stelzner online

Period One:

“Just like in the short story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. when there is a threat to power those in charge resort to violence.”  - Natalia C.

“power can harm, reduce, destroy and reward.  However, power cannot give purity, the highest of all virtues.”- Neil S.

“The educated feel they can take advantage of the uneducated, which is a thought that is ironically, stupid.”  - Betty S.

Period Five:

“Throughout literary history there is a reoccuring theme; that society tries to twist and conform everyone to be the same and meet certain standards.  Those who are deemed unworthy to meet those standards are bullied and labeled inferior.”  Sabine L.

“The civilized world has the most educated individuals in the most important roles in society.  Yet, those people are also often the most unfair.”  Kara M.

Period Six:

“Education is the cause of power and power can not survive without education.” -Lidya T.

Period Seven:

“There will always be educated people who, rather than use their power to help the less fortunate, abuse their power at the expense of those who are uneducated.” - Samantha L.

“Being uneducated is not the same as being worthless.” - Shannon B.

* I want to thank all of you for an outstanding year.  Every year I try to push my 8th graders to the limits of what I think they can handle and every year I am surprised at what you can accomplish with a little hard work.  Thank you for making this such a rewarding year for me and good luck in high school next year.

- Mr. Stelzner

They start tomorrow so make sure you bring your notes with you to class and have your scenes ready to present!

Good Luck!

Did you know that William Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23?  Just a fun fact to get everyone pumped up for our upcoming unit on As you like it!  We will be working on research projects and acting with the help of some professional Shakespearean actors over the next two weeks.  Please use the Shakespeare resources provided on this page to keep up with your notes and stay prepared for quizzes.  (hint, hint)

Deadlines for research project is May 4th.

*Fantasy Baseball Club— quick meeting scheduled for Tuesday April 20 (we need to decide on a date for our field trip)

Reminder to all GT students- Literature Circle Packets must be turned in before break!

Enjoy your Spring Break and come back refreshed for Shakespeare.

-Mr. Stelzner

Wanted to post some information regarding the Bethesday Literary Contest.  There is a writing contest for students with a cash prize.  The topic for the essay is listed below:

Youth Writing Contest

Deadline: Friday, March 20, 2008 by 5pm

What would you do to make the world a better place? If you had the chance to make the world a better place, what would it be? Would you save the planet? Be nicer to your siblings or parents? Teach someone else to read? Help someone in need?

The top three essays from age groups 5-8 and 9-13 and their authors will be featured at a special reading held during the Bethesda Literary Festival, April 18-20, 2008. Winners will also receive great prizes!

Entry Requirements
Only hard copies (on paper) will be accepted. Essays must be 100 to 500 words in length. Writers must be between 5 and 13 years of age and residents of Montgomery County, MD. Entry form must be submitted with essay.

The entry form can be found on the following site:  http://www.bethesda.org/specialevents/litfest/essays.htm

GOOD LUCK!

Now that literary circles have begun please make sure that you are staying up to date with the packet questions and vocabulary for your assigned text.  I will be checking each day to be sure that you have worked on the material for homework. 

I also wanted to take a moment to congratulate this months Nobel Nominees:

Hannah, Richeria, Molly, Nick and Ellie

Well Done!  Keep up the good work!

Make sure that you are getting ready for the Role Play next week.  Remember that you should be coming into class “in character” and ready to perform.  This is a major grade that replaces your thesis based essay for 12 Angry Men.  If you have questions or want help preparing for this assignment I will be around after school on Thurs. and Fri.

GOOD LUCK!

Wanted to take a moment to express how impressed I am with the final short stories.  There were a handful that read like professional texts and everyone should be proud of the effort.  You will have the opportunity later this year to read some of the work of your peers.  Stay tuned for more info…

I also wanted to wish Ellie from per. 6 good luck on her Shakespeare monologue competition that takes place this afternoon.  Everyone here at SSIMS is rooting for you.  BREAK  A LEG!

Finally, since so many of you expressed interest in various forms of propaganda during the Animal Farm unit I wanted to let you know that there is an exhibit opening at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. that focuses on Nazi propaganda leading up to and during the second world war.  Hopefully, some of you will have the opportunity to check it out.

Keep up the good work- 12 Angry Men starts tomorrow!

Great job by some 7th period students here on their propaganda projects.  Well done, Vincent, Leah, Shannon and Conlan!

http://vimeo.com/2933877

The projects are finished and I will start posting some videos and pictures to show people at home how well everyone did on this assignment.  We had some wonderful examples of how the pigs manipulated others in Animal Farm.  The second quarter is coming to an end, thanks for all the hard work and let’s keep it up in quarter three.