AP Lit: Last of True Grit, Opening of Our Work with J. Alfred Prufrock

This Monday and Tuesday, will be putting a bookmark in our work with True Grit.  We will inevitably come back to Portis and his work because that's how this class works -- building connections, finding patterns, reading and re-reading, uncovering layers and intentions.

Verse 15.

We'll open with a Verse 15.  Trying to name what I want us to be doing each class, opening with a cold reading and a close reading and annotation.  Verse on days we've been focused on prose.  Prose on the days we've been focusing on verse.

So today, thanks to my friends on the #aplitchat Twitter chat (click on it -- it's a real thing and they are neat folks) we'll be looking at Barbara Crooker's "And Now It's October" via The Writer's Almanac.

15 mins.  We're going to hold ourselves to that.  We can always continue the discussion . . . on the blogs.

Elements of Fiction & Sketchnoting.

Extending from our work with the LEGO metaphors, we'll identify the key elements of fiction & determine Portis' development of each in True Grit.

We will use this as the basis for our first intentional work with sketchnoting as I will show you techniques for turning doodles into ideas and ideas into pre-writing.

I may have posted this list before, but here are a few resources around sketchnoting you may find helpful.

Here are a few resources to help:

First Time Sketchnotes on Sketchnote Army

Sunni Brown's Doodle Revolution 

And...

• how-to-draw-faces.jpg (500×286)
  Austin Kleon's faces in simple shapes
  
  
• drawing-alphabet.jpg (500×286)
  Austin Kleon's simple shapes for anything
  
  
• Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces_large.jpg (3150×2100)
  
  
• Developing Your Core Handwritten Font For Sketchnoting
  
  
• Kleon's visual-elements.jpg (500×286)
  
  
• Inside-Cover-Page-1.jpg (1062×762)
  
  
• 6-Fundamentals.png (400×482)
  Letters, Bullets, Frames, Connectors, Shadows, Peeps

Show Your Learning.

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Req'd Critical Creativity Challenge. Sketchnote T.S. Eliot's "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock"  Document your process as you go.  Simple as that.  

Due. Friday. 10.9.15.

Read, Annotate & Literary 3x3.  Eliot's "Prufrock." 

Due. Next Class.

Study. Vocab Quiz 1.

Next Class.  We keep pushing it back because I keep forgetting to remind you.

See the link to the list on the right hand side of this blog.

Expect a Quiz a Week for the Rest of the Month.

Don't Quiz Well?  Retake as Many Times As You Like.

Or. Create a roots-based product to demonstrate your knowledge.

It's all about evidence.

Revise. Synthesis 1. 

Due. ASAP.  Revise as many times as you like.

Final Revision Due. Monday. Oct. 27.  

AP Lit: Guidance Visits & True Grit

Hi folks,

Guidance will be visiting on Monday and Tuesday, so I'm keeping our plans flexible.  Whatever time we are afforded will be focused on True Grit.  The nature of the work will depend entirely on the amount of time we have.  I hope we are able to make something things to help us with True Grit.  I sure do enjoy making things and seeing how making things helps others to understand.

Here are some absolutes.

Synthesis Essay 1.  Due Wednesday.  Submit by sharing your Google doc with me.  Huzzah.
How to Read Lit.  Chapter & prompt week.  See below.
Creative Blog Challenge. Color Palette.  See below.
Vocab.  Quiz NEXT week.  See below.

Blogging.  3+ Posts.  

Due. Friday. 10.2.15 

Creative Challenge.  Create a color palette for True Grit on Colourlovers.com.  Post a link/embed screenshot.  Name each color and provide an overall title for your palette.  Be intentional.  Then explain your intentions with a brief rationale for each color.  

Need an example?  

Read.  How to Read Lit Like a Professor.  "Every Trip Is a Quest . . . "

Answer the Following Question in a Blog Post: Based on your understanding of Foster's POV, what do you believe he would say about True Grit? To what extent would you agree with him?

Due. Friday. 10.2.15

Design & Submit.  Synthesis Essay 1.

Due. Wednesday. 9.30.15

Study. Roots Quiz #1  Monday/Tuesday next week. (We should have taken this last week.)

Use the Quizlet to Help You Study.

Know the Root & What It Means.

Other Evidence of Learning:  In addition to the taking the quiz, you may want to create a roots product that demonstrates your understanding of the roots and what they mean.  Some of us struggle with quizzes as a way of proving we know something, but if we get a chance to use our knowledge, we knock it out of the park.  Consider writing a story, a set of instructions, making a video, recording a podcast, building something on Minecraft or in LEGO, recording a song, drawing a comic strip, or some other way of showing me that you know those roots and what they mean in a way that shows you truly understand. 

Due.  Monday/Tuesday. 10.5-6.15 

AP Lit 3G/4B Update: True Grit, Literary 3x3 & Synthesis Essay and More

Hi folks,

You six are doing a fantastic job of keeping up with my crazy.  The conversations have been strong, the thinking has been even stronger, and I am feeling good about the drafts I am going to receive next week.

Reminder that blog posts are due on Fridays.  Last week you had a Five Card Flickr in the voice of Mattie Ross challenge, this week a Soundtracking True Grit challenge.  (Next week: Color!  The week after?  Sketchnotes!)  The rest of the posts?  Anything related to class and thinking and creativity and drafts and annotations and thoughts and connecting and what not.

Starting NEXT week, I will be holding you to the expectation you connect to another students blog post.  There will be enough content from the weeks prior that you should be able to do this with little trouble.

Next week, True Grit should be completed (Monday for 3G, Tuesday for 4B) and synthesis essay first submission drafts completed as well. (DUE WEDNESDAY!)   We'll dive into the book on Monday & Tuesday and use SCOUT to do some close readings.  We'll also look at a bunch of other writings.  Excerpts. Poetry. Etc.

Here are the two Literary 3x3 Throwdowns from the two classes.  Though you'd like to see what the other is thinking.

Show Your Learning.

Blog. 3+ Posts

Creative Challenge.  Soundtrack True Grit (3+ Songs.)

Due. Friday. 9.25.15

Finish. Reading True Grit.

Due. Monday & Tuesday.  9.28-29.1.15

Annotate.

Design. 1st Submission Draft of Synthesis Essay 1.

Due. Wednesday.  9.30.15

What if we don't have class?  Yay for Google Docs!

AP Lit 4B: Literary 3x3 Throwdown: True Grit & Synthesis Essay Workshop

Literary 3x3 Throwdown: True Grit

On Monday we started with a Literary 3x3 Throwdown over Portis' True Grit.  We used our 3x3 decks from our readings thus far and then uncovered the first 113 pages of True Grit by laying out one card at a time until meaning revealed itself.

Here's that it looked like.

Synthesis Essay Workshop

From there we workshopped our synthesis drafts.  They are excellent exploratory drafts and another working draft is expected in class on Wednesday.

We also discussed blogging and this week's creative challenge: soundtracking True Grit.

Show the Learning.

Read & Annotate.  Complete True Grit 

Due. Tues. 9.29.15

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Creative Blog Post of the Week. Soundtrack True Grit.  How might we use music media to design a soundtrack of three or more songs for True Grit?  Include a rationale for each song include and embed the playlist on your blog as well.

Due. Friday. 9.25.15

Design.  Working Draft.  Synthesis Essay #1

Next Draft Due for Workshopping.  Wednesday, 9.23.15

AP Lit: 3x3s and Time to Blog

Hey folks,

I reloaded the white cabinet with index cards so you can build your 3x3s.  If you take a look here, you'll see how to lay out the card.

1.  Put One Word on Each Card.
2. Lay Them Out in a Grade.
3. Lower Left of Each Card, Put the Last Name of the Work's Creator (i.e. Smith, Portis)
4. Lower Right of Each Card, Put the Title or Identifiable Shorter version (Don't Miss, Grit, etc.)
5. Flip the Cards Over and Number Them in Order to Make Them Easier to Reset.
6.  Put Your Initials In Upper Right of Each Card on the Number Side.

After getting your decks built, try doing the following.

1. Lay out your summer book 3x3s.  See what trends emerge across each others.

2. Mix and match your summer 3x3s.  See if you can make a 3x3 of your summer book out of the cards of others.

3.  Look at 3x3s of True Grit.  What commonalities are you finding?  Try to remix.  Then see if you can make a 3x3 of "I Don't Miss It" out of the True Grit cards.

Be playful.  Experiment.  And DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!  Put it on your blog with video or photo and explanations.

You can then take the rest of class time to work on your blogs/synthesis including the 5 Card Flickr assignment for this week.  Remember, your blogs can be full of your process of developing your essay: prewriting, doodles, sketches, maps, anything at all with a little explanation so I know what I'm looking at.

Show the Learning.

Read & Annotate.  True Grit to Page 113

Due. Tues. 9.22.15

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Creative Blog Post of the Week. Create a 5 Card Flickr in the Voice of Mattie Ross. How might you employ the same techniques as Portis to develop her voice in your work?

Due. Friday. 9.18.15
Design.  Working Draft.  Synthesis Essay #1
Due for Workshopping.  Tuesday, 9.22.15

If you have time . . . 
Turn your Literary 3x3s into Index Card Decks.

AP Lit 3G: True Grit, Blogging & Synthesis Thinking Introduced

True Grit.

Today, we discussed Mattie Ross and how Portis develops her voice in the opening chapters of True Grit.  We identified key lines and discussed them at length.  As a result, we got a little bit behind on our in-class work with Literary 3x3s.  (I will likely leave instructions on what to do while I'm gone as I think you can a) handle it and b) can easily share with me record of your experimenting on Wednesday.) 

Blogging.

Blogging Rubric 2015.
You will be keeping a blog throughout the year on Blogger using your school Gmail account. I've embedded and linked the rubric for blogging here.

What content should you include?  Each week you can expect a creative challenge related to our current focus.  The other two-plus entries may come from day to day work you are doing for class, from creative expression, from general reflections.  After the first week, you should be looking to connect to at least one other thinker in the AP Lit ranks, linking to an idea that inspires you to respond. There are several intentions to the blog:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the readings, viewings, and listenings from class
• Connect and reflect upon one another's ideas
• Reach beyond the walls of our classroom to share our thinking and benefit from other perspectives
• Create a record of learning, illustrating your growth over the space of your senior year

Synthesis Essay.

Writing a synthesis is unlike writing an analytical essay.  Rather than trying to break apart a piece of literature and explain how it works, you instead are trying to connect the dots between multiple works to use as evidence of your thinking -- proving that the big idea assertion you make in your thesis, your greater understanding/observation/truth about the world is held up and evident beyond your opinion.


When working on  your synthesis essays, keep these structural and contextual ideas in mind.

Also Mr. Ryder's feedback shorthand...

Synthesis Essay Rubric 2015 

Show the Learning.

Read & Annotate.  True Grit to Page 113

Due. Tues. 9.22.15

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Creative Blog Post of the Week. Create a 5 Card Flickr in the Voice of Mattie Ross. How might you employ the same techniques as Portis to develop her voice in your work?

Due. Friday. 9.18.15
Design.  Working Draft.  Synthesis Essay #1
Due for Workshopping.  Tuesday, 9.22.15

If you have time . . . 
Turn your Literary 3x3s into Index Card Decks. 

AP Lit: 2B/3B/3G: #AyuhAloha, True Grit, Heart of Darkness, Watchmen, Test Prep, Analysis & More

We have been up to all sorts of things these past couple of weeks.

A great deal of work around tone, Heart of Darkness, on demand writing, True Grit, collaborations, test prep, and a bunch of other stuff as well.  And yes.  It can feel like a lot of stuff all at once right now.

And this week will feel much the same.  This may be fortunate or unfortunate depending upon your point of view.

Analytical & Composition Process Product
Due Friday, April 17

This isn't a piece you need to defend.  This isn't a piece you need to share or present.  Though it could be very rewarding if you did.  And it would make wonderful blog posting.

Remember the expectations here:
Demonstrates your strengths & weaknesses in your analytical process
Demonstrates your strengths & weaknesses in your composition process
Uses evidence to prove the above are true.
Must stand on its own without need for further interpretation.

Pinterest Test Review Boards
Due Friday, May 2nd

Create a set of Pinterest boards to aid in your review, and your peers' review, of three texts to have mentally ready for the open-ended essay at the test.

Your set of boards MUST include pins that will help you to remember:
Characters & Narrators
Structure & Point of View
Conflicts & Resolution
Imagery & Symbolism
Items, Objects of Significance
Settings of Significance
Overarching Themes
These categories are based on trends one can see in the open ended response prompts of the past. 

Now, how you organize your boards is up to your brain.  It may make sense to have one board for each title.  It may make sense to have one board for each category of analysis.  Set it up in a way that makes sense to your brain and has deliberate intentions.

#AyuhAloha & #Remash
Due Dates Are On THIS BLOG POST. If you have not read this, do so POST HASTE!

Test Prep

There will be on-demand writing this week.  And feedback.  And conferences.

I will be recording a two-minute slice of audio feedback for each of you.   From there, if you'd like to meet with me to talk more about your on-demands, we can set up a time.

True Grit & Heart of Darkness
This week's activities will focus on bringing the ideas from those novels together.

Watchmen
Handing these out on Thursday & Friday

HOMEWORK

Blogs: 3+ Posts
Req'd Post: TBA.

Other Work?
See above.