Allow Me To Introduce Myself: February 28, 2020

Focus: What is the purpose of a critical review introduction?

Because your next several in-class work days require extraordinary focus, you will receive 10 points a day for your in-class work ethic.

1. Warming up our Valentines of the Day and our final round of Book Talks (sans questions)

2. Checking in with your Critical Review progress thus far...

3. Composing your Critical Review introductory paragraph; color coding a few examples

• Put a giant box around the thesis and read it carefully.

• First color = Relevant summary (think about the narrative arc)

• Second color = Thematic topics (what's the thesis about?)

• Third color = Tone (praise? criticism? both?)

HW:
1. By Monday, the following items on your Critical Review need to be finished before class:

• Revised thesis

• Outline (should at least have topics for 2 body paragraphs and 2 quotations per body paragraph)

• Introductory paragraph

2. By THURSDAY, March 5: Entire rough draft is due at the start of class (50 points A&C).

FINAL DRAFT MUST BE PRINTED AND TURNED IN BETWEEN MARCH 14 AND MARCH 17 BY 4:00 PM. 

The Timeline

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Feb 24 Finish The Green Book.	Feb 25 Graded discussion on The Green Book.	Feb 26 Meet the critical review and start brainstorming.	Feb 27 Form a thesis and outline (in whichever order works).	Feb 28 Draft intro paragraph.
March 2 Start drafting 1st body paragraph.	March 3 Finish 1st body and start drafting 2nd body paragraph.	March 4 Finish drafting 2nd body paragraph and compose conclusion.	March 5 ROUGH DRAFT DUE AT START OF CLASS! Editing / last work day.	No school

Window for turning in final drafts (they must be PRINTED):

Thursday, March 14 - Tuesday March 17 by 4:00 pm.

They will be graded in the order in which they are turned in.

Drafting the Thesis and Outline: February 27, 2020

Focus: How do we build a strong foundation for our critical review essays?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and Grammar You Must Know #8

2. Offering you a little inspiration from your classmates: A mini thesis lecture using a few thesis drafts you sent me and my responses

3. Composing and revising your own thesis statements

• Remember to e-mail me your thesis as soon as you have a draft. Feel free to e-mail me with revised thesis statements as well.

4. Figuring out to structure your essay and composing an outline (whiteboard or Google doc)

Back row: Please leave your notebooks for me so I can finally finish Notebook Check #1! Sheesh!

HW:
For FRIDAY:

• Prepare to deliver your book talk if you have not done so.

• E-mail me your thesis if you have not done so.

• Finish your outline by the end of class tomorrow. (If you're absent, you will need to take care of this over the weekend).

Meeting the Critical Review: February 26, 2020

Focus: How do we end our race unit on a powerful note?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day

2. Taking care of two loose ends: Sentence fragments and Harlem Renaissance reflections

3. Perusing the overview of the critical review essay and brainstorming big ideas

HW:
1. THIS WEEK: Bring your independent reading book to class for the rest of the week. We'll be writing critical reviews of our book on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week.

2. THURSDAY, MARCH 5: Final drafts of critical reviews are due. If you are absent this day, you need to find a way to get your essay to me.

Talking About The Green Book: February 25, 2020

Focus: What does The Green Book want us to think about better or differently?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and a five-minute quickwrite

2. Reading a critical review of The Green Book and prepping questions

3. Discussing The Green Book, Fishbowl-style

HW:
1. THIS WEEK: Bring your independent reading book to class for the rest of the week. We'll be writing critical reviews of our book on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week.

2. THURSDAY, MARCH 5: Final drafts of critical reviews are due. If you are absent this day, you need to find a way to get your essay to me.

Finishing the Journey in the Green Book (Day 4): February 24, 2020

Focus: How does The Green Book's journey end, and for what purpose?

Please turn in Thought Log #4.

1. Warming up with three good things and our Valentine of the Day

2. Finishing The Green Books and looking the characters' journeys together

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Please make sure you have filled in at least a page of your notebook responding to The Green Book questions about mapping the characters' journeys. This will be part of your next journal grade and will help you prepare for tomorrow's graded discussion.

2. For FRIDAY: Prepare to give your book talk if you have not delivered yours yet. 

Eating Scenes in The Green Book (Day 3): February 21, 2020

Focus: How do eating scenes in The Green Book reveal important shifts in character dynamics?

1. Warming up with our Valentines of the Day and a close examination of this question: Why is Tony always eating?

2. Enjoying The Green Book while mapping the characters' inner journeys

3. Wrapping up with Thought Log #4 (due no later than Monday)

HW:
1. By MONDAY: 

• Make sure you have finished at least one independent reading book.

• Complete Thought Log #4.

2. TUESDAY we will have a graded discussion (Fishbowl style) on The Green Book.

3. FRIDAY, FEB 24 we will finish all book talks; if you haven't delivered your book talk yet, prepare to go on Friday.

Mapping Journeys in The Green Book (Day 2): February 20, 2020

Focus: What kind of journey are the characters on in The Green Book?

1. Warming up with our Valentines of the day and what we're noticing about Tony Lip

• What does he look like?

• What kinds of things does he say?

• What kinds of things does he do? (Look for complexities here.)

• What's his life like in New York?

• What has called him to action?

2. Setting up your Green Book maps

3. Viewing and analyzing journeys in The Green Book

HW:

THIS FRIDAY, FEB 21: Finish your independent reading book. Since we are watching The Green Book and since it is a short week, we will not have reading time in class. Make finishing your book a priority in your homework time between now and then.

Mapping Journeys in The Green Book (Day 1): February 19, 2020

Focus: What kind of journey are the characters on in The Green Book?

1. Warming up by wrapping up loose ends: Harlem Renaissance Project reflections, Green Book jigsaw, and cell phone policy

2. Setting up your Green Book maps

3. Viewing and analyzing journeys in The Green Book

HW:

THIS FRIDAY, FEB 21: Finish your independent reading book. Since we are watching The Green Book and since it is a short week, we will not have reading time in class. Make finishing your book a priority in your homework time between now and then.

Opening the Green Book: February 18, 2020

Focus: What were the Green Books?

1. Warming up with three good things, our Valentine of the Day, and a recommitment to seating charts and cell phone pockets

2. Opening the 1937 edition of The Green Book and performing a See, Think, Wonder; offering you quick background on the historical context of The Green Book

3. Dividing and conquering areas of research for The Green Book: (15 min)

Use the gold Jigsaw Graphic Organizer given in class to analyze your edition of the Green Book.

Click on your year (below) to access the digital version of your Green Book edition.

• 1947: Cover, Index, Schools, States, Advertisements, NYC, Cars Essay

• 1956: Cover, Foreword, Index, Essay (Choice between Many Happy Returns, Two Weeks Pay), Advertisements, States

• 1959: Cover, Foreword page, Index, Essay (How to Guard Your Home During the Vacation Season), ads

• 1963-64: Cover, Your Rights Briefly Speaking, Advertisements, States, History Makers, International Section

4. Teaching each other about The Green Book via jigsaw discussion

Use the blue notecatcher given in class to jot down what you're learning in the Jigsaw. Don't rush! If groups don't finish today, we will finish at the beginning of class tomorrow.

HW:

THIS FRIDAY, FEB 21: Finish your independent reading book. Since we are watching The Green Book and since it is a short week, we will not have reading time in class. Make finishing your book a priority in your homework time between now and then.

Cultural Identity in the 1950s: February 14, 2020

Focus: How did race shape our cultural identity in the 1950s?

All work from the first six weeks is due today.

1. Warming up with our Valentines of the Day, our weekly checklist check-in, and a bunch of book talks

2. Taking Grammar "Quiz" #7: Sentence fragments

3. Getting set up:

• Glimpsing some defining moments in the 1950s together with some photos; select THREE of them and perform an MMM reading of each.

• Moments: Which details strike you?

• Movements: What patterns do you notice, both within and among the photos?

• Multiple Meanings: What does this suggest about the 1950s? What was the relationship between race and identity in the 1950s?

3. Enjoying your independent reading books and completing Thought Logs 3 and maybe 4

HW:

NEXT FRIDAY, FEB 21: Finish your independent reading book. Since we are watching The Green Book next week and since it is a short week, we will not have reading time in class. Make finishing your book a priority in your homework time between now and then.

Projects and Happiness: February 13, 2020

Focus: What can we learn about where happiness lives by watching each other's Harlem Renaissance projects?

Please turn in your Works Cited page with your name(s) on it.

1. Warming up with our presenting plans and finalizing the Google doc

2. Watching and commenting on each other's videos; start with your blogging buddies, then watch whichever ones you'd like to (also, if anyone wants to show theirs on the big screen, now's the time)

• What did you learn about this person from watching his or her video?

• What worked for you?

• Questions you'd like to ask?

• Make a connection to our semester focus: Where does happiness live?

HW:

1. For TOMORROW:

• Bring your independent reading books to class so that you may complete Thought Log #3 (if you have not done so) and Thought Log #4 (if you're ready). 

• All work from the first 6 weeks is due.

• Our 7 book talkers need to be ready to talk books. Please review the expectations.

2. Next FRIDAY, FEB 21: Independent reading books must be complete.

Finalizing Our Projects: February 12, 2020

Focus: How do we finalize and publish our projects?

1. Warming up with a Grammar Lesson #7: Sentence Fragments

2. Understanding how to finalize and publish your projects

Step 1: Turn it into a Youtube video.

Step 2: Compose a brief introduction for your video underneath your names on the Google doc.

Click HERE for an example.

• What is this video?
• Whom did you work with if you had a partner?
• What do you want people to know before they watch it?
• What do you want people to focus on as they watch it? Which part did you make?
• What do you hope people will gain from your video?

Step 3: Upload your video to the class Google doc.

Step 4: Consider presenting it to the class.

3. Working your Harlem Renaissance Little Projects (last day)

HW:
1. FOR THURSDAY: Finalize your Harlem Renaissance Little Project and publish it to your blog(s) BEFORE class tomorrow.

2. FOR FRIDAY: 

• Seven of you are giving book talks. Please review the expectations and prepare.

• Keep reading! Make sure you complete at least Thought Log #3 for Friday.

• This is the last day to submit or redo any work from the first 6 weeks.

Citing Your Sources: February 11, 2020

Focus: How do we make our projects professional?

1. Warming up with Grammar Quiz #6

2. Remembering how to cite our sources properly

3. Working on our Harlem Renaissance Little Projects (you will have one more work day after this)

• Have you shared your plan with me?
• Do you have a theme? Is it complex enough?
• Do you have a title slide?
• Are you citing your sources?
• Is everything proofread?
• Have you checked out the rubric?

HW:
1. Keep reading: Next Friday will be the last day you can submit Reading Thought Log #3, so plan ahead.

Note: WEDNESDAY will be a project work day instead of a reading day. PROJECTS WILL BE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON THURSDAY.

2. For THURSDAY: Finish your Harlem Renaissance Little Project BEFORE class.

3. For FRIDAY, FEB 14: Submit any work from the last 6 weeks that you wish to receive credit for. No work from the first 6 weeks will be accepted after this date, even if you are absent on this date.

Catching Up: February 10, 2020

Focus: How do we stay on track after a snowy week?

How'd you do on your weekly checklist? Ready for the next one?

1. Warming up with three good things, our Valentine of the Day, and Grammar "Quiz" #6: Verb Tenses

2. Reading for 30 minutes

3. Familiarizing yourself with the first Notebook Check of the semester--you got this!


HW:
1. Keep reading: Next Friday will be the last day you can submit Reading Thought Log #3, so plan ahead.

Note: WEDNESDAY will be a project work day instead of a reading day. PROJECTS WILL BE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS ON THURSDAY.

2. For THURSDAY: Finish your Harlem Renaissance Little Project BEFORE class.

3. For FRIDAY, FEB 14: Submit any work from the last 6 weeks that you wish to receive credit for. No work from the first 6 weeks will be accepted after this date, even if you are absent on this date.

Complicating Your Theme: February 6, 2020

Focus: How can I refine my theme to fortify my personal connection to the Harlem Renaissance?

1. Warming up with our Valentine of the Day and perusing the rubric together

2. Setting goals and refining your theme: What complex ideas do you want your classmates to understand better or differently from your project?

Rough theme: Hope is important.

Refined theme: Genuine hope arises from a place of desperation and is the only way to claw yourself out of that dark place.

• I want the tone of my project to be...

• I want the class to understand that this is my theme:

• The title of my project will be..

• By Friday, here are the tasks I need to accomplish to make sure my tone and theme are clear:

• By the end of class today, here's what I will accomplish: 

3. Working on your Harlem Renaissance Little Projects

HW:
1. By TODAY: Complete your project plan and share it with me (preferably in person, but electronically works as well).

2. By this FRIDAY, Feb 7, spend 60 minutes with your independent reading book.

• Also, if you have not turned in your third reading log yet or your recorded hours reading, please take care of that ASAP.

3. Ongoing: Start prepping your book talk; make sure you're ready to go on your assigned date.

4. If you are absent, use the checklist and the class blog to make up the work you have missed.

Dream Deferred: February 5, 2020

Focus: What happens to a dream deferred?

1. Warming up with Valentine of the Day and "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

• What does it mean to "defer" something? How is different from giving up, or giving in?

• Have you ever had to defer something?

• Try out a quick MMM reading of "Dream Deferred," then let it lie for about 30 minutes.

2. Enjoying 30 minutes of independent reading

3. Wrapping up by connecting a line from "Dream Deferred" to a line from your independent book

HW:
1. By THURSDAY: Complete your project plan and share it with me (preferably in person, but electronically works as well).

2. By this FRIDAY, Feb 7, spend 60 minutes with your independent reading book.

• Also, if you have not turned in your third reading log yet or your recorded hours reading, please take care of that ASAP.

3. Ongoing: Start prepping your book talk; make sure you're ready to go on your assigned date.

4. If you are absent, use the checklist and the class blog to make up the work you have missed.

Planning Your Project: February 4, 2020

Focus: What will your verse be?

1. Warming up with Grammar Lesson #6: Verb Tense

2. Working on your Renaissance Little Projects and developing a project plan

• Click HERE for the project plan!

HW:
1. By THURSDAY: Complete your project plan and share it with me (preferably in person, but electronically works as well).

2. By this FRIDAY, Feb 7, spend 60 minutes with your independent reading book.

• Also, if you have not turned in your third reading log yet or your recorded hours reading, please take care of that ASAP.

3. Ongoing: Start prepping your book talk; make sure you're ready to go on your assigned date.

4. If you are absent, use the checklist and the class blog to make up the work you have missed.

Contemplating Your Theme: February 3, 2020

Focus: What's your theme, and how may art contribute to it?

1. Warming up with three good things and your new checklist

2. Enjoying 30 minutes of independent reading

3. Exploring student examples of the Harlem Renaissance Little Project

Student Example #1 (student art, Harlem Renaissance poem, Harlem Renaissance music)

Student Example #2 (Harlem Renaissance poem, student dance)

Student Example #3 (Harlem Renaissance art, student poem, contemporary music)

Watching a commercial example.

HW:
1. By this FRIDAY, Feb 7, spend 60 minutes with your independent reading book.

• Also, if you have not turned in your third reading log yet or your recorded hours reading, please take care of that ASAP.

2. Ongoing: Start prepping your book talk; make sure you're ready to go on your assigned date.

3. If you are absent, use the checklist and the class blog to make up the work you have missed.