Eng 9 4G: Classroom Re-Design Challenge Continues

Last week we dove into our first design challenge with the classroom re-design challenge: How might we design the room to meet the needs of all of the students using it this semester?

We did some discovery work through observations, note taking, photo documentation, and what we call affinity sorting -- putting characteristics on post-it notes and then arranging and organizing them in a way that makes sense.  

We jumped into the empathy phase of the challenge by taking note of our own needs and then sitting with partners to share our needs.  We each identified three key needs, put them on post-it notes and then sorted those as well into like ideas.  We looked for outliers -- ideas that no one else put down, but that seemed really important or interesting.

Today we got to see all six classes' needs stacked together and found some key ideas carrying over: organization, comfortable seating, color/decoration, a place to work/create.

We found that the AP Lit class had started moving the room into zones/sections/spaces.  We seemed pretty happy as a class with the layout so we focused on organizing.  

Next class, it will be a very short class because of the campus celebration.  Please be right on time because we'll want to take advantage of every moment.  

OUT of CLASS WORK.

Design Kits.  Bring them in ASAP.

We have a home for them now!

And a use for them!

AP Lit: Room Design & Tracy K. Smith

Room Re-Design, Tracy K. Smith's "I Don't Miss It" and Literary 3x3

Room ReDesign.

We collaborated with the other classes sharing Room F-215 by looking at the discovery, empathy, and experiment work done so far.  This revealed concerns about color, organization, seating, space for creating and a few other needs as well.  (Class pet is way high on the list.  I'm okay with a fish.  A. Fish.)   We took the next steps by applying some of the common design features from the drawn and LEGO'd mock ups  by creating a comfortable corner in which to work, moving some of the cabinets and book shelves, and establishing seating clusters.

"I Don't Miss It" and Literary 3x3.

We read Tracy K. Smith's "I Don't Miss It" and did some close reading and annotating by using David Theriault's SCOUT method.  

Then we QUICKLY introduced Literary 3x3.

Literary 3x3.  You can read more detail about it by reading Rebecca Daniel's explanation of William Melvin Kelley's technique in the AP Lit guide available here.

Screenshot here.

From the AP Lit Writing Guide

The idea here is that by distilling our thinking about a text down to a 3x3, we can hone our thinking and then use it as a catalyst for further development into . . . oh . . . say . . . a piece of analytical writing.  I'd argue that developing a 3x3 is completely worth your time as a pre-writing exercise during the on-demand portion of the test.

We ran out of time before we could create a Literary 3x3 for Smith's poem.  So you'll do that for Friday along with the following.

Out of Class Work

Read & Annotate.  How to Read Lit Like a Professor Introduction.

Create.  Literary 3x3.

"I Don't Miss It"

Write.  One paragraph analysis of "I Don't Miss It."

Flight307 in the News: WCSH 6 March 2016

Eng 9: To Solve a Mockingbird Single Point Rubric

To Kill a Mockingbird: To Solve a Mockingbird Design Challenge  Single Point Rubric

Evidence to Demonstrate the Standards:

1. Empathy Map
2. 8-Box Brainstorm (w 3-Panel Storyboard)
3. Invention (Picture Documentation)
4. Character POV Story (1-Page from Character’s POV, Using Your Invention)

All evidence must be placed in your Eng 9 IN folder on Google Drive

Criteria	Evidence of Exceeding the Standard (clever, insightful, unique, powerful, creative, meaningful, professional)	What Meeting the Standard Looks Like	Evidence of Needs for Improvement (gaps, missing pieces or evidence, incomplete thoughts)
Story Understanding (MEDIA)		Between your story, empathy map, and invention, you demonstrate you have a solid understanding of the story of To Kill a Mockingbird.  I like how the details in your story include details from TKAM.
Understanding of Point of View (READING)		You successfully take on the point of view from a character in the movie and demonstrate how that character’s perspective provides information and insight that differs from the information provided by the film’s actual narrator, Scout.
Empathy (HABITS of MIND)		It is clear that you have thought about the kinds of things that this character might do, say, or see based on how they act in other scenes of the movie, recognizing that he or she thinks and feels differently than other characters might.
Timeliness (HABITS of MIND)		The final product is turned in within 24 hours of the agreed upon due date.

This has been shared in your Google Drive and there's a link to it right here as well.

SHOW YOUR WORK.

Complete.  To Solve a Mockingbird 

Due Today. 5.17.16

Revise.  TKAM Deleted Scene.

Due. ASAP.

Roots 13.  Quiz Next Wednesday!

To Solve a Mockingbird (Little Bits): A Multitool for Boo Radley

Eng 9: To Solve a Mockingbird: Experiment & Produce Phases

We'll start with a brief reading session and then . . .

And then . . . we invent and create.

There's an adjustment to the expectation for your invention:  you do not have to use Little Bits.  They are a tool.  They are a great tool.  My excitement about using them shouldn't limit your imagination or problem solving skills.

You MUST create a tangible invention.  It must be something you can hold and use -- or at least easily imagine is functional.  The Little Bits are there to make some of your ideas ACTUALLY happen -- and there are other inventions available too.

8 BOX/STORYBOARD/EMPATHY MAP.
In order to be released to build and hack and make and create, you must put the following in your Eng 9 IN folder on Google Drive:
* Full 8 Box and video documenting that you did it in 4 minutes (if you did it at home)
* Three panel storyboard of your invention in action
* Empathy Map of the character for whom you are designing a solution

Today is also the last day to build and create in class.  At 9 a.m. we will showcase what we've created, get some feedback in either Rose, Bud, Thorn or Four Corners Feedback,  as we get ready for new work next Tuesday and Thursday.

ONE PAGE STORY.
Once you've designed/built your invention, you must write a one-page story from the point of view of your character USING your invention to solve the problem.  Your story needs to demonstrate that you understand the character you have chosen and can empathize with him or her.  It must also prove you understand the story of To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as some of the big ideas -- themes -- in the film.



Anything you don't finish in class becomes homework.  Work hard.  Make awesome thing as I know you will.

Pop Culture: Making Movie Magic Happen (Sorta)

Pop Culture: Making Movie Magic Happen (Sorta.)

Making the Movie Magic Happen. (Sorta.)

Stage 1. After watching a couple of clips under Mr. Ryder’s tutelage, try your hand at storyboarding, directing and cinematography.

1. In groups of one, two or three, choose a film from the  AFI Top 100 - 10th Anniversary list that you have seen or at least sorta kinda “know.” (This list is due for an update in 2017.  I’m curious to see what happens  . . .)
2. Find a clip of a well-known scene from that film online.  They are out there.
3. Using either people or LEGO minifigs and either digital photography or sketching, recreate that scene shot-by-shot, angle-by-angle
4. As you are producing that recreation, think about the placement of the camera, the framing, the movement.  Do your best to create as honest a reproduction as possible.  The point?  To see if you can see filmmaking from a creator’s point of view and become more aware of how the filmmaker’s convince their audiences to see and think about the subject matter in a particular way.

Which takes us to Stage 2.

After recreating that scene to develop a sense of how it all “works” in a finished product, use your skills to tell the following story.

Choose and recreate the camera angles to the best of your abilities from the following sources:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/film-studies-101-camera-shots-styles/p1

Great tool because it shows you examples from actual films

http://www.lssc.edu/faculty/matthew_w_kennedy/Shared%20Documents/ENC%201101/Film%20Terms.pdf

Fantastic explanation of camera angles

http://www.thestoryboardartist.com/Site/Film.html

Several great examples of storyboarding at work

Stage 3. #ShowYourWork by Creating a Google Presentation, Prezi, or other slideshow to show how your team did.   

Due at the midpoint of next class for sharing and feedback. Place the link or slideshow in your IN folder. Be sure to include all group members.

SHOW YOUR WORK.

BLOG. Content Post #4.

Due. Next Class. May 12.2016

CREATING MOVIE MAGIC.

Due. Next Class. May 12.2016