One last letter to our Chinese friends

Write a letter to your Chinese pen pal today and post a copy of it to your blog as a New Post.  This can be a "goodbye" or a "let's keep in touch."

Address the following:

• what's going on here at the end of the school year--fun activities, Prom, finals, graduation, etc.--and what you've been up to, how you're feeling
• explain that the semester/our class is almost over and that you'll be graduating or moving on to other classes
• share where you're headed (summer plans, college plans, travel plans, etc.)
• either say you will try to keep in touch or explain that you won't be writing anymore
• wish him or her well (have a great summer, keep writing, etc.)

The beginning of the end (or the end of the beginning)

As we near our last days together as a class, here are some things to keep in mind:

Please have all blog posts completed by the end of class on Friday for points.  Look at your grade check to see what you're missing.  The only remaining assignments are a farewell to our Chinese project blog post we will do tomorrow (25 points), your Altered Book (250 points), and the final (80 points).

Your Altered Book is due at the end of class on Tuesday, 3 May and will be returned to you with your final grade for the class on Wednesday.  If you happen to finish your book before then, please turn it in so I can get a head start on grading.  I'll give you a Scoring Guide to use as a checklist on Wednesday or Thursday.  We aren't going to have time for the 100 Things About Me list so you can mark through that on the assignment sheet.

You may turn in up to 10 full pages in your journal for 50 points extra credit through Tuesday of next week.  This is optional.  

I am also collecting supplies needed by The Kitchen, Inc., an organization that provides help and services to our local homeless population.  You may bring up to 5 of these items for 10 points each to make up for something you might be missing, to boost your grade, or better yet, just to help...

• laundry detergent
• diapers (sizes 3, 4, 5)
• baby wipes 
• Lysol
• PineSol
• bleach

If you need to take the final, it will be a longer reflection post on your blog addressing several things about your work this semester.  I'll post the questions to the class blog next week and you may complete it in class or on your own by the end of the day Thursday, 5 May.  If you have an A, you don't need to worry about it! 

Let's plan to order lunch from Chipotle on our last day together next week (Wednesday, 4 May).  Bring $5-10 on Tuesday and we will put an order together.  You might check out their menu online to see what you'd like. 

I'll be out of class on Thursday, Friday, and Monday!  I'm so sorry.  : /  If you need me, just email me, and I will get back to you as soon as I can: hfraser@spsmail.org.

Thanks for being such an awesome, creative, happy group!  We will miss you, seniors!

Photos of the Millennium (so far)

With the advance of cell phones, caputring all aspects of history and everyday life is easier and more accessible than ever.  Think about what your great-grandkids will say about all the images your generation is leaving behind--or will many of the images that tell your story/history vanish into cyberspace somewhere eventually instead of being in a photo album for those grandkids to flip through?

This little dog happened to be strolling down a street just after the Pope had passed by--his little smile and upturned chin make it seem like he believes all the applause and fuss is for him!  Adorable.

Choose one of the photos from the 2000s and write a piece (poem or prose, fiction or nonfiction...your choice) of at least 250 words inspired by the photo. This might be a personal memory you have connected to this event or your thoughts about this moment in history...you decide what you'd like to say. 

Here's an example of something I wrote referencing an image from the aftermath of 9-11 that has always stayed with me.  

If the CrackTwo link is blocked on the school computers for whatever reason, you could visit another website with "iconic" or important photos from this decade or the last and choose one from there, or you might be able to Google an individual picture if you remember one or have a certain one in mind.  Include the photo you chose and your writing in a New Post on your own blog by the end of class on Monday.  

This is... Photo Poem

I like this image...it's a print available at one of my favorite websites called Etsy, where you can buy all sorts of vintage and handmade goods. So much creativity and inspiration there...have a look some time.

I'd like you to do a New Post on your own blog with some writing about one of your own photos inspired by Katy Barber's "Photograph 1969." I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd like to arrange your words as a poem or a short piece of prose. I'll be looking for a vivid description of what we can actually see in the photo, maybe using the "This is..." pattern Barber used, followed by that "twist" we discussed in class, where you intimate or imply what else is "in" the photo...an understanding, an observation, a hint at something that came later, a bigger idea at play...something more. Please include the photo in your post and please post this by the end of class Thursday. 

If you don't have a photo of your own or find that too personal, find a striking or interesting photo that speaks to you on the internet or in a magazine or use one we looked at in class and write about it in this same way instead.  

Photograph 1969 by Katy Barber

This is my mother
lifting her hair long
like a low whistle
off her neck
These are her fingers
caught in the tangles
of brown and gold caught in
silver earrings
This is my father
reaching through the lens
to touch the edge
of a new family
to touch her opening belly
under her full dress

This is existing
before I exist

This is me growing up
against their lives
him watching for a sharp
breath from her looking out
onto the border of birth
this is bumping us into three

Flea Market Photos

In a New Post on your blog, please share some new writing of at least 300 words inspired by the antique flea market photos we looked at in class on Tuesday (or another one if you'd rather find your own).  This could be a fictional short story, a long poem, a set of dialogue, a journal or diary entry in the voice of one of the people pictured, or something else...Include a picture of the picture or another image that fits. Please have this posted by the end of class Thursday.

Such a great visit!

You all were so wonderful on Friday and made such a great impression on our Chinese visitors that they're already talking about how much they'd like to come back to Kickapoo to see you again! Thanks for being such great ambassadors for your school and for me!

Please take a few minutes today to reflect on our visit Friday in a New Post on your blog.  Answer the following questions:

• Who did you meet?
• What did you learn about him or her?
• What did you share about yourself?
• What did you share about our school?
• What were your visitors' reactions/questions about our school?
• What did you get out of the experience?
• What would you do/ask/share/say if we had more time?

If you'd like to earn double points on this assignment, work your response into an email and send it to your Chinese pen pals.  Either copy and paste the email to your post or show it to me.  Include pictures in your post if you have any!

FYI:  Your journal is due this Thursday at the end of class for a mid-4th quarter check.  You need 20 new, full pages.

Photo Hunt + Captions + Hashtags

In a New Post on your blog, please add all 15 of the photos you took Tuesday during our Photo Hunt. Add a caption of at least 25 words to go with each photo, and include a clever #hashtag with each caption.  You can decide whether to label or otherwise indicate which photo on the list each was supposed to be.

At the end of your post, include a quote that suggests something about paying attention or writers noticing everything or the power of photographs.