The Final: December 20, 2019

Welcome the American Literature Final exam.

Focus: Where does happiness live?

1. Warming up with a few reminders about final grades

2. Making sure your screencast is shared with "Anyone with the link"

3. Enjoying and learning from each other's screencasts: Click on the class document to get started.

• Reminder: Please START with the people in your group, but you need to use a full 45 minutes to watch screencasts. If you finish the screencasts in your group, start watching screencasts from the other group.

• Your filled-out notecatcher will be part of your final exam grade.

4. Small group discussion with questions and a final thesis

HW:
1. Sleep lots.
2. Eat yummy food.
3. Hang out with good people.

Screencasting: December 16, 2019

Focus: How we do use screencasting to convey our thoughts on happiness?

REMINDER: Please turn in your school copies of books from this semester.

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Offering you an explanation of how final grades are determined

3. Working on our screencasts, using the checklist as our guide

• Click HERE for lots of helpful links!

• Click HERE for the updated rubric.

HW:

1. Play Bingo!

2. Link your screencast to the class document by 4:00 pm next Thursday (the day before your final). This part will be a 50-point Attempt & Completion grade, while the quality of the screencast will a 100-point Mastery Grade. Here's how the A&C Grade works:

• 50/50 (yay!): You successfully link your project to the class doc by 4:00 pm on Th, Dec 19.
• 45/50: You link your project on time, but it cannot be opened. You fix it quickly after I contact you.
• 40/50: You successfully link your project to the class doc sometime on Thursday after 4.
• 30/50: You link your project Friday morning (or your link doesn't work until Fri am).
• 0/50: You fail to submit a screencast by the time the final begins.
• PLEASE NOTE THAT NO SCREENCASTS MAY BE SUBMITTED AFTER THE FINAL BEGINS. PLAN AHEAD!

3. Friday, December 20: The final will start promptly at 10:05. Be sure to bring your headphones / earbuds!

Meet Screencastify: December 13, 2019

Focus: What is a screencast, and how it can help us develop our speaking skills?

1. Warming up with a ten-minute screencast on how to use Screencastify (start around 4:48-14:22)

2. Finishing your outline and smoothing it out into a script

• Think about using powerful verbs, engaging imagery, and smooth transitions.

• Show off your unique writer's voice!

3. Gathering images and creating slides for your screencast

• Click HERE for lots of helpful links!

• I will walk around and check on your claims / thesis statements.

HW:

1. Play Bingo!

2. Link your screencast to the class document by 4:00 pm next Thursday (the day before your final).

3. Friday, December 20: The final will start at 10:05. Be sure to bring your headphones / earbuds!

Looking for Happiness: December 12, 2019

Focus: How do I figure out where happiness lives?

1. Warming up with one more Ted Talk on happiness: Click here and choose one!

2. High-velocity writing on what this semester has taught us about happiness

3. Watching a sample screencast on happiness

4. Uncovering patterns and forming the outline for your screencast script

• Click HERE for lots of helpful links!

HW:

1. Play Bingo!

2. Friday (TOMORROW) is the final, final deadline for any make-up / missing / revised work from the semester. I will not be able to accept any course work after this Friday (except for the final).

3. Link your screencast to the class document by 4:00 pm next Thursday (the day before your final).

4. Friday, December 20: The final will start at 10:05. Be sure to bring your headphones / earbuds!

Writing in Reverse: December 11, 2019

Focus: How can we use writing in reverse to resolve a difficult memory?

1. Warming up with end-of-the-semester Bingo!

2. Experimenting with writing in reverse: Click here for today's slides.

3. Reflecting on how today's activity (and the ending of EL&IC) respond to our final exam question: 

Where does happiness live?

HW:

1. Play Bingo!

2. Friday is the final, final deadline for any make-up / missing / revised work from the semester. I will not be able to accept any course work after this Friday (except for the final).

ELIC Fishbowl #7: December 10, 2019

Focus: What does Foer want us to understand better/differently from the ending of his novel?

1. Warming up with World War II in Reverse and your emotional response to the novel's ending

• As you watch: Which images stand out to you? What's it like to watch a war in reverse?

• After you watch: Reread the ending of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, starting on page 325. What effect did these final pages and images have on you? How do these final pages connect to the video you just watched?

2. Considering the final stage of the archetypal hero's journey and your intellectual response to the novel's ending

In the final stage of the hero's journey, the hero returns home, but he has gained a new understanding of the world around him. He can no longer live in fear of the future nor regret over the past. 

• To what extent does Oskar (or the grandmother or grandfather) fulfill the final stage of the hero's journey? 

• In other words, how does he return home? What's his new understanding of things? To what extent has he confronted his fear of the future/regret over the past? Why does Foer put the ending in reverse?

3. Enjoying our final fishbowl discussion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Page 307-end

HW:
1. By TOMORROW: Submit all make-up / missing / revised work. (If you need a few extra days, you can take up until this Friday at the very latest).

2. For the rest of the semester: Bring headphones / ear buds that work with your laptop. You will also need a charged laptop (or a charger to plug your laptop in).

Last Stop: December 9, 2019

Focus: What are you noticing about the end of Oskar's journey? What has shifted, and why?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Taking 30 minutes to read and journal; tomorrow's leaders may use this time to prepare

REMEMBER THAT THIS WEDNESDAY IS THE FINAL DAY TO SUBMIT ANY MISSING / REVISED WORK FROM THE SEMESTER. This includes missed fishbowls and all seven journal entries.

Click HERE for a sample journal entry.

3. Watching the film version of the end of Oskar's key search

HW:
1. For tomorrow: Please finish EL&IC and make sure all 7 journal entries are up to date.

2. By WEDNESDAY: All missing / revised work from the semester must be submitted if you wish to receive credit. This includes missed fishbowls and all seven journal entries.

3. Thursday, December 19 by 4:00 pm: Your final exam screencast must be linked to your name on this sign-up.

4. Friday, December 20: Bring earbuds / headphones to your final exam. Your listening note catcher will be part of your final exam, so be sure not to miss the exam period.

One-Word Biographies: December 7, 2019

Focus: What can we understand differently about ourselves through creating one-word biographies?

1. Warming up with happy visualization and a quick poll on your Zorro Circles

2. Indulging in experimental memoir writing: One-Word Biographies

3. Viewing the film version of EL&IC and assessing notebooks

HW:
1. For Tuesday: Finish the book and your final journal entry (you should have 7 in total).

2. For Wednesday: Please complete any make-up work / revised work that you wish to receive credit for. This includes any missed fishbowl discussions.

ELIC Fishbowl #6: December 5, 2019

Focus: What do Foer's characters lack control over? What do they do to feel like they're in control of their own fates?

1. Warming up with a quick recap of yesterday's "false finish line"; acknowledging your own "false finish line" and erasing it

• What can I do to feel happy today? (If it helps, think about your Zorro Circle.)

2. Rereading the end of Oskar's chapter with a focus on the two keys

• What was Oskar's false finish line?

• What does he really need to feel happy?

• Craft move question: How do the two keys symbolize this?

3. Enjoying our penultimate fishbowl discussion: ELIC, pages 260-306

HW:
1. For Tuesday: Finish the book and your final journal entry (you should have 7 in total).

2. For Wednesday: Please complete any make-up work / revised work that you wish to receive credit for. This includes any missed fishbowl discussions.

The Happiness Challenge: December 4, 2019

Focus: Where does happiness live?

1. Warming up by revisiting your Zorro circle from yesterday

• Anything to add?
• Anything to delete?
• How'd you do with the inner Zorro circle?

2. Watching Shawn Achor's Ted Talk on the psychology of happiness and applying to our lives

• ELIC Journal Challenge (optional): For your journal entry entry for tomorrow, try performing this activity for one or more characters from ELIC, using some quotations to back up your thinking.

3. Reading and journalling on ELIC, pages 260-306; tomorrow's fishbowl leaders may use this time to prepare

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Read through page 306 in EL&IC and complete your 6th journal entry. After this, there's only one more reading assignment to go!

2. HEADS UP: All make-up work, including fishbowl blogs, notebooks, essay revisions, and any other graded assignments from the past 12 weeks must be submitted no later than Wednesday, December 11. After this date, I will not be able to accept any previous work from the semester.

ELIC Fishbowl #5: December 3, 2019

Focus: What is overwhelming the narrators in EL&IC, and what steps can they take towards happiness?



1. Warming up with a Zorro training clip and an overview of "The Zorro Circle"

2. Applying the Zorro Circle to yourself and to the three narrators from EL&IC

3. Enjoying ELIC Fishbowl #5: Pages 207-259

HW:
1. For THURSDAY: Read through page 306 in EL&IC and complete your 6th journal entry. After this, there's only one more reading assignment to go!

2. HEADS UP: All make-up work, including fishbowl blogs, notebooks, essay revisions, and any other graded assignments from the past 12 weeks must be submitted no later than Wednesday, December 11. After this date, I will not be able to accept any previous work from the semester.

NY Landscapes: December 2, 2019

Focus: What role does the New York landscape play in this part of the novel?

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Exploring the overview of the final exam and a map of NY's boroughs, and image of Central Park, and a virtual tour of the Empire State building

The Boroughs

Central Park

Making Predictions:

• Why might Foer include a chapter about an imaginary 6th borough?

• What might the Empire State Building symbolize in the story?

3. Reading ELIC, pages 208-259; tomorrow's leaders may use this time to prepare; I will continue Notebook Check #3

HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Read and journal through page 259; leaders should prepare their syllabus.

2. HEADS UP: All make-up work, including fishbowl blogs, notebooks, essay revisions, and any other graded assignments from the past 12 weeks must be submitted no later than Wednesday, December 11. After this date, I will not be able to accept any previous work from the semester.