SALERNO'S
CLASSES
Howdy English II Honors students!
This is a site that you’re going to want to visit often. You will have three blog post assignments per six week grading period to write on your own blog. You will find the prompts and instructions for those blog posts on this page. So, you might want to save this page in your browser as one of your new favorites and check it on a weekly basis.
We look forward to a fun year of getting to know you.
Creating Your Own Blog
Create your own blog by Wednesday, 8/30 (11:59pm).
- Send your teacher an email (ssalerno@csisd.org) with your full name, class period, and blog URL.
Blog Posts:
Please complete your blog post by the assigned date and time for full credit. Your blog posts should be complete, detailed, and well-thought out. Also, please check your grammar and mechanics before hitting the "Publish" button.
Accessing Your Classmates' Blogs:
You will need to leave 2 comments on your friends' blogs for the 3rd blog post of every six weeks.
Access the PDF (left) in order to access the blog URL of Coach Salerno's 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th period students.
February 18, 2018
5th Marking Period Blog Posts
Blog Post #13: Orwell’s 1984
So are we living in 1984? Access the following link which is an article written by The Independent, titled “George Orwell’s 1984 returns to best-selling list following Kellyanne Conway’s ‘alternative facts.’”
Read the article and then discuss how Orwell’s 1984 is similar or different to the world we are currently living in. Do some online research to see what other people have to say about this topic.
Title: Blog Post #13 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, March 2 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #14: Congress Qs
We already spoke about standardized testing during the 4th Marking Period, focusing our discussion around standardized tests being used as a measuring stick for student performance. I came across a Washington Post article published a couple of years ago. Access the link below:
Read the article and answer three of the eleven questions Strauss would like to pose to Congress. Type out the three questions you selected and then formulate a response (your opinion) to the three questions.
Title: Blog Post #14 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, March 23 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #15: Comments
Once you’ve finished blog post 14, it’s your time to go see what your classmates have written. You may access your friends' blog addresses by opening a PDF on the Blog Website. Go find blogs by your classmates. Read them. Think about what they have to say. Then, make a meaningful comment about what they wrote.
Remember, a meaningful comment is one that you could not make without reading the blog. We’re trying to avoid comments like, I like this, I agree with you, This is funny, or You rock. Truly read what your peers wrote and comment about it in such a way that shows them you read their thoughts and wanted to share your ideas on what they said.
In your own blog write, “Here are some blogs I commented on lately…” (or something to that effect) and then include your comments to at least two of your classmates’ blog posts.
Title: Blog Post #15 (+ add your creative title)
Length: Approx. 50 words per commentary (100 words minimum total)
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your discussions were about.
Due date: Thursday, March 29 (by 11:59pm)
January 10, 2018
4th Marking Period Blogs
Blog Post #10: Standardized Tests
Standardized tests are used as a measuring stick for student performance. Your test scores decide, in part, whether you are admitted to certain colleges. They are also used to measure readiness for certain careers, such as law and medicine. Test scores impact the funding that public schools receive from the federal government. Write a reflection that evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of standardized tests. In your reflection, decide if standardized tests are the proper measuring stick for student performance. If, in your opinion, they are not, describe alternatives that could be used to measure achievement.
Title: Blog Post #10 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, January 12 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #11: Antigone’s Loyalty and Betrayal
Thoreau writes, “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison,” and “if the injustice (of the government’s laws) requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine (to the government’s unjust laws).”
Discuss whether Antigone was right to disobey Creon and his unjust government that condemned the burial of Polynices or whether Antigone was wrong to break the laws because Creon was simply a patriot.
Title: Blog Post #11 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, February 2nd (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #12: Comments
Once you’ve finished blog post 11, it’s your time to go see what your classmates have written. You may access your friends' blog addresses by opening a PDF on the Blog Website. Go find blogs by your classmates. Read them. Think about what they have to say. Then, make a meaningful comment about what they wrote.
Remember, a meaningful comment is one that you could not make without reading the blog. We’re trying to avoid comments like, I like this, I agree with you, This is funny, or You rock. Truly read what your peers wrote and comment about it in such a way that shows them you read their thoughts and wanted to share your ideas on what they said.
In your own blog write, “Here are some blogs I commented on lately…” (or something to that effect) and then include your comments to at least two of your classmates’ blog posts.
Title: Blog Post #12 (+ add your creative title)
Length: Approx. 50 words per commentary (100 words minimum total)
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your discussions were about.
Due date: Friday, February 16 (by 11:59pm)
November 15, 2017
3rd Marking Period Blogs
Blog Post #7: Freedom Writers
At the beginning of the movie Freedom Writers, most of the students hate any of their classmates who are of a different race. However, they are quite ignorant about their backgrounds. For example, one of the Cambodian girls was once in a refugee camp. It may be that other students in her group didn’t know where she was from or the kind of journey that she and her family would have made to come to the US, or the reasons behind this kind of decision to leave Cambodia in the first place. There are many different racial groups in the United States, and each of them has a history of where they came from and why each of the families decided to come to this country.
Have a look at the society in which you live. What are the different ethnic and/or religious groups in your area? From which country did they come from originally? What is their culture like? Pick one of these cultures that is diverse from your own culture and imagine that you are one of those people. You will need to do some research about this culture you are going to learn more about. Remember to be detailed, and include history, culture, and beliefs.
Title: Blog Post #7 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Saturday, November 18 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #8: Dances With Wolves
Now that you have read Michael Blake’s Dances With Wolves, we would like you to reflect on this novel. Has the U.S. Government adequately compensated American Indians for four centuries of injustice? If so, explain. If not, consider what other actions might be possible or appropriate.
Title: Blog Post #8 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, December 8 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #9: Comments
Once you’ve finished blog post 8, it’s your time to go see what your classmates have written. You may access your friends' blog addresses by opening a PDF on the Blog Website. Go find blogs by your classmates. Read them. Think about what they have to say. Then, make a meaningful comment about what they wrote.
Remember, a meaningful comment is one that you could not make without reading the blog. We’re trying to avoid comments like, I like this, I agree with you, This is funny, or You rock. Truly read what your peers wrote and comment about it in such a way that shows them you read their thoughts and wanted to share your ideas on what they said.
In your own blog write, “Here are some blogs I commented on lately…” (or something to that effect) and then include your comments to at least two of your classmates’ blog posts.
Title: Blog Post #9 (+ add your creative title)
Length: Approx. 50 words per commentary (100 words minimum total)
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your discussions were about.
Due date: Friday, December 15 (by 11:59pm)
October 07, 2017
2nd Marking Period Blogs
Blog Post #4: Dead Poets Society
Dead Poets Society tells a story about the impact of an imaginative and unorthodox teacher on a conservative prep school for boys in the late 1950’s. This movie takes place at Welton Academy, a fictitious private prep school in Vermont which values tradition and obedience. Todd, a transfer student, meets his roommate, Neil, and several of Neil’s friends. Classes seem to be dull and tedious until they meet Welton’s newest teacher, Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating, a former Welton honors student, uses unique methods to teach his students about different concepts including “carpe diem.” After hearing of Mr. Keating’s Dead Poets Society, Neil, Todd, Knox, Charlie, Cameron, Pitts, and Meeks reconvene DPS meetings. As the movie continues, the characters react to Keating’s teaching in several different ways with many varying results. These characters begin to find themselves evaluating their lives and conditions in new ways, perhaps influenced by the new perceptions they’ve adopted.
Think about the clips that you watch from the film Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. As you watch, think about the questions below. Take notes in your Notebook. Pick three of the five questions to answer:
(1) This movie shows the battle between conformity and individuality. Give two examples of characters who deal with this and explain how.
(2) Discuss the similarities between this movie and the plot/setting of A Separate Peace. (hint: “They’re both at a boarding school” is NOT enough of an answer.)
(3) Think about the “big lesson” that Mr. Keating is trying to teach his students. What is a major theme of this movie, and how is it similar to a theme in either A Separate Peace or Our Town?
(4) What does the phrase “Carpe Diem” mean to Mr. Keating and the boys? How can you apply this idea to the play Our Town? How can you apply it to your own life?
(5) Why do the boys stand on their desk in the final scene? What message specifically are they trying to convey to their teacher?
Title: Blog Post #4 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Friday, October 6 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #5:
Set during the height of World War II, John Knowles' novel – A Separate Peace – tells the story of two friends at a private boarding school in New England. Gene Forrester, the narrator, looks back on his high school days, reflecting on his guilt and pain from a traumatic experience involving a close friend. This novel explores many themes including that of jealousy, redemption, guilt, and friendship. Answer the following questions as you address these themes:
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What causes jealousy between friends?
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How should we deal with guilt? Is redemption possible?
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Does competition bring out the best or worst in people?
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In order to survive, do we need to accept the reality of evil in the human heart and in the world?
Title: Blog Post #5 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Wednesday, October 25 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #6: Comments
Once you’ve finished blog post 5, it’s your time to go see what your classmates have written. You may access your friends' blog addresses by opening a PDF on the Blog Website. Go find blogs by your classmates. Read them. Think about what they have to say. Then, make a meaningful comment about what they wrote.
Remember, a meaningful comment is one that you could not make without reading the blog. We’re trying to avoid comments like, I like this, I agree with you, This is funny, or You rock. Truly read what your peers wrote and comment about it in such a way that shows them you read their thoughts and wanted to share your ideas on what they said.
In your own blog write, “Here are some blogs I commented on lately…” (or something to that effect) and then include your comments to at least two of your classmates’ blog posts.
Title: Blog Post #6 (+ add your creative title)
Length: Approx. 50 words per commentary (100 words minimum total)
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your discussions were about.
Due date: Wednesday, November 8 (by 11:59pm)
August 27, 2017
1st Marking Period Blogs
Blog Post #1: Self-Inventory
Congratulations on setting up your personal blog! We hope that this becomes a valuable experience for you to learn how to write things that you know can be read by your peers or anyone out there in the internet world who stumbles upon your blog. You are going to be writing three blog posts per grading period for this class. It will be up to you to make sure that you get them done on time.
For your first blog post, we’re asking you take some inventory on yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a student? What types of subjects and/or assignments do you tend to do well on? What kinds of subjects do you tend to struggle with? What are some good habits you have that help you be successful? What are some bad habits you know you have that you’d like to improve on this year?
Title: Blog Post #1 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Wednesday, September 6 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #2:
You live in a very unique town. The looming presence of Texas A&M affects everything. It affects our student population, our traffic, our restaurants, our economy, and almost every other aspect of life. It has its advantages and its disadvantages. Coach Goodwyn has lived here for 27 years and raised his son here. Coach Salerno’s entire family lives overseas, but he chooses to make this his home. We obviously have strong feelings about this town, but how do you feel about it?
Our next unit (which will begin in two weeks' time) will be a play called "Our Town". In preparation for that unit, your task is to write about your town, College Station, TX. How long have you lived here? What do you like or dislike about it? What are the advantages/disadvantages of living in this town as a teenager? Do you want to stay here after graduation, or do you plan to leave as soon as you can? Do you plan to come back after college if you leave?
Title: Blog Post #2 (+ add your creative title)
Length: 200-300 words
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your blog is about.
Due date: Wednesday, September 13 (by 11:59pm)
Blog Post #3: Comments
Once you’ve finished blog post 2, it’s your time to go see what your classmates have written. You may access your friends' blog addresses by opening a PDF on the Blog Website. Go find blogs by your classmates. Read them. Think about what they have to say. Then, make a meaningful comment about what they wrote.
Remember, a meaningful comment is one that you could not make without reading the blog. We’re trying to avoid comments like, I like this, I agree with you, This is funny, or You rock. Truly read what your peers wrote and comment about it in such a way that shows them you read their thoughts and wanted to share your ideas on what they said.
In your own blog write, “Here are some blogs I commented on lately…” (or something to that effect) and then include your comments to at least two of your classmates’ blog posts.
Title: Blog Post #3 (+ add your creative title)
Length: Approx. 50 words per commentary (100 words minimum total)
Picture: Upload a picture that reflects what your discussions were about.
Due date: Wednesday, September 27 (by 11:59pm)