Current Connection: 2.1

ASSIGNMENT:  Write a current connection on the topic of decision making.  Reminder:  does not have to be exactly on this topic, as the one is below.  May be about making decisions on some topic, such as which college to attend, what vehicle to purchase, or how to find the perfect mate.

Besides the normal expectations, please include and annotate the following:

• two appositive phrases in a row
• one compound sentence
• three participial phrases
• one metaphor, extended at least once
• a linked picture
• Work Cited entry

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Disclaimer:  Teenagers, beware!  This one is about you!
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In an article entitled "Decision-Making Is Still a Work in Progress for Teenagers" posted at Brain Connection, Gargi Talukder, a graduate student at Stanford University, claims that due to lack of brain development, teenagers simply cannot make decisions as adults do.  Beware #2:  once you read past the brain jargon, this makes sense!

According to Talukder, researchers have discovered that "adolescent brains are simply not yet equipped to think through [rational decision making processes when facing emotional decisions] in the same way [as adults]."  Thus, teens, facing tough emotional decisions, feel as if they are up against an insurmountable wall, a place where adequate words fail them, a foe so harsh as to leave them nearly defenseless against their own brains.  As a parent, I have lived this with my fourteen-year-old daughter, who often exclaims (or is it whines?), "I don't know.  Just tell me what to do." Even when I further attempt to encourage her to make a decision, she simply responds again with the above words.

In a recent study, Jay Giedd, along with colleagues at the National Institutes of Mental Health, conclude, "...development in the frontal lobe continues throughout adolescence and well into the early twenties."  Good news!  Teens who continue to make "bad" decisions now may see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, for as they age, the decision making part of the brain continues to mature, offering a "second chance" to change their behaviors and decision making processes.

What should teens do until the age of full brain maturity? Talukder concludes by encouraging teens to depend on parents and teachers for advice to make the mature decisions needed throughout these years of the brain's growth, for, yes, the brain continues to be a "work in progress" until the age of 25 or so.  Finding a confidante...or two, teens better equip themselves with the tools they need during these formative years while determining their own futures.  Some teens need hammers and picks to clear through the rubble of their decisions; some need brushes and paint to cover a canvass covered with too many scenes; others need computers, iPhones, ipods, and such to research  paths to their futures.

I have heard this question asked many times: "What are earth were you thinking?" When I reflect back on this, nearly every time this was being asked of a person younger than 25.  I have asked it.  I have heard parents and teachers alike ask this of students. The reality? The answer may simply be, "I wasn't thinking."  Sure, both sides are frustrated, but should the parent not be to blame here?  For did they not live through this very same situation?  Surely, patience should be more expected from the parent?

Good news!  Millions...no, billions...have lived through this brain development, many quite successfully!  Just keep thinking!

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Work Cited

Talukder, Gargi.  "Decision-Making Is Still a Work in Progress for Teenagers." Brain Connection.
     20 Mar. 2013.  Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

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For More Information

Dobbs, David.  "Beautiful Minds."  National Geographic. Oct. 2011.  Web.  22 Oct. 2013.

• May be found here.

Quarter 1: Synthesis Essay

Current Connection: 1.1

In Benjamin Wood's article entitled "Students Choosing Books Below Grade Level; Should Parents Be Worried" posted at Deseret News, he argues that books are read for one of two purposes and that with the implementation of Common Core, students will be reading more complex texts.
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According to "What Kids Are Reading" study, conducted by Renaissance Learning, a company specializing in education software, found that, with the exception of two titles, thirty-eight of the top 40 remained below grade level.

• CM: For example, according to Renaissance Learning, Hunger Games is on a 5.3 grade level.
• CM:  What is so wrong with this decision?  Nothing!  If a student is reading, then a student is reading!  This adds up to success and higher fluency.  Yes, a good thing!

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Erik Stickney, director of research for Renaissance Learning, further notes, "When you look at the books that adults read, most of the readability levels of those books is going to be in the fifth, sixth or seventh grades."

• CM:  In essence, when people read for pleasure, they do tend to select texts that are "faster" reads, reads that allow the reader to become more quickly immersed in the world being experienced.
• CM:  Do I fit within the above descriptor of what adults read?  Well...maybe...okay, yes!  Especially on a Friday night (the rare Fridays on which I am home!) or holiday breaks, I very much enjoy reading a novel that I can complete in a few hours, one that I can finish within a few hours.

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Stickney further acknowledges that young adults are reading more complex texts, for "it is Common Core’s intent to...increase the rigor and complexity of what kids are reading."  

• CM:  For example, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein made the above mentioned reading list.
• CM:  My question would be...are students reading this novel as a self-selection or because  this is now a more common required reading text within high schools.

NOTE:  check out the numbers above.  Notice that some are written out, while one is not.  Why?

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Connection outside text needed.


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Concluding Sentence





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Erik Stickney, director of research for Renaissance Learning, further notes, "When you look at the books that adults read, most of the readability levels of those books is going to be in the fifth, sixth or seventh grades.  In essence, when people read for pleasure, they do tend to select texts that are "faster" reads, reads that allow the reader to become more quickly immersed in the world being experienced.  Do I fit within the above descriptor of what adults read?  Well...maybe...okay, yes!  Especially on a Friday night (the rare Fridays on which I am home!) or holiday breaks, I very much enjoy reading a novel that I can complete in a few hours, one that I can finish within a few hours.

Assignment:  Write an essay that proves one theme that at least two of the texts read  about King Arthur will support.

Potential Themes:

• Mrs. Gillmore's Chosen Theme - A rarity!  Right there in the text!
• "No one can hide his guilt without doing great harm to himself."

Outline Draft:

• Paragraph 1 - Gawain
• Paragraph 2 - Gwenivere and Lancelot

Plan to Include:

• Alliteration - a characteristic of all the pieces read thus far in this unit.
• One simile or one metaphor that creates a comparison for one the above listed characters.
• Multiple participial phrases - as openers and subject verb splits...a list of participials would be grand!
• Introductory subordinate clauses.
• Transitional phrases = aka participial phrases and subordinate clauses
• Citation:  parenthetical and a Works Cited page
• Must have these, or teacher will not even begin to grade your paper!

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Audience:  You choose!

Introduction:  Hook and Thesis

Body - Two paragraph minimum...paragraphs need a minimum of two chunks.  Remember to use signal phrases to introduce your text.

Conclusion:  Remember, these are your last words to your audience.

Theme: Macbeth, Act 1

Topic Sentence = Theme...Notice signal phrase information!
According to Shakespeare, as presented in Act 1 of Macbeth, within us all, lies good and evil.

Chunk 1 = Evidence + Commentary
In Scene 1, the playwright begins the play with a message to the readers that "fair is foul and foul in fair," resulting in paradox, creating a pair of contradictory terms.

• Spoken by the witches, who were considered an evil omen to this captivated audience, this line would have been a signal to the audience, who would not be surprised to note such wording from these creatures.  Thus, Shakespeare, also sets the tone for the play, as he reminds his audience that the witches message was for everyone there, also.

Chunk 2:
Then, in scene three, Macbeth, the main character within this drama, echoes this contrast with his own first lines: "So fair and foul a day I have not seen."

• These words sum up his mixed feelings about the battle he had just won and the lives that had been forfeited for this win.  Again, Shakespeare reminds his audience that in all good situations and persons, evil, too, there resides.  Thus, the audience immediately notes that within the character Macbeth must lie these opposite qualities.

Concluding Sentence:

Using this repeated phraseology, Shakespeare literally sits the scene for one of the lessons he wanted his audiences of that time and his readers of this time to learn.

The Goal of Education: Split Decision

Assignment:  Using a minimum of three sources, respond in a synthesis essay to this quarter's essential question:  To what extent do schools serve the goals of a true education?
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Current Connection #1: Once in a Blue Moon

Assignment:  Choose a current event.  Identify the author's purpose;  Then provide evidence and commentary on that evidence.

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In a recent article by Rene Lynch in the LA Times entitled "Blue Moon:  Wink at tonight's moon in tribute to Neil Armstrong," Lynch informs her readers of two purposes in writing this article:  1) pay tribute to the passing of Neil Armstrong and 2) inform the public about blue moons.

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, the man who placed the American flag upon that massive circling orb, was buried last Friday.  What a coincidence that he was laid to rest on the same day as the moon shone in the Heavens for the second time in one month.  Yes, that step he made for mankind was again honored as the moon shone so brightly that evening.

A blue moon?  Could the moon also be sad at the passing of this favored astronaut? 

As reported in the article, this "blue" moon simply signifies a second full moon in one month, a somewhat rare occurrence, occurring about every three or four years, thanks to the variance in the lunar calendar and the monthly calendar.  Interestingly enough, I have heard the saying "once in a blue moon" for years, yet never realized, until reading this article, what that idiom actually meant (just became an active participant in my own learning!).

As I read this article, I could not help but think of the story that I used to read my daughter..."Guess How Much I Love You" containing the famous line "I will love you to the moon...and back."   This is how we remembered Neil Armstrong last year..."to the moon...and back"

Finally, Neil Armstrong was a role model for us all, as he truly was an active participant in his own learning as he modeled initiative, courage, and patriotism.  As he himself said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (Or did he say it?  Read here for more info!)