English II Honors: Catcher in the Rye Songs

Here are some song suggestions for your Catcher in the Rye soundtrack project. You have to do the research to see how each might fit with the novel. Please DO NOT use all (or even close to all) of these songs on your project. This is simply a reference guide.

1. “No Catcher In The Rye” - John Ralston
2. “No One Said This Was Easy” - John Ralston 
3.  “Help!” - The Beatles
4.  “Basketcase” - Green Day
5.  “We’ve Got To Get Out of This Place” - The Animals
6.  “Ain’t No Sunshine” - Bill Withers
7.  “Losing My Religion” - REM
8. “Welcome To The Jungle” - Guns N Roses
9.  “Heartache and Pain” - Charles Bradley
10. “19th Nervous Breakdown” - The Rolling Stones
11. “Wish You Were Here” - Pink Floyd
12. "People Are Strange" - The Doors
13. “Good Riddance” -  Green Day
14.  “A Hard Day’s Night” - The Beatles
15.  I Wanna Be Sedated” - The Ramones
16.  I Want to Hold Your Hand” - The Beatles
17.  “Imagine” - John Lennon
18.  “Only The Lonely” - Roy Orbison
19.  “Sweet Jane” - The Velvet Underground
20.  “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” - The Rolling Stones
21.  “A Long December” - Counting Crows
22.  “Riders on the Storm” - The Doors
23. “What is Life” - George Harrison
24. “The Beautiful People” - Marilyn Manson
25. “Wherever I May Roam” - Metallica

EXTRA CREDIT: Fahrenheit 451

Watch the following Fahrenheit 451 student-created videos and leave a comment about them. What did you like? What parts were funny? How did they help you understand the novel? What would you have done differently?

Comment due by Tuesday, Oct. 18!

Mrs. Marcello

EXTRA CREDIT: 20 Things Students Want the Nation to Know About Education

Hi everyone!

Here is your next extra credit assignment, worth up to five points toward your Quarter 1 grade:

Read THIS ARTICLE about 20 things students want their teachers to know, then come up with your own list of 20 things you wish your teachers did differently. Remember to be considerate (I'm a teacher!), and be realistic. If you could change the way teachers taught, what would you want them to do differently?

Write your list of 20 things (just like the one in the article) in a comment below, and remember to include your first and last name. If you cannot leave a comment, e-mail your list to me at marcellogstar@gmail.com. 

Be creative! :)

Mrs. Marcello

EXTRA CREDIT: Do You Know Your First Amendment Rights?

For extra credit: Read the following information and leave a comment answering the question at the end of this post. Due Friday, Sept. 30!

Should citizens be able to videotape the activities of police officers in public? Should a college student be disciplined by her university for a video she made disparaging Asian students? Should people have to use their real names on the Internet? Can violent video games be sold to children? Should anti-gay protesters be allowed to picket at military funerals?

All of these are recent questions that have arisen around First Amendment rights. Do you know what your First Amendment rights are? Do you have strong feelings about any of the individual cases we list here? Why?

In “Name That Freedom,” an article from Oct., 2010, John Schwartz writes:

How much do we need to know [about the Constitution]? Clearly, many of us are lacking even the basics. The First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University has looked at Americans’ familiarity with its eponymous portion of the Bill of Rights, and the results would make Thomas Jefferson weep. While 61 percent of those surveyed this year knew that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, just 23 percent volunteered that it also supports freedom of religion, and 18 percent cited freedom of the press. Freedom of association? Fourteen percent. Only 6 percent of those polled could cite the right to petition the government for grievances, the fifth major freedom guaranteed under the First Amendment.

…Though they lived two centuries before the Internet, the founders knew that they were creating the first information-based nation, a new kind of republic powered by ideas and argument. To give the people who would vote for their leaders the tools to vote wisely, ideas and debate, conscience and faith had to be protected. And it all happens in the First Amendment.

Students: Tell me how well you think you understand the First Amendment and the rights and freedoms it provides. Where do you stand on some of the First Amendment issues we list that have recently been in the news? Are you aware that teenagers have free speech rights too? Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt your First Amendment rights were challenged? Does the right to free speech ever feel wrong?

Commenting Instructions

For those of you who have had trouble commenting on my blog posts: I have changed the settings so all students can leave comments regardless of whether or not they are Blogger members.

To comment: Click on the "comments" link below each post. Scroll down to the comment box and enter your comment (make sure it's appropriate!). Click on the "comment as" button and choose "Name/URL" to enter your first and last name (you do not need to enter a URL). Click "post comment" and you're done!

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Mrs. Marcello

Welcome Students!

I hope all of you had a wonderful summer! Welcome to the English I and English II blog. Please be patient as I attempt to make this your new favorite Web site. I look forward to teaching all of you, and I anticipate a fun and educational school year!

Your new instructor,

Mrs. Marcello