ELA 10 (p8)-Period 8 Assignments

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.

Please respond to one or more of the following questions with a response of at least 100 words.

How did it feel personally or emotionally to teach a lesson to the class? Why do you think it felt this way for you?
What was the strongest moment during your lesson? How do you know?
What was the weakest moment during your lesson? What could you have done differently?
Would you every volunteer to teach a lesson again? Why or why not?

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!

Use one of the two documents attached (the "classic" version is a little simpler/ easier) to outline an argument essay about your school day topic, using evidence and claims from the articles you found during your research. Please see my sample if you get confused :)

Use this form to provide information about two online sources that you will use to support your thesis statement about the school day. You can find these sources by doing a Google search (normal or by "news"), or by searching on the New York Times website (more advanced).

Please include all required information for at least two sources :)

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?

Last week, you conducted preliminary research about your school day topic, before creating your own questions.

Today, you will create a thesis statement in response to ONE of the questions that you created. Please get one of your questions approved by the teachers before you create your thesis.

Please use the sentence stems on the white board if you need assistance. Remember, a thesis statement for an argument essay will begin with a general claim about the school day, before providing more specific reasons.

Good luck! Later this week we will do research and begin outlining 😃

Note: 10% will be deducted for each day late (thesis statements due Monday at midnight)

Earlier this week, you practiced creating effective questions about photographs that we analyzed together in class. Today, I would like you to create questions about your school day topic (school lunch, classes, or mental health days). Please use your preliminary research, as well as the opinions you formed during the short presentation activity, to help form your questions.

To get full credit, your questions (2-3 of them) must be:

1. ARGUABLE, which means they are based on opinion, not just fact (one point)
2. COMPLEX, which means they cannot be answered with just a "yes" or a "no" (one point)

Before we move on with the research process, I will help you determine which of your questions is best to use :)  Good luck!

Preliminary or "before" research involves collecting information about your topic in the internet. This can be done using Google (filter your search for "news") or by using the New York Times website (more advanced).

Depending on your assigned topic from last week (school lunch, mental health days, or classes), conduct your own preliminary research by searching the internet, and then respond to the two prompts below in a document. Good luck!


What are people saying in the media (news search or New York Times) about your topic? What opinions or perspectives are being shared?
What additional questions are being asked about your topic? Or, what additional questions do you and your teammates have?

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?

This is where you will submit your 4-5 paragraph essay in support of your thesis statement about "Story of an Hour" or "Hills Like White Elephants." Be sure to use your evidence and claims from the outline 😉

Over the next two days, you will use the Classic Outline Template (please see the sample that I filled out) to outline a 4-5 paragraph essay that supports the thesis statement you developed earlier this week.


Please use your notes (central ideas trackers) about the two stories, and if you are struggling with the outline, don't forget the tips and strategies we went over on Thursday (slide attached). Good luck!

Which of your classmates’ thesis statements scores best according to the thesis writing checklist? Explain your response in a few sentences.

Thesis Writing Checklist:
Is the thesis statement concise, meaning it states a point clearly and directly, and does not use more words than necessary?
Is the thesis statement contentious, meaning it requires analysis or evidence to back up, and does not have a simple or obvious answer?
Is the thesis statement original, meaning it contains ideas, not just words, that are different from those of classmates?

Use your notes about "Story of an Hour" or "Hills Like White Elephants," including your central idea trackers, to create a thesis statement in response to one of the following prompts-


How does the author create a tone or attitude for the story?
How does the author portray one of the major characters?
How does the author communicate a theme or central idea?

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?

Instructions: Use this document to keep track of central ideas that you have identified in the two short stories from this unit, “Story of an Hour” and “Hills Like White Elephants.” You may work with your teammates, or you may work alone!

Pro Tip: A central idea, also called a theme in some classes, is not the topic of the story (for example, freedom), but the author’s message about that topic. In other words, what does the author want us to know after reading or hearing their story/ article?
Extra Credit Opportunity: You are required to fill out two rows for each story- For an extra classwork point, please fill out all three :)

After reading and listening to "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, respond to these questions to demonstrate your understanding of events in the story!

Due Date: Due on Thursday @ 4 pm. Each day late will result in -10% of points.

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%

You are your team will design a slide show presentation of 3-4 minutes in which you respond to the discussion questions at the back of your team's assigned story from last week.

When answering the questions, refer to your summaries, psychologist responses, and detective responses from last week. They will help you to respond to these difficult and thought-provoking questions.

Finally, don't forget about what makes a slide EFFECTIVE. It should be clear, appealing, and not overwhelming. It should also contain key claims, short quotes, and images that contribute to your message/ response (see rubric).

Good luck! If you don't have your copy of the text, they are all inside of the folder below.

Individually, prepare a slide show presentation of 3-5 slides in response to ONE of the following practice prompts. Please check out the rubric to see how you might score a 4/4, and try to model your slides after the effective examples that we looked at together in class :)

Note- later this week, we will be preparing slide show presentations about the stories that you and your teammates examined together last week.

Prompts (pick one)- 
Dogs are better pets than cats
Summer is better than winter
Pepperoni is the best pizza topping
Clowns are more scary than funny
Modern music is better than classical music
It would be better to be able to fly than to be able to turn invisible
Pluto should still be considered a planet
People should be allowed to go barefoot anywhere if they want to
Fiction is better than nonfiction
People shouldn’t have to go to school or work on their birthdays

You and your teammates together will explore a new text this week. However, you will each explore it from a different role or angle. With your teammates, choose who will take on each of the following roles, and make sure that you have a response to share with them for tomorrow's class :)
The SUMMARIZER prepares a summary of at least six sentences to clearly describe what is taking place at the different parts of the story, and what characters are doing.
The PSYCHOLOGIST identifies two moments that help us to understand the mindset or motivation of characters and explains, clearly and accurately, what we learn from these moments.
The DETECTIVE identifies two moments that help us to understand the central ideas or overall message of the story and explains, clearly and thoughtfully, what we learn from these moments.

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

Respond with at least ONE FULL PAGE of writing, or 150 words, to earn full credit. Choose one of the prompts please, not both. We will be sharing this writing during the second half of class :)
Option A- What feelings or emotions did you experience during the break? What caused you to feel these emotions and how did you manage them? Respond with at least one full page of writing to earn full credit.
Option B- What are you hopeful for in 2022? What are you going to do to make sure things go right this year? Respond with at least one full page of writing to earn full credit.

With a partner, prepare a 1-2 minute academic discussion in which you make predictions about central ideas in ONE of the two poems linked below. Please use the healthy discussion sentence starters in your project, to ensure you get a high score on the rubric :)

Your discussions can be presented to the class live on Thursday, or shown in video format (especially for those who aren't in school this week). Either way, it must be ready to show on Thursday to earn full credit.

Remember, these two poems are not easy. I chose them because they are complex and I wanted to end our poetry unit by challenging you guys. Take your time with these poems, remember the strategy I teach you on Monday for figuring these poems out, and don't be too hard on yourself if you struggle.

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.

Instructions: Please complete ONE of the following individual or group project options, to be shared on Thursday with the class 😃

(individual) Write a 2-3 paragraph essay in which you explain how Gary Soto introduces a central idea in his poem “Oranges” (first paragraph), and uses imagery to help develop that same central idea (second paragraph).

(individual) Write a poem of at least 20 lines or 80 words in which you describe one of your own experiences, using clear and detailed images to help us to picture your characters and your setting.

(pairs) Create a presentation in which you explain how the author of “Oranges” intended to make us feel, discussing specific lines and images from different sections of the poem

(team of 3) Create a scene in which one team member reads the poem “Oranges” from the outside, and two team members silently act out the eight sections of the poem, using tools like expression, movement, and body language to communicate feeling.

Now that you've completed the outline, write an argument essay in response to ONE of the following three prompts-
Do the benefits of video games outweigh the negatives?
Are video games a tool for fighting issues related to mental health?
Do multiplayer games help to support those who deal with loneliness?
Please make sure to use the sentence starters on the class white board to say MORE (analysis) about the texts, introduce evidence, and transition between your ideas. 


Good luck! After this, we are going to take a break from writing and projects for a few weeks to get into some poetry :)

Use the Classic Argument Outlining Template below to plan your argument essay, which will respond to ONE of the following three prompts-
Do the benefits of video games outweigh the negatives?
Are video games a tool for fighting issues related to mental health?
Do multiplayer games help to support those who deal with loneliness?
Please see my sample (linked) if you are confused about any of the parts. Remember that a thesis statement is your main argument or position about video games, and topic sentences are your major claims/ reasons. Each one of your body paragraphs will begin with a topic sentence that contains one of your major claims.


Finally, you have a TON of claims and evidence on these articles from your note catchers. Please make use of these so that you don't have to start over from scratch :)

Instructions: Use this document to take notes about the effects of video games as you read the texts from this unit.

Over the next three days you and your teammates will prepare the following, to be presented on Tuesday:
A 1-2 minute presentation about the key claims and evidence from your assigned article
A short scene of about 30 seconds where you and your partner communicate a central idea or key claim from the article
Please take a look at the rubric to see how you and your teammates can earn a 3/3 (group score) :)

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?

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 (4187), 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.

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"!

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.

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).

Please see instructions in the document! You may write your essay in the box on the document/ assignment, on a new document that you create, or on paper. This essay will help to show us your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and help us to teach you better this year :)

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 Monday, September 27 to receive credit. Because you will be discussing the reading with some of your classmates on Monday 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?