MC Practice: January 31, 2019

Focus: How do we approach poetry on the multiple choice section of the AP test?

1. Warming up with Academic Vocabulary, Set 4 (Bumper Words)

2. Circling the wagon with an MC poem and a group, out-loud metacognitive

3. Exploring the questions stems (minus the answer choices) and developing your answers

4. Selecting the multiple choice answers in pairs

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: You will the have the first half of class to catch up or get ahead in your reading; the second half of class will be Socratic on Chapters 13, 14, and 15.

2. For MONDAY: Read Chapters 16 and 17; prepare a Socratic ticket.

3. For THURSDAY: Read through Chapter 21 and prepare a reading ticket. We will have Socratic on Thursday instead of Friday (and Wednesday will be partly a reading day).

4. For NEXT FRIDAY, FEB 8: Have your poem selected for the in-class metacognitive.

Left-Handed Poems: January 30, 2019

Focus: How can your non-dominant hand unlock a new kind of poetry?

1. Warming up with a short assessment on Academic Vocabulary, Set 3

2. Enjoying the "left-handed" poems of Galvin and Levine

For Galvin:

• Find one line with unusual syntax or an unusual line break.  
• Try rewriting it in a way that makes it more "usual."  
• What did it lose?
• What makes this poem "left-handed"?

For Levine:

• Find three examples of enjambment that seem significant to you. 
• Why do you think he broke the lines there?  In other words, how does it emphasize or create meaning?
• What makes this poem "left-handed"?

3. Trying out your own left-handed poems (or right-handed if you're a lefty like me)

4. Reflecting on the process: How did writing with your non-dominant hand affect your writing? Did it affect your syntax? Line breaks? Other?

HW:
1. For Friday: Read Chapters 14 and 15 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

2. For February 7:  Decide what poem you'd like to take on for your poetry project/paper. It needs to be from a different time period than the poem you analyzed first semester. We will have our poem metacognitive on Feb 7.

Do You Work for the Department of Redundancy Department? January 29, 2019

Focus: How can we write with stylistic command?

1. Warming up by practicing your Academic Vocabulary, Set 3 (www.quizlet.com)

2. Eliminating redundancy and wordiness; click here for "Writing with Style"

*The rule: If you have two sentences, two adjectives, two phrases, etc. performing the same function, get rid of one of them. Keep the one that's doing it better.*

3. Enjoying a speed dating session to explore the passage itself:

• Warming up: Summarize the dramatic situation in this passage. 

• Your Spin: What's your take on what really happened here? This is your thesis.

• The "Facts": No fake news here--stick to the textual passages. Which ones are the most revealing? What literary language might you use to talk about them?

• The Wrap-Up: Lingering questions? Kudos to your fellow newscasters? Brilliant epiphanies?

4. Using the reflective rubric for peer feedback on your intro, structure, evidence, and style

HW:
1. For Wednesday: 

• Read Chapter 13 (no Socratic ticket needed).
• Prepare for a brief vocabulary quiz.

2. For Friday: Read Chapters 14 and 15 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

3. For February 7:  Decide what poem you'd like to take on for your poetry project/paper. It needs to be from a different time period than the poem you analyzed first semester. We will have our poem metacognitive on Feb 7.

Racism and Science: January 28, 2019

Focus: How did race factor into scientific research in the early 20th century, and how does Ellison turn it into a metaphor?

1. Warming up by gathering background on early 20th century science and socialism

Step 1: Briefly research your topic (Wikipedia works well for most topics).

Step 2: Find one line, paragraph or page from Chapters 11-12 in Invisible Man that takes on new meaning in light of your research.

Step 3: Enlighten the class on your newfound understanding by bringing it into Socratic today.

2. Enjoying a silent Socratic on Chapters 11-12 in Invisible Man

3. Wrapping up with questions, kudos, and epiphanies

HW:
1. For Wednesday: 

• Read Chapter 13 (no Socratic ticket needed).
• Prepare for a brief vocabulary quiz.

2. For Friday: Read Chapters 14 and 15 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

3. For February 7:  Decide what poem you'd like to take on for your poetry project/paper. It needs to be from a different time period than the poem you analyzed first semester. We will have our poem metacognitive on Feb 7.

Caged Bird and Paint Stirred: January 25, 2019

Focus: What do Ellison's settings reveal about the characters who live in them?

1. Warming up with a split-class close reading of setting:

• Group 1: Emerson's office

• Group 2: The paint factory

2. Enjoying a Socratic Seminar on Chapters 9 and 10 of Invisible Man

3. Wrapping up with questions, kudos, and epiphanies

HW:
1. For MONDAY: Read Chapters 11 and 12 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

2. For Feb 7: Select your project / paper poem for an in-class metacognitive.

"Tuesday" Writing: January 24, 2019

Focus: How can we better understand prose through high-velocity writing?

1. Warming up with a 5-minute Quizlet introduction to Academic Vocabulary, Set 3

2. Offering a few reminders from our last Q2 workshop:

• Mark up the heart of the prompt.

• Read the first inch and last inch carefully for tone (and possibly shifts).

• Let your complex argument drive the structure of your essay.

• Write an introduction. Use it to work through the passage and prompt.

• Weave multiple quotations into your body paragraphs; use them to perform close readings.

3. Composing a timed writing on a prose passage
(Hand out the prompts at 1:40 so that you may begin no later than 1:45.)

HW:

1. For Friday: Read Chapter 10 in Invisible Man; prepare a Socratic ticket.

2. For Thursday, February 7: Metacognitive on your paper/project poem.

Looking Ahead: January 23, 2019

Focus: How can we get (or stay) ahead of the game in A.P. Lit?

1. Warming up with Academic Vocabulary Quiz #2: Sets 1 and 2

2. Reading Invisible Man (20 minutes)

3. Offering you the recap of the Poetry Project / Paper and time to select your poem

Old School:
Books and anthologies

New School:
Contemporary literary journals
Poetry In Voice (it's like Spotify, but for poems)

HW:
1. TOMORROW we will have a "Tuesday" writing; it will be a prose-based Q2.

2. For Friday: Read Chapter 10 in Invisible Man; prepare a Socratic ticket.

3. For Thursday, Feb 7: In-class metacognitive on your paper/project poem.

All That Jazz: January 22, 2019

Focus: How does form create meaning in Invisible Man?

1. Warming up with three good things and a quick explanation of jazz

Look back to your chart from Wednesday: What does Ellison's structure have to do with jazz?

3. Enjoying a Socratic Seminar on Chapters 6, 7, and 8

4. Wrapping up with questions, epiphanies, and kudos

HW:
1. For Wednesday (TOMORROW):

• Read Chapter 9 in Invisible Man (no Socratic ticket needed)

• Review Academic Vocabulary, Units 1 AND 2 (short quiz tomorrow).

2. Thursday we will have a Tuesday writing (it will be a Q2, which is prose-based).

3. For Friday: Read Chapters 10 and 11 in Invisible Man; prepare a Socratic ticket.

We Wear the Mask: January 18, 2019

Focus: What is Dr. Bledsoe's role in Invisible Man?

1. Warming up with a circle reading of "We Wear the Mask" and a close reading of Dr. Bledsoe

2. Enjoying a variation on Socratic on Invisible Man: Chapters 4 and 5



3. Wrapping up with epiphanies, questions, and kudos




HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Read Chapters 6, 7, and 8 in Invisible Man; prepare a Socratic ticket (feel free to try something new!).

2. Look through BOTH units of Academic Vocabulary before going to bed at night.

Final Echoes from Your Final Exam: January 17, 2019

Focus: In terms of preparing for the test, what do I need to focus on this semester?

1. Warming up by meeting Academic Vocabulary, Unit 2!

2. Discussing "An Echo Sonnet: To an Empty Page" as a class

• What's the author trying to do? (Theme, tone)

• How's the author trying to do it? (Literary devices)

3. Exploring the rubric and two sample essays to reflect on your own writing

4. Revisiting the final section of the Multiple Choice part of the midterm

• Untangling complex sentences

• Paraphrasing quatrain by quatrain

• BONUS: Scan the heck out of this thing. Two lines have an extra syllable. Look at the line that follow these. What might the purpose of the extra syllable be?

• Seeking the shift and the tone

• Working your way towards the best answer (via speed dating)

5. Calculating your actual score using this website: http://appass.com/calculators/englishliterature

PLEASE WRITE YOUR ESTIMATED OVERALL SCORE AT THE TOP OF YOUR SCANTRON AND RETURN IT TO ME.

HW:

1. For TOMORROW: Read Chapters 4 and 5 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

2. For TUESDAY: Read Chapters 6, 7, and 8 and prepare a Socratic ticket (Monday people will turn them in on Tuesday). 

Variations on the Battle Royal: January 16, 2019

Focus: How are these early chapters variations on Chapter 1's Battle Royal?

Shortened Class

1. Warming up with your first Academic Vocabulary quiz

2. Speed dating with elements from the Battle Royal in Chapters 1, 2, and 3

3. Getting to the bigger question: Why might Ellison keep offering us the variations on the same scene?

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: Bring your essay packet to class (from the first semester final).

2. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 4 and 5 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

Camping with Dad: January 15, 2019

Focus: What are we doing well in our prose timed writings, and how can we improve?

1. Warming up with a little Quizlet Live review of Academic Vocabulary, List 1 and a visit to Mr. Kuhlmann's class

2. In Question #2: Johnny Got His Gun, considering the first inch, the last inch, and the concrete details and devices in between

• A quick creative writing / tone exercise: Rewrite the first inch or the last inch to change the tone.

3. Enjoying a class workshop of your essays

4. Perusing two sample essays on Q2, then using the reflective rubric to peer edit each other's timed writings

HW:
1. For TOMORROW: 

• Remember that tomorrow is your first, tiny assessment on Academic Vocabulary, Set 1. Use Quizlet to review (right before you go to bed if possible).

• Read Chapter 3 in Invisible Man (no formal reading ticket necessary).

2. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 4 and 5 in Invisible Man and prepare a formal reading ticket for Socratic.

Setting Up: January 14, 2019

Focus: What is the setting  in Chapter 2 setting up?

1. Warming up with three good things, new reading ticket possibilities, and selling A.P. Lit to juniors

2. Playing a round or two of reading ticket musical chairs and performing a pop-up metacognitive of the opening pages of Chapter 2

3. Enjoying a Socratic Seminar on Invisible Man, Chapter 2

4. Wrapping up with your kudos, questions, and epiphanies

HW:
1. For WEDNESDAY:

• Read Chapter 3 in Invisible Man (no formal reading ticket necessary).
• Prepare for your first assessment on Academic Vocabulary, List 1.

2. For FRIDAY: Read Chapters 4 and 5 and prepare a reading ticket for Socratic.

False Gold: January 11, 2019

Focus: What is the function of the battle royal in Invisible Man?

1. Warming up by collecting objects from the Prologue and Chapter 1

• Skim through the Prologue and Chapter 1 and make a quick list of important objects.

• Jot down (or highlight) an intriguing quotation to describe each one.

• With a partner, try to find connections between the objects...what do they have in common? Can you find any connections between these objects and the stereotypes from Ethnic Notions?

2. Enjoying our first Socratic seminar of 2019: The Prologue and Chapter 1 of Invisible Man

3. Wrapping up with kudos, epiphanies, and lingering questions

HW:
1. For MONDAY (not Tuesday): Please read Chapter 2 and prepare a Socratic ticket.

2. ONGOING: Peruse Academic Vocabulary, Unit 1; we will have our first assessment next Wednesday.

Dangerous Stereotypes: January 10, 2019

Focus: What stereotypes dictate the narrator's world in Invisible Man?

1. Warming up with Academic Vocabulary, Unit 1 (5-10 minutes)

2. Viewing part of Ethnic Notions to gain an understanding of the danger and depth of black stereotypes

• Please use the handout given out in class (and also linked HERE) to help you sort through, understand, and apply the stereotypes presented in Ethnic Notions

3. Discussing these stereotypes in small groups and exploring them through freewriting:

In the first half of the 20th century, how do racial stereotypes factor in to the following questions?

• What does it mean to be invisible? 
• In our society, who's invisible? Who's visible?
• In what ways is invisibility be empowering?
• In what ways is invisibility disempowering?
• Why is important to still be talking about (in)visibility right now, in 2018?

4. Briefly addressing your new reading ticket possibilities

HW:
1. Spend a few minutes perusing Academic Vocabulary, Unit 1.

2. Read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Invisible Man by Friday; prepare your first reading ticket for Friday's Socratic.

• Overview of Socratic expectations and grading method
• Reading ticket possibilities

Making the Right Choices: January 9, 2019

Focus: What can we expect of the poetry multiple choice section on the AP Literature exam?

1. Warming up with your mini vocab notebooks and your big Invisible Man books

2. Transferring your MC responses and scoring each section

• Circling the answers you initially chose and giving me back your scantrons

3. Revisiting "The Albuquerque Graveyard" with a little speed dating (Find the right match for you...wait, no.  Find the right match for each M.C. question)

• Gathering quick background info from the title and the blurb at the end

• Rereading the poem with the MMM approach

• Decoding the questions: What types of questions can you expect here?

• Taking on the vocabulary in question #25

• Working around the vocabulary in question #26

• Comparing answers for questions #27-34

4. Meeting your first unit of Academic Vocabulary!

• How it works: Academic Vocabulary overview
• Experimenting with your first set of words

5. Offering you a few new reading ticket possibilities for Invisible Man

HW:
1. Return your signed class syllabus by Thursday, January 11.

2. Strongly consider purchasing your own copy of Ellison's Invisible Man. (Also, if you still have a copy of Beloved, please turn it in this week.)

3. Read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Invisible Man by Friday; prepare your first reading ticket for Friday's Socratic.

• Overview of Socratic expectations and grading method
• Reading ticket possibilities

Welcome Back! January 8, 2019

Focus: How do we address the meaning of the work as a whole?

1. Warming up with three good things and poetic gift for the New Year

2. Indulging in an intensive workshop on your Beloved essays

3. Exploring the rubric and two sample essays to reflect on your own writing

4. Perusing this semester's course syllabus and upcoming items; distributing Invisible Man

5. Enjoying a little freewriting on the book's title:

• What does it mean to be invisible?
• In our society, who's invisible? Who's visible?
• In what ways is invisibility be empowering?
• In what ways is invisibility disempowering?
• How visible are you?
• Why is important to be talking about (in)visibility right now, in 2018?

HW:
1. Return your signed class syllabus by Thursday, January 10.

2. Strongly consider purchasing your own copy of Ellison's Invisible Man.

3. Read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Invisible Man by Friday; prepare your first reading ticket for Friday's Socratic.