Observe, Question, and Discover: August 31, 2018

Focus: How can simple observations and questions lead to discoveries?

1. Warming up a brief quiz on Puritan Words, List 1

2. Introducing your first one-minute speech prompt

• Make a claim.
• Support it with at least two pieces of evidence.

3. Working on an annotated bibliography to gather and assess research

• Click here for an overview of the what/why/how of the annotated bibliography
• Click here for a sample annotated bibliography from last year.

4. Cooling down with a Friday freewrite

We can't find the solution until we first examine the problem.

Questioning --> Researching --> Observing --> Better Questioning --> Thesis

HW:
1. Do your best to finish your annotated bibliography (about 5 entries) by the end of class on Tuesday; make sure it's in your "Cultural Hysteria" folder.  This grade will go in your "Growth" category.

2. If it's in your budget or on your bookshelf, please acquire your own copy of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Tinkering with Ideas, Questions, and Research: August 30, 2018

Focus: How do we develop writing routines to keep messy learning productive?

1. Warming up with inspiration from the Tinkering School; post on today's class blog one takeaway

"Success is in the doing, and failures are celebrated and analyzed. Problems become puzzles, and obstacles disappear." -- Gever Tulley

2. Generating questions about your research topic:

• What are curious about? What do you want to know?
• What are you wondering?
• What's confusing?
• What do you need to find out more about?
• What are some connections you're hoping to make?
• What do you hope to learn by the end of this project?

• Level 1: (Who/what/when/where/how many?)
• Level 2: (How...?)
• Level 3: (Why...? What if...?

3. Clustering and coding your questions to focus your research; try organizing your questions under larger, umbrella categories

An example for Y2K:

I. Questions about the origins of fear

Why were people afraid of the year 2000?
Did this come from earlier fears of specific years?
Was this foretold somewhere (Farmer's Almanac, etc)?
Which fears were legitimate (vs. paranoid)?

II. Questions about what the fear looked like

What were people buying to prepare themselves for Y2K?
What were news sources reporting that contributed to the paranoia? What were the headlines?
What did the big cities look like on New Years Eve?
Were people picketing? What did their signs say?

III. Questions about the consequences of fear

Did people alter their jobs or their homes in preparation for Y2K?
How many people were diagnosed with anxiety as the result of Y2K?
How were the banks / the stock market affected?

IV. Questions about its effects today

Are people still scared of specific years?
Is there still anxiety over the world coming to a specific end?
Do we have more confidence in our social structures now since nothing actually went wrong?

4. Researching your topic professionally to find answers for your questions

• Where should we look for quality research?
• How do we know if a website is reliable? Are you familiar the C.R.A.P. test?
• Skim websites quickly to see if they will answer your questions (or spark new questions).
• Copy and paste website URLs into your research document.

5. Starting to develop an annotated bibliography to gather and assess research

• Click here for an overview of the what/why/how of the annotated bibliography
• Click here for a sample annotated bibliography from last year.

HW:
1. Before class tomorrow, please make sure you have generated plentiful Level 1, 2, and 3 questions, you have organized your questions into categories, and you have gathered URLs for your research.

Topic Sign-Up

2. Study your Puritan List 1 words for our brief assessment tomorrow.

The Choice Is Yours: August 29, 2018

Focus: What does a modern cultural hysteria look like, and how do I pick the right one for my project?

Shortened class today

1. Warming up with a survey on the present state of your researching/writing habits; creating a "writing space" for yourself in this classroom

2. Offering you an example of a modern cultural hysteria

3. Starting to brainstorm your own ideas for the cultural hysteria project (sign up below under hw)

OR
 
    Asking ten questions in ten minutes (Levels 1, 2, and 3)

HW:
1. If you have not yet done so, you need to have selected a topic for your modern cultural hysteria project (sign up on document below):

SIGN UP HERE! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

2. Pose TEN GOOD QUESTIONS about your topic (start a new Google doc inside your Cultural Hysteria folder).

3. Spend 5 minutes on a day on your Puritan Words, List 1; assessment this Friday.

Connecting the Past to the Present: August 28, 2018

Focus: What does a modern cultural hysteria look like?

1. Warming up by augmenting our vocabularies with Quizlet Live: Puritan Words, List 1 (if you haven't yet joined, click HERE)

2. Recapping the Salem witchcraft courtroom scene with a focus on possible explanations

Scene 4 (1:16:30--1:26:26): Witchcraft Is an Invisible Crime

3. Connecting the past to the present: Recapping the cultural hysteria project overview and starting to brainstorm possible topics

4. Offering you an example of a modern cultural hysteria


HW:
1. By the end of class on Wednesday, you need to have selected a topic for your modern cultural hysteria project (sign up on document below):

SIGN UP HERE! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

2. Spend 5 minutes on a day on your Puritan Words, List 1; assessment this Friday.

Understanding the Puritans Through Performance: August 27, 2018

Focus: What can we understand about cultural hysteria through dramatic reenactments of Puritan courtroom scenes?

If you handwrote your research, please turn it in by the end of class.

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Indulging in an impromptu performance of the Bridget Bishop trial

• If you're Judge Hawthorne, what do you notice about the kinds of questions you're asking?

• If you're Bridget Bishop, what do you notice about your responses?

• How does yesterday's research help you understand what's happening in this scene?

3. Watching a four scenes from The Crucible and adding to your research and analysis; follow-up discussion as class:

Scene 1 (5:45--10:55): Betty's Sleeping
Scene 2 (13:30--20:30): Witchery's a Hangin' Error
Scene 3: (31:15--35:00): The Contagion of Accusation
Scene 4 (1:16:30--1:26:26): Witchcraft Is an Invisible Crime

• What non-supernatural issues are plaguing Salem? How might these relate to the witchcraft accusations?

• What instigates the hysteria in these scenes?

• What perpetuates the hysteria in these scenes?

• What does your research help you understand about these scenes?

HW:
1. Click here to join our Quizlet class. Spend 15 minutes with your 15 Puritan Words (List 1). You'll have an assessment on these words next Friday. You can use Quizlet to play games, flip through flashcards, test yourself, or whatever helps you best absorb the words.

2. Read the overview of the Modern Cultural Hysteria project and start thinking about what you topics might want to explore for your project.

3. BRING HEADPHONES TO CLASS THIS WEEK.

Investigating the Salem Witch Trials: August 24, 2018

Focus: What really happened during our country's first cultural hysteria, and how does it still affect us?

1. Warming up with "Still Puritan After All These Years": 3 Levels of Questions and a pinwheel discussion

2. Investigating the Salem witch trials; click HERE for the overview; make a copy of it and save it in your "Cultural Hysteria" folder

Step 1 (30 min): Use your note catcher (or any other form of note-taking that works for you on your "Puritan" Google doc) to amass knowledge from various websites. There are a few links on the overview, but feel free to conduct your own Google searches. You will do this part individually.



HW:
1. For Monday: Complete your Salem witch trial notes (spend about 15-20 minutes on this).

2.  If you are planning to purchase a physical copy and/or audiobook of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, now is a great time! We'll be starting it in about a week.

In the Hands of an Angry God: August 23, 2018

Focus: Why did Puritans fear their God and the afterlife?

1. Warming up with the Puritan fashion police; through the eyes of a Puritan, describe / criticize (or praise) your partner's clothing and hair style using some of the language from the article

• Follow-up discussion as a class: 

• What inferences can we make about the Puritans based on their fashion?
• Why did they have such strict fashion rules? How does this connect to other information you've gathered on them?

2. Listening to Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and sketching/describing the images that affect you the most (start clip around 5:30)

• Follow-up question with a partner: 

• How would you characterize the Puritans' relationship with their God? 
• What was their perception of the afterlife?
• How might their relationship with God and their idea of the afterlife have affected their daily lives?

3. Enjoying a brief, crazy clip from The Crucible (one interpretation of the Salem witch hysteria began) and adding to your Puritan document with your observations, questions, and inferences

(note to self: show first 11 minutes)


HW:
1. For tomorrow: Read "Still Puritan After All These Years" (handed out in class). As you read, annotate by jotting down in the margins (or journalling about)...

• what you're wondering
• what you're confused about
• how you're reacting
• what you're inferring
• what connections you're making
• what you're realizing/starting to realize

You will need your annotations for tomorrow's activities; I will walk around and check them during class.

2.  For Friday: If you have not yet done so, please complete the survey (and encourage your parents to do the same).

The City Upon a Hill: August 22, 2018

Focus: What are we observing, questioning, and inferring about Puritan beliefs?

Please turn in your signed class policies if you have not yet done so.

1. Offering you an explanation of the "Academic Character" grade in IC and our class cell phone policy

In a nutshell:

1. Work ruthlessly on American Lit from bell to bell.
2. Keep your cell phone in your bag unless invited to to take it out.
3. Use your laptop for what we're doing in class (turn off IM and other distracting pop-ups).
4. Your "Academic Character" grade will reflect your focus and help you figure out what you need to work on.

2. Warming up by gathering background on the Puritans from a secondary source

Reading "The City Upon a Hill" with your note catcher from yesterday.

Enjoying grid group discussions:

• Topic 1: What did it mean to the Puritans to be the "city upon a hill"? 

• Topic 2: Look back to your notes from yesterday. What specific connections can you make between to what you learned from yesterday's gravestone and primer activities? In other words, how does this article inform some of the inferences you made yesterday?

• Topic 3: Do you think Arapahoe High School sees itself as a "City Upon a Hill"? What kind of pressure does this put on a group? On an individual?

• Final group task: Go back to yesterday's questions on the class blog and respond thoughtfully to at least one.

3. Investigating the Salem witch trials; click HERE for the overview; make a copy of it and save it in your "Cultural Hysteria" folder

Step 1: Use your Puritan notes to amass knowledge from various websites. There are a few links on the overview, but feel free to conduct your own Google searches. You will do this part individually.

Step 2: As a class, we'll compare the larger conclusions you drew.

Step 3: With a partner, you will return to the three big questions on the overview. Discuss them thoughtfully and type your detailed response on your copy of the overview.

4. Wrapping up with a quick exit ticket

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Spend 15 more minutes exploring the Salem witch trial websites and adding to your Puritan note catcher.

2.  For Friday: If you have not yet done so, please complete the survey (and encourage your parents to do the same).

3. Keep bringing your charged laptops to class.

Digging Into Puritan Artifacts: August 21, 2018

Focus: What can we infer about Puritans from the artifacts they left behind?

1. Warming up with the gravestones of a two famous Americans together

2. Setting up and sharing Google folders; establishing what you know and want to know about Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials

Step 1: Create a Google folder called ______(your last name only) American Lit

Step 2: Share it with me at kleclaire@lps.k12.co.us

Step 3: Within your American Lit folder, create a "1st Semester" folder.

Step 4: Within your 1st Semester folder, create a "Cultural Hysteria" folder.

Step 5: Within that "Cultural Hysteria folder, create a doc called "Puritans" (or something similar).

[Random Step: Sign up for our class Remind account by clicking HERE.]

In your "Puritans" doc, you need three sections, but the organization is up to you. 

*If you'd like a note catcher, click HERE and make a copy. Otherwise, experiment until you figure out what works for you. *

Basically, here's what you need:

• What I'm observing about the Puritans and their gravestones

• What I want to know / questions I have about Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials

• What I'm inferring about Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials

3. Walking through a Puritan graveyard with a focus on observing, questioning, and inferring

4. Close reading a Puritan Primer in small groups

• What is the purpose of the primer? What is this thing?

• Besides grammar, what patterns are you noticing? What kinds of words does the primer use? What you make of these words?

• What does the Puritan Primer reveal about the Puritans?

5. Returning to our semester focus:

So far, what do you think the Puritans feared? What might they have done to feel safe?

HW:
1. For TOMORROW:

• Post one big, important, unanswered question about Puritans or the Salem Witch Trials on today's class blog (underneath this post, there's a link that says "Comment(s)"--make sure you're logged into Google, then click on that link, write your question, and post it).

• Please ask your parents/guardians to read and sign the course syllabus by Wednesday, August 22.

• Sign up for success! Click HERE to join our class Remind account.

2. If you have not yet done so, please complete the survey I e-mailed to you, linked HERE. Urge your parents to complete theirs, too (linked here). They're not due until Friday, August 24, but the sooner you fill yours out, the sooner I can be a better teacher to you.

3. Make sure you bring your charged LAPTOP to class each day, starting today.