Write a letter: Be sure to use at least five words from last week's vocbulary list.

Here's the situation:

Your school is about to apply a wide range of polices to improve school safety. These policies include the use of metal detectors, random searches of coats in the closets and book bags, and the developement of large numbers of security officials throughout the building. Write a letter to the school's principal, expressing either your approval or disapproval of the school's new policies.


(Underline and place in bold each vocabulary word. I am looking for 8th grade level sentences)

At the end of your paragraph put your first and last name and class

This situation is fictitious

Write one paragraph to answer the question below. Be sure to use at least five words from last week's vocbulary list.

You've had a lot of experience with teachers, enough to know the good from the bad. If a new teacher came to you looking for advice on how to make a favorable impression, what kind of advice would you give?



(Underline and place in bold each vocabulary word. I am looking for 8th grade level sentences)


At the end of your paragraph put your First and last name and class

Dr. Carlyle Thompson Visits I.S. 68

On Wednesday May 27th, 2009 Classes 273, 274, and 281 had the honor to meet with Dr. Carlyle Thompson. Dr. Carlyle Van Thompson is a Professor of African American and American Literature at Medgar Evers College, the City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. Dr. Thompson is the chairperson of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy. He has published scholarly articles on the works of Toni Morrison, Ernest J. Gaines, Nella Larsen, and Charles Waddell Chesnutt.

Dr. Thompson gave the students a taste of what it would be like to be in a college level class. He presented video excerpts, poems, and texts that had the same themes and as a group they looked for text-to-text, text-to-world and text-to-self connections, even taking a look at some of the text that they have read throughout the school year such as literary works by Virginia Hamilton and Walter Dean Myers. The students had many questions, were very engaged in the lesson and many were totally disappointed when the time was up and Dr. Thompson had to leave.




















On behalf of I.S. 68, the English Department and all that participated in this event I would like to personally thank Dr. Thompson for taking time out of his very busy schedule to make a difference in the lives of the students of Isaac Bildersee.

-Mrs. T. Hall

"For what does it mean to be a hero? It requires you to be prepared to deal with forces larger than yourself."

--Norman Mailer
The Spooky Art, 2003

What does this quote mean? Provide a valid interpretation of this statement, agree or disagree with the statement as you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using specific references. Don't forget to comment on someone else's opinion.

"If the literature we are reading does not wake us, why do we read it? A literary work must be an ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us."

---Franz Kafka
(adapted)

What does this quote mean? Provide a valid interpretation of this statement, agree or disagree with the statement as you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using specific references. Don't forget to comment on someone else's opinion.

Read this quote and explain what is the connotation of the word Fly. And explain what this quote means, re-write it in your own words.

Rosa Parks sat so that Martin Luther King, Jr. could march, Martin Luther King, Jr. marched so that Jessie Jackson could run, Jessie Jackson ran so that Barack Obama could win, Barack Obama won so that our children and grandchild could fly.
------Unknown

"I like flawed characters because somewhere in them I see more of the truth"

--Nicolas Cage, as quoted in "His Truth is Out There"
from Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2000

What does this quote mean? Provide a valid interpretation of this statement, agree or disagree with the statement as you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using specific references. Don't forget to comment on someone else's opinion.How does this quote relate to the author study that we are doing in class?

Make text connections.