Can You Repeat the Past? March 23, 2018

Focus: How does the film challenge or reinforce your early impressions of Jay Gatsby and his desire to repeat the past?

1. Warming up with the much-anticipated Grammar Quiz #8: Redunancy

2. Indulging in Friday Freewrite #2 (please click HERE , and scroll to March 23.)

It should kind of look like this picture of Sam writing his first novel:

3. Watching the film version of Chapter 4 in The Great Gatsby

HW:
1. Please read Chapter 5 and complete your blog by Tuesday, April 3.

2. Fishbowl leaders need to prepare their syllabus and post it to the document on the website; discussers should be ready to discuss.

3. The end of 12 weeks is Friday, April 6 (the Friday after spring break). All make-up work / revised work from the last 6 weeks is due by then.

Coloring in The Great Gatsby: March 22, 2018

Focus: What is the significance of color in The Great Gatsby

1. Warming up by taking a spin on the color wheel

• With your partner, choose any TWO of the following colors to analyze in The Great Gatsby: Green, yellow/gold, white, grey, or blue

• Using a web, free associate on each color (one at a time). What emotions/ ideas/ objects/ temperature, etc. do you associate with this color?

• Bolster your web by looking up the symbolic and/or cultural significance of your colors. Add a few more meanings to your webs. This website's pretty good.

• Find as many passages as you can from Chapters 1-4 in The Great Gatsby that mention your color. Add them to your webs by connecting them to the meanings they relate to. 

• Lastly, look at the cover of your book. Pick ONE of your colors and examine where and how it appears on the cover. Revisit your blog post on the cover of the book and add to it by offering   new a statement about the significance of the color on the cover and in the book.

2. Celebrating a few highlights from Tuesday's discussion

3. Enjoying a fishbowl discussion of The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4

HW:
1. Tomorrow, we will have a brief, open-note "quiz" on Grammar You Must Know #8: Redundancy. See Monday's blog if you were absent for the lesson.

2. Please read Chapter 5 and complete your blog by Tuesday, April 3.
Fishbowl leaders need to prepare their syllabus and post it to the document on the website; discussers should be ready to discuss.

3. The end of 12 weeks is Friday, April 6 (the Friday after spring break). All make-up work / revised work from the last 6 weeks is due by then.

And the Romance Unfolds: March 21, 2018

Focus: What romantic tensions are on the rise in Gatsby?

1. Warming up by thinking about your English classes next year and celebrating your outer circle successes

2. Reading/listening to/conferencing/journalling about The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4

• See website for the journal overview and the fishbowl sign-up.

3. Preparing tomorrow's syllabus if you're a Chapter 4 leader

A random note: I was curious about your questions yesterday regarding Jordan and women playing golf. I found that women have been competing in golf tournaments since 1895, the year the U.S. Golf Association held its first Women's Amateur Championship tournament. I also found this out:

Jordan Baker was based on Edith Cummings, a friend of Fitzgerald's first love, Ginerva King, and one of the decade's top female golfers. A Chicago debutante and notorious party girl dubbed "The Fairway Flapper," Cummings nevertheless was a talented golfer. She beat Stirling to win the Women's Amateur in Providence, Rhode Island in 1923. In 1924, Cummings was the first female athlete to make the cover of "Time" magazine.
(www.livestrong.com)

HW:
1. By TOMORROW: Finish your reading of and journal for Chapter 4. I will be checking your reading blogs weekly.  Remember that there is an free audiobook on the class website. 

2. Fishbowl leaders need to prepare their syllabus and post it to the document on the website; discussers should be ready to discuss.

3. The end of 12 weeks is Friday, April 6 (the Friday after spring break). All make-up work / revised work from the last 6 weeks is due by then.

Fitzgerald and Modernism: March 20, 2018

Focus: What is Modernism, and how does this help you put The Great Gatsby in perspective?

1. Warming up with Modernist art from 1925

2. Investigating Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, Fishbowl-style

3. Wrapping up with big takeaways

HW: 
1. Finish Chapter 4 and complete your journal entry by Thursday. Stay up with your reading and journals.

2. Interested in a free audiobook with follow-along pages and your choice of reading speed? Click HERE (also on website).

3. The end of 12 weeks is Friday, April 6 (the Friday after spring break). All make-up work / revised work from the last 6 weeks is due by then.

The Valley of Ashes: March 19, 2018

Focus: What are the functions of the difference spaces in The Great Gatsby?

1. Warming up with three good things and Grammar You Must Know #8: Redundancy

2. Performing close readings of spaces in Chapter 2

1. Sketch your assigned space.
2. Observe: Include 4-5 lines/phrases from Chapter 1 or 2 that describe it. Also, describe what kinds of things happen in your space.
3. Question: Ask a few Level 1, 2, and/or 3 questions about your space.
4. Analyze: What patterns are starting to emerge as you examine this space? What specific aspects are symbolic, and what might they symbolize?
5. Synthesize: We'll pull our maps together with people from other rows and consider shifts; how does each space change the way characters behave?

• East Egg and West Egg (the countryside)
• The Valley of Ashes
• New York City

3. Reading and journalling on Chapter 3; tomorrow's fishbowl leaders can take this time to prep

• Journal overview linked here (and on website).
• Fishbowl overview linked here (and on website).
• Fishbowl sign-up linked here (and on website).

HW:
1. Finish reading Chapter 3 and complete your blog. Leaders and discussers: Prepare for greatness! LEADERS are exempt from the journal tonight; DISCUSSERS better journal their little hearts out.

2. If you haven't turned in your Fences book yet, please do so by Wednesday.

3. The end of 12 weeks is Friday, April 6 (the Friday after spring break). All make-up work / revised work from the last 6 weeks is due by then.

Gatsby's Party Scenes: March 16, 2017

Focus: What do Gatsby's party scenes reveal about settings and character dynamics?

1. Warming up with your first Gatsby Friday Freewrite (on an actual Friday!)

2. Reading and journalling on The Great Gatsby; remember that you need to finish your Chapter 2 and your journal entry before class on Monday.

3. Viewing the film version of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of The Great Gatsby to strengthen your understanding of settings, characters, and party dynamics

• PLEASE TURN IN YOUR FILM REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF CLASS.

• Watch from beginning to 35:10 (end of party scene, Nick walking home, Gatsby picks up phone)

HW:
1. BEFORE MONDAY: Finish reading Chapter 2 and complete your journal entry if you did not finish in class.

2. By TUESDAY: Read Chapter 3 and complete your journal entry (due before class on Tuesday)

3. Chapter 3 fishbowl leaders need to complete their syllabus and post it to the class website before class. Remember that you are exempt from the journal on the day you are a leader. Chapter 4 leaders should try to read ahead.

Getting Meta: March 15, 2018

Focus: How do our brains process difficult and beautiful texts?

Please turn in your parent surveys.

1. Warming up with your class journal and blogs:

• Understanding the basics of Chapter 1 with a partner interview

• Rereading the last page of Chapter 1 and brainstorming possible symbols as a class

2. Offering you an overview of your reading journal opportunities and establishing your fishbowls

• Click here if you'd like to preview the reading journal/conference rubric.

3. Reading Chapter 2 and trying out the metacognitive on the Valley of Ashes and the Eyes of Dr. T.J Eckelberg

HW:
1. By FRIDAY: Finish reading Chapter 2 and complete your journal entry if you did not finish in class.

2. By TUESDAY: Start reading Chapter 3 and completing your journal entry (due before class on Tuesday)

3. Chapter 3 fishbowl leaders need to complete their syllabus and post it to the class website before class. Remember that you are exempt from the journal on the day you are a leader. Chapter 4 leaders should try to read ahead.

Stepping into Another Person's Shoes: March 14, 2018

Focus: What purposes does the book's opening chapter serve?

1. Warming up with a quick concrete poem on the book cover (10 minutes):

• Stare hard at the cover of your book. Really hard.

• Find three specific aspects of the cover your eyes find interesting. Describe them in detail, giving each its own line.

• Find one paradox (seeming contradiction) on the cover. Use your 4th (and maybe your 5th) line to describe it.

• Ask a question about the American Dream, the title, or any aspect of Fitzgerald's life.

• Answer it, using one image from your first three lines.

2. Performing a group reading of Chapter 1 together: Click here for your group journal.

• Artists (3): Sketch images/characters that stand out to you.

• Fact-gatherers (5): Gather the facts about characters.

• Mappers (2): Map out East Egg vs. West Egg, who lives where, characteristics of each. Pay attention to setting and how it relates to the characters.

• Actors (4): Read aloud the parts of Daisy, Nick (the narrator), Tom, Jordan.

• American Dream seekers (5): You're seeking of evidence of the American Dream.

• Poets (4): You're finding beautiful, beautiful lines.

• Biographers (4): Find evidence of F. Scott's (and Zelda's) own experiences in the book.

3. Signing up for our Gatsby fishbowl discussions; remember that must sign up once to be a leader and once to be a discusser (and those cannot be on the same date)

Click HERE for the fishbowl overview and sample syllabus (also on the website/given out in class).

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: 

• Finish reading Chapter 1 on your own and add at least one more comment to our class journal (be sure to put your name by what you're doing).

• Make sure your parents have completed the survey. You will turn this in tomorrow.

2. For FRIDAY: Finish Chapter 2; finish your first symbol trace on your personal blog.

Empathy, Money, and the American Dream: March 12, 2018

Focus: Today, is wealth making or breaking the American dream?

1. Warming with three good things, a reminder of how the note cards work (with a few of your favorites), and the presentation order

• On each note card, please write your name and the name of the presenter.

• Jot down ONE POSITIVE THING for each speech. The more specific, the more meaningful it will be to them.

2. Performing the second half of our empathy monologues

3. Wrapping up with a Friday freewrite on empathy (I know it's Monday)

4. If time allows, meeting The Great Gatsby vocabulary on www.quizlet.com (if you need to rejoin the class, here's the link: https://quizlet.com/join/GmEMFkrpJ)

HW:
1. For TOMORROW (Tuesday): Complete our Gatsby opening survey! It will take you about 15 minutes. Click HERE for the link.

2. For THURSDAY: Finish interviewing your parents and bring their responses to class to. Click HERE if you need a copy of the interview questions.

3. For next MONDAY: Learn The Great Gatsby vocabulary for a brief assessment.

Making and Breaking the American Dream: March 13, 2018

Focus: Does wealth make or break the American dream?

1. Warming up with your survey results about wealth and power

• New folder: The Great Gatsby or "Wealth and Power" or "The American Dream"
• New document: In-class thoughts

2. Meeting poets, business people, politicians, and statisticians to brainstorm ideas on the current status American Dream (10 min)

In your "In-class Thoughts" document, please try the following with a buddy as you watch the videos:

• Write a one-sentence summary of what the video is about.

• Write a one-sentence summary of what larger point the video is making and/or how the video responds to today's focus question (is wealth making or breaking the American dream?).

• Write a brief personal response to the video. This can include reflection, opinions, connections, analysis, reaction, questions, or all of the above.

Here are the videos (pick two or three)

Both Sides:

(good spoken word poem) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDNUGMMxLk   (3:41)

Dream Is Dying:

• http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-dream-illustrated-with-legos-brookings-200611923.html  (3:40)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1I_AfdNHM8&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active  (3:26)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tUIx5DlxaI&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active   (3:25)

Dream is Thriving:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QL64pNdzLk&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active  (5:25)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8dXKMTUAtk&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active (3:44)

• President Trump on Rebuilding the American Dream

• Former First Lady Michelle Obama on the American Dream

3. Meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald and brainstorming his relationship with wealth and the American Dream

• Click HERE for the four film reflection questions.

HW:
1. For TODAY (Tuesday): Complete our Gatsby opening survey! It will take you about 15 minutes. Click HERE for the link.

2. For THURSDAY: Finish interviewing your parents and bring their responses to class. Click HERE if you need a copy of the interview questions.

3. For next MONDAY: Learn The Great Gatsby vocabulary for a brief assessment.

Performing Our Empathy Monologues: March 8, 2018

Focus: What can we learn about empathy through writing?

Please turn in your school copies of Fences.

1. Warming up with baked goods and an overview of how the note cards work and establishing presentation order

• On each note card, please write your name and the name of the presenter.

• Jot down ONE POSITIVE THING for each speech. The more specific, the more meaningful it will be to them.

2. Performing our empathy monologues

3. Wrapping up, if time allows, with a Friday freewrite on empathy

HW:
1. If you have any make-up work to do for this class, take care of it over the long weekend.

2. If you're all caught up, enjoy your long weekend!

Preparing Your Performance: March 7, 2018

Focus: How do we publish and present our monologues?

Please turn in your school copies of Fences.

1. Warming up with the first thing you say to us

2. Offering you the opportunity to polish your essay with stage directions and/or a dedication

• Click HERE for yesterday's editing slides.

3. Structuring your one-minute speech/performance

Option 1: Use the entire minute to deliver 60 seconds of your monologue. 

• Time it in advance. 
• Memorization is definitely not required, and I recognize that you will not be making consistent eye contact with the audience. 
• You'll need to use your VOICE (emotion, pauses, etc.) to connect with us.

Option 2: Use most of the minute to talk about the process.

• Why did you pick this character?
• How did help you establish empathy with this person? 
• What did you learn / struggle with / accomplish?
• Pick one small sampling of the monologue to share.

Option 3: Half & half--use 30 seconds to talk about the process, 30 seconds of monologue

• (Click HERE for the presentation rubric--very similar to all the ones you've had this year.)

• You do not need to use any slides, but you're welcome to if it helps.

HW:

1. Submit your monologue to www.turnitin.com by 3:00 pm today. 

2. Figure out what you're going to present to us tomorrow and practice.

Final Editing: March 6, 2018

Focus: How can we use peer feedback to improve our writing?

1. Warming up with a short and friendly assessment on Grammar You Must Know #7: Sentence Fragments

2. Offering you the Empathy Monologue Peer Editing Slides

3. Peer editing each other's monologues using the rubric: silent editing, then brief conferences

4. Revising your drafts based on your peer editor's comments

HW:
1. Finish and revise your monologue based on today's feedback and e-mail me or come in for a quick conference if you need help. 

2. Big deadlines approaching:

• The final draft of your Empathy Monologues is due in www.turnitin.com by 3:00 pm on Wednesday, March 7 (THAT'S TOMORROW!).

• One-minute Empathy Monologue speeches will be delivered on Thursday, March 8.

• You will receive a 25-point Academic Character grade for turning in your monologue on time.

3. Heads-up: We are starting The Great Gatsby on March 12. I recommend getting your own copy of this book (though we do have school copies available).

Different Monologue Voices: March 5, 2018

Focus: How can we apply moments, movements, and meanings to our own monologues?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Reading / listening to different monologue voices: "Knock Knock" and "Eleven"

Moments: What moments from this person's life are being described? Which words/phrases make you pause and take a moment?

Movements: What movements--physical or metaphorical--do you notice in the monologue? Where do you see a shift? 

Meanings: What realizations has this character come to about himself/herself or others? About the world?

3. Drafting and self-editing your monologues

In the voice of your character...

• Are you focusing on a singular moment or pattern? (moments)

• Are you identifying a shift in your perspective of yourself, others, or the world around you? (movements)

• Are you coming to a bigger realization about yourself, others, or the world around you? What do you understand better or differently now? (meanings)

• If it helps, you can take a sneak peek at tomorrow's peer editing slides.

HW:
1. Finish and revise your monologue based on today's feedback and e-mail me or come in for a quick conference if you need help. Tomorrow will be our last day of monologue editing.

2. Big deadlines approaching:

• The final draft of your Empathy Monologues is due in www.turnitin.com by 3:00 pm on Wednesday, March 7.

• One-minute Empathy Monologue speeches will be delivered on Thursday, March 8.

• You will receive a 25-point Academic Character grade for turning in your monologue on time.

3. Heads-up: We are starting The Great Gatsby on March 12. I recommend getting your own copy of this book (though we do have school copies available).

Three Monologues: March 2, 2018

Focus: What themes can we understand from analyzing Troy's and Rose's monologues?

1. Warming up with one paragraph, one sentence, one word (from yesterday's article)

2. Reading Rose's and Troy's monologues with the MMM approach and an impromptu fishbowl

Moments: Which words in each monologue make you pause and take a moment? (Gut reaction)

Movements: What movements do you notice in this monologue? Physical movements? Shifts? Patterns?

Multiple Meanings: What larger meanings can you take away from this monologue? What does it help you understand about this character? About the whole play? About our country? About power? About empathy?

3. Reviewing the guidelines and expectations for the Empathy Monologues

4. Drafting your monologue: Click HERE for the writing exercises (starts on slide 24)


HW:
1. FINISH THE ROUGH DRAFT OF YOUR MONOLOGUE. On Monday, you will receive your last Attempt and Completion grade (20 points) for this essay.

2. Big deadlines approaching:

• The final draft of your Empathy Monologues is due in www.turnitin.com by 3:00 pm on Wednesday, March 7.

• One-minute Empathy Monologue speeches will be delivered on Thursday, March 8.

• You will receive a 25-point Academic Character grade for turning in your monologue on time.

3. Heads-up: We are starting The Great Gatsby on March 12. I recommend getting your own copy of this book (though we do have school copies available).

Why We Still Read Fences: March 1, 2018

Focus: What larger themes can develop from Fences, and why should we care about them?

1. Warming up with Grammar You Must Know #7: Sentence Fragments

2. Discussing the final shot of the film: What does it make you think about?

3. Analyzing Fences in grid groups:

• Using your exit ticket questions as prompts

• Reading "Here's Why the Racially Charged Fences Is Still Relevant Today" and discussing it with the 4As

4.  Debriefing as a group:

One word:

• On a surface level, this play is about...
• On a deeper level, this play is about...

Full thoughts:

• Take one of the words on the board, and expand it into a full theme. In other words, what does August Wilson want us to understand better or differently about ______?

HW:
1. We will be drafting your empathy monologues tomorrow; bring Fences, your laptop, and make sure you have finished the exercises we started in class.

2. Please make sure your Reader's Journal blogs are complete (they were due yesterday).