classic City High School. I understand that if innapropriate material were to appear on my weblog, be it from myself or an outside comment, I will be asked to remove it. Failure to do so will result in my weblog being removed from the class roll. I also understand that references to illegal or dangerous activities will be reported since it is the legal responsibility of my teacher.

To agree, post a comment to this message like this: I agree to Siegmund's Weblog User Agreement. I will not add your weblog to the class roll until I receive your message.

Practice Senior Project Presentations

These practice presentations are a chance for you to try your work out on the rest of the class before presenting to the big audience. Your presentation is a direct reflection of the kind of student you are and the work you completed this semester, so you should take every opportunity to make it as good as you possibly can.

You will receive a grade for your presentation practice. I will calculate your grade as follows:

90 -- 100: Student is completely prepared to give his or her presentation BEFORE the class starts. The presentation is nearly complete, and it shows that the student has spent ample time preparing a presentation for this practice. Students who receive a score of 90-100 are attentive to the other students who are presenting.

80 -- 89: Student is prepared to give his or her practice presentation, but it is clear the student could have spent more time. The presentation may not be complete. Students who receive a score of 80-89 may not be attentive to other students while they are presenting.

70-79: Student is prepared to give his or her practice presentation, but just barely. The presentation shows that the student has done the bare minimum to prepare his or herself for this practice presentation. Students who receive a score of 70-79 are not attentive to other students as they present.

0 -- 69: Students are not prepared to give a presentation at the beginning of class. Presentations are incomplete or extremely brief (under 6 minutes). Students receiving a score in this range are not prepared to give an adequate presentation.

You should use this rubric from your handbook to create your presentation. It is the one the judges will use when they grade your real presentation.

Lit 9 End of Course Test

Follow this link to a copy of a Ninth Grade Literature End of Course Test.

Read each question carefully, and record your answers on another sheet of paper. We will review the answers once everyone is through.

TAKE YOUR TIME!
This test is loaded with "sucker" answers that are there to fool those who are not careful!

Lit 11 End of Course Test

Follow this link to a copy of the American Literature (lit 11) End of Course Test.

Read each question carefully, and record your answers on another sheet of paper. We will review the answers once everyone is through.

TAKE YOUR TIME!
This test is loaded with "sucker" answers that are there to fool those who are not careful!

Senior Project -- Product Rubric

While you are putting the finishing touches on your product, you should review how I will be evaluating what you have done:

90 - 100: These products illustrate that the student was willing to spend the time and effort necessary to showcase what they have learned this semester in a way that is thorough and complete. Products scoring in this range show the student was willing to exceed the bare minimum and created something of which they can be proud. These products can stand alone without much further explanation.

80 - 89: These products illustrate that the student was willing to spend valuable time and effort necessary to showcase what they have learned this semester, but not to the extent of those that garner higher scores. Products in this range meet the requirements of the senior project but do not exceed those requirements. These products show that the student could have taken more time and exerted more effort to complete this requirement. These products may not stand on their own, and may require additional explanation on the part of the student. Products submitted one day late will receive a grade not any higher than 80-89.

70 - 79: These products illustrate the student's willingness to spend only the minimal time and effort to complete this requirement. Products in this range meet the bare minimum requirements. These products do not stand on their own and require substantial explanation to make clear what the learning it illustrates. Products submitted two days late will receive a grade not any higher than 70-79.

0 - 69: These products are incomplete, show no true effort on the student's part, and do not illustrate much of the semester's learning if at all. Products scoring in this range illustrate the student's lack of serious work on this portion of the senior project. Products submitted three or more days late will not receive grades any higher than 0-69.

How About Those DIRTY BIRDS!!!

I've learned my lesson, y'all. After watching the Atlanta Falcons dominate my Carolina Panthers on Sunday, I am finally ready to admit they are the better team. When I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that 20-13 staring at me, I had no choice it was time to face the truth.

Man, I wish Alge Crumpler played for the Panthers!

Maybe if they didn't wear girly powder blue, the Panthers may even intimidate the other team a little instead of letting the officials decide the game like the one in Atlanta earlier this season.

I think the real lesson here is that I should listen to Mr. Siegmund when it comes to football matters since he told me all along the Panthers were pretenders. I am going to go ahead and say it -- you heard it here, folks -- The Falcons are going to take out the Buccaneers this week on their way to a NFC South Championship. GO DIRTY BIRDS!!!

Maybe Mr. Siegmund will let me keep this hat since I'm tired of looking like a member of The Backstreet Boys wearing that baby blue one. . .

Shakespeare Renaissance Project

During the next couple weeks we will be reading a Shakespeare play together. This post is to outline the tasks which are expected of you to receive credit for this project.

1. We will be reading the play together. Your participation is expected.

2. You should complete a post that is a response to the historical information I have posted about the Renaissance. This can be as simple as you discussing what stuck out to you the most and why.

3. You will complete four separate posts about the play (Act I, Act II, Act III, and Acts IV and V). These posts should be 3-4 paragraphs in length, include a very brief summary of what we read, as well as your reactions. You should incorporate direct textual evidence into these posts.

Your grade will be calculated with the following formula:
Participation = 50%
Web Posts = 10% each (x5)

Exemplar Research Papers

The following links are to exemplar research papers. None of these are perfect, but they all can show you something I am looking for. Some of these writers did an excellent job citing their sources, while others did well at including their own voice with their research. You will find small errors in these papers, but overall they can help you get an idea of what yours should look like when you are through.

Solar Energy

The Reef Tank

Belly Dance

Coaching Young People

Forensic Entomology

Game Design

Tattooing

LOOOKY HERE!!

Though I am not in the classroom today, your responsibilities have not changed. You should know most of this, but allow me to reiterate:

First Period: To be on pace, you should have both your Puritanism and Rationalism posts up on your blog. Your rough draft is due today. If you do not have a rough draft ready at the beginning of Monday's class, I will consider it late. Put drafts in my drop box BEFORE you leave today. You should be through with or working on Module 3.

Second Period: To be on pace, you should have your Short Story #1 posts up on your blog. Short Story #2 is due at the end of next week, so you should work on that. Your rough draft is due today. If you do not have a rough draft ready at the beginning of Monday's class, I will consider it late. Put drafts in my drop box BEFORE you leave today. You should be through with or working on Module 3.

Third Period: You should continue with your research. The next time you see me, I will be checking your research notes. I will be looking for paraphrased notes, direct quotes, and the bibliographic citations for ten separate sources. Showing me an article you copied or e-mailed to yourself is not good enough. You also have your Middle Ages Literature project to work on; it is due at the end of next week.

If you post something to your blog, make sure you leave me a comment, and then check yours to see if there is anything else you need to work on.

Questions?

E-mail Me:

dana.siegmund@gmail.com

My Autobiographical Writing -- Take me out to the BALL GAME

Even before I was born, it seemed to be determined that baseball would be a part of my life. As the story goes, my father was not ready to go to the hospital while my mother was in labor with me until the Boston Red Sox game was over. They were getting beat pretty badly (9-2) by the Baltimore Orioles, but perhaps there was something else interesting to see in that game, or maybe my mother was not quite ready to go to the hospital either – I didn’t get my first breath air until 3:56 that morning. To make a long story short, my father is a huge baseball fan, as was his father and grandfather before him. I am sure that when I was born, he was already thinking of how he could pass the love of this sport to his first child.

I remember watching baseball with my dad when I was very young. He would try to explain to me what was going on, but I am sure I did not understand much as I watched players run, throw, and hit. Later he would teach me how to sing “Take me out to the Ball Game,” which might have added a little more context to what I saw. The first big moment would not come however until 1980 when I was five years old when my family lived in Oxnard, California. My life as a baseball fan changed forever on that summer day when I stepped foot for the first time into a Major League stadium -- Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles California.

I can still remember going through the turnstiles on our way inside. Santa Claus had brought me a baseball cap the previous winter, but not a Dodgers’ cap. My first piece of respectable headgear was representative of the California Angels, and I can remember the man who ripped the tickets telling me, “Kid, you are in the wrong place. You need to go up the road a little.” I didn’t get the joke, and I remember not liking the man since he was trying to tell me that I did not belong at the stadium on that sunny California day that would be the one when I went to my first baseball game.

I cannot say I remember many of the details of that particular game aside from the food I ate: hotdogs, chocolate malt, peanuts, pretzels, and probably more. The scorecard for this game exists somewhere, and on it my dad kept track of the items I ate as well as the number of beers he drank. Before leaving the park, I remember stopping to get a Dodgers t-shirt for me with my name ironed onto the back of it. It was one of my prized possessions until I moved to Georgia and became a Braves fan.

I went to my first Braves game probably sometime in 1982. I remember they were playing the Cubs, and the game was at the old Atlanta – Fulton County Stadium that was the home of the Braves before Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Stadium was constructed and later transformed into Turner Field. Once again, I do not remember the particulars of this game, but by this point, I knew that I was familiar with the rules and was able to follow the game since I was playing t-ball at the time. I was six or seven years old, and already at my second baseball stadium. Little did I know the list would continue to grow.

In the two or three years that followed, I would visit Fenway Park in Boston, the second-oldest existing Major League Baseball park twice, once to see the Red Sox play the A’s, and another time to see them play the Tigers. By the time I was ten, I had also visited Yankee stadium to see the Yankees play the Blue Jays. As I got older, I would see the San Francisco Giants’ former home, Candlestick Park, where I got to see the Braves as the visiting team; and the Philadelphia Phillies’ old park, Veterans Stadium. I added yet another stadium to my list when the Braves moved into their new home. I would see the Chicago Cubs play in Wrigley Field, where I was lucky enough to catch a ball, and just a couple of summers ago. I missed seeing Mark McGuire’s longest homerun of his career when I was standing in the concession line at the old Busch Stadium in Saint Louis, and I saw the Washington Nationals play in RFK Stadium where I saw Roger Clemens pitch a game where he struck out fourteen Nationals.

I still have more places I would like to add to my list of baseball stadiums, AT&T park in San Francisco, the new stadium in Pittsburg, and PETCO Park in San Diego to name a couple. I don’t think I would really crave going to new ballparks if my family would have never moved from California to Georgia and I did not get to see the first two so early. My list of stadiums is just a collection I keep, and I am not really sure what it says about me other than I like to travel and I like watching baseball games.