English 9: Who Am I (at the Moment) and Who Do I Want to Become Begins . . .

Last week we started our year long theme, though I didn't say anything about it being our year long theme because . . . uh . . . I'm not sure why.   But I didn't . . .

Who Am I (at the Moment) and Who Do I Want to Become is all about exploring our identities, our personalities, our values, our abilities, as they are right now, determining who we want to become in the future, and asking the most important question: how might we get ourselves from here to there?

Last week we looked at our multiple intelligences and our mindsets.

We used this survey from LiteracyWorks to help determine our multiple intelligences and took screen shots of our results.  Here's an example:

Later in the week we examined to extent to which we have growth and fixed mindsets.  We started by looking at objects in the room that represent how we feel about our intelligence.  We each chose one, took a picture of it that highlighted how it represents our feelings, and then put it back.

We watched this video that helps explain the difference between the two.

Two of the three classes did some work with scenarios, looking at how someone with a growth mindset would respond to a situation vs how someone with a fixed mindset would respond.

Then we used this inventory from Mindset Works to determine where our mindsets fall on the spectrum between fixed and growth.  

We took screenshots of the results again.   This time, however, we also found a sentence from the results that we believe describes us very well -- the inventory nailed it -- and a sentence that we were not so sure accurately describes who we are -- ehhhh..not sure sure about that one- -- and put those sentences in a Google doc.

To bring it all around full circle, we then wrote about how the object we found at the beginning represents our mindset -- whether fixed, growth, or somewhere in the middle.   We put that on a Google doc and then some folks started to copy and paste that information to their blogs.

Here's a sketchnote of how we went about doing this work. 

If you were able to get all of this work done in class last Thursday and Friday, you did not have homework.  Otherwise, you needed to finish completing the survey, finding the sentences that describe and do not describe your mindset, and then explain how that object represents your mindset.

It should be on a Google doc and placed in your English 9 IN folder.

Also in your English 9 IN folder should be your super power/kryptonite writing.

Now . . .  Monday and Tuesday . . .

Tuesday may look a little different but here's what happened on Monday . . .

We explored the basics of sketchnotes!

Then we worked with poetry Jenga and created a few poems in the moment.

Then we started reading "So What Are You, Anyway?" by Lawrence Hill, a story about a young woman on a plane dealing with some less than kind fellow travelers.  I explained how the Notice/Wish/Wonder graphic organizer works.

Then we broke into 4 Stations, each of which are described on the sketchnoted signs below with instructions.  Anything that was not completed in class became homework due at the next class.

Here's a link to the 8 Box of Who Am I (at the Moment)

Links to Roots 2 are over in the toolbar to the right under "Roots & Quizlet"

Pop Culture: Music Roots Review & Country Vs. Hip-Hop

Music Roots.

Last week we used our time together to explore the roots of music. I  sketchnoted on the board while folks researched and we dug into musical etymology or the history of where contemporary music comes from.

Here are some of our sketchnotes from that experience.

Essentially we established that the rhythms and beats of contemporary western music originated mostly in the music of African and indigenous Latin and South American peoples, with melodies and instrumentation largely influenced by northern and eastern Europeans.

Out of Class Work from Last Week.

The homework for the weekend was to investigate the roots of a contemporary musical artist or band you enjoy and trace those roots back three generations -- not just three decades or three influences -- but three generations of sounds/styles/artists.  For example, we were able to trace Taylor Swift back to Tim McGraw (half-a-one) to Dolly Parton (two) to Hank Williams Sr (three) to Robert Johnson (four).   Create a playlist of those roots, embed that playlist on your blog and write or record an explanation of your findings.  Include links to any research you did -- Wikipedia articles, websites, conversations you had with fans, etc.

Pop Culture Lineage Project Shares.

We'll start our classes this week with a project share or two.  The one's I've seen so far are fantastic.

Country Vs. Hip Hop.

This week we'll take a look at two genres that seem -- at first glance -- to have more dissimilar than common. We'll look under the hoods of both and see if the branches of hip-hop and country are too far from their roots to be united again.

The graphic organizer for this work is in the Pop Culture 2016 Out folder in Google Drive and linked here as well.

Country vs. Hip-Hop


When you complete the graphic organizer, it should go in your Pop Culture IN folder on Google Drive so I can check out your rad thinking.

Out of Class Work.

To Be Announced.

It very much depends on how things go on Monday.  I have an idea and need to keep thinking.

Expect that there will be a blog post due by Friday and it will require creating something. 

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.