English 9: To Solve a Mockingbird: This Week

This week we've started our To Solve a Mockingbird unit, which involves a formal narrative writing assessment (a short memoir inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird) and a design challenge sprint.

Monday/Tuesday:  May 8/9

Symbolism/Foreshadowing in TKaM.
Watch TKaM.
Writing Workshop: 4th Narrative.
Read: Indie Book.

Wednesday/Thursday: May 10/11
Watch TKaM
Writing Workshop: 4th Narrative.
Read Indie Book

Friday/Monday: May 12/15
Watch TKaM: Identify problems emerging
4th Narrative: Submission Draft DUE
Read Indie Nook


BLOG: This week.
1. Symbolism/Foreshadowing in TkaM.  See Graphic Organizer
2. SCORE the BOOK.

This week's critical creativity challenge for your blog post relates to your independent reading book:  SCORE the BOOK.

Based on what you have read thus far in your book, compose an original instrumental score(no lyrics) to accompany the reading of your book using either a digital tool (Garage Band, Soundtrap, Wolfram, BeatsLab, etc.) or live instrumentation.  You may work with a musical friend to develop your score.  Your score should be at least three minutes in length to demonstrate your thinking extends beyond just a single moment in the book and reflect typical song length -- though film scores tend to be longer.

Seek inspiration from these playlists 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuovSEX8xEHcnuLO67zykCaYU_WnSy6Ia

and

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHA-54EZhpRXKR1L5zOoDPygZoUfiIfu6

After composing your score, post it on your blog along with an explanation that connects THREE moments from the text (use text evidence) to THREE moments in your score (use time stamps) to help your reader understand your intentions.

4TH NARRATIVE.  Due Friday, May 12th.
DESIGN CHALLENGE.  To Solve a Mockingbird. Due, Tuesday May 22nd.

AP Lit: Post-Test Design Challenge & This Week's Work

Here we go . . .

Your "To Do" List for the 4th Quarter

WRITING ASSESSMENTS

FRANKLINERS short story: 1st submission Due 5/16.  Final Due 5/31 so they can be compiled in an anthology before end of year.
SYNTHESIS 3 Revising
SYNTHESIS 4 Due on Day of Final 6/6

MEDIA ASSESSMENTS

DESIGN CHALLENGE Reflection & "Ship It" Date 6/2


BLOG POSTS
2x Per Week.  Design Challenge Process.  #ShowYourWork.  Keep track of everything.


For THIS WEEK . . .

We are defining the problem that is starting from this place: How might we address the "brain drain" problem of Franklin County?

On Monday we discussed the challenge of defining this problem, seeing this problem from different points of view, and establishing our user class.

We had to do some narrowing . . . 

On Wednesday, we will work to further define the problem and identify our users.  We will use a couple of design thinking strategies and protocols to help us with this work. Remember: design is messy and requires both a bias toward action and a recognition that we may need to shift or pivot our work in a different direction.  It can be tough to reconcile what may seem like divergent problems.

For Wednesday, some folks agreed to dive into the empathy work -- connecting with both folks who might be leaving the area AND with folks who live outside the area and may need to be convinced to return AND with folks who have not lived here before.  Wow.  I just identified a third user class.  I wonder . . how might we appeal to all three with one solution?

Other folks agreed to do some more focused research on brain drain in Franklin County.

And remember through it all, we need to be thinking about how we might employ literature and our knowledge of literature into whatever solution we pursue.

That's one of our key creative constraints.  Using literature to solve the problem. Still leaves us plenty of possibilities to explore.

Pop Culture: HMW Design a Film Festival

Pop Culture: HMW Design a Film Festival

How might we design a film festival?  How might we demonstrate our listening & speaking skills via a film festival?

We'll use these for DISCOVERY phase. 15 min

http://www.sundance.org/pdf/film-guide/SFF14-FilmGuide.pdf

http://fantasticfest.com/

http://www.miff.org/

http://allsportslafilmfest.com/

http://iffboston.org/

http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html

You might Notice/Wish/Wonder:

What do you notice about these film festivals?

What do you wish about film festivals?

What do you wonder about these film festivals?

OR

Rose/Bud/Thorn:

What are the roses (cool aspects) of these film festivals?

What are the buds (opportunities/ideas you have) based on these film festivals?

What are the thorns (things you don't like/find ineffective) in these film festivals?

EMPATHY phase. 15

Interview at least 2 people from another design team.

Ask these three Qs

Which genres of film do you enjoy the most?

Would you rather watch a film you love again or watch something new?

What

Ask at least one follow up question in each interview to help you program your festival.

Record the answers.

EXPERIMENT phase. 15 min.

Craft it!  Design it.  What are the films you would show?  What would it be called? Where would it be held?   Why?  Use your empathy knowledge and your discovery to help you.

PRODUCTION phase. 15 min.

DUE FRIDAY. 5/12.

Festival Title.

Theme/Concept.

Location & Venue.

Tagline/Slogan.

Poster.

Schedule & Line Up.

Programming/Additional Events.

MUST WRITE.  A pitch letter to potential investors/sponsors for your festival.  Convince them using persuasive techniques and purposeful details to achieving your goals.

All Classes: ScreenVid: How to Embed Flipgrid on Blogger Post

Wicked Focus: A Story of Stress and Frustration

If Jill didn’t stop that tap-tap-tap I was going to explode . . . I could hear the pencil louder, faster in my head, echoing between my ears, rattling in the canyon where peace and quiet used to live.I reached into my pocket -- took a breath. It would be by dryder

Eng 9: Personal Brand, Storytelling as Marketing and More

With the hectic and irregular schedule before February break, I thought it might be helpful to write up a blog post that captures where we are at in English 9.  There is a LOT of info here.

Anything with a B* should be posted on your class blog and linked on the English 9 blog tracker.

PERSONAL BRAND.

By the time we reach mid-April, you will be ready to make your personally branded website/blog go live.  Between now and then, you have to develop some content.  Experiment with your design. Empathize with your potential audience and figure out what you want to do.

a. Personal Brand Graphic Organizer (In English 9 OUT Folder) B*

Complete the organizer and post the completed organizer on your blog.

b. Mood Board.  (Examples from Lorri Brown in English 9 OUT Folder) B*

Complete a mood board for your personal brand and post it on your blog.

c. Weekly content for your personal brand.  B*
Video? Images?  Audio?  Writing?  You choose based on what you're establishing as your brand.

Week of 3/3/07   B*
Week of 3/10/07 B*
Week of 3/17/07 B*
Week of 3/25/07 B*

You will choose the best of your content to use as a demonstration of content standards. (Writing/Media-Presentation/MUGS-Language)

MARKETING AND STORYTELLING

Understanding Stories

a. Use the 100WordStory.org selections to explore the story cycle.
Complete 2 story cycle graphic organizers.   (In English 9 OUT Folder)
Place in your English 9 personal IN folders.

b. Complete the Comparison Matrix graphic organizer and watch the three branded content videos.


Write a blog post in which you find another example of branded content, explain what is being advertised, discuss the effectiveness of the ad and how well it tells a story.  B*

b. Read 1 short story/memoir/poem per class and complete notice/wish/wonder organizers. (Notice/Wish/Wonder in English 9 OUT Folder)  (Put Finished
(I will update as we offer up more options.)

Reading 1.  Is This Love/A Release/Pull the Next One Up

This one is from the poet Marc Smith himself! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Reading 2.

Reading 3.

Reading 4.

c. 3rd Narrative Writing Assessment:  How Might We Write Branded Content Stories to Market Our Focus Fidgets.  (See the Rubric in the English 9 OUT Folder)

Draft Due 3/3/2017

ROOTS and VOCABULARY

a. Roots Quiz 10.
b. Roots Quiz 11.

MUGS.

a. Mistaken Words
b. Capitalization

SHOW YOUR WORK.

Blog.  Be Certain to Update Your English 9 Blog AND the Blog Tracker.

Personal Brand.  Be Certain to Create Content for your Brand EVERY WEEK.  

Something meaningful.

1st Due 3/3/2017

3rd Narrative Writing.  Content Branded Focus Fidget Story.

Due 3/3/2017.

Senior Seminar: What's We've Done So Far and Where We are Going

What we've done in Senior Seminar so far this semester . . .

We've learned about sketchnotes.

BLOG POST 1.  Who I Am (At the Moment) 

We used our knowledge of sketchnotes to complete a Who Am I (at this moment) graphic organizer and then constructed those ideas in LEGO bricks to represent different ways of expressing the same ideas.  An explanation of these sketchnotes and these LEGO constructs became our 1st required FlipGrid and also our first blog post. 

BLOG POST 2.  Songs of Myself

While I was out of town visiting three other schools in southern California and helping them to do some of the work we are doing here -- and learning how to do some of the work they are doing there -- I asked you folks to look at the music in your lives that represents who you are.  The instructions are in the top

BLOG 3. Myself 10 Years Ago (in Wood)

After looking at ourselves in the present, we started looking at ourselves in the past.  We sketchnoted ourselves 10 years ago for 5 minutes and then had 20 minutes to build a representation of 10 years ago selves out of scrap wood in the theater workshop. We then got on FlipGrid and explained our thinking.   On your blog, explain what you made and why you made it by embedding your FlipGrid and including images of your build.

BLOG 4. Advice to My Self 10 Years Ago

The next post asks you to think about yourself 10 years ago once more and write a one-page letter of advice.  Part of the work included completing a graphic organizer based on reading the first article in this list copied from an email I sent you.   Turn that graphic organizer in to me using a Google Drive folder labeled "[Your Name] Senior Seminar IN"  and making sure you have shared that

Everyone needs to take a look at: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Column

Then, you'll pick two of these to look and check for the extent to which these writers use the advice from that article.  Be careful not to get into whether or not you agree with the writers.  You're looking for style and format, rather than advice for yourself.

http://www.bassmaster.com/bill-lowen/fishing-your-comfort-zone

https://georgesoutdoornews.bangordailynews.com/2015/11/05/hunting/if-you-havent-gotcha-deer-yet-read-this-column/

http://www.gatekeepergaming.com/article-1-to-kickstart-or-not-to-kickstart/

http://probaseballinsider.com/baseball-instruction/how-to-field-a-ground-ball/

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/jun/07/sportswear-stylish-and-practical-rick-edwards

And finally, we'll take a look at this piece

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/tanehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me/397619/'

BLOG 5.  iEvolution.  Myself 10  Years from Now (in Jenga, LEGO or Action Figures)

For this post, you were challenged to create a stop motion video that shows the evolution from yourself now to yourself 10 years from now.

BLOG 6. Big Questions & How Might I's? 

LIST 1.  Your interests, hobbies, goals, passions, career goals, possibilities, wants, needs, etc.

For me:  teaching (seriously, I'm an education nerd), comics, comedy, movies, theater, technology, community development, entrepreneurship, marketing, storytelling, building a garage, building furniture

LIST 2.  Some big questions you'd like to be able to answer that relate to those interests, etc.

For me:  How do you write a screenplay?  How do you write a novel?  How do you start your own business?  How do you open a performance space?  What does it take to build a garage?  What does it take to hire someone to build a garage?  How do community organizers do their work?  What does it take to bring new businesses to a region?  Why do you people seem to spend more time looking for ways to save money than they do ways to make money?

LIST 3. Turn some of those questions into possibilities by writing "How might we . . .?" or "How might I . . .?" statements

How might I write a screenplay?
How might we open a performance space in downtown Farmington?
How might we bring new businesses to Franklin county?
How might we turn our schools into economic engines of opportunity for kids and community members alike?

These lists are important because they are going to guide your first inquiry & design challenge that's based on your interests and goals.

And where do we go from here?  We get even more focused on your future, we start looking at a our heroic journeys, and you start your first Senior Seminar personal question, answer and prototype project.