3/25/2021-Please send me your diary entries and your completed frame story in an electronic format. I would like to compile those as soon as possible. We started reading Robin Hood today. We'll be reading this and working on this book until the end of school. We'll be doing reading and writing activities to accompany it, so feel free to use this as your language arts spine (and take some planning and pressure off!). We also started our new project, which was an illuminated letter banner.

For HW
1. Read Robin Hood pg. 1-56 (we started this in class) and complete this quiz.
2. Work on your character trading cards for Robin Hood
3. Finish up and email me your frame story.

3/11/2021-We almost finished our book! Students should finish it up over the break and we'll discuss a bit more when we return from break. Hopefully, I'll have everyone's stories emailed and we can compile them soon! We'll do one more project when we return from break and read one more book!

3/4/2021-Today, we had a writer's workshop session. We read four short stories from our classmates. These stories will be included in our Frame Story. They were all wonderful and so creative! Our collection is going to be wonderful. I'm so excited about this project.

• For HW, if you have not already done so, please read the next two tales (Wife of Bath/Widow & The Pardoner's Tale).

• Also spend some time writing! I would like for you to write your diary entry from your character's perspective. It should be the night before we leave on our jungle journey. In your entry, explain why you are going on this journey in the first place and make sure the "voice" you use as your character is true to the personality of the character. Sydney will have a very different way of speaking from the professor, for example.

• Write a first draft of your story. You should aim for five pages total. You'll want to include all the parts of the Story Pyramid/Freytag Model (See above)

• Email both your diary entry & your short story to Dr. Rowe so she can start compiling them.

2/25/2021-Today, we read the Scholar's Tale in class (What about that husband and his tests, am I right?). We also discussed what are the elements of a good story and how do we craft our story? Everyone shared what they had so far in a workshop style session.

• For HW, please read the next two tales (Wife of Bath/Widow & The Pardoner's Tale).

• Also spend some time writing! I would like for you to write your diary entry from your character's perspective. It should be the night before we leave on our jungle journey. In your entry, explain why you are going on this journey in the first place and make sure the "voice" you use as your character is true to the personality of the character. Sydney will have a very different way of speaking from the professor, for example.

• Write a first draft of your story (with the expectation that things will change!)--It should contain the exposition, inciting incident, rising action, and a climax. Aim for 3 pages in all and remember to include the 3Ds to lengthen your story (details, description, and dialogue).

2/18/2021-VIRTUAL CLASS-This week, we will start planning our story. Use this story planner and write notes about what will happen in your story. I only want you to write notes and have ideas. DO NOT DO ANY WRITING YET!!! We have to make sure everything will fit together before everyone writes a full story.

2/11/2021-Thanks to all the students who brought in an idea for our frame story. We voted on our favorite option today and we're going to be going to the jungle! Thanks to Morgen who came up with the winning idea! We also read the Miller's Tale today in class (funny!).

For HW next week, please bring in your character sketch. It should have the following topics:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Occupation/Job:
Motivation for taking this trip:
Personality traits:
A Diary Entry written in first person from the night before the trip takes place.

In addition, please read The Nun's Priest Tale and the Reeve's Tale and bring your books back next week!

2/4/2021-Today, we started reading The Canterbury Tales. Everyone should have come home with a copy of the text. These are my personal copies (not purchased with materials fees), so please take care of them (no writing, highlighting, page folding, tearing, etc.). You are welcome to take them home, but please make sure they come back to class each week as we'll be reading in class aloud. If by some chance you misplace your book, just simply replace before the end of the year please.

With our Canterbury Tales discussion, we learned about a frame story and how it is made up of "episodes" of a larger story arch. As part of our study, we'll be writing our own class book in the frame story genre, so I've asked everyone to come up with three journey ideas and at least 8 characters who would be taking that journey (we need eight because there are 8 students in the class). This DOES NOT have to be well-fleshed out. It just needs to be brief and give us a general idea of what you think the over-arching journey should be. There were lots of good ideas tossed around today, so I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! We'll vote on these next week, so be prepared to "sell it" to your classmates.

In addition, students should read "The Knights Tale." We read the Prologue together in class today, so everyone should be familiar with the concept and what is happening so far. After you read about the knight, make a drawing of him on the front of an index card and write a few words/phrases/sentences to describe him on the back. Bring this to class next week as well!

1/28/2021- Today most students adding the next layer of their Globes! We will probably be finished either next week or the 11th. We'll start working on the Canterbury Tales next week (whether we're finished with Globes or not). We're going to do a deep dive into the Canterbury Tales and probably spend until about spring break on this text. We'll do some writing and other creative work with this book! I'm excited about it! I first read it in high school and it was the first time I really wanted to be a writer, so I hope that some in the class will love it as much as I do!

1/21/2021-We started building our Globes today (most of the students wanted to set them ablaze and, while historically accurate, I said they could not!). Hopefully, these will be finished next week (but definitely no more than the first week in February). I would also like for students to complete a creative writing assignment about being at the Globe. Please bring this to class next week.

If you need more information about the Globe, you can visit the following links:
The Globe Official Website
Crash Course Straight Outta Stratford

For Fun: Insults by Shakespeare

1/14/2021-Today, we discussed our plans for this semester and the projects we have on the calendar. Then we learned a bit about Shakespeare. We'll study him for a few weeks and then move on to our next book The Canterbury Tales in February. I'll provide you with an electronic copy of the Canterbury Tales.

For HW, students need to complete the graphic organizer they started in class today with information about Shakespeare! Next week, we'll work on construction our Globe replica.

HW due 8/27:
Take the student survey.
Read Heraldry for Beginners (p.1-5; This can be a challenging text! We'll be working on it for the next few weeks while we make our Coat of Arms project)
Complete the Writing Prompt (break this up over several days if you would like!). You can hand write or type and print, but bring it to class next week please!

Recap and HW 8/20:
Yesterday, we spent time discussing the time period and learning some very weird and interesting facts about the time. For example, did you know many animals were convicted and executed for "killing" humans during the Middle Ages? Strange, but true. We also chatted about what we wanted to know about the time period. Reminder: This is a non-graded course, so it is up to you how much outside content you complete. However, the more you put into the course, the more you will get out of the course!

12/10-Continue to work on the assignment from 12/3 if you did not finish it. I will collect it next week. Yesterday, we discussed a bit about Shakespeare and looked at some graphic novel versions of his plays. We also did the first step of an art project which we will use to make a weaving of a sonnet next week.

DECEMBER 3rd-VIRTUAL CLASS- This week, we're going virtual. We won't meet in real-time, so you can work on these assignments until we meet again (hopefully, that will be 12/10)! First of all, answer the following questions on a piece of paper and bring it to class the next time we meet:
1. What do you know about William Shakespeare?
2.Have you ever been in a play? Would you like to be in a play? Why or why not?
3. What is an apprentice? Do we have any similar systems in place in our current professional world?
4. Is it ever acceptable to lie? Why or why not? If so, when?
5. When (if ever) should you pretend to be someone you are not?
6. True/False-Physical punishments are appropriate for correction.
7. Look up any famous Shakespearean saying, insult, or quote. From what Shakespearean play or sonnet is the saying or quote? Write a paragraph explaining the context of the saying, insult, or quote. Explain what is happening in the play during that scene. What does the saying mean? What is your emotional response to it (angered?, humored?, saddened?) and why? Then, begin reading The Shakespeare Stealer (p. 1-51) and watch the following video about Shakespeare.

11/19-We finished up our Matilda Bone study with a few imaginative writings from Matilda's perspective. If you did not hand those in or get them finished in class, please turn them in the next time we meet (12/3). First we wrote a journal entry from Matilda's perspective. Then we wrote a BioPoem about Matilda. We finished up plague masks and hopefully those all made it home. We also played a Plague co-op game, which was great fun. We'll be reading The Shakespeare Stealer when we return from break. This is a series of books, so make sure you select the first!

11/12-Almost everyone is finished (or at the last step) of his or her plague doctor mask, so these will more than likely come home next week. Next week, we'll be playing a game about the plague and doing some activities to accompany our Matilda Bone reading. Most everyone has finished up the reading. If you haven't that's o.k., but do try to get as much as possible completed before next week.

11/5-We learned about a summary/response paper and students were given an article to practice writing a summary response. We also began working on our foam plague doctor masks.

10/29-We made paper prototypes of our plague doctor masks. We'll make these out of foam next week and hopefully, they will come home next week too. We'll also work on some more projects about the Black Plague and Matilda Bone.

10/22-Today we worked on some grammar with our new book, Matilda Bone. We discussed subjects, predicates, direct objects, adjectives, adverbs, and phrases. We will continue to do this sporadically throughout the reading. We also read an informative article about plague doctors of the Black plague era, as a plague doctor mask will be our next project. We'll be working on those next week. I'm anticipating a much faster project this time, so we will possibly complete 2-3 projects before Thanksgiving. For homework, please read pages 1-52 of Matilda Bone and complete the writing prompt.

10/8-Today was a fun day! We finished up our castle construction and everyone was able to share their amazing construction! Some of the students did amazing work! When we return from Fall Break, we'll begin reading Matilda Bone, so make sure you have your copy!

10/1-Today was a wonderful day! It was our gallery day for our Coat of Arms project. Everyone's Coat of Arms looked AMAZING! I am so proud of the students. Be sure to follow on Instagram (@drrowereads) to see what the Coat of Arms looked like. We finished up the class by working on our castles a bit more. Next week will be the final week for castle construction, so I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products. Students should finish up reading Castle Diary this week. Once we return from fall break, we'll begin Matilda Bone!

9/24-Recap: Yesterday, students started construction on their castles. They looked marvelous! They are really going to be interesting and complex when they are finished! For next week, students need to bring their completed Coat of Arms Project to class and their completed writing.

9/17-Recap: Today, we started a blueprint for our castles. We read about the components of the castle and used that information to start designing what we wanted our castle to look like. We also brainstormed what materials we could use for each of the elements. Next week, still start construction, so I'll be bringing in some materials, but if you have any of the following you could donate to our project, we would greatly appreciate it:

-toilet paper tubes/paper towel tubes
-cardboard boxes
-cardstock
-felt/fabric
-string
-empty tissue boxes
-hot glue sticks (I have the mini-size that I will bring to class)
-any other item that could be useful in building a castle

Continue to read in The Castle Diary and complete the writing prompt.

9/10- Recap: Yesterday, we spent some time learning about mandalas and mosaics and how those to art forms had roots in ancient cultures, but also evolved into their height during the Middle Ages. We specifically discussed the mathematically process involved in the Fibonacci pattern and how that pattern related to mandalas. This week, we'll also begin reading Castle Diary.

HW due 9/17:
Read Castle Diary-it's short, so you can determine your stopping point (You might read the whole thing, but you don't have to). We'll be working with the Castle Diary for the next few weeks, so you have about three weeks to finish the book.
Complete the Writing Prompt
Continue to work on your Coat of Arms
Bring graph paper to class next week if you have some

Recap 9/3-Yesterday we discussed a bit more on our Coat of Arms project and what was required. You can use the instruction page to guide your at home work. I stressed to the students how I want them to take their time and really work on making great representative art. I also gave them a large coat of arms to decorate themselves. This coat of arms project has two parts and both parts will be due on October 1st. We'll be moving on to castles next week, so make sure you have the Castle Diary book.
These samples do not fit all of the required elements, but they can be a starting point.

HW due 9/3:
Continue to read Heraldry for Beginners (p. 6-10)
Complete the Writing Prompt and bring it to class.
Begin a Rough Draft of your Family Coat of Arms. Label your decoration choices and make notes to rationalize your choices. Do this on a sheet of white copy paper and use the entire space. Bring this to class on Thursday.