Jump Off (2-3 mins.)
- When an assignment for collection is not turned in on time (more often than not, at the beginning of class), you will not receive credit and will come in for homeroom detention the following day, a block of time during which you are expected to wrap up your work. Failure to stay for homeroom will result in a referral for central detention.
- Make sure that your homework assignments are entirely completed, as partial completion = incomplete and will also result in no credit and homeroom detention.
- You will not receive full credit for a homework assignment turned in late for several reasons. First, I do not want to give you the wrong impression about the important soft skill of responsibility by seeming to disregard tardiness, thus aiding in the development of bad habits that could potentially negatively impact the rest of your life. Also, I do not want to contribute to grade inflation. (For example, a student that takes four additional days to complete an assignment has had many more hours than his or her peers and might therefore produce work that is an inflated representation of skill level based on the parameters of the assignment.) At best, a homework assignment turned in late will receive and ineffective score of 64%.
- I will not always accept homework turned in late. If an assignment has already been gone over in class or if I have already scored and provided feedback upon an assignment, I will not accept that work late.
- As always, if you have trouble on an assignment, you should let me know before class (preferably long before class!) so that I can assist you in any way possible.
S. the C. (5-8 mins.)
--agenda/HW
Thinking, Writing, and Looking Ahead Activity -- The Alchemist--Quick Write #4 (10-20 mins.)
--write for 8 minutes in response to the prompt below:
- Part of growing up is recognizing that people whose job it is to take care of us--parents, teachers, and other adults in authority--are human, just as we are, and have experienced the same kinds of difficulties that we have. Think about a time when you had a moment of insight into the life of an adult close to you. Perhaps you felt sympathy with that person because of something he or she had gone through? Maybe you heard a story about something that had happened to this person when he or she was younger? Write about this moment of insight.
- What did you write about? Why?
- Consider the questions below. In a few minutes, I am going to draw cards and populate the front board.
- What is poetry?
- Why do we study poetry?
- How should a reader go about purposefully reading a piece of poetry?
- What might it mean to "speak the language" of poetry while annotating?
Transition (1-2 mins.)
--Please pick up a copy of the halfsheet titled "Poety Protocol--Mary Oliver's "The Journey".
Poetry Analysis Practice Activity -- Mary Oliver's "The Journey" (10-20 mins.)
--Step 1: Familiarize ourselves with the poetry protocol.
--Step 2: Run the poetry protocol on the poem titled "The Journey". I will be around with the poem momentarily.
--Step 3: Confer, compare, and clarify in groups of three (formed via a drawing of cards).
--Step 4: Engage in a whole-class share-out via a drawing of cards. (As this occurs, I will mark up a class copy of the poem on the SMART Board.)
Teambuilding/Writing/Speaking/Looking Ahead Activity -- Positive/Negative Life Event Graphs (remainder of class)
--finish the final copy of your graph and place your best work in the black basket on the front table--make sure that your work aligns with the checklist below:
- Clearly display full name on the paper
- Label "x" and "y" axis
- Include five specific positive events and five specific negative events
- Label event points with legible/neat printing and correct spelling
- Include a picture for each high and each low (colored illustrations = optional)
- Connect points using a straight edge
- read your free reading book
- conduct a "first-draft" reading of the next set of pages of The Alchemist as directed
--Due to the way that last week played out, please complete a total of 45 minutes of Membean training by 11:59 PM this Thursday, 2/7 (see the "English Department Membean Routine" sheet). Any minutes completed either last week or this week count!
HW (Class Preparation/Take-Home Assessment)
--Reminder: If the policy information reviewed today pertains to you, make sure to come for homeroom tomorrow.
--FYI: I will accept graphs at the beginning of next class block for anyone needing to finish.
--Read pages 65-84 of The Alchemist. Demonstrate your best skill level in "first-draft" reading, aiming to both basically comprehend the text and respond to the following questions:
- How does Coelho continue portraying his "Four Obstacles" philosophy through his characters?
- Why do the characters that we encounter in the novella say what they say, do what they do, etc.? What are human beings really like?
- How does this section of the reading connect to Mary Oliver's poem "The Journey" that we began studying in class today?
Reminder: the nature of a typical “first-draft” reading of a difficult text:
- A gist reading = “survival mode” in order to understand/comprehend the text on a literal level
- Ask the “curious questions”
- Basic comprehension is essential if any deeper understanding is to occur.
- Easier with some sort of defined purpose (therefore, often a purposeful reading)
- Most effective when it is still somewhat active reading (annotate: jot down curious questions, jot down notes related to your defined purpose[s], etc.)
- a "60/40" reading assessment
- a discussion geared around your "first-draft" reading
--Continue thinking about the following questions:
HW (Class Preparation)
--Read at least 10 pages of your free reading book between now and next class. Your book must be finished by mid-March. ALWAYS BRING YOUR FREE READING BOOK TO CLASS!
Miscellaneous
- Research Unit: What might you argue with regard to your research topic?
- I would like for us to head back over to the library again sometime soon!
- End-of-Course Assignment: What is your "why?"?
--Read at least 10 pages of your free reading book between now and next class. Your book must be finished by mid-March. ALWAYS BRING YOUR FREE READING BOOK TO CLASS!
- "Think before you speak. Read before you think" (Fran Lebowitz).
--Consider working toward achievement of your S.M.A.R.T. Goal. Your deadline is likely approaching!
On the backburner:
On the backburner:
- Library
- print a promising source procured from a database
- back at the classroom, engage in active/purposeful reading as per the same directions given on last AoW
