ELA 10 (p2)-Period 2 Assignments

An infographic is a visual image that is used to communicate data and information. 

Today we will be exploring some infographics to learn how they work. Then, you and a partner will start to plan your own :)

Please complete the following steps individually:
(1) Explore the three infographics below
(2) Select one that is meaningful or interesting to you
(3) Explain in 3-4 sentences how the infographic used images and/or information to teach you something new

Using green notes, post evidence from your team's section (copy quotes or paraphrase) related to how countries around the world have tried to address gun violence.


Using blue notes, include your own ideas about how we might address gun violence here in the United States.

Choose ONE of the following options and respond with a free write of at least 150 words. Everyone will be asked to share today 😃

: Write a story which starts with someone eating a pickle and potato sandwich.

: Write a short script where the plot has to do with evil dolls trying to take over something.

: Write about writers' block.

: List five election issues that would be ridiculous to includes as part of your election platform (e.g. outlawing mechanical pencils and clicky pens, mandating every person over the age of 30 must own an emergency last rites kit). Choose one of the ridiculous issues and write a speech in favor of it.

: List five careers. Write about someone with one of those careers who wants to quit it.


: Write a romance story in which the hero must have a last name corresponding with a physical characteristic (e.g. Jacques Hairyback or Flora Dimple).


: Write about a character named X "The [article of clothing]" Y (e.g. Julie "The Yellow Darted Skirt" Whyte) or simply referred to by their clothing (e.g. "the man in the brown suit" or "the woman in black").


: Write down a paragraph each describing two wildly different settings. Write a story involving both settings.

: Think of a fictional holiday based around some natural event (e.g. the Earth being at its farthest point from the sun, in memory of a volcanic eruption, that time a cloud looked like a rabbit riding a bicycle). Write about how this holiday is celebrated.

Greetings and welcome to your final project! I can't believe we've already made it this far :)

Over the next four days, you and your teammates will create a three-part lesson about a topic in ELA. These lessons will be graded out of six according to the rubric attached.

You and your teammates can choose to use any form of media (books, stories, poems, music, TV shows, etc.) to explain your topic. Before we begin, I will show you how to use your NYC account to access young adult books online through the public library. I will also have some suggested ones for you to use.

Finally, you can choose to create slides or a handout if you think it will help to make your topic more clear. Remember, your audience must understand your topic to score well. Good luck!

Suggested steps:
1. Select a book, story, poem, song, TV show, etc. that you will use to explain your topic.
2. Decide which tips or strategies you will explain in the mini lesson.
3. Create the demonstration where you explore the book, story, poem, etc. that you chose.
4. Create a practice or review activity for your students.
5. Create an energizer to make your students engaged.
6. Design any slides or handouts you will use in the mini lesson.
7. PRACTICE!

Have you ever had to teach a skill or activity to someone else? If so, how did it go and did you enjoy doing it? Why or why not? If not, do you think you’d be good at teaching a skill? Why or why not?

Good Morning Class! I cannot be with you today because I am visiting another school (I am learning a new AP class for next year, and I get to see it in action!). 

For class today, please watch this very interesting 15-minute video about the mental health and suicide crisis (if this topic is sensitive, feel free to skip the assignment for a makeup). Then, choose two claims or ideas from the video that you agree with or disagree with, and explain your choices using reasoning and/or real life examples.

Good luck! Presentations will resume on Wednesday :)  The order for Wednesday is: Lamar, Amir, Isaiah, Christina, Ronijah, Jaiden.

Step 1: Choose one moment from your Spring Break that lasted no more than ONE MINUTE or 60 seconds. You can choose a moment that was important and meaningful, or one that was funny and silly.

Step 2: Write 200 WORDS or more about JUST THIS MOMENT. You can write about what happened (what you saw, heard, smelled, tasted, etc.), how you felt, and/or what the moment meant to you. The only thing you cannot do is write less than the word count!

Step 3: Students who would like to share will share out in class. Good luck :)

On Monday, each member of the class will make a 2-3 minute slide show presentation to support their thesis statement about the school day. We suggest that you include the following slides:
An introduction slide with your name, topic, etc.
One slide for each of your major claims/ sections
One slide addressing a counterclaim to your argument
Remember, good slides are NOT overwhelming (few words and images), and will tell your audience members what you plan to talk about, NOT what you are going to say. You want your audience members to be focused on YOU, and not your slides. Your slides are simply a tool to guide them if they lose their way.

Good luck, based on our previous presentations I think you will do great 😃

Submit the first draft of your essay about the school day here :)

Use your claims/ evidence/ sources from the outline. Good luck!

Respond to ONE of the following prompts with a response of 200 or more words 😃

What is the meaning of life? 

Which is better: too much of something or too little of something? 

Which is better: truth or beauty? 

Is social media a blessing or a curse? 

What two questions would you ask to find out someone’s true self? Now, answer these questions yourself. 

What does it mean to be human?

Define intelligence.

To what extent do gender, ethnicity, social background influence your life? 

Is society today better off than it was 100 years ago?

What labels could others give you? Are labels helpful or harmful? Explain.

Do you believe human nature is evil or good?

Respond to ONE of the following prompts with a response of 200 or more words 😃

Do you believe in karma? Why or why not? 
Do you believe in love at first sight? Why or why not? 
Do you believe in the law of attraction? Why or why not? 
Do you believe animals fully understand human conversation? Why or why not? 
What are your “rules to live by”? Which one is the most important and why?
Do you believe in “carpe diem”? Why or why not? 
Do you believe in an “eye for an eye”? Why or why not? 
How have your family and friends influenced your beliefs? 
Do you believe that people are the product of their environment? Why or why not? 
Do you believe in second chances? Why or why not?
Do certain characteristics make people more likely to succeed? Explain.

Describe one lesson or takeaway from last week’s Momentum leadership training. What is one change that you will make in the next month? What steps will you take to make this change work?

Respond to ONE of the following prompts with a response of 200 or more words 😃


If you woke up tomorrow with amnesia, what memories would you want to return? To forget forever? 

What would your five year old self have to say to your current self if you met for coffee? What would your current self say to your 10-years-from-now self? 

What are you most thankful for? 

Do you think the past is the best predictor of your future? Why or why not? 

How have you changed from when you were a child? Why?

What does the future hold for you? 

Do you think your generation will “change the world”? Why or why not? 

In what ways do you look to the adults in your life for guidance? In what ways can they learn from you? 

What present-day issues are you the most concerned about? Why?

What do you hope you will always remember about high school? 

What is trending right now on social media and what are your thoughts on it?

This week, we will be examining the experiences of seven individuals whose race has affected their careers inside the publishing industry. This includes authors, book store owners, vice presidents, and those who do marketing and promotion for publishing companies.

Your team will be assigned one of the seven unique perspectives from the New York Times article that is attached. Then, you will create a short discussion to be presented to the class on Wednesday. In your discussion, you will present the following information, using evidence from your assigned perspective in the article-
The individual’s background, including their role in the publishing industry.
Their opinion or perspective about race and the publishing industry.
Your own opinion- Do you agree with the individual’s perspective? Why or why not?

Respond to ONE of the following prompts with a response of 200 or more words :)


If you could invent anything, what would it be? Describe why you want to invent it, what it would look like, what it would do, etc. 
Choose the animals that best represent your family members and closest friends. Explain why you have chosen each animal. 
What if the world was made of Jello?
If your life was suddenly a hit reality television show, what would it be called and what would viewers say about it? 
Describe your survival plan in the event of a zombie apocalypse. 
Create the perfect alien. 
You have three doors in front of you: red, blue, and green. The red door says “wing.” The blue door says “want.” The green door says “woke.” Which door would you choose and why? Describe what you imagine to be behind each door.
Explain what a forest looks like to someone who cannot see. 
Write a recipe for happiness. What would the ingredients be? In what order and amounts would you add them? What instructions would you include for baking and serving? 
Create your own original, symbolic names for five locations you visit every day. 
Write a guidebook for the older generation to help them understand your generation.

Please note: Those who are finished with the winter reading test will complete this free write during class on Wednesday. Those who are still taking the test will finish their test on Wednesday, and complete this free write for homework. Of course, I am posting this at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, so if you'd like to do it tonight..


Due Date: Due on Wednesday @ midnight. Each day late will result in -10% of points.


Instructions: Write at least 200 words in which you respond to one or more of the following questions/ prompts. You may choose to write a longer response to just one prompt, or divide up your words between them.


What are some of the lessons, projects, and activities that engaged you the most this year? What about the least? Explain why to the best of your ability.


What are some of the things that made you feel safe and comfortable in class? Is there anything that made you feel unsafe or unwelcome? This will not be shared with anyone except for your teachers.


What are some personal or academic goals that you would like to achieve in the second half of this year? Is there anything your teachers can do to help you achieve these goals?


Is there anything else that you would like to say to your English teachers at this halfway point of the year?

All students who completed before 1/28- 100%

Prompt: What moments, ideas, words, or phrases from your classmates' free writes do you want to know more about?

In this poem, the writer uses something called an extended metaphor to describe the failure or breaking down of a relationship. This is when a writer makes a comparison (for example, to the sinking of a ship), and then continues to create images related to that original comparison. After listening and following along to the words, complete one of the following options-
In a response of 2-3 paragraphs, explain how the writer introduces an important central idea. Then, analyze how the writer uses an extended metaphor, or another writing strategy/ literary device, to further develop that central idea.
Write an original poem in which you use an extended metaphor of your own to communicate a central idea related to the power of words, or any other theme that is important to you.

How did it feel to take part in the debates this week? Were you nervous compared to last month's team presentations? Why or why not? Did the debates change your views about video games at all? If so, how?

Do you like video games? Why or why not? Explain your response in 2-3 sentences.

Greetings! New York State is requiring all students to take a two-day reading test in order to see how your reading has been affected by the pandemic. The good news is that this means your essay about "New Husbands" is now pushed to next week, and to the second marking period!


Everyone who completes the test in class between Tuesday and Wednesday will receive extra credit (plus 3) for marking period one. The program will know if you are rushing, answering randomly, etc. You must try your best in order to get a score!

Step 1: Go to the following link- http://test.mapnwea.org/
Step 2: Enter in the SESSION NAME (stash7009), password (5777), and other information
Step 3: Click "Start Test" and begin testing :)

Instructions: Use this form to score/ rate your classmates’ text messaging projects between characters from our story. Then, make a choice as to which narrative was the most interesting and thought-provoking, and briefly explain why.

Note- to see your classmates' projects, click on the folder below and open up the template/ slide presentations inside of the folder.

Now that you are experts in finding central ideas, I'd like to give you one more challenge- writing about the central idea inside of a song!


After listening to the song (you may not like it, that's not the point!!) and following along with the lyrics, write a strong paragraph in which you analyze or explain one central idea from the song. Remember, to truly analyze or explain a central idea you must not only identify the central idea, but describe the author's message or LESSON about that idea. What did they mean to teach us?


You can earn up to two points of extra credit- please see the rubric attached to know how to earn these points!

Instructions: Use this form and the Google Slides template attached to create a fictional (imaginary) text message conversation between Waverly and Jing-mei, the narrators from the two chapters of The Joy Luck Club that we studied in class. In this conversation, Waverly and Jing-mei, who are cousins, should talk about one or more of the following topics:

Their experience with trying to live up to their parents’ expectations.
Their parents’ ideas about American culture and living in the United States.
Finally, to get full credit, please make sure to fill out both sections of this form, include at least four messages from each character, and follow the instructions on the rubric below!

Instructions: Use this document to keep track of central ideas that you and your teammates find within Jing-Mei’s chapter of The Joy Luck Club! Remember that truly identifying a central idea means determining what the author had to say about that central idea. What lesson related to the idea did the author mean to share with us, her readers?



Note- please see our example using pages 7 and 8 of "The Joy Luck Club"!

These three questions are based on page 6 of the chapter "Two Kinds" and look exactly like the questions you will see on your English Regents exam at the end of the year!

Instructions: Close reading is a three-step process for looking very deeply at a text and creating questions about it. While reading the chapter “Two Kinds”, please identify one passage (between one half and one full page) that you find interesting and/or engaging, and use this form to perform your own close reading! Finally, I did my own close reading of a section from Waverly’s chapter (“Rules of the Game”) that you can take a look at if you have any trouble. It’s attached on Google Classroom!

Instructions: The goal of a free write is to not stop writing for the entire five minutes. Anything that comes to your mind, put it in your response!

Prompt: Do you prefer when people (family, friends, teachers, etc.) have high or low expectations for you? Explain your reasoning in as much detail as possible, and be prepared to share with the class.

Sentence Frame : “I prefer when people have ___________ ( high expectations of me / low expectations of me) because …. For example …”.

Instructions: Use this form on during class to score/ rate your classmates’ presentations about the relationship between Waverly and her mother. Then, make a choice as to which presentation was the most clear and engaging, and briefly explain why.

Our first project to be completed in teams of three :)


STEP 1: Select one quote or interaction that best reflects the relationship between Waverly and her mother during the first half of the chapter (pages 1-4).

STEP 2: Select a second one that best reflects the relationship during the second half of the chapter (pages 5-8).

STEP 3: Prepare a short (2-3 minute) presentation in which you explain how and why the relationship between Waverly and her mother changes over the course of the chapter. Refer to the evidence from steps 1 and 2 to make your claims.




Important Note: To receive credit, each member of the team must share at least one piece of explanation/ analysis. We suggest that you break it up like this-
Student A speaks about their relationship in the beginning of the text, and the related evidence
Student B speaks about their relationship in the second half of the text, and the related evidence
Student C speaks about how and why, in your team's opinion, their relationship changed

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfivMRDyPtEy8Qpe35EKeDkvZmLe9tB9_8DCHRBhU5I7iTLpg/viewform

Greetings! Please explore the second edition of the MAST Literary Magazine, which was completed last year and contains stories, poems, and arguments exclusively from students here at MAST. How exciting! Will you submit a poem or story for this year's edition? (October)

Anyway, once you have explored the works in the magazine (some will connect with you and some won't), I would like you to choose two of the works and briefly explain why the ideas in the poems or stories connected with you (3-4 sentences for each poem or story).

Instructions: Use this graphic organizer to track and analyze relationships between Waverly and other characters in the chapter of the Joy Luck Club called “Rules of the Game”. This assignment must be completed (at least five entries) by class time on Friday, September 24 to receive credit. Because you will be discussing the reading with some of your classmates on Friday and planning presentations, no credit will be given for turning in this assignment late. Thank you for understanding!

Instructions: The goal of a free write is to not stop writing for the entire five minutes. Anything that comes to your mind, put it in your response!

Prompt: What are some of the lessons or values that you learned from older members of your family? How have you been affected by these lessons or values?

Instructions: The goal of a free write is to not stop writing for the entire five minutes. Anything that comes to your mind, put it in your response!

Prompt: Which of the following animals (see attached picture) is most like you and why?

Instructions: The goal of a free write is to not stop writing for the entire five minutes. Anything that comes to your mind, put it in your response!


Prompt: Describe a time inside or outside of school when you had to take a risk. How did you feel?