Think About It!

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit.

The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder."I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

So punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death!

Bad Grammar Song

Adjectives

Mr. Morton: Subject and Predicate

Conjunction Junction- "And, Or, But"

Why Grammar and Spelling is Important!

Pictures say a thousand words!

http://www.boldspark.com/entertainment/guide-proper-spelling-american-way

Final Project: Example of Slam Poetry

Discussion: Why Are We Infatuated With Celebrities?

Express Yourself with Gizmoz Video Clips

RELAX!!

Studies show that calming and methodical music helps the brain focus on the chore at hand. Play the music clip below while doing your homework and see if it works for you!

Realistic Romance Activity: The Directions

Choose one of the following celebrity marriages that best mirrors your expectations in a relationship: Smiths, Favres, Obamas, or Osbournes.

Write a paragraph answering each of the following questions (3Ps total):
1. What three qualities in this celebrity marriage do you want in your own relationship?
2. What two qualities in this celebrity marriage do you not want in your own relationship?
3. What do these answers say about your personal identity?

Realistic Romance Activity: The Obamas

"Three qualities that I like abou the Obama family is that she's supportive of him, they're both college educated, and they're both very ambitious." -JC
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"The three qualities I would like is being a president and having the money and the fame. I wouldn't like getting killed or having to write a lot of papers. This shows I want peace." -AD

Realistic Romances Activity: The Favres

"I would want to have the Favres' relationship. After all of the problems we've had to deal with, we would still be together. I like an active relationship. It would seem like we are truely in love with each other. I wouldn't like the fact that we had to deal with alot. I don't like how we had a lot of tough. This choice shows that I would like a very serious, loving relationship." -LS
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"Three qualities I like about this relationship is how they stuck together through being an alcoholic and a cancer patient. They didn't give up on each others and how their thoughts about them didn't change after what happened. I didn't like how long he was an alcoholic for. I like someone who will stick with me no matter what." -AL
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"In the way of making a choice on couples I would like the Favres. Three things I like would be they have a large cabin with a full size football field. He provides for his family greatly. That he plays pro football and she's ok with that. One thing I don't like is that she is just a say at home Mom. Another this is she has no income other than what Brett is providing. I think this means I want someone who makes an income no matter how much I bring in." -JS

Realistic Romances Activity: The Osbournes

"Ozzy Osbourne is probably a cool person to live with because he is rich. Also he's wild and not as boring, and it will totally be spontaneous everyday. One thing I wouldn't want to live with him is because he's super ugly! Another thing would be because he is a total weirdo! So I'm basically saying that I do like to have fun and like spontaneous guys but not too crazy and someone who does drugs (ick)! That's not for me". -RJ

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"Two qualities I don't like is that Sharon would be a kill joy to some of the things I like to do, and I really can't understand Ozzy talk". -TP

Realistic Romances Activity: The Smiths

"Two qualities I dislike are he's more famous and you never hear about Jada. In a relationship I want to be even, I don't like being on the side but even if I am I know I have a good person with me. It shows I am full of myself to a certain point but in time it will bother me!" -KJ

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"I know that they are not perfect but it seems as thought they haven't gone through as much crap as the others. Also I like that they are both successful. That seems to make the relationship balance out. Also I like the fact that they have kids. That shows commitment and wanting to be together. Somethings I don't like for one is also that they are famous. I would not want to be famous. Or even be in the public eye..." -SB

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"Three qualities I like in their relationship are they are a nice living family, they have a good amount of money, and he seems like a very well rounded husband! Some things I don't like is being famous cause then I would have cameras all in my face and tabloids I couldn't deal with. Also possibly having kids while being on the spot light. It shows that I don't like being on the spot and I want a good man." -C

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"They both look perfect together and they always seem happy with each others and their family. Another thing I like is it looks like Will Smith is a respectful guy and also a responsible guy too. One thing I don't like is maybe he is too busy to be with his wife and kids..." -AM

Definition of Identity

Dictionary Definition (s):

"the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known; exact sameness" wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

We have brainstormed words, examined concrete definitions, and generated images related to identity. Use all the information explored during these activities to finish the following sentence:

"Identity is..."

What About Bob?

And every one of them words rang true
and glowed like burnin' coal
pourin' off of every page
like it was written on my soul
from me to you...

-Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter

**What do these lyrics say about author identity?

**What is your relationship with writing?

**Do you agree with Bob's perspective?

Purpose of this Blog

This blog is intended to showcase the fantastic journaling taking place this Spring in the English 9 classroom! Each journal entry will be a response to a prompt: students will submit work to be read by their instructors. Work recommended for this blog will be published annonomously on this site for peer review. Peer reviewers will post (appropriate) comments to the published journal entries on this same site. Happy blogging!