Mr. McCormick's English/Global Studies

1) In your own words, explain what a value is: 2) What is one value that you share with your family? How is this reflected in your family? 3) What is one individual value that you have, that makes you unique from your family? McCormick's Sample Response for #2: One value I share with my family is the idea of service. Though my parents, my brother, and I all went to fancy schools, we chose careers that allow us to help others. My mom was a first-grade teacher. My dad was a librarian. My brother is a lawyer who defends people who can't afford their own lawyer. I'm a teacher too.

1) How were you feeling about your reasoning before this activity? 2) What new understanding do you have after this activity? 3) What changes will you make to your writing after the activity? Before the activity I wasn't really sure if I was achieving the standard. I had quotes and I thought I explained them but I wasn't sure if I analyzed them. Now I understand that I could do a better job analyzing them. I had connected my quotes to my claim but I didn't say what in the quotes made me think what I think. I will go back and fix my reasoning.

1) How were you feeling about your reasoning before this activity? 2) What new understanding do you have after this activity? 3) What changes will you make to your writing after the activity? 1) Before I did this activity I thought that my reasoning was achieving the standard. 2) Now I have a better idea of what it means to "analyze" a quote. I also have a better understanding of what it takes to exceed the standard. 3) I still think that my reasoning is achieving the standard. Now I might try to exceed the standard. I don't know if the quotes I chose will work but Ill check.

1) How were you feeling about your reasoning before this activity? 2) What new understanding do you have after this activity? 3) What changes will you make to your writing after the activity? When I started this activity I thought I had achieved the target because I had included sentences after my quote. Now I understand that I wasn't really connecting my quotes to my claim. I was kind of just summarizing it. So now I will go back and fix my reasoning so that I show how my quotes support my claim.

One ethical concern about cell phones is that in some ways they are helping to fuel deadly conflicts in Africa. This is especially true in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is a major producer of tin, gold, tungsten, and other metals important to the creation of a cell phone. According to the article “The Price of Precious,” the Congo has been in a near-constant state of war since the 1990s. Different rebel groups have seized different parts of the country. Once in control, they often force locals to work for them in the mines. The rebel groups then use the money they receive for the metals from the mines to fund their fight against the government. They often use brutal tactics, killing civilians indiscriminately, raping women, burning villages, and forcing children to become soldiers. According to the United Nations, about 5 million Congolese have died since the beginning of the conflict. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF-sJgcoY20 Another concern is that many people who...

“The early apples were now ripening, and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon.”(P. 35)

Focus Question: What laws does the United States have to make sure that people work under fair conditions? Directions:  Use the link next to your group to answer the appropriate research questions. Then create a short Google Presentation to share with your classmates. - Group 1: Child Labor Laws Under U.S. law, what jobs are people under 14 able to do? How does this change for people between 14 and 16? What hours are people this age able to work? How does the number of hours a person can work change when someone turns 16? What is one restriction that is still placed on what work they can do? - Group 2: Fair Labor Standards Act According to the FLSA, what is the minimum amount someone must be paid for a job? According to the FLSA, how long is the standard work week? How much would someone who works 40 hours a week at minimum wage make a year ? According to the FLSA, what do employers have to do to if someone works more than 40 hours a week? - Group 3: Occupation...

After reading Chapter 2 of Animal Farm , please answer the following questions on your blog BEFORE the beginning of class on Wednesday, May 13: 1) Write a summary of the important events of the chapter. 2) We are introduced to several new historical figures/events in this chapter. Explain which animal matches which historical person/event and WHY you think this:  Resignation of Tsar Nicholas II Joseph Stalin Leon Trotsky 3) Throughout the chapter, the pigs have to persuade their fellow animals to follow a certain course of action. First they have to persuade them to follow their ideas about "Animalism" and then they have to convince them to work. What persuasive techniques (pathos, logos, ethos) are they using? Make sure to include and explain quotes from the text. Hint:  See pages 16-17, 25-26. 4) Another character in the book who uses persuasion is the raven, Moses. What persuasive technique do you think he is using? Why? Hint : See pages 17-18. 5) F...

After reading Chapter 1, please complete the tasks/answer the questions below on YOUR blog. 1) Write a summary of the chapter. What important events occur? 2) Old Major is an important figure to the animals. They all look up to him. But as Old Major explains in his speech, he is old and not likely to live long. Of the characters mentioned in the story so far, which do you think would be most likely to replace Old Major as leader? Why? 3) As we've discussed in class, Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. The characters in the story represent real people and events in Russia. What ideas do you have right now about who some of the characters represent. Think about... Tsar Nicholas II Vladimir Lenin Russian nobility Russian peasants After you've added your thoughts to your blog, check out your classmates' blogs. Respond to at least one other classmate. Your response should be several thoughtful sentences long. Please do not simply write, I agree!...

Using the pie chart above, determine: - The actual ranking of the various roles on your cards. Which receives the most money for their work? Which receives the least? Discuss with your partner: - Are there any differences between your rankings about who should receive the most money for their work and who actually does? - Do you think this way of dividing the profits is fair ? Why or why not? If not, how would you change it?

Blog Post Assignment : What did you learn today about how "stuff" is made and distributed in a global economy? Out of Class Work: Complete Tracking Your Possession steps 1-3.

Focus Question: What types of economic systems do nations use? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? Today's lesson was mostly devoted to a simulation. Students' task was to draw a car to "sell" to their classmates, who purchased them with mint Life Savers. In round one, I told students that they had to draw a minivan. Though one customer "purchased" one of the minivans, everyone received a mint for their efforts. In round two, the customer explained what their dream car would be. The producers were then able to draw whatever vehicle they thought would best sell to the customer. We had some creative vehicles! The simulation was followed with a brief discussion of which system was fairer, and students pointed out that each system was fair to some people and unfair to others. Finally, students took notes on three economic systems: communism (Round 1), capitalism (Round 2), and mixed. Blog Post: - What is an economic system? What questions do...

Focus Question: How can I make my poetry "sing?" Today's class focused on helping students add rhythm and meter into their poetry. I tried to "hook" students by showing them a video of a postal clerk in Ghana using rhythm to make his work more interesting. Check it out above. Next we defined the term rhythm and looked at two common rhythmic patterns in poetry: iambic and anapestic. There was lots of drumming on desks! (I can't help myself with this alliteration thing.) After that, we defined meter and defined the term foot as it applies to poetry. Students then applied their knowledge by examining poems and deciding on their rhythm and meter. This was no easy task. Finally students wrote poems using a specific rhythm and meter. I'm excited to see what they come up with. Out of Class Work: 1) Complete your economic systems blog post (C Block) for tomorrow (Thursday). 2) Complete a draft of your sonnet (E Block) or other type of poem (G Block) for...

Focus Question: - What is an economy/economic system? Today we began an in-depth look at Globalization that will likely take us to the end of the year. First, we'll be looking at how students' possessions help link them to people around the globe. As a first step toward that, the focus of today's class was a simulation in which students had to make a product using paper in about 15 minutes. Students were very creative, which led us to the question of how we were going to distribute the wonderful products that they made. This led to a discussion of the three basic questions that every economic system must answer. Out of Class Work 1) Complete a draft of your 13 ways poem for tomorrow (try for at least 7 stanzas) 2) C Block: Finish your blog post answering the following questions: What did you learn today about economic systems? HOW did you learn about economic systems? What questions do you still have about economic systems? 3) Finish your "So much depe...

Focus Question: What is the job of a poet? What tools do poets use to accomplish it? Learning Targets : I can explain how figurative language impacts a pom I can identify examples of figurative language in a poem I can brainstorm topics to write about I can use effective repetition in a poem Narrative : We began today by finishing our discussion of figurative language and how it is used in a poem. Students wrote about their morning routine using as many examples of figurative language as possible. Students then completed a "heart map" of topics that were important to them and that they could possible write poetry about. Finally, the class discussed repetition and how it can be used effectively in a poem. Students then took a topic from their heart map and created a pantoum, which is a poem with a specific type of repetition scheme.