6/12: HOMEWORK: B Block keep reading and/or working on your essay. C Block: continue working on research and/or college essay. Research presentations start tomorrow. DON'T FORGET WORKS CITED. In class: B Block - we talked about the final (see "Cont Am Cult final exam review sheet" attached below) and read/worked on essays. C Block: we worked on research and essays. See "Grading college essays" attached below.
6/11: HOMEWORK: B Block keep reading. C Block: working on research and/college essay. In class: see "Cont Am Cult podcast trio..." attached below.
6/8: HOMEWORK: Please listen to either this podcast (On the Media "The Worst Thing We've Ever Done") about the lynching memorial and an exploration about the work we need to do to face our history OR this podcast about schools and poverty (Reveal "The View from Room 205") OR this really, really terrific podcast from the 1990s in which two teenagers in the south side of Chicago get some training and take recording equipment out to document their lives- for Monday, both blocks. Take some notes, then write a reflection about what you learned and what you want to talk about (a page or so of reflection). In class, we worked on the college essays.
6/6: HOMEWORK: Please listen to either this podcast (On the Media "The Worst Thing We've Ever Done") about the lynching memorial and an exploration about the work we need to do to face our history OR this podcast about schools and poverty (Reveal "The View from Room 205") OR this really, really terrific podcast from the 1990s in which two teenagers in the south side of Chicago get some training and take recording equipment out to document their lives- for Monday, both blocks. Take some notes, then write a reflection about what you learned and what you want to talk about (a page or so of reflection). C Block: shored up research. B Block: Book group reflection/response (see "Book groups" link below for more).
6/5: HOMEWORK: Please listen to either this podcast (On the Media "The Worst Thing We've Ever Done") about the lynching memorial and an exploration about the work we need to do to face our history OR this podcast about schools and poverty (Reveal "The View from Room 205") OR this really, really terrific podcast from the 1990s in which two teenagers in the south side of Chicago get some training and take recording equipment out to document their lives- for Friday for C Block; Monday for B Block. Take some notes, then write a reflection about what you learned and what you want to talk about (just a page of free write).
6/4: C Block: research. B Block: Essay work
6/2: C BLOCK: Research (see Research page). B Block: writing essay
6/1: B Block in class: We started by writing in a google doc (share with me) about the choice book. Write a paragraph or so about where you are in the book, what you are thinking/wondering about/want to talk about, etc.. Then, push yourself to write a little about some thematic concerns that intersect all of these books: fear/loss and the coping skills (or how that fear/loss manifests itself in the novel), wrestling with identity and what factors control identity, race/class/gender, violence and American culture, etc.
5/31: B BLOCK: read for tomorrow. First book group share. In class: Both classes worked on drafts of the college essays.
5/30: C BLOCK: HOMEWORK: Choose two of your barnstormed idea and tell a story (one paragraph) for each. If you wrote down strength as a value, tell a story (a brief one with details, modeled after what we saw in the essays). IF you are on solid footing with an essay topic and want to get started writing your two paragraphs about that, go right ahead. In class: Preliminary work on college essays. See "Cont college essays," "This I Believe Sample Essays" and "NYT winning student college essays" attached below.
5/29: B bLOCK: Preliminary work on college essays. See "Cont college essays," "This I Believe Sample Essays" and "NYT winning student college essays" attached below.
5/24: B BLOCK: We read, C BLOCK; We debriefed and wrote reflections about possibilities moving forward.
5/24: B BLOCK: We discussed options for going forward. Students explored the possibility of reading choice novels and chose some. Everyone is reading for 45 minutes 2x between today and Wed.
C BLOCK: we spent the period examining media bias by looking at two stories about the same topic (NFL new policy) and comparing what is included, what isn't and why these decisions are made. We also talked about how to think critically about the differences and why they matter.