Silent Socratic: September 29, 2017

Focus: How are Cal and Aron (d)evolving?

1. Warming up by graphing the Cal's and Aron's (d)evolvement

For each character, try the following:

• Find a description of this character as a young child, a description of this character as an older child, and a description of this character as a teenager. 

• Read these three passages for each character closely, examining Steinbeck's diction.

• What has aspects of this character's personality have changed over time?  Why have these aspects changed / what prompted these changes?

• What has aspects of this character have remained unchanged?  Why haven't these parts of the character changed?

• Consider some of the timeless dualities at war in both characters (good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, white vs. black, love vs. hate, fate vs, free will, sight vs. blindness, empathetic vs. selfish, etc).  

• Put one side of the duality at the top of the Y axis, and the other duality at the bottom of Y axis.

• Use the X axis for the time from the characters were born until now. 

• Graph both character's development/deterioration/fluctuations on the same piece of graph paper. Be sure to annotate your graph with key words and phrases from the passages you examined.

2. Enjoying a new variation on Socratic: Silent Night

3. Wrapping up (out loud)

HW:
1. If you have revised / created your first Big Question Blog (or you simply need to notify me that it's done), please do so by 3:00 pm today as it is the end of 6 weeks.

2. Read Chapters 44 through 49; create a reading ticket for Monday's Socratic. We have just two discussions left!!! In your final reading tickets, start putting all the pieces together. What larger patterns have emerged, and what do they mean?

Puzzling Through the Sonnet: September 28, 2017

Focus: How does your mind puzzle through a sonnet?

1. Warming up everyone's favorite game: Name that sonnet!

2. Getting metacognitive with your selected sonnet

• Click HERE for an overview of the method and purpose of the metacognitive.

• Click HERE for a sample metacognitive.

• If you handwrote, please turn in your metacognitive at the end of class.

• If you typed, please make sure your metacognitive is inside your shared A.P. folder.

HW:

1. For Friday: Follow the East of Eden reading assignment: Chapters 41, 42, and 43; reading ticket can be any of the options you've been using, and it can (and probably should) address some of the events from Chapters 34-40 as well.

2. For Friday: This Friday is the end of 6 weeks. All work from the first 6 weeks is due by the end of the day on Friday. Make sure you have finished your first Big Question Blog post and e-mailed me.

A Mathematical Journey: September 27, 2017

Focus: How does Steinbeck depict Cal and Aron's coming of age?

1. Warming up with the importance of the "the last inch" and returning your timed writings

2. Returning to sonnets with Foster's "If It's Square, It's a Sonnet" and the Sonnet Essay Overview

3. Graphing the Cal's and Aron's (d)evolvement

For each character, try the following:

• Find a description of this character as a young child, a description of this character as an older child, and a description of this character as an teenager. 

• Read these three passages for each character closely, examining Steinbeck's diction.

• What has aspects of this character's personality have changed over time?  Why have these aspects changed / what prompted these changes?

• What has aspects of this character have remained unchanged?  Why haven't these parts of the character changed?

• Consider some of the timeless dualities at war in this character (good vs. evil, nature vs. nurture, white vs. black, love vs. hate, fate vs, free will, sight vs. blindness, empathetic vs. selfish, etc).  

• Put one side of the duality at the top of the Y axis, and the other duality at the bottom of Y axis.

• Use the X axis for the time from the characters were born until now. 

• Graph both character's development/deterioration/fluctuations on the same piece of graph paper. Be sure to annotate your graph with key words and phrases from the passages you examined.

3. Recapping terms from the past six glorious weeks with www.quizlet.com 

HW:
1. For tomorrow: Pick one of the four sonnets offered in the packet for your formal metacognitive tomorrow (all handouts are linked to the class website).

2. For Friday: Follow the East of Eden reading assignment: Chapters 41, 42, and 43; reading ticket can be any of the options you've been using, and it can (and probably should) address some of the events from Chapters 34-40 as well.

3. For Friday: This Friday is the end of 6 weeks. All work from the first 6 weeks is due by the end of the day on Friday. Make sure you have finished your first Big Question Blog post and e-mailed me.

Reflecting and Projecting: September 26, 2017

Focus: What do we need to reflect on to help us progress?

1. Warming up recapping last Thursday's MC practice

• What types of questions are there? Give each one a label.

• Regroup with last Thursday's multiple choice partners; you and your partner will become an expert on one MC question and will teach your magic methods to the class.

2. Admiring the perfect beauty of the sonnet with "An Echo from Willow-wood"

• Quick title brainstorm
• Moments: Which images, diction, etc. make you pause/take a moment?
• Movement: What patterns can you uncover? Are there any shifts?
• Multiple Meanings: What do you think the poet is trying to do here (tone/themes)?

*A mini break for a puzzle challenge (and metaphor)*

• What type of sonnet is this? How do you know?
• How does the form contribute to the poem's meaning?

• Reading and marking up Foster's "If It's Square, It's a Sonnet" 

3. Introducing you to your second Literary Essay: The Sonnet Essay

4. Returning your second timed writings with a focus on the poem's last inch

HW:
1. For tomorrow: Pick one of the four sonnets offered in the packet for your formal metacognitive tomorrow.

2. For Friday: Read Chapters 41, 42, and 43; create a reading ticket for Socratic.

3. For Friday: This Friday is the end of 6 weeks. All work from the first 6 weeks is due by the end of the day on Friday. Make sure you have finished your first Big Question Blog post and e-mailed me.

Timshel and the Snowball Effect: September 25, 2017

Focus: What does "timshel" mean, and how does it apply to Steinbeck's characters?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Recapping and reflecting on Friday's Socratic with the grading rubric (this is also a good time to ask questions if you're confused about the Socratic grades you've been getting)

3. Applying the concept of "timshel," or "thou mayest" to the characters in East of Eden

• Act out the scene in Chapter 24 in which Lee, Samuel, and Adam discuss "timshel." 

• Pick a character out of the hat.

• Does the idea of "timshel" apply to this character? How so, or why not?

4. Enjoying a variation on Socratic: The snowball

5. Wrapping up with lingering questions, epiphanies, and kudos!

HW:
1. For tomorrow: Bring your laptop and headphones to class.

2. For Wednesday: Read Chapters 34 through 40 for Wednesday; no reading ticket required.

3. For Friday: This Friday is the end of 6 weeks. All work from the first 6 weeks is due by the end of the day on Friday. Make sure you have finished your first Big Question Blog post and e-mailed me.

Meet Cal and Aron: September 22, 2017

Focus: What's shifting, and what's staying the same?

Housekeeping Items:

• Braxton (or someone else of Braxton's not here): Please record the conversation.

• Aly: Please scribe and Google share it with me.

• If you're sitting out to read, please let Mrs. Friis know.

1. Warming up with Socratic ticket musical chairs!

Remember to identify yourself at the tops of others' reading tickets!

• Round 1: Ask a question / follow-up question to something on the reading ticket.

• Round 2: Find a specific passage from the book that connects to something on the reading ticket; write down the page number and the first sentence of the passage.

• Round 3: Make a connection between anything on the reading ticket to the concept of "timshel," or "thou mayest."

2. Enjoying our Socratic seminar on Chapters 27-30 (though feel free to reference earlier chapters)

3. Wrapping up: Lingering questions, epiphanies, kudos

*Please turn in your reading tickets (or e-mail them to me).*

HW:
Read Chapters 31, 32, and 33 for Monday; compose a ticket for Monday's Socratic. Try something new! A found poem? A symbolic sketch? A metacognitive? 

The Call of the Whippoorwill: September 21, 2017

Focus: How do we unravel the extended metaphor in a contemporary poem?

1. Warming up with a circle read of "The Whippoorwill in the Woods," sentence by sentence

2. Rereading the first half of the poem with a focus on its extended metaphor (conceit)

Throwback Thursday:

• The paper doll is a metaphor for a fragile woman (the comparison: both are too easily changeable in the hands of another)

• Taking off Emily Dickinson's clothes is a metaphor for reading her poetry (the comparison: both activities involve grappling with tricky "locks," but both expose something vulnerably beautiful when accomplished)

• A prison is a metaphor for traditional prose (the comparison: prose locks up the speaker's mind, while poetry offers her the mental freedom of wonder and curiosity)

• _____ is a metaphor for _____, and here's how:

3. Taking on the MC practice and comparing your choices

(The sound of the whippoorwill)

4. Enjoying 20 minutes of reading time

HW:
Read Chapters 27 through 30 for Friday's Socratic; create a ticket that you will turn in on Friday. Braxton: Please record the Socratic. Someone else: Please scribe.

Timshel: September 20, 2017

Focus: How does the concept of "timshel" free the characters?

1. Warming up with a mini-write on two Adam and Cathy scenes: 199-200 and 322-323

• What has shifted?
• How does Steinbeck depict that shift?
• Why has this shift happened? How does it contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?

2. Enjoying a big Socratic seminar on Chapters 22-26

3. Wrapping up with remaining questions, epiphanies, and kudos

HW:
Read Chapters 27 through 30 for Friday's Socratic; create a ticket that you will turn in on Friday.

Undressing the Metaphor: September 19, 2017

Focus: How can we undress extended metaphors in poetry?

1. Warming up with "Paper Doll"

• Brainstorming connotations: What do you know about paper dolls?

• What's an extended metaphor?

• What object serves as the central metaphor? (The title often gives it away.) To what/whom is that object being compared?

• What other images and verbs go along with this object? How do they contribute to / shape / extend the metaphor?

• Does the metaphor's meaning shift throughout the poem? How so?

• Try out a thesis that goes something like this: 
• John Mayer uses the extended metaphor of the paper doll in order to....

2. Glimpsing Emily Dickinson's poetry and trying to take off Emily Dickinson's clothes with Billy Collins

3. Uncovering the slightly less yielding extended metaphor in "They Shut Me up in Prose"

HW:
1. Keep reading East of Eden and prepare reading tickets for Socratic tomorrow (Wednesday) and Friday.

• For Wednesday: Chapters 23-26
• Thursday: 20-25 minutes of in-class reading time
• For Friday: Chapters 27-30

2. Enjoy not working on your college essay. However, if you need feedback immediately, stop in for a conference, and we can grade it on the spot.

Zooming In and Out: September 18, 2017

Focus: What is Steinbeck trying to do, and how is he trying to do it?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Experimenting with two sample close readings:

• As a class: What's up with the flowers? (page 75 and 85)

• On your own: What and how does Cathy eat? (page 170)

• Identify significant diction, imagery, figurative language, symbols, etc.
• Brainstorm the connotations of the ones that strike you the most.
• Use the connotations to make a statement about what Steinbeck might be up to.

3. Mental jousting with authorial intent

4. Giving Chapter 22 (and any other ignored chapters) the time it deserves

5. Checking in: Everybody good with www.turnitin.com? Did you use the Sunday Night Checklist?

HW:
1. Continue reading like a phenom. You're on vacation every single day 'cause you love your occupation. (Your occupation is "student.") We're through Chapter 26 for our Socratic on Wednesday, and through Chapter 30 for Socratic on Friday.

2. Make sure your college essays are in www.turnitin.com by 3:00 today. Click here for instructions, Class ID, and enrollment key.

"The Free, Exploring Mind of the Individual Human": September 15, 2017

Focus: What does Steinbeck want us to understand about the movement from Part 1 to Part 2?

1. Warming up with a Socratic ticket walk

• While the song plays: Identify something on each ticket that you'd like to talk about in depth.

• When the song is over: Return to your ticket and write down a pattern you noticed in the reading tickets. In other words, what is one specific topic that many people wish to discuss today?

• Transitioning to Socratic: Find one passage from the reading that relates directly to that topic. Consider reading it aloud during discussion today.

2. Enjoying a Socratic seminar on East of Eden, Chapters 10-15

3. Wrapping up (I will leave ten minutes today to ensure we get all the way around the circle)

HW:
1. For Monday: Read through Chapter 22. No reading ticket necessary; we will save Socratic for Wednesday.

2. For Monday: Work on your college essays and stop by for a conference. They are due on September 18 by 3:00 in www.turnitin.com. Sign up for our class Turnitin account by following these directions (they include the class ID and enrollment key).

3. Use the Sunday Night Checklist to make sure your essay is ready to turn in.

Imagery and Authorial Intent: September 14, 2017

Focus: How do we use imagery to unravel authorial intent?

1. Warming up with our old friend, Billy Collins, and a straightforward poem (with partners)

Remember that it all boils down to these two questions:

What is the author trying to do?

How is he/she doing it?

2. Applying the same process to the complicated poem from Tuesday's timed writing (in threesomes)

3. Analyzing three sample essays as a class (the really good one is yours)

• What does the really good one have that the other two don't?

4. Offering constructive feedback to each other's drafts

• Underline the thesis and comment on it. 

• Underline the sentence in the first body paragraph that best captures its argument. Then, do the same for the second body paragraph (and the third, if there is a third).

• Identify one structural success you see in this essay (see blue questions below for ideas). 

• Identify one structural aspect that writer could improve upon (see blue questions below for ideas).

• Does each body paragraph make a distinct yet related argument?
• Does the second body paragraph build off the first one?
• Does it feel as though the argument is evolving as the essay continues? In other words, is the writer discovering new aspects of the poem through the process of writing the essay?
• Does the essay respond to all parts of the prompt?

HW:
1. For tomorrow: Read through Chapter 15 and complete a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. Ongoing: Work on your college essays and stop by for a conference. They are due on September 18 by 3:00 in www.turnitin.com

3. Sign up for our class Turnitin account by following these directions (they include the class ID and enrollment key).

Isn't It Ironic?: September 13, 2017

Focus: Isn't it ironic?

1. Warming up with a mini lesson on irony

Verbal irony: The use of language to express something that is the opposite of its literal meaning.

• Ex: It's pouring down rain, and somebody grumpily says, "Great weather we're having."

Situational irony: An event in which the opposite of what's expected happens.

• Ex: A fire station burns down.

Dramatic irony: A situation in which the audience knows more than the characters know, causing the characters' speech and actions to take on unusual meanings.

• Ex: In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus declares that he hopes the killer of Laius will suffer "the worst of agonies" (not realizing, of course that he is the killer Laius). 

• Also, the words "eyes" and "sight" and used repeatedly throughout the play before the dramatic action culminates with Oedipus gauging out his eyes. 

• Another one: Jocasta mentions once or twice that Oedipus does happen to look just a little like Laius. Sigh. There's dramatic irony all over the place.

Viewing an example of dramatic irony from your favorite Disney hero's journey (1:18)

What is the effect of dramatic irony? Or, why might an author use dramatic irony?

2. Reading East of Eden with an eye out for dramatic irony, especially in Chapter 11

HW:
1. For Friday: Read through Chapter 15 and complete a reading ticket for Socratic.

2. Ongoing: Work on your college essays and stop by for a conference. They are due on September 18 by 3:00 in www.turnitin.com

3. Sign up for our class Turnitin account by following these directions (they include the class ID and enrollment key).

Tuesday Writing #2: September 12, 2017

Focus: How can we synthesize what we've learned so far into a persuasive timed writing?

1. Warming up with a partner reading of today's timed writing poem

• Imagery (appeals to the five senses)
• Shifts (circle your buts)
• Patterns (especially dichotomies)

2. Offering you a few suggestions on structure

3. Enjoying your first poetry timed writing

HW:
1. For Friday: Read through Chapter 15 and complete a reading ticket. 

***We will take Wednesday as a reading and cookie day. Bring your books and nut-free cookies to share.*** I will also do a quick lesson on dramatic irony since we didn't get to discuss that with Oedipus Rex.

2. Ongoing: Work on your college essays and stop by for a conference. They are due on September 18 by 3:00 pm in www.turnitin.com

3. Join our Turnitin class! Click here for instructions, class ID, and enrollment key.

Monster: September 11, 2017

Focus: How does Steinbeck characterize Cathy, and for what purpose(s)?

1. Warming up with three good things and a quick found poem

• Take two short phrases from the first page of Chapter 8. One will be your title, and one will be your last line.

• Find two or three phrases that capture Cathy's physical description.

• Find a phrase that captures what people say to or about Cathy.

• Find a phrase that captures what Cathy says aloud.

• Find two or three phrases that capture a description of nature/weather in Chapter 8.

• End with your line you took from the first page.

• Trade. Any epiphanies?

2. Socratic seminar: Discussing Chapters 8 and 9 from East of Eden

Ms. Leclaire's tips of the day:

• Keep electronic devices put away.
• Read a passage aloud.

3. Wrapping up with lingering questions, bright epiphanies, and generous kudos

HW:
1. For Friday: Read through Chapter 15 and complete a reading ticket. 
***We will take Wednesday as a reading and cookie day. Bring your books and nut-free cookies to share.***

2. Ongoing: Work on your college essays and stop by for a conference. They are due on September 18.

Finally, a Socratic Seminar: September 8, 2017

Focus: How are Steinbeck's characters evolving (or devolving)?

1. Warming up with the Sparknotes oath, a dramatic presentation, and Socratic ticket musical chairs

2. Enjoying our first real Socratic seminar: Chapters 4-7 in East of Eden

3. Wrapping up with final take-aways, questions, and kudos

4. Taking a sneak peak of Chapter 8 (don't read it right before bedtime)

HW:
1. For Monday: Read Chapters 8 and 9  and create your next reading ticket for Monday's Socratic (click here for some reading ticket ideas).

2. In general: 

• If you're struggling to keep up with the reading during the week, use the weekend to read ahead (see bookmark for this week's chapter assignments).

• If you haven't posted your Big Question Blog(s)--one paragraph or so to unpack the question; one paragraph or so to use Oedipus Rex to explore your question--please take care of that over the weekend.

• Work on your college essay (due September 18).

3. Heads up: We will have our next timed writing on Tuesday. Bring your previous timed writing with you to help you remember what to work on.

The Metacognitive: September 7, 2017

Focus: How can we develop our close reading skills?

1. Warming up with Steinbeck's allusion:

• (Re)read Verses 2 and 4 from Genesis. Describe Steinbeck's allusion to Genesis: How, specifically, does Steinbeck dramatize the first few verses of Genesis? What parallels can you find, and what does he alter?

2. Understanding the method and purpose of a metacognitive writing; trying your first metacognitive with Emily Dickinson

3. Debriefing as a class

• By slowing down, what did you find yourself focusing on?

• What did you discover in the midst of your reading?

• Where did the journey take you? In other words, what did you understand at the end of the metacognitive that you didn't understand at the start?

4. Offering you Socratic seminar ticket options for East of Eden (guess what? One is a metacognitive!)

HW: 
1. For catch-up: 

• Finish composing your first Big Question blog; spend time simply freewriting on your question (why'd you pick that one?), then use it to analyze/react to Oedipus Rex. Make sure you hit the orange "Publish" button.

• Augmenting your vocabulary with Quizlet: Click HERE to join our class.

• Staying on top of your game with Remind: Click HERE to join (if you haven't done so yet).

2. For tomorrow (Friday):

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 in East of Eden.
• Create a Socratic seminar ticket (see options above).

3. Ongoing: Stop in for a conference on your college essay!

First Impressions: September 6, 2017

Focus: How does Steinbeck introduce his characters?

1. Warming up with your favorite characters

• Left side: A character you love
• Right side: A character you love to hate
• Middle: A character you're not sure how to feel about

• Quick follow-up: Listening to each other's lines and thinking back to your Venn diagrams from yesterday, what parallels can you find between the way Steinbeck describes the characters and the way he describes the land they live on?

2. Questioning Steinbeck's first chapters with a Bucket List

Level 1 Bucket: questions for clarity--what's confusing you about the plot?

• Who is the narrator? Is it Steinbeck himself?

Level 2 Bucket: Socratic-style questions

• On page __, what do the descriptions of Samuel Hamilton's strengths have in common? Why might Steinbeck emphasize this particular pattern?

"What Would Foster Say?" Bucket

• After being beaten nearly to death by his brother, Adam lies briefly in a stream of water. What would Foster say about the significance of this "baptism"?

3. Circling the wagon to discuss your Bucket questions

4. Wrapping up with your Biblical story of the day: Cain and Abel

• (Re)read Verses 2 and 4 from Genesis. Describe Steinbeck's allusion to Genesis: How, specifically, does Steinbeck dramatize the first few verses of Genesis? What parallels can you find, and what does he alter?

HW: 
1. For catch-up: 

• Finish composing your first Big Question blog; spend time simply freewriting on your question (why'd you pick that one?), then use it to analyze/react to Oedipus Rex. Make sure you hit the orange "Publish" button.

• Augmenting your vocabulary with Quizlet: Click HERE to join our class.

• Staying on top of your game with Remind: Click HERE to join (if you haven't done so yet).

2. For next Friday:

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 in East of Eden.

3. Ongoing: Stop in for a conference on your college essay!

The Dichotomy of Eden: September 5, 2017

Focus: What central dichotomies does Steinbeck set up in the first chapter of East of Eden?

NOTE: I have a meeting with Mr. Hawk tomorrow (Wednesday) from 10:10-10:40 and will not be available to conference with you at that time.

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Interpreting the dichotomies in two famous paintings of the Garden of Eden

Click HERE for the slides.

3. Using Venn diagrams to unpack the dichotomies in Steinbeck's setting (with a partner, of course!)

4. Enjoying a gallery walk of your Venn diagrams to revisit the title:

• What does the phrase East of Eden mean to you right now?
• Why does Steinbeck start his book like this?
• Listen to the original description of the Garden of Eden: How does Steinbeck's first chapter dramatize this? What parallels do you notice? How does he change the story?

HW: 
1. For catch-up: 

• Finish composing your first Big Question blog; spend time simply freewriting on your question (why'd you pick that one?), then use it to analyze/react to Oedipus Rex.
• Augmenting your vocabulary with Quizlet: Click HERE to join our class
• Staying on top of your game with Remind: Click HERE to join (if you haven't done so yet)

2. For Wednesday:

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 1, 2, and 3 in East of Eden.

3. For next Friday:

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 in East of Eden.

4. Ongoing: Stop in for a conference on your college essay!

And Still the Box Is Not Full: Sep 1, 2017

Focus: Why this book, right now?

As you walk in, please check out an East of Eden book (unless you own one).

1. Warming up with Ms. Leclaire's college boot camp

2. Offering you the best gift I have:

"Well, here's your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full." -- Steinbeck

3. Going for a stroll with some freewriting questions for East of Eden

HW: 
1. For Tuesday: 

• Finish composing your first Big Question blog (see tasks under #3).
• Spend time reading East of Eden  (click HERE for the reading bookmark).

2. For Wednesday:

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 1, 2, and 3 in East of Eden.

3. For next Friday:

• Read (and annotate) Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 in East of Eden.

4. Ongoing: Stop in for a conference on your college essay!

5. If you haven't signed up for our class accounts, take about 60 seconds to do the following:

• Augmenting your vocabulary with Quizlet: Click HERE to join our class
• Staying on top of your game with Remind: Click HERE to join (if you haven't done so yet)