English II Honors
UNIT SEVEN The First-Person Narrative
Day 77
June 3
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to list to readers discuss their work in order to ensure they are expressing their ideas as intended.
Today students are engaging in the practice of silent peer revision.
Students got into groups of three, then they were to:
Share your story draft with each of the members of your group. Allow the members to read your draft.
THE WRITER OF THE DRAFT SHOULD REMAIN SILENT.
Members of the group will
-Summarize the piece.
-Determine the theme
-Discuss any symbolism or literary elements/narrative techniques used
The WRITER WILL REMAIN SILENT THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE PROCESS.
If you, as a writer, have something to say to defend your work, take notes and write down the things you need to revise in your work
Active Engagement
Students get into groups and perform silent peer revision. Once all members have received feedback, students can return to their drafts and revise. Your writing should say what you want it to say and should require no further explanation. If your story requires too much explanation, you must go back to the writing and make sure you get your ideas across. Once published, writers are not typically able to check in with readers and make sure they got the point. The point has got to be clear before publication.
Closure
Final Drafts due next class Wednesday 6/5
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to list to readers discuss their work in order to ensure they are expressing their ideas as intended.
Today students are engaging in the practice of silent peer revision.
Students got into groups of three, then they were to:
Share your story draft with each of the members of your group. Allow the members to read your draft.
THE WRITER OF THE DRAFT SHOULD REMAIN SILENT.
Members of the group will
-Summarize the piece.
-Determine the theme
-Discuss any symbolism or literary elements/narrative techniques used
The WRITER WILL REMAIN SILENT THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE PROCESS.
If you, as a writer, have something to say to defend your work, take notes and write down the things you need to revise in your work
Active Engagement
Students get into groups and perform silent peer revision. Once all members have received feedback, students can return to their drafts and revise. Your writing should say what you want it to say and should require no further explanation. If your story requires too much explanation, you must go back to the writing and make sure you get your ideas across. Once published, writers are not typically able to check in with readers and make sure they got the point. The point has got to be clear before publication.
Closure
Final Drafts due next class Wednesday 6/5
Day 76
May 30
Today was the last day for students to write, so I kept it short on my end. I posted this "Ideas and Planning Form" on Google Classroom, so that students could make sure they are thinking about the most important aspects of their stories. They filled this out and then got to work on their stories.
Day 75
May 28
Warm Up
Today I asked students to tell me about symbols from Catcher in the Rye. They shouted things out. "pond and ducks" "hunting hat" "the ring on the carousel" etc. I asked them if they could remember any from Persepolis. They shouted out "the cigarette" and "the veil." I asked if they could remember all the way back to Othello? "the handkerchief!" "the chess pieces (from the movie)". Whoa. That's some stuff there. How about The Truman Show? "the names" "the water" "the moon" etc.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to incorporate symbolism and figurative language into their first-person narratives.
What was the point of my warm up today? To show students just how powerful symbolism is! We remember symbols. They add depth and meaning to writing and to stories and to our experiences! Thinking about the symbolism we have seen in our reading, how can we use that to add it to our writing?
Active Engagement
Students had time to revisit their drafts and to incorporate symbolism and figurative language into their writing.
Closure
Students will have one more day to work in class on these stories. Get writing!!!
Today I asked students to tell me about symbols from Catcher in the Rye. They shouted things out. "pond and ducks" "hunting hat" "the ring on the carousel" etc. I asked them if they could remember any from Persepolis. They shouted out "the cigarette" and "the veil." I asked if they could remember all the way back to Othello? "the handkerchief!" "the chess pieces (from the movie)". Whoa. That's some stuff there. How about The Truman Show? "the names" "the water" "the moon" etc.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to incorporate symbolism and figurative language into their first-person narratives.
What was the point of my warm up today? To show students just how powerful symbolism is! We remember symbols. They add depth and meaning to writing and to stories and to our experiences! Thinking about the symbolism we have seen in our reading, how can we use that to add it to our writing?
Active Engagement
Students had time to revisit their drafts and to incorporate symbolism and figurative language into their writing.
Closure
Students will have one more day to work in class on these stories. Get writing!!!
Day 74
May 23
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to drop their character in the middle of a conflict and show their character's personality through their actions, words and inner thoughts.
In our last class, we talked about characterization and made character sketches. Today, we talked about what to do with those characters now that we have gotten to know them.
Today we talk about one of the cardinal rules of writing: Show, don't tell. Students easily slip into the trap of describing what is going to happen to a character, instead of just showing it happen. Today, we talked about how to go about making sure your story has movement and action. Because, yanno what? Too much description is boring. They already know this as readers- time to know it as writers.
Active Engagement
I reviewed the story requirements again with students and gave them chromebooks and time to write. One student actually said "I want to change my entire story after hearing all of that." I said, GREAT! That means you learned something new, and want to apply it! That is the best news of today. :)
Closure
Next class we will talk about figurative language
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to drop their character in the middle of a conflict and show their character's personality through their actions, words and inner thoughts.
In our last class, we talked about characterization and made character sketches. Today, we talked about what to do with those characters now that we have gotten to know them.
Today we talk about one of the cardinal rules of writing: Show, don't tell. Students easily slip into the trap of describing what is going to happen to a character, instead of just showing it happen. Today, we talked about how to go about making sure your story has movement and action. Because, yanno what? Too much description is boring. They already know this as readers- time to know it as writers.
Active Engagement
I reviewed the story requirements again with students and gave them chromebooks and time to write. One student actually said "I want to change my entire story after hearing all of that." I said, GREAT! That means you learned something new, and want to apply it! That is the best news of today. :)
Closure
Next class we will talk about figurative language
Day 73
May 21
Warm Up
Today, we are talking about character and creating complex, well-developed characters. We begin with arguably one of my favorite Ted Talks of all time. I asked students to pay attention to what he says about character- and I also asked students to identify what they think Stanton thinks is the most important aspect of storytelling.
Today, we are talking about character and creating complex, well-developed characters. We begin with arguably one of my favorite Ted Talks of all time. I asked students to pay attention to what he says about character- and I also asked students to identify what they think Stanton thinks is the most important aspect of storytelling.
After the talk, we discussed all of the goodness and whatnot. So much goodness...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to create a complex character whose actions in a story are motivated by a desire or need.
We talked about all of the things Stanton said about characters, and I asked students to recall characters they have read and that resonated with them. Obviously, I talked about Holden here.
Next, I showed students this handy character planning sheet and explained how to use such a thing.
Active Engagement
Students used this handy character planning sheet to start creating a character for their first-person narratives.
Closure
We will start writing next class, so start thinking about the action and plot of the story- what will the conflict be? How will it get resolved? etc...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to create a complex character whose actions in a story are motivated by a desire or need.
We talked about all of the things Stanton said about characters, and I asked students to recall characters they have read and that resonated with them. Obviously, I talked about Holden here.
Next, I showed students this handy character planning sheet and explained how to use such a thing.
Active Engagement
Students used this handy character planning sheet to start creating a character for their first-person narratives.
Closure
We will start writing next class, so start thinking about the action and plot of the story- what will the conflict be? How will it get resolved? etc...
Day 72
May 17
After all of this fun, I thought it would make sense to like, get the kid's ideas about the book as a whole. So, today they took a test with five open-ended questions.
After that, I posted the prompt for our next writing project!
The First-Person Narrative
For your final writing assessment this year (kinda), you have two options. We have just finished reading a powerful first-person narrative where we get some unsolicited access into Holden Caulfield’s mind. It’s a scary place. This is NOT a memoir or personal narrative, because it is not the author’s true story. BUT many of you astutely noticed the various connections between the details in Catcher and the details of Salinger’s life. The best writers write what they know to be true from their personal experience. Today, you begin writing something that is true to you.
One of the main goals of writing is to say something. Andrew Stanton, a famous screenwriter, says it this way:
“Storytelling is joke telling. It's knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal, and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understanding of who we are as human beings… Stories...can cross the barriers of time, past, present and future, and allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves and through others, real and imagined...Use what you know. Draw from it. It doesn't always mean plot or fact. It means capturing a truth from your experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel deep down in your core.
Here is a chance to do just that. You can choose to write a personal narrative, where the details are all true and pulled from your life, or you can write a first-person narrative, where the characters, plot and details are all made up.
Either way though: you are going to capture a truth from your experience and explore a value that you feel deep down in your core. You will also use storytelling techniques (narrative) to deliver this truth. We will focus on:
(5/21) Creating a complex, developed character.
(5/23) Dropping the character into the middle of a conflict and showing vs. telling
(5/23) Resolving the conflict to develop the character
(5/28) Using dialogue, figurative language, and symbolism to develop a theme.
(5/30) FPN Planning Form due. Last day to write :)
Rough Drafts will be due for Silent Peer Revision on June 3.
After that, I posted the prompt for our next writing project!
The First-Person Narrative
For your final writing assessment this year (kinda), you have two options. We have just finished reading a powerful first-person narrative where we get some unsolicited access into Holden Caulfield’s mind. It’s a scary place. This is NOT a memoir or personal narrative, because it is not the author’s true story. BUT many of you astutely noticed the various connections between the details in Catcher and the details of Salinger’s life. The best writers write what they know to be true from their personal experience. Today, you begin writing something that is true to you.
One of the main goals of writing is to say something. Andrew Stanton, a famous screenwriter, says it this way:
“Storytelling is joke telling. It's knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal, and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understanding of who we are as human beings… Stories...can cross the barriers of time, past, present and future, and allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves and through others, real and imagined...Use what you know. Draw from it. It doesn't always mean plot or fact. It means capturing a truth from your experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel deep down in your core.
Here is a chance to do just that. You can choose to write a personal narrative, where the details are all true and pulled from your life, or you can write a first-person narrative, where the characters, plot and details are all made up.
Either way though: you are going to capture a truth from your experience and explore a value that you feel deep down in your core. You will also use storytelling techniques (narrative) to deliver this truth. We will focus on:
(5/21) Creating a complex, developed character.
(5/23) Dropping the character into the middle of a conflict and showing vs. telling
(5/23) Resolving the conflict to develop the character
(5/28) Using dialogue, figurative language, and symbolism to develop a theme.
(5/30) FPN Planning Form due. Last day to write :)
Rough Drafts will be due for Silent Peer Revision on June 3.
Days 66-71
April 29-May 15
How do I recount what has been going on in my class over the past few weeks? I mean, its been cray. And, by that I mean, Awesome. I am so impressed with the students in this class this year. like wow. I can't possibly break it down for you all- you would had to have been there. But I will embed their slideshows here. Enjoy.
Day 65
(April 25)
Can I just take a moment to say: I LOVE WORKING WITH THE KIDS IN THIS CLASS. I'm not kidding. This year has been so fun for me (idk about them lol). Every crazy idea I have for an activity that I have never tried before, I throw at them. And they are just consistently like, "yah, okay, seems legit, let's do it!" And then they have done it. And beautifully every time.
This unit is going to be fire because of them. For reals.
Today, I began by filling the class in on the details of the whole: you are going to teach us a chapter of this book thing.
Here are the details.
The students seemed ready to tackle this epic challenge. Their presentations begin next class. For today's class, I took chapters 1 and 2.
First we read the first sentence of Catcher in the Rye and discussed how effective it was (cause, yanno, all of the people read this book).
Then, I asked the kids if they knew any of the controversy surrounding this book. They said no. I asked them if they knew who John Lennon was. They said no. (Parents, I am shaking my head at you now. lol). So I figured I would introduce them to a little song he wrote:
This unit is going to be fire because of them. For reals.
Today, I began by filling the class in on the details of the whole: you are going to teach us a chapter of this book thing.
Here are the details.
The students seemed ready to tackle this epic challenge. Their presentations begin next class. For today's class, I took chapters 1 and 2.
First we read the first sentence of Catcher in the Rye and discussed how effective it was (cause, yanno, all of the people read this book).
Then, I asked the kids if they knew any of the controversy surrounding this book. They said no. I asked them if they knew who John Lennon was. They said no. (Parents, I am shaking my head at you now. lol). So I figured I would introduce them to a little song he wrote:
I put the lyrics up on the board, and we listened.
Next, I told the students the story of Mark David Chapman, who thought that John Lennon was a big "phony", so he waited outside of his NY apartment, and shot him dead.
I talked about how I think he misunderstood both Lennon and Catcher in the Rye.
Next, we read the first two chapters of this book.
Then something magical happened.
I asked the kids who likes Holden, and who hates Holden and, naturally, there was a split down the middle. Then we had a COLLEGE LEVEL discussion of character analysis. We talked about the text for 20+ minutes. The amount of times the kids cited prior knowledge and the text in their discussion just blew me away. It never got disrespectful or argumentative, even though they were clearly disagreeing with each other. Instead of fighting, they used text evidence and logic to support and defend their ideas.
I barely said much at all. I mean. This is ideal folks. The goal every year, is that I can deliver enough instruction and opportunities to practice developing skills, that these students will be able to take those skills and use them independently. Not only did they do that in today's discussion, they are about to teach the entire Catcher novel. I am so thrilled to sit back and enjoy the show!
It's going to be good.
I talked about how I think he misunderstood both Lennon and Catcher in the Rye.
Next, we read the first two chapters of this book.
Then something magical happened.
I asked the kids who likes Holden, and who hates Holden and, naturally, there was a split down the middle. Then we had a COLLEGE LEVEL discussion of character analysis. We talked about the text for 20+ minutes. The amount of times the kids cited prior knowledge and the text in their discussion just blew me away. It never got disrespectful or argumentative, even though they were clearly disagreeing with each other. Instead of fighting, they used text evidence and logic to support and defend their ideas.
I barely said much at all. I mean. This is ideal folks. The goal every year, is that I can deliver enough instruction and opportunities to practice developing skills, that these students will be able to take those skills and use them independently. Not only did they do that in today's discussion, they are about to teach the entire Catcher novel. I am so thrilled to sit back and enjoy the show!
It's going to be good.
Day 64
(April 23)
This is what we did today! Fun. Students have done a lot of work with SAT reading passages this year. Today, they see how much they have grown. We take our final SAT practice assessment and I can't wait to see how far we have all come!
When students finished, they selected a chapter to claim as their own from Catcher. They will be responsible for reading their selected chapter in advance and teaching it to the class. The sign-up sheet is on Google Classroom.
We begin Catcher.... Thursday.
:/
When students finished, they selected a chapter to claim as their own from Catcher. They will be responsible for reading their selected chapter in advance and teaching it to the class. The sign-up sheet is on Google Classroom.
We begin Catcher.... Thursday.
:/
Day 63
(April 12)
Warm Up
What better way is there than Beck to introduce the kiddos to Holden Caulfield? Today we start with this awesome song that very much captures Holden Caulfield. Students won't see that yet- but it sure sets the tone.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to consider multiple perspectives about the major themes explored in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
Today we begin with a Red Line activity. For this activity, we pretend there is a line running down the center of my classroom, on the floor. One end of the line means “agree” and the other end of the line is “disagree.” The line acts as a continuum. Students can stand anywhere on the line, and they can move around as they think and come to new understandings, or see new perspectives. Students love to move around the room, and they love to think out loud with each other in this activity. Every time we do it, my students spend the next few weeks asking when we will do it again.
Today, I will pose the following statements:
Active Engagement
After the "red line" activity, students will choose one of these statements to reflect on. They will type a response and explain their position on a google doc posted in Classroom.
Closure
I will hand out books; students are welcome to begin reading over break, but are not required to. Reading a book more than once is NEVER a bad idea :)
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to consider multiple perspectives about the major themes explored in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
Today we begin with a Red Line activity. For this activity, we pretend there is a line running down the center of my classroom, on the floor. One end of the line means “agree” and the other end of the line is “disagree.” The line acts as a continuum. Students can stand anywhere on the line, and they can move around as they think and come to new understandings, or see new perspectives. Students love to move around the room, and they love to think out loud with each other in this activity. Every time we do it, my students spend the next few weeks asking when we will do it again.
Today, I will pose the following statements:
- Conformity results in the loss of individuality
- While we may seek reality, we are more comfortable with illusion. In order to fit into our society we must by “phony” or “fake” to a certain degree
- It is difficult to meet someone who is “real” because most people are “phony.”
- Institutions such as schools, businesses, and entertainment industries suppress the individual.
- Everyone must determine his own value system for himself.
Active Engagement
After the "red line" activity, students will choose one of these statements to reflect on. They will type a response and explain their position on a google doc posted in Classroom.
Closure
I will hand out books; students are welcome to begin reading over break, but are not required to. Reading a book more than once is NEVER a bad idea :)
Day 62
(April 10)
Warm Up
Today we briefly reviewed what we watched in the first part of Smallfoot yesterday.
Mini Lesson
I asked students what they were supposed to looking for as we watched. They all remembered that we were looking for the theme of the movie and we were going to talk about why we identified that theme.
Active Engagement
We finished watching Smallfoot (which was very entertaining, both watching the movie and watching the kids watch the movie- they were so into it).
After the movie, students shared out their thoughts. One student connected Migo's journey with that of the escaped prisoner in Plato's Cave Allegory! I was impressed with their thinking.
Then, students wrote a response about the theme of the movie.
Closure
I told students that in our next class we will talk about our next novel- Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Many of the themes students identified in Smallfoot are the same themes developed in Catcher. We are all ready to jump into our next unit!
Today we briefly reviewed what we watched in the first part of Smallfoot yesterday.
Mini Lesson
I asked students what they were supposed to looking for as we watched. They all remembered that we were looking for the theme of the movie and we were going to talk about why we identified that theme.
Active Engagement
We finished watching Smallfoot (which was very entertaining, both watching the movie and watching the kids watch the movie- they were so into it).
After the movie, students shared out their thoughts. One student connected Migo's journey with that of the escaped prisoner in Plato's Cave Allegory! I was impressed with their thinking.
Then, students wrote a response about the theme of the movie.
Closure
I told students that in our next class we will talk about our next novel- Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Many of the themes students identified in Smallfoot are the same themes developed in Catcher. We are all ready to jump into our next unit!
Day 61
(April 9)
Warm Up
Today we begin a new unit! I showed the above picture to the students and asked them what they thought our new unit would be about.
Mini lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the theme of Smallfoot and 3 ways the creators of Smallfoot developed that theme
Today we are watching a movie! These kids have worked so hard this year. They just finished a blogging project of epic proportions. So its time to take a bit of a break. But only a bit.
Today's movie nicely introduces our next novel and will get students thinking.
Active Engagement
Students will take notes as we watch in an attempt to identify the theme of the movie and ways the creators of the movie developed that theme.
Closure
I reminded students that their blogs are due at midnight tonight. We will finish the movie tomorrow (we have about 20 minutes left) and then we will have a seminar about the themes.
Today we begin a new unit! I showed the above picture to the students and asked them what they thought our new unit would be about.
Mini lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the theme of Smallfoot and 3 ways the creators of Smallfoot developed that theme
Today we are watching a movie! These kids have worked so hard this year. They just finished a blogging project of epic proportions. So its time to take a bit of a break. But only a bit.
Today's movie nicely introduces our next novel and will get students thinking.
Active Engagement
Students will take notes as we watch in an attempt to identify the theme of the movie and ways the creators of the movie developed that theme.
Closure
I reminded students that their blogs are due at midnight tonight. We will finish the movie tomorrow (we have about 20 minutes left) and then we will have a seminar about the themes.
UNIT SIX Nonfiction
Days 59 - 60
April 2 & April 4
Warm Up
Today (4/2), we got started by filling out this google form which asked students to give me an update on their projects so far.
Mini Lesson
I told students they would be conferring with me one-on-one over the next two classes. This is the time to get help or insight or to talk out the project with me. I also told students they would need to show their work so far to a peer to get some feedback and also to see how someone else is doing.
Active Engagement
Students worked on their projects as I conferred with them one-on-one.
Closure
Projects are due next Tuesday 4/9
Today (4/2), we got started by filling out this google form which asked students to give me an update on their projects so far.
Mini Lesson
I told students they would be conferring with me one-on-one over the next two classes. This is the time to get help or insight or to talk out the project with me. I also told students they would need to show their work so far to a peer to get some feedback and also to see how someone else is doing.
Active Engagement
Students worked on their projects as I conferred with them one-on-one.
Closure
Projects are due next Tuesday 4/9
Day 58
March 29
Warm Up
Today we did a quick check in on the blogs to see how much time we all need to complete the project.
Mini Lesson
I wanted to remind students to use narrative techniques in their blogs to develop their ideas and make their writing more compelling.
So, we watched a Ted Talk where Sir Ken Robinson uses images and narrative techniques to deliver a nonfiction talk about changing our understanding of education.
Today we did a quick check in on the blogs to see how much time we all need to complete the project.
Mini Lesson
I wanted to remind students to use narrative techniques in their blogs to develop their ideas and make their writing more compelling.
So, we watched a Ted Talk where Sir Ken Robinson uses images and narrative techniques to deliver a nonfiction talk about changing our understanding of education.
Active Engagement
After some discussion of the video, we headed to the library to continue working on our blogs.
Closure
We will have all of next week to complete this project! Be prepared to conference with Ms. Minto next week :)
After some discussion of the video, we headed to the library to continue working on our blogs.
Closure
We will have all of next week to complete this project! Be prepared to conference with Ms. Minto next week :)
Days 56 - 57
March 25 & March 27
Warm Up
For today's warm up, I introduced students to the product requirements for this unit! here it is:
We are writers of nonfiction
You guys will be writing 3 blog posts for this unit. Remember that in this unit we have been discussing matters of uncertainty and issues that have more than one side to them. These blogs will explore several sides to one issue. There are a few different ways you can do this:
Option 1:
Choose one issue that is particularly complicated in your book. Over the course of three different blogs, explore three different sides to this issue.
Option 2:
Choose three topics and discuss each topic in each blog.
Blog Requirements
Honor the complexity of your issue
-Use qualifying language when necessary
-Acknowledge your own personal biases, areas of expertise, or restrictions on your own understanding (are there things you cannot know because, like no one can? Or because you are not an expert on the topic, etc).
Authority
-May seem counter-intuitive, but you can have some authority on your topics becasue you LEARNED about them. If you do your research, and incorporate a variety of sources, and you have given some thought to the topic, certainly you can and should speak on it. You may not know it all, but no nonfiction writer does. We don’t have all of the answers. But, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to understand and write about our world.
Sources
-You have to consult some outside sources in order to get a more well-rounded understanding of your ideas. Each blog post must include hyperlinks that link directly to at least 3 articles that you read, or videos that you watched (in addition to your book).
Layout
-You have some freedom here, but every post must be titled with a clever, descriptive title. No Blog 1 titles. Tell me what your blog is about!
-Each blog post must contain multimedia (this is the fun part). You can embed videos, pictures, infographics, sound recordings or other elements.
Writing
-Blog posts can be seen by the world. Represent yourself as a polished writer of nonfiction.
-Writing should be edited and revised for spelling, punctuation, and conventions.
-Posts should be organized in a way that builds the reader’s understanding. Random facts thrown together confuse us. Use narrative techniques (tell a story) or use some other logical means of organizing your ideas (chronologically, or by topic)
-Use your nonfiction text as a model for your own writing. What do those writers do well? What can you do too?
Tone
-Blogs usually have a more casual tone than academic writing. Still, you want to maintain your authority on the topic. Don’t be too silly, but do incorporate things like humor and casual language.
-Please don’t use swear words- your writing will be just as strong without them. You are representing NMHS.
Mini Lesson
First, we went to the computer lab, and I showed students how to make a blog on weebly.
Active Engagement
Students worked for the remainder of class, and the entire next class on their blogs.
Closure
We will continue to work on these. I reminded students to use the moves we learned about while reading nonfiction in their own nonfiction writing.
For today's warm up, I introduced students to the product requirements for this unit! here it is:
We are writers of nonfiction
You guys will be writing 3 blog posts for this unit. Remember that in this unit we have been discussing matters of uncertainty and issues that have more than one side to them. These blogs will explore several sides to one issue. There are a few different ways you can do this:
Option 1:
Choose one issue that is particularly complicated in your book. Over the course of three different blogs, explore three different sides to this issue.
Option 2:
Choose three topics and discuss each topic in each blog.
Blog Requirements
Honor the complexity of your issue
-Use qualifying language when necessary
-Acknowledge your own personal biases, areas of expertise, or restrictions on your own understanding (are there things you cannot know because, like no one can? Or because you are not an expert on the topic, etc).
Authority
-May seem counter-intuitive, but you can have some authority on your topics becasue you LEARNED about them. If you do your research, and incorporate a variety of sources, and you have given some thought to the topic, certainly you can and should speak on it. You may not know it all, but no nonfiction writer does. We don’t have all of the answers. But, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to understand and write about our world.
Sources
-You have to consult some outside sources in order to get a more well-rounded understanding of your ideas. Each blog post must include hyperlinks that link directly to at least 3 articles that you read, or videos that you watched (in addition to your book).
Layout
-You have some freedom here, but every post must be titled with a clever, descriptive title. No Blog 1 titles. Tell me what your blog is about!
-Each blog post must contain multimedia (this is the fun part). You can embed videos, pictures, infographics, sound recordings or other elements.
Writing
-Blog posts can be seen by the world. Represent yourself as a polished writer of nonfiction.
-Writing should be edited and revised for spelling, punctuation, and conventions.
-Posts should be organized in a way that builds the reader’s understanding. Random facts thrown together confuse us. Use narrative techniques (tell a story) or use some other logical means of organizing your ideas (chronologically, or by topic)
-Use your nonfiction text as a model for your own writing. What do those writers do well? What can you do too?
Tone
-Blogs usually have a more casual tone than academic writing. Still, you want to maintain your authority on the topic. Don’t be too silly, but do incorporate things like humor and casual language.
-Please don’t use swear words- your writing will be just as strong without them. You are representing NMHS.
Mini Lesson
First, we went to the computer lab, and I showed students how to make a blog on weebly.
Active Engagement
Students worked for the remainder of class, and the entire next class on their blogs.
Closure
We will continue to work on these. I reminded students to use the moves we learned about while reading nonfiction in their own nonfiction writing.
Day 55
March 21
Warm Up
Today, students warm up by talking to each other about their books- I had to cut off this conversation at the end of last class because we ran out of time. So, I would like to give students another opportunity to talk about their books with their peers.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify narrative techniques used in their nonfiction books.
We have been talking a lot about strategies nonfiction writers use to produce high-quality content. So far we have explored honoring the complexity of your topic by consulting a large breadth of sources and using qualifying language.
Today we are going to talk about how writers of nonfiction use narrative storytelling techniques to create content that is engaging for the reader. Let's face it: sometimes nonfiction reading can seem boring. Especially if the writer berrates you with endless facts that have no glue to hold them together. The best writers of nonfiction craft stories and use all of the narrative techniques that fiction writers use to make the information easier to digest and understand.
In my book, Carlo Rovelli tells a story. He does not just inundate the reader with historical facts. He instead, creates characters out of the historical figures about which he writes, and he tells the story of their lives. The story delivers the facts. The story keeps the reader engaged while they consume some pretty heavy sciencey stuff.
Active Engagement
Students will respond to the following in their notebooks: Is your writer using narrative techniques in the book you are reading? Is there a story? What effect does this have on the reader?
Next, students will read, read, read. We have one weekend left to finish these books!
Closure
I will remind students to finish their books and to be thinking about the topics/issues/ideas they want to write about in the next bend of this unit.
Today, students warm up by talking to each other about their books- I had to cut off this conversation at the end of last class because we ran out of time. So, I would like to give students another opportunity to talk about their books with their peers.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify narrative techniques used in their nonfiction books.
We have been talking a lot about strategies nonfiction writers use to produce high-quality content. So far we have explored honoring the complexity of your topic by consulting a large breadth of sources and using qualifying language.
Today we are going to talk about how writers of nonfiction use narrative storytelling techniques to create content that is engaging for the reader. Let's face it: sometimes nonfiction reading can seem boring. Especially if the writer berrates you with endless facts that have no glue to hold them together. The best writers of nonfiction craft stories and use all of the narrative techniques that fiction writers use to make the information easier to digest and understand.
In my book, Carlo Rovelli tells a story. He does not just inundate the reader with historical facts. He instead, creates characters out of the historical figures about which he writes, and he tells the story of their lives. The story delivers the facts. The story keeps the reader engaged while they consume some pretty heavy sciencey stuff.
Active Engagement
Students will respond to the following in their notebooks: Is your writer using narrative techniques in the book you are reading? Is there a story? What effect does this have on the reader?
Next, students will read, read, read. We have one weekend left to finish these books!
Closure
I will remind students to finish their books and to be thinking about the topics/issues/ideas they want to write about in the next bend of this unit.
Day 54
March 19
Warm Up
Last class, students took a reading quiz where they told me what page they are on in their books, provided a brief summary of the book so far, and divulged 3 new things they have learned from their books. Based on this information- it is clear to me that students are reading and learning but that they also need some time to get some reading done. We finish books by next Monday, and then begin writing.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify 3-4 topics or ideas in their books that they want to explore further and write about in their blogs.
Today we start with a final SAT Nonfiction passage. Students will read a nonfiction passage and answer multiple choice questions about the main ideas expressed in the passage.
After students finish, we will go over the answers and look at how well students did, and compare this score to their last few.
Active Engagement
Students will have the rest of class to read their books searching for main ideas or issues they want to explore further and write about in their blogs.
Closure
I will remind students that they need to finish their books by Monday.
Last class, students took a reading quiz where they told me what page they are on in their books, provided a brief summary of the book so far, and divulged 3 new things they have learned from their books. Based on this information- it is clear to me that students are reading and learning but that they also need some time to get some reading done. We finish books by next Monday, and then begin writing.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify 3-4 topics or ideas in their books that they want to explore further and write about in their blogs.
Today we start with a final SAT Nonfiction passage. Students will read a nonfiction passage and answer multiple choice questions about the main ideas expressed in the passage.
After students finish, we will go over the answers and look at how well students did, and compare this score to their last few.
Active Engagement
Students will have the rest of class to read their books searching for main ideas or issues they want to explore further and write about in their blogs.
Closure
I will remind students that they need to finish their books by Monday.
Day 53
March 15
Warm Up
Today we warm up by reviewing the past few classes in this unit so far.
We have defined Nonfiction as attempts to describe something accurately (Day 50) . We have looked at how writers of nonfiction organize their ideas by topic (Day 51). We are also learning about how the best writers of nonfiction honor the complexity of their topics. They do this by using qualifying language (Day 52) and by consulting a variety of resources, especially sources which may offer competing information (Day 53).
Next, students took a quick quiz where they told me how far they are in their books, briefly summarized the books, and divulged three new things they learned from their books.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the various types of source material used by the author of their books.
Today, we continue to discuss ways writers of nonfiction honor the complexity of their topics. We have talked a lot about matters of uncertainty- issues or ideas writers explore that they are complicated and hard (or impossible) to portray with 100% accuracy. For example, when a biographer writes about a person's life, they cannot possibly understand their subject completely. There is no window into the mind of the person, and there are biases and prejudices that the biographer may have which inform their own perspectives. These things are not bad- they just are. And it is important to understand that, both as a reader of nonfiction and as a writer of nonfiction.
Uncertainty is very useful! It leads us to continue searching for answers, and to continue learning and growing- individually and as a species. But, the best writers learn as much as they can about their topics in order to eliminate their ignorance of divergent perspectives. One way to learn as much as you can, is to do some research. Hit the books, or these days, the interwebs.
Today we are looking at the different types of source material authors use AND ways nonfiction writers incorporate and cite source material.
First, I will model using my own text: Anaximander by Carlo Rovelli. One thing I love about Rovelli (I have read ALL of his books) is his emphasis on challenging the status quo and keeping an open mind. As a quantum physicist, he can appreciate this spirit in people like Anaximander, Galileo, Newton, and Einstein. Just to name a few. He sees this as an essential quality to growth in our understanding of the universe. And I would have to humbly agree.
This book in particular is very well-fitted to this unit. There are a lot of potential matters of uncertainty in the topic. Here's one: Rovelli is writing about the thoughts and ideas that were expressed by someone who lived 2600 years ago and whose entire collection of writing has been destroyed or lost entirely. There only exists one direct quote of Anaximander's, and the translation of these 31 words is still in dispute. Also, the quote is super vague, and means generally very little to me as a reader without much context. Talk about a tricky subject to write nonfiction about.
Here are some of my noticings about source material in Anaximander:
The book is only 200 pages long. It has 8 pages of notes and an 8 page bibliography which contains 85 sources.
He uses photographs, maps, and graphs as source material.
In addition to the notes that you find at the end of the book, there are at least 50 footnotes throughout the book which further explain where his ideas come from.
He quotes a variety of sources from physicists to poets to ancient texts from every corner of the world.
His source material runs all the way back to 1000 years BCE to material written in the 2000s CE- in other words, his sources span 3000 years.
He discusses the tricky nature of translating sources in other languages and acknowledges that there are different ways of interpreting the words.
Active Engagement
Students will explore their texts searching for how many sources are used, and how you can find out where the writers got their information from. In other words, students will look for ways that their author has attempted to honor the complexity of their topic by incorporating a variety of sources in a variety of ways.
Closure
Students will share their findings with those in their groups. Books need to be finished by 3/25
Today we warm up by reviewing the past few classes in this unit so far.
We have defined Nonfiction as attempts to describe something accurately (Day 50) . We have looked at how writers of nonfiction organize their ideas by topic (Day 51). We are also learning about how the best writers of nonfiction honor the complexity of their topics. They do this by using qualifying language (Day 52) and by consulting a variety of resources, especially sources which may offer competing information (Day 53).
Next, students took a quick quiz where they told me how far they are in their books, briefly summarized the books, and divulged three new things they learned from their books.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the various types of source material used by the author of their books.
Today, we continue to discuss ways writers of nonfiction honor the complexity of their topics. We have talked a lot about matters of uncertainty- issues or ideas writers explore that they are complicated and hard (or impossible) to portray with 100% accuracy. For example, when a biographer writes about a person's life, they cannot possibly understand their subject completely. There is no window into the mind of the person, and there are biases and prejudices that the biographer may have which inform their own perspectives. These things are not bad- they just are. And it is important to understand that, both as a reader of nonfiction and as a writer of nonfiction.
Uncertainty is very useful! It leads us to continue searching for answers, and to continue learning and growing- individually and as a species. But, the best writers learn as much as they can about their topics in order to eliminate their ignorance of divergent perspectives. One way to learn as much as you can, is to do some research. Hit the books, or these days, the interwebs.
Today we are looking at the different types of source material authors use AND ways nonfiction writers incorporate and cite source material.
First, I will model using my own text: Anaximander by Carlo Rovelli. One thing I love about Rovelli (I have read ALL of his books) is his emphasis on challenging the status quo and keeping an open mind. As a quantum physicist, he can appreciate this spirit in people like Anaximander, Galileo, Newton, and Einstein. Just to name a few. He sees this as an essential quality to growth in our understanding of the universe. And I would have to humbly agree.
This book in particular is very well-fitted to this unit. There are a lot of potential matters of uncertainty in the topic. Here's one: Rovelli is writing about the thoughts and ideas that were expressed by someone who lived 2600 years ago and whose entire collection of writing has been destroyed or lost entirely. There only exists one direct quote of Anaximander's, and the translation of these 31 words is still in dispute. Also, the quote is super vague, and means generally very little to me as a reader without much context. Talk about a tricky subject to write nonfiction about.
Here are some of my noticings about source material in Anaximander:
The book is only 200 pages long. It has 8 pages of notes and an 8 page bibliography which contains 85 sources.
He uses photographs, maps, and graphs as source material.
In addition to the notes that you find at the end of the book, there are at least 50 footnotes throughout the book which further explain where his ideas come from.
He quotes a variety of sources from physicists to poets to ancient texts from every corner of the world.
His source material runs all the way back to 1000 years BCE to material written in the 2000s CE- in other words, his sources span 3000 years.
He discusses the tricky nature of translating sources in other languages and acknowledges that there are different ways of interpreting the words.
Active Engagement
Students will explore their texts searching for how many sources are used, and how you can find out where the writers got their information from. In other words, students will look for ways that their author has attempted to honor the complexity of their topic by incorporating a variety of sources in a variety of ways.
Closure
Students will share their findings with those in their groups. Books need to be finished by 3/25
Day 52
March 12
Warm Up
In your groups, review how much you have read and discuss what you have learned so far.
Mini Lesson
Students will be able to identify qualifying language writers of nonfiction use to honor the complexity of their subjects.
First, we are going to review matters of uncertainty and what I mean when I say that. We are going to do this by making a list of examples we can think of. I am going to divide the list into four sections: things, events, people and ideas. I am doing this because we are all reading different books- some of our books are about people (memoirs, autobiographies and biographies), some of our books are about ideas or issues, and some are about events. When we make this list, I am hoping it will be easier for students to find examples in their own texts.
Next, we are going to talk about qualifying language. Qualifiers are words that make your claims more or less certain. Most often, they make things less certain. They can be very useful in nonfiction writing, as they help writers to avoid making lofty claims that they cannot defend or know with certainty. You can find more information about them here.
Let's make a list of qualifying words!
Next, I am going to introduce students to my text for this unit (I told the kids I would do the project with them using a text of my choice).
In your groups, review how much you have read and discuss what you have learned so far.
Mini Lesson
Students will be able to identify qualifying language writers of nonfiction use to honor the complexity of their subjects.
First, we are going to review matters of uncertainty and what I mean when I say that. We are going to do this by making a list of examples we can think of. I am going to divide the list into four sections: things, events, people and ideas. I am doing this because we are all reading different books- some of our books are about people (memoirs, autobiographies and biographies), some of our books are about ideas or issues, and some are about events. When we make this list, I am hoping it will be easier for students to find examples in their own texts.
Next, we are going to talk about qualifying language. Qualifiers are words that make your claims more or less certain. Most often, they make things less certain. They can be very useful in nonfiction writing, as they help writers to avoid making lofty claims that they cannot defend or know with certainty. You can find more information about them here.
Let's make a list of qualifying words!
- Appears
- Seems
- Suggests
- Indicates
Next, I am going to introduce students to my text for this unit (I told the kids I would do the project with them using a text of my choice).
My book is a doozy. It is about a person, his ideas, and all of the ideas he gave birth to. Together, we are going to read the first page of the introduction. In it, we are going to look for qualifying language. Students will find it and we will talk about the purpose of the qualifiers Rovelli uses.
Active Engagement
Students will read their books and find 5 qualifiers and write them down in their notebooks.
Closure
We will share out found qualifiers. Keep reading guys!!! When we finish reading, we will begin writing and use our own qualifiers!
Active Engagement
Students will read their books and find 5 qualifiers and write them down in their notebooks.
Closure
We will share out found qualifiers. Keep reading guys!!! When we finish reading, we will begin writing and use our own qualifiers!
Day 51
March 8
Warm Up
Today we began by reviewing last lesson. I handed this out to students, which lays out the rest of the goals for this unit.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the main idea of each paragraph of a nonfiction passage and make a flowchart showing the progression of ideas.
For today's lesson, I used another SAT check in that is being taught in all sophomore classes this week. We read the passage together, then identified the main idea for the first two paragraphs. Then, students got into pairs to finish the flow chart.
After sharing out our ideas, students answered the 11 questions at the end of the passage. They actually WANTED to answer them on their own to see how they did!
I asked students if they thought making the flow chart, and breaking the passage down, helped them to understand it. They answered with a resounding "yes" but were concerned that they would not have time to do that on a real SAT test which is timed. I took the opportunity to remind them that this kind of strategy is one they can practice now with their nonfiction reading and with all of their reading, and that developing those skills will save them time when they are juniors and taking the real test.
Finally, we reviewed the answers together and discussed how identifying main ideas might have helped in answering the questions.
Active Engagement
Students worked to develop a reading plan and began reading their books. I encouraged them to continue breaking down tough passages and searching for main ideas. In other words- transfer the skill we just practiced to your own reading.
Closure
I reminded students to read, read, read! And to search for topics they want to learn more about :)
Today we began by reviewing last lesson. I handed this out to students, which lays out the rest of the goals for this unit.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the main idea of each paragraph of a nonfiction passage and make a flowchart showing the progression of ideas.
For today's lesson, I used another SAT check in that is being taught in all sophomore classes this week. We read the passage together, then identified the main idea for the first two paragraphs. Then, students got into pairs to finish the flow chart.
After sharing out our ideas, students answered the 11 questions at the end of the passage. They actually WANTED to answer them on their own to see how they did!
I asked students if they thought making the flow chart, and breaking the passage down, helped them to understand it. They answered with a resounding "yes" but were concerned that they would not have time to do that on a real SAT test which is timed. I took the opportunity to remind them that this kind of strategy is one they can practice now with their nonfiction reading and with all of their reading, and that developing those skills will save them time when they are juniors and taking the real test.
Finally, we reviewed the answers together and discussed how identifying main ideas might have helped in answering the questions.
Active Engagement
Students worked to develop a reading plan and began reading their books. I encouraged them to continue breaking down tough passages and searching for main ideas. In other words- transfer the skill we just practiced to your own reading.
Closure
I reminded students to read, read, read! And to search for topics they want to learn more about :)
Day 50
March 6
Warm Up
In your notebooks, define the following in your own words:
Fact
Truth
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to predict 2-3 potential matters of uncertainty in their new nonfiction book choice that are likely to challenge their assumptions.
Today, we begin a new unit and a new genre: nonfiction. This is my favorite genre because it is so mind-blowing and eye-opening. Students often think that the line between fiction and nonfiction is clear.
Turns out, not so much.
Here is my definition of Nonfiction:
In your notebooks, define the following in your own words:
Fact
Truth
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to predict 2-3 potential matters of uncertainty in their new nonfiction book choice that are likely to challenge their assumptions.
Today, we begin a new unit and a new genre: nonfiction. This is my favorite genre because it is so mind-blowing and eye-opening. Students often think that the line between fiction and nonfiction is clear.
Turns out, not so much.
Here is my definition of Nonfiction:
Active Engagement
After explaining and breaking down the definition, student will explore the new titles they have to choose from.
Students will choose one book to read for this unit and identify matters of uncertainty. Students posted this information to Google Classroom in a forum we can all see.
Closure
Students got out of their desks and we rearranged them. Students then sat in groups by their novel choices. In the end, our breakdown is this:
Into the Wild : 5 students
Fast Food Nation : 3
Glass Castle : 6
Into Thin Air: 6
Love in the Driest Season : 2
A Long Way Gone : 1
The Color of Water : 1
My 2 angels who have no group members reading their book, forged their own group of two- this will be helpful to them as they will be able to have someone to talk to and bounce their ideas off of.
Students then shared out their matters of uncertainty- and then the bell rang. Our next unit is well underway! In our next class, students will work in their groups to develop a reading plan. Fun times indeed!
After explaining and breaking down the definition, student will explore the new titles they have to choose from.
Students will choose one book to read for this unit and identify matters of uncertainty. Students posted this information to Google Classroom in a forum we can all see.
Closure
Students got out of their desks and we rearranged them. Students then sat in groups by their novel choices. In the end, our breakdown is this:
Into the Wild : 5 students
Fast Food Nation : 3
Glass Castle : 6
Into Thin Air: 6
Love in the Driest Season : 2
A Long Way Gone : 1
The Color of Water : 1
My 2 angels who have no group members reading their book, forged their own group of two- this will be helpful to them as they will be able to have someone to talk to and bounce their ideas off of.
Students then shared out their matters of uncertainty- and then the bell rang. Our next unit is well underway! In our next class, students will work in their groups to develop a reading plan. Fun times indeed!
Unit FIVE: The Graphic Novel
Day 49
March 1
Warm Up
Today, we warm up by reviewing the purpose of the essay students are working on, and the reviewing the objectives of our last several lessons.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make necessary revisions to improve the quality of their writing after using the Persepolis Essay Checklist to evaluate their own essay and an essay of their peer's.
I will hand out the Persepolis Essay Checklist and we will review this together. The checklist focuses on Organization and Development of ideas.
Next, we will analyze my own essay (that I started writing while modeling for our last lesson) using the checklist.
We will read the essay as a whole group, and then students will get into pairs and use the checklist to develop feedback for my essay.
We will get back together as a whole group and I will encourage students to share the feedback they came up with after using the checklist to review my essay.
Active Engagement
Students will get onto chromebooks and review their own essays using the checklist. Those students who are close to finished will share their drafts with a peer who is also nearly finished. These students will peer-revise using the checklist to guide their feedback.
I will confer with students who still need help to develop and write their ideas.
Closure
Final drafts of the essay will be due next class: Tuesday March 5
Today, we warm up by reviewing the purpose of the essay students are working on, and the reviewing the objectives of our last several lessons.
- Students are writing an essay which identifies the theme developed in Persepolis and analyzes the craft moves used by the author to develop that theme.
- Our last lesson was about using text evidence and explaining how the evidence we are using develops the theme we identified.
- Before that, we created flow charts of mentor text organization to get an idea of how we can structure our own writing.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make necessary revisions to improve the quality of their writing after using the Persepolis Essay Checklist to evaluate their own essay and an essay of their peer's.
I will hand out the Persepolis Essay Checklist and we will review this together. The checklist focuses on Organization and Development of ideas.
Next, we will analyze my own essay (that I started writing while modeling for our last lesson) using the checklist.
We will read the essay as a whole group, and then students will get into pairs and use the checklist to develop feedback for my essay.
We will get back together as a whole group and I will encourage students to share the feedback they came up with after using the checklist to review my essay.
Active Engagement
Students will get onto chromebooks and review their own essays using the checklist. Those students who are close to finished will share their drafts with a peer who is also nearly finished. These students will peer-revise using the checklist to guide their feedback.
I will confer with students who still need help to develop and write their ideas.
Closure
Final drafts of the essay will be due next class: Tuesday March 5
Day 48
February 27
Poem A Day
Today's poem a day explores similar themes as Persepolis- and I like that the theme is developed in the lyrics as well as the video- it's similar to our novel that way, in that it mixes images and words to create an impact on the audience.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to incorporate relevant examples, quotes, panels and details from Persepolis into their essays to develop and explain their ideas thoroughly.
At this point in our work, students have identified the theme of the novel and a few author's craft moves Satrapi used to develop the theme. Last class, we looked at mentor texts to see how the writers structured and organized their ideas. For today's lesson, I will model how to develop your ideas and use evidence from the text to support them.
I really do not want to use Persepolis for my model- so I am going to use our poem a day.
Students chose an idea from the song for me to write about. Then, we searched for text and video evidence to support that idea. I wrote a paragraph in Google docs about it and then embedded screenshots of the scenes I was discussing.
Active Engagement
Students worked on incorporating text evidence into their essays in order to further develop and explain their ideas.
I conferred with students as needed.
Closure
At the end of class, I handed out this writing checklist to students. Complete drafts of the essay are due next class. There, we will use the checklist to guide our revision and peer-editing process. Final drafts of the essay will be due Tuesday March 5.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to incorporate relevant examples, quotes, panels and details from Persepolis into their essays to develop and explain their ideas thoroughly.
At this point in our work, students have identified the theme of the novel and a few author's craft moves Satrapi used to develop the theme. Last class, we looked at mentor texts to see how the writers structured and organized their ideas. For today's lesson, I will model how to develop your ideas and use evidence from the text to support them.
I really do not want to use Persepolis for my model- so I am going to use our poem a day.
Students chose an idea from the song for me to write about. Then, we searched for text and video evidence to support that idea. I wrote a paragraph in Google docs about it and then embedded screenshots of the scenes I was discussing.
Active Engagement
Students worked on incorporating text evidence into their essays in order to further develop and explain their ideas.
I conferred with students as needed.
Closure
At the end of class, I handed out this writing checklist to students. Complete drafts of the essay are due next class. There, we will use the checklist to guide our revision and peer-editing process. Final drafts of the essay will be due Tuesday March 5.
Day 47
February 25
Warm Up
Today, we warm up with a quick SAT check in- this time for a Nonfiction passage.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to create a flow chart of the structure for each of our mentor texts in order to gain insight into how they can structure their essays about Persepolis.
Students have read Persepolis, have identified the themes developed by the author, and have jotted down some notes about author's craft moves they noticed in the novel. Today, we begin to tie all of that learning together.
Before we start writing our own essays about Persepolis, we will revisit our mentor texts.
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
Together, we will read the first text, and create a flow chart:
Active Engagement
Students will get into pairs to create one additional flow chart for a remaining mentor text of their choice.
Once students finish this, they can begin to outline and draft their own writing. How will you organize your essay about Persepolis?
Criteria for success today:
2 Completed flowcharts
Closure
For homework, please make sure you completed the padlet assignment and your silent panel work. Turn in ASAP.
Next class, we will focus on how to develop your ideas and beef up your explanations of your ideas :)
Today, we warm up with a quick SAT check in- this time for a Nonfiction passage.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to create a flow chart of the structure for each of our mentor texts in order to gain insight into how they can structure their essays about Persepolis.
Students have read Persepolis, have identified the themes developed by the author, and have jotted down some notes about author's craft moves they noticed in the novel. Today, we begin to tie all of that learning together.
Before we start writing our own essays about Persepolis, we will revisit our mentor texts.
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
Together, we will read the first text, and create a flow chart:
- First, we will identify the topic sentence of each paragraph
- Next we will create a label for each paragraph with a brief description of the main ideas we identified
- Finally, we will create a visual map of the text in order to analyze the structure the author used to deliver his message about Maus.
Active Engagement
Students will get into pairs to create one additional flow chart for a remaining mentor text of their choice.
Once students finish this, they can begin to outline and draft their own writing. How will you organize your essay about Persepolis?
Criteria for success today:
2 Completed flowcharts
Closure
For homework, please make sure you completed the padlet assignment and your silent panel work. Turn in ASAP.
Next class, we will focus on how to develop your ideas and beef up your explanations of your ideas :)
Day 46
February 21 (2 hour delay)
Warm Up
It was my first day back in FOREVER, so mostly we just swooned over each other and hugged and reunited. Really though...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to discuss the major themes of Persepolis and analyze their development over the course of the text in a whole-class discussion
Today, we put the desks in a big ol' circle, and talked about our book! I have not been able to hear what the students thought of Persepolis, so I wanted to give them an opportunity to chat it out.
The conversation was very insightful and surprising. I am impressed.
Active Engagement
After our 20 minute talk, students had the opportunity to revisit their essays. I clarified the prompt and fielded questions. I think the talk helped students to flesh out their ideas and get some of them on the page.
Closure
Bring your notes and ideas to our next class where we will talk about structuring the essay and supporting our ideas with text evidence. It should be a party!
Also-important note: PLEASE TURN IN YOUR SILENT PANELS WORK next class. If you did not do it- revisit the blog post for that day and make it happen! It is going in the grade book. Thanks!
It was my first day back in FOREVER, so mostly we just swooned over each other and hugged and reunited. Really though...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to discuss the major themes of Persepolis and analyze their development over the course of the text in a whole-class discussion
Today, we put the desks in a big ol' circle, and talked about our book! I have not been able to hear what the students thought of Persepolis, so I wanted to give them an opportunity to chat it out.
The conversation was very insightful and surprising. I am impressed.
Active Engagement
After our 20 minute talk, students had the opportunity to revisit their essays. I clarified the prompt and fielded questions. I think the talk helped students to flesh out their ideas and get some of them on the page.
Closure
Bring your notes and ideas to our next class where we will talk about structuring the essay and supporting our ideas with text evidence. It should be a party!
Also-important note: PLEASE TURN IN YOUR SILENT PANELS WORK next class. If you did not do it- revisit the blog post for that day and make it happen! It is going in the grade book. Thanks!
Day 45
February 15
Warm Up
Due to writing curriculum for the district, and a family emergency (timing is not my friend so far this year...) I have been out for a week.
Please review the last several blogs of this unit to refresh your memory and warm up for today's work.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to analyze various aspects of graphic novels by discussing the literary and artistic moves used by Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis.
Today, your goal is to continue the great work you have been doing in my absence (I understand most of you need more time). Use today to get caught up!
Active Engagement
So, if you have not yet done the following things, make sure you do them today!
Remember, you should be discussing author's craft moves that Satrapi used in Persepolis to develop themes. These can include symbolism, character development, irony, art, silent panels, etc Discuss what you think she did that was most effective in developing the theme you identify and explain why! Think on that page- tell me what you think. I am not a mind-reader :)
Due to writing curriculum for the district, and a family emergency (timing is not my friend so far this year...) I have been out for a week.
Please review the last several blogs of this unit to refresh your memory and warm up for today's work.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to analyze various aspects of graphic novels by discussing the literary and artistic moves used by Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis.
Today, your goal is to continue the great work you have been doing in my absence (I understand most of you need more time). Use today to get caught up!
Active Engagement
So, if you have not yet done the following things, make sure you do them today!
- Read the three mentor texts in your text set.
- Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
- Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
- Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
- Pay attention to HOW each writer discusses the book they are analyzing. I am expecting your analysis of Persepolis to really DIG into the book the same way these do.
- Post onto our new Padlet if you have not yet already.
- Continue to work on your essay. Remember the prompt is on Google Classroom on the doc where you should be writing your rough draft. It is also here:
Remember, you should be discussing author's craft moves that Satrapi used in Persepolis to develop themes. These can include symbolism, character development, irony, art, silent panels, etc Discuss what you think she did that was most effective in developing the theme you identify and explain why! Think on that page- tell me what you think. I am not a mind-reader :)
Day 44
February 13
Warm Up
Last class, you identified a theme of Persepolis and ways Satrapi developed those themes. Today, we begin by sharing those out. I am not there- so you will need to share them where I can see them! Let's see what everyone is thinking.
Get a chromebook and get onto our new Padlet.
You will either describe a major theme of the novel (a fully developed idea- several sentences long) OR post a craft move Satrapi used to develop a theme with cited evidence (include page number and panel description). You can even find pictures and videos online to accompany your post and spruce up our wall.
Check out the posts and feel free to respond respectfully. No anonymous posts- announce yourselves please.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to analyze various aspects of graphic novels by discussing the literary and artistic moves used by Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis.
After you have read through the thoughts of your partners- think about your own. Re-read our objective for today. What do you want to say about Persepolis? What artistic and literary moves do you appreciate in the novel and want to discuss further and deeper? Jot down your ideas.
Next, take a look at our mentor texts:
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
In each example, you will see how writers decide to write about graphic novels. There are a lot of different angles to take.
Active Engagement
Return to Persepolis and your notes.
What angle do you want to take about Persepolis? What are your thoughts? What stuck out most to you? What thoughts do you find most interesting? What do you want to say about this novel, the themes, and the craft moves?
Develop your ideas. Talk to someone in the class about your thoughts and think through different questions.
Then, get to writing. Visit Google Classroom and type your draft into the link posted there.
Closure
We will continue to work on these essays next class. Email Ms. Minto with questions! Post your works-in-progress to the link on Google Classroom so I can check out your work.
Last class, you identified a theme of Persepolis and ways Satrapi developed those themes. Today, we begin by sharing those out. I am not there- so you will need to share them where I can see them! Let's see what everyone is thinking.
Get a chromebook and get onto our new Padlet.
You will either describe a major theme of the novel (a fully developed idea- several sentences long) OR post a craft move Satrapi used to develop a theme with cited evidence (include page number and panel description). You can even find pictures and videos online to accompany your post and spruce up our wall.
Check out the posts and feel free to respond respectfully. No anonymous posts- announce yourselves please.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to analyze various aspects of graphic novels by discussing the literary and artistic moves used by Marjane Satrapi in Persepolis.
After you have read through the thoughts of your partners- think about your own. Re-read our objective for today. What do you want to say about Persepolis? What artistic and literary moves do you appreciate in the novel and want to discuss further and deeper? Jot down your ideas.
Next, take a look at our mentor texts:
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
In each example, you will see how writers decide to write about graphic novels. There are a lot of different angles to take.
- The Penn State article, for example, talks about how Maus transformed the comic book genre, and that the medium of a graphic novel allows the author of Maus to convey horrific events of the holocaust without freaking readers out too much.
- In the second article, Pullman tries to define what Maus is- a biography? a graphic novel? a comic? a social commentary? etc.
- In the final article, the writer discusses the meaningful impact of the art style and the symbolic implications of depicting the Jewish characters as mice and the German characters as cats.
Active Engagement
Return to Persepolis and your notes.
What angle do you want to take about Persepolis? What are your thoughts? What stuck out most to you? What thoughts do you find most interesting? What do you want to say about this novel, the themes, and the craft moves?
Develop your ideas. Talk to someone in the class about your thoughts and think through different questions.
Then, get to writing. Visit Google Classroom and type your draft into the link posted there.
Closure
We will continue to work on these essays next class. Email Ms. Minto with questions! Post your works-in-progress to the link on Google Classroom so I can check out your work.
Day 43
February 8
Warm Up
Today we are skipping the warm up- I am not in school today and there is plenty to do!
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to finish Persepolis, identify a central theme of the novel, and document at least four ways Marjane Satrapi developed that theme throughout the novel.
It is my understanding that a few students finished reading Persepolis last class. Today, students should try to get through the rest of the book. As they read, students should remember that everything they see on the page contributes to the overall effect of the novel.
Once students finish reading, they should write the following in their notebooks:
Active Engagement
The goal today is to create an outline, or at least a small list of your ideas about this text. Next week, we will work on really developing those ideas and expressing them in an essay.
Today, have the ideas and get them down on paper in your notebooks! Find evidence and write those page numbers down today too!
Make sure you go back through the text- there are certainly details in there that you have forgotten by now!
Closure
If you have not finished the book, you will need to focus on that next class. We will move on to reading the remainder of our mentor texts and writing our own next week! Bring your text set to next class.
Today we are skipping the warm up- I am not in school today and there is plenty to do!
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to finish Persepolis, identify a central theme of the novel, and document at least four ways Marjane Satrapi developed that theme throughout the novel.
It is my understanding that a few students finished reading Persepolis last class. Today, students should try to get through the rest of the book. As they read, students should remember that everything they see on the page contributes to the overall effect of the novel.
Once students finish reading, they should write the following in their notebooks:
- The theme of the novel (what do you think Satrapi wants us to understand from reading this novel? what is her point in writing it? what is her message? etc.)
- How did she use narrative techniques to develop that theme? Did she use character development? symbolism? personification? literary allusions? how does the art work with the words? did she create a certain tone? You see- each of these are author's craft moves that writers use to develop themes. Which theme do you think this author developed best? What tools or moves did she use to best develop the themes?
- How would this story have been different if it were not a graphic novel? How did the format and form (art) help her develop the theme you chose?
- Re-read the novel- look back through each of the chapters and find evidence to support your ideas. write down page numbers!
Active Engagement
The goal today is to create an outline, or at least a small list of your ideas about this text. Next week, we will work on really developing those ideas and expressing them in an essay.
Today, have the ideas and get them down on paper in your notebooks! Find evidence and write those page numbers down today too!
Make sure you go back through the text- there are certainly details in there that you have forgotten by now!
Closure
If you have not finished the book, you will need to focus on that next class. We will move on to reading the remainder of our mentor texts and writing our own next week! Bring your text set to next class.
Day 42
February 6
Warm Up
Students begin today by thinking about the factors in their own lives that influence their identity. Today, students will respond to the following question in their notebooks:
Name one thing your parents have taught you, that you do not believe is true. Why don't you believe it? Do your parents? Why might they be wrong?
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to find at least five examples in Persepolis where the author created meaning in "silent panels" and describe or explain the meaning created by these panels.
To begin today's work, you will read together the third article in your Text Set for this unit: The NY Times "How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story".
In this article, the author discusses how:
Active Engagement
After reading the article, continue reading Persepolis looking for "Silent Panels". Find five and in your notebook, describe each panel and what you think each means. How does the picture communicate that idea for each panel you choose?
I will be checking for this response in your notebook when I return.
Students can read the book through to the end if there is time. If they do not finish, there will be time in the next class.
Closure
Reminder: Gentle reminder to students to LEAVE your books in the basket under your desk. Students need to bring their text set to our next class AND their notebooks. Keep all of your notebook responses together as you will turn them all in at once.
Students begin today by thinking about the factors in their own lives that influence their identity. Today, students will respond to the following question in their notebooks:
Name one thing your parents have taught you, that you do not believe is true. Why don't you believe it? Do your parents? Why might they be wrong?
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to find at least five examples in Persepolis where the author created meaning in "silent panels" and describe or explain the meaning created by these panels.
To begin today's work, you will read together the third article in your Text Set for this unit: The NY Times "How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story".
In this article, the author discusses how:
- Graphic novels can cover issues that are tough to read about and bring those to light for the masses.
- Magically combine images and words to create meaning or effect
- "Evoke meaning from small moments like pauses in conversation, nuances of facial expression and internal turmoil"
- Appeal to wide audiences, from young to old.
Active Engagement
After reading the article, continue reading Persepolis looking for "Silent Panels". Find five and in your notebook, describe each panel and what you think each means. How does the picture communicate that idea for each panel you choose?
I will be checking for this response in your notebook when I return.
Students can read the book through to the end if there is time. If they do not finish, there will be time in the next class.
Closure
Reminder: Gentle reminder to students to LEAVE your books in the basket under your desk. Students need to bring their text set to our next class AND their notebooks. Keep all of your notebook responses together as you will turn them all in at once.
Day 41
February 4
Warm Up
For today's warm up, I asked students to consider this: What is your identity? How do you know?
Students had time to respond in their notebooks, and then we shared out our answers an attempted to figure out what exactly shapes our identities...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to define "Graphic Novel" by naming various aspects that appear in the genre.
We began by hearing from an expert: Scott McCloud who makes comics and writes A LOT of canonical criticism of the genre and artform.
I asked students to attempt to answer the question: What is a graphic novel?
For today's warm up, I asked students to consider this: What is your identity? How do you know?
Students had time to respond in their notebooks, and then we shared out our answers an attempted to figure out what exactly shapes our identities...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to define "Graphic Novel" by naming various aspects that appear in the genre.
We began by hearing from an expert: Scott McCloud who makes comics and writes A LOT of canonical criticism of the genre and artform.
I asked students to attempt to answer the question: What is a graphic novel?
After watching the video, we came together as a group to define the genre of graphic novels.
Next, students tried to define their own identity. Who are they?
I also gave students a packet of this unit's text set. The following articles are in said packet:
Page 1: Comic Book Primer
Pages 2-4: Duke University's "Writing About Comics and Graphic Novels"
Pages 5-6: The NY Times "How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story"
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
I emphasized that over the course of the next week, we will be reading each of these articles. Students need to hold on to them and try not to lose them!
Active Engagement
Next, we read the introduction and first three chapters of our next book: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. As we read, we searched for facets of Marji's Identity.
Closure
I asked students to write down the different factors leading to Marji's confusion about her own identity so far in the book.
Next, students tried to define their own identity. Who are they?
I also gave students a packet of this unit's text set. The following articles are in said packet:
Page 1: Comic Book Primer
Pages 2-4: Duke University's "Writing About Comics and Graphic Novels"
Pages 5-6: The NY Times "How Graphic Novels and Comics Can Move a Story"
Pages 7-8: "An Analysis of the Book Maus" Penn State
Pages 9-12: "Behind the Masks" by Philip Pullman
Pages 13-18: "A Visual Analysis of Maus: The Impact of the 'Real' Vladeck Spiegelman
I emphasized that over the course of the next week, we will be reading each of these articles. Students need to hold on to them and try not to lose them!
Active Engagement
Next, we read the introduction and first three chapters of our next book: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. As we read, we searched for facets of Marji's Identity.
Closure
I asked students to write down the different factors leading to Marji's confusion about her own identity so far in the book.
UNIT FOUR: The Infographic
Day 41
January 31
Warm Up
Today, we celebrate our great work, by exploring and engaging with our new infographic! I showed students how to find it, and how it works.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to engage in respectful online conversation about their infographic entries.
Today, students are to skim through our infographic and choose three entries to read and respond to. Students will need to post a comment that either asks a question or makes a connection on each post they read. All students must respond to the posts on their own entries.
I modelled appropriate responses to posts to give students an idea of the conversations I would like them to engage in.
Active Engagement
Students responded to each other's posts on our infographic. Check it out!
Closure
We had a delay today so there was not a ton of time, but I gave students a heads up on our next unit: The Graphic Novel: Persepolis.
Today, we celebrate our great work, by exploring and engaging with our new infographic! I showed students how to find it, and how it works.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to engage in respectful online conversation about their infographic entries.
Today, students are to skim through our infographic and choose three entries to read and respond to. Students will need to post a comment that either asks a question or makes a connection on each post they read. All students must respond to the posts on their own entries.
I modelled appropriate responses to posts to give students an idea of the conversations I would like them to engage in.
Active Engagement
Students responded to each other's posts on our infographic. Check it out!
Closure
We had a delay today so there was not a ton of time, but I gave students a heads up on our next unit: The Graphic Novel: Persepolis.
Day 40
January 24
Midterms. Final Templates are due.
Day 39
January 22
Today was such a treat for me! Unfortunately, we had a delayed opening due to weather and sub zero temps. Still, these students used all 50 minutes we had to talk about their books. They were all prepared to discuss the themes they found in their books, and found clever ways to insert themselves into the conversation. I have to say it was one of my favorite class periods ever.
Now, the work begins compiling their content into our World Lit Infographic. Stay tuned, beautiful people.
Now, the work begins compiling their content into our World Lit Infographic. Stay tuned, beautiful people.
Day 38
January 17
Warm Up
Today's warm up involved a lot of me trying to figure out what happened in my absence the last several days...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the most powerful theme in their novel and select an icon to represent that theme for our World Lit infographic.
Today, we talked about our upcoming Socratic Seminar, and we discussed how to choose a visual image to represent a big idea. Some, symbolism, if you will. I showed students the layout of the infographic that is coming along, and told students they would need to create or find an icon (small image) to place on our world map that will link to the information they are creating now. I shared with students this model that I made about my own text for this unit: Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered. Then, students added their own work to the doc. Check it out- it's pretty cool.
Active Engagement
Students worked on creating their icons and also preparing for our seminar.
Closure
I reminded students of the upcoming due dates for the remainder of the semester (barring snow days):
I also shared with students a ROUGH draft of my own example for the Template so that students know the criteria for success on the project.
Our final Socratic Seminar will be 1/22
World Lit Infographic Content Template will be due 1/24
Midterm: 1/24
Today's warm up involved a lot of me trying to figure out what happened in my absence the last several days...
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to identify the most powerful theme in their novel and select an icon to represent that theme for our World Lit infographic.
Today, we talked about our upcoming Socratic Seminar, and we discussed how to choose a visual image to represent a big idea. Some, symbolism, if you will. I showed students the layout of the infographic that is coming along, and told students they would need to create or find an icon (small image) to place on our world map that will link to the information they are creating now. I shared with students this model that I made about my own text for this unit: Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered. Then, students added their own work to the doc. Check it out- it's pretty cool.
Active Engagement
Students worked on creating their icons and also preparing for our seminar.
Closure
I reminded students of the upcoming due dates for the remainder of the semester (barring snow days):
I also shared with students a ROUGH draft of my own example for the Template so that students know the criteria for success on the project.
Our final Socratic Seminar will be 1/22
World Lit Infographic Content Template will be due 1/24
Midterm: 1/24
Days 35 & 36 & 37
January 9, 11, 15
Unfortunately, a death in the family unexpectedly took me out of class for a few days. During this time, students have continued work on their World Lit Infographic projects.
Day 34
January 7
Conversation makes it real
Warm Up
Today, our warm up was brief. I gave students a colored marker which denoted a group. I split the class into seven groups of four and asked them to arrange the desks in the room so they could get into their groups.
Mini Lesson
Today’s Objective is: Students will be able to discuss emerging themes in their novel and what they learned about their novelist in order to prepare for the upcoming socratic seminar.
I reminded students that they are knee-deep in a project of epic proportions. They are learning about a complex human being. A new time and place. AND they are attempting to read a novel and find that person, time and place in the novel. It can be a lot to think about (if they are doing it right).
I told students, today you will sit in a group of your peers and talk it out. The brain is an organ made of networks. Networks of nerves send and process information. Not only are our brains networks, they connect to other brains to form new networks! We are a social creatures and we learn from each other. Sometimes, the most helpful thing you can do to process and flesh out your own thoughts, is to say them out loud to someone else. Often, they respond in a way that pushes your thinking further.
Active Engagement
In your groups today, each student should please discuss the following:
When you finish your conversations- go ahead and read your novels. Novels need to be finished by 1/18. If you want more time to work on your template- finish your book earlier...
Closure
With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, I reminded students of the following due dates:
Our final Socratic Seminar will be 1/22
World Lit Infographic Content Template will be due 1/24
Midterm: 1/24
Today, our warm up was brief. I gave students a colored marker which denoted a group. I split the class into seven groups of four and asked them to arrange the desks in the room so they could get into their groups.
Mini Lesson
Today’s Objective is: Students will be able to discuss emerging themes in their novel and what they learned about their novelist in order to prepare for the upcoming socratic seminar.
I reminded students that they are knee-deep in a project of epic proportions. They are learning about a complex human being. A new time and place. AND they are attempting to read a novel and find that person, time and place in the novel. It can be a lot to think about (if they are doing it right).
I told students, today you will sit in a group of your peers and talk it out. The brain is an organ made of networks. Networks of nerves send and process information. Not only are our brains networks, they connect to other brains to form new networks! We are a social creatures and we learn from each other. Sometimes, the most helpful thing you can do to process and flesh out your own thoughts, is to say them out loud to someone else. Often, they respond in a way that pushes your thinking further.
Active Engagement
In your groups today, each student should please discuss the following:
- What did you learn from your author study? (use your notes to guide you)
- What is your novel about so far? Who are the main characters? What are the central conflicts? How do you see your author’s life in the work so far? Do you see the theme emerging yet? What is it? How do you know?
- Finally, all members of the group must respond with at least one question to each member of the group.
When you finish your conversations- go ahead and read your novels. Novels need to be finished by 1/18. If you want more time to work on your template- finish your book earlier...
Closure
With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, I reminded students of the following due dates:
Our final Socratic Seminar will be 1/22
World Lit Infographic Content Template will be due 1/24
Midterm: 1/24
Day 33
January 3
Warm Up
Today students begin by responding to the following quote in their notebooks:
“We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” - The Talmud
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to explain how an author's life influences their writing.
Today, we are going to tie together some very BIG concepts we have been working with. So far, students have explored an author infographic and chosen one to research. Students read biographical material in order to answer a number of questions about their author and get a clear picture of who their author was and what they believed in. We have learned about the major Eastern literary movements of the past several centuries.
Now, students are reading novels written by the authors they have chosen. As students read, they will need to search for evidence of the author's life and personal beliefs in the plot, characters, and themes developed in the novel.
Our goals moving forward are these:
-Finish reading your novel by Friday January 18th.
-Create content for our infographic which explores how an author's life impacts his work.
-Be prepared to discuss your findings in a Socratic Seminar of epic proportions.
Active Engagement
Once students understand our goals for the end of the unit, we will practice reading for the main idea. We will review the last SAT check in we did about O Henry's "Hearts and Hands". Next, we talked about strategies for taking these sorts of assessments.
Strategy 1: Read the questions first. Then read the passage- this way you know what you are looking for
Strategy 2: Read the stuff people usually skip (like small introductions, or definitions).
Strategy 3: Re-read the passage after you have answered the questions.
Next, students will take another SAT assessment. This time though, students will use the strategies.
Closure
Students were able to submit their answers to the SAT assessment online. This means we were able to see the results right away. We looked at the data together and discussed why students performed the way they did.
Today students begin by responding to the following quote in their notebooks:
“We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.” - The Talmud
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to explain how an author's life influences their writing.
Today, we are going to tie together some very BIG concepts we have been working with. So far, students have explored an author infographic and chosen one to research. Students read biographical material in order to answer a number of questions about their author and get a clear picture of who their author was and what they believed in. We have learned about the major Eastern literary movements of the past several centuries.
Now, students are reading novels written by the authors they have chosen. As students read, they will need to search for evidence of the author's life and personal beliefs in the plot, characters, and themes developed in the novel.
Our goals moving forward are these:
-Finish reading your novel by Friday January 18th.
-Create content for our infographic which explores how an author's life impacts his work.
-Be prepared to discuss your findings in a Socratic Seminar of epic proportions.
Active Engagement
Once students understand our goals for the end of the unit, we will practice reading for the main idea. We will review the last SAT check in we did about O Henry's "Hearts and Hands". Next, we talked about strategies for taking these sorts of assessments.
Strategy 1: Read the questions first. Then read the passage- this way you know what you are looking for
Strategy 2: Read the stuff people usually skip (like small introductions, or definitions).
Strategy 3: Re-read the passage after you have answered the questions.
Next, students will take another SAT assessment. This time though, students will use the strategies.
Closure
Students were able to submit their answers to the SAT assessment online. This means we were able to see the results right away. We looked at the data together and discussed why students performed the way they did.
Day 32
December 19
Warm Up
Today, I asked students to sit in groups and share what they are learning about their author.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make connections between an author's life and the themes they explore in their writing.
Today, I reviewed the questions that I gave students to answer about their authors. I talked about how I want them to really dig deep and learn about the life and times of their author, as well as about their attitude toward life. (Writer's always have SOME kind of attitude toward things, and typically, they are pretty vocal about it... writers.)
Active Engagement
Students worked on gathering research and answering the questions about their authors. This question sheet is due upon returning from break.
Closure
Honestly, we planned our Holiday party for next class. I also discussed the Infographic project and advised students to start reading their novels over break.
Today, I asked students to sit in groups and share what they are learning about their author.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make connections between an author's life and the themes they explore in their writing.
Today, I reviewed the questions that I gave students to answer about their authors. I talked about how I want them to really dig deep and learn about the life and times of their author, as well as about their attitude toward life. (Writer's always have SOME kind of attitude toward things, and typically, they are pretty vocal about it... writers.)
Active Engagement
Students worked on gathering research and answering the questions about their authors. This question sheet is due upon returning from break.
Closure
Honestly, we planned our Holiday party for next class. I also discussed the Infographic project and advised students to start reading their novels over break.
Day 31
December 17
Warm Up
Today, we warm up with a writing exercise. Students will define the word "theme" and then write a list of themes they would explore and develop of they were authors in real life.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make connections between an author's life and the themes they explore in their writing.
After sharing out ideas from the warm up, I will explain today's objective.
Active Engagement
Students will present their findings from our last project to the class. Students will take notes on each presentation about the various themes explored in each literary movement we studied.
Closure
We will talk about how an author's writing is heavily influenced by the society in which they live. I will ask students to jot down some ideas in their notebooks about how their author's life may have impacted the themes they explore in their writing. I will ask students to continue their author exploration. These questions are due Friday before Winter Break.
Today, we warm up with a writing exercise. Students will define the word "theme" and then write a list of themes they would explore and develop of they were authors in real life.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to make connections between an author's life and the themes they explore in their writing.
After sharing out ideas from the warm up, I will explain today's objective.
Active Engagement
Students will present their findings from our last project to the class. Students will take notes on each presentation about the various themes explored in each literary movement we studied.
Closure
We will talk about how an author's writing is heavily influenced by the society in which they live. I will ask students to jot down some ideas in their notebooks about how their author's life may have impacted the themes they explore in their writing. I will ask students to continue their author exploration. These questions are due Friday before Winter Break.
Days 29 & 30
December 11, 13
Warm Up
Today, students will spend the first five minutes of class having a conversation with their peers about their selected author. I want students to share at least 2 fun facts they have learned about their writer or the book they wrote, so far.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to understand the hallmarks of a particular literary movement, and consider which movement their author belongs to.
Today, we will discover just how tricky it is to group authors and their writing into tidy categories. Despite the inherent complications, we do it nonetheless. When looking at the evolution of thought, writing, and what is considered literature or art, certain “movements” emerge. Literary scholars have grouped writers and their work into a variety of literary movements. This was much easier in the past, as writing was not nearly as prolific as it is currently, and many of the works of literature to emerge in the same time periods tended to incorporate similar themes, issues, or writing styles. These lists are often simplified, and neglect much of the world outside of Europe and America. Still, students of literature (you) should know a bit about these widely-accepted “literary movements” in Western Literature. So here goes.
Active Engagement:
Students will work in groups to identify elements of one literary period that they have been assigned. They will need to:
Next, students will create a Google slideshow as a group that shares their findings about their particular literary movement.
Closure
Students will likely need two class periods to complete this task. We will share presentations next class. After presentations, students will think about where the author they are studying in this unit might fit. I will ask them to consider: What movement does your writer belong to? How do you know? Do they share similar thoughts? Or style? Or were they writing at the right time? etc.
We will present next class!
Today, students will spend the first five minutes of class having a conversation with their peers about their selected author. I want students to share at least 2 fun facts they have learned about their writer or the book they wrote, so far.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to understand the hallmarks of a particular literary movement, and consider which movement their author belongs to.
Today, we will discover just how tricky it is to group authors and their writing into tidy categories. Despite the inherent complications, we do it nonetheless. When looking at the evolution of thought, writing, and what is considered literature or art, certain “movements” emerge. Literary scholars have grouped writers and their work into a variety of literary movements. This was much easier in the past, as writing was not nearly as prolific as it is currently, and many of the works of literature to emerge in the same time periods tended to incorporate similar themes, issues, or writing styles. These lists are often simplified, and neglect much of the world outside of Europe and America. Still, students of literature (you) should know a bit about these widely-accepted “literary movements” in Western Literature. So here goes.
Active Engagement:
Students will work in groups to identify elements of one literary period that they have been assigned. They will need to:
- Create a definition for your period that includes specific characteristics of the period and the duration of the movement.
- List famous authors and key works from that period. Explain why these works and authors are representative of this period.
- Identify significant historical events from that period and speculate as to how those events influenced the period and its authors.
- Identify major themes revealed in your literary period
Next, students will create a Google slideshow as a group that shares their findings about their particular literary movement.
Closure
Students will likely need two class periods to complete this task. We will share presentations next class. After presentations, students will think about where the author they are studying in this unit might fit. I will ask them to consider: What movement does your writer belong to? How do you know? Do they share similar thoughts? Or style? Or were they writing at the right time? etc.
We will present next class!
Day 28
December 7
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (who, turns out, are just people)
Warm Up
Today, we continue our world author study. BUT, before we do, a quick lesson on reading for main idea (just to make sure we are all ready for the mad independent reading we are about to do).
First, we will discuss strategies for determining the main idea of a story including:
Finally, students will finish the reading independently and answer five questions about the main idea.
Mini Lesson
After our warm up, I will introduce students to the goals for the first part of our World Lit Infographic unit: The Author Study.
Active Engagement
Students will share what author they chose and begin collecting information about their chosen author either in a book they have already checked out, or online.
Closure
I will take any questions and make sure the goals of the unit are clear.
Today, we continue our world author study. BUT, before we do, a quick lesson on reading for main idea (just to make sure we are all ready for the mad independent reading we are about to do).
First, we will discuss strategies for determining the main idea of a story including:
- Clues in the title
- Topic Sentences of paragraphs
- Words/Ideas that are repeated/emphasized
- Concluding sentences/paragraph
- Identify the central conflict of the character(s) and how that conflict is developed/resolved
Finally, students will finish the reading independently and answer five questions about the main idea.
Mini Lesson
After our warm up, I will introduce students to the goals for the first part of our World Lit Infographic unit: The Author Study.
Active Engagement
Students will share what author they chose and begin collecting information about their chosen author either in a book they have already checked out, or online.
Closure
I will take any questions and make sure the goals of the unit are clear.
Day 27
December 5
Warm Up
Today we begin with a bit of irony and two of my favorite songs from a great Arcade Fire album which acts as a pretty legit social commentary on the current times called Everything Now.
Today we begin with a bit of irony and two of my favorite songs from a great Arcade Fire album which acts as a pretty legit social commentary on the current times called Everything Now.
The two songs we are listening to, are really just the same song but one is super hyped and the other is super chill. Here are the lyrics:
Infinite content.
All your money is already spent on
Infinite content.
Well, today, we contribute to the infinite content! lol
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to choose an appropriate author to study in order to produce content for our World Lit Infographic.
We begin by exploring the gigantic world map on the back wall of my classroom and this NMHS book list. I want to remind students that the world is really big and that a lot of people around the world have written amazing literature. I also want students to think back. Like really far back. How old is written literature? The goal here is for students to understand that they do not have to limit their interests to only contemporary literature written by Americans.
America is rather young. Literature is old. Also, this is a World Lit infographic. Not an American Lit one... They will take a whole course next year called American Lit...
Active Engagement
I have scheduled some time today for the whole class to visit our library. Here they can look for novels and/or biographical information about the authors they are interested in.
Closure
Students will need to choose an author and commit by next class. I will field any more questions that may arise.
Infinite content.
All your money is already spent on
Infinite content.
Well, today, we contribute to the infinite content! lol
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to choose an appropriate author to study in order to produce content for our World Lit Infographic.
We begin by exploring the gigantic world map on the back wall of my classroom and this NMHS book list. I want to remind students that the world is really big and that a lot of people around the world have written amazing literature. I also want students to think back. Like really far back. How old is written literature? The goal here is for students to understand that they do not have to limit their interests to only contemporary literature written by Americans.
America is rather young. Literature is old. Also, this is a World Lit infographic. Not an American Lit one... They will take a whole course next year called American Lit...
Active Engagement
I have scheduled some time today for the whole class to visit our library. Here they can look for novels and/or biographical information about the authors they are interested in.
Closure
Students will need to choose an author and commit by next class. I will field any more questions that may arise.
Day 26
December 3
Warm Up
Today's warm up was a treat! We had the finalists (I could not choose a winner after last class's POL performance because so many were so good) perform their poems for us one last time. I am so happy to announce that Elena Stephens is our class winner!
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to choose an author they are interested in studying in order to create content for our World Lit Infographic.
I kicked off class by explaining that today we begin our great experiment! Do not worry. It will be a learning experience, and we are all in it together! (learning at school?!?? wat?)
I reminded them: our goal is to create a world literature infographic. One that shows all of the great literature of the world throughout time, like on a map or something with some interactive timelines.
by exploring this really neat infographic that our Librarian Robin Styles posted to her website. You enter the name of your favorite author, and it creates a web of other authors that are similar. You can continue clicking, and linking authors. You can also read reviews of each author's work! It is really neat. I showed students how to use it.
Active Engagement
Then, I asked students to use the same infographic to find an author they are interested in.
I wanted them to find an author that:
I also noted:
Some more information they may need before choosing an author:
Yes.
You will read two books in this unit. We have time. Lots of time. We are going to immerse ourselves in this learning experience. So get your big boy and girl pants on.
Here goes.
Cheers!
Closure
I told students that they did not have to commit to an author today. We have a day in the LLC and choices will need to be made by Friday.
Today's warm up was a treat! We had the finalists (I could not choose a winner after last class's POL performance because so many were so good) perform their poems for us one last time. I am so happy to announce that Elena Stephens is our class winner!
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to choose an author they are interested in studying in order to create content for our World Lit Infographic.
I kicked off class by explaining that today we begin our great experiment! Do not worry. It will be a learning experience, and we are all in it together! (learning at school?!?? wat?)
I reminded them: our goal is to create a world literature infographic. One that shows all of the great literature of the world throughout time, like on a map or something with some interactive timelines.
by exploring this really neat infographic that our Librarian Robin Styles posted to her website. You enter the name of your favorite author, and it creates a web of other authors that are similar. You can continue clicking, and linking authors. You can also read reviews of each author's work! It is really neat. I showed students how to use it.
Active Engagement
Then, I asked students to use the same infographic to find an author they are interested in.
I wanted them to find an author that:
- You have never read before
- You think sounds super interesting to you (if its not interesting to you, you are going to hate this unit)
- Is from somewhere other than America
I also noted:
Some more information they may need before choosing an author:
- We will begin this unit by learning about the author. You will need to read a biography, or autobiography about the author.
- Next, you will read something written by the author.
Yes.
You will read two books in this unit. We have time. Lots of time. We are going to immerse ourselves in this learning experience. So get your big boy and girl pants on.
Here goes.
Cheers!
Closure
I told students that they did not have to commit to an author today. We have a day in the LLC and choices will need to be made by Friday.
UNIT THREE Poetry out loud
Day 25
November 29
Day 24
November 27
Today is the day!
Before we started with our presentations, I gave the kiddos a little speech. First, I spoke to them as students who were all about to speak. I told them how I am assessing the performance (very lax) I told them how they it is totally normal and reasonable to be very nervous and worried. I listed some things that they might be worried about.
Next, I spoke to them as audience members. This is where I invoked some EMPATHY (secretly, seamlessly, and quite brilliantly leading into our next unit....) by mentioning that if they could behave like respectful listeners and refrain from laughing, or giggling, or making fun of anyone, or making any snide remarks, or avoiding all-around rude behavior for a half hour, then well, my speakers really have nothing to be worried about!
We all got on the same page. This went very well.
Then, the kids all blew my mind and performed. It was a very wonderful time. There were so many amazing performances, that we decided it was necessary to have another battle on Monday. So we will be hearing again from our top 6 performers in search of a winner! #bestpolbattleever
Next, I spoke to them as audience members. This is where I invoked some EMPATHY (secretly, seamlessly, and quite brilliantly leading into our next unit....) by mentioning that if they could behave like respectful listeners and refrain from laughing, or giggling, or making fun of anyone, or making any snide remarks, or avoiding all-around rude behavior for a half hour, then well, my speakers really have nothing to be worried about!
We all got on the same page. This went very well.
Then, the kids all blew my mind and performed. It was a very wonderful time. There were so many amazing performances, that we decided it was necessary to have another battle on Monday. So we will be hearing again from our top 6 performers in search of a winner! #bestpolbattleever
Warm Up
Today we begin with an actual free write. That's right. Free. Write. For ten minutes. Who knows what the heck is going to happen!? Not me.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to demonstrate how emotions and ideas are conveyed in poetry by writing an original poem.
In this unit, we have been working on defining poetry and understanding tone shifts. We have read a lot of poetry, we have listened to a lot of poetry, and we have done a lot of creative writing. Today, all of the learning comes together and students get to create!
First, we are going to discuss what happens during the "free writing" process (a little lecture about the subconscious). Next, I am going to show students all of the free-writing I have done over the course of this unit. I will be looking for patterns in my feelings or thoughts. I will look for particularly poetic writing too.
Then, I will choose a powerful idea or emotion that I want to explore in my own original poem. I will choose a few lines, or chunk of words that I already wrote as a jumping off point.
Finally, I will attempt to write a poem.
Here are the requirements for a successful poem (based on what we have learned in this unit):
Active Engagement
Students will search through their free-writes from this unit to find some inspiration for a new, original poem.
When there are about 20 minutes left in class, we will move on to taking a quick close-reading assessment of an Ethan Frome passage (#datacollection).
Closure
Fun Fact: All students who submit a poem written today to NMHS's Piper Literary Magazine ([email protected] or [email protected]) will receive extra credit this quarter.
When students finish their poems, they can get into pairs and practice reciting their POL choice. Our competition is next class!
Today we begin with an actual free write. That's right. Free. Write. For ten minutes. Who knows what the heck is going to happen!? Not me.
Mini Lesson
Today's Objective is: Students will be able to demonstrate how emotions and ideas are conveyed in poetry by writing an original poem.
In this unit, we have been working on defining poetry and understanding tone shifts. We have read a lot of poetry, we have listened to a lot of poetry, and we have done a lot of creative writing. Today, all of the learning comes together and students get to create!
First, we are going to discuss what happens during the "free writing" process (a little lecture about the subconscious). Next, I am going to show students all of the free-writing I have done over the course of this unit. I will be looking for patterns in my feelings or thoughts. I will look for particularly poetic writing too.
Then, I will choose a powerful idea or emotion that I want to explore in my own original poem. I will choose a few lines, or chunk of words that I already wrote as a jumping off point.
Finally, I will attempt to write a poem.
Here are the requirements for a successful poem (based on what we have learned in this unit):
- Explores a powerful emotion or idea
- Uses a shift in tones (from one emotion to another)
- Uses Figurative Language/ Author's craft moves / Imagery
Active Engagement
Students will search through their free-writes from this unit to find some inspiration for a new, original poem.
When there are about 20 minutes left in class, we will move on to taking a quick close-reading assessment of an Ethan Frome passage (#datacollection).
Closure
Fun Fact: All students who submit a poem written today to NMHS's Piper Literary Magazine ([email protected] or [email protected]) will receive extra credit this quarter.
When students finish their poems, they can get into pairs and practice reciting their POL choice. Our competition is next class!
Day 23
November 20
Warm Up
Today we begin with another free-write. First, I will hand out this list of tones.
Here is the prompt:
Write a paragraph where a character starts in one emotional register, and through a process of thought, completely evolves into a different emotion.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to create a tone map of their chosen poetry out loud poem.
First, we begin by discussing the tone list I handed out in the beginning of class. Next, I will talk about how most poems tell an emotional story with a beginning, middle and end.
Next, we will look at "Oranges" by Gary Soto. We will work together as a class to identify the tones in the poem and the places where the tone shifts. Then we will create a "map" of this poem's tones.
Here is an example of a tone map for another poem called "Jenny Kissed Me" by Leigh Hunt
Today we begin with another free-write. First, I will hand out this list of tones.
Here is the prompt:
Write a paragraph where a character starts in one emotional register, and through a process of thought, completely evolves into a different emotion.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to create a tone map of their chosen poetry out loud poem.
First, we begin by discussing the tone list I handed out in the beginning of class. Next, I will talk about how most poems tell an emotional story with a beginning, middle and end.
Next, we will look at "Oranges" by Gary Soto. We will work together as a class to identify the tones in the poem and the places where the tone shifts. Then we will create a "map" of this poem's tones.
Here is an example of a tone map for another poem called "Jenny Kissed Me" by Leigh Hunt
I will point out that sometimes the tone shifts with each line. Sometimes the tone shifts in the lines, and sometimes over long sets of lines. I will create the tone map for the first half of the poem, and students will work in pairs or alone to map out the tone of the rest of the poem (the second half is much easier than the first lol). They recorded their ideas right on the poem that I handed out today.
Then we will discuss how this "tone map" can help us to perform this poem using our voices.
Next, we will watch/listen to a few different readings of the poem. We will see how the people reciting the poem chose to convey the tones and shifts in tones.
Then we will discuss how this "tone map" can help us to perform this poem using our voices.
Next, we will watch/listen to a few different readings of the poem. We will see how the people reciting the poem chose to convey the tones and shifts in tones.
I will remind students that everyone may interpret the tone shifts differently- that is okay! As long as it makes sense to you, it will help you deliver your poem appropriately.
Active Engagement
Students will create a tone map for their chosen POL poem on the back of their "Oranges" Tone Maps. I will collect these tone maps next class.
Closure
I will remind students to work on memorizing and reciting their poems over the Thanksgiving break. Our POL class competition is next Thursday 11/29
Active Engagement
Students will create a tone map for their chosen POL poem on the back of their "Oranges" Tone Maps. I will collect these tone maps next class.
Closure
I will remind students to work on memorizing and reciting their poems over the Thanksgiving break. Our POL class competition is next Thursday 11/29
Day 22
November 14 SNOW DAY/ACCELERATED EARLY DISMISSAL....
Boy, has this been a rough year for B days...
Warm Up
Today we begin with another creative writing warm up.
Today we begin with another creative writing warm up.
I asked students to imagine they are in the passenger seat of a car. They are looking out the window, and they see someone in the next car over. I told them to make up their story and start writing it.
Then we shared out- some very cool stuff happened.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to explain why they chose the poem they did for POL.
Last class, we discussed the importance of picking a poem you understand and that you relate to. Evidence of understanding and Dramatic Appropriateness are 2/5 of the rubric.
Today, I asked students to post their poem choice (they had to type the whole thing out- not because I am mean, but because typing it out will help them to remember it, and there's this thing where they have to memorize it) and the reason they chose the poem to this awesome padlet.
Active Engagement
Students worked on their padlet responses.
Closure
I reminded students to work on memorizing their poems, and asked them to finish their padlet response if they didn't in class today.
Then we shared out- some very cool stuff happened.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will be able to explain why they chose the poem they did for POL.
Last class, we discussed the importance of picking a poem you understand and that you relate to. Evidence of understanding and Dramatic Appropriateness are 2/5 of the rubric.
Today, I asked students to post their poem choice (they had to type the whole thing out- not because I am mean, but because typing it out will help them to remember it, and there's this thing where they have to memorize it) and the reason they chose the poem to this awesome padlet.
Active Engagement
Students worked on their padlet responses.
Closure
I reminded students to work on memorizing their poems, and asked them to finish their padlet response if they didn't in class today.
Day 21
November 13
Warm Up
First, I told students to celebrate finishing that quick and wonderful Othello unit!
Next, I told students about our next mini-unit before Christmas:
First, I told students to celebrate finishing that quick and wonderful Othello unit!
Next, I told students about our next mini-unit before Christmas:
I told students we would be doing some creative writing in this unit, because we are studying poetry and its not crazy to get our creative juices flowing.
I put these two images on the board and students had to write something inspired by one or both of the pictures.
I put these two images on the board and students had to write something inspired by one or both of the pictures.
So, we sat and had a free write for seven minutes. Some good stuff came out of it, as it always does...
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will understand the judging criteria for Poetry Out Loud performances and will choose one poem to memorize and recite for the POL competition.
Today we began by reading pages 14-18 of the Poetry Out Loud resource book which outlines the judging criteria and explains the rubric.
Next, students used the rubric to assess the following POL performances:
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will understand the judging criteria for Poetry Out Loud performances and will choose one poem to memorize and recite for the POL competition.
Today we began by reading pages 14-18 of the Poetry Out Loud resource book which outlines the judging criteria and explains the rubric.
Next, students used the rubric to assess the following POL performances:
Active Engagement
After assessing these performances, and talking about the things these speakers did well, we discussed choosing a poem. The most important part of selecting a poem, is to choose one that MEANS something to you. That you UNDERSTAND, FEEL and RELATE to. Because that is what made each of these performances so good!
So students, used the remainder of class to search the Poetryoutloud website and choose a poem.
Closure:
Students were asked to make sure they had chosen a poem by next class.
After assessing these performances, and talking about the things these speakers did well, we discussed choosing a poem. The most important part of selecting a poem, is to choose one that MEANS something to you. That you UNDERSTAND, FEEL and RELATE to. Because that is what made each of these performances so good!
So students, used the remainder of class to search the Poetryoutloud website and choose a poem.
Closure:
Students were asked to make sure they had chosen a poem by next class.
Day 20
November 8
Today, was a day.
We began by reviewing the Literary Analysis Rubric.
And then I reminded students that their final drafts are due MONDAY MORNING.
And then they just wrote their baby hearts out and I conferred with them as needed.
Fun times!
We began by reviewing the Literary Analysis Rubric.
And then I reminded students that their final drafts are due MONDAY MORNING.
And then they just wrote their baby hearts out and I conferred with them as needed.
Fun times!
Day 19
November 5
After the seminar, I posted the notes I took onto Google Classroom. I also posted the rubric for our analysis and the presentation slideshows each group made about their mentor texts. Warm Up
Today we began by reviewing the goals of a Socratic Seminar.
- Focus on ideas and values in the text
- Keep an open mind
- One speaker at a time
- Challenge your assumptions
- Make connections
I gave this handout to all of the students to use during and after the seminar.
Mini Lesson
Students were apprehensive at first. But, once they started asking questions, the conversation just kept rolling. It was exciting to see MULTIPLE students from the outside circle get into the inside circle because they just couldn't keep their ideas and thoughts to themselves. I was very pleased with the level of discussion, and lots of students reflected that this was valuable in helping them develop their ideas for their literary analyses.
Active Engagement
Students worked on their seminar reflections during the rest of class and turned them in before leaving.
Closure
After the seminar, I posted the notes I took onto Google Classroom. I also posted the rubric for our analysis and the presentation slideshows each group made about their mentor texts.
Students were instructed to look through the presentations on their own time if they need to while writing their analysis over the next several days. These presentations focussed on what writers of analysis do well. These are moves that students can use in their own analysis writing.
Students are expected to have a complete rough draft of their analysis by next class.
Day 18
November 1
Warm Up
Today we begin by finishing last class! And it has been a while... (nearly a week since the last time this class met #names #crying #feels).
We never got to discuss the final page of the article we read in our last class. And that final page was like, really reeally amazing.
So today, we are going to read it to kick off class and bask in all of its analytic gloriousness.
Then we will feel dread because we will never write something so beautiful.
Just kidding, We will try!
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will read a new mentor text and explain how the writer used all four tools of analysis to create an engaging piece of writing.
Last class we searched through one mentor text for evidence of passion, ideas and authority. Today's mini lesson focuses on the final tool: structure.
After reviewing the poem a day, we will dive back into our first mentor texts to discuss the structural moves we find. I will use the doc cam to show students the structural moves I notice. I also created this outline of the writer's ideas because this article is freaking long and difficult!
Active Engagement
Today, students are going to put all of this new learning together and get some practice in groups before we jump into the deep end and begin writing our own analysis pieces.
In groups, students will tackle this assignment. Each group will read a different article. I am giving all articles to students today so that they have a new packet of mentor texts to consult as we move through writing this unit. But today, each group will analyze one story each.
Closure
We are having a Socratic Seminar in our next class in order to discuss the ideas and themes in the play and get more ideas fleshed out before we write. Today, I taught students the goals and protocol of socratic seminars and asked each student to come to class with THREE open-ended questions about Othello to prepare for the seminar.
I will remind students to make sure they have some notes and pages from Othello marked -- We will begin writing our own literary analysis of Othello through our chosen lens in our next week.
Also, students will need to finish their projects from today as we will present our findings next class after our seminar.
#honorsclassesarehard
Today we begin by finishing last class! And it has been a while... (nearly a week since the last time this class met #names #crying #feels).
We never got to discuss the final page of the article we read in our last class. And that final page was like, really reeally amazing.
So today, we are going to read it to kick off class and bask in all of its analytic gloriousness.
Then we will feel dread because we will never write something so beautiful.
Just kidding, We will try!
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will read a new mentor text and explain how the writer used all four tools of analysis to create an engaging piece of writing.
Last class we searched through one mentor text for evidence of passion, ideas and authority. Today's mini lesson focuses on the final tool: structure.
After reviewing the poem a day, we will dive back into our first mentor texts to discuss the structural moves we find. I will use the doc cam to show students the structural moves I notice. I also created this outline of the writer's ideas because this article is freaking long and difficult!
Active Engagement
Today, students are going to put all of this new learning together and get some practice in groups before we jump into the deep end and begin writing our own analysis pieces.
In groups, students will tackle this assignment. Each group will read a different article. I am giving all articles to students today so that they have a new packet of mentor texts to consult as we move through writing this unit. But today, each group will analyze one story each.
Closure
We are having a Socratic Seminar in our next class in order to discuss the ideas and themes in the play and get more ideas fleshed out before we write. Today, I taught students the goals and protocol of socratic seminars and asked each student to come to class with THREE open-ended questions about Othello to prepare for the seminar.
I will remind students to make sure they have some notes and pages from Othello marked -- We will begin writing our own literary analysis of Othello through our chosen lens in our next week.
Also, students will need to finish their projects from today as we will present our findings next class after our seminar.
#honorsclassesarehard
Day 17
October 26
Warm Up
Today we had no warm up. Because we also had not enough time for all of the goodness of the lesson.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will identify at least two pieces of evidence of passion, ideas, and authority in “What the F Iago?”
Today we began by discussing analysis. Students have finished reading Othello and now it is time to analyze it. First, we are going to read a lot of really good examples of analysis and pick them apart to find out what writers of analysis do to make their writing powerful, fresh and evocative.
First we defined the four essential tools of analysis:
Passion: This is where we can tell the writer is passionate about the topic he is analyzing (like they are to be about their topic- from yesterday's lesson). This is where we find loaded word choice, or bold statements that show how much the writer cares about his topic.
Ideas: These are the original thoughts the writer explores. The claims, evidence and the discoveries these claims and evidence lead to.
Structure: This includes organization, leads, conclusions and structural choices like headings or lists.
Authority: This is where the writer shows that they know what they are talking about. This is where we find domain-specific vocabulary (sports writers know what words to use to describe sports, or movie reviewers know movie lingo, etc), deep content knowledge, and anything that makes the writer sound credible.
Next,
We started looking for Passion, Ideas and Authority in our first mentor text: "What the F*** Iago?" It sounds ridiculous, but it is actually incredibly insightful and very well-written.
I modelled the search by highlighting and labelling each piece of evidence I saw in the first two pages of the article.
Active Engagement:
Students read the rest of the 10 page article searching for more evidence of the writer's passion, ideas and authority.
Closure:
We shared out our findings, and then ran out of time! We will warm up next class by discussing the closing thoughts of this article (there was some mind-blowing stuff in there!).
Today we had no warm up. Because we also had not enough time for all of the goodness of the lesson.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will identify at least two pieces of evidence of passion, ideas, and authority in “What the F Iago?”
Today we began by discussing analysis. Students have finished reading Othello and now it is time to analyze it. First, we are going to read a lot of really good examples of analysis and pick them apart to find out what writers of analysis do to make their writing powerful, fresh and evocative.
First we defined the four essential tools of analysis:
Passion: This is where we can tell the writer is passionate about the topic he is analyzing (like they are to be about their topic- from yesterday's lesson). This is where we find loaded word choice, or bold statements that show how much the writer cares about his topic.
Ideas: These are the original thoughts the writer explores. The claims, evidence and the discoveries these claims and evidence lead to.
Structure: This includes organization, leads, conclusions and structural choices like headings or lists.
Authority: This is where the writer shows that they know what they are talking about. This is where we find domain-specific vocabulary (sports writers know what words to use to describe sports, or movie reviewers know movie lingo, etc), deep content knowledge, and anything that makes the writer sound credible.
Next,
We started looking for Passion, Ideas and Authority in our first mentor text: "What the F*** Iago?" It sounds ridiculous, but it is actually incredibly insightful and very well-written.
I modelled the search by highlighting and labelling each piece of evidence I saw in the first two pages of the article.
Active Engagement:
Students read the rest of the 10 page article searching for more evidence of the writer's passion, ideas and authority.
Closure:
We shared out our findings, and then ran out of time! We will warm up next class by discussing the closing thoughts of this article (there was some mind-blowing stuff in there!).
Day 16
October 24
Warm Up
The lyrics for this song are soooooo Othello.
I am just going to cut to the point here- today we watched the end of the play via the Lawrence Fishburne movie. I thought the kids would enjoy watching it happen- after all, that is how Shakespeare intended his work to be.
Students were instructed to pay attention to scenes that were pertinent to their chosen analysis lens and to re-read those scenes for homework.
They were all shocked and horrified by the outcome of this play.
Score one for Shakespeare!
I am just going to cut to the point here- today we watched the end of the play via the Lawrence Fishburne movie. I thought the kids would enjoy watching it happen- after all, that is how Shakespeare intended his work to be.
Students were instructed to pay attention to scenes that were pertinent to their chosen analysis lens and to re-read those scenes for homework.
They were all shocked and horrified by the outcome of this play.
Score one for Shakespeare!
Day 15
October 22
Warm Up
Today's warm up is a tad dull- Since we are now 1/2 way through the play, I thought I would check in and see if the students are like, paying attention and stuff.
So we had a quiz. And they nailed it. So, as I suspected, they are definitely paying attention and stuff.
Mini lesson
Today's Objective: Students will understand the plot and character motivations in Act III of Othello.
We got to some climactic good stuff in the play today. My goal is to finish the play this week so we can really jump into the good stuff: ie. Analysis, writing, socratic seminars, etc.
Active Engagement
After reading through Act III, we watched the movie. We are now through Act IV scene 1.
Closure:
I would love for students to go back and read through the scenes that we watched today.
Today's warm up is a tad dull- Since we are now 1/2 way through the play, I thought I would check in and see if the students are like, paying attention and stuff.
So we had a quiz. And they nailed it. So, as I suspected, they are definitely paying attention and stuff.
Mini lesson
Today's Objective: Students will understand the plot and character motivations in Act III of Othello.
We got to some climactic good stuff in the play today. My goal is to finish the play this week so we can really jump into the good stuff: ie. Analysis, writing, socratic seminars, etc.
Active Engagement
After reading through Act III, we watched the movie. We are now through Act IV scene 1.
Closure:
I would love for students to go back and read through the scenes that we watched today.
Day 14
October 18
Warm Up
This song is (mostly) about a dude who is trippin because his lady found another guy.... #othello
Mini Lesson:
Today's objective: Students will understand Iago's motivations for his actions and use their chosen lense to analyze the play's development.
Today I zoomed in on language and irony to model analysis. I started by asking: who else wants to hit someone every time a character in the play calls Iago "honest"?
Then I looked up how many times the word "honest" shows up in the play. Its a lot. Over 50 times. We talked about the significance in that.
Active Engagement:
We continued to read the play as a class today, and I stopped and modelled my thinking and interpreted the play as we went. Students started picking up on the "honest" language as we went.
We made it through Act III scene iii
Closure:
We watched the same action in the movie before the bell rang! No homework for the weekend :)
Mini Lesson:
Today's objective: Students will understand Iago's motivations for his actions and use their chosen lense to analyze the play's development.
Today I zoomed in on language and irony to model analysis. I started by asking: who else wants to hit someone every time a character in the play calls Iago "honest"?
Then I looked up how many times the word "honest" shows up in the play. Its a lot. Over 50 times. We talked about the significance in that.
Active Engagement:
We continued to read the play as a class today, and I stopped and modelled my thinking and interpreted the play as we went. Students started picking up on the "honest" language as we went.
We made it through Act III scene iii
Closure:
We watched the same action in the movie before the bell rang! No homework for the weekend :)
Day 13
October 16
Warm Up
Today I began by polling the students about their decoding. I asked: How many of you think you were able to accurately decode 50% of the scene?
Almost all hands went up.
So I asked about 75%
About 3/4 of them had their hands up.
About 100%?
Only one hand. Cute.
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will understand Iago's motivations for his actions and use their chosen lense to analyze the play's development.
We began by discussing the strategies students used to decode the scene I gave them last class. We also reviewed what happened in that scene, and students were able to see how close they were.
Active Engagement:
Students read the bulk of Act II Sc 3 in their parts. I translated as we went along.
Next, we watched all of Act II in our movie.
Closure:
I cleared up any misunderstandings that may have occurred as we watched the scene. Also, students worked in their notebooks to write down quotes from the text so far that are pertinent to their chosen lens of analysis.
I also collected the work from last class.
Today I began by polling the students about their decoding. I asked: How many of you think you were able to accurately decode 50% of the scene?
Almost all hands went up.
So I asked about 75%
About 3/4 of them had their hands up.
About 100%?
Only one hand. Cute.
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective is: Students will understand Iago's motivations for his actions and use their chosen lense to analyze the play's development.
We began by discussing the strategies students used to decode the scene I gave them last class. We also reviewed what happened in that scene, and students were able to see how close they were.
Active Engagement:
Students read the bulk of Act II Sc 3 in their parts. I translated as we went along.
Next, we watched all of Act II in our movie.
Closure:
I cleared up any misunderstandings that may have occurred as we watched the scene. Also, students worked in their notebooks to write down quotes from the text so far that are pertinent to their chosen lens of analysis.
I also collected the work from last class.
Day 12
October 12
Warm Up
Last class, I was absent. I left a fun decoding activity for the students. The next day when I walked in, all of the work I left was sitting on my desk, undone.
So, today's warm up involves me finding out what exactly happened in my absence last class.
Mini Lesson
Today I am going to ask students what they do when they need to figure out what something they are reading means. We will create a list of strategies students use to decode unfamiliar language.
Active Engagement
Students are going to choose one or more of the strategies from the list to decode parts of Act II scene i of Othello today. I gave them this handout to guide their thinking.
Students then answered the questions at the end of the handout.
Closure:
This was the first time students were reading Othello without me, so I allotted some time at the end of class to make sure they were on the right track with their interpretations. Also we discussed which strategies they used for decoding the language, and why and how useful those strategies were.
Last class, I was absent. I left a fun decoding activity for the students. The next day when I walked in, all of the work I left was sitting on my desk, undone.
So, today's warm up involves me finding out what exactly happened in my absence last class.
Mini Lesson
Today I am going to ask students what they do when they need to figure out what something they are reading means. We will create a list of strategies students use to decode unfamiliar language.
Active Engagement
Students are going to choose one or more of the strategies from the list to decode parts of Act II scene i of Othello today. I gave them this handout to guide their thinking.
Students then answered the questions at the end of the handout.
Closure:
This was the first time students were reading Othello without me, so I allotted some time at the end of class to make sure they were on the right track with their interpretations. Also we discussed which strategies they used for decoding the language, and why and how useful those strategies were.
Day 11
October 4
Warm up
For me, this song just sooooo feels like Iago. The dirty villain with whom we will get more familiar today.
Students already picked up on this. Here are our noticings today:
Thought the whole song was about IAGO. “hero who appears in you to clear your view when you’re too crazy” people choose to be a certain way.
“Im useless, but not for long, my future is coming on” we dont know Iago’s goal yet, but we can see he has a plan. (this ended up being true when at the end of the act we read today he says “There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered.”
I’m corruption in disguise. “I am not what I am”- Iago
“You see with your eyes, I see destruction and demise (thats right).
The essence, the basis, how did you make it? #cassio
“Bet you didnt think so I commanded you to” Iago is about to plant a lot of ideas
Dont believe me, just watch.
Mini Lesson:
Today I chose a method of analysis for reading Othello- I am looking for symbols.
I reminded students to take notes on things they notice as we read that pertain to their own lens of analysis. There were post-its involved.
Active Engagement:
We read the rest of Act I and then watched the whole first act as portrayed by Oliver Parker. Boy is Iago well-cast. Boy do we already love to hate him!
Closure:
Basically, we talked about how Iago is the worst. We looked at some foreshadowing, and zoomed in on some key quotes and lines.
Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee.
We also put pins in our BIG map of the world at Venice and Cyprus.
Students already picked up on this. Here are our noticings today:
Thought the whole song was about IAGO. “hero who appears in you to clear your view when you’re too crazy” people choose to be a certain way.
“Im useless, but not for long, my future is coming on” we dont know Iago’s goal yet, but we can see he has a plan. (this ended up being true when at the end of the act we read today he says “There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered.”
I’m corruption in disguise. “I am not what I am”- Iago
“You see with your eyes, I see destruction and demise (thats right).
The essence, the basis, how did you make it? #cassio
“Bet you didnt think so I commanded you to” Iago is about to plant a lot of ideas
Dont believe me, just watch.
Mini Lesson:
Today I chose a method of analysis for reading Othello- I am looking for symbols.
I reminded students to take notes on things they notice as we read that pertain to their own lens of analysis. There were post-its involved.
Active Engagement:
We read the rest of Act I and then watched the whole first act as portrayed by Oliver Parker. Boy is Iago well-cast. Boy do we already love to hate him!
Closure:
Basically, we talked about how Iago is the worst. We looked at some foreshadowing, and zoomed in on some key quotes and lines.
Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee.
We also put pins in our BIG map of the world at Venice and Cyprus.
Day 10
October 2
Warm Up
Today we warmed up with two different poems. Why? Because I liked both and couldn't decide which one I liked more.
In the Light of One Lamp by Thomas Dougherty
and
Natural History by Sam Hamill
Each poem dealt with a father who is losing his daughter as she grows up. Both poems captured the subtle and complex emotions parents feel when their children grow up; the nostalgia, the pride and hope for the future, and the melancholy that comes with never getting those childhood days back.
Students followed my line of thinking and also their own lines of thinking to get ready for our reading today.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will choose a critical lens through which to read and interpret Othello and find one piece of evidence in Act I that speaks to their chosen lens.
We reviewed each of the critical lenses, and students prepared themselves for reading Othello through their lens today. I asked them to write down one note today.
Active Engagement
We nearly finished Act I today; students read the play aloud and I interpreted in my way... We learned that Othello wooed Desdemona with his stories...
Today we warmed up with two different poems. Why? Because I liked both and couldn't decide which one I liked more.
In the Light of One Lamp by Thomas Dougherty
and
Natural History by Sam Hamill
Each poem dealt with a father who is losing his daughter as she grows up. Both poems captured the subtle and complex emotions parents feel when their children grow up; the nostalgia, the pride and hope for the future, and the melancholy that comes with never getting those childhood days back.
Students followed my line of thinking and also their own lines of thinking to get ready for our reading today.
Mini Lesson
Today's objective is: Students will choose a critical lens through which to read and interpret Othello and find one piece of evidence in Act I that speaks to their chosen lens.
We reviewed each of the critical lenses, and students prepared themselves for reading Othello through their lens today. I asked them to write down one note today.
Active Engagement
We nearly finished Act I today; students read the play aloud and I interpreted in my way... We learned that Othello wooed Desdemona with his stories...
Closure:
I asked students to post which critical lens they chose onto Google Classroom, so we could all see what everyone is thinking about.
I asked students to post which critical lens they chose onto Google Classroom, so we could all see what everyone is thinking about.
Day 9
September 28
Oh Hey Guys!
I'm back! Yay.
Warm Up:
Today's warm-up is less "warm-up"ish and more, "let's catch up, and how about you all fill me in on what you learned in the last few days whilst I was away..."
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective: Students will explore various lenses of critical literary theory and choose three they are most interested in learning more about.
I am really excited today to finally reveal to my students our goals for the next two quarters. Here they are:
Over the next two quarters we will embark upon a journey of creation around the world.
What?
Yah.
That’s right.
Here is the deal: the theme of this course “English II” is “The Search for Identity Across Cultures”. This makes me think: World Literature.
So, I was thinking about planning this course over the summer. And my first thought was: I need to find a world literature infographic. One that shows all of the great literature of the world throughout time, like on a map or something with some interactive timelines. This would be an awesome tool I could use to teach my new sophomore angels!
Except, for this. It doesn’t exist.
I searched, and searched, and searched. And I still haven’t found what I was looking for. I am very much like Bono in this way. And frankly, that is the only thing I have in common with Bono.
So guess what?
We’re going to make my dream come true and contribute something useful and true and beautiful to the world. That’s right. We are going to make this infographic a reality, and post it on the interwebs for all the current and future World Literature students and teachers of the world to use, add to, improve, learn from, and enjoy.
(Less impressive, tiny scale example of what I am imagining below)
I'm back! Yay.
Warm Up:
Today's warm-up is less "warm-up"ish and more, "let's catch up, and how about you all fill me in on what you learned in the last few days whilst I was away..."
Mini Lesson:
Today's Objective: Students will explore various lenses of critical literary theory and choose three they are most interested in learning more about.
I am really excited today to finally reveal to my students our goals for the next two quarters. Here they are:
Over the next two quarters we will embark upon a journey of creation around the world.
What?
Yah.
That’s right.
Here is the deal: the theme of this course “English II” is “The Search for Identity Across Cultures”. This makes me think: World Literature.
So, I was thinking about planning this course over the summer. And my first thought was: I need to find a world literature infographic. One that shows all of the great literature of the world throughout time, like on a map or something with some interactive timelines. This would be an awesome tool I could use to teach my new sophomore angels!
Except, for this. It doesn’t exist.
I searched, and searched, and searched. And I still haven’t found what I was looking for. I am very much like Bono in this way. And frankly, that is the only thing I have in common with Bono.
So guess what?
We’re going to make my dream come true and contribute something useful and true and beautiful to the world. That’s right. We are going to make this infographic a reality, and post it on the interwebs for all the current and future World Literature students and teachers of the world to use, add to, improve, learn from, and enjoy.
(Less impressive, tiny scale example of what I am imagining below)
This is a lofty goal.
Don’t stress out.
We have time. And I am prepared to teach you how to make this happen, one step at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We are going to start small, and zoom in to our first mentor text.
This quarter, we will all read Othello together as a class. That said, as we read, each of you will explore one facet of the play that fascinates you.
Just as there are many ways to analyze film (semiotic, mise-en-scene, contextual, narrative structure), there are many ways to analyze literature.
Here are some of your options (if you come up with something else, run it by me and chances are, I will get excited!)
We will read and act out and play and watch and enjoy Othello all together, but the goal is that while we do, each of you takes a different “focus” through your chosen “lens”.
Why?
Well, in the end, we will have a whole big ol’ mind dump. We will compile all of our findings in an interactive infographic, and this will be the beginning of our “World Literature” project. We will have a ton of links to new information (created by you, for the world) about this one play.
Next quarter, you will choose a time and a place to “zoom in on” in this way. And again, produce a bunch of content about your chosen time and place to add to our timeline. And we will all do this. And we will all contribute. And by the time we are done, (whenever that is…) we will have a diverse and engaging amount of information compiled for the world to use.
Yay!
How will we do it exactly? That is something for me to teach and for us to learn as we go. So don’t fret. There will be many lessons along the way. But it is important for you to understand the goal, if we are ever going to make it happen.
Now, let’s have fun!
Active Engagement:
I am passing out Othello books today and also giving students time to explore the literary lenses I introduced during the mini-lesson. They will choose three to learn more about, and by next class, choose one to use as they read Othello.
I will also choose one lens, and model my analysis over the course of our reading of this fine mentor text.
Closure:
I will remind students to come to class prepared with a choice of literary analysis for reading Othello.
Don’t stress out.
We have time. And I am prepared to teach you how to make this happen, one step at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We are going to start small, and zoom in to our first mentor text.
This quarter, we will all read Othello together as a class. That said, as we read, each of you will explore one facet of the play that fascinates you.
Just as there are many ways to analyze film (semiotic, mise-en-scene, contextual, narrative structure), there are many ways to analyze literature.
Here are some of your options (if you come up with something else, run it by me and chances are, I will get excited!)
- Choose a literary lens
- Learn about Shakespeare’s source material and patrons
- Focus on the language, wordplay, and sentence structure (Shakespeare does some unique stuff)
- Semiotic is totally applicable again (searching for symbols, motifs, etc)
We will read and act out and play and watch and enjoy Othello all together, but the goal is that while we do, each of you takes a different “focus” through your chosen “lens”.
Why?
Well, in the end, we will have a whole big ol’ mind dump. We will compile all of our findings in an interactive infographic, and this will be the beginning of our “World Literature” project. We will have a ton of links to new information (created by you, for the world) about this one play.
Next quarter, you will choose a time and a place to “zoom in on” in this way. And again, produce a bunch of content about your chosen time and place to add to our timeline. And we will all do this. And we will all contribute. And by the time we are done, (whenever that is…) we will have a diverse and engaging amount of information compiled for the world to use.
Yay!
How will we do it exactly? That is something for me to teach and for us to learn as we go. So don’t fret. There will be many lessons along the way. But it is important for you to understand the goal, if we are ever going to make it happen.
Now, let’s have fun!
Active Engagement:
I am passing out Othello books today and also giving students time to explore the literary lenses I introduced during the mini-lesson. They will choose three to learn more about, and by next class, choose one to use as they read Othello.
I will also choose one lens, and model my analysis over the course of our reading of this fine mentor text.
Closure:
I will remind students to come to class prepared with a choice of literary analysis for reading Othello.
Days 7 & 8
September 24 and 26
Unfortunately, I am out of the classroom for these two days as I will be at Central Office writing Curriculum. A noble goal, certainly. BUT BOY AM I BUMMED OUT TO MISS TIME WITH MY SOPHOMORES!!
That said, while I am out, students are working on Google Classroom to answer some thought-provoking questions which will get them in the head-space to read our next mentor text: Othello.
After exploring their own ideas, they will move on to learning a bit of background information about Shakespeare, about the setting of the play (Venice, Cyprus), and the characters through this webquest.
I look forward to getting back to class and to filling students in on the grand plans I have for their very near futures.
That said, while I am out, students are working on Google Classroom to answer some thought-provoking questions which will get them in the head-space to read our next mentor text: Othello.
After exploring their own ideas, they will move on to learning a bit of background information about Shakespeare, about the setting of the play (Venice, Cyprus), and the characters through this webquest.
I look forward to getting back to class and to filling students in on the grand plans I have for their very near futures.
Day 6
September 17
Warm Up
This song is called "The Cave" and has direct ties to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and by extension, to the Truman Show.
Mini-Lesson:
Objective: Students will synthesize their individual observations of the Truman Show and craft a presentation of their ideas to the class.
Today we are going to take a little time to do some creative, fun work. After responding to the poem a day, students will write their own poem exploring their favorite idea or theme from the Truman Show.
Active Engagement:
Students will share their slideshows and then we will have a discussion about the themes and various narrative techniques they noticed in the film. I will make sure to mention anything they missed (although after reading their analyses and watching them collaborate on their slideshows, I think these kids hit all of the major points!!).
Closure:
I will bring up the questions from our Red Line activity and we will see if any of their thoughts have changed after watching/analyzing this film.
Mini-Lesson:
Objective: Students will synthesize their individual observations of the Truman Show and craft a presentation of their ideas to the class.
Today we are going to take a little time to do some creative, fun work. After responding to the poem a day, students will write their own poem exploring their favorite idea or theme from the Truman Show.
Active Engagement:
Students will share their slideshows and then we will have a discussion about the themes and various narrative techniques they noticed in the film. I will make sure to mention anything they missed (although after reading their analyses and watching them collaborate on their slideshows, I think these kids hit all of the major points!!).
Closure:
I will bring up the questions from our Red Line activity and we will see if any of their thoughts have changed after watching/analyzing this film.
Day 5
September 13
Warm Up
Today we began class by watching this video and discussing Plato's idea of reality. Then I asked students to connect the allegory to the Truman Show.
Mini-Lesson
Objective: Students will synthesize their individual observations of the Truman Show and craft a presentation of their ideas to the class.
Today we finally get to discuss our thoughts about the Truman Show! After we wrap up our discussion of Plato, students will get into small groups based on the type of analysis they performed on the movie. Each group will share their analyses and create a Google Slideshow to present their brilliant ideas to the rest of the class.
Active Engagement:
Students will work in their groups to create their presentations.
Closure:
Reminder that next time we will share presentations.
Mini-Lesson
Objective: Students will synthesize their individual observations of the Truman Show and craft a presentation of their ideas to the class.
Today we finally get to discuss our thoughts about the Truman Show! After we wrap up our discussion of Plato, students will get into small groups based on the type of analysis they performed on the movie. Each group will share their analyses and create a Google Slideshow to present their brilliant ideas to the rest of the class.
Active Engagement:
Students will work in their groups to create their presentations.
Closure:
Reminder that next time we will share presentations.
Day 4
September 11
Warm Up
Today, as students walked into the class, T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" was playing. We did not spend a ton of time analyzing the song, but I mentioned that it was playing when Truman "fell" for Sylvia. I also had to mention all of the similes, of course. Also, who doesn't love a little T. Rex in the morning?
Mini-Lesson
We reviewed the happenings of Part I of the movie and we shared out some answers to the questions students were asked to answer while we watched.
Next, I reminded students to think about their chosen analysis type and to look for evidence for it.
Active Engagement:
I gave students the final questions to students to aid in their viewing of the film today.
Closure:
I asked students to use the evidence they collected to write a short analysis of the Truman Show. This is a baseline assessment (I want to see where their skills are BEFORE much direct instruction happens to help me assess their growth moving forward) so, I left the prompt quite open-ended.
Day 3
September 6
Warm Up
Today we had no warm up as the intense heat apparently called for a half day. So, instead I handed out some questions to students to aid in their viewing of the film today.
Mini-Lesson
I reminded students to search for the key things they will need to find in order to perform the type of analysis they chose last class.
Active Engagment
We watched the first act of the movie as well as a few minutes of the second act.
Closure:
We answered a few of the more important questions from the handout and will finish the movie Tuesday.
Today we had no warm up as the intense heat apparently called for a half day. So, instead I handed out some questions to students to aid in their viewing of the film today.
Mini-Lesson
I reminded students to search for the key things they will need to find in order to perform the type of analysis they chose last class.
Active Engagment
We watched the first act of the movie as well as a few minutes of the second act.
Closure:
We answered a few of the more important questions from the handout and will finish the movie Tuesday.
Day 2
September 4
Warm Up:
Today we begin literary analysis! Yay!
But, it is the beginning of the year, and I want to ease into it. So, the first piece of literature we analyze this year will be a film.
Today's song has a lot of thematic ties to the film we will be discussing this week: The Truman Show. This is one of those songs that has a lot to analyze before connecting it to anything, and that is what we will do today. Most likely, we will revisit this song and its ties to the movie AFTER we watch it.
Mini-lesson:
Today I have to keep the lesson short (Even shorter than normal) as we have another half day!
After we discuss the song, we will read this article about four different methods of analyzing film (and why its a bit different from analyzing writing).
After reading the article, students will select one method of analysis that they want to try.
Active Engagement
Our next activity is one that students typically LOVE. Literally, every time I do this with a class, they ask for DAYS after when we will do it again. I call it: The Red Line. I have a thick band of red tape running down the center of my classroom, on the floor. One end of the tape means “agree” and the other end of the tape is “disagree.” The tape acts as a continuum. Students can stand anywhere on the tape, and they can move around as they think and come to new understandings, or see new perspectives. Students love to move around the room, and they love to think out loud with each other in this activity.
It is a perfect way to begin a unit that ends with a Socratic seminar. Fostering positive, open discourse is a central goal of this unit, and this activity sets it up perfectly. By the end of this unit, students are comfortable thinking, and sharing those thoughts with their peers.
I pose the following statements to the students and they get out of their seats. (you can ask any question that applies to themes you want to emphasize in the novel, or tie to current events. Students were very enthusiastic when answering them. This activity is great as it naturally leads them to making connections between new ideas and what they already know). Also, it gives the teacher a good idea of where students are in their thinking.
Closure:
Once we wrap up our conversation, students will have some time to reflect on the ideas we talked about today in their notebooks. Now, they are good and primed to watch and analyze The Truman Show!
But, it is the beginning of the year, and I want to ease into it. So, the first piece of literature we analyze this year will be a film.
Today's song has a lot of thematic ties to the film we will be discussing this week: The Truman Show. This is one of those songs that has a lot to analyze before connecting it to anything, and that is what we will do today. Most likely, we will revisit this song and its ties to the movie AFTER we watch it.
Mini-lesson:
Today I have to keep the lesson short (Even shorter than normal) as we have another half day!
After we discuss the song, we will read this article about four different methods of analyzing film (and why its a bit different from analyzing writing).
After reading the article, students will select one method of analysis that they want to try.
Active Engagement
Our next activity is one that students typically LOVE. Literally, every time I do this with a class, they ask for DAYS after when we will do it again. I call it: The Red Line. I have a thick band of red tape running down the center of my classroom, on the floor. One end of the tape means “agree” and the other end of the tape is “disagree.” The tape acts as a continuum. Students can stand anywhere on the tape, and they can move around as they think and come to new understandings, or see new perspectives. Students love to move around the room, and they love to think out loud with each other in this activity.
It is a perfect way to begin a unit that ends with a Socratic seminar. Fostering positive, open discourse is a central goal of this unit, and this activity sets it up perfectly. By the end of this unit, students are comfortable thinking, and sharing those thoughts with their peers.
I pose the following statements to the students and they get out of their seats. (you can ask any question that applies to themes you want to emphasize in the novel, or tie to current events. Students were very enthusiastic when answering them. This activity is great as it naturally leads them to making connections between new ideas and what they already know). Also, it gives the teacher a good idea of where students are in their thinking.
- We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented. It's as simple as that.
- Safety is more important than privacy
- Safety is more important than freedom
Closure:
Once we wrap up our conversation, students will have some time to reflect on the ideas we talked about today in their notebooks. Now, they are good and primed to watch and analyze The Truman Show!
Day 1
August 30
Welcome To Ms. Minto's Classroom
Welcome to my classroom blog where I intend to post my daily lessons for my sophomore honors class this school year 2018-19.
Today is the first day of school, and in my class, it is all about establishing a positive and fun rapport, and setting up classroom routines.
I started today with the same ice breaker I use every year: I stare awkwardly at my students as I take attendance for the first time. The purpose is three-fold. One: To remember 120 names in a day is challenging. This helps. Two: It makes the students feel really weird and uncomfortable and unsure of me- I look at it as a catharsis. Now that they have felt all these ways, there is no need to fear these emotions in our future together. Finally: it is hilarious, and makes me laugh and makes them laugh. It works every time.
Next, I showed this fun slideshow, to allay the concerns of the students; they always want to know the silly, boring details instead of all the "good stuff." So, I get all that other stuff out of the way early. I breeze through this quickly, and I almost NEVER mention school rules on my first day. Why? Because inevitably, ALL of their other teachers mention NOTHING but rules on the first day- so I assume the kids GET IT at this point.
Next, students introduce themselves briefly, and I launch into the first Warm up and the instructions for said activity.
Each day's activities will be broken into four sections, and, so will each of my blogs: Poem a Day, Mini-lesson, Active Engagement, and Closure. I like to open with the poem/song, then have a short mini lesson, where I teach a new skill, model a new skill, demonstrate a new skill, or we read and discuss new content. Active Engagement is most of the class, where students practice whatever the lesson is, and work with their peers. Finally is Closure, where I check for understanding and wrap up the learning objectives.
Warm Up:
Welcome to my classroom blog where I intend to post my daily lessons for my sophomore honors class this school year 2018-19.
Today is the first day of school, and in my class, it is all about establishing a positive and fun rapport, and setting up classroom routines.
I started today with the same ice breaker I use every year: I stare awkwardly at my students as I take attendance for the first time. The purpose is three-fold. One: To remember 120 names in a day is challenging. This helps. Two: It makes the students feel really weird and uncomfortable and unsure of me- I look at it as a catharsis. Now that they have felt all these ways, there is no need to fear these emotions in our future together. Finally: it is hilarious, and makes me laugh and makes them laugh. It works every time.
Next, I showed this fun slideshow, to allay the concerns of the students; they always want to know the silly, boring details instead of all the "good stuff." So, I get all that other stuff out of the way early. I breeze through this quickly, and I almost NEVER mention school rules on my first day. Why? Because inevitably, ALL of their other teachers mention NOTHING but rules on the first day- so I assume the kids GET IT at this point.
Next, students introduce themselves briefly, and I launch into the first Warm up and the instructions for said activity.
Each day's activities will be broken into four sections, and, so will each of my blogs: Poem a Day, Mini-lesson, Active Engagement, and Closure. I like to open with the poem/song, then have a short mini lesson, where I teach a new skill, model a new skill, demonstrate a new skill, or we read and discuss new content. Active Engagement is most of the class, where students practice whatever the lesson is, and work with their peers. Finally is Closure, where I check for understanding and wrap up the learning objectives.
Warm Up:
A Journey
Nikki Giovanni,
1943
It’s a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .
Though the rail has been ridden . . . winter clouds cover . . . autumn’s exuberant quilt . . . we must provide our own guide-posts . . .
I have heard . . . from previous visitors . . . the road washes out sometimes . . . and passengers are compelled . . . to continue groping . . . or turn back . . . I am not afraid . . .
I am not afraid . . . of rough spots . . . or lonely times . . . I don’t fear . . . the success of this endeavor . . . I am Ra . . . in a space . . . not to be discovered . . . but invented . . .
I promise you nothing . . . I accept your promise . . . of the same we are simply riding . . . a wave . . . that may carry . . . or crash . . .
It’s a journey . . . and I want . . . to go . . .
Nikki Giovanni,
1943
It’s a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .
Though the rail has been ridden . . . winter clouds cover . . . autumn’s exuberant quilt . . . we must provide our own guide-posts . . .
I have heard . . . from previous visitors . . . the road washes out sometimes . . . and passengers are compelled . . . to continue groping . . . or turn back . . . I am not afraid . . .
I am not afraid . . . of rough spots . . . or lonely times . . . I don’t fear . . . the success of this endeavor . . . I am Ra . . . in a space . . . not to be discovered . . . but invented . . .
I promise you nothing . . . I accept your promise . . . of the same we are simply riding . . . a wave . . . that may carry . . . or crash . . .
It’s a journey . . . and I want . . . to go . . .
I chose this to be my first Warm Up because it captures the the excitement I personally feel about teaching this course, and that I hope my students will internalize as we begin our journey through world literature!
Mini-lesson:
Students are introduced to the class and to me with this adorable slideshow.
Active Engagement:
Students Introduce themselves. Then participate in an activity called "Write Something." Students can write fiction, or nonfiction, about themselves, or their summer, or anything at all. I tell them I am looking for a 250-500 word sample of their writing skills. It helps me to get to know them, and know what we are working with. I learn which skills need reinforcement, which can be skipped right off, and which may need introductions.
Closure:
I answer any questions the students may have, and we dismiss.
Day one: In the books.
Mini-lesson:
Students are introduced to the class and to me with this adorable slideshow.
Active Engagement:
Students Introduce themselves. Then participate in an activity called "Write Something." Students can write fiction, or nonfiction, about themselves, or their summer, or anything at all. I tell them I am looking for a 250-500 word sample of their writing skills. It helps me to get to know them, and know what we are working with. I learn which skills need reinforcement, which can be skipped right off, and which may need introductions.
Closure:
I answer any questions the students may have, and we dismiss.
Day one: In the books.