Friday, March 26, 2010

Lesson 58: March 25-26

Today is EAP essay day! The EAP is a standardized writing assessment that we have been preparing for in English class for the past couple months. It is students' first attempt at meeting the minimum English requirements for the California State University system to avoid having to take costly remedial-level classes in college. In addition to the essay portion of the test, which is what students are taking today, they must hit proficiency on the 11th grade English STAR test and complete the supplementary 15-question section that comes after the STAR test and that we are making mandatory for 11th graders. If you have any questions about the EAP, please let me know.

After the EAP, students will have a few minutes to begin typing their third EAP/ESGP essay.

HW:
1) Bring your whole ESGP essay (EAP/ESGP parts 1-3) typed and printed out on Tuesday. There will not be computers or printers to use for printing, so please go to the LC before school if you need to print. (Note: All students have all classes on Tuesday because Monday is a holiday.)
2) Write a 1/2 to 1 page reflection on your 3rd quarter English grade.

Lesson 57: March 22-23

Today's objectives:
By the end of today's lesson, students will have synthesized all of the Harlem Renaissance texts they have previously analyzed -- including short stories, poetry, essays, monologues, and paintings -- in order to develop an argument about mental liberation and the Harlem Renaissance.

Agenda:
1) Introduction to using visual arts to support writing in other disciplines/classes
2) Students will look back through all of the Harlem Renaissance visual arts they have analyzed recently in art and history and figure out which paintings they can best use to support their arguments and what that looks like.
3) Writing time for EAP/ESGP #3

HW:
If you didn't finish writing EAP/ESGP #3, you must do so before you come to class on Thursday/Friday.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Lesson 56: March 18-19

Today's objectives:
By the end of today's lesson, students will have orally analyzed Melvin B. Tolson's seminal poem, "Dark Symphony" and synthesized all of the New Negro/Harlem Renaissance poetry, short stories, essays, and monologues we've looked at in order to find evidence to write the next part of the grad. portfolio paper.

Agenda:
1) Students will read Tolson's "Dark Symphony" individually
2) Literary discussion circles on "Dark Symphony"
3) Information/parent letter given out about the final joint research unit in English/history --> students need to get this letter signed
4) Introduction to EAP/ESGP essay #3 --> students work in groups to find evidence to respond to an argument about mental liberation. They may find evidence in any of the Harlem Renaissance literature they have read in this unit.

Here is a list of all of the texts that students can use (this list is posted in the classroom as well):
  • "The Colored Soldier" (Langston Hughes)
  • "Democracy" (Langston Hughes)
  • "I, Too" (Langston Hughes)
  • "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (Langston Hughes)
  • "My People" (Langston Hughes)
  • "Poem" (Helene Johnson)
  • "No Images" (W. Waring Cuney)
  • "Heaven to Hell" (Langston Hughes)
  • "Thank you, M'am" (Langston Hughes)
  • "Who's Passing for Who?" (Langston Hughes)
  • "Dark Symphony" (Melvin B. Tolson)
Students should already have all of these texts saved in the TEXTS section of their English/history binder.

HW: Most students finished selecting evidence in class -- those who didn't finish need to do so over the weekend (six quotations in total) and come in ready to write the essay on Monday; Nida is asking students to get the parent letter signed (see agenda above)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lesson 55: March 12

Today's objectives:
By the end of today's lesson, students will individually read and orally analyze three Langston Hughes short stories (“Heaven to Hell”, “Who is Passing for Who?”, “Thank You, M’am”); in addition, students will independently write a timed EAP-style essay in order to practice for the EAP writing assessment happening in two weeks!

Agenda:
1) Students read three Langston Hughes short stories silently
2) Literary discussion circles on Hughes's texts
3) Students read two EAP essay prompts and choose the one that they want to write an essay on; they will then organize their ideas and complete the essay within the class period.

HW: Have a good long weekend. Because of the Monday off, fieldtrip on Tuesday, and WLE on Wednesday, I will not see you for English class until the 18th or 19th.

Lesson 54: March 8-9

Today's objectives:
By the end of today's lesson, students will individually read and analyze one of three different versions of “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” read three different poems (“No Images” by Waring Cuney, “My People” by Langston Hughes, and “Poem” by Helene Johnson) and orally analyze them; and synthesize information from all four texts in order to generate the New Negro Mvmt/Harlem Renaissance approach to Black progress.

Agenda:
1) Students will read and analyze (using provided questions) one of three differentiated versions of Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
2) Literary discussion circles on Hughes's text
3) In the same groups, students will read and orally analyze three Harlem Renaissance poems
4) Groups will fill in the righthand column of the chart on approaches to Black progress in the 1920s (the lefthand column will be filled in during today’s lesson in history class)

HW: none

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Lesson 53: March 4-5

Today is the first day of the Interwar Unit in US History and the Harlem Renaissance Unit in American Literature. We will spend both class periods today doing a joint launch lesson in the community room.

Today's objectives:
By the end of today's lesson, students will have analyzed primary source documents from the WWI period in order to establish what black and white Americans hoped for the 1920s, analyzed primary source documents from the 1920s period in order to determine whether these post-WWI hopes/dreams were fulfilled, and compared/contrasted black and white experiences of the “Roaring 20s.”

Agenda:
During this two-period lesson, students will interact with many primary source documents from the WWI/Interwar periods. Between documents/activities, students will return to the sheet entitled "Post WWI Dreams vs. Reality Chart" to add new information they have learned about the dreams and realities of African-Americans and White Americans in this era.
1) What's coming up in Humanities for the rest of this year?
2) Students read selections from Teddy Roosevelt speech entitled "The Negroes' Part in the War," respond to questions, and fill in dreams/method boxes on the chart (w/ focus on Black Americans)
2) Students read selections from "A Flapper's Appeal to Parents," respond to questions, and fill in dreams/method boxes on chart (w/ focus on White Americans)
3) In small groups, students are given envelopes filled with images from the 1920s. Students choose six images to analyze, fill in the analysis chart, and then record their findings in the reality boxes on the chart.
4) Students read three texts by Langston Hughes ("Democracy," "I, Too," and "Colored Soldier") and work together to orally analyze the texts and draw connections/elicit differences. Each student is responsible for taking a specific role in the group discussion. Students synthesize their findings and record them in the Black Americans reality box on the chart.

HW: Finish typing together your first two Kindred EAP essays -- this is due at the beginning of class next Monday, March 8 (per. 1,2) or Tuesday, March 9 (per. 5,6). If you do not have a printer and need to print your essay out, please go to the LC at least 20 minutes before the beginning of the school day. There will not be any computers to print from in the classroom.

Lesson 52: March 1-2

Today, students took the NWEA Reading test in English.

HW: Finish typing together your first two Kindred EAP essays -- this is due at the beginning of class next Monday, March 8 (per. 1,2) or Tuesday, March 9 (per. 5,6). If you do not have a printer and need to print your essay out, please go to the LC at least 20 minutes before the beginning of the school day. There will not be any computers to print from in the classroom.