Peeling Off the Yellow Wallpaper: August 31, 2015

Focus: How can questions and background knowledge help you understand a tricky text?

1. Warming up: With your "I Like People" grid group, share some of your best questions from "The Yellow Wallpaper" and try to answer them; remember to jot down some notes on your grid

2. Sharing with the large group your best question and the best comment you had in your group

3. Discussing your reading journals

4. Practicing asking great questions

• Modeling a sample page from the middle

• Trying it out with the second half of the story

5. Activating your background knowledge

• What should we research?
• The rest cure
• Weir Mitchell
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Postpartum depression
• Anything else?

• How does our research help inform our understanding of "The Yellow Wallpaper"? Select ONE topic to research, then find at least THREE places in the story that your research helps you understand.  In the margins, explain what new understanding you've achieved thanks to this research.

HW:
1. Finish reading "The Yellow Wallpaper," filling out one final reading journal (at least five rows). In the middle column, continue to ask Level 1 and 2 questions and to use the background knowledge from class today to analyze the text.

2. Independent reading.

Using Questions To Unlock a Text: August 28, 2015

Focus: How can we use good questions to unlock tricky texts?

1.Warming up with establishing your own independent reading parameters

a. Books must be finished by Friday, October 9 .

b. How many pages does your book have?  About how many pages do you need to read a week?

c. Are you planning to read mostly on weekends, or throughout the whole week?

d. Are you planning on reading more than one book?  This is optional.

e. Take a look at the chapters and overall set-up of the book; make sure you're sectioning the book logically into reading assignments (you don't want to end two pages before the end of a chapter).

f. Take out your student calendars and write down exactly which pages need to be finished by which precise dates.


2. Relaxing into your independent reading books (25 minutes)

3. Considering three levels of questioning, and using these questions to unlock "The Yellow Wallpaper"

HW:
1. FOR MONDAY: Read the first half of "The Yellow Wallpaper" (you can stop at the horizontal line on page 10); fill in at least one side (5 rows) of the reading journal as you read with specific Level 1 and 2 questions.

2. Complete whatever independent reading assignment you have given yourself for the weekend.

Finding Those Poetic Patterns: August 27, 2015

Focus: How do we find patterns in poems and short stories?

"By telling the truth," according to Auden, poetry can "disenchant and disintoxicate."

1. Warming up by sectioning Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry" and finding some patterns

How to section:

What happens when the author's stanzas aren't helping? Or there aren't any stanzas? Section the poem yourself by looking for SHIFTS!

My tricks to finding shifts: 

• Circle your buts (and other words that indicate shift, such as "however," "on the other hand," etc...)
• Look for end punctuation, such as periods, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points.

In the first section of the poem, the words tend to be about ______.

In the second section of the poem, the words tend to be about _______.

Billy Collins in "Introduction to Poetry" explores the tension between _______ and _________.

2. Doing a little grid group reflection: Where did you get stuck last night in the William Carlos Williams poem, what did you do, and what did you figure out?

In the first section of the poem, the words tend to be about ______.

In the second section of the poem, the words tend to be about _______.

William Carlos Williams in "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" explores the tension between _______ and _________.

3. Synthesizing different texts' interpretations of Daedalus and Icarus to get to theme: What's one thing that the song "Insignificant," the painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts," and Williams' "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" agree on? Is there anything they might disagree on?


HW:
1. Read the first three pages of "The Yellow Wallpaper," using your reading journal (linked HERE) to focus on interesting words and phrases. Keep looking for patterns! Fill out at least five complete rows.

2. Signatures, background research, and book are due this Friday, August 28.

Looking for Patterns in Poems: August 26, 2015

PLC: Shortened Class Today

Focus: How do we find patterns in poems?

"By telling the truth," according to Auden, poetry can "disenchant and disintoxicate."

1. Warming up with a little grid group reflection: Where did you get stuck, and what did you do?

Large group follow-up: What was the most useful reading strategy you used, and what did it help you figure out?

2. Sectioning ("chunking") the poem and seeking patterns with Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry"

How to section:

What happens when the author's stanzas aren't helping? Or there aren't any stanzas? Section the poem yourself by looking for SHIFTS!

My tricks to finding shifts: 

• Circle your buts (and other words that indicate shift, such as "however," "on the other hand," etc...)
• Look for end punctuation, such as periods, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points.

How to use the sections to find patterns:

In a word, this section is about...

For example: In a word, this section is about falling.

b. Drawing conclusions: Looking at these words, form a full statement about each poem: On a deeper level, this song or poem is about...

For example: On a deeper level, this poem is about the world's indifference to tragedy.

HW:
1. Using the strategy of sectioning the poem to find patterns (along with any other reading strategies that seem helpful to you), type your reading journal, linked HERE to analyze the Williams Carlos Williams poem on the back of the Auden poem (also linked here: William Carlos Williams poem). You may either print your journal or share it with me by putting it inside your Critical Reading Bootcamp folder.

2. Signatures, background research, and book are due this Friday, August 28.

Breaking Up a Poem: August 25, 2015

Focus: How can "chunking/sectioning the text" and asking great questions get us to great answers when we're reading tricky texts?

1. Warming up: Returning to your song lyrics from yesterday with your reading strategies

My challenge: Try out at least one reading strategy that you don't usually use. See where it takes you.

2. Performing a physically close reading of last night's song lyrics, one section/stanza at a time

3. Drawing some larger conclusions about the lyrics together

a. Sectioning the text: In a word, this stanza is about...

For example: In a word, this poem is about falling.

b. Drawing conclusions: Looking at these words, form a full statement about each poem: On a deeper level, this song or poem is about...

For example: On a deeper level, this poem is about the world's indifference to tragedy.


4. Trying out the steps above with Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry" and the William Carlos Williams poem about Icarus

What happens when the author's stanzas aren't helping? Or there aren't any stanzas? Section the poem yourself by looking for SHIFTS!

My tricks to finding shifts: 

• Circle your buts (and other words that indicate shift, such as "however," "on the other hand," etc...)
• Look for end punctuation, such as periods, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points.

HW:
1. On the back side of your blue reading chart (the front side has your thoughts on "Insignificant"), please use the three columns to analyze the Auden poem linked HERE and given out in class. Try out the reading strategies on the green bookmark that help you the most with this particular poem.

Note: If you prefer to type your reading journals, please click HERE for the electronic version and print your journal before class.

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

From Paintings to Poems: August 24, 2015

Focus: How can we transfer our reading strategies from paintings to poems and song lyrics?

Help yourself to a green bookmark!

Click HERE for an electronic version of the reading journal.  Make a copy of it and put it inside your Reading Boot Camp folder.

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

• With a partner, work through the myth of Daedalus and Icarus using your reading journal to make inferences, draw conclusions, ask questions, etc. about at least FIVE different parts of the story.

• Try filling in the third column as well today; check out your green bookmarks to figure out which reading strategies you're using.

• The painting you analyzed last week is called "The Fall of Icarus"; how did the background knowledge on Daedalus and Icarus help you understand something new about the painting?  What statement might this painting be making about Icarus and Daedalus?

2. Using yesterday's reading strategies to analyze each other's lyrics

• As you listen to each song, read the lyrics and annotate them in the margins, making inferences, drawing conclusions, asking questions, and activating background knowledge.

3. Performing a physically close reading of a song that references Icarus and Daedalus; click HERE for the lyrics.

4. Small groups: Applying your new reading powers to one, new challenging Icarus and Daedalus poem, which you can access by clicking HERE. For right now, just look at the William Carlos Williams poem (we'll save the Auden one for later).

HW:

1. Using the hard copy of the reading journal given out in class today, fill in at least five rows for song lyrics linked HERE; this you will turn in tomorrow. You may also type, but please print it out before class. Please fill out all three columns on the front side of the sheet, but don't worry about the back side of the sheet.

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

Applying Background Knowledge to Visual Texts: August 21, 2015

Focus: How can we activate background knowledge to improve as readers?

Note: If you handwrote your common assessment, please make sure I have it.

1. Warming up: Happy Monday journaling and celebrating a few A+ blogs!

Michael S.August 21, 2015 at 4:26 AM

The first thing that caught my eye in the painting was the large ship leaving the land. Even after I scanned the page, I kept refocusing out of that same ship. It was significant in one way and I had to find out why. If I saw the artist, I would ask him what the time period was because the farmer's clothes suggests that it was not recent but I am completely unfamililiar with that style.
This painting represents the advancements of technology and civilization. The large ship leaving the land represents the newer and more advanced life moving quickly and the farmer stayed behind. Because the farmer's body language suggests that he is either sad or uninterested, we can assume that he did not want a new or more advanced life like the majority of society.

OwenE.August 20, 2015 at 7:45 PM

1) I see the women with the red shirt in the front of the picture first. This is because the eyes are drawn to the brightest thing on the page, which in this case is the only orange thing in the painting.
2) One question I have about this painting is why are there so many different biomes (Rocky Mountain, Ocean, Ice tundra in back) because it gives the person seeing the painting a hard time to guess where it is.
3) This painting, in my perspective, shows the evolution of man. The agricultural era is in the front of the painting, there is what looks to be a half sunken castle (showing that time period as over,) the ships represent the colonization and movement of man, and there is a glorious city in the background showing modern day.

Graham S.August 20, 2015 at 5:57 PM

1. I immediately noticed the ships deporting from the bay. It looks like the man lives in a very prosperous town because of the background and the ships also look very expensive, clean, and well kept.
2. The thing that rose the most questions for me is the bottom right corner. I can't tell exactly what they are but they look like a pair of legs flailing in the water. I have no idea what that is.
3. I agree with Jack that the painting is trying to tell the story of a farmer living on the outskirts of a very rich city. There is a farmer guiding a mule and a shepherd leading sheep. The shepherd looks extremely tired because agriculture is a very demanding work especially when located on the outskirts of a large city. And what are the legs?

2. Recapping Friday's reading strategy and trying out background knowledge with some tougher paintings

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

Making sense of the myth with your reading chart; if you prefer to type, please click HERE for an online version of the chart.

Please use an entire side of paper to analyze this story by doing the following:

• Isolating the significant little pieces of the story (just as you did with the paintings on Friday).
• Drawing inferences/larger conclusions from those pieces.
• Don't worry about the third column yet.

4. Returning to last night's painting armed with background knowledge

5. Composing your "exit ticket": Go back to the painting you analyzed over the weekend.  Employing at least one of the reading strategies we've talked about so far, add something to your original comment that you didn't understand or notice the first time around.

HW: 
1. Bring a HARD COPY of meaningful and appropriate song lyrics to class Monday (in other words, there needs to be something of substance in there to analyze; avoid lyrics that may offend others).

2. Bring in the song itself and headphones.

3. You need your independent reading book, proposal, and blue permission slip one week from today.

3rd Hour: Feast Your Eyes on This!

In class today we discussed how to use small but significant clues to sneak your way into a painting. Please peruse the painting below and respond to the questions that follow it.

Important notes:

• Please do NOT Google this painting or use any other outside help; I only want to know what this class makes of the painting.  
• Also, be sure to read others' responses before you post your own and include whether you agree or disagree with some of their interpretations.

1. Which part of the painting is your eye drawn to first?  Why do you think this is?

2. As you let your eyes wander all over the painting (up to down, left to right, corner to corner), which details of the painting do you have questions about?  In other words, if you could ask the artist one question about a specific detail in this painting, what would it be?  Post that question here.

3.  Let your mind attempt to draw together the details and make sense of the painting as a whole.  What do you think this painting is trying to convey to us?  Defend your thinking.

Please remember to proofread your answers carefully before posting.  Your response should reflect your professionalism.

1st Hour: Feast Your Eyes on This!

In class today we discussed how to use small but significant clues to sneak your way into a painting. Please peruse the painting below and respond to the questions that follow it.

Important notes:

• Please do NOT Google this painting or use any other outside help; I only want to know what this class makes of the painting.  
• Also, be sure to read others' responses before you post your own and include whether you agree or disagree with some of their interpretations.

1. Which part of the painting is your eye drawn to first?  Why do you think this is?

2. As you let your eyes wander all over the painting (up to down, left to right, corner to corner), which details of the painting do you have questions about?  In other words, if you could ask the artist one question about a specific detail in this painting, what would it be?  Post that question here.

3.  Let your mind attempt to draw together the details and make sense of the painting as a whole.  What do you think this painting is trying to convey to us?  Defend your thinking.

Please remember to proofread your answers carefully before posting.  Your response should reflect your professionalism.

Paintings Are Texts, Too: August 20, 2015

Focus: What strategies do we use to understand visual texts?

1. Warm-up: Setting a concrete goals for this unit by revisiting yesterday's pre-assessment and the overview of Critical Reading Boot Camp 

Please post the goals below on today's class blog.

a. Looking over your pre-assessment, what's one thing you think you're doing well that you'd like to continue improving upon over the next two weeks?

b. Looking over your pre-assessment, what's one thing you're struggling with that you'd like to improve upon in the next two weeks?

c. After reading the Critical Reading Boot Camp overview, what is one, specific way in which you hope this unit will help you achieve the two goals you listed above?


2. Establishing your main reading strategy with a card trick from Ms. Leclaire: Using little clues to develop the larger picture

3. Applying your new reading strategy to a few paintings by Norman Rockwell

a. Inside your English 10 folder, please set up a folder with your last name and "Reading Boot Camp" in the title.

b. Inside the "Reading Boot Camp" folder, set up a document called "Class Activities." Please put all of your in-class work today (and throughout the unit) inside that folder.


HW:
1. Please complete the NEW homework blog by tomorrow ("Feast Your Eyes on This!"); try the reading strategies we practiced in class today.

2. Remember that you need a physical copy of your independent reading book, your short proposal, and your signed permission form in class on Friday, August 28.

English 10 Pre-Assessment: August 19, 2015

Focus: What reading and writing skills are you bringing to the table?

1. Warming up by setting up your English folder

a.  Please create a Google folder and give it a title with your last name and "English 10."

b.  Share it with me immediately at kleclaire@lps.k12.co.us

c. Inside that folder, create a folder with your last name and "Common Assessments."

d. Inside that folder, create a new Google doc that has your last name and "Writing Pre-Assessment" in the title.  Whew! 


2. Understanding the rationale behind the sophomore writing pre-assessment and taking it


HW:
1. Have you decided on your independent reading book? If you're going to check out your independent reading book from the library, go ahead and check it out.  If you're going to purchase it, go ahead and order it or figure out when you're going to get to the bookstore.  The first day you will need your book is Friday, August 28.

2. Once you have decided on your book, ask your parents to sign the letter distributed in class today.  This letter is also due Friday, August 28 (note: you will not be able to start your independent reading book until I have your parents' permission unless you selected a school-approved book).

How To Blog and What To Read: August 18, 2015

Focus: What are this class's policies and expectations of technology and independent reading?

If you have not done so yet, please turn in your signed class policies at the beginning of class.

1. Warming up by establishing blogging expectations for English 10:

a. Please peruse the post and the comments for the two blogs linked below.  As you read quietly, think about which ones are strong and which ones are weak.  What makes the strong ones strong, and what makes the weak ones weak?

Click HERE for a sample homework blog.

Click here for a sample fishbowl blog.

b. With your partner, decide on at least FIVE specific blogging policies for this class that will help keep our blogs strong. Have one person post these policies on today's class blog.

c. I will compile your answers and print them out for the class to sign.

2. Perusing and commenting on each other's "If You Really Knew Me" posts; please comment on at least TEN people's posts (feel free to include me)

3. Browsing books and understanding the purpose and focus of independent reading this semester

     a. Please click HERE to join Goodreads; click HERE to preview the Goodreads app for your phone.

     b. Take some time to browse Goodreads and figure out how it works.

     c. Use Goodreads and the list on the independent reading letter/overview to help you start to determine what you'd like to read for independent reading this semester.

Click HERE for an overview of independent reading (also distributed in class as a handout).

4. Working on your independent reading proposal


HW:
1. If you're going to check out your book from the library, go ahead and check it out.  If you're going to purchase it, go ahead and order it or figure out when you're going to get to the bookstore.  The first day you will need your book is Friday, August 28.

2. Once you have decided on your book, ask your parents to sign the letter distributed in class today.  This letter is also due Friday, August 28 (note: you will not be able to start your independent reading book until I have your parents' permission unless you selected a school-approved book).

3. Please read the overview of our first unit, Critical Reading Boot Camp. The unit overview is linked HERE and is also on the Critical Reading Boot Camp page of my website. Tomorrow we will be taking the pre-test in class.

The Professionally Cozy Classroom Environment: August 17, 2015

Focus: What do I need to know about the people and the technology in this class to make it professional yet cozy in here?

1. E-mailing me three good things (and recalling Friday's facts about happiness)

2. Enjoying a student scavenger search to learn a little about each other

3. Trying out "I Like People" grids with your 26 questions from last night

4. Exploring blogs of the past and posting blogging policies for this class.

a. Please peruse the post and the comments for the two blogs linked below.  As you read quietly, think about which ones are strong and which ones are weak.  What makes the strong ones strong, and what makes the weak ones weak?

Click HERE for a sample homework blog.

Click here for a sample fishbowl blog.

b. As a group, decide on at least FIVE specific blogging policies for this class that will help keep our blogs strong. Have one person in your group post these policies on today's class blog.

c. I will compile your answers and print them out for the class to sign.

5. Setting up Remind accounts:

HW: 
1. Complete the first TWO blogging assignments tonight (due tomorrow). They are titled "First Blogging Task" and "If You Really Knew Me." Note that there are separate blogs for first and third hours; make sure you responding to the correct blog. Please follow the blogging expectations you discussed with your group today.

2. Signed class policies are also due tomorrow.

3rd Hour: First Blogging Task

Thanks for stopping by, third hour!

Your first mission: To familiar yourself with Ms. Leclaire's new webpage

1. Browse Ms. Leclaire's webpage by clicking HERE or by visiting the "Teacher Pages" link on the AHS website.  Then, click around on the different pages (some are still under construction) and peruse the items that may be of use or interest to you.

2. In the comment section underneath this post, please do both of the following:

• Post ONE item from the webpage that you find useful or interesting.
• Offer ONE suggestion for improvement.  What would you like to see on this website? What would help you in terms of layout and content?

3. Be sure to read the other comments first because you may not repeat anything that has already been posted. (Hint: As you may have already figured out, it's easier to be one of the first people to post than one of the last.)

4. This is due before the start of class tomorrow (Tuesday).

1st Hour: First Blogging Task

Thanks for stopping by, first hour!

Your first mission: To familiar yourself with Ms. Leclaire's new webpage

1. Browse Ms. Leclaire's webpage by clicking HERE or by visiting the "Teacher Pages" link on the AHS website.  Then, click around on the different pages (some are still under construction) and peruse the items that may be of use or interest to you.

2. In the comment section underneath this post, please do both of the following:

• Post ONE item from the webpage that you find useful or interesting.
• Offer ONE suggestion for improvement.  What would you like to see on this website? What would help you in terms of layout and content?

3. Be sure to read the other comments first because you may not repeat anything that has already been posted. (Hint: As you may have already figured out, it's easier to be one of the first people to post than one of the last.)

4. This is due before the start of class tomorrow (Tuesday).

3rd Hour: If You Really Knew Me...

Third Hour

In an effort to get to know each other and trust each other, I'd like you to take a little risk and post five things that you'd like other people in the class to know about you. The quirkier/more unique and personal, the better.

Here are my five:

1. I am a terrible sport and throw a fit when I lose--especially when it comes to board and card games.

2. I have a phobia of people throwing up.

3. I refuse to eat fruit when it's suspended in gelatinous substances.

4. Every night before I go to bed, I go into Sam's room and quietly thank the universe that he and Henry are alive.

5. I'm going to try to write a book this year.

1st Hour: If You Really Knew Me...

First Hour

In an effort to get to know each other and trust each other, I'd like you to take a little risk and post five things that you'd like other people in the class to know about you. The quirkier/more unique and personal, the better.

Here are my five:

1. I am a terrible sport and throw a fit when I lose--especially when it comes to board and card games.

2. I have a phobia of people throwing up.

3. I refuse to eat fruit when it's suspended in gelatinous substances.

4. Every night before I go to bed, I quietly thank the universe that he and Henry are alive.

5. I'm going to try to write a book this year.

Welcome to English 10: August 14, 2015

Focus: What would we like to know about each other and about this class?

1. Thankful Friday journaling: Send a text to someone thanking them for something

Consider the following facts about happiness:

• When your mind is in a happy state (as opposed to a negative or neutral state), you're significantly more efficient, competitive, and successful.

• "Doctors put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis show almost three times more intelligence and creativity than doctors in a neutral state, and they make accurate diagnoses 19 percent faster." (Achor The Happiness Advantage 15)

• "Optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 56 percent." (15)

• Students in a happy mood before taking a math achievement test receive significantly better scores on average than students in a neutral state of mind. (15)

• You can rewire your brain to become happier by performing certain tasks on a regular basis.

2. Telling you a little bit about my journey

3. Telling me a little bit about yourself through "Wordless Introductions"

4. Investigating the syllabus and your new student calendars

         Write your name and my name inside your calendar.

          Look carefully at the table of contents. Find five different pages/sections of your student calendar (aside from the pages where you record your assignments) that you think could be useful to you. Use the tabs in the back to mark these pages.

         Please record my off hours on page 20. I am off 2nd each day and usually stick around for the first part of 4th. I'm also easy to find before school.

5. Explaining your first English 10 assignment (26 questions)

6. Enjoying a brief hunt for like-minded students

HW: 
1. For Monday: Please respond to the 26 question document handed out in class today.  You may also access it by clicking HERE.  I prefer this particular assignment to be handwritten, but you may type it if you wish (just bring a hard copy to class, please).

2. Bring your laptop class starting Monday (and every day thereafter); if you do not have one, please see Mr. Fisch today or Monday; he will be in the library every period except for 1st and 2nd on MWF.

3. Signed class policies due Tuesday, August 18.

4. Make sure you have a functioning Google account/Blogger account (and that you remember your password).