P1 I think I’m locked in this relationship. - Dylan I. P1
”You will give me lasagna.” - Mo I. Egyptians during 950 B.C. - Surinder S. P3 "Do you think I care if it is two in the morning? Feed me!" - Tyler C. "I’m too tired, go catch Jerry for me." - Nick G. "John, get me my lasagna." - Angela S.
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Only five more caption contests to go before the end of the school year!! "The off brand Disney movies." - Ava H. "Hey kids, what should we have for dinner?" "CARL." - Josh Z. "Based on these findings, it seems that you’re royally screwed." - Thor D. "For the last time sir, you do not have the bubonic plague but you sure are a royal pain." - Vincent E. “Will you please take off your crown so I can examine your head?” “No! It never comes off.” “Then please leave.” - Chloe K. "The cheapest high-rise property I could find." - Thor D. "Hey, I'm catching up on the latest episode of 'The Bird's Eye View.'" - Vincent E. "The bird is on vacation today, come again tomorrow." - Ami J. "I’m just nesting." - Aimee L. "I don’t usually go on dates but today I’m mixing it up." - Kai A. “Not gonna lie I’m feeling a little dizzy right now.” - Morgan F. “Hey are you at the right table? You seem a bit mixed up.” - Chloe K. "Ski you later." - Giselle C. “Men are getting weirder and weirder Karen lemme tell you.” - Morgan F. "They didn’t have Heelys in his size." - Alyssa M. "Ever since the crash, he hasn’t be the same." - Jessica N. "I guess he wanted to slide into the conversation." - Shay P. "I’ve got a few strings loose, and I’ve really been feeling out of tune with life recently." - Thor D. "I wonder why he’s in therapy he must be a fronTEARSman." - Shelby K. "But doctor where did he come from, where did he go." - Shay P. "So, what’s your opinion on global warming?" - Thor D. "It’s a small world after all." - Ava H. ”Feels like it’s me vs. the world sometimes.” - Shelby K. "How I feel when I share one opinion at the dinner table." - Trevor S. "Well this dish was a disaster." - Kevin B.
“I asked for tomato soup-not tornado soup!” - Shelby K. "“This meal has a twist to it.” - Stephanie M. "I asked for tomato soup, not tornado soup." - Alyssa R. "I’m pretty sure there’s a better Bloody Mary standing right next to me." - Thor D. "When Michael Cohen walks into a top secret meeting." - Aaron K. “Yeah I agree. It has been a long day." - Chloe K. "You feeling the buzz?" - Jessica N. "He’s been itching to meet you." - Shay P. "Could I uh, try some of that? Oh it’s ok I have my own straw." - Ryan R. "Quantum tunneling is a great idea,” they said, “It’ll be fun,” they said. - Kai A. “Please take me back Bethany. You rock my world.” - Morgan F. "That’s not what they meant when they said get your head in the game!" - J.Lo "To be honest honey, sometimes I feel your just using me and it hurts." - Ryan R. "My table compared to Morgan’s table with all of their food." - Chloe K. "Look at that DESSERTED island!" - Alyssa M. "If we swim it would be a sweet victory." - Jessica N. "Hey, is that a desserted island?" - Elena T. "They call it a desserted island." - Noah W. “What do you mean you didn’t notice for a week?” - Kai A. “So clingy, am I right, but he takes my breath away.” - Stephanie M. “I’ve been having some unusual tightness in my chest.” - Josh Z. “I just feel like I have a lot of pressure on me.” - Ava H.
"You definitely can’t run away from your problems now." - Alyssa M. "When Mrs. Pinier asked me how finals week was going." - Trevor S. "“So, you feel like something is weighing you down?” - Elena T. I can't believe we're already halfway done with this school year! Seems like it has been flying by. We wrapped up the semester with a few short stories leading into our next unit, The House on Mango Street. We had some great discussions about growing up and how it means different things for different people, and how it can also come at different times depending on external factors outside our own control. The students had so many insightful comments about the short stories, I can't wait to hear what they have to say about our next novel. Plus, with this next unit, we'll be doing more creative and narrative writing, and I'm looking forward to learning more about everyone :) I've also missed quite a few caption contest posts, so here they are from the last...five weeks. Oops. "Escobar has a new business strategy." - Thor D. "Good evening Ma’am, may I interest you in today’s free sample from Costco? It’s not just wholesale but it’s also whole-wheat!" - Vincent E. "Me trying to avoid my diet." - Shelby K. "Costco free samples be like." - Noah W. “They’re cakes, made in a pan!” - Josh Z. "I’m gonna knock out this performance." - Morgan F. "It’s BEAThoven!" - Alyssa M. “The price blew us away—we’ll take it." - Shelby K. "When she takes her boyfriend’s name out of her bio." - Trevor S. "Normally I’ll use rabbits." - Kai A.
"Shredding the competition like" - Chloe K. With only a few chapters left in Lord of the Flies, new revelations are coming to light, and we've finally learned what the Beast actually is. Spoiler alert: "it's only us." The boys can't seem to escape the beast because the beast is inside each and every one of them. While Golding's commentary on human nature is rather dark, it really makes us think about what humans are capable of in the absence of rules and structure. We've also been tracking the symbols in the novel and making note of how their physical changes reflect abstract changes as well. For example, the once bright and strong conch shell that represents power and authority has faded and weakened, just as Ralph's leadership has. The conch's effect on the boys has waned, and some—like Jack—disobey it outright. Other symbols we've been following are Piggy's specs, the fire, the boys' hair and clothes, and the island itself. Looking forward to finishing up the novel next week! “All I need is a laser pointer.” - Kai A. “Hey look! Jerry became an e-cats-strian.” - Vincent E. “Try to catup to me!” - Shay P. “Mary had more than one little lamb.” - Giselle C.
“Mary you need to pick up your little lambs, they’ve followed me home.” - Makena G. “Mary had too many lambs, many lambs, many lambs, Mary had too many lambs.” - Aaron K. “. . .and that’s how I fit all the sheep in my apartment!” - Shelby K. It's been a crazy couple weeks (but when is it not), and we fell a little behind with posting the caption contests, so here are the winners from the last three weeks! We're about a third of the way through Lord of the Flies, and the students are loving it so far! We're diving deep into human nature and what happens when the structure and law of society becomes a distant memory. The students are paying close attention to which characters are more vulnerable to the island and which ones are able to stave off savagery. It's been a blast discussing the literature, but I think we're all ready and excited for Thanksgiving break next week :) "Never before seen: man doing chores." - Giselle C. "Alexa, play “Rake It Up” by Yo Gotti featuring Nicki Minaj." - Alyssa M. Get Out (Artist’s Cut) - Jessica N. "How much time before I can leaf? This job is so tiring I can hardly stay arake!" - Shay P. "Sir, there are no leaves there." - Noah W. “Mid Air Suspenders” - Kai A. “Every software developer in San Francisco.” - Jessica N. “Get up here, the fairy tale can’t happen if you’re on the ground.” - Thor D.
“I guess you could call this a “Hairy” Tale” - Shelby K. “Renaissance era feminism.” - Jessica N. As we get ready for Lord of the Flies, the students went through a simulation where they found themselves stranded on a deserted island with only the clothes on their backs and their classmates—no adults. They were tasked with electing a leader, coming up with a list of priorities, and writing a set of rules for their society. I would say no one could have predicted what happened next, but Thomas Hobbes did just that. Almost immediately, chaos ensued, and the novel played out right here in K103. Two factions formed, with one focused more on survival, and the other focused on winning. The rapidity with which it escalated to insults and threats being hurled across the room led to an abrupt end of the activity so we could all be friends again. This activity provided a solid foundation for our lesson the following day on Hobbes' and Locke's philosophies regarding state of nature, and what the most common outcome of the Prisoner's Dilemma is. We also examined various covers of the novel and made some predictions about plot and themes we're going to encounter as we read. Looking forward to getting started next week! "I told you I’d be your knight in shining armor." - Morgan F. "Just a knight out on the town." - Ava H. "She said she liked abs of steel." - Alyssa M. "When workers at White Castle notice you have a party of one." - Trevor S. “I don’t have high expectations for the employees here but this guy is pretty grim.” Shelby K.
“On your lunch break too?” - Jessica N. “Dude, the Halloween party is on Tuesday.” - Josh Z. The twist ending of "The Most Dangerous Game" didn't surprise too many of these intuitive students--they picked up on the fact that something wasn't quite right early on in the text and were able to identify the verbal and situational irony in the short story. Taking a quick break from reading, we reviewed our first writing assignment and introduced everyone's favorite list: Taboo Words! In an effort to learn which words not to use, the students are writing raps/songs/skits to teach each other which words and forms to avoid in their formal writing. Can't wait to see what they come up with! And without further ado, here are this week's caption contest winners! “Pythagorus’s Hotdogs”
“They are sure to keep you in shape.” - Kai A. & Vincent E. “Oh did you want one?” - Shelby K. This past week, we moved into our second unit for the year, in which all the readings deal with the topic of survival. Although we learned a bunch of the different elements of literature already, there are still plenty more to go, and this week we learned about THEME and IRONY. For theme, we threw it back to elementary school and read The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss--storytime style. The students did a great job identifying multiple themes in the story, ranging from "You're beautiful just the way you are" to "Don't trust strangers" to "Capitalism works." All equally valuable takeaways. After The Sneetches, we moved on from rhyme and picture books and listened to a story called "Keep Going" by Peter Sagal, originally told on The Moth. Listen here! Once again, the students nailed their identification of various themes from the story, most of which revolved around perseverance and pushing through even if you think you can't go any further. Our first short story of this unit is "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, and we would be remiss not to cover irony before diving in because the situational and verbal types abound! We reviewed foreshadowing (evidence-based predictions) and irony (when our predictions are wrong), and then we got to it. We left off on a cliffhanger on Friday and will be finishing the story this upcoming week. Here are this week's caption contest winners! “No, you can’t ride it! I only have 10 minutes left in my lunch break!” - Makena G.
"Sliding into a mid-life crisis." - Jessica N. "You don’t stop playing when you get old, you get old when you stop playing." - Ryan R. “Did your mom forget to pick you up, too?” - Trevor S.
With their first big writing assignment coming up, we spent Friday working on thesis statements with THESIS THROWDOWN. Students were given a prompt and, within their groups, they had three minutes to come up with the best thesis statement to respond to that prompt. Our first prompt was...What is the best dessert? After coming up with their entry for the competition, each group wrote their prospective thesis on the whiteboard for judging. We walked through each one, making edits where necessary and highlighting what we liked and what could use some revision. The first winner was crowned--congrats to Noah, Morgan, and Ava! Then, with the feedback from Round One, students were given a second prompt selected by Ms. Slama's TA...What is the most useful household appliance? Armed with their newfound of knowledge of what to do and pitfalls to avoid, the Round Two thesis statements were much stronger and right on target. We walked through them all again, and the winner will be crowned on Monday! The competition is fierce, and in case you were wondering, apparently the pizookie is the best dessert. As for most useful household appliance, the majority of students argued the refrigerator is the best, but I think the toaster oven had the strongest thesis. And last but not least, here are the winners of today's caption contest! This competition is fierce. “It’s not bring your kids to work day.” - Giselle C.
“A multi-layered case.” - Thor D. “I narrowed it down to one suspect and then five more popped out...” - Morgan F. “You said the suspect was a narcissist, Russian nesting dolls are so full of themselves.” - Jessica N. “That the most I can make them open up.” - Trevor S. “Over time you’ll start to fit in…" - Noah W. |
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September 2019
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