Coach Carter Writing Prompts (11/12 English)

In Friday's class, a very persuasive young man convinced me to let us watch more of the 2005 movie Coach Carter so that we would have lots to write about in our next writing prompt. First, bravo for showing me your persuasive speaking and listening skills! I love how you showed our class we were part of a team making a group decision.

Now the time has come to discuss what we've learned in our most recent viewing. Please pick one of the following prompts and answer in your journals. If you finish early, please go back and answer my most recent questions, or pick another prompt!

Questions:
1) Why does Coach Carter ask, "What's your deepest fear?" to his athletes? Does this motivate them? Why or why not?

2) Is a Coach's job just "to win basketball games" like Carter's principal suggests?

3) How does a Coach know to give a player a second chance?

4) What does it mean to act like winners? Cruz: "Coach, we undefeated; we won the Championship. Isn't that what you wanted? Winners?"

9/10 English: You Are the Heroes

Last week, we began our Freedom Writers narrative writing experience, looking back at the experiences of the students in Room 203 in Mrs. Gruwell's English class at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles.  One of the scenes that has always stood out to me is the moment in which Miep Gies, the woman who housed Anne Frank during World War II, tells the students: "You are the heroes."

Today, we will rewatch this powerful scene (along with the Anne Frank scenes before it). Then, we will answer the questions below.

1) Pick one or two similarities between the lives of the students in Mrs. G's classroom and Anne Frank. Explain how those experiences are similar (at least three sentences).
2) Think about the following quote from Miep Gies. What does she mean by "turn on a small light in a dark room?"

3) Think about Miep Gies's quote: "You are the heroes." How does she define hero?

Business Writing: Ann Taylor Pittman's "Mississippi Chinese Lady Goes Home to Korea"

In Friday's class, we handed out copies of Ann Taylor Pittman's 2013 James Beard Award-Winning article, "Mississippi Chinese Lady Goes Home to Korea."  One of the topics we discussed was how recipes tell stories--some, more than others. When authors write recipes, a magical process occurs in which they become part of the recipe's story and the recipe itself.

As we will look at the article more closely, here are some of the questions I want us to discuss:

1) What is Pittman's relationship to the South? Where did she grow up?

2) What does she mean when she defines herself as a "southerner?"

3) What does Pittman mean when she says, "I love the South, long for Mississippi, feel the South ever-present in my blood and soul?"

4) How do the places we grow up influence our relationship to food?

5) Compared to the South, how is Seoul characterized?

6) Why does Pittman feel like an outsider and an insider in Korea?

Homework for tonight:

Create a story for the recipe you have chosen as your summative assessment. If it was given to you by a family member, think about the family story your recipe tells.  If it's one you got online, think about how the recipe ties into the food your family makes. 

For example, my mother always made Louisiana recipes that were amazing--red beans and rice, blackened fish--but she wasn't much of a baker. If I were to craft a recipe for homemade cupcakes, I wouldn't be able to use her as an example, but I could use what she was really good at making: "a talented chef, Rebecca Brigman had a knack for spicy, Cajun cooking, but never baked from scratch. The only cakes she ever made came out of a box."

Do you see how I don't have a family story about baking, but I do have a story? Take a shot at it! I can't wait to see what you bring in tomorrow!

-Dr. B.

Narrative Writing: Reimagining The Hobbit

This weekend, I got to thinking about the story of The Hobbit, and how it would be different if it was told from the perspective of one of the story's other characters (i.e., Gandalf, Gollum, Bombur, Thorin, you name it).  As the main character, Bilbo plays an important role in how the story is told: we are sympathetic to him, understand his logic, and find his "hobbitness" incredibly endearing and heroic.  But how would Bilbo look if Bombur described him? Would he be the same hero Tolkien describes? Or, would he seem frustrating, small, and furry if told from the perspective of an elegant elf or a burly dwarf?

For all of this week, you and a partner will be writing an imaginative piece of literature in which you re-write the story of The Hobbit from the perspective of one of the book's other characters.  Your story may be as long or as short you like and discuss any part of the book.

Please use dialogue, specific details, and setting.  Your character's perspective should be believable and give your reader a new perspective on the same story.

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Standard:

VHS.11-12.W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Rubric:

Download here.

11/12 English: Freedom Writers Journaling Activities

As we continue to discuss the work Erin Gruwell has done with Freedom Writers, I am increasingly interested in what stories you have to tell. For each day this week, you are going to keep a journal that gives me some idea about the story of your lives.

Pick one of the following prompts and write in the journals I gave you today.  Please leave them in my classroom in the box I have set aside.  No one will see these but me!

Writing Prompts:

1. Write about a time when you made a snap-judgment about someone, thinking they were different than who they actually were.  Discuss who you thought they were and who they ended up being when you got to know them. Think: Mrs. Gruwell before her students understood her—who did they think she was before they go to know her? Who did they think she was after they saw the real Mrs. Gruwell?
2. Consider some interaction you have had with a person from the “wrong” race, religion, or part of society. Tell a story about your interaction. Stretch your imagination and try to tell the same story from their point of view.
3. Write about a period in your life when you felt stuck behind a façade (an outward appearance that was hiding who you really were), in which others saw you differently than you saw yourself. Write a story about taking off that mask.
4. Write a story about a person who made a difference in your life.
5. Write a story about an event that made a difference in your life.

11/12 English: Overcoming Adversity in Freedom Writers

Discussion Question: 
Ms. Gruwell’s students endure a number of hardships in their personal lives. Many of the students come from broken families, in which they have endured physical and/or emotional abuse, substance abuse, poverty, homelessness, gang violence, and deaths of close relatives and friends. How do the assigned class books relate to the students’ lives? What are some common themes that run throughout the books they read (for example, The Diary of Anne Frank) and their lives?

Respond to the questions above in the comments section with at least 3-5 sentences.

Note: please read over your post and check spelling, punctuation, and grammar before you hit "publish." This is a summative exercise on L2, "I can demonstrate grade-appropriate command of the English language including spelling, capitalization, and punctuation."

L2 Rubric (click here)