Overview from 12/8 and Assignment due 1/12

Today we took notes on book choosing strategies and started talking about good books from different genres. The notes are pictured below.

For our next meeting in January: Students should come to class with their journal AND the first book they are going to read that they chose themselves. This book should be FICTION and it should be within an appropriate Lexile Level Range. (See notes below)

Overview from 12/1 and Assignment due 12/8

Today I collected student journals when they showed up for the ISEE exam. I graded the journals while they were testing, and I gave them back when they finished the exam.

I COUNTED THE JOURNALS TODAY AS THE SIGNPOST TEST since I asked students to look for examples of each one that we learned in the remainder of the book.

FOR NEXT WEEK: students MUST bring their journal as we will take notes on book choosing strategies and how we will operate in the Spring semester.

They no longer need their "Blood, Bullets and Bones" book since we have finished (or should have) prior to our meeting today.

Overview from 11/10 and Assignment due 12/1 when you show up for ISEE

When students show up to take the ISEE exam on 12/1, they should bring their Critical Literacy journal with the following assignment done:

Read the rest of our Nonfiction book by 12/1 (3 weeks from today…about 42 pages per week) AND try to identify and explain as many signposts as possible. I am hoping you have at LEAST TWO examples of each:

      •Contrasts and Contradictions

      •Extreme and Absolute Language

      •Numbers and Stats

      •Quoted Words

I will grade your journal while you take the ISEE exam, and you will take it with you when you leave. You will be expected to bring the journal with you on 12/8 for our last class of 2018 before our Enrichment trip on 12/15

Here are the notes from today:

Overview from 11/3 and Assignment due 11/10

Overview from 10/27 and Assignment due 11/3

Today we took notes on Nonfiction Signpost #1 Contrasts and Contradictions. After taking the notes, we looked a sample texts to spot and respond to them. The notes are below.

For next week, students are to read pages 28-63 of Blood, Bullets, and Bones AND complete a journal entry on as many Contrasts and Contradictions (C&C) as they can find in that reading section. They must remember to identify the C&C and answer the anchor question from their notes and how the C&C relates to authors purpose, main idea, or cause and/or cause and effect.

Overview from 10/20 and Assignment due 10/27

I reviewed with students the scores they got for the TDA from last week and explained common mistakes that were made. The following is the handout given to the students in class. I walked them through what is expected of this.

DUE 10/27/18:

1.       Started cover page for Blood, Bullets, and Bones

2.       3 Big Questions journal entry for Blood, Bullets, and Bones

You are responsible for bringing the current book we are reading AND your journal to class each week. Not having either of these items is irresponsible and unacceptable and will result in a zero score for whatever is due that day.

Number your pages (make sure you number the front and back of EACH page)

                SINCE YOU ARE WRITING ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF EACH PAGE, I WOULD SUGGEST ALWAYS

                WRITING IN PENCIL SO INK DOESN’T BLEED THROUGH THE PAGES.

Page 5 will be the Cover Page for Blood, Bullets, and Bones

                A cover page needs the following:

a.       Title of book (Blood, Bullets, and Bones)

b.      Author of book (Bridget Heos)

c.       Genre of book (Nonfiction/Informational)

d.      Picture for the book (drawn or glued in)

e.      A summary of the book (should only be 5-7 sentences, and should just be the overall idea of the book without spoiling too much or giving too many details…do NOT copy the back of the book.) You may have to wait until you are a good way into the book before doing this.

f.        A rating for the book on your own creative rating scale WITH 2 SPECIFIC REASONS FOR YOUR RATING (You will have to add this to your cover page AFTER you finish the book…don’t forget!) Your reasons cannot be as simple as: It was entertaining and good…give reasons for that.

Page 6 will be where your journal entry will start. Journal entries are to be a MINIMUM of 3 well-developed paragraphs each week. Well-developed paragraphs are to be at LEAST 5-7 complete sentences. You may continue onto page 7 and beyond if needed. Your first journal entry is to be written after reading pages 1-27 of Blood, Bullets, and Bones, and you are to use the following “3 Big Questions” as your topics for your first journal entry.

3 Big Questions:

1.       What surprised me? (Expect to learn something new.)

2.       What did the author think I already knew? (When confused, stop and write about it.)

                …if the author did a good job explaining everything, you are welcome to talk about how

                good of a job he/she did in doing that.

3.       What changed, challenged, or confirmed what I already knew? (This can be something subtle, but at times will be something huge!)

Overview from 10/13 and no assignment due 10/20

Today the students explored the difference between what is explicit and implicit. We analyzed a painting with an activity that showed the importance of giving anything we analyze a second, or even third, look/read.

After the activity, I students take out the TDA that was due today and mark their evidence and analysis. I am hoping that after today's lesson, they were able to see the difference between the two and make sure they are showing both in their writing.

There is no assignment due for next week, but we will be moving into our informational texts next week and will be reading our group book up until the end of the semester.

Overview from 10/6 and Assignment due 10/13

Today students handed in their put together TDA that we planned for together, and I gave them all individual feedback on what they were doing right and what they were doing wrong.

While I was looking over their TDAs that were do today, I gave them a new text and TDA to start looking over and planning for in class. They are doing this TDA on their own, but I wanted them to start it with me being present in case they had any questions for me in their process.

The new TDA on "After 20 Years," that I gave them today, is due in class on 10/13.

7th Grade Syllabus LINK

Follow the link below for a copy of the digital syllabus:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n4yWMvVykNxUS9_yn7QJgLOmdPpgS1R7/view?usp=sharing

Overview from 9/29 and Assignment due 10/6

Today we established what "analyzing" actually is: explaining how evidence proves the point we are making...evidence doesn't speak for itself.

We looked at the P.E.A.s of TDA
P-Point
E-Evidence
A-Analysis.

Every TDA paragraph should have P.E.A.s

We pulled the setting evidence from "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" and explained/analyzed how each proved the POINT that was made for this TDA.

The job of the students this week is to actually write "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" TDA. I will remind students again that the TDA is not a measure of how well we write, but how well we respond to a text we have read.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I will collect the TDA packet next week. The TDA should be written in that packet on the last front and back page with lines.

Students can review the pages titled "How Should I incorporate a direct quotes as my evidence?" and "make a claim about the evidence" but they are just to assist them with writing their first TDA.

As always, message me with questions.

Overview from 9/22 and Assignment due 9/29

Today we reviewed how to establish our task in the TDA prompts before going on to the next step: writing a topic sentence.

Students completed the topic sentence page with me, one of which included the prompt and topic sentence for "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf".

The topic sentence we came up for regarding "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" is as follows:

In "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" the settings reveal a dangerous mood.

FOR HOMEWORK:
Students are to read "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" for a second time, but this time they are to focus their annotations on setting descriptions that contribute to the mood of danger that we stared in our topic sentence. I expect them to highlight or list the examples they find for each story.

Don't forget your packet next week as we will continue to work in it.

Overview from 9/15 and Assignment due 9/22

Today we did our first Text Dependent Analysis (TDA) Workshop. The students were given a packet that they need to bring with them every week until I say otherwise. Forgetting the packet at home will make it hard for them to participate each week, and would cause them to get a zero score on the assignment that is due in the packet that week. 

TDA Prompts have 3 sentences and each sentences serves a purpose:

First sentence: Gives an overview of the text the prompt goes with OR skill needed for the essay

Second sentence: Gives the task (what you have to analyze/write about)

Third sentence: Reminds you to always cite evidence to support your response

We also looked at the difference between Literary ELEMENTS vs. Literary DEVICES. Students took notes on the two. Each TDA task asks students to look at the relationship between Literary elements and devices. They should always box the following in each TDA prompt task sentence:

1. Literary element

2. Literary device

3. The verb that connects the literary element and literary device

FOR NEXT WEEK:

Students are to read and annotate "The Snow Cave" and "The Sea Wolf" in their TDA packets. I will check annotations next week before starting our next assignment where we will use those texts.

FALL 2018 Overview

This Fall we will focus on the following:

1) Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) writing: This mode of writing is introduced to public school students in 4th grade, and students are required to perform this mode of writing on all PSSA exams they take from that grade level and on. Analysis is a tough skill for fourth grade students to grasp, and a common trend shows that students don't perform this mode well until 8th grade...if they get enough practice. I will spend the first month this Fall scaffolding this skill to students as we look at sample prompts, sample essays, and read short stories we will respond to TDA writing prompts for. If students master this style of writing, they will have success in analytical essays they will be expected to write in independent schools.

2) Nonfiction Signposts of Literature: For the remainder of the Fall semester, I will teach students Nonfiction Signposts. These signposts are things to look for in nonfiction/information text, a type of text students need to become as familiar with as possible considering it will be the most common type of text they will be required to interact with across all courses in their education. They will be taught a new signpost each week that we will look for in a different information text to practice. At the end of the semester, we will look at one text where they can use all signposts for as a summative assessment for the semester.

Please feel free to contact me with questions at:
fameacademy.literacy@famefund.org

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.) In our current book, The Rock and the River title had several interpretations of what it represents.

Here is the book that is the companion to The Rock and the River:

This book will not be studied at F.A.M.E. Academy, but students are encouraged to read it if they wish to see the continued story through Maxie's point of view.

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

For tomorrow students should read and annotate pages 212-233 keeping in mind that they should finish the entire book before our class at WRA on Monday morning.

Today we talked about how authors use foreshadowing and applied that to our current book.

The events in the story also sparked a very interesting conversation on media and censorship.

Overview from 7/18 and Assignment due 7/19

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

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 190-211.

Overview from 7/17 and Assignment due 7/18

For tomorrow students are to read pages 165-189. 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:
Gia-Historical Figure (talk to Mrs. Green)
Lourdes-Ma Pearl
Michaela-Queen
Danny-Travis
Aubrey-Maxie
Julian-Roland Childs
DaQuan-Historical Figure (talk to Mrs. Green)
Sydney-Rose
Covenant-Walter
Jermaine-Stick

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 took notes on Point of View and applied the point of view questions to our current book. We should also be considering point of view throughout the entirety of this book.

FOR MONDAY students will read and annotate up to page 140 in The Rock and the River. 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 link below to take there quiz:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHpeYyc3atGJZmncPvE33wj99Jo-XvlOh_V_VglIMT8PoEdA/viewform?usp=sf_link

If the quiz is submitted after 7/11 it will be a zero.

For tomorrow:

Read and annotate pages 1-41 of The Rock and the River.

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 "A Raisin in the Sun".

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:

• Characterization (STEAL)
• 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.

Types of Conflict:

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 I went over the quiz from last week with the students. I then gave the a brief expectations review:

Students can also click this link (click here) if they wish to complete a journal entry for bonus.

With the time left we started to discuss The American Dream, and what we thought it was. We related our idea of The American Dream to the family we are reading about. We then looked at the poem that is a preface for the play:

FOR THURSDAY: Students are to continue reading and annotating by following our reading schedule that has been posted and presented to them each day. Students were also told that they should come with a prepared statement (can be a view sentences) of what they think the Langston Hughes poem is about.

Overview from 7/2 and Assignment due 7/3

Today we talked about possible ways to annotate something that is "tough" to annotate. We learned about Characterization (Direct and Indirect) For indirect Character, students learned to remember the acronym STEAL:

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

Students then tried to come up with traits we could attribute to the characters in our current book using STEAL.

For tomorrow, students are to read and annotate the next scene of our play (and I encourage them to focus their annotations on characterization).

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/1FAIpQLSfa9YGK3j42Z1K5Ctfwrj5zohvMpXVLuaz8jv-DqoHV89rorg/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:

I also shared with students that "Midnight Without a Moon" has a sequel, "A Sky Full of Stars," in case they wish to check that out on their own.

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 finish reading and annotating their first book 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 from 6/26 and Assignment due 6/27

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

Students learned about 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 236-276 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)
*Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, symbolism, personification)
*Exposition

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 204-235.

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 learned about 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 with the updated reading assignments for our current book.

Students will be reading pages 92-117 tonight.

Overview from 6/20 and Assignment due 6/21

Today we talked about Figurative Language (since it is so present in the author's writing style):

•Symbolism-when something represents another idea/thing entirely

•Hyperbole-exaggeration

•Metaphor-direct comparisons of unlike think

•Simile-indirect comparison of unlike things (like/as)

•Personification-giving human qualities to inanimate things

We looked for examples in our text and in "Merry Go 'Round" by Langston Hughes. We also discussed how the Hughes poem is reflective of the time period of the book.

After checking annotations, students pulled out what they felt was worth discussing.

For tomorrow they are to read and annotate Chapters 6 through up to and including Chapter 9.

Overview from 6/19 and Assignment for 6/20

Today students learned about the types of Irony, and we identified Situational Irony as being the type we would most commonly see in Historical Fiction.

Here are the notes from class:

Through our discussion we even talked about the aspects of the plot triangle (starting with exposition-the setup).

Students were told to make sure they annotate (they can write in their books), and they are encouraged to try to spot the types of Irony while reading.

The assigned chapters for tomorrow are Chapters 3-5 (they are to read to the end of chapter 5).

Students were also told that reading ahead is allowed as long as they are still annotating and not spoiling things for classmates.

Overview of 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 1-26 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