Reflecting on Act 3: January 29, 2016

Focus: How can performance deepen our understanding of Act 3?

1. Warming up with a musical mini lesson on active vs. passive voice

2. Understanding active vs. passive voice with a www.noredink.com quiz

3. Reading your banned books; using your minutes log to complete the reading survey

4. Revisiting Act 3 with the film version and your grid groups and study guides:

• Talk through the questions you each answered for each scene.

• At the bottom of each page, try to identify one thing that seems to be shifting in the play (such as character attitudes, power, control, etc.).

HW:
1. Now that we have made our way through most of Act 3, you should have at least FIVE word trace entries. Use the Harvard Concordance link on the website if you need help locating your word.

2. Read your banned book.  They need to be finished by Feb 22 (it's about 3 weeks away).

3. If you did not do this in class please do this over the weekend: Using your reading log, complete the reading survey linked here. 

And You're on in 3...2...1: January 28, 2016

Focus: How can performance help us understand important ideas in Act 3?

1. Warming up by prepping with your Acting Company (10 min)

Primary Objective: Help us understand your scene

Secondary Objective: Entertain us a bit, will you?

2. Enjoying performances while filling our your study guides / quizzes

3. Finishing this statement: In a word, Act 3 is really about...

4. If time allows, viewing the film version of Act 3 and discussing how Roman Polanski's version stacks up to yours

HW:
1. You will have a brief www.noredink.com "quiz" tomorrow on active vs. passive voice.

2. Bring your banned book and reading logs to class tomorrow for reading time.

3. After watching and discussing Act 3, you should have at least five word trace entries. Use the Harvard Concordance link if you're having trouble finding your word.

The Play Is the Thing! January 27, 2016

Focus: How can preparing a performance help us understand characters and themes from Macbeth?

PLC: Shortened Class Today

1. Warming up with an individual goal that will lead to group success: I will...

2. Gathering together with ye acting companies to prepare scenes from Act 3

Reminder #1: Act 3 performances take place tomorrow, so use your time efficiently today.

Acting Company #1: Act 3, scene 1, lines 1-51 ("Bring them before us")

Acting Company #2: Act 3, scene 1, lines 52 ("To be thus is nothing) - end of scene.

Acting Company #3: Act 3, scene 2 (all)

Acting Company #4: Act 3, scene 3 (all)

Acting Company #5: Act 3, scene 4, lines 1-103 ("Than such a murder is.")

Acting Company #6: Act 3, scene 4, lines 104 ("My worthy lord") - end of scene.

3. Deciding who is bringing what tomorrow

Reminder #2: Make sure I print out your group's study guide/quiz in class today.

HW:
1. Banned book reading. Are you logging your minutes?

2. Create word traces tonight and tomorrow for Act 3; you may wish to use the Harvard Concordance link on my website. By the end of this week, you should have least FIVE entries (see my feedback at the top of your Google docs).

3. Bring in any costumes, props, music, etc for your performance tomorrow.

4. By Friday, finish your www.noredink.com assignments on active vs. passive voice.

Prepping Performances: January 26, 2016

Focus: How can preparing a performance help us understand characters and themes from Macbeth?

1. Warming up with our grammar mini lesson of the week: Active vs. Passive Voice (www.noredink.com)

2. Understanding the purpose and expectations of Acting Companies

3. Gathering together with ye acting companies to prepare scenes from Act 3

Acting Company #1: Act 3, scene 1, lines 1-51 ("Bring them before us")

Acting Company #2: Act 3, scene 1, lines 52 ("To be thus is nothing) - end of scene.

Acting Company #3: Act 3, scene 2 (all)

Acting Company #4: Act 3, scene 3 (all)

Acting Company #5: Act 3, scene 4, lines 1-103 ("Than such a murder is.")

Acting Company #6: Act 3, scene 4, lines 104 ("My worthy lord") - end of scene.

HW:
1. Before class on Friday, please complete the www.noredink.com assignment: Active vs. Passive Voice

2. Create word traces tonight and tomorrow for Act 3; you may wish to use the Harvard Concordance link on my website.

2. Complete any tasks assigned by your acting company; ALL PERFORMANCES WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY.

Over the Edge: January 25, 2016

Focus: What pushes a person over the edge?

1. Warming up by testing your understanding of ideas in Act 2

2. Discussing symbolic choices in the film and finishing the film version of Act 2

3. Setting up Act 3 for your acting companies:

a. Reading all scene summaries
b. Deciding on a plot level and a deeper meaning level what each scene is about


HW:
1. If you did not finish in class, finish reading all Act 3 scene summaries and establishing what each is about on a plot level and a deeper meaning level.

2. Check your word trace entries for feedback; continue adding to them as you read Act 3 (remember that by the end of the play, you should have 8-10 entries).

3. Log your minutes spent reading.

4. New www.noredink.com exercises due before class on Fri: "Active vs. Passive Voice, Part 1"

Reading Check-In: January 22, 2016

Focus: What patterns are you noticing in the texts you're reading this semester?

Winter Assembly: Shortened Class

1. Warming up with an enjoyable quiz on capitalization on www.noredink.com

2. Easing into the world of your banned book; perusing ways to log your minutes

Try logging your minutes using either the chart given out in class or an app, such as You-Log Reading.

3. Viewing the film version of Act 2 with a focus:

• In the film version, does it seem like Macbeth being moved by evil, or is he creating evil in the universe around him? 

• What symbolic choices in the film make you think that?

HW:
1. Next week, I will be giving you a second round of feedback on your Word Traces. At this point, you should have at least three. By the end of the play, you will need 8-10.

2. Spend 30 minutes with your banned book this weekend.

Manipulative or Manipulated? January 21, 2016

Focus: Is Macbeth being moved by evil, or is he creating evil in the universe around him?

1. Warming up with a little Act 2 minesweeper

2. Acting out Act 2, scenes 3 and 4: Using your sticky notes, please take charge of the following:

• If your card is a heart...please mark any lines that a show the goodness and/or guilt in a character's heart

• If your card is a diamond..please mark and analyze the use of sounds in these scenes. These can be actual sounds in the stage directions and also sounds referenced in characters' speeches.

• If your card is a club...please keep track of all references to nature (weather, birds, water, etc) and consider how nature reflects what's happening onstage.

• If your card is a spade...please keep track of all references to fear. What does each character fear, and how does this fear affect him or her?

3. Using your little observations to form bigger patterns:

• Look at all of the instances in which your card topic (goodness, sounds, etc.) came up. What do they have in common? Try starting a sentence like this: 

• Each time I see guilt in a character in Act 2, that character is...   
• Each time there's knocking or a bird shrieking in Act 2...

• So far, _______ (your card topic) seems to symbolize ___________ (bigger idea).

• Look at the focus question at the top of this blog, and respond to it on the class blog. Try to weave your deep thoughts about your card topic into your response.

4. If time allows, viewing the film version of 2.1 with a symbolic focus


HW:
1. Update your word trace entries for Act 2, scenes 3 and 4. Everyone should have at least three entries (and hopefully more).

2. Brief quiz tomorrow on capitalization; make sure you have completed your www.noredink.com assignment.

3. Bring your banned book to class tomorrow.

Is This a Blog I See Before Me? January 20, 2016

Focus: Can a good person commit an evil deed and still be a good person?

1. Warming up with two film versions of Macbeth's dagger hallucination

• Quick background build-up: what is a hallucination? Why do we have them? Why might Macbeth have one at this point in the play?

• In your notes, please write down one significant symbolic choice for EACH version.

• Also, please write down a few ideas about the larger effect of the choice.  In other words, how do the directors' choices affect the way we perceive Macbeth in this scene?

• Connect to yesterday: What does this scene have to do with good, evil, or conscience?

2. Acting out Act 2, scenes 2 and 3: Using your sticky notes, please take charge of the following (we'll do a practice round with 2.1):

• If your card is a heart...please mark any lines that a show the goodness and/or guilt in a character's heart

• If your card is a diamond..please mark and analyze the use of sounds in these scenes. These can be actual sounds in the stage directions and also sounds referenced in characters' speeches.

• If your card is a club...please keep track of all references to nature (weather, birds, water, etc) and consider how nature reflects what's happening onstage. 

• If your card is a spade...please keep track of all references to fear. What does each character fear, and how does this fear affect him or her?

3. Wrapping up by sharing your brilliant findings with the class and responding to our focus question

4. Updating word trace entries if time allow


HW:
1. Update your word trace entries for Act 2, scenes 1-3. By tomorrow, everyone should have at least three entries.

2. Complete your www.noredink.com assignment (Capitalizing Ethnicities, Politics, and Things in Space) BEFORE class on Friday.

3. Bring your banned book to class Friday.

The Guilty Conscience: January 19, 2016

Focus: Can a good person commit an evil deed and still be a good person?

1. Warming up with a quick little game: "In a word..." (recap of Act 1)

2. Viewing the film version of Act 1, Scene 7 with same focus as yesterday:

In your "In-class Work" document, please try out the following tasks:

• Find two symbolic choices made by the director.  Consider the actors, colors, objects, movements, and anything else that involved the director making a specific choice in turning this play into a film.

• Why do you think he made these choices?

• What did the film specifically help clarify for you?

3. Acting out Act 2, scene 1 with the following tasks:

Note to self/class: I need a bell person.

• When you see any images that might represent good, evil, or guilt (or lack of guilt), please mark them.

• Keep looking for your word trace word.

4. Gathering with ye ole "I like people" groups

• Topic #1: How do you, personally, define the terms "good" and "evil"?

• Topic #2: How do you, personally, define "conscience"?  Does everybody have one? Are you born with one? How does one develop a conscience?

• Topic #3: In Act 2, when Macbeth is hallucinating the dagger, which words connote good and/or evil?  How?  Overall, what might the dagger symbolize?

5. Wrapping up with rewarding yourself for minutes spent reading

HW:

1. Update your word trace entries for Act 2, scene 1; see my feedback on your Act 1 entries.

2. Your www.noredink.com assignment, "Capitalizing Ethnicies, Politics, and Things in Space," is due before class on Friday.

3. Bring your banned book to class Friday. Log your minutes spent reading it this week, aiming for at least 90 minutes a week (this breaks down into 12.9 minutes a day, but break it up in a way that matches your reading style). Log your minutes using either the chart given out in class or an app, such as You-Log Reading.

What Makes Something Worth Reading? January 15, 2016

Focus: How can directorial choices deepen your understanding of Shakespeare?

Please have your signatures and banned book proposals on your desks.

1. Warming up with a few quick refreshers on capitalization

2. Putting your brain to the test by taking www.noredink.com quiz on capitalization

3. Diving into your banned book with this question in mind: Should this book be banned? If not, what makes it worth reading/teaching? What parts make (or made) it controversial?

4. Finishing the film version of Act 1 with same focus as yesterday:

In your "In-class Work" document, please try out the following tasks:

• Find two symbolic choices made by the director.  Consider the actors, colors, objects, movements, and anything else that involved the director making a specific choice in turning this play into a film.

• Why do you think he made these choices?

• What did the film specifically help clarify for you?

Please turn in your yellow focus and participation sheets.

HW:
1. Spend at least thirty minutes reading your banned book.

2. Finish your Act 1 word trace entries and keep an eye our for my feedback.

Manipulated Macbeth: January 14, 2016

Focus: To what extent is Macbeth manipulated, and to what extent are his evil plans his fault?

1. Warming up: Introducing you to your new favorite teacher page

2. Finishing Act 1 and attempting to understand Lady Macbeth's manipulative skills

• What makes Lady Macbeth so untrustworthy/deceptive?
• Specifically, what techniques does she use to manipulate Macbeth?
• How would you describe Macbeth in these scenes?

3. Interpreting the film version of Macbeth

In your in-class work doc, please try out the following task:

• Find two symbolic choices made by the director.  Consider the actors, colors, objects, movements, and anything else that involved the director making a specific choice in turning this play into a film.

• Why do you think he made these choices?

• What did the film specifically help clarify for you?

HW:

1. How about those word traces?  I will be leaving you feedback over the weekend; you should have at least one entry, but hopefully you have more. By the end of the play you need 8-10 entries.

2. Short QUIZ on capitalization tomorrow.

3. Banned book proposal, signatures, and actual book due tomorrow.

To Trust or Not To Trust: January 13, 2016

Focus: Whom do we trust? To what extent do we trust ourselves?

Please take out your yellow focus and participation sheets from yesterday. What's your goal?

1. Warming up: The trust spectrum

•Are there people in this world whom you trust entirely? Do you fully trust your family? Your friends? Your teachers? Yourself?

•Explain what makes you trust person and what makes you distrust a person. Do you consider yourself a trusting person?

•Which is more dangerous—being overly trustful, or being skeptical of everyone?

Rank the following characters based on the extent to which you trust them: The witches, Macbeth, Banquo, Lady Macbeth, Duncan, the former Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm (be prepared to defend your responses)

2. Finish reading Act 1 (hopefully) with a focus on trust and deception

With each of the main characters (Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and King Duncan), ask yourself the following questions:

• Whom does he or she fully trust (if anyone) and why?
• Whom does he or she kind of trust and why?
• Whom does he or she not trust at all and why?

3. Cooling down with your www.noredink.com grammar assignment of the week: "Capitalizing People, Professions, and Classes"

HW:
1. Complete your grammar assignment, "Capitalizing People, Professions, and Classes," if you did not finish in class today.  All grammar lessons can be found on www.noredink.com

2. Continue creating word trace entries.  Everyone should have at least one or two entries by the end of Act 1.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR WORD TRACES ARE IN YOUR SHARED MACBETH FOLDER.

3. Banned book proposal, signatures, and actual book due this Friday.

It's All About Trust: January 12, 2016

Focus: Whom do we trust and why? To what extent can we trust ourselves?

Slightly Shortened Class: Advisement

Quick participation check-in...

1. Warming up to grammar: Capitalizing People, Professions, and Classes on www.noredink.com

2. Reading Act 1, Scene 4: What does this scene suggest about trust and deception?

3. Getting to know Lady Macbeth

a. Interpreting an image of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

b. Acting out Act 1, Scene 5 with a continued focus on trust and deception.

4. Working on your word traces

HW:
1. Complete the THREE capitalization exercises on www.noredink.com by Thursday.

2. Banned book proposal, signatures, and actual book due Friday.

3. Complete word traces for today's reading; PLEASE MAKE SURE IT'S IN YOUR SHARED MACBETH FOLDER AND THAT YOU HAVE TITLED IT "WORD TRACE."

The Power of Prophecy: January 11, 2016

Focus: Whom do we trust, and what do we believe?

1. Warming up with a few glimpses of your own future

a. Considering some (im)possible prophecies

• Each of you will receive a slip of paper with "a prophecy." 
• Create a two-columned chart on your in-class work Google doc with "believable" on one side and "unbelievable" on the other side. 
•  As we pass around the slips of paper, decide whether or not you find each "prophecy" believable. Write them in the appropriate columns.
• Look at a list of possible "prophets"; which prophets are believable, and which are unbelievable?

b. Grid Group Discussion: 

Topic #1: Which ones were believable and why? Which ones were unbelievable and why? What do we like to believe in?

Topic #2:  Looking back to 1.3, how does Macbeth respond to the witches' prophecies? Why does he respond this way? How does Banquo respond to the witches' prophecies? Why? How would you have responded?

Topic #3: What is the very first thing Macbeth says? Why is it significant? What does it suggest about the relationship between the witches and Macbeth?

INTERMISSION: JUMP STARTING YOUR WORD TRACES

4. Act out 1.4 and 1.5
What do these scenes suggest about trust and deception?

HW:
1. Complete word trace entries for each time your word has appeared in Act 1 so far.

2. Banned book proposal and signatures due this Friday (see yellow handout or link on "Calendar: Semester at a Glance"). You should also bring a copy of your banned book.

3. Just a heads-up: Tomorrow we will have a Noredink assignment on capitalization with a "quiz" on Friday.

Fair Is Foul: January 8, 2016

Focus: How do the witches infect Act 1?

1. Warming up with  your independent reading focus of second semester: Banned books

2. Performing Act 1, Scene 3

Directions: Each time you find a speech, a line, or even a word that responds to any of the questions below, please mark it with a sticky note.

The basics:

• What do we learn about Macbeth? What kind of guy are we dealing with here?
• What do we learn about the other characters?
• Which things happen by chance, and which things happen by choice? In other words, what is determined by the characters' actions, and what seems out of their control?

The big, deep question:

• Respond to the focus question: How do the witches infect Act 1, scene 3? Try to find at least three specific moments in which you see the infection spreading.

3. Understanding the word trace and getting started on your first entries, perhaps while watching the Polanski version of Act 1 so far

HW:
1. If your word has appeared in the first three scenes of Act 1, complete a word trace entry for each time it has appeared. Be sure to follow the directions and the example very closely.

2. Start considering what you might read for your banned book; complete the proposal and get your parents' signatures by next Friday, January 15.

And the Curse Is Cast: January 7, 2016

Focus: How do the witches infect all of Act 1?

1. Warming up: Performing a close reading of a witchy, witchy picture, revisiting the first scene of the play, and explaining how participation works for this unit

2. Introducing the Macbeth word trace (handout and example given in class)

3. Performing Act 1, Scenes 2 through 3

Directions: Each time you find a speech, a line, or even a word that responds to any of the questions below, please mark it with a sticky note.

The basics:

• What do we learn about Macbeth? What kind of guy are we dealing with here?
• What do we learn about the other characters?
• Which things happen by chance, and which things happen by choice? In other words, what is determined by the characters' actions, and what seems out of their control?

The big, deep question:

• Respond to the focus question: How do the witches infect Act 1, scenes 2 and 3? Try to find at least two specific moments in which you see the infection spreading.

HW:
1. Read the yellow Word Trace handout; come in with any questions you have.
2. Got sticky notes?
3. Show up for your conference. They're awesome so far!

Very Superstitious: January 6, 2016

Focus: What does the opening scene of "The Scottish Play" reveal to us, and how does it relate to the superstitions surrounding the play?

Is your self-evaluation done? Did you take it? Did you sign up for a conference?

1. Warming up with a few dark inferences about Macbeth

• Getting back together with your grid groups to finish Topic #3: What weird, superstitious stuff can you find out about Macbeth? For example, why won't people in the theatre business refer to this play by its name? Discuss some of the "incidents" that have played into this superstition. Also, Roman Polanski produced one of the most famous film versions of this play. What horrific event happened just before he created this film?

• Finishing this statement at the bottom of your grids: In a word or two, Macbeth seems to be about...

INTERMISSION: Wait, how does Ms. Leclaire grade our participation during a Shakespeare unit such as this glorious one? Click HERE for the answers you seek.

2. Interpreting three versions of Macbeth's opening scene:

• Describe the three witches’ physical appearance in each film.

• Describe the setting of each film; what effects does the setting have on the tone (the emotional undertone) of the film?

• What are they saying? Which words strike you?

• What do you think is happening in this scene?

• Try to find one symbol in each scene and make an inference/form a question about what it might represent.

3. Reading 1.1 together with questions and interpretations

(Note to class: I need a thunder guy.)

Sticky note challenge:
(1) Ask one good question.
(2) Make one observation about the way the witches speak.

HW: 
1. BRING STICKY NOTES TO CLASS (unless you're purchasing your own copy, in which case, bring that to class).

2. Signed class syllabus due tomorrow (Thursday).

3. Show up for your conference; make sure your evaluation and your responses to your own evaluation are complete to your satisfaction before your conference, please. Conferences are worth 20 points.

We're Baaaaaack! English 10: January 5, 2016

Focus: How do we set ourselves up for growth this semester in English 10?

1. Warming up with 3GT (or maybe 4 or 5 good things?)

2. Exploring this semester's course overview and expectations while highlighting three strengths/areas of interest and three weaknesses/areas of concern

3. Using the course overview and expectations to create highly individualized evaluations

• If you haven't done so yet, fill out the course evaluation for Ms. Leclaire's class from last semester. Feel free to steal/modify any questions for your own evaluation.

• 1st hour: Click HERE for the evaluation.
• 3rd hour: Click HERE for the evaluation.

• Create an evaluation that I will fill out to give you personalized feedback. You will also take your own survey as a means of self-reflection. Here are the guidelines:

1. It must have 10 questions.

2. The questions cannot be short answer. They must be multiple choice or on a number scale.

3. The questions must pertain to aspects of you that I see in English 10. Think about inviting feedback that I don't typically give you on essays or reading journals.

4. At least one question must be related to an aspect of yourself that you see as a weakness. 

5. Use the course expectations to inspire your questions. Look over these carefully as you create your evaluation.

6. Call this "_________ (Last Name) Evaluation" and send it to yourself and to me.

[If you're new to this class, also share your English 10 folder with me at kleclaire@lps.k12.co.us.]

7. Be sure to take the survey yourself to reflect on your own growth as a learner.

8. Sign up for a five-minute conference with me to discuss your evaluation and set goals.

4. Entering the superstitious world of Macbeth with your grid groups

Topic #1: How superstitious are you? Try out some (or all) of the topics below to get started.

Do you believe in beginner's luck?

Do you avoid stepping on cracks?

Do you refuse to open umbrellas indoors?

When you blow out your birthday candles, do you make a wish?

Before a big sports game, performance, test, etc., do you perform some kind of ritual or carry a good luck charm?

Do you try to avoid the number 13?

Do you ever knock on wood?

When you see a penny, do you pick it up for good luck?

Do you believe that bad things happen in threes?

Do you consider yourself to be a superstitious person?

Topic #2: Why do you think we have superstitions? Where might they come from, and we do we (or don't we) like to believe in them?

Topic #3: What weird, superstitious stuff can you find out about Macbeth? For example, why won't people in the theatre business refer to this play by its name? Discuss some of the "incidents" that have played into this superstition. Also, Roman Polanski produced one of the most famous film versions of this play. What horrific event happened just before he created this film?

At the bottom of the grid: Based on your research so far, make a prediction: I think that Macbeth is about...

HW:
1. If you need more time to complete your evaluation AND TAKE IT YOURSELF, please finish up tonight.

2. Please ask your parents to read and sign the course overview and expectations; signed sheet due Thursday.

3. If you are planning on purchasing your own copy of Macbeth, I recommend the versions with a modern English "translation"next to the "Shakespearean," such as No Fear Shakespeare. If you're using a school copy, BRING STICKY NOTES TO CLASS.