>GASP< period five....

Today started with; "Hello class. Hello Ms. Smith!" Wow. Original. Didn't see that coming. We got these pink sheets with lots of writing on it. You should buy A whole New Mind because if you don't, you'll embarrass us all in front of Mr. Pink. Don't worry though. You only need it by February. We're talking about chapter eight of The Chosen right now. Apparently Ms. Smith can sit on the tables, but not us. We talked about what ladies shouldn't do, namely swear or smoke. Bad things. We apparently are going to read chapters nine and ten. Has anyone noticed how Ms. Smith always has either a pink green or blue water bottle?

Here's a really cool picture.













Is it WATER, or is it FIRE?
... we may never know...

Apparently chapters 9 and 10 are short. How quaint. Oh, you have to give the pink sheet back with a signature by email or hand. Hm... Lauren's gone. Sad day. I have a picture of a sumo wrestler on my shirt. VERY COOL.
I...can't...look...away....ugh!...


Now we're reading chapters 9-10 silently. Mac's making weird faces. Almost fish-like. The chalk-board says that to listen to music in this class, you have to have it on a CD. Dawnielle is laughing with Leslie... again. Everybody else is doing what they should. The relationship trace is due December 4... and DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!!!!!

Everybody should should look up polar bear on treadmill on Youtube. It's like third grade humor, but you KNOW WHAT, I think it's pretty darn funny.

The relationship trace that's due on 12-14 is important, and if you plan on doing it by computer, start soon, because those circles are tricky little buggers.... REMEMBER: you need to have one for Danny, Reuven, David, and Reb, as well as one for your own relationships. Take quotes, phrases and pictures from the book and your life into it.
Ever notice how cool the number 5 is? It's so much better than "2".

OH, oh! here's a funny joke:

DANNY: Hi Jake. It's a nice Febuary day isn't it?
JAKE: Actually Danny, it's a nice February day. With an "R".
DANNY: Oh, well aren't you smart.
JAKE: I am.
DANNY: Yeah right.
JAKE: (now yelling) HEY! I'm smart and you know it!
DANNY: OK! Fine! Wow, you sure got mad. Your face is red like a strawbrerry!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That was funny Matt, you're hysterical.

I love the snow. It's nice, cold, fluffy and white!!! Snowboarding is frickin' awesome. If you CAN snowboard, then SNOWBOARD!!!!!! (I guess you could ski too...)

I will end with "good bye" in six different languages:
See ya!
Bon Voyage!
Au revoir!
Ni zaijian!
aloha!
c u l8er.
Salut!!!

Scribe for period 2 Thursday, November 28 2007 by Kristen Wieber

Today in Mrs. Smith's 2 period honors English 9 class,

We mainly just discussed chapter 7 of "The Chosen." In doing this we got on to a long topic of how religions have been changed and split to become the many religions of today. Just a side note, a class to class connection, this reminds me of evolution because organisms were changed over time and became all the animals of today. Anyway one of the religions we talked about was Scientology and it's history and beliefs. I had never heard of this religion so it was interesting to hear about. I learned that this religion was the religion that Madonna was. I also learned that one of this religions beliefs is that there are aliens controlling everything we do in this world like were there dolls or something. Another subject of our discussion was about Reb and why he went into such depth with his speech about why Jews should read the Torah and about the difference (in mathematics) between different religions. Other than these subject we just answered any questions or comments anybody had about the chapter. Then we were able to read to ourselves for the rest of the period. Then the bell rang and we went to our next class. The End.

-Kristen Wieber

p.s. for homework we had to work on our character trace and read chapter 8

Scribe for period five!!!

Well hello everyone!!!

Today, sadly Ms. Smith was not here :(… but Ms. Moritz was our sub:)!!!! To start of the class period we jumped right into a class discussion about chapter 7 of The Chosen. We began by summarizing the chapter, here are my notes…

Talked about Reuven’s dream-- he dreamed about eyes
Danny and Reuven are “officially” friends
In this chapter there is a “changing moment”
We see Danny’s world and the strength of Danny and Reuven’s friendship

We then moved into briefly talking about the Synagogues
Reuven’s- In the place of where a store was
Dark
Danny’s-crowed with men and women
Danny’s family lived above
Curtained off women
Shabbat
Walking to the synagogue was a very vivid scene- can be related to parting of the Red Seas- Reuven is amazed by Danny’s “power”
The two men ask for Danny’s advise-- think about Ms. Smith and Mrs. Moritz coming up to us and asking us to “solve” their problems
Why doesn’t he take advantage to this??
Danny’s personality is in a way confusing- he has a high thinking mind
It almost seems Danny has a guilty concisions
He is an honest person

And of course how could we not talk about Danny and his father!!!
Little brother has a blood disease- very sick
Reb is very confident
He seems to be almost the “Jewish God Father,” as I believe Matt Wood said
When Reb walked in the reader was given almost this “here comes the bride,” type image
When he comes to Reuven- first thing he says is you “are David Malter’s son?”
Reb does not agree with what David Malter writes, however there still seems to be that level of respect with Reb and Malter
Reb is direct and stern
Reuven is nervous around him
Reb gives service about Tohraà life is not complete if you don’t read the Tohra
During the service Reuven notices Danny completely changeà Reb makes a mistake and when Danny picks up on it he starts to relax and grin
When Danny smiles Reuven sees the smile that he saw from Danny when he was on home plate when he wanted to kill him. You can see this issue between Reb and Danny. Reb is like ‘I will make it a hard mistake to find’, and Danny is like ‘oh no I’m going to find the mistake’, it is a competition
It seems with all this competition Reb does not really support and honor his son
Reb knows that Danny must be strong, and he is pushing him to bring that
Then Reb turns focus on Reuven
Reuven explains error- Reb then says ‘good job’- and ‘he, referring to Reuven, is good at mathematics’- and ‘good thing my son has chosen him as his friend’ (connection to the title The Chosen)
Talked about how we feel around parents that are uptight and strict
We can all relate to the way Reuven feels around Reb

Wrapping up our discussion, we finished with the ending of chapter 7…
Danny is going to library and Reuven is just going there to think
When do we every have time to think??!! It would be nice to just have some time to think!!!

Random notes…
Nu- term like son or father
Ms. Moritz read a passage—Reb Saunders has had a horrible, tragic life that has helped him develop his personality

For the last, say five minutes of class we talked about, well we talked just about what ever came to our heads I guess:).

Oh, and don’t forget, Ms. Moritz likes fudge brownies and Ms. Smith would like a holiday gift!!!

BUT WAIT….
The homework is to read chapter 8 and to work on the relationship trace.

Thanks for subbing Ms. Moritz, it was fun to have you!!

This I Believe Essays and Podcasts-Period 5

Alex F.
Ashley F.
Becky G.
Cate M.
Dawnielle N.
Hannah L.
Jordan H.
Kristina H.
Leslie L.
MacKenzie M.
Maddie H.
Maddison M.
Matthew F.
Matt W.
Melissa Z.
Mitch S.
Morgan T.
Morgan W.
Parker H.
Ryan M.
Selena M.
Stephen F.
Tyler G.
Whitney S.

This I Believe Essays and Podcasts-Period 2

Alex D.
Alyssa S.
Amanda H.
Amy W.
A. Weber
Brian C.
Chelsea S.
Clara O.
Javon M.
John B.
Jose D.
Katherine M.
Kristen W.
Lia P.
Liz C.
Louise B.
Luke Z.
Maddie F.
Mark G.
Megan U.
Molly S.
Nick B.
Nicole K.
Nile C.
Phoebe F.
Rachel S.
Serena L.
Stef O.
Zach H.

A Snowy Morning in Period 2

Mrs. Smith greeted us today with her usual, "Hello Everybody!" Then we breifly talked about the snow and how it will be nice to have snow in the mountains now so people can go skiing!!! We also recapped very quickly who watched Charlie Brown Christmas last night and Ms. Smith was very excited that Helio won Dancing with the Stars.

We then turned in our comparasion activity. If you were absent today you probably want to get this turned in tomorrow.

We took a vote and decided to read chapter 7 out loud in a big circle. Mrs. Smith read for a while then everybody read a paragraph. We discussed the power that Danny has as the son of the tzaddik. When Danny and Rueven arrive at the synagog, all of the men crowding around the synagog part to let Danny and Rueven through.

It was a really good day today in english. We got a lot of Chapter 7 read and had some good conversation.

Homework: Finish reading Chapter 7. Keep working on relationship trace. This is due on December 4th.

Silent reading on a cold November day(5th)

11-28-07

Well Everyone, It is Dawnielle Christine Norris speaking...

Today my dreams were so dramatically crushed when 21 people decided to read silently. I am truly heartbroken.

Apparently chapter 7 is a wee bit confusing so BRACE YOUR SELVES!

We briefly spoke about chapter 6 and why Potok would spend a whole chapter on history.

-to inform readers

- Maybe he wanted his child to understand the entire history to understand what he believed in.

Well, we are reading silently :(

I'll leave you with some encouraging words.

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. "

"If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?"

The Relationship Traces are due Next Tuesday, December 4th!

Fifth Block Scribe

Ok, well first off, we had our discussion circle of The Chosen, and let me just say, no I am not a nerd, I had my laptop out merely to take notes for this scribe. Um, ok well we started talking about how the book appears so simple, yet has a much deeper message. (In the hospital Reuven thinks about how important life is and how much we take for granted.) Then we went on to talk about how the baseball game is so symbolic. (Within the Jews, there are different “facets within.” (If you don’t know what that means, don’t ask me…it’s what Ms. Smith said.) Also, there was a war with in a war, within a war, within a war, within… yea.) Then, we talked about the magical eye! Not really, it just makes it more interestingJ. So, there is lots of symbolism with the eye, of course! Reuven never really “saw” the world and he never would have met Danny. Then we related it to Macbeth. Next, we talked about how part of life is to suffer. When you suffer, you learn, remember, and know to pay more attention. You can think and contemplate how it’s so different after the suffering is over. “If you don’t know what suffering is, then you don’t really know happiness…like a paper cut!” Then we went into tons of stories and came out with the idea that Potok’s writing is pretty simple. In other words, he doesn’t say everything which makes you relate to the character and think more often. Finally, we ended with the fact that you can reread books. You get more out of it, or a new perspective. Then we ended with more stories of things I can’t recall. Sorry! Yup, the homework is:

Venn Diagram due tomorrow
Make sure you are done reading chapter six of The Chosen.
Relationship trace due next Tuesday (12/4/07)

Period Two Scibe-November 27, 2007

Hello Period Two! After the bell rang, Ms. Smith let us know that we all need to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special tonight.

Watch it tonight at seven on ABC! The final Dancing with the Stars comes on after that. Who are you rooting for- Mel B., Helio, or Marie?

In class, today we got into a ♥circle of love♥,and we discussed Book One of The Chosen. We shared our thoughts and connections about the book. After the discussion, Ms. Smith was kind enough to give us time to read The Chosen or work on the venn diagram and relationship trace.

HOMEWORK:

• Venn Diagram due tomorrow
• Make sure you are done reading chapter six of The Chosen.
• Relationship trace due next Tuesday (12/4/07)

It was a wonderful and productive day in Period Two!

Alyssa's Scribe for 11.26.07

At the beginning of class, it was the same question we heard in every class- "How was your Thanksgiving?". Most everybody gave the same answer we heard in every class- "Good." Except for Molly of course, who ellaborated and told us the major events of her Thanksgiving. Haha. We then checked to make sure that all of our TIB essays and podcasts were in Ms. Smith's dropbox (Nothing too exciting).
We moved onto The Chosen at that point...
Ms. Smith introduced our next major project. We must make a relationship trace showing the relationships between Reb, David, Reuven, and Danny. The one she used as an example kind of looked like an outline web that you would use to compose an essay. Each of the different characters had their own bubble and there were arrows connecting the all four of the characters to each other, which is where we are supposed to show their relationships. As on all of our projects, Ms. Smith told us to be as creative as possible and impress her with your work. We were allowed to work in groups of four on the quiz over chapters 1-4. If you didn't read all of that, make sure you do that and read chapter 5 tonight so the quiz tomorrow on chapter 5 won't be all that hard. The quizzes were just like any other literature quiz we've taken in English this year- about one page and questions relating the characters to each other and noticing symbolism. The quiz took a while but once everybody had completed that, we all sat and had a big class discussion about the first book. We mostly talked about the differences of the relationships between Danny and Reb, and Reuven and David, the personalities of the different characters so far in the book (everybody seems to adore Billy!), and the symbolism already given in the book. That's about all that happened. So for homework tonight:
Read chapter 5, compare/contrast project, and the relationship trace due Dec. 4

Monday, November 26, 2007
Period 2

Today in English we started by going over the upcoming homework...

Homework:
Relationship trace (Due December 4)
Venn-diagram (Due Wednesday)
Read through Chapter 5 in The Chosen

Introduction to relationship trait
Visually create relationships with Danny, David, Reb, and Reuven using arrows Describe relationships; feelings; examples for each arrow (or relationship)
Also do this with your own life (3 significant relationships)
You can use anything from what we have read

Next we checked to be sure that everyone had turned their TIB podcast into the dropbox.

Then we had our first test over the first 4 chapters of "The Chosen". We worked in groups of four to fill out the test. There were questions where we had to describe the relationships between several different people, we had to analyze symbols shown in the book, and we also had to remember facts about Jewish Traditions and customs.

We finished class by having a discussion about the book so far. We talked a lot about the relationship between Danny and Reuven and how quickly it has changed. We also talked about our predictions for what would happed in book 2. All in all it was a nice quiet day in 2nd period English.

Blogging Rules! And I'm Not Being Faceitious

Today we started off by checking to make sure that our TIB essays and podcasts showed up in Ms. Smith's dropbox. Then, the inevitable "What did you have for Thanksgiving?" question was asked, and I just had to mention that I had eaten a Tur-duc-hen, which is a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey. My Uncle pointed out it was a good thing that it wasn't a duck inside a turkey inside a chicken, because then it would be a Chic-tur-den. Either way it was pretty gross. We also talked about the homework that was due:

• read chapter 5
• start your relationship trace (due 12/4)
• venn diagram (due wednesday)
  

We talked a lot about the relationship trace between Reuven, David, Danny and Reb. I'm curious to see what develops between now and the end of book two. We then started our quizzes on chapters 1-4. It focused a lot on main ideas instead of specifics, so when you're reading tonight I'd suggest making note of any big developments in relationships or character.

Final thoughts: I thought that class was a little dry for me today, but hey you've got to have some boring days. I kinda miss the SAT words, because we got to do those fawesome activites and expand our vocabulary. Most of you guys probably don't care about that second part, but Hannah and I enjoy using superfluous and flamboyant words. I think that Keke's hair deserves honorable mention for today. Pretty sweet.

Signing off,
Mac

P.S. I thought that Hannah's recipe idea was cool, so I'll leave you with this fawesome music video by Paramore. Just go to this address: http://us.video.aol.com/player/launcher?ar=us_en_video_748x541_full&mode=1&pmmsid=1904302

"Hello everybody!" - "Hello Hannah (Period 5 scribe)!"

We started off our day with a discussion on thanksgiving meat. To eat turkey or not to eat turkey, that is the question! Ms. Smith informed us that lamb is an excellent choice! After that, we got back on topic and discussed our homework...

Homework:

• Relationship trace (Due December 4)
• Venn-diagram (Due Wednesday)
• Read Chapter 5 (which is very short!)
  

We then checked to make sure that the "This I Believe" podcasts and essays were in Ms. Smith’s drop box. Everybody seemed to be on track.

Introduction to relationship trait

• Visually create relationships with Danny, David, Reb, and Reuven using arrows
• Relationship; feelings; examples for each arrow (or relationship)
• Do this with your own life as well (3 significant relationships)
• You can use Book 1 and Book 2

We then finished the day with a very lengthy quiz (with lots and lots of writing and thinking!)

Thanks for a fun day!

P.S. For anyone who loves cooking, I made an awesome pan of fudge this weekend and the recipe is amazing and easy. Try it if you are bored!

Scribing for 11-20-06 by Stephen Field

Today in Ms.Smith's class we work silently either to finish our This I Believe essays or The Chosen reading. I myself can not do much seeing that I left my copy of The Chosen on the coffee table in my family room. Everyone is working attentively but there are those who still like to chat or send whispers scurrying across the room. I have also found a few that just mess around on the computers. It is very quite in the class room. Everyone seems anxious to get the day done because of the five day weekend ahead.

From religion to family

Scribe for November 19, 2007

The day started with the class receiving their MAPS testing scores. I personally have never felt that test scores showed very much but apparently the district does.
We were assigned our Venn diagram for The Chosen. We had an amazing example on the board filled with Mrs. Smith’s amazing drawings.
The class continued on with the final presentations that we didn’t manage to get to on Friday. The presentation on Chaim Potok was very education with the three presenters dressing and acting as Chaim himself. The presentation on Sigmund Freud was creative and made kept people entertained with Hannah Leffingwell playing Sigmund diagnosing people who are having dreams about her…. him.
We went on to talk about relationships with parents what our role is in our familes. There were many interesting points that came out in the discussion. As usually it was another amazing day in honors English.

THE FABULOUS FIFTH HOUR

"Hello everybody!" Ms. Smith greeted us as she usually did.
"Hello Ms. Smith!" the class replied. The students seemed tired, yet excited for Thanksgiving Break! WHO HOO! Ms. Smith further bettered our moods by changing the Venn Diagram due date to Wednesday. So that allows us to be slackers and procrastinators and put off the assignment until Tuesday night.
We then proceeded to have a VERY interesting question and answer time about our "This I Believe Essays" and Ms. Smith habla Espanol muy beuno para la clase. Then the class proceeded with a united air five to have a free work period. During this free work time, The majority of the class looked absolutely enthralled in their Chosen books and I doubted that they would be able to put them down when the bell rang. The girls all seemed very focused and were working hard, however some boys looked suspicioius as to what they were doing on their concealed laptop screens. To say the least, it was a very quiet and uneventful hour only interrupted by the tip tap of typing fingers and Leslie's high heeled shoes clunking agianst the tile...a nice normal day in Ms. Smith's FAVORITE english class - fifth hour Honors English 9!

EVERYONE HAVE A FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING! Eat lots of turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, get fat, be merry, and be Thankful!

Tuesday November 20th

Today's on a thursday schedule because today is the last day of school before thanksgiving break! We all came into class and shouted hello to Mrs. Smith. She had assigned a project over Thanksgiving break but she took pity on us and reassigned the Venn Diagram to be due on Wensday. Take a note on that people. The Venn Diagram is due on Wensday. In the Venn Diagram you are comparing and contrasting Rueben and Danny. Use visuals only and try to work in something about their relationships with their fathers. But other than that most of the homework is the same. Read chapters 1-4 because there is going to be a quiz on it on Monday. This is really important. Podcasts are due Monday as well. Try really hard to get this done before Monday. Remeber to sign up for a time in the library and bring your student I.D. The librarian takes your I.D. and then gives you the headset. After Mrs. Smith gave us all that homework she let us read all class period and gave the option of letting people go podcast. You didn't take advantage of that, your loss. After maybe to minutes of reading, Mrs Smith shows us the 60 paged manual for the kindergardeners at her church. There was some joke about camel meat, whatever that was about. Then for the rest of the class we read. Everybody have an amazing break! Eat alot of food and try not to forget about Mrs. Smith!

HI, PERIOD 2 ENGLISH CLASS!!!

Today we said hello, and discussed what will be going on today. We now decided that the Venn Diagram will be due on Wednesday!!! Thanks Mrs. Smith!!

Then we just had a work day to work on whatever we wanted. REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE A QUIZ ON CHAPTERS 1-4 ON MONDAY!!!

For the Venn Diagram, remember to include visuals, quotes, phrases, or words. Make them be creative!!!

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING BREAK, EVERYONE!!!

Chelsea S.

Period 2 Scribe!

Hello period two! After today we will have a full 5 days on Thanksgiving break, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Over break make sure that you read chapters 1-4 in "The Chosen" for Monday. Also, don't forget the visual between Reuven and Danny that will be due next Wednesday. Make sure that you include some visuals, quotes, or phrases from the book in your project. Portray it in a creative way. There is not much to say about what we did (actually, are doing) in class today. It is a workday so make sure that you use your time wisely, and maybe you won't have much to do over the break! Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

A busy day in Period 2! part 1

Today started out just like any other day. We were all seated as soon as the bell rang and were greeted with a cheerful "Hello everyone!" by Ms. Smith. We simultaniously responded with a "Hello" and then prepared for class. We turned in our take-home SAT quizzes and our signatures from This I Believe stating that we submitted our essays. Then, Ms. Smith made sure we all had our essays submitted in her school drop box and handed out our MAPs test scores. We went on to download The Chosen Vocabulary onto our hard drive or our flash drive. The vocab is as follows:

Hasid: Member of a Jewish sect who follows the religious and social precepts set down in the 17th century.

Yiddish: A language spoken by Jews since the Middle Ages. Its components are Hebrew, German, and Slavic.

assimilationist: One who adopts the practice of a prevailing culture.

fanatic: Rigorous believer.

Talmud: In Hebrew, the word for "teachings." Applied to the collection of academic discussion and judicial administration of Jewish law written by generations of scholars over hundreds of years.

apikorsim: An unbeliever or skeptic. One who does not adhere to Jewish religious belief or practice.

rabbi: Religious leader and head of a congregation.

Cossacks: Polish soldiers who, under the leadership of Chmielnicki, annihilated hundreds of Jewish communities in 1648, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

tallit: Hebrew prayer shawl worn by adult males.

tefillin: Two small black boxes fastened to leather straps, containing parts of the Torah and worn during morning prayer.

shofar: Ram's horn blown at various religious services.

the Kaballah: Books of Jewish mysticism.

tzaddik: According to Hasidism, a pious leader who is the intermediary between God and man, the "soul of the world."

Torah: The written law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, including the Talmud and related commentaries.

gematriya: A method of interpreting a biblical word based on the numerical value of its letters in the Hebrew alphabet.

misnaged: Opponents of the Hasidic movement who criticize belief in the tzaddik.

Teresienstadt: The name of a German concentration camp.

goyim: The Hebrew word for non-Jews.

Zionism: The movement to secure the return of the Jewish people to Palestine.

bar mitzvah: The ceremony marking the initiation of a 13-year-old boy into adulthood and the Jewish religious community.

Brian's Scribe for 11/16/07 period 2

Yay! It's Friday! Well, today in class we watched The Chosen background presentations. Since I can't figure out how to add a link to a document onto blogger and the help page doen't tell you, I've just put the notes to from the presentations below. Just copy and past them onto a word document and save to your computer to review them later. Also, remember that your This I Believe Essays need to be submitted by the 19th (that's Monday) and the podcasts must be submitted by the 26th (the Monday after that). finaly the 10th SAT quiz is a take-home quiz so don't forget.


Notes from The Chosen presentations

Hasidic Jews
Originated in Eastern Europe
Creator Israel ben Eliezer
Beliefs-omnipresence of God, Communion with God
Communion achieved through concentration, prayer
Tish-Hasidic holiday, centered around rabbi, like a community gathering
Observe Sabbath as day of rest
Marriages arranged by a matchmaker
Family has mother and father and about 8 kids
Dress-Men-black suits, black shoes, and white shirts, black hats on weekdays, no wristwatches, don’t shave face, most shave head
Women-long skirts to elbow and knee, no red or loud colors, married women cover head.

New York 1940s-1950s
Inventions-TV, TV dinners, Tupperware, penicillin, LEGO, Barbie, Paper mate ballpoint pen, corvette, Chevrolet, tin foil
Antarctica a continent
17 amendment
Food ration
No cars during war
FDR died
Judy Garland
I love Lucy, superman
Walt Disney
Pearl Harbor
United Nations HQ
Became worlds art center after Paris destroyed
Abstract expression new art form
Fashion-sophisticated suits and dresses, formal

Zionism
National movement of Jew to homeland
Resurgence of anti-Jewish feelings pushed Jews to homeland
Political Zionism-states that it’s a political movement
Took it to United Nations
World Zionist organization founded by Herzi, helped run Israel from start
Herzi wrote the Ghetto
Zion = Israel
Zionist believe in Jewish customs and documents
Dream is to have Jewish back in Israel
Christian Zionism- belief that it’s a biblical prophecy that they should go back to Israel

Europe in the 1940s to 1950s
Dominated by World War 2
United Nations formed after war
Holocaust killed 6 million Jews and 3 million other “non-perfect” races
Cold War from 1945-1991 between Soviet Union and U.S.

Chaim Potok
Son of immigrants
Chaim Potok studied Jewish literature
Ordained as conservative Jewish rabbi at 23
Joined us army as Chaplin
Returned after serving in Korea
Married Adana
Moved to Israel to study
Moved back to Pennsylvania to become editor in chief for newspaper
Wrote the Chosen
Chaim died of a brain tumor 5 years ago

Sigmond Freud
“The Father of Psychoanalysis”
Born in Czech Republic
Raised Jewish
Smart and brighter than siblings
Moved to Austria to go to high school
University of Vienna to study medical sciences
Joseph Breuer mentor
Tried to find eel organs
Was fascinated in blood and gore
Hard life, smoked obsessively
Used
Had many phobias
Committed suicide because thought life was
Believed in talking heals any problem “the Talking Cure”
Was psychologist and neurologist
Believed that dreams showed true desires
Came up with Theory of Repression, act of repressing memories was subconscious
Many people believe he wasn’t a real scientist
Wrote books about subconscious mind and a lot about

Here I am, the third scribe for 5th Period Honors!

So, I do know how fifth period got three scribes, but hey, who cares? More information and reminders for the class right?

The second half of the class is what I'm scribing so here it is:

Matt, Matt, Mitch, and Tyler presented their powerpoint on Orthodox Jews. In it, they talked about the background, principles and more. Here are a few bullets for those who didn't take any notes (just in case)

• There are two types of Torah, the written (Pentateuch), and the oral (Halacha)
• Orthodox Jews consider themselves authentic
• Hirsch is the founder
• Two principles are: God is ruler of all things, God is one, and all laws developed by God were given to Moses

Then, Katy, Rya, Ryan, Keke, and Lauren did their presentation on Europe in the 40's and 50's and here are a few notes from their powerpoint:

WW1

• Adolph Hitler
• Largest invasions, D-day in France
• Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered

Life in 50s

• Mass suburban environment
• Entertainment revolutionized
• TV!!!
• Movies focused more on teenage audiences

After that, Becky, Parker, Stefan, Melissa, and Mac presented their powerpoint on Zionism:

• Zionism comes from the hill Zion
• Founded by Theodor Herzl
• Zionist war on Nazi Germany
• Some presidents were
  Theodor Herzl
  David Wolfsan
  Otto Warburg
• (Last one) was Nahum Golden

And that was it for the period today! Well done for those people who went today! Hannah, I'm sorry that you dressed up like a man for nothing but I'm sure you're presentation will be great on Monday!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

11/16/07 Period Five Scribe

Hello. How's life? Good I hope. :) Today started out pretty much the same as any other day. I opened the laptops on the far side of the room, and everybody got out their major learning tools. Then the bell rang, and Ms. Smith said "Hello everybody." We replied our usual response, "Hello Ms. Smith". And so the day began.

Smith started out by reminding us to print out the sumbmission forms for NPR and have our parents sign them, and then remember to bring them in on Monday signed. Having through telling us to get out our calendars she paused to yell at some kids in the hall.

Reminders:

• Bring in signed submission form on Monday
• Podcast essay ASAP
• We have alot of homework over Thanksgiving break, so if you are any kind of a producer of knowledge, you will look at the Chosen calendar for next week and get a head start on it
• The SAT 10 quiz this week (our last one) is a take-home quiz - !No tramposos!
• If you did not take notes on the presentations in class today, it would be in your best interest to get them from somebody
• We must do something with the Chosen Vocab list; this being, download it and save it to your computer (and your USB)
• Emma's swim practice went long last night AND Smith discovered that the new Safeway has a peanut-butter bar where you can make your own peanut butter - these are the reasons she gives for not getting more grading done last night (I don't blame her - peanut butter is amazing!)
• A Carmel Machiado will always make Smith feel better, even if she's in the best of moods already :)

Our homework is in the list above (it's blue)

The first presentation today was on Hasidic Jews. It was very good.

Hope your weekend goes well!

Parker H's Scribe of 11-15-07

Hey everyone. It's almost Friday. Yay! I sort of got an easy day to scribe. We started the day with the usual, "Hello, everybody. Hello, Mrs, Smith." We talked about the TIB essay a little. Mostly, it was when it was due. I'm sure you know when it's due. I hope so. We then split into our Chosen Background groups. A full hour for our presentations was definitely needed. My group's project, or Mackenzie ( I hope I spelled that right), Becky, Melissa, Stephen, and I, is awesome. Well, I think its at least good. The google doc's updating feature gave us some good laughs. There was banter about whose project was best. At the end, we packed up and hoped we were ready for our presentations tomorrow. Good luck.

Jose' Dempere's Thursday, November 15, 2007 Scribe

Welcome to Thursday!

Today we started the class off with some fun banter. Then we were interrupted by a fire drill and made record time: two minutes!

But that's beside the point...

After being displaced from our classroom, we got back and talked about the This I Believe Essay Assignment. Things to remember:

• 
  
  
  The podcast is due Monday the 26th of November. You will put the podcast in the drop box.



• The essay in itself is due Monday the 19th. This means that you will submit the essay to NPR. org, and they will give you a thank-you note. Print that out and have it signed by your parents.



• Don't forget to turn in a copy of the essay into the drop box!!!

After this, we worked on the The Chosen background presentations. That is due tommorow, so don't forget!!!

SAT QUIZ TOMORROW! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY!

Happy Autumn... No, Wait... What is that?

Wednesday November 14, Period 2

Today in class Ms. Smith told us about alligators and sugar science experiments, we MySpace'd, did some work on our Chosen projects, and did more This I Believe essay editing.

1. Emma is a newly discovered scientist, and met some science guy that Ms. Smith was very excited about.

2. For our last SAT project of the semester we made MySpaces (MySpace is one word... haha) for well known literary characters (like Harry Potter or Guy Montag) Kristen Nicole's and mine was very good. Our Faber looked a bit like this guy here^^^^^
The final SAT quiz will be on Friday, along with our...

3. The Chosen projects. We had time to work on them today, and we will have have most of tomorrow to do them as well. Remember, they must be about 5 minutes long and teach the class about your topic, and give good background for the book. The presentations should be fun and not lectures because I will be very bored if you do a lecture, so lets make them fun and give away candy! Or cookies... yes, cookies. Remember that your group can try using GoogleDocs (the sign-in is your blogger stuff) or just be more productive than my group and actually finish (or even start for that matter) your project in class...

4. Lastly, your TIP essays are due... I don't know when actually, but not that long from now, I actually just checked and they are due, podcasted, submitted and all by Monday. Remember when you are reading them to practice and read slowly, but not-monotoney, that would be boring.

Good Luck!!
America's Next Top Model is on tonight, so is Gossip Girl
have fun with it... :)

Molly

Hello period 5, English Excitment

Hey everybody!
Another amazing day in English 9 Honors fifth hour. We started off with the usual. We said hello, and found out what we would do today. We began with the enlightening creation of myspace pages using this weeks vocab about one of the characters we have read about. Can you believe this is our last vocab packet? In my group, we did Lady Macbeth and, I must admit, it was pretty good. With lines like, "My husband and I are very compatible despite our many confrontations,"it had to be good.
After the amazing myspace we smoothly transitioned into editing eachothers TIB papers one more time. Way to go everybody on fabulous papers. We can now submit our purple sparkly blueberry scented papers (I really think it gives it a little something extra).
The Chosen Background groups got together after editing and began work on the projects. We assigned work for each member of the group to do, and hopped to it. That is just about it.
By everybody and remember, this is not education as usual.

Becky Gutknecht

Another busy day in period five english honors!!!

Today was a very interesting day as always in english honors. We started out with the traditional "Hello Everybody!!" "Hello Ms.Smith" Then we went into the discussion of our homework and what we were going to do that day. Don't forget to revise your TIB essays and get those podcasts done early. You can even do them at home!!! No way! OMGosh. Also you need to have submitted your essay by Monday and bring in the signed submission form to Ms.Smith!!

Your essays should have these things:
1)Voice/Personality
2)No preaching
3)Tell a story
4)Tell about your experience
5)Positive
6)Explain / state a belief
7)We/us??? no about you
8)Not a normal format

Give it a little something extra, make it pretty, blueberry scented with sparkles and everything like in legally blonde!! Just Joking!

Next we did musical laptop peer editing! One of the funnest games in the whole world!

Well, since I split the scribing with Morgan I am finish with the first half of class so you will have to hold on to the keyboard until she posts hers and then you can read in great enjoyment what happened the rest of the class period.

2nd Half Of Hour 5

Hey Guys! Well, Kristina H. is doing the first part of class, so I'm doing the second part! Here goes:

Well, first, we edited our second This I Believe essay. I really enjoyed reading the two I read! Then, Ms. Smith introduced to us our background project on The Chosen. Remember, we are teaching our subjects to the class, not just reading off the PPT! We also went over out specific requirements so pay attention to those.

Ms. Smith also told us about www.docs.google.com. That is where you can begin your presentations under new presentation, and also even work on them at the same time! So, use that to your advantage.

Lastly, we formed groups of five and planned out who would do what. I hope you all got a good head start on it!

That's all for now!
Morgan T =]

Helloooooo, Period 2! It is the beautiful day of Tuesday, November 13. Today in class we started off with going over our homework for the evening. (And trust me, it's a lot!) Since we had an awesome time of advising each other on our TIB essays, tonight we need to edit them. Once people are done with their essays, they should record their essays on podcasts. Also, if groups need to work on their Chosen background presentations...they should do so! And our favorite...SAT! (Last SAT of the semester, people!)

After we went over the homework, Mrs. Smith read us a thank you letter from President Cale of North Alabama University, who complimented us on our deeper thinking. 'Cuz let's face it people, we are deep-thinkers!

We edited each others' TIB essays next. To figure out whose paper we would read, we rocked out to some Beatle's music in musical chair editing. Things that we concentrated on when editing were symbolism and focusing on one main belief. We also had to have the story connect to ourselves, but it had to be between 350-500 words. (We checked this using word count under tools.) The last things we kept in mind were not preaching to the reader and being positive!!

We didn't have much time to work on it, but we ended class by starting our Chosen background presentations. We will also have tomorrow and Thursday to work on them, and we present them on Friday.

That's all for today, folks! Maddie, signing out!

The Chosen Links

Please post any links you find helpful in researching for The Chosen Background Presentations...

English 9 Honors: Scribe

English 9 honors: Scribe

In Class today we started by explaining exactly what I'm doing now. We were told how to scribe and when to do it and all that other good stuff that goes with it. We found out about how everybody is going to do one blog over the course of the next couple of months and how I happened to be lucky nuber one to have this honor or work or whatever you want to call it.

Then we began work on our TIB (This I Believe) Essays. In these essays we are supposed to tell about something we believe in and have personal relationship too. Then for homework we have to make a rough draft of the essay I was just talking about. It has to be less then 500 words and just about perfect so that somebody can make it into the "This I Believe" segment on NPR, but really just for the party that we are going to get once somebody does make it on to the site. We were supposed start everything about TIB with a recording of another students but for some reason the sound clip would work and we had to take the teachers word on it that it was amazing. But it was alright cause we had already listened to some from the sight form famous people, which is just as good.

After about 30 minutes of working on the essay class ended and left us with the homework of writing that first draft of the essay and for a certain someone, writing the original Scribe posting on the website which should be fun.

Luke Zafferani

The best day ever in English 9 honors!!!!!!!

Well, first we discussed how to create our awesome "this I beleive" speeches and learned how to save and post them!
As I'm listening at this precise moment, we are discussing on format and how to make our speeches, here's the list:
Not normal font
Serious but funny
Meaningful points
Can be about anything!
Personal expiriences
Voice!!!
Then, we even got to listen to Zoe's essay!

Tips for writing the essizzle:
Make sure you're telling a story (be breif)
Name the belief (focus on a core idea, be positive)
Be personal (stick with the ways normal to you)

Think about qualities that make a good essay.

Now we are working on our essays, the hustling and murmuring of the class crecsendos the decrescendos until it hits a soft piano.

Then, everyone stops talking and all you can hear is the tapping on keyboards.
Ms. Smith temporarily leaves the room, I consider trying to start a party but the idea fades almost as soon as it came in.

Fahrenheit 451 Fishbowl 136-165-period 5

Fahrenheit 451 Fishbowl 136-165-period 2

Is China a Bradburian Society at Heart?

Hello everyone! I asked Ms. Smith if I could create a post about a recent article I read in TIME magazine. I thought it might be a spark for a meaningful discussion. It is entitled "China's Me Generation" and looks at the nature of China's twentysomethings. I read this article and automatically made connections to Fahrenheit 451. The young adults in this article had parents who grew up in the throws of the Cultural Revolution, in which approximately 90 million people were killed for "the good of the party". After all of this suffering, the next generation barely even cares about China's political future. All they care about is the technology available to them and the materialistic side of life. This brings up the question of why they are not rebelling. After one generation, have these citizens really been brainwashed into believing that what is happening in their country is okay as long as they can buy stuff and watch television? Isn't this exactly like the people in Bradbury's society, indifferent unless it concerns their parlor walls? I find this a little unsettling, and I hope that you will read this article and see its implications in relation to 451. Have fun discussing!

Fahrenheit 451 Questions 136-165

Fahrenheit 451 Fishbowl 113-136-period 5

Fahrenheit 451 Fishbowl 113-136-period 2

Ideas for Mr. Pink and A Whole New Mind

We have talked endlessly about taking charge of your own learning and now here is the chance to really have a say in what happens with our study of A Whole New Mind. What would you like to do with our time with Mr. Pink? Think practically as well as big picture. What do you hope to accomplish with this unbelievably remarkable opportunity?