Eng 9: Of Mice & Tiny Houses & Narrative Reflections & Lots of Goings On . . .

I realized that I have not updated the blog for English 9 in far too long!  Ack! Oversight!  Not intentional at all!   (And we know how much I preach intention -- so this is NOT good.)

Since the week before Turkey Break, we have been focused on reading Of Mice and Men.  Two of the three classes have finished the novel, the other is nearly there.

We are reading with a bigger purpose in mind.  We have a design challenge: How might we design tiny houses for the characters of Of Mice and Men? 

So while we are going to take a look at the conflicts and plot and characters in the novel, we are doing so because need to know about these characters and their needs so we may design for them, just as we designed for our users in the Cardboard Challenge.

MONDAY and TUESDAY this week.

READING.  We started with me reading the end of the book aloud and brief discussions of what happens to Lennie, George and the rest of the crew.  

STATIONS.  Then we broke into a three station rotation.

1. No Red Ink/Quizlet for Roots 6.  Complete the No Red Ink assignment, get familiar with Roots 6.

2. Pre-Writing and Getting Started on Narrative Writing Assessment 2: Lesson of the Cardboard Challenge

3. DISCOVERY Phase for Of Mice & Tiny Houses Design Challenge.   Explore the tiny house resources provided and complete Notice/Wish/Wonder graphic organizers.

Each class ended up in a slightly different spot because, well, every class is different and has different needs.  What follows here is the timeline for when the various work is due so you can use this to manage your time and all of the goings on.

SHOW YOUR THINKING.

WRITE.  

NARRATIVE WRITING ASSESSMENT 2: Lesson of the Cardboard Challenge.

Tell the story of a lesson you learned from completing the Cardboard Challenge. 

See the rubric in Google Drive.

Period 4B/4G. WORKING DRAFT Due Wednesday/Thursday 11.30.16/12.1.16.

Period 2B.  WORKING DRAFT Due Monday 12.5.16

Period 4B/4G.  2nd WORKING DRAFT Due Friday/Monday 12.2.16/12.5.16.

Period 2B.  2nd WORKING DRAFT Due Wednesday 12.7.16.

Period 4B/4G.  1st SUBMISSION DRAFT.  TURN IT IN.  Due Tuesday/Wednesday 12.6.16/12.7.16

Period 2B.  1st SUBMISSION DRAFT.  TURN IT IN.  Due Friday 12.9.16

READ/WATCH/LISTEN RESPOND.   

DISCOVERY Phase Materials of Tiny House Design Challenge.  

COMPLETE.   3 Notice/Wish/Wonder Organizers.  Keep asking yourself: How might we use this knowledge to help design a tiny house for the characters in Of Mice and Men?  Investigate for a purpose.  When you are noticing, when you are wondering, when you are wishing, look for connections to the needs of these characters.

Period 4G.  Due Friday 12.2.16

Period 2B/4B.  Due Monday 12.5.16

Of Mice & Tiny Houses DISCOVERY Resources

• Experience of Building a Tiny House
  • Couple's quest to settle down in mini-home encounters unexpected roadblock - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
  • Tiny house in Richmond is home to bigger life - Central Maine 
    "Waterville"
  • National tiny house building code could make tiny living safer, easier in Maine — Homestead — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine
  • Living Big In A Tiny House - YouTube
  • The Tiny Home Built By A Bad-Ass Single Mom - YouTube
  • Couple Builds Tiny House for Just $420! - YouTube
• Young Builders of Tiny Houses
  • The Scrap Shack
  • Video showcases Maine teenager living 'off grid' in tiny house - #Maine
• Tiny & Small House Architects & Builders
  • Meet the Maine Amish community making tiny houses, sheds by hand — Homestead — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine
  • Builder of tiny homes predicts pint-sized housing trend - Central Maine
  • Maine's Original Tiny House Company
  • Jim Bahoosh has completed a small house on Vimeo
  • Small Planet Homes | Holland & Foley Architecture
• Designing a Tiny House
  • Moving on Up in Maine - to a Teeny Tiny House | Maine Public
  • 41 of the Most Impressive Tiny Houses You’ve Ever Seen
  • Sustainable House Sketch Book | WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives
  • Small — but not tiny — houses right size for many | WGME
  • Stylish designer houses made of cardboard - CNN.com
• Life in California for Migrant Workers in the 1930s
  • The Migrant Experience - Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
  • Depression Era: 1930s: Depression | Picture This
  • The Migrant Experience - Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress 
    "The Recording of Folk Music in Northern California"
  • About this Collection - Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress

STUDY.  VOCAB.

Roots 6 Quiz. 

Thursday/Friday 12.8.16/12.9.16

STUDY. MUGS.

No Red Ink Quiz.

Commonly Confused Words I

Take by Thursday 12.8.16  (Already available.  Take when you are ready.)

Eng 9: Tiny House Project Rubric and Checklist

We started today with the Alcohol Awareness video.

From there we discussed the Tiny House, Big Dreams design challenge and collaborated on designing a rubric.

I took our notes from the marker board, the conversation we had, and developed this single point rubric.

Tiny House, Big Dreams  Design Challenge

Single Point Rubric

Criteria	Evidence of Exceeding the Standard (clever, insightful, unique, powerful, meaningful, professional)	What Meeting the Standard Looks Like	Evidence of Needs for Improvement (gaps, missing pieces or evidence, incomplete thoughts)
Prototype Quality (MEDIA)		I like how your prototype looks like a finished product that you can present to the class; I like how there are no obvious signs that you didn’t get it finished -- even though there may be ways in which you might improve it; I like that it shows evidence you understand how to use the media you chose to solve the problem in an effective way
Text Connections (READING)		I like how your prototype clearly shows numerous accurate connections to the characters’ needs from the book; I like how your explanations include page numbers and quoted text as evidence to show that you really know what you are talking about; I like how you wrote or recorded your explanations
Facts & Figures (RESEARCH)		I like how you’ve identified the essential costs of building the prototype (roofing, exterior, heating, lumber, plumbing, doors and windows, electrical) and the essential specifications (HxWxL, sq. ft, footprint, room and feature layout) and identified the source of your numbers using a proper MLA formatted bibliography
PRESENTATION (LISTENING & SPEAKING)		I like how your presentation was clear and easily understood; even if you weren’t working from a script, you seemed very well prepared and comfortable sharing the information about your tiny house;  you were able to field and answer questions asked about your tiny house
MUGS (MUGS)		I like how any writing included is properly spelled and features proper use of its/it’s, to/too/too and capitalization
Empathy (HABITS of MIND)		I like how you clearly show an understanding of these characters’ needs and how to meet them
Timeliness (HABITS of MIND)		I like how you turned it in within 24 hours of the agreed upon due date

Design Challenge Checklist (And the DEEP Design Thinking Phases connected)

1. All Four Dreamers’ Needs Identified (EMPATHY Ph)
1. Quotes and Page Numbers Found
2. Specific Needs for Each Character Found
2. Tiny House Dimension and Specifications Researched (DISCOVERY)
1. Dimensions and Features of a Tiny House Identified
2. Costs of Construction Researched
3. Tiny House Prototype Designed and Constructed (EXPERIMENT)
1. Tiny House Designed
1. Dreamers Needs Show Up in the Design
2. Created in Wood, Cardboard, LEGO, Minecraft, Drawing, or Something Else

4. Tiny House Prototype Shared & Given Feedback (PRODUCE)

1. Plan and deliver 3 to 5 minute presentation
2. You Might Want to Put All of Your Information in a Keynote, Google Doc, Google Slides, Prezi, (or another presentation format)
3. Get Feedback from 4 Corners Feedback session after presentations

5. Written Reflection (WRITING - new rubric and criteria to come after presentations)

NOTE FOR BLOGGING!  Any and all of the work above can be posted on your blog to demonstrate your understanding of the various standards.  The graphic organizers we have used could all be evidence if they are embedded into your blog posts.

SHOW YOUR THINKING.

Blog.

1+ Posts.

Due. Friday. 12.11.15.

Critical Creativity Challenge: Show Your Work -- Tiny House Challenge. Share drawings, doodles, and the process of creating your tiny house.

Design Challenge. Tiny House, Big Dreams.

Complete Design. (See Rubric and Checklist)

Prepare. Presentation.

Due. Friday 12.11.15.

Study.

Roots List 6.

Quiz. Wednesday. 12.9.15

Eng 9: Art and Tiny Houses and Designing and Of Mice and Men

For DreamTime today, we'll go digging into some online art galleries to find art pieces that represent the characters in Of Mice and Men as well as ourselves.  Any of this work would make for fantastic blogging and could potentially demonstrate both your creativity and your reading standards.

After DreamTime we'll get right into designing our Tiny Houses.  We'll use a modified version of a  technique that Google uses to redesign its tools. I call our version 8 Box.

Step 1.  Fold a piece of paper into 8 boxes.

Step 2.  You will have 60 seconds to doodle your ideas for a tiny house in Box 1.  

Steps 3-9.  You will have another 60 seconds to doodle in the next available box.  You may expand on your ideas from Box 1.   Or you may start a completely new idea.  Keep in mind the research and empathy you have done.

Step 10.  You have 10 minutes to doodle and sketchnote and label your design for a Tiny House for Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks.  We will be sharing these, giving and receiving feedback.  Make  sure you title your design.  

Step 11.  Feedback round via sticky notes.  You'll be using tiny sticky notes to share feedback.

Step 12.  Use the feedback to help make decisions in your team as you embark on creating your prototype!   

Step 13. BUILDDDDDDDD!  MAKKKKKKEEEE!!  

SHOW YOUR THINKING

Blog.

1+ Posts.

Due. Friday. 12.4.15. 

Critical Creativity Challenge:  An Art Gallery for Of Mice and Men.

Visit MOMA.org, Portland Museum of Art,  MFA.org or another online art gallery from a gallery that exists in the brick and mortar world (a place people could physically visit) and select three or more pieces of art that you would include in a gallery to represent the ideas in Of Mice and Men.  Consider also adding an art gallery for you! 

Study.  Roots 6.

Quiz. Wednesday.  12.9.15

Design Challenge.

EXPERIMENT and PRODUCTION Phase.

Tiny House. Design a Tiny House Prototype for Lennie, George, Crooks and Candy

DESIGN AND CLASSROOM PRESENTATION Due. Friday. 12.11.15

Presentation may be recorded prior to class and shown.

.

SHOW YOUR WORK.

Blog.

1+ Posts.

Due. Friday. 12.4.15

Critical Creativity Challenge:  An Art Gallery for Of Mice and Men.

Visit MOMA.org, Portland Museum of Art,  MFA.org or another online art gallery from a gallery that exists in the brick and mortar world (a place people could physically visit) and select three or more pieces of art that you would include in a gallery to represent the ideas in Of Mice and Men.

Created with Padlet

Study.

Roots Quiz 6. (Just List 6!)

Due.  Wednesday 12.9.15

Design.

Tiny House for Of Mice and Men.

Prototype Presentation Due 

Eng 9: Tiny House & Big Dreams Design Challenge: Discovery and Literary 3x3s

Day before Turkey Break and we are going to do a ton of stuff!

1.  Roots 1-5 Quiz.  We'll tackle that right away.

2.  Literary 3x3: Of Mice & Men.

We haven't done these in Eng 9 yet this year.  Here's how it works.

Take the book and break it down into three, three-word sentences.

For example, if I were to write:

Tornado transports girl
Adventures reveal strengths
Discovers home persists

What movie would I have created?

How about . . .

Boy inhabits closet
School reveals fate
Friendship conquers magic

Now it is your turn. Write a Literary 3x3 of Of Mice and Men.

Do not repeat any words. Try to use only powerful words. Try to get an action word in each line.

Once we have our Literary 3x3s written, we'll transfer them over to index cards for the next round of thinking.  There will be a lot of shuffling and moving around and experimenting.  We'll take lots of pics for our blogs.

All of this is helping us to tune our brains around what really matters in our tiny house design, because then . . .

3. Tiny House, Big Dreams.  Discovery Phase continues.   First, we'll name our teams and determine team leaders.

We'll dig out your work you did for today and make visual maps of your information using Post-It notes.  We want to figure out if we are identifying the needs of our users and finding all of the information we need.   Then we need to identify the cracks -- what information are we missing? what do we really need in order to meet the needs?  How are we going to find that out?

We'll use whatever time we have left to keep gathering information we need and also looking at the fantastic prototype that Jeremy already made!