Poem

I think the poem is about someone or something letting his/her feelings go. Its just letting every emotion out to let him/herself be free in the wild.

Poetry

This is one of my favorite poems. Anyone care to analyze and interpret?

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.

Finally Finished!

I am finally finished with my research paper! I have to admit it was pretty fun and I learned even more then I already knew about my topic and I think it's really interesting. I had fun with it. I hope eveyone else enjoyed doing research on their topic as much as I did. Feel free to post comments and let me know what you all did on your research papers. :]

Interact Club

I'm not sure if Mrs. Rumbel mentioned this too all of her classes, but she and a few Interact members are going to a rotary/interact conference. This is a new experience to the Interact club. There will be international students there. I highly recommend joining the Interact club. Even though you do have to help out and do work, you are highly rewarded with the gratitude and good feeling of helping someone/something, but you also get a chance to go to things like this conference. Well I hope I gave you some things to think about!

Brianna

Sign up ASAP!

Students are signing up for the camp so if you want to be sure to get it, please sign up ASAP. The camp size is limited. We have a limited amount of cameras, space, and time...

Video Camp

Mrs. Rumbel and Mr. McFee are doing a video camp from june 15th - 19th. I encourage you ll to come because well I'm sure it will be fun and yet you will still learn some stuff about computers and all that good stuff. It looks like we will be writing a script and the filming it and then learning how to edit and show it. It is free, and even though it might sound boring at first to some of you, give it a chance and who knows, you might just find a "new" hobby!

Brianna

Research Paper

Research Paper Video

What is the most difficult thing about the research paper? I may be looking for volunteers to put together a "how-to" video to show how a research project/paper is done. Any volunteers?
It shoudl be interesting, creative, and acurate.
Where is everyone? (homework?!)

New Topic

I challenge someone to come up with a topic for discussion. Only requirement is it must be related to something we've done in class or related to English, Communications, or Literature and of course appropriate to discuss.
By the way, 5-6th period won the root beer float SPCA challenge. It will take place next week on the last day before the Easter break AFTER the quiz on Persuasive and propaganda techniques (sorry).
Thanks for logging in.
Any thoughts on propaganda and persuasive strategies?

Posting

Hello everyone.
Little by little students are logging in. I am happy to see that. Remember to get the extra credit you must post something, not just log in.

I am curious how many saw the school play, "West Side Story" and what your thoughts are on it. If that is something you'd like to comment on, please do. It is tonight (Saturday) as well.

West Side Story parallels and is patterned after William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and the cast and crew did an excellent job all around.

The themes of the play were very evident and continue to be lessons to take with us even in today's world.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Tuck Everlasting

I thought that the book was much better. It had more details about what happened. There were a lot of differences throughout the movie and the book. One of the differences include that Mae and Mr. Tuck were taken to jail in the movie and only Mae was taken to jail in the book. I thought that both the movie and the book were interesting.

Tuck Everlasting: the novel vs. the movie

I have finally successfully invited all three communication classes to this blog through their school email addresses. If anyone uses a different email address, they must email me to be added to the list.
Now I want to see some interesting and enlightening comments, suggestions for discussion, etc. Please keep it appropriate and related to our class work or class topics.
I'd really like some feedback on Tuck Everlasting, particularly the novel vs. the movie. Any thoughts on that? Remember there is no wrong opinion and it's important to agree to disagree on issues.

Effective Test-taking Strategies

I've opened this account almost a year ago in the hopes of starting classroom online discussion. I think we are ready to give it a try.

All topics must be classroom related and abide by the safety, respect, and learning appropriate rules, remember those?
I expect students to utilize standard English as must as possible, refrain from using textspeak, and try to avoid typos. In addition to being an experiment for learning, it is also writing and communicating practice.
First topic of discussion is related to standardized testing and more specifically upcoming PSSA tests.
Agree or not, our state and federal education system relies on standardized tests to measure learning. With that in mind, what do you think are some effective strategies for doing well on the PSSA's?