Gatsby's Party Scenes: March 22, 2019

Focus: What do Gatsby's party scenes reveal about settings and character dynamics?

1. Warming up with a short "quiz" on Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes

2. Reading and journalling on The Great Gatsby; remember that Tuesday we will be fishbowling Chapters 4 AND 5

*NOTE: I will be grading your Chapter 2 and 3 journals over spring break; please make sure you are caught up.*

3. Viewing the film version of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of The Great Gatsby to strengthen your understanding of settings, characters, and party dynamics

• PLEASE TURN IN YOUR FILM REFLECTIONS AT THE END OF CLASS.

HW:
For TUESDAY after break: Read and journal on Chapters 4 and 5 (one journal for both chapters will be fine since we're discussing both chapters in a single fishbowl).

Fitzgerald and Modernism: March 21, 2019

Focus: What is Modernism, and how does this help you put The Great Gatsby in perspective?

1. Warming up with Modernist art from 1925, Grammar Focus #9, and a sneak peak of tomorrow

2. Speed walking with today's fishbowl roles

3. Enjoying our second Gatsby Fishbowl: Chapter 3

Remember our goal: Walk out with a better understanding than the one you walked in with.

4. Wrapping up with kudos, questions, and epiphanies

HW:
1. FRIDAY: Short assessment on Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes.

*NOTE: I will be grading your Chapter 2 and 3 journals over spring break; please make sure you are caught up.*

2. For TUESDAY after break: Read and journal on Chapters 4 and 5 (one journal for both chapters will be fine since we're discussing both chapters in a single fishbowl).

The Pre-Party: March 20

Focus: What does the party in Chapter 3 reveal about the party-goers?

Shortened Class

1. Warming up with Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes

2. Reading and journalling on Chapter 3; conferencing with me on your reading

• Leaders may use this time to prepare the syllabus for tomorrow.
• Discussers: Please complete your journal BEFORE discussion.

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Finish reading Chapter 3 and complete your journal; Fishbowl leaders should prepare and post their syllabus. DISCUSSERS: Complete your journals BEFORE discussion.

2. FRIDAY: Short assessment on Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes.

3. For TUESDAY after break: Read and journal on Chapters 4 and 5 (one journal for both chapters will be fine since we're discussing both chapters in a single fishbowl).

Into the Valley of Ashes: March 19, 2019

Focus: What is the Valley of Ashes, and what does it reveal about the novel as a whole?

1. Warming up with a whiteboard brainstorming of "Valley" and "Ashes"; performing a metacognitive of Fitzgerald's description of the Valley of Ashes

*Your Fishbowl transition: Post one of your questions about the Valley of Ashes on today's blog.*

2. Enjoying our first Gatsby Fishbowl: Chapter 2

3. Wrapping up with your thesis of the day: Fitzgerald uses the Valley of Ashes to....

4. Debriefing: What went well? What do we need to do better?

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Finish reading Chapter 3 and complete your journal; Fishbowl leaders should prepare and post their syllabus.

2. FRIDAY: Short assessment on Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes.

3. For TUESDAY after break: Read and journal on Chapters 4 and 5 (one journal for both chapters will be fine since we're discussing both chapters in a single fishbowl).

Entering the World of Gatsby: March 18, 2019

Focus: What important dynamics does Fitzgerald establish in Chapter 1?

1. Warming up with three good things and the Sparknotes oath

2. Interviewing your partner's understanding of Chapter 1

• Understanding the basics of Chapter 1 with a partner interview

• Rereading the last page of Chapter 1 and brainstorming possible symbols as a class

3. Reading Chapter 2, recapping the reading journal options, and signing up for reading conferences

*Tomorrow's Fishbowl leaders may use this time to prepare.*

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Finish reading Chapter 2 and complete your journal; Fishbowl leaders should prepare and post their syllabus.

2. For THURSDAY: Finish reading Chapter 3 and complete your journal; Fishbowl leaders should prepare and post their syllabus.

3. FRIDAY: Short assessment on Grammar Focus #9: Apostrophes.

4. For TUESDAY after break: Read and journal on Chapters 4 and 5 (one journal for both chapters will be fine since we're discussing both chapters in a single fishbowl).

Stepping into Nick's Shoes: March 15, 2019

Focus: What purposes does the book's opening chapter serve?

1. Warming up by meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald and brainstorming his relationship with wealth and the American Dream (20 minutes)

• Click HERE for the four film reflection questions

2. Reading Chapter 1 together with your choice of journalling

3. Getting set up our Gatsby fishbowls

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Finish reading Chapter 1 and post your first journal; read the first half of Chapter 2.

2. For TUESDAY: Finish reading Chapter 2 and post your second journal; leaders should prepare their syllabus for Fishbowl discussion.

3. For THURSDAY: Read Chapter 3 and post your third journal; leaders should prepare their syllabus for Fishbowl discussion.

To make up for the snow days:

• You will need to read Chapters 4 and 5 over spring break; you will have Friday and Monday as reading days. Remember your Sparknotes oath.

• No vocabulary quiz this week.

• Parent interview is optional.

Making and Breaking the American Dream: March 12, 2019

Focus: Does wealth make or break the American dream?

1. Warming up with finishing our Empathy Monologues and the Empathy Folder

• What's the hardest part of empathy? OR, What do you have to do in order to gain empathy?

• If I can have empathy for this person, I can also have empathy for...

2. Getting logistically set up for our new unit:

• New folder: The Great Gatsby or "Wealth and Power" or "The American Dream"
• New document: In-class thoughts

3. Meeting poets, business people, politicians, and statisticians to brainstorm ideas on the current status American Dream (10 min)

In your "In-class Thoughts" document, please try the following as you watch the videos:

• Write a one-sentence summary of what the video is about.

• Write a one-sentence summary of what larger point the video is making and/or how the video responds to today's focus question (is wealth making or breaking the American dream?).

• Write a brief personal response to the video. This can include reflection, opinions, connections, analysis, reaction, questions, or all of the above.

Here are the videos (pick two or three)

Both Sides:

(good spoken word poem) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDNUGMMxLk   (3:41)

Dream Is Dying:

• http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-dream-illustrated-with-legos-brookings-200611923.html  (3:40)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1I_AfdNHM8&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active  (3:26)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tUIx5DlxaI&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active   (3:25)

Dream is Thriving:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8dXKMTUAtk&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active (3:44)

• President Trump on Rebuilding the American Dream

• Former First Lady Michelle Obama on the American Dream

4. Meeting F. Scott Fitzgerald and brainstorming his relationship with wealth and the American Dream

• Click HERE for the four film reflection questions

HW:
1. For TODAY (Tuesday): Complete our Gatsby opening survey! It will take you about 15 minutes. Click HERE for the link.

2. For THIS FRIDAY: Interview one of your parents/guardians and bring their responses to class. Click HERE if you need a copy of the interview questions.

3. For FRIDAY BEFORE BREAK (March 15): Study the 20 Gatsby vocabulary terms in Quizlet to prepare for a vocabulary quiz on this day.

Performing Our Empathy Monologues: March 11, 2019

Focus: What can we learn about empathy through writing?

Please turn in your school copies of Fences.

1. Warming up with three good things, baked goods, and an overview of how the note cards work

• On each note card, please write your name and the name of the presenter.

• Jot down ONE POSITIVE THING for each speech. The more specific, the more meaningful it will be to them.

2. Performing our empathy monologues

3. Wrapping up, if time allows, with a Friday freewrite on empathy

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Complete our Gatsby opening survey! It will take you about 15 minutes. Click HERE for the link.

2. Start looking over your Gatsby vocabulary on www.quizlet.com; quiz on Friday, March 22.

Writing Week, Day 4: March 7, 2019

Focus: How can peer revision strengthen our writing?

1. Warming up with a quick explanation as to how our Monday coffeehouse reading will look like

• On MONDAY, you will have one minute to present part or all of your monologue. It should be well-read, but no memorization required.

• You must use the full minute, but how you divide your time is up to you. You could spend 30 seconds talking about your character, the process of researching this person, the process of writing about this person, what you've learned about empathy, etc., and then 30 seconds reading part of your monologue. Or, you could use the entire time to read your monologue.

• You must read at least a few lines from your monologue.

2. Exchanging drafts and revising them methodically by using these slides

3. Taking a quick picture of your peer editing and sending it to me

4. Conferencing with your partners in the last 5 minutes of class

NOTE: If your draft is not ready for editing today, you must use the above slides either to edit or your own or have someone else edit it. If you'd like credit for this, please send me a picture of the edited copy.

HW:
1. Prepare for your coffeehouse reading on Monday.

2. By TUESDAY: Complete our Gatsby opening survey! It will take you about 15 minutes. Click HERE for the link.

Drafting the Monologue, Day 3: March 6, 2019

Focus: How can we use imagery in our monologues?

1. Warming up with a sample student Empathy Monologue from last year with a focus on sentence variety

2. Drafting. conferencing, and self-editing your monologues

• Are you establishing some of the conflicts in this character's life? 

• Are you identifying a shift in your perspective / turning point / realization?

• Are you / is your character coming to a bigger realization about yourself, others, or the world around you? What is resolved by the end of the monologue?

• Are you using imagery to develop your character?

• Are you using a variety of sentence lengths and structures?

• Need more ideas? Try out the brand new Writing Cards!

3. Offering you a quick overview of how the Coffeehouse Reading works

HW:

1.THURSDAY: PRINTED Empathy Monologue full drafts are due by the beginning of class.

2. MONDAY: FINAL DRAFTS DUE in Turnitin.com; coffeehouse readings of empathy monologues.

Drafting the Monologue, Day 2: March 5, 2019

Focus: How can we use imagery in our monologues?

1. Warming up with reading a third-person monologue: Salvador Late or Early

• An image is something that appeals to one of your five senses. Which three images in this piece are the most powerful for you?

• How do these images help develop this character? What can you infer from them?

2. Drafting. conferencing, and self-editing your monologues

• Are you establishing some of the conflicts in this character's life? 

• Are you identifying a shift in your perspective / turning point / realization?

• Are you / is your character coming to a bigger realization about yourself, others, or the world around you? What is resolved by the end of the monologue?

• Are you using imagery to develop your character?

3. Needing more ideas? Try out the brand new Writing Cards!

HW:

1. TODAY: Make sure you have completed a Connect, Extend, Challenge entry for all scenes in Fences, including any days that you missed.

2. THURSDAY: PRINTED Empathy Monologue full drafts are due by the beginning of class.

3. MONDAY: FINAL DRAFTS DUE in Turnitin.com; coffeehouse readings of empathy monologues.

Drafting the Monologue, Day 1: March 4, 2019

Focus: How do we use conflict and turning point to draft a monologue?

1. Warming up with three good things and the Writing Week Contract

2. Analyzing Roses's monologue:

• What are her conflicts?

• Where is her turning point / big realization?

• To what extent does the turning point resolve the conflicts?

3. Applying this exercise to your Empathy Monologue character:

NOTE: Please make sure you have an Empathy Monologue Google doc called "Draft," and that it's in your shared American Literature folder.

• Which conflict(s) has your character experienced that you want to focus on in your Empathy Monologue?

• What might be this character's turning point / realization regarding his or her conflict?

• To what extent does this turning point / realization resolve this character's conflict(s)?

4. Writing and conferencing

HW:

1. TODAY: Make sure you have completed a Connect, Extend, Challenge entry for all scenes in Fences, including any days that you missed.

2. THURSDAY: PRINTED Empathy Monologue full drafts are due by the beginning of class.

3. MONDAY: FINAL DRAFTS DUE in Turnitin.com; coffeehouse readings of empathy monologues.

What's Hiding in a Monologue? March 1, 2019

Focus: What hides in a monologue, and how do we find it?

1. Warming up with a little partner scenery analysis

• Find three descriptions of scenery: One each from the beginning, middle, and ending.

• In terms of the scenery, what shifts throughout the play, and what does it mean?

2. Performing the end of Fences and discussing your reflection questions

3. Analyzing Roses's monologue:

• What are her conflicts?

• Where is her turning point / big realization?

• To what extent does the turning point resolve the conflicts?

4. Applying this exercise to your Empathy Monologue character:

NOTE: Please make sure you have an Empathy Monologue Google doc called "Draft," and that it's in your shared American Literature folder.

• Which conflict(s) has your character experienced that you want to focus on in your Empathy Monologue?

• What might be this character's turning point / realization regarding his or her conflict?

• To what extent does this turning point / realization resolve this character's conflict(s)?

HW:
For MONDAY:
Make sure all of your Connect, Extend, Challenge questions for Fences are complete except for the final scene, which we will perform tomorrow (see rubric below). Remember that if you missed class on a Reader's Theater day, you still need to complete that entry.

Check out the Fences journal/blog rubric I will use to assess and give feedback to your blogs.