Second Final Final Sample - Portia's Advice

Lines from Portia in Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 2

If to do were as easy as to know what were good
to do, chapels had been churches and poor men's 

cottages princes' palaces. It is a good divine that
follows his own instructions: I can easier teach 

twenty what were good to be done, than be one of
the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain
may devise laws for the blood, but a hot temper
leaps o'er a cold decree: such a hare is madness the
youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the
cripple.

Know – These lines say that if “to do were as easy as to know what were good to do”, little chapels would be big churches and poor men’s cottages would be princes’ palaces.  It’s easier to teach a lot of people what they should do than it is to do what you teach.

Understand – This means that it is much easier to know what you should do than it is to actually do it, but it is much more valuable to be able to do what you know you should.  It means that you should internalize what you know is right and then have the integrity to do it rather than just preaching it or passing it off as something that is too hard.  Portia knows what she should do: she should be happy since she is wealthy and has so many blessings, but somehow just knowing what she should do isn’t enough to make her do it.

Apply – This principle of doing what you know you should do is called integrity.  There are many examples of people applying this principle.  Gandhi, who said “you must be the change you wish to see in the world”, was an especially poignant example of integrity.  He was a wealthy lawyer, educated in Britain and raising a beautiful little family in very comfortable circumstances.  Through some experiences and observations he made in traveling to India, he began to see that his own people were oppressed and mistreated in inhumane ways.  He could see “what were good to do,” as Portia says.  Instead of just shrugging his shoulders and being glad he wasn’t one of the poor downtrodden ones, he examined his life, his means, his potential for influence and change, and he began to DO. 

Analyze – Two important parts of this idea are knowing and doing.  (Ironically this is exactly the point of Bloom’s Taxonomy – to DO rather than just KNOW.)  Doing is a giant step beyond thinking about what you should do.  Our human nature makes it easy to know something – we memorize the names of the states, the times tables, the bones in the body – repetition and recall come fairly easily because our brain can do that without much engagement or work.  But when we must put that knowledge into action, we have to move some muscles, get out of our comfort zone, put down our t.v. remote, refuse the alcohol, open our mouths to say something kind, turn off the alarm and get up.  It takes mental effort, physical stamina, moral commitment to DO what we KNOW.

Evaluate – This principle has value to me because as I have a long list of things I KNOW I should do.  Unfortunately it often stays on the paper or in my head.  I make excuses and ignore that list, or sometimes I even teach others what is on the list while subconsciously refusing to take it seriously myself.  When I DO what I KNOW my life is more peaceful.  I’m healthier, happier, safer, wiser, more peaceful and more true.  So this principle is definitely a valuable one.

Create – For my creation phase of this principle that I learned from The Merchant of Venice, I will write down 5 specific things that I know I personally should do (pray, read scriptures, run, eat healthy, love) and rather than just memorizing that list, I will actually DO what I KNOW I should.

It is a good divine that follows his own instructions.

(Took 40 minutes)

Bloom's Taxonomy Explained

Final Final Sample - Simile

Final Final Sample

Simile

Knowledge – a simile is a comparison of two different things using the words “like” or “as”.

Understanding – Similes help describe something better than using adjectives because they take the thing you are talking about and compare it to something different with similar characteristics.

Application – Here is an application of the principle of simile. 

“There was a quivering in the grass which seemed like the departure of souls.”

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

This shows how much better Hugo describes a quivering in the grass than if he has said it was “an eery, creepy quivering in the grass”.  “The departure of souls” brings to mind spirits or ghosts leaving their bodies or this earth, and it gives us a much starker feeling of eeriness or creepiness than if we had just used those adjectives.

Analyze – To understand why similes work, you must look at effective similes that compare very poignant, colorful things.  A simile format is “__________ is like a ___________” or “____________ is as _________ as a __________.”  This format does not just work for any two things you want to compare.  You must think of the traits you are trying to emphasize in the object you are discussing and then find something to compare it to that has those traits amplified.  This is key in similiing.  And yes, I just made up that word.

“The day was boring.”

What other things are boring?  Vanilla ice cream, soggy bread, a newspaper in Yiddish, folding cloth diapers for a Mormon family, sharpening pencils for standardized testing, stuffing envelopes for a losing candidate. 

You take something that is also boring and you create a simile.  “The day was as boring as soggy bread.”

Evaluate – similes have value to me because when I try to explain something without using similes, it often comes out boring…as boring as sharpening pencils for standardized testing.  It makes my writing more vivid, interesting, engaging.  It makes it as engaging as riding the dolphins at Sea World.

Create – Similes make writing as engaging as riding the dolphins at Sea World.  Trying to create a simile is as difficult as solving a crossword puzzle in Norwegian.

(This example took 35 minutes)

7th Grade Final - Due on the day of your final

7th Grade Final

*For your final final in 7th grade English, you will do the following:Choose 10 of the following concepts, skills, or books that you believe will be most important to you in your life.
*Prove to me that you have learned each of these things on every level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Know, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate (why and how is it valuable to you?), Create something new
*Turn in your project for all 10 on the day of the final.
*Be prepared to present part of your project to the class.
*Be prepared to give yourself a grade on your project.

1.    Concrete vs. Abstract Details
2.    Poetic Elements: Simile, Allusion, Alliteration, Onomotopoeia, Personification, Hyperbole
3.    Metaphor
4.    Stream of Consciousness
5.    Protagonist, Antagonist, Deuteragonist, Mentor
6.    Characters – Flat, Round, Static, Dynamic
7.    Blooms Taxonomy – Memorized; How to apply it to what you’re learning
8.    Adler’s Levels of Reading
9.    Latin Roots
10.    Sensory Imagery and Details
11.    Bookmarking – Deep Thoughts, Quotes, Open-ended Questions, Vocabulary, Application, Theme
12.    Revision vs. Editing
13.    Conflict – Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Machine
14.    Theme – Identifying and applying theme
15.    Types of Rhyme – End, Slant, Internal, Eye
16.    Point of View in Writing (1st, 2nd, 3rd person – limited and omniscient, unreliable narrator)
17.    Misplaced Modifiers
18.    Types of Verbs – Helping, Actions, Linking
19.    Sentence Fluency, Independent and Dependent Clauses
20.    Thesis Statements
21.    P.I.E. structure of paragraphs, Organizing paragraphs
22.    Persuasive Writing
23.    Ethos, Logos, Pathos
24.    Hero’s Journey
25.    Research Writing – MLA Citations (sandwiching quotes), Works Cited Page, Research Questions
26.    Elements of Plot – Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution
27.    Little Britches
28.    Children’s Homer
29.    Bronze Bow
30.    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
31.    The Hiding Place
32.    Twelfth Night
33.    Tales from Shakespeare
34.    Journals – the importance of journaling
35.    Ego, Id, Superego
36.    Puns – in reference to Shakespeare

8th Grade Final - Due on the Day of Finals

8th Grade Final
 
For your final final in 8th grade English, you will do the following:
   * Choose 10 of the following concepts, skills, or books that you believe will be most important to you in your life.
    *Prove to me that you have learned each of these things on every level of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Know, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate (why and how is it valuable to you?), Create something new.
    *Turn in your project for all 10 on the day of the final.
    *Be prepared to present part of your project to the class.
    *Be prepared to give yourself a grade on your project.


1.    Concrete vs. Abstract Details
2.    Simile, Allusion, Alliteration, Onomotopoeia, Personification, Hyperbole
3.    Metaphor
4.    Protagonist, Antagonist, Deuteragonist, Mentor
5.    Characters – Flat, Round, Static, Dynamic
6.    Blooms Taxonomy – Memorized; How to apply it to what you’re learning
7.    Latin Roots – Memorized
8.    Sensory Imagery and Details
9.    Bookmarking – Deep Thoughts, Quotes, Open-ended Questions, Vocabulary, Application, Theme
10.    Revision vs. Editing
11.    Conflict – Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Machine
12.    Theme – Identifying and applying theme
13.    Types of Rhyme – End, Slant, Internal, End
14.    Point of View – First, Second, Third Person (Unlimited and Omniscient), Unreliable Narrator
15.    Plot – Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution
16.    Research Writing
17.    MLA Citations (sandwiching quotes), Works Cited Page
18.    Plagiarism
19.    Compare/Contrast
20.    P.I.E. structure of paragraphs, Transition Words
21.    Persuasive Writing
22.    Thesis Statements, Hooks
23.    POWER Formula
24.    Ethos, Logos, Pathos
25.    Witch of Blackbird Pond
26.    Up From Slavery
27.    The Bet
28.    God Sees the Truth but Waits
29.    Legend of Sleepy Hollow
30.    Harrison Bergeron
31.    Most Dangerous Game
32.    Tell-tale Heart
33.    The Lottery
34.    Animal Farm
35.    The Chosen
36.    To Kill a Mockingbird – Segregation, Great Depression
37.    Merchant of Venice

MLA Works Cited Page - Format for Web and Book Sources

How to Cite Web Sources on Your Works Cited Page:
Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of the Website. Publisher of the Website, Date of Publication. Web. Date Accessed.

Remember to put the date in the correct format: 24 Apr. 2013.

How to Cite Book Sources on Your Works Cited Page:
Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Print.