We held a Socratic Seminar on the issues that were brought up during the 12 Angry Men unit.  

If you were absent yesterday and missed the test, you will have the opportunity to take it when we return from break.

And may all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!  See you in 2014!

We took the test on 12 Angry Men; if you were absent today, I'll have make-up days posted when we get back from Winter Break.  

Tomorrow will be a Socratic Seminar; look over everything you've done for this unit so you will have something to contribute to the discussion.

If you didn't finish the Movie Chart, I'm still accepting them for full credit; however, you must turn it in by tomorrow to receive that credit.

We finished the movie version of 12 Angry Men and got back into discussion groups in order to answer a new set of questions that can help you on Friday when we do the Socratic Seminar.  At the end of the period, I collected the movie charts and the discussion work.  Tomorrow is a multiple-choice test based on 12 Angry Men and the genre of theatre.

We began watching the movie 12 Angry Men with the purpose of determining what new information we can get about the characters through their dialogue and actions.  Because we are looking at the world through a camera lens, the pictures that we get to see become very focused.  Camera angles and music can have an impact on how we interpret what we are seeing. 

Before starting the movie, we created a chart so that we could compare and contrast the information we received from the play and the information that we received from the movie.

I will be checking your notebooks, beginning today through Wednesday, so make sure you bring it to class.

Today we tried to make some inferences about the jurors in 12 Angry Men by creating a character wheel.  Pick one juror from the play and base your inferences on what you know about him. Here's what you do:
1. Draw a big circle on a piece of paper (use as much of the paper as you can).
2. Segment the circle into 5 equal parts (like a pie).
3. Put one response into each piece of the pie.
     a. What would be the best job for your juror? What would be the worst job for your juror?
     b. Use one symbol to express your juror's personality (not too literal).
     c. Relate one figurative language device to your juror (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idiom).
     d. What is your juror's favorite pastime/hobby?
     e. What would your juror do if s/he won the lottery?

If you need to refresh your memory about the jurors, there is a link to the play on my Thursday, Dec.5 blog.

Work I have collected: Character Chart, Agree/Disagree (with Alphabet Boxes on the back).

Have your notebook ready for a notebook check beginning on Monday, Dec.16.  Look at yesterday's blog for the list of the work I will expect to see in your notebook.

You were given time to complete the character chart that you received yesterday. If you finished it in class today, you'll get full credit; otherwise, the chart is homework that I will collect first thing tomorrow, and I will deduct 10 points (The exception is if you have an excused absence; please write at the top of the chart that you were absent so I can take that into consideration).

Monday, Dec.16, I will begin a Notebook Check.  Here is the list of what I will be looking for, by title:
 "A Change of Heart About Animals" annotation
"If Only They Could Talk" annotation
Research notes (for your expository essay)
Agree/Disagree
Jury Questions
Vocabulary Work
Drama Terms
Juror Identification
Convince
Setting
Act II
Stop and Jot 1-6

Look on past blog posts for links to the notebook work.

Pre-Act Quickwrites

We spent the past 3 class periods reading the play 12 Angry Men.  There are several responses you should have in your notebook; please make sure you have the following:

CONVINCE
Think about a time when you had to convince someone to see your point of view.  List the reasons you gave that they should consider changing their view and the facts that you presented to support your view.

SETTING
The setting is the environment in which characters live, so the setting can have an effect on the way characters behave.  Re-read the beginning of the play where the jury room is described, up to when the guard locks the door.
1. What does the jury room look like?  How could the appearance of the room have an effect on the    
     jurors?
2. Why is heat an important detail?
3. Why did the playwright choose to include the sound of the door locking?

ACT II
The protagonist in this play takes a stand against eleven others.  Write about the obstacles he faces and the opposition he feels from other characters.

STOP AND JOTS
1. Why is Juror #3 so bitter?  (p.5, left)
2. What is being implied about Juror #9?  (p.9, left)
3. What is Juror #3's blunder?  (p.10, right and left)
4. What did we just learn from this scene?  (p.12, left)
5. What just happened in this scene and why did it happen?  (p.14 and 15, right and left)
6. In the last scene of the play, what is the wordless message between Jurors #3 and #8?  In other      
    words, instead of their actions, if they could have spoken to each other, what would they have
    said?

 

Before we get started with the play, there are some things you should know about how a play is formatted.  In your notebook, titled Drama Terms, copy the information you'll find on this link.

The characters in the play, 12 Angry Men, are not identified by name; instead, they all have numbers.  The playwright, Reginald Rose, had a reason for doing this; we'll discuss that when we finish reading the play.  However, when reading the play, it is easy to get the characters confused because they don't have names.  In your notebook, using this chart (link), look at the character descriptions (link), and think about who these characters remind you of .  Doing this will help you mentally imagine each character as you read the script.

I will not be in my classroom after school today because it is Early Out and I have meetings.  However, I will be in my classroom tomorrow until 3:15 for those of you wishing to have some extra help with revising your expository essays.

We continued with vocabulary work, learning new words, and then categorizing those, along with the words and phrases from the alphabet box handout. You'll need to see me after school to get the logistics of this assignment.

Many of you still need help with revising your expository essays, yet you are not coming after school to get that help. I am available after school today, Friday, and everyday next week until 3:15.  I will not be available tomorrow, Thursday, Dec.5.  The deadline for revising your essay is Friday, Dec.13.  Advisory should be in session next week, so you could also utilize that opportunity. Don't wait until the last minute to get this done!

Today we generated more words to add on the alphabet box handout, and did some research to answer the following questions (questions and answers go in your notebook under the title Jury Questions):
1. How does a person's name come up for jury duty (or, how did this summons arrive in my mailbox?)
2. What are a juror's responsibilities? (There are several)
3. Describe the jury selection process. (Meaning, once you're at the courthouse, how do you wind up on an actual jury?)
4. Why might a person NOT be chosen for jury duty?
5. How can you get out of doing jury duty?
6. What's it like to be a member of a jury?

I'm still staying until 3:15 every day (except this Thursday) to help with expository revisions.  Don't wait until the last day (which is Friday, Dec. 13).

Welcome back!

I graded your Expository essays; some were good and some were not.  If you fell into the "not" category, here is what you need to do.  First, look at my comments and make corrections; then, see me after school or during Advisory--I will not adjust a grade until I have had a face-to-face discussion about the corrected work.  If you cannot make corrections because of something you don't understand, I will be in my room until 3:15 every day this week and next (except this Thursday), and you can also ask for an Advisory pass; we can clear up any misconceptions.  The DEADLINE for revised essays is Friday, Dec. 13.  However, don't wait until the last minute.

We began a new unit; we will be doing a Reader's Theatre reading of the play 12 Angry Men.  Before we get started with that, we need to have some background information and vocabulary.  I wasn't able to create a link for the handouts we used, so see me and ask for the Agree/Disagree handout on your return to class.