Month: January 2022

Monday, 1/31: Homework, Debrief Test 16, Revisit Space Exploration

Slides Link for Homies: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xrhm42BTPdSCZ-W_JrE4hvuGMEvGi06Ug7MoSFYZJ6E/edit?usp=sharing

Copy homework into planner.

Debrief Test #16.

“Space Exploration, 1/31”

Assessment Practice as a class:

https://www.hmhco.com/ui/#/dashboard

Answers in Notebook. Test Friday. (duh) Take notes on terminology!

Pass out Giver Books. Bring EVERY DAY! Quiz Every Day.

 

Time? Begin…

The Third Expedition to Mars…

Friday, 1/28: Paperwork, Mental Floss, Test 16

FOV: Fish Operated Vehicle

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/psas

Prep sheet for Test #16:
KBARR: ___/24 Vocab Homework: ___/15 Vocab Practices: ___/13 ___/12 ___/15

Mental Floss.

  1. An archeologist claims to have dug up a coin that is clearly dated 46 B.C. How do we know he’s lying?
  2. A man builds an extraordinary house where all four sides face south.  A bear walks up to one of his windows and peers in. What color is the bear?
  3. Below are clues to two homonyms. Figure out what pair of words the clues are describing. Example: Rabbit fur = hare hair. You must get the order of the words correct and spell them correctly.
    a) What a metal thief would do.     b) A basic truth about a school leader.     c) A loud noise from tennis devices.
  4. This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!
  5. What is this poem talking about?
    “The beginning of eternity
    The end of time and space
    The beginning of every end,
    And the end of every place.”

 

TEST #16

 

Thursday, 1/27: Vocab, Space Travel, Maus?

Tomorrow’s Test: Vocab, EMEN, Today’s Stuff. Test Preview: Test 16 Preview

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. (January 27)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/us/tennessee-school-board-removes-maus/

What?  Words to know: redact, myopic.

What do you think?

“Vocab, 1/27.”

  1. _____
  2. _____
  3. _____
  4. _____
  5. One of the reasons people like zombie movies is that they are usually very _____.
  6. The Earth Men didn’t understand why there was so much _______ involved in getting recognized as Earth men.
  7. “You have balanced the whole ______… Your insanity is beautifully complete.”
  8. (2) I am _____(ed) that you don’t see what a friendly _____ I have! (LOL)
  9. (2) The artist had struggled to create something new for a long time. He ____(ed) that maybe his ____ had left him.
  10. (2) I was rather _____(ed) when Mr. Coward didn’t buy my ______ about why it wasn’t me who did it.
  11. (2) The BBQ was so _____, and I was having such a good time, that I was ______ to leave.

Review for test tomorrow:

  • Emily Dickinson felt that “the Majority” always prevailed on the question of…   a) what is the right thing to do. b) who’s weird and who isn’t. c) who’s cool and who isn’t. d) who’s important and who isn’t. e) All of the above.
  • Poem #435 says that if a person looked very carefully… a) he would see that everyone is weird. b) he would see that what might look weird really isn’t. c) he would see that what might seem sane really isn’t. d) All of the above. e) b and c.   f) NOTA
  • Poem #435 says that if you disagree with the majority… a) you’re weird. b) you’re stupid. c) you’re considered dangerous. d) you’re doing the right thing.  e) all of the above.   f) NOTA
  • It turns out that the line of work a Martian needs to be in to welcome Earth men is…
  • What was the Martian’s explanation for the rocket?
  • Why does the story end with a “weather report”?
  • Climax?
  • Falling action?
  • Resolution?

Pass out new books.

  • Name on inside cover and on edge of book.
  • Bring to class every day. You don’t have to take it home… yet.
  • Turn to p253

“Challenges for Space Exploration” p253.

  • Make the changes in the book that I show.
  • Read 253, 254.
  • Do the two annotations on p254.
  • Do the quiz on p255.
  • Still time? Doodle on the author on p252.

Wednesday, 1/26: Vocab, Emily Dickinson, “The Earth Men”

“Warm Up, 1/26.”

  • Write one sentence that summarizes what you read in your KBARR book LAST NIGHT!

Checking SMYK’s.

“Vocab, 1/26.”

  1. _____
  2. _____
  3. _____
  4. _____
  5. The roots of this word mean “to live together.”
  6. The roots of this word mean “stick together thing.”
  7. The root of this word meant “set fire to.”
  8. The root of this word meant “elsewhere.”
  9. The root of this word meant “to meditate.”
  10. The root of this word referred to a legal document with a list of offenses.
  11. The roots of this word meant “to struggle against.”
  12. The root of this word meant “to arrange.”

Poem #435    by Emily Dickinson

Much Madness is divinest Sense–
To a discerning Eye–
Much Sense–the starkest Madness–
‘Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail–
Assent–and you are sane–
Demur–you’re straightway dangerous–
And handled with a Chain–		 divinest = most perfect
discerning eye = one that looks closely and carefully
starkest = most obvious
prevail = win, rule,
assent = say yes, agree
demur = say no, disagree

What is the message of the poem? Is she correct?

“The Earth Men.” Link to Story: The Martian Chronicles. It starts on p22. Finish the story today if you are absent.

  1. What does the captain say that finally makes Mr. Aaa stop and listen to him?
  2. What is it the Earth men want from the Martians?
  3. Even though it doesn’t really have anything to do with the story, Ray Bradbury spends time describing a mechanical spider toy that the little girl plays with. What’s the point? (More than one answer.)

After questions.

  1. It turns out that the line of work a Martian needs to be in to welcome Earth men is…
  2. “Without noticing them again, as if they had melted down through the floor…”
  3.  “A shot rang out. Mr. Xxx fell.”  a) exposition  b) rising action  c) inciting incident  d) rising action  e) climax  f) falling action  g) resolution
  4. “When the town people found the rocket at sunset, they wondered what it was. (p30) a) exposition  b) rising action  c) inciting incident  d) rising action  e) climax  f) falling action  g) resolution
  5. “That night it rained all night. The next day was fair and warm.”  (p31)  a) exposition  b) rising action  c) inciting incident  d) rising action  e) climax  f) falling action  g) resolution
  6. Why does the story end with a “weather report”?

Tuesday, 1/25: Vocab, Mars, The Earth Men

 

 

Do you really know how to be absent in here?  Let’s find out!

How to Be Absent. (Again… sigh.)

  1. Check the website: https://middleschool.mrcoward.com. DO NOT CLICK THE HOMEWORK LINK!
  2. Scroll down until you see the CALENDAR on the right side.
  3. CLICK THE DAY(S) YOU WERE ABSENT.
  4. Do exactly what we did that day IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.
  5. Repeat for any other days you missed.
  6. If there is anything you can’t do or don’t understand, SEND ME AN EMAIL that day.
  7. YOU ONLY NEED TO CLICK THE HOMEWORK LINK that appears on MONDAY’s classwork. If you weren’t absent on Monday, you (SHOULD) already have the homework in your planner.

“Vocab, 1/25.”

  1. _____
  2. _____
  3. _____
  4. Cell phone use in class is sure to ____ Mr. Coward, and nobody wants that.
  5. Santa Claus, by definition, has a very jolly ________.
  6. The gossip magazine published all the _____ details of the crime, shocking everyone.
  7. The atmosphere at the party was very ____ and lively.
  8. After he failed the test, he ____(ed) about what might have happened if he had actually studied.
  9. The DMV is infamous for all the ______ you have to go through to register a car. (Bonus: What does infamous mean?)
  10. My smoothie was a _______ of lots of things I found in the refrigerator.
  11. Everybody tried to blame the greasers for the problems in the cafeteria, but they had a(n) _____; they were down at the corner store.
  12. I was _____(ed) when I heard the bad news about my grade.
  13. She was _____ to report the crime because it was her friend who committed it.

MARS!

Should we try to land people on MARS? Why/Not?

  • 21 month round trip
  • solar radiation
  • -50 avg. temp
  • 98% CO2 atmosphere
  • 38% of our gravity
  • zero life or water; lots of dust and rocks

 

“The Earth Men” from The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

What happens (historically) when two very different cultures meet?

What if an alien knocked on your door?

Discuss:
What does telepathy literally mean? ___ ___. (Up to +2!)
What do you think having true telepathy would be like?

Let’s go to Mars.

Link to story for absentees: The Martian Chronicles. The story begins on page 22.

We will probably get about 3-4 pages in today.