Important information for 7/25 and 7/26

7/25:

ALL Students will be presenting monologues to myself and Mrs. Green this morning between 8:40-11:40am. While they do this, we are grading their content and figuring out which questions we will be putting on the parent scavenger hunt. They will have to find a time to come to us within the time frame.

STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO MEMORIZE THEIR MONOLOGUE.

7/26:

In the morning students will be given their place to stand for the exhibit in the library. We will also give them a run down of how Friday will work in terms of getting dressed and what happens before and after the event.

Overview from 7/24 and Assignment due 7/25

Today we worked on our monologues in our Critical Literacy and History classes. The goal is for students to have their monologues finish by the end of study hours tonight (where myself and Mrs. Green will be to help them) so that they can present their monologues tomorrow. Students will be given a note card to write their monologue on when their monologue has been approved. The monologue should be written on the note card to help with tomorrow's presentation and help with memorization.

Below are questions we came up with that students are encouraged to answer in their monologue to help with their content:

If you are doing a book character:

1.       Title of book

2.       The Author

3.       Time period with brief description

4.       How old is your character?

5.       What does your character teach “us” about History?

6.       What are two conflicts your character faces?

7.       What would your character think about today’s society?

8.       What does your character represent in Critical Theories (in list below)?

9.       What does your character represent in Literary Devices (in list below)?

10.   What is one word you would use to describe your character?

Marxist

Critical Race

Feminist
Historicism

Psychoanalytical

Point of View

Characterization (Direct and Indirect/STEAL)

Irony

Mood/Tone

Types of Conflict

Plot triangle/exposition, climax, and resolution

Symbolism

Stages of Grief

Theme

                                                                       Foreshadowing

If you are doing a historical figure:

1.     Name

2.     Birthday and Death Day

3.     Birth Place

4.     Parents

5.     3 Contributions to society

6.     Time period with description

7.     What does your person teach us about history?

8.     What does your person represent historically?

9.     What are 3 things you learned from your historical figure through about their time period?

10.  In a minimum of 3 lines, tie your character into a book we read this summer.

Overview from 7/23 and Assignment due 7/24

For tonight, students should continue working on their monologues to make sure information on the history of the time period is present along with mentioning critical theories and literary devices along with the claims being made.

Today we talked about the end of the novel along with the stages of grief:

Stages of grief:
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

We also talked about symbolism (when one thing represents another; ex. a heart represents love, a lion represents courage, a cross represents religion, etc.)

Overview from 7/20 and Assignment due 7/23

Today we learned our final critical theory, Formalism:

Students are to read and annotate the rest of their final novel. This needs to come with them to boarding week so that I can check their annotations (unless they finished it early and showed me the annotations today). We will also quiz on that book next week.

Please don't forget your costume at boarding week. Also, feel free to send me your monologue this weekend for me to take a look at early.

Overview from 7/19 and Assignment due 7/20

Today students were given the opportunity to begin working on their monologues in class with me in case they had questions or trouble starting.

UPDATE: Satire was also mentioned in class since it came up in the story:

Satire: (noun) the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

I recommended that students start a list of things they feel should be included in their monologue before they started writing it.

Things that should really be considered in addition to summarizing the characters journey:

Marxist

Critical Race

Feminist
Historicism

Psychoanalytical

Point of View

Characterization (Direct and Indirect/STEAL)

Irony

Types of Conflict

Plot triangle/exposition, climax, resolution

For tomorrow: Read and annotate pages 241-266.

Overview from 7/17 and Assignment due 7/19 (No class 7/18)

For Thursday students are to read pages 184-240. Students should also continue to gather their costume and begin work on their monologue.

Today we caught up discussing anything students felt was noteworthy in the entire book so far (up to and including the reading assignment that was due today).

I also presented the monologue requirements to them along with an example:

Overview from 7/16 and Assignment due 7/17

Today we reviewed the Critical Race Theory:

Students also chose the character/figure they wish to be for the Wax Museum at boarding week:
Amani-James
Teliyah-Cora
Alex D.-Sally
Ty'ajah-Harriet
Jordan-Historical Figure (see Mrs. Green)
Ryen-Edith
Ryan-Maddy
Desi-Rachel
Natalie-Historical Figure (see Mrs. Green)
Alex W.-Homer
Julian-Thomas Jefferson (see Mrs. Green)

Students need to start looking for a costume NOW so that they can bring it with them on the bus to boarding week. 

For tomorrow: Students should continue to read an annotate based off of the posted schedule for the current book.

Books need to be present for points on annotations.

Overview from 7/12 and Assignment due 7/16

Today we reviewed direct and indirect characterization and the acronym STEAL that goes with indirect characterization:

S-speech
T-thoughts
E-effects on others
A-actions
L-looks

We started to give characters from our new book traits based off of STEAL.

For next week students will read and annotate according to the UPDATED reading schedule below:

Students also need to come to class on Monday with their top 3 choices of which characters/historical figures they would like to be for our boarding week wax museum.

Overview from 7/11 and Assignment due 7/12

Students clicked on the following link to take their test in class:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekGJu4qheVLxocvpTcO4xfnWVSvYPUuNvf1L0dqjWx0F7Wng/viewform?usp=sf_link

Quizzes submitted after 7/11 will be marked as a zero.

For tomorrow:
Students are to read an annotate pages 1-32 in Brotherhood.

Overview from 7/10 and Assignment due 7/11

Today we reviewed THEME and how it is a message of the text rather than just one word (like love or revenge). Has to be a message like "love conquers all" or "revenge is a dish best served cold," etc.

We let theme drive the discussions for our books after we took one final look at what will be on tomorrow's quiz.

Students should be studying for their quiz using the information posted on yesterday's post, but they should also be getting reading to dive into their next book. Their next book's reading schedule was also posted yesterday.

I encourage students to bring their next book to FAME tomorrow in case they have some time to read after their quiz or in study hall.

Overview from 7/9 and Assignment due 7/10

For tomorrow students should have finished reading and annotating pages 258-283 of "The Underground Railroad".

Today I presented the monologue requirements for the wax museum. Students should consider these things (and what they will do for a costume) when choosing the character/figure they wish to portray. We will have students pick their characters by the end of class on Monday, July 16.

We also learned/reviewed the Marxist Critical Theory that will be one Wednesday's quiz:

For the quiz, students need to be prepared for open ended questions on the following:

• Psychoanalytic Criticism 
• Fretyag's Plot Triangle 
• Types of Conflict
• Marxist Criticism

Here is the reading schedule for the next book for students that choose to be proactive:

Overview from 7/6 and Assignment due 7/9

Today we reviewed Freytag's Plot Triangle:

Conflict is not generally in the center of the triangle, but established that a plot wouldn't move on without some type of conflict. We also went over the types of conflict this week that tie in to the Psychoanalytic Criticism.

We also analyzed paintings that were representative of Slavery and The Underground Railroad.

Students are to continue reading and annotating based off of the reading schedule for Monday.

Overview from 7/5 and Assignment due 7/6

Today we reviewed the Psychoanalytic criticism and started to apply it to the book. Students can look for how dreams, desires, and defenses motive the characters in their current book.

Students can follow the reading schedule for what is due tomorrow for reading and annotations from their current book.

Students also started to look at more elements of plot today (Freytag's Plot Triangle), and we will be looking more at that tomorrow along with the types of conflict. These things tie into the Psychoanalytic Criticism.

Overview from 7/3 and Assignment due 7/5

Today we looked at a conflict review and discussed the conflict in the story:

FOR THURSDAY: Students are to continue reading and annotating based off of the reading schedule for our current book.

Overview from 7/2 and Assignment due 7/3

Today we spent the period talking about the exposition of our current text, making connections, and discussing any questions students may have. This is our most complex text this summer.

Students are to continue reading and annotating the next reading assignment that was posted on last week's blog.

We will be reviewing an new literary device tomorrow and applying it to the overall text we have already read.

Overview from 6/29 and Assignment due 7/2

Today students took the quiz found at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeS0fSmkzRyKxk_GSWIRgGbzhVXDIjjgNsUurAWLXhurVl3oQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

For Monday, students are to read and annotate the first section of their new book. The reading schedule can be found on yesterday's blog post.

Overview from 6/28 and Assignment due 6/29

Students had today as the final class period to work on their newspaper with me present. These are due tomorrow, and since students are already finished with their book, the only homework they have tonight is to finish the newspaper. The newspaper can be submitted tonight OR at the start of class tomorrow.

Additionally, students have their first quiz tomorrow that they have been reminded daily to look over their notes for.

Students also received their 2nd book today. The reading schedule is below:

Overview from 6/27 and Assignment due 6/28

Students continued to work on their newspapers. I gave them this link to templates they could use in Google Docs (click here). If a student doesn't have a Google account, a person in their group that has one can use theirs to copy and paste another students work into it.

Students are to be reading and annotating pages 301-330 before class tomorrow.

Student are also to continue reviewing their notes for our quiz on Friday (the things they should review can be seen on the blog post from this Monday).

Overview of 6/26 and Assignment due 6/27

The class project of our book's newspaper was presented this morning using the slides below:

Students reviewed the objective voice (speaking/writing without personal voice and opinions), and they are to use that for all articles except the Letter to the Editor.

The newspaper will ultimately be a digital submission using Google templates. We will be looking at those tomorrow.

Students will continue to read and annotate 270-300 for tomorrow.

Please reach out to me with questions. The newspaper will be worked on in class, but is due THIS FRIDAY. If students are not progressing in class, it will require them to work on it outside of class. 

Overview from 6/25 and Assignment due 6/26

Today we reviewed all of the things we have taken notes on so far this summer. These things will be tested on, and students were encouraged to make sure they are looking for these things in their current book and asking questions for clarification if needed. Those things are as follows:
*Irony (3 types)
*Critical Theories (Historicism and Feminist)
*Point of View

In addition to the items above, we also added the Feminist Critical Theory today. The notes from that are below. All of the things mentioned in the blog post are fair game for our quiz on Friday.

For tomorrow students are to read and annotate pages 234-269.

If students miss a class, they have to complete the assignment that can be found at this link here.

Overview from 6/22 and Assignment due 6/25

Today students got into small groups to discuss the reading assignment while I checked their annotations. Then each small group did a share out of what they discussed. We then tried to tie up ends of different things we discussed this week from Irony at the start of the week through the Historicism lens.

Students' reading assignments can be found on the picture of the reading assignment below on this blog. Students are still expected to read and annotate each day this weekend (or on one day this weekend if need--as long as they still get it all done.)

Overview from 6/21 and Assignment due 6/22

Today students reviewed the first of 6 critical theories we are studying this summer. We sometimes refer to them as critical lenses. The notes from questions we ask through our first lens (Historicism) are below along with a poem we also looked at through the historical lens. For tomorrow students will read pages 97-127.

Overview from 6/20 and Assignment due 6/21

Today students focused more on how Point of View shapes our perspective by looking at these questions:

Point of View

•What if someone else were telling the story?

•How reliable is the narrator?

•What’s being left out?

•How does the POV affect the readers’ sympathies?

•If 1st person, how unique is the narrator’s voice?

Students then shared what they thought was worth talking about from the assignment.

For tomorrow the will read pages 64-96.

Overview from 6/18 and Assignment due 6/19

Today we reviewed the types of Irony we have studied in the past. I had students tell me about the types and how they defined them before I even put them on the board. While I was checking annotations, students were to try to think of examples of each type from our current book, and if they couldn't find an example from the book for a type, they could come up with their own example from their life.

Here are the 3 types:

We discussed how foreshadowing is already playing a part along with how trustworthy the narrator is, and I let the students bring up what they wanted to talk about for discussion.

For tomorrow they are to read pages 29-63.

Overview from 6/18 and Assignment due 6/19

Today students got an overview of what we would be working on this summer with the opportunity to ask questions.

Students will read and annotate outside of class each day to be prepared for class assignments and discussions.

Here are annotations guidelines and the reading schedule for our first book:

For tomorrow students need to read and annotate pages 1-28 before class. Annotations will be checked at the start of class before we begin our assignments and discussions. 

If students miss a class, they will complete the assignment here (click here).

Feel free to email me at fameacademy.literacy@famefund.org with any questions