1. Topic: Name
Period
Date
Essential Question:
Questions
Notes
Summary:

2. Notebook Entries You must bring your English notebook daily to class.
Number and label each entry to get full credit.
Complete the required number of lines.
When absent, be sure to make up entries missed (posted on Web page one week in advance of due date).
Notebooks entries will be collected and graded after 8-10 assignments (3 points per entry).
If a notebook is too sloppy to grade, it will be returned without credit.

3. Notebook Entries
First Marking Period

4. 1: Ideal Teacher
(10 lines in seven minutes)
Describe your ideal teacher. In your opinion, what qualities does a good teacher possess? What turns you off to a teacher? Think of past teachers and describe a positive and a negative experience. Don’t name names!!!

5. 2: Kindness
(10 lines in seven minutes)
“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”
What does this precept mean to you?
Describe a time when you or someone you know had to choose between being right and being kind.
Think about interactions with parents, teachers, and friends.

6. 3: Outsider
(10 lines in 7 minutes)
What does it mean to be an “outsider”? When do you feel like one? Always? In certain situations or groups? Describe your outsider experience.

7. 4: Unfathomable (10 lines in 7 minutes) Describe things that are unfathomable to you. You might include forces in the natural world, academic concepts, or the behavior of others. Use the word unfathomable at least three times in the entry.

8. 5: “Things are rough all over”
(10 lines in 7 minutes)
Cherry Valance says this to Ponyboy. Do you think life is equally rough for the greasers and the socs? What about in real life? Are things really rough all over?

9. 6: Taking a Life (10 lines in 7 minutes)
Is taking a life ever justified? Why or why not?
Chapter Vocabulary
Academic vocabulary:
Imagery: language that helps you to see, hear, smell, and feel the action? Listen to our sample passage.
Whole chapter read aloud
Reread independently
what helps you to see, hear, smell, and feel the action? Modified Whiparound

10. 7: Point of View (10 lines in 7 minutes) Rewrite the scene in the park in first person, present tense, as either of these two characters. Think about what might be going through their minds as the scene unfolds. Both are thinking about more than just the violence that gets played out in the park. Are they thinking about their friends? Their families? The other social group? What are their emotions throughout the scene?

11. 8: Nightmare (10 lines in 7 minutes) Ponyboy has a reoccurring nightmare. Describe the worst dream you ever had. Does it reoccur? Use imagery to create a vivid picture for your reader.

12. 9: Family (10 lines in 7 minutes) Darry keeps his door open for any of the boys who may need a place to crash. They are like an extended family. Do you have a friend who has family status? Explain.

13. 10: Hero (10 lines in 7 minutes) Steve tells Ponyboy that the newspapers are calling him and Johnny heroes. What is your definition of a hero? Name someone in your life that you consider a hero. Explain why.

14. 11: CHARACTER Write a character sketch of a sympathetic
character who has a fear to overcome.(10 lines).

15. 12: SETTING
Pick a photo and describe it using powerful adjectives and figurative language (10 lines).

16. 13: THE UNRELIABLE NARRATOR (10 lines)
Choices:
Describe a theft from the thief’s point of view.
Describe a punishment from the child’s point of view.
Describe the teacher from the disruptive student’s point of view.
Describe a man from his ex-wife’s point of view.
Describe a dog from a cat’s point of view.

17. 14: superstition (10 lines)
Are you superstitious? Do you believe in good luck or bad luck? Do you believe that you can bring forth one or the other by your actions? Do you hesitate to walk under a ladder? Do you have a ritual or special item you wear when playing sports?

18. 15: paragraph 8 (5-7 sentences)
10 minutes
Climax. This is the highest point of tension.Make sure to have strong descriptive details.

19. 16: paragraph 9 (5-7 sentences)
10 minutes
Falling action: What happens after the climax. Tie up loose ends.

20. 17: paragraph 10 (5-7 sentences)
10 minutes
Resolution: how does the story end? Where does the character end up? What lesson does he or she learn?

21. 18: Reflection
10 minutes
Make a list of your areas for improvement. Suggestions are below. You should have at least 4 items to work on next marking period.
Focus
Maintain point of view
Content
Elaboration: each paragraph is 5-7 sentences long
Dynamic character is well-developed.
Organization
Transitions for time and place
Logical details and order
Verb tense consistency
Style
Use of imagery
Varied language and sentence types
No confusing overuse of pronouns
Clear expression
Conventions
All proper nouns and I pronouns are capitalized
Apostrophes, commas and semi-colons are used properly.
All words are properly spelled (homophones included!)

22. 21: Eye for an Eye 10 lines in 7 minutes Do you believe in an “Eye for an eye” (revenge/justice) or “Turn the other cheek?” (forgiveness)

23. 22: Girl or Boy? 10 lines in 7 minutes Is it easier being a girl or boy? Support your opinion with good reasoning.

24. 23: Immortality 10 lines in 7 minutes Do you think it would be a blessing or a curse to have immortality (to live forever)? Why or why not?

25. 24: Super Power 10 lines in 7 minutes Which superpower would you most like to have-- invisibility, super strength, or the ability to fly? Describe what kinds of things you would do with your powers.

26. 25: Change 10 lines in 7 minutes If you can change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why? If you can change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?

27. 26: Fame
10 lines in 7 minutes
Would you like to be famous? Why or why not?
If the answer is yes, what would you like to be famous for? Describe what fame would be like using details and examples.
If the answer is no, explain why fame is not desirable to you. Describe aspects of fame that are unappealing.

28. Do you think we need to adjust the ages for the following?
27: Legal Age
10 lines in 7 minutes
Do you think we need to adjust the ages for the following?
Driving age (16)
Drinking age (21)
R Rated Movies (17)
Combat age (18)
Adult court versus juvenile (18)

29. 28: Second Amendment Weigh in with 7-10 lines.
In light of recent school shootings, many people are challenging the second amendment, the right to bear arms. Some proposed changes under debate:
Raising age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21
Background checks
Assault weapons ban
Arm teachers

30. 29: Parent 10 lines in 7 minutes What type of parent do you want to be
29: Parent 10 lines in 7 minutes What type of parent do you want to be? If you were to be totally honest with yourself, what type of parent will you actually be?

31. 30: Change of Heart If you could get your parent or parents to have a change of heart regarding one thing, what would it be? Why is this so important to you?

32. 31: Cloning Dogs Recently, a celebrity cloned her beloved dog after it died. There has been outrage over this action. Should you be able to clone your pet? Weigh in (10 lines)

33. 32: Factory Farms Some people believe that factory farms are a necessary evil because this mass production of food enables us to food the world and keep prices down. Weigh in (10 lines)

34. 33: Cultural Identity
Discuss your ethnic background. How do you identify yourself and why? Is your background a source of pride, confusion, discomfort or something else? Explain. How do others react to your perceived and expressed identity?

35. 34: Hatred
What is your definition of the word “hate”? Why do people hate?

36. 35: Scapegoating
Hitler used the Jewish people as a scapegoat for Germany’s problems. Do we still do this today? Do you do this personally? Why do people need scapegoats?

37. 36: Migration
If our government slowly started to take away your rights because you are a certain race or ethnicity, would you leave the country? If no, why not? If yes, where would you go and why? How would you get there?

38. 37: Hard Choices
If you were a German during the Holocaust, how would you have behaved? If you were cold, would you have accepted clothes that you knew had been taken from prisoners? If you were a Nazi soldier, could you have defied the orders that you disagreed with?

39. 38, 39, 40: Travel Journal Entries (10 lines each)
Sample: DAY 3 (Must be Friday) My dad and I got a late start as we struggled to adjust to Hawaii time. We headed west to Waimea Canyon. After driving to a few lookouts we came to the end of the road and set off on what we thought was an “easy one mile family hike”. Little did we know what we were getting into. Dad found the trail marker for a one mile hike and we set off happily. But happiness turned to worry for me as the trail quickly grew rockier and muddier than expected. My flip flops were probably not the best choice for this hike, and I tripped over rocks repeatedly. “Do you want to turn back?” my dad asked. “No way!” I laughed, not wanting to disappoint him. We didn’t have much time together since the divorce, so we both wanted this trip to be perfect. As we traveled on, the trail got even steeper until we were climbing hand over hand, over logs, up steep slopes. I almost fell to my death at least twice because of my flip flops. “At what point does hiking qualify as mountain-climbing?” I asked. But turning around was not an option; we had come too far to turn back. When we finally reached the summit and I got a bird’s eye view of the island, I was amazed at its beauty. Was it spectacular enough to risk my life? Totally!