October 1, 2013: What's Happening in English 10

1. First hour's responses to the clip of The Matrix. Go here for some strong responses.
2. The Taliban's impact on Afghanistan: View this clip and make at least 5 connections to what Amir sees and learns about the Taliban in Kite Runner.
3. Reminders for Today's Fish Bowl Discussion:

• Everyone should have his or her Kite Runner book and annotations out. This applies to both the outer and inner circles. 
• Reference the text frequently, reading passages aloud and giving people time to find the right page numbers.  
• All participants in the outer circle should include at least one quotation in their blogs to receive full credit. 
• Outer circle participants must participate on the blog throughout the entire discussion; you should not disappear for large periods of time.
• If you haven't read, you should not participate in fishbowl. Instead, use this time to read and post on the blog tonight for homework.
• Group Leaders: Please turn in your syllabus.

Period 1 Fish Bowl 

Period 3 Fish Bowl
Period 6 Fish Bowl

Homework:

• Index cards for Lesson 5 are due tomorrow
• Read and annotate Chapter 21 for Thursday and prepare for Fish Bowl #6

 

September 30, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

1. Meet Mrs. Makovsky
2. Meet Vocabulary Lesson 5 words
3. An important step in the hero's journey--The red or the blue pill from The Matrix.
4. Directions for viewing this clip. Go here and then to slides 31 and 32. Go here for The Hero's Journey chart.

Homework:

• Prepare for tomorrow's Fish Bowl, Chapters 19 and 20.
• Read and annotate Chapter 21 for Thursday's Fish Bowl. Group leaders meet and prepare a syllabus.
• Create flash cards for Lesson 5 vocabulary words. Due Wednesday

Reminders for tomorrow's Leaders:

• You will turn in a typed syllabus that includes a detailed summary and around 12-20 thought-provoking discussion questions on the assigned reading.Your questions should be organized by topic. (Worth 30 points)
• You will be graded on your preparation, analysis, participation, facilitation, and leadership.

Reminders for tomorrow's Discussers:

• Read and annotate the chapters carefully. You will need to participate insightfully at least 5 times.

Reminders for tomorro's Outer Circle:

• Read and annotate the chapters carefully. Be prepared to participate through writing or speaking.

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

Focus: How well do we know the List 4 vocabulary words?

1. Warm-up: Reviewing List 4 vocabulary words independently or with a partner (5 min)

2. Taking the List 4 SAT vocabulary quiz

3. Relaxing into your independent reading books (or The Kite Runner if you are behind)

HW:
1. Spend at least 30 minutes with your independent reading book.
2. Start reading Chapters 19 and 20 for Tuesday's fishbowl discussion; leaders should start preparing their syllabus.  Please remember that next week is Homecoming Week and may be especially busy for some of you; this weekend would be a good time to get ahead in The Kite Runner so you don't have to worry about it next week.

September 26, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What shifts are happening in The Kite Runner? Why are they important to novel as a whole?
1. Present "Wanted" signs to the class.

2. Warm-up: Making inferences on the Taliban based on quotations spoken by them; please brainstorm your thoughts on each in your notes on Google drive before discussing as a class.

Click HERE for the slides; the instructions and quotations start on slide #20.

3. Fishbowl #4: Discussing Chapters 17 and 18 in The Kite Runner

1st Hour Fishbowl Blog

3rd Hour Fishbowl Blog

6th Hour Fishbowl Blog

3. Wrapping up discussion with take-aways and questions that respond to today's focus question

HW:
1. Study for tomorrow's List 4 SAT vocabulary quiz.
2. Bring your independent reading book to class tomorrow.

September 25, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can we augment our vocabulary while simultaneously considering criminality in The Kite Runner?

Please have out your vocabulary flashcards to be checked.

1. Warm-up: Talking through the List 4 definitions and doodling small images/symbols for each

2. Creating "Wanted" signs that combine vocabulary with The Kite Runner

By yourself, create an old-fashioned "Wanted" sign that incorporates the following:

• The criminal who is "Wanted" on this sign should be a person, place, or concept for The Kite Runner that you feel lies at the heart of the novel's central conflicts.  For example, the criminal could be a certain character, but it could also be something more abstract, like cowardice.

• Throughout the sign, you must incorporate at least SEVEN SAT words, and at least FIVE of them must be from List 4. Please use your packet to make sure you are using the words correctly. Underline them on your sign.

• Your sign should include the following elements as well:
• An image and physical description of the criminal
• What felonious acts this criminal has committed
• What the criminal is armed with
• What you should do if you see this criminal
• What the reward is if you catch this criminal

3. Sharing your signs and starting Chapter 17 together, pausing to share questions, reactions, interpretations, and other annotations

HW:
1. Finish Chapters 17 and 18 for Thursday's fishbowl; leaders and discussers should be prepared.
2. Start studying for Friday's vocabulary quiz over List 4.
3. Bring your independent reading book to class on Friday.

September 24, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: Do I need to make up work for this class? What Level 2 and Level 3 questions do I have regarding The Kite Runner so far?

1. Warm-up: Since this Friday marks the end of the first six weeks, I would like you to take a moment to look carefully at your grades for this class, keeping in mind the following:

• All make-up work, late work, and redos/retakes must be completed by this Friday for credit.  This includes missed fishbowl blogs, retakes on vocabulary quizzes, Kite Runner annotations, vocabulary flashcards, and any other work collected over the past six weeks.

• Remember that if you missed an outer circle day on the fishbowl, you must make up the blog by posting an extended response on that blog that includes at least one quotation from the assigned chapters.  This also applies if you took a day to read instead of participating on the outer circle.  Let Mrs. Boldman know if you post an extended response so it can be graded.

• If you are planning to make up any grades, please speak with Mrs. Boldman right now to develop a plan to ensure it gets taken care of by this Friday.

• If your grades in this class are fine, then use this time to work on your List 4 SAT flashcards.

2. Fishbowl #3: Chapters 14, 15, and 16 in The Kite Runner

1st Hour Fishbowl Blog

3rd Hour Fishbowl Blog

6th Hour Fishbowl Blog


3. Wrapping up fishbowl with take-aways and questions

HW:
1. Finish your List 4 SAT flashcards by tomorrow (Wednesday) and bring them to class.

2. Start reading and annotating Chapters 17 and 18 for Thursday's fishbowl discussion; leaders should start preparing the syllabus.

3. Remember that this Friday marks the end of the first 6 week period.  All make-up work, late work, and redos/retakes must be completed by this Friday for credit.

September 23, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What larger patterns are you starting to find in The Kite Runner, and why are they important?

1. Warm-up: Brainstorming motifs from The Kite Runner together on the board, then drawing them together to form good discussion questions.  Each of you should post your best one on today's blog and then pick one to reply to.

For example, let's say that one of the motifs on the board is violence, and that another is redemption. 
 
You could ask a question like this: Is violence a way of achieving redemption? 
 
Or, you could ask something like this: Can Amir ever find redemption for the violence he allowed to happen to Hassan?
 
Again, once you've posted your question on the blog, please reply to someone else's question.

2. Returning to the hero's journey: Look over the first page of the Joseph Campbell's hero's journey chart given in class today.  With a partner, fill out as much of the first page as you can for The Kite Runner:

• Think "outside the box" a little.  For example, there may not be any actual dragon battles in The Kite Runner, but there are battles with monster-like people and ideas.
• Be as specific as possible, citing quotations or at least page numbers whenever possible.
• Stay in the middle column (the column on the right will be used later).
• Don't worry if every single step doesn't apply; you can leave a couple of boxes blank if they don't work.

3. Starting Chapter 14 together, if time allows

HW:
1. Finish reading and annotating Chapters 14, 15, and 16 in The Kite Runner.
2. Leaders and discussers need to be prepared for tomorrow's fishbowl discussion.

September 20, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How your are vocabulary skills?

1. Warm-up: Quizzing each other on the List 3 SAT words (5 minutes)

2. Taking the List 3 SAT vocabulary quiz

3. Relaxing into your independent reading book OR catching up with Kite Runner reading (you should be through Chapter 13 by Monday)

4. Grading each other's fill-in-the-blank sections of today's vocab. quiz, if time

HW:
1. Spend 30 minutes with your independent reading book

2. Read and annotate Chapter 13 of The Kite Runner by Monday.

September 19, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can student-led discussion lead us to a better understanding of The Kite Runner, Chapters 9 and 10?

1. Warm-up: Building up your background knowledge to better understand The Kite Runner

a. As a class, brainstorm which words, people, historical events, terms, etc. have come in The Kite Runner that you don't quite understand.

b. With your membership grid groups, select the two or three topics that you'd most like to know about, and take a little time to research them.  Discuss how the research helps you understand what's happening in The Kite Runner (be sure to write down research and responses in your grids).

2. Participating in Fishbowl #2: Chapters 11 and 12

1st Hour Fishbowl Blog

3rd Hour Fishbowl Blog

6th Hour Fishbowl Blog


3. Wrapping up a discussion with a whip-around: What are your take-aways and questions?

HW:
1. Study for tomorrow's List 3 SAT vocabulary quiz (keep bringing your flashcards and annotations to class to be checked off).

2. Bring your independent reading book to class tomorrow.

3. Start reading and annotating Chapter 13 for Monday.

September 18, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can student-led discussion lead us to a better understanding of The Kite Runner, Chapters 9 and 10?

1. Warm-up: Reviewing List 3 SAT vocabulary

2. Recapping Fishbowl expectations:

1. Everyone should have his or her Kite Runner book and annotations out.  This applies to both the outer and inner circles.

2. Reference the text frequently, reading passages aloud and giving people time to find the right page numbers.  

3. Leaders can and should jump into the discussion as well.

4. All participants in the outer circle should include at least one quotation in their blogs to receive full credit.

5. Outer circle participants must participate on the blog throughout the entire discussion; you should not disappear for large periods of time.

6. If you haven't read, you should not participate in fishbowl.  Instead, use this time to read and post on the blog tonight for homework.


3. Participating in Fishbowl #1: Chapters 9 and 10

1st Hour Fishbowl Blog
3rd Hour Fishbowl Blog
6th Hour Fishbowl Blog

4. Wrapping up the discussion with a "whip-around" (go around the circles and state what went well and/or what we need to improve upon and/or one take away from today's discussion you have regarding The Kite Runner)

HW:
1. Prepare for tomorrow's fishbowl by reading and annotating Chapters 11 and 12.

2. Start studying for Friday's SAT vocabulary quiz over List 3.

3. Keep bringing your annotations and flashcards to class so that they can be checked off.

September 17, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What information do we need to prepare for this year and beyond?

1. Meeting in the Forum for important information regarding this year and your schedules for next year

2. Reviewing expectations for fishbowl leaders; discussing a sample syllabus (handout given in class)

3. Taking time to become PSAT and ACT scholars by perusing the websites below, signing up for the SAT question of the day, and trying out the surveys:

PSAT/SAT  (try clicking on the "PSAT/NMSQT" and "My College Quickstart" when you get there)

PLAN/ACT

HW:
1. Finish reading and annotating Chapters 9 and 10 to prepare for tomorrow's first official fishbowl discussion! Leaders of Fishbowl #1: Make sure you FOLLOW THE SAMPLE SYLLABUS, creating one syllabus together and creating copies for each member of your group as well as a copy for your teacher. These should be ready to go as you walk into class.

2. Finish your List 3 SAT vocabulary flashcards and bring them to class tomorrow.

3. Friday: List 3 SAT vocabulary quiz and independent reading

September 16, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What is the hero's journey, and how can it help us deepen our understanding of The Kite Runner? 

1. Thinking about the purpose of Chapter 7 in The Kite Runner (see Friday's activity)

2. Warm-up: Figuring out the first step of the hero's journey

What is the hero's journey?

• Some critics believe that there exists a “collective unconscious,” or inner thoughts, feelings, instincts, and memories that reside in the unconsciousness of all people.

• The hero’s journey ties into this, as heroes across all times and cultures share certain traits and experiences.

3. Viewing two examples of the first step of the hero's journey:

Finding Nemo

Batman Begins

As you watch, please respond to the following questions in your notes:

• What do these clips have in common?

• What heroic patterns do they reveal?
  
  

• How do these moments affect the main characters?

Discuss your findings as a class.

3. Discussing in your membership grid groups:

1. Which characters appear to be following this heroic pattern in The Kite Runner? How so?
2. How has the separation (physical or emotional) affected these characters’ self-perception, behavior, and motivation?  Please include at least one specific passage from the novel to support your response.
   
   
3. Be sure to write down the brilliant ideas your group members are offering!  You do need to read passages aloud, but you don’t need to rewrite all the passages (just discuss them and include page numbers in your grids).

HW:

1. Please meet in the Forum tomorrow for important information about this year and scheduling for next year.

2. Continue reading and annotating Chapters 9 and 10 to prepare for Wednesday's fishbowl discussion. Leaders of Fishbowl #1: Make sure you FOLLOW THE SAMPLE SYLLABUS, creating one syllabus together and creating copies for each member of your group as well as a copy for your teacher. These should be ready to go as you walk into class.

3. Start making List 3 SAT vocabulary flashcards; these are due Wednesday.

September 13, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: Why does Khaled Hosseini include the violent scene in Chapter 7?

1. Warm-up: Reviewing List 2 vocabulary words independently or with a partner (5 min); handing back your List 1 quizzes

2. Taking the List 2 SAT vocabulary quiz

3. Relaxing into your independent reading books

4. Approaching the violence of Chapter 7 of The Kite Runner; either writing about or discussing Chapter 7 while keeping the following in mind:

“Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications.  It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean…Violence in real life just is.  If someone punches you in the nose in a supermarket parking lot, it’s simply aggression…Violence in literature, though, while it is literal, is usually also something else.  That same punch in the nose may be a metaphor.”  --Foster, How to Read Literature Like a Professor

• What might the violence in Chapter 7 represent on a larger scale? Think about the world of Afghanistan and how it's starting to change in these chapters.
  
  
• What other stories does this scene of violence make you think of? Can those connections help you understand the nature of the rape in Chapter 7?
  
  
• Why this sort of violence and not some other?  For example, why not just have Assef beat up Hassan?

HW:

1. Spend 30 minutes with your independent reading book.

2. Start reading and annotating Chapters 9 and 10 to prepare for Wednesday's fishbowl discussion.

September 12, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: In the first six chapters of The Kite Runner, what do we know for sure?  What are we wondering about? What do we not get at all?

1. Warm-up: Reviewing List 2 SAT vocabulary words if we didn't get to them yesterday

2. Prepping for the practice fishbowl: On a Google doc, please attempt the following (then, we're going to try to answer each other's questions):

• THREE level 1 questions: What do you not get at all?
• THREE level 1 questions: What are you wondering about? 
• ONE level 3 question for Chapters 5 and 6 of The Kite Runner.  
• In some of your questions, try to include specific quotations from the text or at least refer to a specific page number. 

3. Practicing the fishbowl: We need about five people to practice being leaders today (asking questions and guiding discussion, jumping into discuss here and there), about five official discussers, and two or three people to start on the outer circle and jump into the hotseat at some point.

Everyone else will practice blogging.  Please click on the link below that pertains to your class:

1st Hour Fishbowl Blog
3rd Hour Fishbowl Blog
6th Hour Fishbowl Blog

4. Debriefing: What was easy? What was hard? What went well?  What didn't go well?  How can we improve?  Looking back to the Fishbowl Overview, what grade would you give yourself today?

5. Warning, warning, warning: Chapter 7 contains highly controversial and disturbing material.  If it makes you really uncomfortable to the point where you can't finish the chapter, please let me know.

HW:

1. Read and annotate Chapters 7 and 8 (once again, these are very disturbing chapters)

2. Study for tomorrow's List 2 SAT vocabulary quiz. If your flashcards and annotations have not been checked off yet, be sure to bring them to class tomorrow.

3. Remember to bring your independent reading book to class tomorrow.

September 11, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What is a fishbowl discussion, and how do I sign up?

PLC: Shortened class today

1. Warm-up: Sharing Ms. Leclaire's 9-11 story (to read and respond to on your own)

2. Overviewing fishbowl discussion in extreme detail; see "Fishbowl Overview" and "Sample Syllabus," both linked at the top of the class website.  

3. Signing up for fishbowl discussions:

• You must sign up once to be a leader and once to be a discusser; they must be on separate dates.

• You cannot miss your leader or your discusser dates, so make sure you write them down in your calendar immediately, along with the assigned chapters for those days and the people you will be leading with.

• Exchange contact information with the other leaders in your group.

3. Reviewing List 2 SAT vocabulary words with circle story time! If time runs out, we'll do this tomorrow.

Please have your Kite Runner annotations and flashcards out to be checked.

HW:

1. Read and annotate Chapters 5 and 6 to prepare for tomorrow's practice fishbowl discussion.

2. Start studying for Friday's List 2 SAT vocabulary quiz. If your flashcards and annotations have not been checked off yet, be sure to bring them to class tomorrow.

3. Remember to bring your independent reading book to class on Friday.

September 10, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can making personal connections and asking questions help us understand the family in The Kite Runner?

Reading Strategy #5: Make personal connections to the text (text-to-self connections)

1. Warm-up: Creating a symbolic family drawing (much like the one you did yesterday) for the family in The Kite Runner:

• Whatdoes the house/estate look like? Where do the different characters belong?
• Which characters are symbolically small and powerless, and which ones have power?
• Which characters are close to each other, and which maintain an emotional distance?
• Find passages from the text to back up at least THREE of your symbolic choices and write them in your drawing.

Follow-up class discussion: What important choices did you make, and what do they symbolize?  

Can you relate to the family in The Kite Runner?  Anybody here overshadowed by siblings? How does your relationship with your parents compare to Amir's relationship with his dad?

2. Discussing Chapter 2 with your membership grid groups

Topic #1: Each member shares a significant question from Chapter 2; all members discuss possible answers to each question.

Topic #2: Each member shares a significant passage (quotation) from Chapter 2; all members discuss the passage and its possible significance.

Topic #3: Each member makes a text-to-self connection to understand the text on a more personal level.  In other words, can you relate to any of the characters or their relationships so far?

3. Start reading and annotating Chapter 3 together, continuing to ask and discuss level 1 and 2 questions

HW:
1. Read and annotate Chapters 3 and 4 using sticky notes or a reading journal; remember to use your reading strategies as you annotate (make personal connections, ask level 1 and 2 questions, make inferences about important little details, build up your background knowledge by looking up things you don't understand).  Make sure you have annotations or reading journal in class each day for checks.

2. List 2 SAT vocabulary flashcards due tomorrow.

3. Friday: Independent reading and List 2 SAT vocabulary quiz.

September 9, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: What does it mean to ask a great question, and how can this help me understand the opening pages of The Kite Runner?

1. Warm-up: Creating symbolic family drawings and interpreting them:

Remember when you were in kindergarten, and you were asked to draw a picture of your house and family?  Little kids, without realizing, draw in an interpretive way rather than a literal way.  For example, they may draw their dad as tall as the house because he's that important.  They might draw a floating turtle in the sky because he's in heaven. They tend to place family members in the spaces in the home where they spend the most time, and how big they draw themselves often indicates how important they feel as part of the family.

Go back to your kindergarten symbolic mind, and draw a symbolic picture of your family and home.  If your parents are divorced or one spends much time traveling, think about how you could represent that.  Think about how the size and location of people in your house represents a larger idea about the dynamics of your family relationships.

When everyone finishes, trade pictures with someone (if you feel comfortable doing so).  On the back of the drawing, write down a 3-5 sentence interpretation of this person's family based on the picture alone.  If you don't wish to trade, interpret your own drawing.

As you meet the family of The Kite Runner today and tonight when you read Chapter 2, think about how the dynamics of this family compare and contrast to yours.

2. Introducing three levels of questioning; please click HERE to read and discuss the explanation, then check out the questions below and decide if they're level one, two, or three questions.

What is a Hazara?

What does Hassan's physical's description represent about his social status?

Why do societies always need a scapegoat?

3. Distributing The Kite Runner and gathering book numbers

4. Reading the opening pages of The Kite Runner together with sticky notes or a reading journal; pausing to write, ask aloud, and discuss your level one and level two questions

HW:
1. Finish reading and annotating Chapters 1 and 2 of The Kite Runner; annotate by asking level 1 and 2 questions using sticky notes or a reading journal; when you can, try to answer some of your questions. What reading strategies can you use to understand these opening chapters?

2. Start working on your List 2 SAT vocabulary flashcards; they are due WEDNESDAY this week.

3. This Friday: Independent reading, List 2 SAT vocabulary quiz.

September 6, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How are your vocabulary skills?

1. Warm-up: Quizzing each other on the List 1 SAT words (5 minutes)

2. Taking the List 1 SAT vocabulary quiz

Note: If you are absent from class today, you must make up this quiz during an off hour, before school, of after school BEFORE CLASS ON THURSDAY.

3. Relaxing into your independent reading book

4. Grading each other's fill-in-the-blank sections of today's vocab. quiz

HW:
1. Spend 30 minutes with your independent reading book
2. If you have your own copy of The Kite Runner, start bringing it on Monday.

September 5, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How are we starting to grow a little as readers?

1. Warm-up: Interpreting a film clip

2. Taking the post test:

• Please record your new responses in the "Post Test" box; this grade will be a growth grade (rather than an attempt and completion grade), so please do your best to improve your answers from what you wrote in the Pre Test boxes.

• If you need your computers to employ Reading Strategy #4: Build and activate background knowledge, feel free to do so.

• Also, please have your List 1 flashcards on your desks so I can check them off.

"Roll Away Your Stone"

Visa Commercial

HW: 
1. Finish the critical reading post test if you did not do so in class today.
2. Study for tomorrow's List 1 SAT Vocabulary Quiz
3. Bring your independent reading book to class tomorrow.

September 4, 2013: What's Happening in English 10?

Focus: How can we use our reading strategies to understand complex visual texts such as commercials and film?

1. Warm-up: Playing a round or two of Scattegories to understand and review the List 1 SAT words

2. Watching a long commercial and a short commercial; unraveling their layers

Reading Strategy #1: Find the clues/little details that seem significant
With commercials, this becomes much more complex.  Consider the following:

Colors

Images

Music

Characters

Background/scene

Camera angles, cuts, close-ups, etc. 

Narration (words spoken aloud)

Text (words that appear on screen)

Reading Strategy #2: Make the unfamiliar familiar (make inferences)

Reading Strategy #3: Ask great questions

Reading Strategy #4: Build up and activate your background knowledge

What do you know about the subject of this commercial that helps you understand it?

What do you need to look up?

Use these strategies to make a statement about this commercial's bigger picture, or larger purpose:

This commercial is trying to...by...

3. Applying these strategies to the best film clip ever

HW:
1. Finish your List 1 vocabulary flashcards by tomorrow; bring them to class tomorrow and start studying them for Friday's List 1 vocabulary quiz.

2. Look over everything we've done in the past two weeks (blogs, notes, reading strategies, texts, homework, etc) to prepare yourself for tomorrow's reading boot camp post-test.

3. Bring your independent reading book to class on Friday.