Have a Great Break!

Today we spent our short period working on essay planning and thinking about essay "shapes" with this handout, and I collected writer's notebooks. Lit circle groups are below. Students should get their book over break if they can.

Period 6

Period 2

Gardens, a Timed Essay, & Lit Circle Novels

We began the period with a discussion of the end of Candide and ended by selecting novels for literature circles (if you weren't here text or email your choices ASAP). In between, we squeezed in a timed essay.

Lit Circles and CRAs

After talking about the potential literature circle texts for after winter break—Ceremony, Beloved, and As I Lay Dying—we spent the rest of the time writing CRAs and sharing passages.

The Essay & Candide

We shared essay topics today, reviewed some hopefully helpful essay handouts, and spent some more time analyzing sections of Candide in groups.

AP Ashland & the Candide CRA

After a quick Candide quiz, we talked about the Ashland field-trip (I'll start taking deposits and letters of intent tomorrow) and then started the Candide CRA project.

Thinking About Our First Essay

After finishing the presentations on critical lenses, we scratched the service of the first essay.

Critical Lenses

Today we started with a brief bit of satire analysis, and then shifted our focus to a crash course in critical theory.

Satirical Targets in Candide

We spent the last two days focusing on the satirical focus of Candide, beginning with a short quiz yesterday and moving on to an analysis of student-chosen satirical passages at the end of Monday and today.

Caesar, Satire, & Voltaire

We spent the first half of the period reviewing the Julius Caesar timed essays. Students have the opportunity to revise these if they like (and should revise if they received less than a 5).

We wrapped up the period talking about satire and Candide. Students should read the first ten chapters of the novel and take some notes (or annotate their text), focusing specifically on the targets of Voltaire's satire.

Round 2

Today we wrapped up POL Round 2 and, in 2nd period, started a review of the Caesar timed essays. More of that, and Candide, tomorrow.

Round 2

Today we completed Round 1 and went on to Round 2. We will wrap up tomorrow and then move onto the Julius Caesar timed essay review.

Round 1

We started, and mostly finished, the first round of poem presentations today. They were great!

Some Final Practice

Today, after a bit of business, students had a bit of final in class rehearsal for their poetry recitations which begin tomorrow. In preparation for the recitation, here are some links about recitation and scoring:

• Evaluation Criteria & Tips
• The Scoring Rubric
• The Evaluation Sheet
• The Accuracy Scoresheet

Goodbye Caesar

After our final Caesar video, students wrote their Julius Caesar timed essay and then briefly met in groups to see about revising their films for the sophomore honors class.
Over break, students should be working on their Poetry Out Loud recitations. For tips, check out the POL webpage.

Poem Practice & the End of Caesar (almost)

We again split the day between poem practice and Caesar presentations.

Tone Maps and Vids

Today we split time between Caesar videos and working on and sharing tone maps.

Caesar Videos and Tone Mapping

Today we watched some of the Caesar videos and did a bit of tone mapping.

Maybe Caesar and Poem Sharing

In 2nd period, we shared POL poems and started tone-maps, practicing on a video of Maya Daniels doing "Apollo."
In 6th, we shared poems and watch the first two Caesar videos.

Poetry Out Loud

Today we began our first big poetry unit, Poetry Out Loud. Handouts and links are at Google Classroom.

Final Caesar Work Day

In our revised schedule, videos should be posted to Google Classroom by Sunday evening, 11/13.

Caesar Projects

Students had the whole period to work on their Caesar videos today. Written work should be posted to Google Classroom by the end of today.

Caesar Group Projects

Groups got to work on their projects today. Tonight, students should annotate their chosen scene and do a quick draft SOAPSTone.
Other Due Dates:

• Typed written work due to Classroom, 11/7
• Videos Complete, 11/9
• Study Guide, 11/18

Act 5

Today we reviewed Act 5 and started thinking about the Shakespeare Project. More on that tomorrow.

Act 4

Today we did the Q1 discussion rubric and recapped Act 4. Finish the play tonight.

Act 3 Review

Today we reviewed our initial reading of act three, focusing especially on the contrast between Brutus' and Antony's speeches in 3.2.

End Q1: Act 2

Today we reviewed our notes on Act 2 of Julius Caesar.

Act 1

Today we reviewed our notes on Act 1 of Julius Caesar.

An Intro to Julius Caesar

After a quick reflection on yesterday's presentations (which I collected), we took a few notes on Julius Caesar and watched this video for context.

Here are the reading dates and the homework assignments:

Mini Poetry Presentations

Students spent the day in groups working on a short poetry presentation assignment available at Google Classroom. Presentations tomorrow!

Sound and Sense

Today we spent some time practicing our new meter skills.

An Intro to Meter

Today we spent the period taking notes on and then practicing some different poetic meters. Get the notes (and mnemonics!) from a friend.

Poetry Intro: Day 1

Today we spent the day analyzing Jean Toomer's "Reapers" and reviewing some poetic terms. Get the notes from a friend if you weren't here.

Oedipus Timed Essay

Today we finished up our look at Oedipus with the timed essay.

Timed Essay Prep

Today we wrapped up our discussion of Oedipus and then students reviewed their Awakening timed essays in preparation for tomorrow's timed essay.

Oedipus Presentations

Today we finished the term hunt and started the presentations. More tomorrow.

Hunting Terms

Today we started our Oedipus presentations in earnest with the activities below.

Irony and "Richard Cory"

Today we spent basically the whole period on the activity below, reviewing irony and some poetic terms. Be ready to talk about Oedipus tomorrow!

An Intro to Oedipus

Today we discussed Greek philosophy and drama in preparation for our study of Oedipus the King. Students should have the entire play read by Tuesday.

Timed Essay Number 1

Today we started the period by breaking down the first timed essay prompt and talking a bit about times essay writing in general. Students then had the rest of the period to write.

Theme, Irony, & Study Guides

Tuesday we finished up our work with the study guide, focusing on theme. Wednesday, we spent the day on irony in preparation for our look at Oedipus.
The first study guide is at Google Classroom and is due at TurnItIn.com before class tomorrow.

Study Guide, Day 2

Today we continued working on the study guides, getting through character, setting, style, and figurative language. Students may start this assignment at Google Classroom; it will probably be due Thursday.

Study Guide #1, Day 1

After a short quick-write (below), we spent the remainder of the period working on the first study guide. The assignment is at Google Classroom, but is not homework.

Annotation Focus

Today we started with a quick-write about the roles of the men in The Awakening (Consider the men in the book. Are they the “bad guys” here, or are they in much the same situation as Edna? Explain your answer.) and then moved on to the activity below, using the annotations from last night's homework.

Tuesday & Wednesday

Tuesday we had our second quiz on The Awakening and then talked about the ending a bit. We wrapped up the period by self-evaluating our "Eleven" timed essays from Friday using the rubric from Monday.

Wednesday we began with a bit of figurative language practice, and then annotated chapter 6 (VI) together and part of the last chapter alone. Students should finish the annotation for HW. The passages are here.

Essay Scoring

We spent today's period looking at the scoring guide and some sample essays from the prompt the students wrote to on Friday. We will continue this process with some self-scoring, tomorrow.

Remember, The Awakening should be finished by then as well.

Being Eleven

Today we talked a bit about 6th grade and then read and discussed Cisneros' short story, "Eleven."

Quiz #1

Today we began the period with our first quiz of the year. After that we circled up and had an open discussion about the book.

More Figurative Language

After a short literary analysis warm-up with a quotation from The Awakening, we spent the rest of the day filling out the top half of page one of the figurative language review handout.

Discussion Rubrics & Work Time

Today students marked the discussion rubric and set goals for themselves for this year. After that they had some time to finish their "Phoenix" CRAs and post them to TurnItIn. We wrapped up the with a brief figurative language review.

Chapter 1 & CRA Revision

Today we discussed the opening chapter of Chopin's The Awakening and then spent some time revising and editing the "Phoenix" CRA paragraphs following our "Rules for Writing About Literature" handout. Students then started typing these revised paragraphs in their Google Drives in preparation for submitting them to TurnItIn.com tomorrow.

Kate Chopin

We began looking at Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" (see below) followed by an introduction to the novel and a brief look at chapter 1.

The First CRA

After discussion Sherman Alexie's short story "This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona" in groups and all together, we looked at these two handouts (The CRA & CRA Frames), and students had the rest of the period to write a draft CRA paragraph in their writer's notebook.

What is Lit?

Today we solidified our definition of literature by comparing the passages below. Students should read and annotate Alexie's "This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona" (available at Classroom) for tomorrow's class.

"Drowned Man" Analysis

After discussing "The Handsomest Drowned Man..." in groups and as a class, students had an opportunity to write a bit about it. At the end of the period, some students managed to post their analyses to Google Classroom. All responses should be posted by Sunday evening.

Writing on "Bedspread"

Today we wrote up our thoughts on "The White Bedspread," sharing them at Google Classroom.

"The White Bedspread"

We began the day  considering the definition of literature, and then spent the the rest of the day explicating "The White Bedspread."

Lilies, Etc.

After briefly reviewing the course description, we spent most of today talking and writing a bit about "The Three Lilies." For homework, students should read and annotate "The White Bedspread" (available at Google Classroom).

Picture Day!

Today we managed to do two readings of Jan Neruda's short story "The Three Lilies" (available at Google Classroom), annotating the text during the second reading. We began some small group discussions that will continue in the whole group on Tuesday.

How and Why to Mark a Text

Today we finished our reading and discussion of the Adler article from yesterday and students wrapped up the period making a reading goal for the start of this year. Tomorrow is picture day!

Introductory Things...

Today we began the day with a short reading self-evaluation. Then, after an introductory circle about our names, we read Adler's "How to Mark a Book" (in second period anyway). More on that tomorrow.

Monday & Tuesday: Welcome Back!

We spent these first two days examining a painting by William Blake and taking care of some introductory odds and ends.

For tomorrow:

By Friday: Read the full syllabus online, then locate, print and sign the AP Honor Statement.
By 9/7: Return Back-to-School Forms

Summer HW Part 3, Etc.

The discussion forum looks great and I am enjoying your thoughts on How to Read Literature Like a Professor. As you know, your posts to the discussion forum are due today; however, feel free to continue posting (or even post late). Everything I get in the next week will count (just less if you haven't been posting). Some reminders:

• Start your own thread or reply to someone. The goal is conversation.
• Be real. Make connections between the book and what you read, watch, play, etc.
• Keep it short and simple. The occasional long post is fine, but long posts often inhibit conversation (TL;DR). One idea=one post. Think Twitter rather than Facebook.
• Take 5 minutes and read the guidelines and rubric. Seriously.

The third and final piece of the summer assignment is posted at Google Classroom (due 8/26). It asks you to read and write about three short storties—Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party" (from HTRLLP) and two of the other short stories I have posted. Click on the assignment at Classroom and type your response in the Google doc it gives you.

I will be using Remind.com this year. You will get an email with details, but some of you will already be familiar with it (Muldoon and Lovfald use it, I think).

Enjoy your last few weeks of summer (and remind your friends to check their school email). Don't hesitate to contact me with questions.

See you all soon!

Foster & the Discussion Board

As we near the first due date for the summer homework (not counting the email in June), I wanted to touch base about a couple of things.

Foster & the Discussion Board:

• You should be well into Foster's book by now (there is a PDF here). I hope you are finding it interesting.
• As I mentioned previously, don't expect to get all the allusions to other books. The examples are just to help you get his point.
• Actually read it. Pretending to read it (or anything we study this year) is a useless exercise. It's like pretending to do push-ups: it won't make you stronger.
• Twenty-one of you have successfully logged in to Google Classroom. All of you should have an invitation in your email. The summer assignment is posted there in full.
• Discussion board posting has begun (posts are due 8/12 and 8/19); the more you engage, the better. I read the new posts every day; you should too.
• Read the discussion board guidelines posted at Classroom before you start posting. 
• You may post a new thread or comment on an existing thread.
• Good posts do not have to be long posts. Long posts, like long-winded people, actually tend to inhibit conversation.
• It is a good idea to connect Foster's book to books, movies, video games, etc. where you notice his ideas in action.
• How you craft your comments matters. Take care with your language, even if you are posting with your thumbs.

Don't hesitate to email or text with questions or concerns.

AP Lit 2016/17: Touching Base

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. I won't interrupt for too long, but I did want to touch base briefly about a couple of things:

The AP Literature Google Classroom and Group are up and running. You should have received notifications/invites in your school email. Have a look around when you have a moment.

The Summer Homework is posted at Google Classroom. The first part, "Making Contact," should already be done (if it's not, do it now). The second part, posting to the forums, requires Google Groups.  Once done, you can check off both of these assignments at Classroom if you want.

I know it is early in the summer and most of you probably have not actually started How to Read Literature Like a Professor (here's a PDF copy), but when you do:

• Don't expect to get all the references to other books and stories. The examples are just to help you get his point.
• Read carefully and with tools (e.g. a pen, highlighter, sticky notes, or their digital equivalents). Dialogue with the text—highlight AND comment on interesting or troubling passages, mark sections to discuss online or in class later, etc.
• Actually read it. Pretending to read it (or anything we study this year) is a useless exercise. It's like pretending to do push-ups: it won't make you stronger.

Don't hesitate to email or text if you have any questions. I look forward to your thoughts on How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

The Summer Assignment

An email update will be coming soon with information about Google Classroom and our Google Group. For now, here's a link to the summer assignment handout in case you have misplaced your copy.

The Music Video Project Begins (Officially)

Today students (those who didn't take the day off anyway) had the entire period to begin planning and working on their final projects in earnest. We wrapped up the period with an exit ticket about the current state of the project.
Presentations begin 6/13.

A bit of pre-college advice:

The Visual Essay

After wrapping up our literature circles yesterday, groups spent the day creating test-driving my visual essay idea. The results were excellent! Details are at Google Classroom.

Book Talks

Today we started with the warm-up below, and then students did book talks, sharing their books with others in the class.

So Many Things...

Today, we did a bit of poetry MC practice on Barbara Crooker's "Patty's Charcoal Drive-in," shared our final Poetry Month poems, had a poetry presentation on "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night," wrapped up our discussion of Invisible Man, had the Invisible Man timed essay, and introduced the final book project (handouts and calendar are at Google Classroom).

Burdens of the Past

Today, our schedule changed yet again. As of now, "Rave" and "When I Think About Myself" by Maya Angelou will go tomorrow. "Do Not Go Gentle" by Dylan Thomas will go Thursday.

We spent today's period talking about the question below.

Friday

Friday we started with some essay practice, had a poem presentation and had some group discussion time on Invisible Man.

Monday's Poem: "Rave" by Yusef Komunyakaa

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Today we did a bit of prose MC practice and then shared a whole bunch of pocket poems! Our poetry presentation was cancelled due to an unfortunate cooking accident and will be rescheduled for next week sometime. We wrapped up the day with some IM thoughts (finally!).

Tomorrow's Poem: "If I Could Tell You" by WH Auden

Poetry & a Lockdown...

We began the day with some essay practice (a practice prose passage), had another poetry presentation, and then, finally got to talk about Invisible Man. Oh, wait, no we didn't. There was a lockdown instead. Invisible Man tomorrow. Maybe.

Tomorrow is Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Tomorrow's poem is: [What horror to awake at night] by Lorine Niedecker.

Poems and an Altered Schedule

Today, after a bit of prose MC practice, we had two poetry presentations which took the whole period. This is one of the reasons why I have altered the schedule posted at Google Classroom.

Tomorrow's poem (just one) is "Hunger for Something" by Chase Twichell.

Welcome Back

We got the final weeks of the year off to a good start with a few poems and a quick IM quiz.

Tomorrow's Presentation Poems (Don't forget  to do the homework!)
"A Poem on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy" by Nikki Giovanni

"After Building the Lego Star Wars Ultimate Death Star" by Sherman Alexie

How many planets do you want to destroy? 

Don’t worry, Daddy, this is just a big toy, 

And there is nothing more fun than making noise.

 My sons, when I was a boy, I threw dirt clods 

And snow grenades stuffed with hidden rocks, and fought 

Enemies—other Indian boys—who thought, 

Like me, that joyful war turned us into gods.

IM and Presentation Order

Today we spent most of the day discussing Invisible Man, but also drew the order for poetry presentations which begin Monday after break. The first two poems are "Albatross" by Kate Bass and "Love Song" by Dorothy Parker. Don't forget to do the poetry HW (below).

Practice & Presentations

After a bit more poetry practice, students had some time to work on their presentations.

MC Practice and Work Time

After a bit more MC practice, groups worked on their presentations. Presentations begin the Monday we get back, so CRAs, group MC questions, presentation slides, and presentation notes were the focus.

MC Practice and Work Time

After a bit of multiple choice practice, students spent the day working on their poetry projects.

Quizzes, Fire Drills, and IM

We started the day with a quick quiz (and another fire drill). After that we did the Q3 discussion rubric and talked a bit about Invisible Man.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Today we talked about some National Poetry Month extra credit, and then students spent the rest of the period working on their poetry projects. Parts 1-6 of the poetry analysis are due at Google Classroom today.

IM 1-6

After a quick quiz, we spent the rest of the period discussing the two topics below.

The Project Begins in Ernest

Today students formed groups and started to choose poems. All handouts and groups lists are at Google Classroom.

IM & Langston Hughes

We began the day with a quick annotation and discussion of Langston Hughes' poem "I, Too." Then, after wrapping up our discussion of motifs from chapter one of  Invisible Man, we read and annotated Hughes' "Theme for English B." 

A Discussion About Chapter 1