Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Salem Witch Trials Newspapers Now Available!

Students in Mr. Nekrosius's humanities project groups recently researched, wrote, and designed online newspapers about the Salem Witch Trials. To learn more, there is a link to the newspapers below.

For Mr. Nekrosius's humanities classes, here is your blog post assignment:


Choose ONE of the online newspapers created by Mr. Nekrosius's project groups and spend twenty minutes browsing through the various pages (you can find links to the two newspapers here). When have finished reading the newspaper, post a comment in which you write the following:

1.Three things you learned about the trials and/or the people of Salem--be specific, and be thorough.
2. A detailed connection between the events of Salem and the events you studied for your project (or, if you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project group, a connection between something you read and something you wrote for your own article.)
3. One question for an author or one of the designers of the newspapers.

(If you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project groups, you should post on the other class's newspaper.)

Remember:

You should include ONLY your first name and your class period (NO LAST NAMES) at the end of your blog post.

Also, remember to be positive, constructive, and detailed in your responses! Your posts are due Thursday, December 1st.

Tricks and Treats Via 7th Graders at Lab

Halloween is here again, and along with it a wide array of ghouls, goblins, Gumbies, and goodness knows what else. My advisory put forth a particularly strong showing in the annual 7th grade costume contest, and with various parades, scary music groove-a-thons, and ghost stories happening, this is shaping up to be quite a day here at Lab. Here's a selection of some of the costumes--the creativity and humor of the kids here is so wonderful to see (and there's a great shot of my whole advisory at the bottom):

Seventh Grade Boys Soccer Season Comes To A Close

This afternoon the seventh grade boys soccer team capped off a wonderful season with a convincing win over Latin. Thanks to the guys for all of their hard work throughout this autumn. They persevered through some difficult stretches, and they all made impressive strides in terms of both skills and fitness. Here are a few pictures to sum up the season . . .

Dunes Day!

This past Monday the entire 7th grade traveled to the Indiana Dunes to see succession in action and to make observations about biotic and abiotic factors. Their science teachers know more about what that data will become upon analysis. The day itself was beautiful, with blue skies, breezes, and all sorts of interesting flora and fauna to see. Here are a few pictures that tell the tale of the day . . .

Now that you have read over half of American Born Chinese, you should now be able to see certain themes emerging that appear in all three different story lines within the graphic novel. Your assignment is to describe one of those emerging themes and explain, using specific examples from the text, how you see each of the three story lines embodying or developing that theme. Your post should be at least six sentences long. You may choose to write your answer in paragraph form if you wish. If you are unsure on what the definition of "theme" is, consult your literary term glossary at the back of Social Justice. Your comment is due by the start of class on Wednesday.


Remember--read the post, and then click on the word "comments" just below that post. After you have written your post, add your first name, then "Nekrosius," then your period (so, Frodo Nekrosius 12). Then, select "Anonymous" for your identity and click "publish your comment." Also, remember to click "Publish your comment" twice to be sure that it gets sent to Mr. Nekrosius to moderate.

First Blog Posting Assignment for 2011 -- "The Box"

We have spent the past week and a half discussing questions surrounding identity. As part of those discussions, we have read several stories, listened to music, performed poetry, written in journals, and created identity collages to express your own unique cultural identifiers. We have also discussed various examples of "the box," which is a metaphor for any obstacles or barriers that might isolate, frustrate, enclose, or sometimes protect someone from a larger world.

Think back over everything we have read so far for this unit ("Theme for English B," "High Yellow White Trash," "Crickets," the "Phone Booth" poem, "and "Sylvia's Story" from National Public Radio). Your task now is to write and post a comment in this forum in which you describe a connection between TWO of these works, focusing on the role of "the box." Think about how different characters face similar or different challenges. Think about similarities or differences in the kinds of disguises characters wear. Do you think these characters will escape from their boxes?

When you have made a connection between two works, write a post describing that connection. Make sure to mention specific characters/narrators, and to be clear about how the "boxes" they experience are similar. Your post does not have to be long; four or five sentences is plenty. You should feel free to respond to your classmates' posts, as well as to ask your classmates questions.


*** Remember to use your first name, "Nekrosius," and your class period number when you sign your post (do NOT put your last name). Also, if you choose to respond to what another classmate wrote, please do so in a respectful manner.