09.26.07 and 09.27.07

Cores 1-4:

1. Discuss-on: What is the most meaningful feedback you have ever gotten (on writing, on playing a sport, or anything else)?
2. Introduce final procedures for Academy Authentics.
3. Work toward turning in your first Academy Authentic.
4. Extensions:
   • If you haven’t yet finished the process, share out with four people (your Academy Authentic) by Friday and share with me in your Academy Authentic by Wednesday.

The Academy Authentic Process

Revision and feedback are the most essential elements of the Academy Authentic. If you have not revised your piece and you have not already received feedback for it, then it is incomplete.

When I say revision, I am not simply talking about going through your piece and finding all of the punctuation and spelling mistakes and finishing them. Instead, I am talking about going through your piece and making sure that your intention as a writing matches exactly with the impression that your reader has. This means that you must be okay with deleting entire passages if they don’t mean what you want them to. It also means rewriting and reworking your writing until it is something that you are proud to turn in.

Now, you may not always be able to recognize parts of your writing that need to be changed or revised, but that is what the other students in the class are for. It is your responsibility on an Academy Authentic to give feedback to those who have asked for it, and here is the following way that they will do it.

1. Copy over your Academy Authentic to your Academy of Discovery Documents at http://docs.academyofdiscovery.com. (Or, if you have already set up your docs account to post directly to your blog, you already have your Academy Authentic there.)
2. Solicit feedback from at least four people by sharing your document with them.
3. Receive comments (insert comments directly into the document by going to insert and then comment) for necessary revision changes.
4. Address each comment either by revising your piece or by writing back to the other student within the comment box.
5. Compare your piece to the rubric and do a self-assessment at the bottom of your piece. 
6. Share your finished piece with Mr. Wilkoff.

09.25.07

1. Share-on: Reveal to at least two other people the progress of your persuasive weekend. Were you able to persuade your family/friend to do a piece of work for you without resorting to fallacious means?
2. What would it take to persuade this person to permanently take over your duties from you (persuade them forever)?
   1. How can a character or person really change?
   2. How do you know that they have changed?
3. Introduce the concept of multicultural novels, change and persuasion.
   • Dragonwings
   • Rising Voices
   • Taking Sides
   • The Secret of Gumbo Grove
   • Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
4. Extensions:
   • Start reading your multicultural novel and pick a character to monitor change and persuasion.

Core 2:

1. Write-on: What does a music review have to have in it?
2. Write a paragraph review of this music video.
3. What are the other angles that you can come at in order to write a good music review?
   • Background?
   • Personal?
   • Specific?
   • Instrumental?
   • Fanatic?
4. Bring in iPod to review 30 sec clips to see who can come up with the most creative review.
5. Extensions:
   • Write a review of an album (or song) that you truly love.

Core 3:

1. Write-on: How did FDR and GWB’s environment affect their speech.
2. Analyze the words used by both presidents in order to determine which environmental factors influenced them the most.
3. Extensions:
   • In paragraph form, write out how your environment has changed the way you look at the world.

Core 4:

1. Write-on: What is the one chore or experience that you would rather anyone else do but you?
2. Finish Reading “Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence.”
   1. Does Tom make fallacious arguments or real ones?
   2. How does he convince others to do his work for him?
3. Extensions:
   • Plan out how you plan to convince your parents/brother/sister to do something that you don’t want to do without the use of fallacious arguments. Write out how you have accomplished your goal in your blog.

The Act of Creation

Sometimes we get so caught up in creating the system and the environment for learning that we forget about the most important element of that environment: creation. The singular act of creation is not something to be glazed over; it is the backbone of all that we do, and sometimes we need people to remind us of this.

09.24.07

Core 1:

1. Share-on: Reveal to at least two other people the progress of your persuasive weekend. Were you able to persuade your family/friend to do a piece of work for you without resorting to fallacious means?
2. What would it take to persuade this person to permanently take over your duties from you (persuade them forever)?
   1. How can a character or person really change?
   2. How do you know that they have changed?
3. Introduce the concept of multicultural novels, change and persuasion.
   • Dragonwings
   • Rising Voices
   • Taking Sides
   • The Secret of Gumbo Grove
   • Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
4. Extensions:
   • Start reading your multicultural novel and pick a character to monitor change and persuasion.

Core 2:

1. Write-on: What does a music review have to have in it?
2. Write a paragraph review of this music video.
3. What are the other angles that you can come at in order to write a good music review?
   • Background?
   • Personal?
   • Specific?
   • Instrumental?
   • Fanatic?
4. Bring in iPod to review 30 sec clips to see who can come up with the most creative review.
5. Extensions:
   • Write a review of an album (or song) that you truly love.

Core 3:

1. Write-on: How does a person’s environment affect their speech?
2. Listen to and watch the speeches by FDR and fill out the Speech Analysis Form.
   1. Address at Hyde Park, New York.
   2. Statement on Signing the Social Security Act.
3. Compare and contrast FDR’s speech after the Pearl Harbor attacks with George W. Bush’s Speech after the 9/11 attacks.
4. Discuss the speeches in terms of change, tradition, and sacrificing individual needs for the needs of many.
5. Extensions:
   • Finish the Speech Analysis Form.

Core 4:

1. Write-on: How can the specific words that we use affect how persuasive we are in our writing or speaking?
2. Read “Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence.”
   1. Does Tom make fallacious arguments or real ones?
   2. How does he convince others to do his work for him?
3. Extensions:
   • Write out an answer to the following question: What is the one chore or experience that you would rather anyone else do but you?

09.21.07

Core 1:

1. Write-on: How can the specific words that we use affect how persuasive we are in our writing or speaking?
2. Continue working on “Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence.”
   1. Does Tom make fallacious arguments or real ones?
   2. How does he convince others to do his work for him?
3. Extensions:
   • Plan out how you plan to convince your parents/brother/sister to do something that you don’t want to do without the use of fallacious arguments. Write out how you have accomplished your goal in your blog.

Core 2:

1. Write-on: Create three short sentences about something sitting on your desk or in your pockets.
2. Read The Pen Commandments and take a look at the Pacemaker Syndrome, Conjunctionitis, and the Case Studies.
3. Extensions:
   • For next Friday, brainstorm what your case study would be about.

Core 3:

1. Finish presenting the 1940′s Smart Notebook Files.
2. Listen to and watch the speeches by FDR and fill out the Speech Analysis Form.
   1. Address at Hyde Park, New York.
   2. Statement on Signing the Social Security Act.
3. Compare and contrast FDR’s speech after the Pearl Harbor attacks with George W. Bush’s Speech after the 9/11 attacks.
4. Discuss the speeches in terms of change, tradition, and sacrificing individual needs for the needs of many.
5. Extensions:
   • Finish the Speech Analysis Form.

Core 4:

1. Write-on: What kind of arguments/persuasion are false? (Sometimes persuasive but always fallacious, deceitful, or just plain wrong)
2. Finish presenting the Metaphorical Persuasion pieces.
   • Chris and Katy
   • Erica and Hanna
   • Lex and Tommy
   • Becki and McKenna
   • Manas
   • Rachel and Allie
   • Joe, Jeremy, and Alex
3. Which are the most recognizable/often used of the Fallacious Arguments.
4. Find an example of one of the above Fallacious Arguments in modern political discourse.
5. Extensions:
   • Think of the one thing that you would like to persuade your parents to do for you (or give to you).

09.20.07

Core 1:

1.  Write-on: What is the one chore that you despise the most?
2. Read “Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence.”
   • Does Tom make fallacious arguments or real ones?
   • How does he convince others to do his work for him?
3. If time allows, work on your Academy Authentic.
4. Extensions:
   • Plan out how you plan to convince your parents/brother/sister to do something that you don’t want to do without the use of fallacious arguments. Write out how you have accomplished your goal in your blog.

Core 2:

1. Act-on: Grab a laptop and pull up your Satire through your manage tab. Write at the top, what kind of feedback you would like on your piece (more, but, or shredded questions).
2. Musical Chair Commenting: Leave your own laptop up and running with your piece on the screen and go around to the other student’s laptops to comment. Please give feedback that they have asked for.
3. Read and analyze any pieces that need to be shown to the class.
4. Work on your Academy Authentic piece.
5. Extension:
   • Read your AR book.

Core 3:

1. Act-on: Grab a laptop and pull up the 1940s notes on your Academy of Discovery documents.
2. Present the remaining Smart Notebook files and switch off taking notes.
3. Work on your Academy Authentic writing pieces.
4. Extensions:
   • Read your AR book.

Core 4:

1. Write-on: How has using Google presentations helped you to formulate and format your thoughts on persuasion and change (in people’s minds)?
2. Pull up your presentation on your Academy of Discovery Docs account and share it with me.
3. Present and ask questions in the discussion window.
   • How does this metaphor help to expand our understanding of persuasion and change?
   • What is a good example of this metaphor?
   • Is this type of argument a good one?
4. If there is time, work on your Academy Authentic pieces.
5. Extentions:
   • Read your AR book.

09.19.07

Cores 1-4:

1.  Write-on: Finish this sentence and write two more to follow it up, “Language Arts with Mr. Wilkoff is…”
2. Complete the student-led conferences handout and prepare your folders for the inevitable: la-talking-points.pdf.
3. What should be in your folder (or easily accessible on the computer):
   1. Your LA Talking Points handout.
   2. Your AR contract.
   3. Your graded writing piece (Identity Document or Ocean Question).
   4. Your first authentic writing piece (at least started).
   5. Your writing notebook with at least one thing highlighted or marked to show your parents.
   6. Your Reading Analysis scantron. Read more >>

09.18.07

Core 1:

1. Write-on: What kind of arguments/persuasion are false? (Sometimes persuasive but always fallacious, deceitful, or just plain wrong)
2. Which are the most recognizable/often used of the Fallacious Arguments.
3. Find an example of one of the above Fallacious Arguments in modern political discourse.
4. Extensions:
   • Think of the one thing that you would like to persuade your parents to do for you (or give to you).

Core 2:

1. Write-on: Which social topic do you think deserves to be made fun of? How are you going to exaggerate it in order to change it?
2. Read over the Like Syndrome and My satire and start to write your own.
3. Extensions:
   • Finish your satires.

Core 3:

1. Work-on: Grab a laptop and continue your work on becoming an expert on the 1940s.
   • Format your Smart Notebook file so that the words are not too small and your ideas/images are clear.
2. Present files.
   • Take notes on the important events and ideas of the 1940s.
3. Extensions
   • Think about how the 1940s mimics current situations.

Core 4:

1. Share-on: Discuss your connection between change and persuasion with at least two people and try to find a consensus.
2. How do you change someone’s mind?
   • With a partner, create a Google Presentation file that reveals your thinking.
   • Include images that represent your ideas from Morguefile.com
   • When you are finished, share it with me.
3. Extensions:
   • Read your AR book.

09.17.07

Core 1:

1. Write-on: How would you persuade someone visually?
2. Present persuasion Smart Notebook files.
   • What do you notice about these ideas?
   • Reflect on the process of creating these presentations.
4. Extensions:
   • Answer the following question either on your blog or in your notebook: How do your persuasion tactics change when you are trying to change the minds of many people rather than just one.

Class Notes:

Core 2:

1. Discuss-On: Why do we make fun of things?
2. Read Onion Articles and establish definition of Satire and its characteristics in your notebook:
   • ADHDTV Satire
   • Halloween Satire
     
   • Tag Body Spray Satire
3. Discussion Questions:
   • What are these articles making fun of/criticizing? How are they doing it?
   • Why are they targeting these particular aspects of society?
   • What can you do with satire (such as these) that you cannot do with other genres of writing?
4. Extensions:
   • Which social topic do you think deserves to be made fun of? How are you going to exaggerate it in order to change it?

Core 3:

1. Share-On: Prove to at least 3 other people that the tradition you believe is a “lottery” truly is sacrificing individual needs for group needs.
2. Answer the areas of the anticipatory 1940s Information Web with one other person (or on your own) by participating in a 30-minute expert presentation.
   • Search for important information about the 1940s in the areas outlined in the Information web.
   • Write about and use images from what you find in Smart Notebook.
   • Save the file to the Students server folder (in the 30 Minute Experts folder.)

Class Notes:

Core 4:

1. Highlight-on: Read through your discussions with your partner and highlight/circle the most important points. Write out or rephrase anything that is a good idea but needs to be reworked somehow.
2. Discuss the generalizations about change:
   1. The Five Generalizations/Truths of change.
      • Change is linked to time.
        • How is change linked to time?
        • Are all changes linked to time in the same way?
        • How do some of the changes you listed relate to time?
          
      • Change may be positive or negative.
        • What is progress?
        • Does change always represent progress?
        • How might a change be thought of as both positive and negative?
          
      • Change may be perceived as orderly or random.
        • Can we predict change?
        • Select specific changes from your list, and describe which aspects of them can be predicted and which are unpredictable.
        • Even when we know a change will take place, can we always predict exactly how things will turn out?
      • Change is everywhere.
        • Does change apply to all areas of our world?
        • What are some specific changes which are universal, or happen everywhere, and some specific changes that may apply to only a small area at a given time?
          
      • Change may happen naturally or be caused by people.
        • What causes change?
        • What influence do people have over changes in nature?
        • What influence does nature have over the changes people intended?

1. (Really Number 3) Extensions:
   • After all of our work with change today, answer the following question in your writer’s notebook or on your blog: How are change and persuasion related?

Class Notes: