One-Word Biographies: September 28, 2018

Focus: How can a one-word biography help you uncover a shift you've undergone?

1. Warming up with Grammar You Must Know #2: Pronouns

2. Offering you an overview of our memoir unit

3. Friday freewriting: Click HERE for today's memoir slides on creating one-word biographies

4. Five-minute spontaneous share

HW:

1. Read pages 174-207 for next Tuesday in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; complete your journal entry using either the three passage, three question format or one of the more creative choices. Do what works for you! 

If you miss a Fishbowl or Socratic, you must make it up. Read over the syllabus and blog comments, then add an extended comment to the class blog. 

2. We will continue our READING JOURNAL CONFERENCES in class next Monday and Wednesday. Click HERE for the rubric. 

3. TODAY IS THE FINAL DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING ANY WORK FROM THE LAST SIX WEEKS. 

Alas, Poor Yorick: September 27, 2018

Focus: Why does Foer include the play Hamlet in his novel? What does it help us understand about Oskar's role?

1. Warming up with a crash course on Hamlet

• Read "Hamlet in a nutshell"
• In your journal or in your ELIC Google folder, spend some time listing possible parallels (strong similarities) between the play Hamlet and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In particular, what conflicts do Oskar and Hamlet share?

• Read/act out Act 5, scene 1 from Hamlet using No Fear Shakespeare (pages 8 and 9).
• What's Hamlet struggling with in this scene?

• How might Hamlet's struggle relate to Oskar's struggles?

2. Optional: Watching the "Alas, poor Yorick" scene from the 1990 Hamlet (in the book, Oskar plays the role of the Yorick, the skull)

3. Enjoying Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Discussion #3: Pages 142-173

4. Wrapping up with takeaways/reflections

HW:

1. For Tuesday: Read pages 174-207 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; complete your journal entry.

If you miss a Fishbowl or Socratic, you must make it up. Fishbowl: Read over the syllabus and blog comments, then add an extended comment to the class blog. Socratic: Read over the syllabus and the class notes, then add an extended comment to the class blog.

2. We will continue our READING JOURNAL CONFERENCES next Monday. Click HERE for the rubric. 

3. THIS FRIDAY IS THE END OF 6 WEEKS. All make-up work from the first 6 weeks must be submitted by tomorrow. After Monday, any grade in IC will remain as is.

Crossing the Threshold: September 26, 2018

Focus: How will the characters' quests unfold?

1. Warming up with a crucial step in the first stage of the hero's journey: Crossing the threshold

• Viewing an example from Moana; in your "in-class thoughts" document, please respond to the follow questions (start around 13:10-32:00):

• What is Moana's safe zone? Why compels her to leave it?
• What is her "dangerous unknown"? What makes it so risky?
• What happens on her first attempt to cross the threshold? Why?
• What happens on her second attempt? Why is the outcome different?
• What gives her the courage to cross the threshold?

• What is Oskar's safe zone? What compels him to leave it?
• What is his dangerous unknown? Why makes it so risky?
• What gives him the courage to cross the threshold? 
• What won't he venture into yet?

• What about Thomas? And the Grandmother? What are their safe zones and what is their dangerous unknown? To what extent have they crossed the threshold?

3. Reading ELIC, journalling, and conferencing (click HERE for the conference rubric)

HW:

1. For Thursday: Read pages 142-173 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; complete your 4th journal entry. You can continue journalling in the same way, or you can try out some of the creative options above! Whatever you do, make sure you post it on your blog:

If you miss a Fishbowl or Socratic, you must make it up. Fishbowl: Read over the syllabus and blog comments, then add an extended comment to the class blog. Socratic: Read over the syllabus and the class notes, then add an extended comment to the class blog.

2. All make-up work, missing work, and revisions must be submitted by this Friday, Sep 28. After this date, grades from the first 6 weeks will stand as they are.

Unpacking the Grandparents' Emotional Baggage: September 25, 2018

Focus: What do we understand about the characters in ELIC so far, and what are we wondering?

1. Warming up by taking ten minutes to comment on each other's reading journals

2. Opening the tightly packed emotional baggage from the grandmother's and grandfather's narratives

Left side of the room: 

• Find a chapter written in the grandfather's voice. 
• Identify one short sentence or phrase that alludes to his history/background/emotional baggage. 
• 2nd hour: Stand up and read it aloud. 6th hour: Write it on the front whiteboard.

Right side of the room: 

• Turn to the chapter written in the grandmother's voice. 
• Identify one short sentence or phrase that alludes to her history/background/emotional baggage. 
• 2nd hour: Stand up and read it aloud. 6th hour: Write it on the back whiteboard.

Everybody

• What are noticing about the grandparents?
• What are you wondering?

3. Enjoying our first Fishbowl discussion: Pages 85-141

Outer circle reminders:

• Hit F5 to refresh the screen.
• When you're replying directly to someone, hit "reply."
• Bring a quotation into at least one of your comments/questions.
• Stay consistent from the beginning of the conversation to the end.

4. Wrapping up

HW:

1. For Thursday: Read pages 142-173 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; complete your 4th journal entry. You can continue journalling in the same way, or you can try out some of the creative options below! Whatever you do, make sure you post it on your blog:

• Write about your day in Oskar’s voice, or Thomas’ voice, or any of the character’s voices.

• If you had a book like Thomas’ in which you wrote out the phrases you needed most, what would they be this week? What does that suggest about you as a character?

• Turn a chapter you just read into a poem. Give it a title.

• Take pictures. Use them to seek connection/understanding in the same way Oskar does. Or draw. Make sure you explain the connections.

• Find clues to your own life (it’s up to you to decide what you’re trying to figure out). You could use headlines from newspapers, from social media, or any other “artifacts” from your daily life. Describe your journey compares to Oskar’s (or the grandparents’).

If you miss a Fishbowl or Socratic, you must make it up. Fishbowl: Read over the syllabus and blog comments, then add an extended comment to the class blog. Socratic: Read over the syllabus and the class notes, then add an extended comment to the class blog.

2. For tomorrow: We will begin our READING JOURNAL CONFERENCES in class tomorrow (Wednesday). Click HERE for the rubric. 

3. THIS FRIDAY IS THE END OF 6 WEEKS. All make-up work from the first 6 weeks must be submitted by this date. After Friday, any grade in IC will remain as is.

A 9-Year-Old's Quest: September 24, 2018

Focus: Why is Oskar's quest important to us?

1. Warming up with three good things and Grammar You Must Know #2: Pronouns

2. Viewing the hero's journey as depicted in Finding Joe; mapping out the Joseph Campbell hero's journey as a class (around 4:00--13:34)

"Here it is: there's only one story. There, I said it and I can't very will take it back. There is only one story. Ever. One. It's always been going on and it's everywhere around us and every story you've ever read or heard or watched is part of it." 

-- Foster, How To Read Literature Like a Professor

3. Trying out Campbell's hero's journey with your favorite quests, then using the hero's journey to understand the start of Oskar's quest

4. Reading, journalling, and conferencing on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Tuesday leaders: You have this time to prepare your syllabus.

HW:
1. Read through page 141 in ELIC and complete your third journal entry if you have not yet done so to prepare for Tuesday's Fishbowl discussion

2. Leaders need to prepare a syllabus and post it to the class website before class tomorrow.

3. THIS FRIDAY IS THE END OF 6 WEEKS. YOU HAVE UNTIL THEN TO SUBMIT ANY MISSING WORK, TO RETAKE ANY "QUIZZES," AND TO ALERT TO ME TO ANY INCORRECT GRADES. AFTER MONDAY, THE GRADES WILL STAND AS THEY ARE.

Protecting Ourselves from Sadness: September 21, 2018

Focus: How are the characters in ELIC protecting themselves from sadness?

1. Warming up with a Friday Freewrite (scroll down to the bottom and find the Sep 21 prompt)

2. Giving you 20 minutes to read and journal; remember that by Tuesday, you need to have read through page 141 and have completed your journal entry on the blog

To clarify: By Tuesday, you should have THREE journal entries posted on your blog

• Journal #1: Pages 1-15 (we did this in class)
• Journal #2: Anywhere from pages 16-85 (you either did this Wednesday or Thursday night)
• Journal #3: Pages 86-141 (you can do this today, over the weekend, and/or on Monday)

3. Watching the first twenty minutes of the film adaptation of ELIC to help you picture the characters and understand the plotline; use the film notes to guide your deep thinking

HW:
1. For MONDAY:10 pages of ELIC; start journal.

2. For TUESDAY: Read through page 141 and complete your third journal entry; leaders should prepare and post their syllabus.

ELIC Fishbowl #1: September 20, 2018

Focus: How do we discuss Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close?

1. Warming up with a triple Venn diagram for our three narrators

As we diagram...

• What are you learning about our three narrators?
• What are you wondering?
• What's unique about each narrator?
• How do the narratives overlap / relate to each other? What similarities can you find?

2. Enjoying our first ELIC fishbowl discussion (pages 1-85)

3. Wrapping up with kudos, lingering questions, and epiphanies

HW:
1. For TONIGHT: Read 10 pages of ELIC.

2. For TUESDAY: Read through page 141 and complete your third journal entry; leaders should prepare and post their syllabus.