October 15th - 19th
Weekly Schedule
for 9th Grade

MONDAY, OCTOBER 15TH:

I will not be with you today - I have to go to more training! So what I need for you to do is work on the following assignments:

First Period:

Pass out the “Persuasion Unit” which is in the wire basket on the table by the door. Each “Persuasion Unit” packet is separated by a pink paper with the title “Persuasion Unit” printed on it. Each student should receive her/his own packet.

There is a brown cardboard box by the desk with black/white composition books. Each student should receive a copy. That is YOUR book; please be sure to put your name on it. Possess it. Record your thoughts in it. Decorate it if you like, but it’s your book - own it.

Read aloud the Persuasion Letter Model: “Dear Board of Education”.
Then break into pairs and answer the question on the “Task Sheet”:

What is the letter about?
Who is the writer?
What do we know about her?
How do we know?

After reading, turn to a partner and discuss the questions for a few minutes. Be sure to cite evidence from the text to support your answers.

1st and 2nd Periods:

Reread the letter again and identify the three most significant sentences that reveal Chiadis’ argument.

Make a two-column chart in your composition book (Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook) and record the sentences/phrases you think are most significant. Then, in the right hand column do a “quick write” explaining what the sentences/phrases reveal about Chiadis’ argument.

When you are finished, share with two other people.

Then, read the letter again. and answer the following questions in your Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook:

Where could Chiadis have used better/more reasons and evidence to
strengthen her argument?

What other counter arguments should she have addressed? How might
she have rebutted them (effectively argued against the arguments or shown the opposing side’s arguments to be wrong)?

Then, read the letter again and notice how she structured her argument.

Identify the thesis statement and note its location.

Analyze the first paragraph:

Identify the anecdote.
Why do you think she started the letter with an anecdote?


Look at paragraph 3:

Identify the mini-topic sentence.
Locate the three examples of supporting evidence.
What are the three examples?

Look at paragraph 4:

Who is the expert?
Why do you think the student is using an expert to support her
argument?
Note how the expert is “cited.”

Look at paragraphs 5, 6, and 7:

What are some of the concessions the writer gives?
What are concessions? (And no, they aren’t the popcorn and
“Red Vines” you buy at the movies.)


Look at paragraph 8:

What is the counter argument?
What is her rebuttal? (Rebuttal means to show how and why the
opposing side’s counter argument is wrong.)


Look at paragraph 9:

Why does the letter writer include her interviews with students?
Why does the letter writer include the results from the poll?
How does this help her argument?


Look at paragraph 10:

What role does this paragraph play in the letter?
What does she include in this paragraph?


Write your responses to the above questions in your Reader/Writer notebook.


TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16TH:

1st and 2nd Periods:

Read the next part of the handout: “Community Service and You”.

Then, read and follow the directions 1, 2 and 3 on the task sheet “Community Service and You”.

Write your answers in your Reader/Writer notebook.



WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17TH:

I’m back!

1st and 2nd Periods:

1st Period:

The final group will perform its “Isn’t It Ironic” scenes.

In our lilac colored paper backs PERSPECTIVES in MULTICULTURALISM, we are going to read Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream.”

We are going to read and follow the directions on the task sheets for “I Have a Dream”, much like we did for the Chiadis letter.



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH:

1st and 2nd Periods:

We will continue analyzing Reverend King’s speech, and prepare to write our own letter about a subject we feel strongly about.



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19TH:

Now, don’t get too excited but I’m not going to be here today or Monday, but after October 22nd, there probably won’t be any more absences.

Continue our work on our “Persuasive Letters”.

Your “Persuasive Letter” is VERY important. It is District mandated and will be graded and recorded. The results for the “Persuasive” and “Exposition” assessments are held in great importance. DO NOT blow this and the next three assessments off.