August 27, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can we apply our reading strategies for paintings to poems and song lyrics?

Click HERE for all of this week's slides viewed in class.

(3rd hour: Reading the myth of Daedalus and Icarus and using it to reexamine the blog post from the weekend)

1. Warm-up: Using yesterday's reading strategies to analyze each other's lyrics

a. As you listen to each song, read the lyrics and mark up at least FIVE clues/little details that seem important to the song's larger message.

b. At the end of each song, compose a thoughtful, thorough thesis statement arguing what you think is the song's larger picture.


2.  Rereading the myth of Daedalus and Icarus (which you can access by clicking HERE)

Making sense of the myth...

(a) Imagine Icarus as the average 21st century teenager and Daedalus as the typical father.  What qualities does Icarus share with you or your friends?  What qualities does Daedalus share with your father/stepfather/friend's father?

(b) What might the "wings" translate into in the 21st century?

(c) What might the sun symbolize?  What about the water?

(d) What are the lessons to be learned here?

3. Performing a physically close reading of a poem about Icarus and Daedalus   (Remember the painting "The Fall of Icarus"?  That one little detail was crucial to understanding the entire painting; figure out which details of the poems are crucial.)

4. Small groups: Applying your new reading powers to two challenging Icarus and Daedalus poems, which you can access by clicking HERE.

HW:

1. On your own, please complete the tasks you started with your small groups today.  Remember that you need to do the following for EACH poem:

a. Mark up all crucial details/the "little clues" in each poem (you can either annotate in the margins like we did with the song lyrics or create a chart like we did with the paintings), and...

b. Form a thesis statement asserting what you see as the poem's "bigger picture."  In other words, what statement is this poem making about the painting, the myth, or both?

2. Bring your independent reading book and permission slip to class on Friday.

3. Got Blogger issues?  Please resolve them by the end of week, at which point e-mailed blogs will no longer accepted.