Summer Reading!

Here is some information about summer reading programs:
http://utahsadventurefamily.com/summer-reading-programs/
Notice that the "Read Today" program goes through age 14.

Recommendations from a publisher, but good lists:
http://www.readbrightly.com/summer-books-for-tweens/
http://www.readbrightly.com/summer-ya-books/

For younger brothers and sisters:
http://afcity.org/216/Summer-Reading-Program

Then there is the American Fork Library's program for teens:
http://afcity.org/741/Teen-Thing

Or use OverDrive through either American Fork Public Library or Alpine School District - American Fork Junior High.  Try your student number and last name to log in.
https://alpineut.libraryreserve.com/10/45/en/SignIn.htm?url=Default.htm

A great learning resource is Utah's Online Library:
http://onlinelibrary.uen.org/

Ms. Dorsey's Summer Reading --

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
    The intended audience is adult -- probably more for women, though many men would enjoy it.  The setting is Nazi-Occupied France during World War II.  The main characters (protagonists) are two sisters with very different life circumstances who each have to deal with the dangers and challenges of the war.

A Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo
     Mrs. Hilmo is a local author.  The intended audience is middle grade/young adult.  The protagonist is a girl whose father is a traveling preacher.  Her family usually stays in a town for only three days, but in this case, their stay is extended to solve a murder mystery.

Cinnamon Moon by Tess Hilmo
     This historical fiction novel is set right after the Great Chicago Fire.  Most people have never heard of the Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fire which took place on the same day, and took many more lives.  The protagonists of this novel are a brother and sister whose family died in the Peshtigo fire,  so they are sent to live in a boarding house (with a rather cruel landlady) in Chicago.  As they try to find a new home, they also have to save a young friend.

The American Spirit by David McCullough
     Mr. McCullough is a famous historian and writer.  This is a collection of his essays and speeches from over the years that celebrate America and remind us of fundamental American principles.  One of the major central ideas of the book is that we need to know and learn from our own history as a nation.

July 5 --
I'm presently reading Brave Companions by David McCullough, Some Writer by Melissa Sweet  (about E.B. White, the author of Charlotte's Web), and  Four-Four-Two by Dean Hughes (about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II -- and the Japanese Americans who fought with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team).

Thursday/Friday, May 25/26, 2017

May 25

Last chance -- 
If you haven't taken your composition book, papers, and posters home yet, do it today!

May 26
Videos and
End of School!

Your teachers when school is out! 

Tuesday/Wednesday, May 23/24, 2017

Announcements and Reminders:                           Turn in any unused hall passes if you haven't already done so. Take home your posters/photos, if you wish.  -- Take them down, please.  Pick up your composition books. Please take your composition books.   You may bring treats on this day.   There will be only first lunch on Wednesday, the 24th. Let me know if you have revised or finished and improved your score on your short story on MyAccess. If you have not received the results of your SAGE Test, let me know, and I will print them out for you to take home to share with your parents. If you have a D or an F --  If you have missed taking Mastery Connect Tests, come take them Tuesday, May 23.   Have you finished and handed in your comma packet, short story assignments,  figurative language poster? Locker Clean-up Here are some guidelines: 1-If a student does not have a locker they should stay in class and not be allowed in the halls during cavetime. 2-As soon as a student has finished cleaning out their locker they should go back to their B2 class. 3-Cleaning supplies can be found on tables across from Monica Earl's room and upstairs across from the old elevator. 4-If a student has forgotten their combination they can come to the commons area. 5-If a student cannot get their locker open they need to find an administrator, janitor, or come to the office.

Targets for Today: I can identify the qualities of a genre, and qualities of characters and how they affect each other.

Today’s  Agenda: Watch The Princess Bride. Fill out our pink paper. Here is the handout for Princess Bride -- the film.  Fairy Tales and The Princess Bride.docx B6 to 21:54 B5 today to 1:28 You will decide whether the video we watch is a fairy tale. (See post for last time.) What elements of the story seem to be possible, and which seem to be something out of a fairy tale? Cite specific examples. What qualities does each character possess?  How does he or she affect other characters?  (See post for last time.) Consider the roles of men and women within the story.  Are men portrayed more positively than women? Is the man’s role in the story stronger than the woman’s role? Explain. Location -- the tumble down the hill -- Cave Dale, running south from the town of Castleton --England

If You Were Absent: See above.

Vocabulary:

Interesting and Cool:

From A Mighty Girl on Facebook --
Amazing photo of Australian-New Zealand sword-fighter Samantha Swords who won the longsword competition at the Harcourt Park World Invitational Jousting Tournament. Samantha trains in Historic European Martial Arts; you can learn more about her on her website at http://bit.ly/1p1QJS7

Friday/Monday, May 19/22, 2017

Announcements and Reminders:         Friday, May 19  is/was the last day to hand in late work, revised work, and extra credit.  Mrs. Mace is coming/came May 19!  She and Baby Hyrum will be/were in my room during Cavetime.  Let me know if you have revised or finished and improved your score on your short story on MyAccess.  If you have not received the results of your SAGE Test, let me know, and I will print them out for you to take home to share with your parents.  If you have a D or an F --  If you have missed taking Mastery Connect Tests, come take them Tuesday, May 23.   Have you finished and handed in your comma packet, short story assignments,  figurative language poster? For today -- Everyone . . . . Pick up your composition book and a composition book check paper.   Turn in your unused hall passes today or next time.

Targets for Today: I can think and write about various topics. I can identify the qualities of a genre, and qualities of characters and how they affect each other.

Today’s  Agenda: Write  Title this "Truth," and include today's date: 5/19/17 or 5/22/17.  In your composition book, respond to this quote:   "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."                                                    King James Version of the Bible -- John 8:32 What is truth?   How important is the truth?   How does the truth (or lack of it) affect us individually, in our relationships, as a community, as a country?  Is it ever better to not tell the truth?   Write at least a half page.   (A2 already did this.) Prepare Pick up a grading sheet for your composition book, and prepare for the composition book check.  Another student will check your composition book.  If your work is on loose papers, staple them together with your composition book grading sheet when you hand it in.  Be honest and as accurate as you can when you check someone's work.  Composition Book Check  Composition Book Check. Each entry must be a half page or longer to receive full points.  Each should be labeled with the date.  Deduct one point for a missing date. _______/5 points  1. May 5/8  Label:  The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes!  Severn Cullis-Suzuki spoke to a gathering of world leaders.  Write a response to what she’s doing or to what she’s saying. _______/5 points  2. May 9/10     Label:  “Goals” or “Useful?”  What is your biggest goal in life?  Or a goal?  (or) What is it that makes someone useful?  (or) What do you do or what will you do that will make you “useful”? _______/5 points  3.  May 11/12     Label:  “A Favorite Place in Utah” Write about one of your favorite places to go in Utah.   _______/5 points  4.  May 15/16    Label: “Mothers?”  After listening to the podcast about dead mothers in movies, write in response to the ideas expressed in it.  How about “we don't really need mothers; in fact, life might be more fun without them ... that it could be a life of pure adventure."Is that right? Why do authors choose to get the mother (or father or both parents) out of the way?  _______/5 points    5.  May 17/18     Label: “Heroes” What does having a hero do for a person?  Does that influence a person?  Are some heroes “better” to have than others?  Write about your hero(es) or about heroes in general. _______5 points     6.  May 17/18     Label  “Truth” Respond to this quote: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” How important is the truth?  ________  30   Total Points

_____________________________

Genre Study:  Fairy Tales/Fantasy

List and look for qualities of fairy tales.

You will decide whether the video we watch is a fairy tale. 
What elements of the story seem to be possible, and which seem to be something out of a fairy tale? Cite specific examples.

What is a frame story?  How is one used in this story?

What qualities does each character possess?  How does he or she affect other characters? 

Consider the roles of men and women within the story. 
Are men portrayed more positively than women? Is the man’s role in the story stronger than the woman’s role? Explain.

A1 to 25:06

A2 to 34:15

B5 to  18:44

B6 to 21:54

The movie came out in September of 1987.
The book was published in  1973.
The author of the book, William Goldman, wrote the screenplay.

       I recommend reading the book.  You could skip the introduction, starting at the chapter titled "The Bride."  You just need to know that in the introduction William Goldman tells a made-up story about how he came to write the book.  Here  it is his father who read the book to him when he was a child recovering from pneumonia.   

Fun Fact:  William Goldman wrote the screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (remember that we watched a scene from that movie at the beginning of the year), and he wrote the novel and screenplay of The Princess Bride!  Therefore, we are beginning and ending the year with his work. 

The Cliffs of Insanity are actually the
Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

Trimble Bridge, Animas River, Colorado, USA

If You Were Absent: When you come back, have a classmate check your composition book, using the form provided (half-page buff-colored). Composition Book Check for May .docx Here is the handout for Princess Bride -- the film.  Fairy Tales and The Princess Bride.docx

Vocabulary:

Characteristics of Fairy Tales

• Set in the past
• Use some form or variation of "Once upon a time"
• Fantasy or make-believe elements
• Enchanted setting - can include forests, castles, water, or kingdoms
• Royalty is usually present in a fairy tale, a beautiful princess/handsome prince 
• There is  a problem that needs to be solved 
• Clearly defined good and evil characters
• Magical elements
• Characters take on unusual forms (giants, witches, dwarfs, talking animals)
•  Groups of 3 (objects, people, or events, attempts to solve the problem)
• Clearly defined problem, climax, and resolution
• Most often they have a happy ending
• Teach a lesson that is important to the culture it came from

http://www.k5chalkbox.com/characteristics-of-fairy-tales.html

adapted by Ms. Dorsey

Elements Found in Fairy Tales

A fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking animals) and enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events. The term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy tale ending" (a happy ending) or "fairy tale romance," though not all fairy tales end happily. Fairy tales are a genre in literature. They have their roots in the oral tradition. Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. Fairy tales also tend to take on the color of their location, through the choice of motifs, the style in which they are told, and the depiction of character and local color.

A fable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.

A fable differs from a parable in that the latter excludes animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of humankind.

Special beginning and/or ending words

~ Once upon a time...and they lived happily ever after. Sometimes, there’s a surprise ending…

Good character

~ Do you see a kind, innocent character? Is the good character clever? Is s/he helped by others?

Evil character

~ Do you see a witch? A demon? An evil stepmother? A sinister gnome?

In the end, the evil character usually loses somehow…

Royalty  

~ Is there a castle? A prince? A princess? A king? A queen?

Poverty

~ Do you see a poor working girl, a poor family, a poor shepherd? – Do you see poor people trying to eke out a living to have enough to eat

Magic and Enchantments

~ Do you see magical things happening? Do you see talking animals/objects? You might see fairies, trolls, elves, goblins, etc.

Reoccurring Patterns / Numbers

~ Do you see any patterns? Often, you’ll see things, phrases, tasks appear in  "threes," “sixes,” and/or "sevens"

Universal Truths

~ the tale probably touches on some universal experiences (i.e., coming of age) or hopes (i.e., to have enough food and love)

Common motifs ~ 

                      (Motif = a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition.)

·        Talking animals / objects

·        Cleverness / trickster / word games

·        Traveler’s tales

·        Origins ~ where do we come from?

·        Triumph of the poor

·        Human weakness explored (i.e., curiosity, gluttony, pride, laziness, etc.)

·        Human strengths glorified (i.e., kindness, generosity, patience, etc.)

·        Trickster (sometimes a hero, sometimes on the side of evil but humans benefit)

·        Tall story (slight exaggeration – hyperbole)

·        Magic words or phrases; repetition of phrases/words (abracadabra!)

·        Guardians (fairy godmothers, mentors, magical helpers, guides, etc.)

·        Monsters (dragons, ogres, evil creatures, etc.)

·        Struggle between good and evil, light and dark

·        Youngest vs. Oldest (sons, daughters, sibling rivalry)

·        Sleep (extended sleep, death-like trances)

·        Impossible tasks (ridiculously mind-numbing, fantastic effort needed to complete, etc.)

·        Quests

·        Gluttony / Starvation (there’s a fine line between eating for survival and succumbing to temptation)

·        Keys, passes (opening new doors)

·        Donors, Benefactors, Helpers

http://www.surfturk.com/mythology/fairytaleelements.html

• Modified : March 18,2017

List of Examples of Fairy Tales

• Aladdin
• Beauty and the Beast
• Briar Rose: The Sleeping Beauty
• Cinderella
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Hansel and Gretel
• Jack and the Beanstalk
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Peter Pan
• Pinocchio
• Puss in Boots
• Rapunzel
• Rumpelstiltskin
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Snow White & Rose Red
• The Frog Prince
• The Little Mermaid
• The Emperor’s New Clothes
• The Snow Queen
• The Little Match Girl
• The Elves and the Shoemaker
• The Nightingale
• The Fox and The Hound
• The Three Little Pigs
• The Ugly Duckling
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses
• The Princess and the Pea
• Thumbelina
• Tom Thumb
• The Wild Swans (or The Six Swans)
• The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg