Week 1:6 (Sept. 11–15)

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Freshmen: Success Tracker, Syllabus, MLA Template (Click “File” then “Make a Copy”), Usage Notes, Transitions Toolbox, Stated & Implied Theme / Short Stories: Journal Setup & Lit Terms, “Harrison Bergeron” E-text, “Once Upon a Time” E-text, Short Stories Journal #1, Colormarking #3, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” E-text, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Task, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” E-text, Comparative Analysis Task / Persepolis: Intro/Info card

Seniors: Syllabus, Poetry Packet, MLA Template (Click “File” then “Make a Copy”), All IB English Rubrics, Global Issues Overview, Lit Terms, Journal Rubric / Fences: Full Play E-text (New!), Presentation Instructions & Rubric, Global Issues Bookmark, Journal Questions, Colormarking Passages, How to Read a Play, Wilson’s Life & Work, Aristotle’s Tragic Hero, Discussion Padlet, Poems! / Watchmen: G.I. Bookmark, Graphic Novel E-text (large PDF), Notes on Postmodern Literature & the Graphic Novel

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Week 1:5 (Sept. 4–8)

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Freshmen: Success Tracker, Syllabus, MLA Template (Click “File” then “Make a Copy”), Usage Notes, Transitions Toolbox, Stated & Implied Theme / Short Stories: Journal Setup & Lit Terms, “Harrison Bergeron” E-text, “Once Upon a Time” E-text, Short Stories Journal #1, Colormarking #2, Colormarking #3, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” E-text, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Task/Assignment

Seniors: Syllabus, Poetry Packet, MLA Template (Click “File” then “Make a Copy”), Global Issues Overview, Lit Terms / Fences: Full Play E-text, Presentation Instructions & Rubric, Global Issues Bookmark, Journal Questions, Colormarking Passages, How to Read a Play, Wilson’s Life & Work, Aristotle’s Tragic Hero, Discussion Padlet

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Week 1:4 (Aug. 28–Sept. 1)

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Freshmen: Success Tracker, Syllabus, MLA Template, Usage Notes, Transitions Toolbox / Short Stories: Journal Setup & Lit Terms, “Harrison Bergeron” e-text, Vonnegut Background, “Once Upon a Time” E-text, Gordimer Background, Stated & Implied Theme, Short Stories Journal #1, Colormarking #2, Colormarking #3, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” E-text, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Task/Assignment

Seniors: Syllabus, Poetry Packet, MLA Template, Global Issues Overview, Lit Terms / Fences: Fences (Full E-text), Global Issues Bookmark, Journal Questions, Colormarking Passages, How to Read a Play, Wilson’s Life & Work, Aristotle’s Tragic Hero, Discussion Padlet

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Week 1:3 (Aug. 21–25)

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Freshmen: FAST Testing Locations (for Aug. 30th), Syllabus, Four Questions, Usage Notes, Transitions Toolbox / Short Stories: Journal Setup & Lit Terms, “Harrison Bergeron” e-text, Vonnegut Background, “Once Upon a Time” E-text, Gordimer Background, Stated & Implied Theme, Short Stories Journal #1

Seniors: Syllabus, Poetry Packet, Global Issues, Lit Terms, Aristotle’s Tragic Hero / Fences: Fences (Full E-text), Global Issues “Bookmark”, Journal Questions, “In Defense of a Loaded Word”, Call Sheet, Colormarking Passages, How to Read a Play / Sources for Synthesis Notes: Playgoer’s Guide, Original Playbill, Author’s Life & Work, Redlining History/Definition, Redlining in Pittsburg, Redlining in St. Petersburg, Pittsburg’s Hill District, St. Petersburg Study, 4 Essays on the Word, Teaching the Word

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Week 1:2 (Aug. 14–18)

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  • Blue GETs on the agenda indicate a handout being physically distributed in class.
  • Green ►s indicate classroom activities such as groupwork, lectures, and lessons.
  • Red words like DUE or QUIZ indicate an assignment due date or assessment.

Freshmen: Course Syllabus, Four Questions, Laptop Permission Form, Journal Expectations, Literature Terms, Discussion Question Stems, Usage Notes, Subordinate Conjunctions, Transitions Toolbox, PDF Scanning Directions / Short Stories: Fairy Tale (“Little Red-Cap”) & Colormarking Guide, Journal Setup & Lit Terms, “Harrison Bergeron” e-text, Vonnegut Background, “Once Upon a Time” e-text, Gordimer Background, Short Stories Journal, Stated & Implied Theme

Seniors: Course Syllabus, Poetry Packet (for informal Poetry Responses), Global Issues (General), Journal Expectations, Lit Terms, Aristotle’s Tragic Hero, PDF Scanning Directions / Fences: Full E-text, Global Issues Preview “Bookmark”, Journal Questions, “In Defense of a Loaded Word”, Call Sheet/ Sources for Synthesis Notes: Playgoer’s Guide, Original Playbill, Author’s Life & Work, Redlining History/Definition, Redlining in Pittsburg, Redlining in St. Petersburg, Pittsburg’s Hill District, St. Petersburg Study, 4 Essays on the Word, Teaching the Word

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Week 1:1 (Aug. 10–11)

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  • Blue GETs on the agenda indicate a handout being physically distributed in class.
  • Green ►s indicate classroom activities such as groupwork, lectures, and lessons.
  • Red words like DUE or QUIZ indicate an assignment due date or assessment.

Welcome to a new school year! I’ve posted the week’s agenda for all to see. This is a weekly occurrence, usually done on Thursday afternoon for the week which follows. Please refer to the key above to make clearest sense of the agenda. You can also click on the agenda board for a larger zoom-able image. Below, you’ll find downloadable versions of this week’s in-class handouts along with a few other helpful documents.

Freshmen: Course Syllabus, Four Questions, Fairy Tale (“Little Red-Cap”), Colormarking Guide, Laptop Permission Form, Journal Expectations

Seniors: Course Syllabus, Poetry Packet, Global Issues, Journal Expectations

Diploma Support: Rotation Calendar, 5th Period Rotations, DS Contract, IB Academic Guidelines, IB Honor Code, Say Something Anonymous Reporting System / Extended Essays: EBSCO Host, Gale Databases, MLA Template, MLA Sample Paper, Cat. 1 (28/34), Cat. 1 (30/34), Cat. 2 (34/34), Cat. 3 (33/34), EE Rubric

Literature Improves Empathy

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Have you ever felt that reading a good book makes you better able to connect with your fellow human beings? If so, the results of a new scientific study back you up, but only if your reading material is literary fiction; pop fiction or non-fiction won’t cut it.

Great Expectations from great literature … empathy occurs in the spaces between characters, such as Joe and Pip, pictured here in the 2012 film adaptation. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex Features

Empathy occurs in the spaces between characters, such as Joe and Pip in Great Expectations. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex Features

Psychologists David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano, at the New School for Social Research in New York, have proved that reading literary fiction enhances the ability to detect and understand other people’s emotions, a crucial skill in navigating complex social relationships.

Continue reading →

for incoming freshmen …

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To get a head-start, complete this writing diagnostic and, if you’d like, some subsequent skill practice over the summer: just join up with our class on Quill.org with the class code banjo-racket. Once you complete the diagnostic, Mr. Benton will open up some activities to help you brush on your conventions.

And — while there’s no assigned reading — I highly encourage all of my incoming students to find books of their choice to read over the summer. If you’re not sure where to start, here are some recommendations from this year’s Florida Teens Read list.

Oh, and here’s the syllabus for curious minds.

Should you need any help at any point, or if you have any questions about the year ahead, feel free to email Mr. Benton at bentonro@pcsb.org.

Literature Improves Thinking

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little-girl-reading-book

Are you uncomfortable with ambiguity? It’s a common condition, but a highly problematic one. The compulsion to quell that unease can inspire snap judgments, rigid thinking, and bad decision-making.

Fortunately, new research suggests a simple antidote for this affliction: Read more literary fiction.

A trio of University of Toronto scholars, led by psychologist Maja Djikic, report that people who have just read a short story have less need for what psychologists call “cognitive closure.” Compared with peers who have just read an essay, they expressed more comfort with disorder and uncertainty—attitudes that allow for both sophisticated thinking and greater creativity.

“Exposure to literature,” the researchers write in the Creativity Research Journal, “may offer a (way for people) to become more likely to open their minds.”

Djikic and her colleagues describe an experiment featuring 100 University of Toronto students. After arriving at the lab and providing some personal information, the students read either one of eight short stories or one of eight essays. The fictional stories were by authors including Wallace Stegner, Jean Stafford, and Paul Bowles; the non-fiction essays were by equally illustrious writers such as George Bernard Shaw and Stephen Jay Gould.

Afterwards, each participant filled out a survey measuring their emotional need for certainty and stability. They expressed their agreement or disagreement with such statements as “I don’t like situations that are uncertain” and “I dislike questions that can be answered in many different ways.” Continue reading →