Here are my lesson plans for the last 4 weeks. This takes you through the reading & responding to the text from start to finish… everything leading up to the first Literary Analysis assignment, which I’ll deal with in my next post.

Buried Onions – Week One

Buried Onions – Week Two

Buried Onions – Week Three

Buried Onions – Week Four

Okay foxes, I’m not ashamed to say it – I buy into the gimmicky stuff. Mix a little Bloom’s Taxonomy, some paper and glue… maybe a few poker chips, blend, bake and serve up as a lesson plan.

During one of my grad school classes, we had to create a lesson using a strategy called CUBING, which allows students to complete activities related to the reading based on learning styles and reading levels. It worked really well when I taught Bodega Dreams, and I think I’m going to use it with Buried Onions next week. I’ll attach the lesson plan & handout/instructions as soon as they’re ready. Anybody willing to try it with me?

Afrofox

We had a great week in Little BIG Books…  Our lessons were really varied and engaging - I’ve never seen a roomful of students work so diligently and so passionately over found poems – especially during WEEK ONE!  (that was so inspired, foxy!)  Superfox did a great lesson with images drawn from page one of the story, which also went off without a hitch.

Day 3 was also great – we had students practicing the analytical skills they traditionally have so much trouble with when it comes time to write their literary analysis papers.  We pulled 10 quotes from the text and asked students to first categorize them (does the quote describe Eddie’s environment, his friends & family or his options for the future?) and then explain the significance of the quote in at least one sentence.  During share-out, students who were extremely literal benefited from seeing how their classmates read between the lines to find the deeper meaning. 

for example:

2.  Still the babies cried, and their crying stirred up our frustration because we were like those strollers going back and forth, back and forth, getting nowhere (pg. 2).

Category: Eddie’s environment/Eddie’s future                       

Explanation: He compares the people in his community as “like those strollers going back and forth… getting nowhere.”  He feels as if the people around him get nowhere in life, and he will have the same fate.

Of course not all of the students got it.  Some just thought that Eddie was annoyed at the babies crying, but it was great to see the recognition in their eyes when they heard the deeper analysis coming from their peers. 

This is the type of lesson we need to do regularly – pick a skill we know kids will have trouble with when it’s time to write, and just have them practice.  The fact that we pulled the quotes for them was what made this work – all they had to do was analyze… after a few rounds of this, they’ll be ready to pick their own quotes!

Click here to see the lessons from the first week of LBB, and check out some examples of found poems from the kids.

My first foray into blogging, foxes. I’ve got quite a ways to go to catch up to Afro Fox. Actually, this is kind of a response to Afro Fox’s last post, but I wanted to share the activity we’ll be doing in AS 1 tomorrow. Foxy Fox came up with the brilliant idea of giving the kids scenarios that follow the plot of the possible book choices, and having them essentially write the ending, like those fun “choose your own adventure” books. We came up with pretty good scenarios for the four books we’ll be doing this semester, so we’ll see how it goes.

Foxy proposed something cool for day one… Sort of based on the strategies lesson plan from Opening Project.  We provide a series of scenarios drawn from the core texts, and give them two possible courses of action.  Students then consider which option they would choose (or come up with a resonable alternative).  I think this is guaranteed to stir up discussion. 

 So I’ve been researching Dialectical Journals, and I’ve found some interesting stuff.  Here’s an overview:

Purpose

Journaling pushes students to consider the material they’re reading more deeply, and to construct their own meaning from the text.  It can also help students clarify plot details and the significance of specific events in a story. 

Reading student journals then gives teachers some insight into what students are getting from the literature and what they have trouble with.

Process

Students pick passages from the text that jump out at them respond in writing. 

Formatting

I like the double entry format, which looks like this:

 because it reminds students to include page numbers and allows them to view the passage drawn from the text right next to their response.

I came up with an Intro to Dialectical Journals that students can keep in their binders & use as a reference.  It includes details instructions on how to choose quotes, tips on what to write about, and sentence starters (thanks foxy).  I also found  a pretty good rubric we can refer to when grading the journals.

I’ll add a link to the intro & a blank graphic organizer to the Author Study I class page on the ESA homepage.

Hey Foxes:

Are we all assigning reading for homework on day one? How do we feel about some kind of written response as a do-now on Tuesday to encourage accountability? I’m setting up folders for all of my students like I did last year, and my sections are color-coded… so I’m wondering how the binders will fit in to the picture. Are you having your students keep those in class? Last year I also handed out calendars that kids kept in their folders & signed each day they were present – superfluous?

Thoughts and comments welcome…

PS: I thought you might want this document in electronic form, just in case you lose your master copy or your kids misplace theirs. I can also get it up on the ESA homepage if you want.

dear foxes,

 i am sitting at the computer in the sweltering heat.  we are sweaty and stinky. tryna get these copies done. we wouldn’t have to have no goddamn copies if our books were here. but they ain’t here of course. i say people – literature books are definitely worth fighting for.

Anyway, here’s a document for you.

I found a great resource from PBS on Hemingway and the Lost Generation… we should consider using some of this stuff at the Hemingway station when students are considering their Author Study options next week.  And/or we can use it at some point during the term when they’re conducting their research. 

http://www.pbs.org/hemingwayadventure/

Here’s a great quote from Gertrude Stein on the Lost Generation: 

“Every man becomes civilized between the ages of 18 and 25. If he does not go through a civilizing experience at that time of his life, he will not become a civilized man. The men who went to war at 18 missed the civilizing. All you young people who served in the war are a lost generation. You have no respect for anything.”
-Gertrude Stein

Hello team,

Just trying to get the Point Sheet together for lBb.  Given what we want to focus on, here’s a sample setup for 25 points a day:

We also need to decide on what assignments will make up the last 75 points.  For Author Study, we’re doing 25 points each for weekly JOURNAL, DISCUSSION & GROUP WORK assignments.  What do we want to use? 

• Journal/Reader Response log
• Binder Grade
• Weekly Writing Assignment (on the literature)
• Weekly Reflection (on process – reading or writing)
• Something else?

We can remove Class Participation from the daily score & just do a weekly Class Participation/Discussion grade, which will eliminate going back & putting in a score for that each day.  (We’ll just put those points somewhere else) 

I’ve uploaded a draft for you to play with in the orange box on the right.  Edit at will.  Let me know what you think!

Nikki