We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 28, 2014

Focus: How can Vonnegut help us understand our book club books (even the ones not written by Vonnegut)?

1. Warming up with a little Vonnegut:

• Vonnegut on "How To Write a Short Story"

• Kurt Vonnegut's War in Reverse

2. Enjoying intellectual discussions: Book Clubs, Day 3

3. Assessing your own Socratic value this week:

8/9: I was completely prepared and brought my book club to new heights. I could not have done much better, and I helped my book club understand parts of my book that they may not have otherwise considered.

6/7: I was prepared each day and contributed thoughtfully to our discussions.

5: I wasn't quite as prepared as I should have been, but I did contribute once or twice.

3/4: I was a distraction to my book club.  They would have been better off without me.

1/2: I insulted members of my book club, alienated myself, and was a general disgrace to the English language. My book club made me sit in the corner.

NP: I was a non participant, either because of absence or extenuating circumstances.

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading for Monday.

2. Complete your next poetry response for Monday.

3. Start thinking about topics for your poetry paper or project.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 27, 2014

Focus: How can metacognitive thinking help us unravel a challenging poem?

1. Warming up by celebrating the life and times of Aya

From Mrs. Little: Aya is very conscientious in AP Psych and though she more quiet than other students, she still has participated and contributed in a meaningful way to the class. I have asked her on a number of occasions to compare the  traditions and emphasis of Eastern cultures with that of  Western cultures.  She has provided the class with insights that would not be obtained from the textbook.

From Mrs. Leyden: Aya is competitive in Volleyball and Badminton. She always is smiling. She is a positive person.

From Mr. Krause: I've always appreciated Aya's thoughtful responses and wonderful smile. 

From Mrs. Hawthorne: CREATIVE, inventive, courageous, grounded, quiet - yet says what needs to be said when it matters, she knows who she is and she isn't afraid to be herself in any given situation, she is FABULOUS.  I know that she is one that will take her talents and do something great in life. 

From Aya's mom: Your smile always makes me smile.  You are my best friend now and forever.

2. Reminding you what a good a metacognitive writing looks like (working from moments and questions to movements and patterns to multiple meanings):

Click HERE to see Whitney's.
Click HERE to see Mike's.

3. Composing your metacognitive

Please make sure you title it, "_____________ 's Second Metacognitive" and share with kleclaire@lps.k12.co.us

HW:

1. Finish your metacognitive if you did not do so during class.

2. Assigned book club reading.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 26, 2014

Focus: What are starting to understand about our book club books?

1. Warming up: A few quick reminders about your paper/project poem

• Please bring in a HARD COPY of your poem tomorrow.

• Your poem must be of a different genre than your first semester poem.

• Your poem should be challenging; you shouldn't feel like one, two, or even three readings of it are enough.

2. Enjoying book club time!

3. Sharing your opening or closing activity to garner some ideas

HW:
1. Bring a hard copy of your poem to class tomorrow for your metacognitive (you may also wish to bring your own laptop if that's an option for you).

2. Assigned book club reading for Friday.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 25, 2014

Focus: What can sestinas teach us about poetic form and meaning?

1. Warming up with "A Miracle for Breakfast"

Moment (Which words, phrases, images, etc. make you pause?)
Movement (What patterns start to emerge? Where do you see progress, regression, shifts, repetition, circularity?
Multiple Meanings (What complex ideas can infer about the speaker, situation, tone, themes?)

How does the structure of the poem fit its multiple meanings?

2. Trying out "Sestina" as a class; attacking the multiple choice as individuals

3. Working through some of the harder questions together

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading/syllabus for tomorrow.

2. Bring your paper/project poem to class on Thursday for your metacognitive writing.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 24, 2014

Focus: What do the early chapters of our book club books establish?

Please turn in your poetry responses and grab a new poetry packet.

1. Warming up: Establishing a few basic book club expectations

2. Meeting with your book clubs: Day 1!

3. Regrouping and sharing successes (and failures?) from your first day of book clubs

HW:
1. Book club assigned reading/syllabus for Wednesday.

2. Decide on your next poem for the paper/project by Thursday and bring it to class (I'd like a hard copy, please) for your metacognitive.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 21, 2014

Focus: How do AP Lit book clubs work?

1. Warming up: Listening to a page from each of the book club possibilities:

James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Albert Camus' The Stranger
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
Ian McEwan's Atonement

2. Taking a little more time to peruse and form book clubs

3. Setting up the reading and syllabus calendar with your book club and establishing the means by which you will share information with me...Google folder? Google site? Blog? Good old-fashioned notebook?

Book clubs will meet on the following eight days:
February 24, 26, and 28
March 3, 5, 17, 19, and 21
Note: March 21 will be your final discussion day for book clubs.

4. Searching for that next poem, and, if you're ready, running it by me

HW:
1. Your first book club meeting is this Monday; complete your assigned book club reading/syllabus.

2. Poetry response #6 due this Monday-ish.

3. Decide on your poetry paper/project poem by next Thursday and bring it to class for a metacognitive writing.

We're AP Lit Nerds and Loving It: February 20, 2014

Focus: How can we improve our responses to Question 3?

1. Warming up: Celebrating Emma!

From Mrs. Little:  "Emma is so positive and conscientious in all

that she does. When absent, she  comes in right away to make up any work

from class. Emma impresses me as being a very thoughtful person in her

interactions with others. I have enjoyed having Emma in class as I have all

the students you have asked me to provide comment on."

From Mr. Kuhlmann: "With Emma, still waters truly do run deep. I'm not sure who said this, but it very well could have been Emma herself! I've never met a student with a more attentive and calm and kind demeanor, whose mind is on fire, breathing with and fed by her synthesis of information, both in class and in the world, writ large."

From Mara: "Emma's a great sister! I can always count on her to go on a late night coffee runs with me or just hang out watching a Netflix marathon. She's always super supportive and fun to be around!"

From Emma's final reading ticket on Beloved: "Just like Beloved, loneliness cannot be soothed to sleep or into peace. Just like Beloved, loneliness constantly begs to be remembered and present...It seems that as more time passes, the more of a dream she becomes. She isn't real after she departs. She doesn't exist in the physical world. Her ideas, her words, and her actions are no longer tangible and what was once concrete and real becomes abstract."

From her mom: "Emma’s sense of adventure runs deep:  Across beautiful lands, through challenging ideas, and within the depths of her own curiosity – with gratitude, always."

2. Workshopping your essays in small groups: Past events, morally ambiguous characters, or happy endings

a. Talk through the prompt...what was the heart of the prompt? What did you think the prompt meant?

b. Read through the rubric and identify the primary difference between a 4 and a 5, a 5 and a 6, a 7 and an       8/9, etc.

c. Peruse the sample essays and discuss what you think they might have received based on the rubric.

d. Pass your essay clockwise, and comment on the following:

• Thesis, topic sentences, and overall organization

e. Pass the essays clockwise once again, and comment on the following:

• Examples and close readings/analysis

f. Pass the essays clockwise once again, and comment on the following:

• Style (word choice, sentence fluidity, maturity, etc.)

g. Retrieve your own essay, and based on your editors' feedback and on the rubric, estimate what grade range you think your essay falls in.  Give a brief explanation of the grade using language from the rubric.

HW:
1. Next poetry response is due Monday.

2. Start thinking about which poem you'd like to explore for your poetry paper/project; remember that it must be from a different era than that of your first semester poem.