Onwards and Upwards! May 17, 2018

HW:
1. Three good things
2. Timshel
3. Stay in touch (for real!).

Senior Spotlight: May 16, 2018

Focus: What does it mean to live a (nonfictional) meaningful life?

1. Warming up with my last call for your final tasks:

• Turn in all books.

• Complete and print your letter to future AP Lit students.

• Complete and print your legacy (the essay you're most proud of and would like to be used as an example--you can leave your name on or off).

• Submit your online course evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Finishing Stranger Than Fiction

3. Spotlighting my seniors:

• Are you going to college? If yes, where, and what might you study? If no, what are you planning to do?

• What would be the ultimate graduation gift?

• Any final thank-you's to those you are leaving behind?

• Favorite senior year memory?

HW:
1. Turn in all books. Complete and print your letter. Complete and print your legacy. Submit your online evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Bring in your favorite foods / outdoor activities TOMORROW for our picnic!

Still Stranger Than Fiction: May 15, 2018

Focus: What does it mean to live a meaningful (nonfictional) life?

1. Warming up with a reminder of your final tasks (and checking them off):

• Turn in all books.

• Complete and print your letter to future AP Lit students.

• Complete and print your legacy (the essay you're most proud of and would like to be used as an example--you can leave your name on or off).

• Submit your online course evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Offering those who were absent yesterday a recap of Stranger Than Fiction's exposition

3. Continue watching Stranger Than Fiction

HW:
1. Turn in all books. Complete and print your letter. Complete and print your legacy. Submit your online evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Bring in your favorite foods / outdoor activities on Thursday for our picnic!

What's Stranger Than Fiction? May 14, 2018

Focus: What does it mean to live a meaningful (nonfictional) life?

1. Warming up with our final three good things together

2.  Offering you your final in-class time to accomplish the following tasks (25-30 minutes):

• Turn in all books.

• Complete and print your letter to future AP Lit students.

• Complete and print your legacy (the essay you're most proud of and would like to be used as an example--you can leave your name on or off).

• Submit your online course evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. (At 12:45) Start watching Stranger Than Fiction (watch from beginning until 28:15, when Harold gets on the bus)

HW:
1. Turn in all books. Complete and print your letter. Complete and print your legacy. Submit your online evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Bring in your favorite foods / outdoor activities on Thursday for our picnic!

Happiness and Gratitude: May 11, 2018

Focus: How do we finish the year in A.P. Literature?

1. Warming up with a reminder of the final tasks to accomplish before you go

• Turn in all books.

• Complete and print your letter to future AP Lit students.

• Complete and print your legacy (the essay you're most proud of and would like to be used as an example--you can leave your name on or off).

• Submit your online course evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Relaxing with Shawn Achor and wiring your brain for the "happiness advantage"

3. Expressing gratitude with "I'm grateful to you for..."

HW:
1. Turn in all books.
2. Complete and print your letter.
3. Complete and print your legacy.
4. Submit your online evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

Your Final To-Do List: May 10, 2018

Focus: How do we finish the year in A.P. Literature?

1. Warming up with an overview of the final tasks to accomplish before you go

• Turn in all books.

• Complete and print your letter to future AP Lit students.

• Complete and print your legacy (the essay you're most proud of and would like to be used as an example--you can leave your name on or off).

• Submit your online course evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

2. Taking time to compose letters and fill out course evaluations

3. Turning in books (if you have them)

HW:
1. Turn in all books.
2. Complete and print your letter.
3. Complete and print your legacy.
4. Submit your online evaluation, which you can access by clicking HERE.

The Test Is Done! May 9, 2018

Focus: How do you get the most out of your A.P. experience?

1. Warming up: How'd it go?

2. Relaxing with Shawn Achor and wiring your brain for the "happiness advantage"

3. Practicing his methods with a little gratitude and www.calm.com

HW:
If your final blog post is completed, then nothing, really. If you're still needing help wrapping your head around existentialism, try watching "Henri, the Existentialist Cat."

We'll have a final checklist to tackle tomorrow, but it's all stuff that can be completed during class. 

A.P. Lit Was Born Ready! May 8, 2018

Focus: What mindset do you need to do well on tomorrow's test?

1. Warming up with your stats and what makes you a (Ninja) Warrior

2. Enjoying a round or two of Around-the-World: Symbols and Settings

3. Using a few Question #3 prompts to talk through possibilities

4. Walking through old essays and enjoying panel discussions from the experts (you)

• What have you learned about how to read poetry and prose?

• What have you learned about how to structure a timed writing?

• What have you learned about how to use evidence in your timed writing?

• What have you learned about introductions, style, and grammar?

5. Meditating with your daily calm: "Still waters run deep."

HW:
1. Get a good night's sleep, hydrate, eat breakfast tomorrow morning, bring a snack, and show up EARLY to the A.P. Literature test.

2. Use your gold sheet to complete your nightly routine of the bedside stack; use Quizlet to review terms and vocabulary.

YOU ARE A GENIUS WITH MUCH TO LEARN.

The Prose with No Thorns: May 7, 2018

Focus: What do we need to remember about prose?

1. Warming up with three good things and recapping "Remembrance"

• Rereading the first inch: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

• Rereading the last inch: What has shifted?

• Dividing into A, B, C, D, and E teams to revisit your answers

***FIVE MINUTE BREAK FOR READING LETTERS FROM PAST A.P. LIT STUDENTS***

2. Playing a quick round of "Name that Prose Term"

3. Practicing prose with multiple choice questions with Virginia Woolf

4. Meditating with your daily calm: "Still waters run deep."

HW:
1. Please finish your final blog post by Tuesday the latest.

2. Use your gold sheet to continue your nightly routine of the bedside stack; you will want to know these books inside and out by next Wednesday. Use Quizlet to review terms and vocabulary.

3. BRING YOUR OLD TIMED WRITINGS TO CLASS TOMORROW.

Poetry Review: May 4, 2018

Focus: What do we need to know about poetry?

Spring Assembly: Shortened Class

1. Warming up with "Name That Poetic Term"

2. Reading "Remembrance" and tackling the multiple choice questions

3. If time allows, undressing Free Response #1 with "The Naked and the Nude"

HW:
1. Please finish your final blog post by Tuesday the latest.

2. Use your gold sheet to continue your nightly routine of the bedside stack; you will want to know these books inside and out by next Wednesday. Use Quizlet to review terms and vocabulary.

3. BRING YOUR OLD TIMED WRITINGS TO CLASS NEXT WEEK.

The First Page, the Last Page, and Empathy: May 3, 2018

Focus: What do the final pages of the books we've read this year reveal about the characters we love?

1. Warming up with a quick name game to jog your memories

Round 1: Ask other people questions to glean information about your character. After a few minutes, we'll stand in a circle, and you'll explain what your guess is and how you figured it out.

Round 2: Find a character partner, preferably from a different book. Ask your partner these questions:

• What is it that you think you want?
• But what do you really want?
• What burning question do you still have?
• Follow up: Could these characters eat lunch at the same table? Why or why not?

2. Laying out the opening and final pages of East of Eden, Beloved, Invisible Man, Waiting for Godot, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Opening Pages

• Which three moments from the opening pages strike you as significant, and why?
• What movements do you notice in the opening?
• How would you describe the tone of the opening? Click here for an awesome list of tone words.

Closing Pages

• Which three moments from the closing pages strike you as significant, and how?
• What movements / shifts do you notice when you compare the opening to the closing?
• How would you describe the tone of the closing?
• What larger meanings emerge when you reread the opening and closing?

3. Wrapping up: If time allows, playing "Around the World" with Terms, Weeks 1-6 (prose)

HW:
1. Please finish your final blog post by Tuesday the latest.

2. Use your gold sheet to continue your nightly routine of the bedside stack; you will want to know these books inside and out by next Wednesday.

Who'd have thought we were so important? May 2, 2018

Focus: Are R & G important?

LAST CALL FOR BEDSIDE STACKS!

1. Warming up with one last mini term lesson: Metonymy and synecdoche

2. Viewing the last five minutes of R & G Are Dead and enjoying a mini Socratic

Ros: They had it in for us, didn't they? Right from the beginning. Who'd have thought that we were so important? (122)

• Why do you think Tom Stoppard chose these two characters as the protagonists of this play? Are they important?

• Why don't they get to die on stage, in front of the audience? How are their deaths different from the deaths of Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius?

3. Composing a brief blog post on R & G, Waiting for Godot, or both

HW:
1. If you did not finish your blog post in class, please finish by Monday at the latest.

2. Use your gold sheet to start your nightly routine of the bedside stack; you will want to know these books inside and out by next Wednesday.

Rosecrantz and Guildenstern Are--: May 1, 2018

Focus: Do R & G find meaning in their lives? In their deaths?

Guildenstern: No...no...not for us, not like that. Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over...Death is not anything...death is not...It's the absence of presence, nothing more...the endless time of never coming back...a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound... (124)

1. Warming up with musical chairs, using your observations and questions from yesterday

• Extra challenge question: How is a stage like a boat?

2. Acting out the rest of Act 3 with focus questions inspired by you; then, offering you my thoughts about the stage, the boat, and the meaning of life

3. Using past A.P. prompts to discuss the play, informal Socratic-style

4. Creating your final big blog post on Waiting for Godot, R & G, or both


HW:
1. Complete your final blog post by the end of the week.

2. Start your bedtime stack routine! If R & G is in your bedside stack, I recommend rereading it to make sure that you can discuss the play itself without discussing the film interpretation.