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!

Humanities 2BG: Multigenre Projects Continued; Blogging Continued

On Thursday we followed up the discussion & instructions of Wednesday with time to work in small groups exploring genres/styles/storytelling and blogging.

Here is the rubric for the Who Am I (At  the Moment)? Multigenre Project.




Here are pictures of our notes.

Our due date for this multigenre project is Monday, Sept 28.  If you turn it in on Friday, you will have the weekend to better recharge.  However, turn in your best quality work.  We'd much rather receive quality work on time than rushed work early.

Remember, too, that you have blog posts due this week.  At least one of the blog posts needs to be about your multigenre -- either a draft of a genre, a plan for your design, or the whole blessed thing.

To turn in your blog posts, go to our Humanities Blog Tracker.  BE SURE YOU PUT WEEK ONE POSTS IN WEEK ONE, WEEK TWO POSTS IN WEEK TWO!  Otherwise, you may not get credited as providing evidence of your Habits of Mind for each week.

Here's the blogging rubric again to help remind you of expectations.

Show Your Learning.

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Required Creative Challenge. Multigenre Project #ShowYourWork.  

Include any part or all of your MG.

Due. Friday. 9.25.15.
Post. Humanities Blog Tracker.

What else could I blog?  Oreo Challenge. Manilla Folder Challenge.  Lego Challenge.

Any and all of the graphic organizers so far.

Any and all of the LNG work so far.

Any draft or planning or sketchnoting or doodling so far.

Your personal flag.

Your Thirty Circles.

Poetry.  Creative Writing. Reflections. Things You are Seeing that Make You Think. 

Comments and Critiques and Dialogues

Videos That You Want to Talk About.

Music That You Want to Talk About.

Memes That Make You Think and Laugh And Think.

Articles That Make You Think.

Design.  Who Am I (At This Moment) Multigenre Project

Due. Monday. 9.30.15.

Next Week. Global Cardboard Challenge Begins.

Pop Culture 3B: Soundtracking of Our Lives & Music Culture Project

Soundtracking of Our Lives.

Monday in Pop Culture we dove further into our music unit using a Who Am I (At This Moment) tool.  We then tried to connect the dots between the items on the Who Am I to music and musical experiences.

My example:  Based on the family box, I remember my mother and I driving to our family camp, her telling me stories of my grandparents and my great grandparents while Starship's "We Built This City" played on the radio, KISS 94 FM out of Ellsworth to be precise.  (I got the cassette tape from a music club that summer as well. )

Your creative blog challenge for the week is as follows:  How might we create a soundtrack of our lives? Your constraints are as follow:

* Must be at least three songs in length

* At least three songs must include rationales of why each song was chosen

* You must use a digital tool to create and then post the actual soundtrack on your blog

Then you had time to work on your soundtrack.

On Wednesday, we will talk about the first project, due in two weeks on Wednesday, Oct 7.

Music Culture Project.

And I will circulate, make sure everyone knows how to publish blog posts and then submit them to our blog tracker.   I will also make sure everyone has access to our Pinterest board.

Show Your Learning.

Blog. 3+ Posts

Required Creative Challenge.  Soundtrack Your Life.  See the criteria above.

Due. Friday, 9.25.15

Curate.  1 item for Pinterest Board.

Due. Friday, 9.25.15

Design.  Music Culture Project.

How might we demonstrate our understanding of music culture?

Due. Wednesday, 10.7.15

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

Eng 9: Different Type of Learning & Blooging

Hi folks,

Today you will have time to work on your blog posts and other evidence of learning for the week, making sure you get them all done and looking awesome.  You will also watch part of a documentary.  (Check your email.)

Here are the questions I'd like you to answer after watching the first 30 minutes of this documentary.  (You may choose to hook up someone's laptop to the projector and sound at the front of the room or you may choose to watch it on your own.  I'm good with either one so long as you are watching, thinking and responding in a meaningful way.)

1.  What did you notice happening in the video?

2.  What would you find exciting about doing this sort of learning?

3.  What would you find scary about doing this sort of learning?

4.  To what extent would this sort of learning work for you as a student?

You can send your answers to me and/or you may want to use them as another blog post!

Show the Learning.

Blog. 3+ Posts.

Creative Blog Prompt.  5 Card Flickr & Problem Story.

Create a 5 Card Flickr that tells the story of a problem being solved.

Post your images and write out the story on your blog.

Due. Friday. Sept. 18.

Complete.  Notice/Wish/Wonder Organizer on Caine's Arcade & Caine's Arcade 2

Due. Friday. Sept 18.

Create.  Lists.  Three Lists on Problems/Passions/Joy.

Post on Your Blog

Due.  Friday. Sept. 18.

Study.  Roots Quiz 1.

Due. Thursday, Sept 24.

Pop Culture: Music Documentaries & Designing a Band, Blogging

Hi folks,

You'll start by choosing a music documentary from the following list to watch in either a small group or as a whole class.  These are all available on Netflix.  You might want to take a minute and investigate each one before making a choice.

20 Feet from Stardom
Muscle Shoals
The Wrecking Crew
Ain't In It for My Health
What Happened, Miss Simone?
The Other One: Long Strange Trip

Watch for 20 minutes and use this graphic organizer to Notice/Wish/Wonder about the content of the documentary as you watch.  (You  can print it off or make a copy that can be edited.) You might want to post those thoughts on your blog -- GREAT blog content!

Then you have the rest of class to work on design-a-band and blogging.

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.