The First Inch: February 28, 2020

Focus: What rules and conflicts do the early pages of our book club novels establish?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and a round or two of Scattegories to meet Academic Vocabulary, Set 7

2. Enjoying your Book Club Novel

• How do the first few pages of your novel establish this novel's rules?

• What tensions / conflicts are you starting to notice?

3. Chatting with your book club for the final five



HW:

1. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 5 days from today): Projects and papers are due.

2. Next Thursday, March 5: Assigned book club reading and syllabus.

You Gotta Work, Work, Work, Work: February 27, 2020

Focus: How can we turn ideas and outlines into drafts and projects?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and a little reminder that a little frustration and failure are part of the path to beauty and creation

2. Having quick chats with the paper kids and then the project kids

Paper kids:

• Running through the Night-Before Checklist.
• Please make sure your poem as the top of your paper.
• Follow MLA format, including a header, original title, and Works Cited page.

Project kids:

• Be sure to complete your own rubrics,.Print a clean copy of your poem TODAY during class.
• Review the presentation guidelines, remembering that you're not just presenting your project; you're teaching us the poem.
• Sign up for a presentation day (Monday or Tuesday).

3. Working, working, working (and conferencing)

HW and Weekly Plan:

1. FRIDAY: Book club reading day! This will be a laptop-free zone--book club reading only.

2. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 5 days from today): Projects and papers are due.

3. Next Thursday, Mach 5: Assigned book club reading and syllabus.

Wednesday Workshop: February 26, 2020

Focus: How can we improve both the content and style of our timed writings?

1. Warming up an Academic Vocabulary Quiz on Set 6

2. Styling up your essays with a recap of concision and an introduction to active voice

3. Enjoying an old-fashioned workshop



HW and Weekly Plan:

1. THURSDAY: Silent work day on poetry projects and papers; bring what you need.

2. FRIDAY: Book club reading day! This will be a laptop-free zone--book club reading only.

MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 5 days from today): Projects and papers are due.

Pre-Book Clubbing: February 25, 2020

Focus: What foundation do we need to establish to set up our book clubs for success?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day & a little circle storytelling: Academic Vocab, Set 6


2. Setting yourselves up for book club success:

• Your Book Club Rights & Responsibilities

• The shared Google folder; make sure it's shared with everyone in your group and me and has a clear, distinctive label.

• Your Manifesto (click here for a sample)

• The reading schedule (click here for bookmark)

• The syllabus schedule (click here for a sample syllabus)

• Other (reading tickets? Research? Quizzes? Snacks?)

3. Performing a slow read of your novel's first three pages: How do the first pages set up everything you need to know about your novel in terms of setting, characters, point of view, and conflicts?

HW and Weekly Plan:

1. From last week: Make sure you have checked your e-mail or Google doc for my feedback on your poetry project or paper

2. WEDNESDAY: 

• Quiz on Academic Vocabulary, Set 6

• Workshop on Beloved timed writings. If you were absent on Monday, be sure to complete the timed writing before class on Wednesday.

3. THURSDAY: Silent work day on poetry projects and papers; bring what you need.

4. FRIDAY: Book club reading day! This will be a laptop-free zone--book club reading only.

MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 1 week from today): Projects and papers are due.

Writing About Beloved: February 24, 2020

Focus: How can we understand Beloved better or differently through high velocity writing?

Please turn in your school copies of Beloved.

1. Warming up with three good things and our Valentines of the Day

2. Composing a timed writing on Beloved

HW and Weekly Plan:

1. From last week: Make sure you have checked your e-mail or Google doc for my feedback on your poetry project or paper

2. TUESDAY: Bring your book club novel to class, along with your signed proposal.

3. WEDNESDAY workshop on your Beloved timed writings. If you were absent on Monday, be sure to complete the timed writing before class on Wednesday.

4. THURSDAY: Silent work day on poetry projects and papers; bring what you need.

5. FRIDAY: Book club reading day! This will be a laptop-free zone--book club reading only.

MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 1 week from today): Projects and papers are due.

This Is Not a Story To Pass On: February 21, 2020

Focus: Why is Beloved not a story to pass on?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and some of Katie's watercolors

2. Offering you each a little gift and using that gift to examine Beloved's conflicts and tone

• What conflicts are exposed at the beginning of each part?

• What happens to these conflicts by the end of each part? If they're worse, what makes them worse? If they're resolved to some extent, how did they get resolved? 

• How would you describe the tone of each part (based on the last inch of each part)?

• What are the THREE most important symbols, motifs, or spaces in each part? How do they connect to the driving conflict of each part?

3. Listening to the final chapter of Beloved with a close reading of "This was not a story to pass on" to unearth themes

• What is this story really about?

• Why is it not a story to pass on?

4. Perusing and commenting on each other's Big Question Blogs to complicate our themes

Remember: If it could be written inside a chocolate Dove wrapper or sewn on a pillow, it's not a complicated enough theme.

Too simple: Morrison in Beloved shows that we shouldn't let our past control us.

Nice and complex: Morrison in Beloved delineates the ways in which the past can overcome the present when we allow either shame or pride to displace hope.

HW:
1. By beddy-bye time:

• Send me your thesis statements and project plans (or swing by for a quick conference).

• Completing this task will be part of your Responsibility and Work Habits grade (for completion, not quality).

2. BY TUESDAY, FEB 25: Please turn in your signed proposal and have a copy of your Book Club Novel in your hands.

3. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 2 weeks from today): Projects and papers are due.

Multiple Choice Practice #2: February 20, 2020

Focus: How can we anticipate the right answer in poetry multiple choice?

1. Warming up with our Valentines of the Day and a quick introduction to Academic Vocab, Set 6

2. Building our ability to anticipate and select the right answer in poetry multiple choice

• Enjoying an individual MMM reading of an old-school sonnet

• Exploring the question stems (minus the answer choices) and developing your answers in pairs

• Selecting the multiple choice answers individually

3. Finalizing our book clubs, if possible, and gathering numbers for book check-out

HW:
1. BY FRIDAY:

• Compose your Big Question Blog on Beloved BEFORE class (our lesson that day hinges on your completed and posted blogs).

• Send me your thesis statements and project plans (or swing by for a quick conference).

• Completing both of these tasks on time will be part of your Responsibility and Work Habits grade (for completion, not quality).

2. BY TUESDAY, FEB 25: Please turn in your signed proposal and have a copy of your Book Club Novel in your hands.

3. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 2 weeks from today): Projects and papers are due.

Looking Ahead to Book Clubs: February 19, 2020

Focus: How do we find the book that's right for us?

1. Warming up with our Valentines of the Day, a Quizlet Live review, and an Academic Vocabulary Quiz on Set 5

2. Introducing ourselves to British Book Clubs; considering how to form effective book clubs

3. Browsing the summaries and first pages of books

Remains of the Day
Pride and Prejudice
Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre
Atonement

4. Forming groups based on book interest and completing your proposals

• Click HERE to see the books most frequently referenced on Q3 of the AP Lit test (if that's part of your decision criteria).

HW:
1. BY FRIDAY:

• Compose your Big Question Blog on Beloved BEFORE class (our lesson that day hinges on your completed and posted blogs).

• Send me your thesis statements and project plans (or swing by for a quick conference).

• Completing both of these tasks on time will be part of your Academic Character grade.

2. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 2 weeks from today): Projects and papers are due.

His Holding Fingers Are Holding Hers: February 18, 2020

Focus: How do the falling action and resolution of Beloved dress its wounds?

1. Warming up with three good things and our Valentines of the Day

2. Revisiting Beloved's penultimate chapter with high velocity freewrites

3. Enjoying our final Socratic seminar: The ending of Beloved

4. Wrapping up with kudos, questions, and epiphanies

HW:
1. WEDNESDAY (TOMORROW): Quiz on Academic Vocabulary, Set 5

2. BY FRIDAY:

• Compose your Big Question Blog on Beloved BEFORE class (our lesson that day hinges on your completed and posted blogs).

• Send me your thesis statements and project plans (or swing by for a quick conference).

3. MONDAY, MARCH 2-TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (that's 2 weeks from today): Projects and papers are due.

Coming Back to Life: February 14, 2020

Focus: What does it mean to come back to life, and why does it hurt?

1. Warming up with either a redaction or a mini metacognitive of a page from Part 3

• Which words and phrases carried the most weight for you?

• What threshold is Denver crossing here? From what to what?

• What has been the nature of Denver's struggles throughout the book? To what extent is this moment resolving her conflicts?

2. Enjoying a Silent Socratic on the first half of Part 3 as well as anything from earlier in the book that you'd like to discuss further

3. Wrapping up out loud with epiphanies, kudos, and lingering questions

HW:
1. For next TUESDAY, FEB 18: 
Finish reading Beloved and compose your final reading ticket (ever)! This will be an important discussion and our final Socratic, so please make it a priority to complete the reading this weekend.

2. For THURSDAY, FEB 20: Share with me your poetry thesis (along with any outlining you have) or your project plan.

3. For FRIDAY, FEB 21: Finish your Big Question Blog on Beloved BEFORE class. We will be using them for an in-class activity, so make sure they're posted. You will have your in-class writing on Beloved the following Monday.

4. Ongoing: Remember your Serial Reading book?

The Winter of (Dis)Content: February 13, 2020

Focus: How can we train our minds to anticipate the correct multiple choice answers?

1. Warming up by using Academic Vocabulary Set 5 to compose Valentines

2. Circling the wagon with a Shakespearean monologue and a group, out-loud metacognitive

3. Exploring the questions stems (minus the answer choices) and developing your answers

4. Selecting the multiple choice answers in pairs

HW:
1. FRIDAY: Read through the first half of Part 3 (to about page 310); create your ticket for our Socratic.

2. For next TUESDAY, FEB 18: 
Finish reading Beloved and compose your final reading ticket (ever)!

3. For THURSDAY, FEB 20: Share with me your poetry thesis (along with any outlining you have) or your project plan.

4. Ongoing: Remember your Serial Reading book?

124 Was Quiet: February 12, 2020

Focus: Why is 124 quiet in Part 3?

How many of you need an A.P. bulletin?

1. Warming up with Bumper Words and the quiz on Academic Vocabulary, Set 4

2. Entering Part 3 in Beloved and reading without technology

3. Re-introducing the poetry project and paper to you

HW:
1. FRIDAY: Read through the first half of Part 3 (to about page 310); create your ticket for our Socratic.

2. For next TUESDAY, FEB 18: Share with me your poetry thesis (along with any outlining you have) or your project plan.

3. Ongoing: Remember your Serial Reading book?

Nobody Saw Them Falling: February 11, 2020

Focus: How do we effectively gather, deepen, and clarify our thoughts on Part 2?

1. Warming up with collecting our thoughts (literally), musical chairs-style

• In your composition notebook, dedicate a page to "Collecting Part 2." 

• Divide your page into three sections:

• 1. Important objects
• 2. Important descriptions of settings and/or characters
• 3. Important quotations and/or page #s

• As you roam from ticket to ticket, gather your thoughts for Socratic today by jotting down the objects, setting/character descriptions, and quotations you're seeing in others' tickets.

• Anytime something comes up on TWO or more tickets, write it on one of the whiteboards.

2. Enjoying a snowball Socratic!

As you participate in Socratic today, here's what I want you to jot down:

• How was something clarified for you?
• How was your thinking on something deepened?
• What are you still wondering?

3. Wrapping up with kudos, epiphanies, and lingering questions

HW:
1. WEDNESDAY: We will have a short assessment on Academic Vocabulary, List 4. We will not have much time to review in class, so please review on your own. Also, LAPTOPS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED ON READING DAYS FROM NOW ON.

2. FRIDAY: Read through the first half of Part 3 (to about page 310); create your ticket for our Socratic.

3. For next TUESDAY, FEB 18: Share with me your poetry thesis (along with any outlining you have) or your project plan.

Left-Handed Poems: February 10, 2020

Focus: How can you use the other side of your brain to think about a poem's syntax and structure?

1. Warming up with three good things, our Valentine of the Day, and a recommitment to our classroom as a screen-free zone

2. Enjoying James Galvin's "Left Handed Poem"

• Find one line with unusual syntax or an unusual line break.  
• Try rewriting it in a way that makes it more "usual."  
• What did it lose?
• What makes this poem "left-handed"?

3. Trying out your own left-handed poems (or right-handed if you're a lefty like me)

4. Reflecting on the process: How did writing with your non-dominant hand affect your writing? Did it affect your syntax? Line breaks? Other?

HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Finish Part 2 and create your Socratic ticket. This will be a very important Socratic over all of Part 2, so please make every effort to be caught up.

2. WEDNESDAY: We will have a short assessment on Academic Vocabulary, List 4. We will not have much time to review in class, so please review on your own. Also, LAPTOPS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED ON READING DAYS FROM NOW ON.

3. FRIDAY: Read through the first half of Part 3 (to about page 110); create your ticket for our Socratic.

4. For next TUESDAY, FEB 18: Share with me your poetry thesis (along with any outlining you have) or your project plan.

Do You Work for the Department of Redundancy Department? February 6, 2020

Focus: How can we write with stylistic command?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day

2. Eliminating redundancy and wordiness; click here for "Writing with Style"

*The rule: If you have two sentences, two adjectives, two phrases, etc. performing the same function, get rid of one of them. Keep the one that's doing it better.*

3. Enjoying a speed dating session to explore the passage itself:

• Warming up: Summarize the dramatic situation in this passage. 

• Your Spin: What's your take on this father-daughter relationship? This is your thesis.

• The "Facts": No fake news here--stick to the textual passages. Which ones are the most revealing? What literary language might you use to talk about them?

• The Wrap-Up: Lingering questions? Kudos? Brilliant epiphanies?

4. Exploring a sample essay and offering peer feedback on your structure, evidence, and style

HW:

1. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Part 2 (pages 236-256) and complete your reading ticket. Chapter 1 will also be included in this Socratic and is one of the most interesting chapters in the book, so if you didn't give Part 2, Chapter 1 the attention it deserved, please reread it carefully.

2. ASAP: Please complete your metacognitive and submit it if you have not done so.

Remembering, Disremembering, and (Un)Accounting For: February 5, 2020

Focus: How is Morrison experimenting with diction and structure, and why?

1. Warming up with wordplay, Toni Morrison style:

Memory

Rememory

Disremember

Unaccounted

re-

a prefix...used with the meaning “again” or “again and again” to indicate 
repetition, or with the meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate withdrawal or  backward motion

dis-

a Latin prefix meaning “apart,” “asunder,” “away,” “utterly,” or having a     negative, or  reversing force 

un-

a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force 

(thank you, dictionary.com, for the above definitions)

What do these words have in common?

What is the difference between these words?

How do they fit Sethe's journey? Paul D's? Denver's? Beloved's?
Can you make any connection between these words and the way Morrison plays with chronology?

3. Wrapping up with our Valentine of the Day

HW:

1. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Part 2 (pages 236-256) and complete your reading ticket. Chapter 1 will also be included in this Socratic and is one of the most interesting chapters in the book, so if you didn't give Part 2, Chapter 1 the attention it deserved, please reread it carefully.

2. ASAP: Please complete your metacognitive and submit it if you have not done so.

Reconstructing the Elusive Timeline: February 4, 2020

Focus: How does Morrison experiment with chronological structure, and for what purpose?

Notes: 

Chapter 1 will be included in Friday's Socratic. If you have a reading ticket for this chapter, you may turn it in today or save it until Friday.

There will be no new vocabulary this week.

1. Warming up by dividing on conquering

We have 19 chapters so far...how would you like to portion out the fun?

• For each chapter you're in charge of, list and (symbolically?) illustrate the main events from your chapter, paying careful attention to dates and numbers.

• Events from different periods of time go do on different sheets of paper. They might be living on the same page in Beloved, but we're trying to comb them apart right now.

2. Nailing down Beloved's elusive events into a nicely concrete timeline

• Manipulate them into you think you have them roughly in chronological order (in other words, the order in which they actually happened). It's like putting together a puzzle.

• Create a timeline under the board with as many specific dates as possible. 

3. Reflecting on Morrison's intent

It would have been significantly easier for Morrison to write the book in chronological order or to simply include a few flashbacks. 

• How would you describe the order/structure of this book?  

• What might Morrison be up to here? How does the structure of the book relate to the novel's emerging motifs and themes?

HW:
1. For WEDNESDAY: Bring your book to class for reading time. Also, if you didn't give Part 2, Chapter 1 the attention it deserved, please reread it carefully.

2. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Part 2 (pages 236-256) and complete your reading ticket. Chapter 1 will also be included in this Socratic and is one of the most interesting chapters in the book.

3. ASAP: Please complete your metacognitive and submit it if you have not done so.

The Full Q2: February 3, 2020

Focus: How do we improve our prose timed writing skills?

Note: No new vocabulary this week.

1. Warming up with three good things and our Valentine of the day

2. Trying out a full Q2 timed writing with a focus on close reading

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Finish reading the first Chapter of Part 2 and complete your reading ticket.

• If the weather gets exciting, stay up with the reading schedule on the bookmark; if we didn't have class Tuesday, we would combine the two reading assignments into a Socratic on Friday.

2. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Part 2 (pages 236-256) and complete your reading ticket.

3. ASAP: Please complete your metacognitive and submit it if you have not done so.