AP Lit: Catching Up, Getting in Sync & Preparing for What Comes Next

Friday was a good day to take a breath, look at where we have been, how relatively little time we've spent together, and what is coming next on our horizon.

I also shared a story of how my dad and I destroyed a canoe in the middle of Kenduskeag Stream getting ready for a race.

(This isn't us.  This is just to give you a sense of what I avoided when we dumped above these falls.  Also, it happened several years before this.  At this point, I'm wondering why I've included this video at all.  Context.  I'm going with context.)




We did a brief review of the readings in AP Lit thus far.
Cunningham's The Hours
Foster's How to Read Lit Like a Professor Intro & Chapter 1.
Smith's "I Don't Miss It"
St. Vincent Millay's "First Fig"
as well as your own summer reading novels

We spent a little time with the PowerQuotes from Foster and connecting them to our summer reads.

I noted how Foster's first chapter functions much like a synthesis essay in his tone and approach.  It is worth revisiting as you shape your first synthesis.   Ask yourself the degree to which your essay feels like his.

We spent some time discussing the indie book project, an assignment that is due at the end of the quarter -- I've noticed a trend that so many teachers try to avoid due dates at the end of the quarter, we may actually be better served having this project due right near the end of the quarter.  Fancy that.

This led to a discussion of the protagonists in The Hours and I previewed this coming week's work which will include both a design challenge and a writer's workshop.

Here's What Was Due Friday

Read.  How to Read Lit Like a Professor Chapter 1.

Find. a POWER QUOTE.  One line from the text that you think captures the essence of the chapter.

Read.  The Hours. 173 - 195

Blog.

Start.  A Blog on Blogger for AP Lit.

(You may repurpose an old blog on Blogger for this purpose, too. I'd love to see your past work.)

Critical Creativity Post. Discuss your Oreo challenge.  Explain your intentions.

Analytical Post.   Discuss how the power quote you uncovered in How to Read Lit Chapter 1 relates to your summer reading texts.

Due.  Friday.  9.23.2016.

Here's the Out of School Work for Monday 9.26.2016 to Friday 9.30.2016

Finish.  The Hours.
Due. Tuesday, 9.27.2016
Be prepared to do some intense work with the text in-class.

Read. How to Read Lit Like a Professor
Chapter 2. Acts of Communion.
Creative Blog Challenge.  5 Course Meal. Design a metaphorical dinner menu for a dinner party at which Laura, Virginia, and Clarissa are the guests.
Part a. Use the names, flavors and ingredients of the various courses to demonstrate and understanding of the characters' journeys over the distance of the novel.
Some things to consider:
What might be served as appetizers? The main course? Dessert?
Part b. Put your design and media skills to work and create the menu itself in Google Docs, Google Drawings, hand craft it with your artistic abilities or otherwise.
Part c. Name the restaurant in which you will be serving this meal with part of a PowerQuote
from Foster Chapter 2.
For extra super bonus impress the pants off Mr. Ryder credit, actually create the meal in part or in full.  Take pictures or video.  Put it on your blog.
Due. Friday. 9.30.2016

Write.  Working Draft of Complete Synthesis Essay.
Due. Tuesday. 9.27.2016.
We will be workshopping these in class because . . .

Write.  2nd Working Draft of Complete Synthesis Essay
Due. Thursday. 9.29.2016.
We will be doing another workshop on Thursday because . . .

Write.  1st Submission Draft of Complete Synthesis Essay
Due. Monday. 10.3.2016.

Anticipate a short story or selection of poetry to read for Monday as well.
I will assign these on Thursday, 9.29.2016.  I haven't yet decided exactly what.  Next week, (10.3.2016 - 10.7.2016) we'll start off October with Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.  
I want to start it in class though.

AP Lit: Hours of Oreos & Introduction to Synthesis Thinking

30 Circles.

We started with designer Bob McKim's 30 Circles exercise.  Two minutes.  Transform thirty circles as many ways as you can.  We'll be revisiting this exercise a number of times over the next several weeks.

Oreo Challenge.

From there we explored our maker carts in the classroom (Discovery Phase) and used our empathy maps from our readings of the The Hours thus far, to tackle the following design challenge: How might we represent the three protagonists of The Hours via an Oreo cookie in 15 minutes?

These are photos from the process.

You'll be posting discussions of your designs and the intentions behind them as your first creative blog post of the year. 

We discussed the intentions of each design, shared and collaborated, we "yes and-ed" the heck outta each other, and ultimately decided we had three fantastic prototypes.

Synthesis Thinking.

We ended class with a brief introduction to synthesis thinking vs analytical thinking.  The sketchnotes on this post are designed to help you distinguish the two.

Three key points to the sketchnote:

1) Synthesis constructs a truth.  Analysis dismantles a truth.

2) Synthesis aligns to art.   Analysis aligns to science.

3) You need to analysis to develop a synthesis.  You need synthesis to give you reason for analysis.

For Wednesday, write just the introduction and thesis statement of your first synthesis essay.
Creative Constraints for Synthesis Essay 1.

1. Must draw on evidence from at least one of your summer readings.

2. Must draw on evidence from at least one of the texts we have explored together so far this year: "I Don't Miss It,"  The Hours, and How to Read Lit.

Out of Class Work.

Read.  The Hours. 140 - 172

Due. Wednesday. 9.21.2016

Looking Ahead: 173-195 for Friday.  Finish the book for next Tuesday.

Read.  How to Read Lit Like a Professor Chapter 1.

Find. a POWER QUOTE.  One line from the text that you think captures the essence of the chapter.

Due. Friday.  9.23.2016.

Write.

Synthesis Essay 1. JUST introduction & thesis statement.

Due. Wednesday. 9.21.2016.

Workshopping Draft.

Blog.

Start.  A Blog on Blogger for AP Lit.

(You may repurpose an old blog on Blogger for this purpose, too. I'd love to see your past work.)

Critical Creativity Post. Discuss your Oreo challenge.  Explain your intentions.

Analytical Post.   Discuss how the power quote you uncovered in How to Read Lit Chapter 1 relates to your summer reading texts.

Due.  Friday.  9.23.2016.

Eng 9 2B & 4B: Suit Up, 30 Circles & Oreo Challenges

Suit Up.

We started today with Suit Up, an opportunity to learn about one another's super powers (strengths) and kryptonite (weaknesses).  We completed charts about the people sitting in our table groups.

30 Circles.

We then tried out designer Bob McKim's 30 Circles exercise.  Two minutes.  Transform thirty circles as many ways as you can.   Here are some of the results.

Oreo Challenge.

We synthesized the thinking from Suit Up and 30 Circles into our Oreo Challenge: How might we represent our superpowers or kryptonite with an Oreo cookie?   Twenty minutes later we had a whole slew of answers.

Guidelines & Expectations.

We ended class with a review of our Guidelines & Expectations posted here below.

There's a signature page that accompanied these as well.  Please get it filled out and returned to me  by next Monday.

I will not be here next class.  There will be a sub who will have your work for you.   If my plans line up like they should, and you take advantage of the time in class, you should not have any out of class work this week or this weekend.  

And next week?  Oh . . . next week . . . 

Out of Class Work.

Guidelines & Expectations sheet completed.

Returned.

Monday. 9.19.16.

Pop Culture 1B: Pop 3's, Thirty Circles & Oreo Challenges

Pop 3's.

We started today with Pop 3's:  List three films, artists/bands, apps, shows and games that you love.  We then circulated around the room and tried to find others who love what we love.  We found a bunch of interesting common denominators in the room including Monopoly, Panic! at the Disco Taylor Swift, Dr. Who, Fast and the Furious,  Now You See Me, Deadpool, Star Wars and others.

30 Circles.

We then tried out designer Bob McKim's 30 Circles exercise.  Two minutes.  Transform thirty circles as many ways as you can.   Here are some of the results.

Oreo Challenge.

We synthesized the thinking from Pop 3's and 30 Circles into our Oreo Challenge: How might we advertise the pop culture we love with an Oreo cookie?   Twenty minutes later we had a whole slew of answers.

Next class you will embark on your first more involved design challenge: How might we build models of our pop culture lineage?  You will have two days in class to complete this.  

When I return from BIF Summit 2016, an innovation conference I'm headed to where I'm hoping to make some connections that will result in more rad things happening in our class this semester, we will discuss the guidelines and expectations of the class and take a look at your lineage projects.   (More on the lineage project will be coming your way on Wednesday.) 

We will also be starting our blogs on Blogger this week.  A great deal to do, not a ton of time to do it, and there will be greatness abounding!  Solid day, everyone!

Eng 9 4B: Room Re-Design, Patterns & LEGO My Life

Eng 9 4B: Room Re-Design, Patterns & LEGO My Life

Patterns.

We started our day playing an improv game called patterns.  It is intended to get folks used to keeping track of information and learning the names of everyone in the room at the same time.  IMPORTANT GOAL.  Everyone knows everyone's names by the end of Fair Week.

We struggled just a wee bit and emerged victorious after only two efforts in our quest to complete both patterns at once.  

We'll be doing some more work next week on being okay with screw ups and foul ups and mistakes.

Classroom Re-Design.

Then we looked at the current state of affairs in the room redesign and giving some feedback using the Rose/Bud/Thorn process.

Here's a little video that explains Rose/Bud/Thorn from my friend, Dr. Lisa Abel-Palmieri, who introduced me to this bit of radness.

We circulated around the room and made observations of features and concerns that we could not see from our seats.  We noted and doodle them, shared within our groups, and then identified a key rose, bud and thorn from each group that was worth sharing.  We seem to be liking the seating arrangements (rose), we have high hopes for the design corner (bud), and we still see a lot of work to be done in terms of organizing the room -- especially the maker carts and the boxes above the closet (thorn).

LEGO My LIFE.

From there busted out the LEGO and faced this rapid fire design challenge: How might we show something meaningful to us in LEGO?  

Folks interpreted this question literally and figuratively, which was the whole point.  For me to see what aspects of your life matter to you, while also getting a sense of how you think and express your ideas.  Somehow I managed to miss a couple of LEGO designs from the room.   I thought I captured them all.

https://goo.gl/photos/oH14dUi6vCmchEEK8

Out of Class Work.

1-Page Writing:  Consider what you decided to make out of LEGO?  Why did you choose that of all things to create?  Why is it so important to you.

Let this piece of writing represent your best effort.  Give me a sense of your strengths and weaknesses as a writer.

Eng 9 2B: Room Re-Design, Patterns & LEGO My Life

We started our day by looking at the current state of affairs in the room redesign and giving some feedback using the Rose/Bud/Thorn process.

Here's a little video that explains Rose/Bud/Thorn from my friend, Dr. Lisa Abel-Palmieri, who introduced me to this bit of radness.

We circulated around the room and made observations of features and concerns that we could not see from our seats.  We noted and doodle them, shared within our groups, and then identified a key rose, bud and thorn from each group that was worth sharing.  We seem to be liking the seating arrangements (rose), we have high hopes for the design corner (bud), and we still see a lot of work to be done in terms of organizing the room -- especially the maker carts and the boxes above the closet (thorn).

Patterns.

Then we played an improv game called patterns.  It is intended to get folks used to keeping track of information and learning the names of everyone in the room at the same time.  IMPORTANT GOAL.  Everyone knows everyone's names by the end of Fair Week.

We struggled a bit and emerged victorious in our question to complete both patterns at once.  

We'll be doing some more work next week on being okay with screw ups and foul ups and mistakes.

LEGO My LIFE.

From there busted out the LEGO and faced this rapid fire design challenge: How might we show something meaningful to us in LEGO?  

Folks interpreted this question literally and figuratively, which was the whole point.  For me to see what aspects of your life matter to you, while also getting a sense of how you think and express your ideas.

https://goo.gl/photos/QaPbiVJ3kefMEnWh9

We finished off this work with a brief writing prompt where you needed to explain your LEGO creation, focusing on the why this is so important to you.  This is an opportunity for me to get a sense of your writing skills while also learning something about you at the same time.