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)