Discussion Question # 15

Love is in the air people! Happy Valentines Day to all of you.

Here is the assignment this week: Shakespeare wrote many plays, but he is also famous for his sonnet's ( kind of poem). You will have two weeks to complete this assignment. You are going to memorize one of his most famous sonnets, Sonnet 18. It is a romantic poem that also gets you credit for a GRAND MASTER CHALLENGE question worth 10 points on the challenge board!! You willl recite the sonnet in class or on video if you don't want to do it in class. I can't wait to hear your wonderful and poetic voices! Here is the sonnet.

Progress...but in this case...perfection!

SONNET 18


Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Discussion Question # 14

This week we began talking about how to compare and contrast. We used "The Witches and "The Twits" and talked about how they are similar, and how they are different. Just like last weeks assignment when you took an example from your book that showed cause and effect, now you are going to do the same with compare and contrast. I want you to compare and contrast two characters in your book and tell me three things that are similar about them and three things that are different.

Progress not perfection,

Mr. D

Discussion Question # 13

We have been working on cause and effect in class. Your assignment for this week is to come up with three examples of cause and effect that you found in the book you are currently reading. I want you to find the cause and effect, then combine them to make one sentence using a signal word.

example: I am currently reading The Witches by Roald Dahl. Here is a cause and effect from the book...Cause: Luke trained his mice outside of the hotel room. Effect: Luke is trapped behind the screen in the grand ballroom.. combined sentence. Luke trained his mice outside of the hotel room, CONSEQUENTLY he was trapped behind the screen in the grand ballroom.

progress not perfection,

Mr. Dickson

Discussion Question 12

Welcome back! We have been reading Roald Dahl's "The Witches" in class, and the story is really heating up! Your assignment this week is to tell me what you would do differently from the boy if a witch lived in your neighborhood. How would you spot her? What actions would you take to make sure that no witch ever captured you or anyone else in your neighborhood? I am curious to see how you plan to tackle this question, because I know many of you believe that you could handle a witch by yourself no problem. Consider everything you know about witches and try to come up with a clever plan of how to defeat them.

Progress not perfection,

Mr. D

Discussion Question # 11

For the last question of the first semester, I'd thought we'd do something fun. You are going to write about what you are doing over winter break....in a poem. That's right, I want to see your awesome poems on display for the whole class!

Also, I am going to post all the recipes from "PIE" by Sarah Weeks. Hopefully you and a loved one will spend some time together this holiday, enjoying a fresh baked pie!

Have a wonderful break. I am proud of all of you.

love,

Mr. Dickson

Discussion Question # 10

Apologies to all about the trouble with this discussion question. I think we have officially fixed all the issues and should be good to go!


The discussion question this week is just like discussion question # 8. Please read the poem below and share your thoughts about what you think it means. Explain your reasons and discuss what kinds of emotions you think the author was trying to get you to feel when he wrote it. When you have finished writing about what the poem means to you, I want you to pick your favorite verse from the poem and write about why it stood out.
This poem is one of my personal favorites, so read carefully and enjoy!
Also, I want you to take your time with spelling, and make sure you analyze the poem one stanza at a time. A stanza is a group of lines that are separated from the others, like a paragraph or verse in a song.

We will be sharing these in class, and together we will decide on who had the best response of the week. They will win the title of Golden Blogger until the next discussion question.

Progress not perfection,

Mr. D

DON’T GIVE UP
by Phoebe Gary

If you’ve tried and have not won,
Never stop for crying;
All that’s good and great is done
Just by patient trying.

Though young birds, in flying, fall,
Still their wings grow stronger,
And the next time they can keep
Up a little longer.

Though the sturdy oak has known
Many a wind that bowed her,
She has ris’n again and grown
Loftier and prouder.

If by easy work you beat,
Who the more will prize you?
Gaining victory from defeat,
That’s the test that tries you.

Discussion question # 9

We just wrapped up our Twits projects and I'm very proud of all of you. Your performance in the videos shows that you cared about your work and you put a good amount of time and effort into them. What is more important however, is how YOU feel you did on the project. Was it your best effort? What would you do differently?

After watching your projects I have some thoughts I'd like to share.

1) When you talk you need to be louder and more clear.
2) It helps to have the entire script written out and planned before you start to film.
3) Being silly doesn't work as well as you think it will. Take your time and produce more thoughtful work.
4) Ask yourself this question before you begin the project: What is it I’m trying to show my audience? What am I trying to teach them?
5) Practice, practice, practice... the more comfortable you are with the script, the better it will sound.

Your assignment this week is to tell me what you would do differently if we filmed them again. How would you make it better and more informational.

PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION,

Mr. Dickson

Discussion Question # 8

Poetry is a part of writing and reading that we don't always spend as much time on as we should. Poets are excellent writers who find creative ways to share their feelings and thoughts. Your assignment this week is a fun one. Please read the poem below and share your thoughts about what you think it means. Explain your reasons and discuss what kinds of emotions you think the author was trying to get you to feel when he wrote it. When you have finished writing about what the poem means to you, I want you to pick your favorite verse from the poem and write about why it stood out.

We are going to use this discussion as a way to start reading, reciting, and learning the wonderful skill of poetry.

Progress not perfection,

Mr. D



Where the Sidewalk Ends
from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974) by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.

Disgusting...I mean.....Discussion question # 7

You guys have been doing an unbelievable job on this blog and in class. Your ideas and arguments are becoming more clear, and your use of details improves daily. In the spirit of Halloween, I thought it might be fun to take a break from our usual discussion and try something a little stranger...

This weeks assignment travels into your scary and fascinating minds...If you are celebrating Halloween, what is your costume? I WANT DETAILS. You are NOT allowed to write, for example, “I am going to dress up like a doctor, the end”. What you SHOULD do is write, “For Halloween I am going to be a doctor. My smock is white, but covered in blood from a nasty surgery gone horribly wrong. I am not wearing a mask, but instead my Mom is going to do my makeup. I want to have jet black hair and scary eyes. I will carry around a fake scalpel and call myself Dr. Death. My plan for Halloween is to go trick or treating with my brothers and sister. Dad is going to walk with us and wait on the sidewalk. He always tells us to say “thank you” to each person who's door we ring. I have a lucky pillow case that I usually carry to get all my candy, but this year I am going to have a bright orange, creepy pumpkin bucket”.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

Mr. D

Discussion Question # 6

I thought for this weeks discussion we would continue talking about our Twits project. You have been making some excellent progress, and it is almost time to begin filming. Your projects all sound very interesting, and I can't wait to see the final results when we all sit down and eat some spaghetti and watch your films.


Your assignment this week is to write about the part of your movie you are most looking forward to filming, and the part of your movie you think will be the most challenging to film. Please include your reasons as to why it is your favorite part and why it is your most challenging. Finally, write about what you hope the rest of the class learns from watching your film. Are you going to persuade, entertain, or inform? Maybe you will do a combination of those? Let us know on the blog.

PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION (Rome was not built in a day...look up the reference)

Mr. D