Native Son - Start of Book 2

Last class, we discussed the events at the end of Book 1, from the visit to Ernie's Kitchen Shack to the killing of Mary.

For today you read through page 115.  At the start of class I assigned you a page and asked you to select a quotation from that page - one that gives a sense of Bigger at this point in the book. You followed that with a short reflection: What does this suggest about Bigger? How does he see himself? How has he changed? What concerns does he have?

Then, you met with four different people. With each person you had a short conversation during which you shared your quotations and discussed the similarities and differences.  You kept track of these in a simple chart.

On the back of that page, I asked you to write a conclusion:

• At this point in the novel, Bigger mostly feels ___ because ___. Bigger thinks (insert one of the 5 quotations you worked with today) which means ____.

Journal entries due for Huck Finn

Here is the list of journal entries for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Chapters 1&2 - No journal - group work
Chapters 3-6 - No journal - group work
Chapters 7-13
Chapters 16-18 - No journal entry due - Quiz #2
Chapters 19-23
Chapters 24-26 - No journal entry due - study packet
Chapters 27-30 - No journal entry due - study packet
Chapters 32-35- No journal - group work
Chapters 36-40- No journal - group work
Chapters 41-42

I will also be giving you a grade for your group work, which includes these sections:

Chapters 1-6 - Characters / Beliefs / Themes
Chapters 32-40 - Phelps Plantation

Essay for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Here is a link to the handout describing the letter / essay you will write to conclude our unit on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Phelps' Plantation

Greetings!
I am in Boston for the next several days at the National Council of Teachers of English conference.

Today and tomorrow you will be working in your groups.
Find the directions here: Huck Finn Phelps's Plantation group work

Found poetry!

Today our activity was to create a "found poem" - a poem made up (almost) entirely from words and phrases found in the novel.

For starters we looked at the concept of mob mentality, specifically as it is shown on pages 159-162.  I asked you to gather words and phrases from the book and then craft them into a poem.  Remember from our work with the poetry of Walt Whitman that a poem does not need to rhyme ("I Hear America Singing") but it can rhyme and have a sing-song structure ("O Captain! My Captain!").   For this poem I asked you to use all of the words and phrases you found, plus no more than three of your own.  It is ok to repeat words if you'd like to use that structure.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - quiz 2 and group work

Greetings and happy Thursday!

We'll start today with an individual piece of writing - a quiz.  Please go to this link:  Huck quiz 2

• Please complete your response in a new Google Drive document - use the title "quiz 2 response"
• Be sure to share your work with me

After the quiz you will work with your group.  I'll provide those directions when we are ready to begin.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Quiz 1

For this quiz you may use your book, the notes you created with your group today, or your own annotations.

Click on this link for the quiz.

You may want to cut and paste the directions into a new document and type your answer there.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - small group work begins

Today you will meet with a small group that will stay together for this unit.

You can find a listing of those groups and today's assignment here.

Group 1 Billy Celestina Charlie K Nate	Group 2 Jack B Penelope Matt Charlie T	Group 3 Alleman Emma Elizabeth Andrew Nir
Group 4 David Ashley Jacob Chloe Ying	Group 5 Jack D Nicolette Rachel Julian	Group 6 Evan Alyssa Kevin Kellen

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Calendar

I have posted the calendar for our unit on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn under the "calendars" tab.

Be sure to note the nightly journal entry assignment described on the bottom of that page.

Transcendentalism - In-Class Essay

Here is a link to the essay assignment for today:  Transcendentalism In-Class Essay

I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read through all of the directions and ask me questions to clarify anything before you start.

Good luck!

Transcendentalism - Bringing Our Ideas Together

Our unit on Transcendentalism is coming to a close.  You may be wondering what that word means, since we haven't really talked about it.  What we wave been working with for the past four weeks (or so) is a look at a range of texts:

• Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance"
• Henry David Thoreau's Walden
• Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"
• Into the Wild (d. Sean Penn, 2007)

Along with that, we've worked with ideas from these texts in a wide range of formats, including:

• Individual work in packets, including focused attention on specific chapters ("Higher Laws" and "Conclusion" - both returned to you)
• Personal writing while spending time in nature (you kept this packet)
• Group work on sections of Walden (posted on the blog)
• Small group projects connecting ideas from "Civil Disobedience" to examples of similar actions across history and around the world, as well as right here in the USA (submitted to me - posted in the classroom today)
• Mini-speeches making personal connections to Thoreau's principles (you received feedback on yours)
• Individual writing about "Self-Reliance" in connection with an articulation of our own values (on Google Drive)
• Fishbowl discussions about Walden 
• Notebook pass written discussion about "Self-Reliance"

We will start today with a discussion about the film, based around questions you raise and these:

• What can you learn about yourself when you are away from distractions and alone? Do you look for opportunities to get away?
  
• Christopher got rid of all savings and destroyed his IDs. What are some of the implications of doing this?
  
• What are some material items in your life you could definitely do without?
  
• Chris carved into the wood, “No longer to be poisoned by civilization, he flees and walks along the land to become lost
  in the wild.” Do you ever feel that civilization “poisons” you?
  
• If so, what ways does civilization “poison” us?
  
• Christopher gave himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp. Have you ever wanted to change your name and if so, why?
  
• What are some decisions you saw Christopher make which you could consider unsafe?
  
• What was the best way you saw Christopher use an unlikely resource in this movie?
  
• We find out Christopher’s father had a child from a previous marriage, along with other family issues he kept from his family. How do family secrets like this hurt children?
• Do you have anyone in your family who seems to view the world much differently than you do? What do your interactions with them look like?
• Do you ever feel like you are the person in your family who is different than everyone else? What is hard about being in that position?
  
• Throughout Christopher’s journey, he met and befriended several people. How would you react if someone like
  Christopher appeared in your life out of nowhere? Would you welcome him? What questions would you ask him?

• Do you ever wish your life was drastically different than it currently is? Why or why not? How far would you go to change it?
  
• What influence does society/your peers have on how you live your life?
  
• Christopher appreciates the beauty of the wilderness and nature throughout his journey. When was the last time you did the same? What was it like to get away from your normal surroundings and experience something different?
  
• What are some societal things currently going on in our world that frustrate you?
  
• Christopher kills and cleans a large moose for food. Have you ever been hunting? If so, was it exciting to hunt an animal? What was the worst part?
  
• What lessons does Christopher learn from the older gentleman (Mr. Franz) who he befriends? What does Mr. Franz learn from Christopher?
• Christopher meets people along the way which teach him many life lessons. Who is someone you randomly met
  that unexpectedly taught you something about life?
  
• He was very persistent with his goal of reaching Alaska. Have you ever had a goal everyone said you wouldn’t be
  able to accomplish? Did you accomplish it? How did it feel?
  
• Was he prepared for the Alaskan wilderness? How could have he been better prepared?
  
• When Chris discovers he’s eaten the wrong plant, what went through his mind?
• After evaluating what you’ve seen, would you consider Christopher wise, stupid, or both? Why? 
• ** In what ways do Chris's thoughts and actions align with the idea of Thoreau and Emerson?  In what ways does he go against them?

Here is a link to the full assignment: Transcendentalism In-Class Essay

Civil Disobedience in the United States

For today you read most of Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," exploring his thinking about what a person is to do in the face of a government or laws they disagree with and want to change.

You will work with a group of 2-3 people, as noted below, to create a "newspaper" about an example of Civil Disobedience in the United States.

• Billy, Penelope, Charlie T - Malala
• Jack B, Celestina, Kevin - Anna Hazare
• Alleman, Emma - MLK (Selma)
• David, Ashley, Julian - Tank Man - Tienanmen Square
• Evan, Alyssa, Nate - Whiskey Rebellion
• Jack D, Nicolette, Nir - Salt March
• Charlie K, Elizabeth, Kellen - March on Washington
• Matt, Andrew, Chloe - Boston Tea Party
• Jacob, Rachel, Ying - Lunch counter protests

First, you will work with your group to find and research an act of civil disobedience.  There are many ways to do this using various search tools and databases.  Once you have a choice you must clear it with me before proceeding.  Each choice will only be allowed to be used once - that way we will have a variety of examples to view.  For example, we spoke about Rosa Parks in class the other day, so consider that example taken.

You will create your newspaper on the computer, using whatever program you want.  I think it will be best to have all of the information from the list below on two pieces of paper - it might be rather cramped if you try to put it all on one.

• An image / images
• A headline
• 3-4 bullet points (sub-headlines) containing details of what people were protesting, the action(s) they took, and the results
• A quotation from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"
• One body paragraph of the newspaper story in which you link this example to Thoreau's ideas.  Be sure to clarify what Thoreau's words mean and how they apply to this situation.

Please complete this by the end of the period - print it out or send it to me digitally.

Mini Speeches - Personal Connections to Thoreau

As I described at the end of class today, you will be giving a short speech on Monday.  These will be no more than two minutes long and must include the following:

• Two quotations from Thoreau
• Analysis of what the quotations mean
• A personal story or other connection you want to make (to a TV show, current event, story of a friend, etc.)
• Synthesis - connection between the two stories and how the ideas overlap and inform each other (how your story helps you to understand Thoreau, how Thoreau helps you to think about your story)

The speeches will be evaluated using this rubric:

Thoreau Speech Rubric

Our notes on "Economy"

Here is a link to the collection of notes you created about Thoreau's "Economy" - the first chapter of Walden.

Thoreau's Walden - opening thoughts and a look at "Economy"

Greetings!

Today you will be working with a partner to explore an assigned section of "Economy."  Unless stated, use the section breaks on the page to guide where to start and stop.

1. p. 7-10
2. p. 10-13
3. p. 13-17
4. p. 17-20 (stop before "When I consider")
5. p. 20-23 (start with "When I consider," stop before "It is the luxurious")
6. p. 23-26 (start with "It is the luxurious")
7. p. 26-29
8. p. 29-32 (stop before "I thus found")
9. p. 32-35 (start with "I thus found")
10. p. 35-38 (stop before "By surveying")
11. p. 38-42 (start with "By surveying")
12. p. 42-45
13. p. 45-47

This handout explains the assignment and will be a template for your work.

Adding to your thoughts about "Self-Reliance"

Here is a list of excerpts from Emerson's "Self-Reliance" - they appear in the same order as they do in the essay.

For today you wrote a paragraph focusing on your selected quotations from the essay, and whether you agree or disagree with Emerson's ideas.

We will now add one more section to your work from today, with the attention focused on you and one last connection to Emerson.

Go to this handout about values and follow the directions.

Getting started with Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

To get us started with Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance," you'll complete this form after reading the first two paragraphs.

In addition to your work on this form you should be annotating your book while reading.

Here is a link to the full text in case you do not have your book with you today.

Here is a document including most of your questions from the form above.

What is the "American Dream"? What are American values?

Today in class we read an opinion piece from the New York Times entitled "Crumbling American Dreams." You can find it by clicking here.

In class we wrote an initial response to it, identified the issues in it that most grabbed our attention, then tried to understand the point Putnam, the author of the article, was making.

We closed class by naming what he is implying are / should be American values, then included our opinion as to whether we agree that should be a value or not.

We'll use those thoughts in class tomorrow as the jumping-off point for our new unit.

*Please remember to buy the next three books: Walden, Civil Disobedience, and Self Reliance.

next books!

As we finish our work with Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby next week, we will turn our attention to a very different set of issues and ideas.

Please purchase these books for Tuesday - all of them are available at the bookstore:

Civil Disobedience - Henry David Thoreau - $1
Walden - Henry David Thoreau - $3
Self Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson - $3

The Great Gastby - peer feedback on essays

Today you will be providing feedback to at least one, hopefully two, other students.  You will also be receiving feedback on your work.

Please use this document to guide your feedback.  Be sure to print it out so I can give it to the writer.

Thanks for your thoughtful attention and hard work!

The Great Gatsby - essay workshop

Today you have class time to work on your essay by preparing an outline for it.

We'll start by looking at some sample paragraphs from the recent quiz.  Open this document and follow along as we discuss the strengths and challenges of each one.

Go to this link and use the document for your work.  Note the number of quotations is merely a suggestion, but should be a good starting point.

For class tomorrow, bring in a copy of your outline, either typed or hand-written.  Please know we will be reading and commenting on each other's work in an effort to better understand the assignment, receive feedback from others, and give feedback to each other.

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 5

Greetings!

I hope you had a great weekend.  Unfortunately I am under the weather and will not be in today.

Please choose a partner to work with for this activity.

For our first quiz last week, I gave you three assertions about chapters 1 and 2 then asked you to prove them by using two quotations from the novel.

For today, you will need to do both parts:

1. Create two assertions about chapter 5.  These can be about characterization, symbolism, the setting, or other aspects of the narrative.
2. For each one, write a paragraph using two pieces of evidence (quotations) from the novel
3. Type out your response, print it, and give it to the sub.

If you finish early, please us the time to read and / or write your next journal response.

See you tomorrow (hopefully!)

Your "America" songs - part 2

Your "America" songs - part 1

Pink Houses and America

Here are videos for the two songs I shared in class:

Pink Houses

America