PEG LANGUAGE ARTS

Mrs. Suzie F. Mandell

AMS Room 307

For questions: G&T Office 732-596-4206 (T-F)

IMS 732-602-8450 (M)

Email:

Website:

Blog:pegponderings4.blogspot.com

***All written work, except for your essays,is written in either your writer’s notebook (for your 15 mins.) or Reader Response Journal.

Peg 4

Friday, April 10, 2015

MP4 #1

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

“Life is a thump-ripe melon-so sweet and such a mess,” according to musician Greg Brown in one of his songs. What else is life, besides a thump-ripe melon? Compare life to a food, following the form of Brown’s line: “Life is a ______-______.

Monday, April 13, 2015

MP4 #2

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

What do you dislike that no one else (or hardly anyone else) seems to dislike? Why do you dislike it? Why do you think you are pretty much alone in your feelings? Explain.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

MP4 #3

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

Write a teeny-tiny, two line poem with a long, long title.

Example:

What Jamal Had on His Hands the Morning After he accidentally gave his puppy Exedrin PM instead of the Anti-Worm Medication

Groggy

doggie.

Activity One:

FINAL QUESTIONS (Create your Final Draft due Wednesday 4/15)

Pick one question from the following list and write a 5 paragraph essay on it. Make sure to include three passages/quotes from the novel to reinforce your point. Remember to quote them like you do in your literary luminary role.

1. What makes old Dan and Little Ann different from most hounds?

  1. In what ways does Billy show determination?
  2. What does the red fern symbolize?
  3. How does Billy’s mama show her affection for Billy?
  4. How does Papa change the way he treats Billy over the course of the novel?
  5. What does Billy do that makes his father respect him more?
  6. What character flaws does his grandfather exhibit?
  7. How does Wilson Rawls portray women? Does he use stereotypes? If so, how?
  8. How are the dogs made real? Do they seem human? Do they have distinct personalities? What details does Rawls include to describe their personalities?
  9. Look again at chapter 1. What does it show abut Billy’s personality?
  10. What is the role of religion in the novel?

Poetry Fun:

Exercise One:

Abraham Lincoln wrote these lines in a poem called “My Childhood-Home I see Again.”

As distant mountains please the eye,

When twilight chases the day-

As bugle-tones, that, passing by,

In distance die away-

Notice how he compares the sight of the sunset-“When twilight chases the day”-to the sound of the bugle dying away in the distance. Both the sight and the sound make us think of things that are slowly ending or going away from us. Now, think of a feeling-maybe winning a game, or being lost, or getting frustrated-and write down two ways to describe it, one using sight and one using sound.

Exercise Two:

Blog

Exercise Three:

Complete your Edmodo.

Exercise Three:

Join Newsela. Look on the PEG homework webpage for your group code.

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Grammatical Guessing

  1. Elizabeth didn’t ever take all the attention she got from James and Sam and Delmar for granite, and she kept all the boy’s hundreds of letters in a special file cabinet in her closet.
  2. The banana split that I ate last night at humongo ice cream shoppe, sat in my stomache like a ball of hardened clay.

PEG LANGUAGE ARTS

Mrs. Suzie. F. Mandell

AMS Room 307

For questions: G&T Office 732-596-4206 (W-F)

IMS 732-602-8450 (M-Tues.)

Email:

Website:

Blog: pegponderings5.blogspot.com

***All written work, except for your essays, is written in either your writer’s notebook (for your 15 minutes) or Reader Response Journal.

PEG 5

Friday, April 10, 2015

MP4 #1

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

Are you an early, late, or on-time person? Why? What do you think made you that way? How do you feel about being that way? How do others feel about it? Explain.

Monday, April 13, 2015

MP4 #2

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

Write a paragraph that uses all these words: dabble, gobble, hobble, bobble, wobble.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

MP3 #3

Write for 15 minutes about the following topic or whatever you would like in your writer’s notebook.

Write a story that includes all of the following words: galaxy, supermodel, coffee, tunnel, scarf, antlers.

Activity One:

Read Gathering Blue chapters 14-23

Activity Two:

DD+C LL+INV Sum+Travel IL WW

DD+C=Ayush LL+Inv=Anbar Sum+TT=Jenica IL-Renee WW-Olivia

Activity Three:

Reading Strategy- Synthesis

Activity Four:

Gathering BlueComplete 12Questionsutilizing RACE.

Chapters 12-17

  1. On page 118, Annabella speaks of “down yonder.” Why do you think they have the color blue there?
  2. Do you think that it is a coincidence that all the talented young children with “gifts” are orphans?
  3. Do you believe that Jo’s father committed suicide? Why or why not?
  4. Do you think it is more convenient for this society to have orphans become skilled artisans in the community?
  5. Why do you think Kira hesitated when speaking to Jamison about Annabella? Why do you think Jamison reacted the way he did about Annabella’s comment?
  6. What do you think is beyond the path?
  7. Why do you think that Jamison implied that Annabella has dementia when she is so skilled and knowledgeable when she works with Kira?
  8. People believe that Jo’s songs are full of knowledge of the future do you believe this?
  9. Do you believe that Annabella died of natural causes?
  10. Why do you think Kira is now wary of Jamison?
  11. “only then did it occur to Kira to wonder, who found her? How did they know to look?”(Lowry, 141) is a key quote, what do you think it is suggesting?
  12. Why do you think they lock in young artists like Thomas and Jo? Are they held captive?
  13. Do you think that these three children, Kira, Thomas, and Jo all have knowledge of things that haven’t happened yet?
  14. Of what value, do you think these three are?
  15. Why do you think Kira is so concerned for Jo?
  16. Kira speaks about her lack of freedom on page 153. What do you think would happen to her if she decides not to work on the Singer’s robe, work on her own projects, or leave?

Chapters 17-18

  1. What is the cost of freedom?
  2. Do you think Jo is being trained to be the next Singer? Why or why not?
  3. Why do you think Thomas and Kira felt compelled to visit Jo and give her a signal in case she is in trouble?
  4. What makes the fen similar and different to the place that Kira grew up in?
  5. What scenes do you think Kira and Thomas will be creating for the futuristic portions of the robe and staff?
  6. Where do you think Matt has gone and when will he return?

Chapters 19-20

  1. What do you think the scraping sound was?
  2. Why do you think that the people in that society that has blue are all broken?
  3. Discuss what gave Katrina, Kira’s mother, the courage to stand up to the people of the village and spare Kira’s life, when the custom in Kira’s society was to destroy babies born with birth defects. Do you think Katrina was aware of her daughter’s gift? Katrina never created the color blue. Do you think she knew that her daughter would someday find the secret of creating blue?
  4. At the beginning of the novel, Katrina dies and Kira is left homeless. Kira is fearful, especially when Vandara, a vicious and angry woman, tells her that she is worthless. Discuss the strength Kira displays when she faces the Council of Guardians. How does Kira show strength and courage throughout the novel?
  5. Describe the way children are treated in Kira’s society. What is the difference between abuse and neglect? How is Matt both abused and neglected? What is his role in the story? How does Matt contribute to Kira’s growth as a person and an artist?

Chapters 20-23

28.Why does Kira feel an overwhelming sense of “dread and terrible sorrow”?

  1. Did you ever expect for Kira to reunite with her father, Christopher?

Have you ever been reunited with someone? How did it feel?

  1. Describe what kind of friend Matt is. List five personality traits that you think Matt has.

31.Vandara is known throughout the village. “People whispered about her. She was known, and respected. Or feared (15).” How can someone who is feared be respected? Discuss whether the women of the village fear Vandara more than they respect her. How do you know that they don’t really agree with Vandara regarding Kira’s fate?

  1. What qualities determine the difference between skill and art? Debate whether Katrina was a skilled weaver or an artist. At what point in the novel does Kira display the true qualities of an artist?
  2. Why is the history of the people called the Ruin Song? The scenes on the Singer’s Robe represent Ruin, Rebuilding, Ruin Again, and Regrowth. How does this symbolize the history of our world?

Writing Fun

Exercise One:

Write a bedtime story for a small child. Try to make the story interesting, but also soothing.

Exercise Two:

Complete your BLOG

Exercise Three:

Complete your Edmodo

Exercise Four:

Sign up for Newsela

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Code is on our school website.

Exercise Six:

Work on your Newspaper due on June 3, 2015.

Grammatical Guessing

  1. Elizabeth didn’t ever take all the attention she got from James and Sam and Delmar for granite, and she kept all the boy’s hundreds of letters in a special file cabinet in her closet.
  2. The banana split that I ate last night at humongo ice cream shoppe, sat in my stomache like a ball of hardened clay.