Week 5 Syllabus: November 18

JAY REGUERO IS A TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR who is more concerned about hanging out with his friends, playing video games, and finalizing his college applications when suddenly, without warning, everything he believes about himself is called into question. He will undertake a hero journey and attempt to discover a) what happened to his cousin, b) who he is and c) what he believes. We have prepared for this bildungsroman by reviewing historical background (8 page, non-fiction handout) and by watching Geography Go! videos about the Philippines (four in total). This will be our final text prior to semester finals in December.

TUESDAY, November 19

• Independent reading.

• Review of resources for PSON (online annotation directions, audio for the novel).

• Posting paragraphs on Bambara’s short story, “Raymond’s Run.”

• After break, starting a close reading of and discussion of the dedication, the epigraph, the epilogue, and the first chapter of PSON. We will also watch a short—1.5 minute— introduction to the novel by the author.

• HW: Read all the “Raymond’s Run” paragraphs on squarespace. Choose the BEST three, and be prepared to vote for those by the writer’s name in class on Friday. You may NOT vote for your own. You MAY vote for others not in your class.

WEDNESDAY, November 20

• Meeting in the library.

• The first 20 minutes, students should identify two additional books that they would like to read.

• Once identified and posted on our google sheet, students will read for 20 minutes, independently in the library.

• HW: Read chapters four and five, up through and including page 38. When reading, annotate for 1) the chapter title’s connection to theme, 2) juxtaposition, and 3) legal vs. right. Other themes within the novel include: truth, identity, violence, justice, travel, poverty/wealth, being invisible/unseen.

FRIDAY, November 22

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• Discussion of Jay’s dilemma: what does he mean when thinking “[i]t’s a sad thing when you map the borders of a friendship and find it’s a narrower country than expected”?

• We will then vote for our three favorite paragraphs. Students will read these, and I will lecture on what to improve, how to make these already-good paragraphs even better.

• HW: Read through and including page 59 for class on Tuesday.

Annotation questions for Patron Saints of Nothing

Want to make sure you don’t wind up with annotations like the above? Annotate smarter, not harder, by clicking on the image above. This list will take you to questions to guide your written, marginal notes.

Paragraphs on Bambara's "Raymond's Run"

In class, students brainstormed information about the main character Squeaky. How would YOU describe her? Rather than writing a list of traits, writers focused on one attribute. Then, using the “So what?” and the “Yes…and?” questions, writers honed their claim, making it sharper, more insightful, or “debatable, probable, and provable.”

Scholars then wrote an argumentative paragraph describing Squeaky.

Re-read and then post your revised paragraph here, so that everyone in class may read it. Paragraphs should be posted by the end of day, Tuesday November 19.

Read all posted paragraphs, and choose the THREE best paragraphs by our next, 80 minute class, this coming Friday. We will vote on the best paragraphs, and have writers read their work aloud.

Audio for PSON

Click on the image above to access audio files for Randy Ribay’s Patron Saints of Nothing.

A brief introduction to the novel by the author.

Week 4 Syllabus: November 11

OVER THE LAST WEEK, WE PREPARED AND began delivering oral presentations on the independent book you’ve been reading in class. These presentations should include a pan-and-scan and sign-posting. You should cover a summary of the novel, a description of the writer’s style and the book’s tone/mood, and both pro-and-con recommendations. We will complete these over the next two weeks, completing approximately 5 per day. Additionally, we will start reading the novel Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. If you haven’t done so, purchase your copy in the bookstore now; the ISBN # is: 978-0525554929. It should cost approximately $10, plus tax.

TUESDAY, November 12

• Independent reading.

• Presentations of IR books.

• Watching the following video in class on the geography of the Phillipines.

• HW: Read the next selection

WEDNESDAY, November 13

Short clip from “Geography NOW!”

• Today we will continue with the oral presentations, completing at least four more.

• 6th period will watch the end of the video to the right, and one more on cuisine of the Philippines.

• We will start reading Patron Saint of Nothing in class today, together.

• HW: Finish reading chapter one tonight.

FRIDAY, November 15

This is the book you will need on WEDNESDAY of next week.

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• Finishing our oral presentations.

• Once done, we will return to the paragraphs (that we didn’t finish) on Bambara’s “Raymond’s Run”

• I’ll also review how to write a good claim (when you don’t have a narrow topic to write from).

• HW: Pead and annotate the preface and chapter one from PSON. Check your school email for a link to the list of annotation assignments (it’s broken down by chapter)!

• RR paragraph is due in class on Tuesday. We will post this one publicly on the blog.

Audio to "Raymond's Run"

This is an excellent reading of the story, in character. Use this while ALSO reading your copy of the story.

Week 2 Syllabus: October 28

OUR LAST SHORT STORY IS CALLED “Raymond’s Run,” and is about a young black teen whose brother struggles with disabilities. Set in New York City during a May Day celebration, we see the main character give up her dreams in order to help her brother achieve a happy life. We will mainly work on “Adventure of an Indian Princess” this week, looking into First People/Native American stereotypes. After this week, we will begin reading the novel Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. Purchase your copy BEFORE the end of next week. The ISBN # is: 978-0525554929.

TUESDAY: October 29

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• Uploading your “Adventure of an Indian Princess” homework (worksheet w/vocab and 6 questions). USE GENIUS SCAN to take pictures, and to upload these.

• Discussion of “AIP.”

• Reading “Raymond’s Run.” Note: there are some footnotes within the pdf copy of the document. I’ve photocopies those as best able, but some do have links to more information. Here’s the electronic version, so you can access those links.

• HW: Re-read and re-annotate the story, “Raymond’s Run.”

WEDNESDAY, October 30

• We won’t have class tomorrow, so today we will explore two canonical, American(ized) tales, “Wicked John & the Devil” and Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

• HW: Purchase the book below. You will need it next week!

FRIDAY, November 1

This is the book you will need on WEDNESDAY of next week.

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• Working on note cards. Remember that your two major PHYSICAL movement grades include pan & scan, and then sign-posting.

• In terms of content, you need to include a description of the author’s work, a detailed overview of the book, and the reasons to or not to recommend the book to your audience.

• In small group comparing notes on Squeaky. Then, in same groups, drafting a paragraph on “Raymond’s Run.”

• HW: Paragraphs (and the corresponding worksheets) are due next week (no school on Monday or Tuesday). Also, read the introductory packet on Patron Saints of Nothing (PSON).

¶ on Arletta: "Adventures of an Indian Princess"

Post your paragraph as a comment to this blog entry.

When you click on the comment bubble, Squarespace should launch a comment box, into which you can paste your paragraph. Once you click on “Submit,” you can comment as a guest. Type your first and last name, and your NEW TRIER email address. You should leave the URL box BLANK, and then hit “submit.”

2014 Superbowl Ad, "Proud to Be"

This ad was featured a decade ago, and was part of a years-long campaign against racist mascots in professional and education sponsored sports teams.

Audio for Patricia Riley's short story, "Adventures of an Indian Princess"

Paragraph on short story, "The Wrong Lunch Line"

Last week, we worked on a complex, argumentative paragraph that included a direct quote from Mohr’s short story, “The Wrong Lunch Line,” and indirect evidence from Ken Burns’s documentary, “America and the Holocaust.”

Post your paragraph as a comment to this posting. When prompted, include your FIRST and LAST names, and use your New Trier email address. (Leave the URL space blank, and then select “submit”).

Below, the “cheeseburger” graphic illustrates the different parts of an argument paragraph:

Week 9 Syllabus: October 14

OUR NEXT SHORT STORIES INCLUDE one about Jewish and Catholic friends who encounter discrimination in their school’s lunch line, a Native American who is fostered by a horrid family on a road trip through Arizona, and a teenaged New York athlete whose brother has a developmental disability. For each one, students will write paragraphs using argumentative structure, or the “cheeseburger” method of organizing your ideas and including direct evidence. We will also add to the independent reading google-sheet, getting into the tone of your book, and the positives (and negatives) for potential readers.

TUESDAY: October 15

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• Homework review: annotations for “Run,” discussion notes (which we started in class last Friday, and you finished for homework).

• Introduction to our next story, “The Wrong Lunch Line.”

• Re-reading “The Wrong Lunch Line.” While doing so, remember to annotate:

  • Circle vocabulary;

  • Write out the questions you have as a reader;

  • Take notes on passages that would help you answer this question: How are both Yvette and Mildred in conflict with their school and the adults in their world?

• Small group read-around: “East Harlem’s Nicholasa Mohr One of the First Puerto Rican Writers Published by a Commercial House,” by Harlem World.

• HW: Writing and publishing a paragraph onto Canvas, about “The Wrong Lunch Line.” Check assignments in Canvas…due tomorrow, before class!

6th period notes on Noah's "Run"

8th Period’s notes on the story

WEDNESDAY, October 16

• Watching two clips from Ken Burns’ documentary “America and the Holocaust.” The first clip details the popular spread of eugenics in America during the 1900-1930 (and the subsequent laws that continue to exist until 2014!). The second clip details what happens in America during 1938-1942, just prior to our short story, “The Wrong Lunch Line,” which is set in 1946.

• Collecting your annotations to the short story “Run.”

• HW: How does the documentary help you better understand the background to the short story? How are American political attitudes during the mid-20th century displayed in Mohr’s short story, “The Wrong Lunch Line”?

• Go here to watch the video clip from Burns’ “America and the Holocaust.”

FRIDAY, October 18

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• We will finish the above film clips from the Ken Burns documentary on Jewish life in America during the 1930s and 1940s, and then write a paragraph that includes DIRECT evidence from the story “The Wrong Lunch Line” and INDIRECT evidence from the documentary “America and the Holocaust.”

• Writing our next paragraph on “The Wrong Lunch Line.”

• At end of class, we will pass out graded annotations on the story “Run”

• HW: Finish re-reading and re-annotating “The Wrong Lunch Line.”

• Out next story examines first people/native American stereotypes, “Diary of an Indian Princess.”

Week 8 Syllabus: October 7

DURING LAST WEEK’S TWO CLASSES, WE WRAPPED UP our work on Sherlock Holmes (annotation of story, working on the crossword/wordplay), posting information about your independent reading (using the Google spreadsheet), and writing conferences about argument paragraphs (finishing those face-to-face meetings during independent reading).

TUESDAY: October 8

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• Looking at the results from the NT English Department reading assessment results. We will pass out scan-trons and the test.

• There were four reading passages: a non-fiction essay about a fireplace, a selection from the summer reading (which you had read), a selection from a short-story (one you haven’t read) and a selection from the novel (again, one you haven’t read).

• In class, re-annotation. Why is Noah’s short story entitled, “Run”? We will look at this annotation question in small groups.

• HW: Revisit the story, reviewing your notes. Where do you see “running” or the idea of the narrator discussing what he runs from, or runs toward? Re-read, re-annotate.

WEDNESDAY, October 9

• Demonstrating what our independent reading looks like.

• Short lecture on reading and Covid-related learning-delay.

• Parents will look at the google-sheet that our class has prepared, pre-writing for our first oral presentation.

• HW: Come to class prepared to discuss and write about Noah’s short story “Run.”

FRIDAY, October 10

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• Great Books format discussion on Trevor Noah’s “Run.”

• Watching a short interview with Trevor Noah about his collection of short stories.

• Writing our next paragraph about the story.

• HW: Finish your next paragraph. Our next story is “The Wrong Lunch Line.” When reading, annotate for the lesson the two girls learn (besides circling vocabulary, writing out the questions you have.)

Audio for "Run" by Trevor Noah

Click on the image above to access audio of the short story, “run.”

Elementary's Interpretation of 5 Orange Pips

Week 6 Syllabus: September 23

WE HAVE FINALLY COVERED OUR CLASSROOM procedures, including Canvas, our web blog and syllabus, homework, materials, academic integrity, getting help outside of class. Remember, face-to-face questions are preferable over email. We will begin our short-story unit, starting with a unit on Sherlock Holmes. This week, we will also finish reviewing your first paragraphs, giving you feedback and setting some writing goals for your next writing task, which will be at the end of this week. Finally, if you have NOT finished the STAR reading assessment, you MUST complete that on Tuesday. Ms. Craig will pull those students out of independent reading.

TUESDAY: September 24

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• In class, Great Books discussion. What are Sherlock Holmes values? And how do we know? 5 minutes for pre-writing, 20 minutes for discussion, another 5 minutes for post-discussion writing.

• After break, students will engage in wordplay via the Sherlock Holmes crossword, either in small groups or in pairs. You MUST work together, sharing clues and finding answers. But words and clues must be VERBALLY exchanged. You can share answers by talking about them. You may NOT simply copy answers. Wordplay and vocabulary building is the goal!

• HW: Last chance to add annotations to your story, based on the discussion in class. These will be collected on Wednesday!

WEDNESDAY, September 25

• Second reading assessment, this one written by New Trier English Department. This will take the entire period.

• HW: Spend another 30 minutes working on the crossword before class on Friday.

FRIDAY, September 27

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• We will watch a modern re-interpretation of “The Five Orange Pips,” different in that a) it’s set in early 21st century New York, b) Watson is a Chinese-American woman, and c) the orange pips aren’t seeds, but plastic beads relating to a children’s toy, safety recall.

• Introducing our short story unit, the first of which is “Run” by Trevor Noah.

• HW: Read and annotate the story. Besides circling vocabulary (adding to the words I’ve marked) and writing your questions as reader, you should keep notes on a) the narrator’s relationship with religion and b) the organization of the story.

Audio for "The 5 Orange Pips" by A.C. Doyle (Sherlock Holmes

Week 5 Syllabus: September 16

WE HAVE FINALLY COVERED OUR CLASSROOM procedures, including Canvas, our web blog and syllabus, homework, materials, academic integrity, getting help outside of class. Remember, face-to-face questions are preferable over email. We will begin our short-story unit, starting with a unit on Sherlock Holmes. This week, we will also finish reviewing your first paragraphs, giving you feedback and setting some writing goals for your next writing task, which will be at the end of this week. Finally, if you have NOT finished the STAR reading assessment, you MUST complete that on Tuesday. Ms. Craig will pull those students out of independent reading.

TUESDAY: September 17

• Independent reading for 20 minutes.

• Who is Sherlock Holmes? Watching a short introductory video on who he is, why he’s popular: “The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes.”

• Reading a non-fiction article about a Sherlock Holmes collector, from the New York Times.

• Moving into our first short story, the case of “The Five Orange Pips.”

• HW: Read the first 2 pages of the story. We will use the audio in class tomorrow to re-read these pages. So only circle vocabulary tonight, for this reading.

WEDNESDAY, September 18

• Students will be listening to, and annotating “The Five Orange Pips.;” the audio for the story is here.

• HW: Read an additional 4 pages from the story. Remember to use the audio!

FRIDAY, September 20

• First 20 minutes, independent reading.

• Returning your annotations on the “Voices in Autism” reading, and discussing how to annotate (your written notes should reflect the reader’s dialogue with the text, about meaning).

• Wordplay: using the crossword to build vocabulary (and help you better understand the reading).

• HW: Finish reading Sherlock Holmes in “The Five Orange Pips.”

• Spend 45 minutes working on the crossword provided in class.

Week 4 Syllabus: September 9

WE’VE BEEN EXPANDING OUR VIEW OF AUTISM. By studying the handout “Voices of Autism” in week two and the film Life, Animated in week three, students should now have a better understanding of Christopher as the main character in the novel Curious Incident. This week we will finish covering some basics—safety protocols, academic integrity—and will also meet to discuss how to improve your writing.

TUESDAY: September 9

• Independent reading for 10 minutes.

• We will finish watching the film, “Life, Animated.”

• Students will have 10 minutes to work on the thinking guide to the film.

• Reading and annotating the summer reading together.

• HW: Finish the study guide to the film. If not done re-reading and re-annotating the first 75 pages of the novel, Curious Incident.

WEDNESDAY, September 11

• Safety day. I will cover what students should do, and where we go, in the event of a natural, building, or other emergency.

• Academic integrity presentation, Q&A.

• Reviewing two new annotation techniques.

• HW: Apply these two techniques to your annotations on pages 1-75 in the summer reading.

FRIDAY, September 13

• Independent reading: 20 MINUTES

• STAR reading test. This is an adaptive test that will take students anywhere from 30-50 minutes, depending on how your respond to questions. Log into the link below (your user name is your id number—2028XXXX—and your password is your birthdate (if I were born on July 4, 1776 my password would be 007041776))

• https://global-zone50.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/737639

• When done, students should read independently until everyone is done with the test.

• After a five minute break, we will pick up re-reading the last 75 pages of Curious Incident, paying careful attention to how Christopher solves problems, and why Sherlock Holmes is of particular interest to him. We will pick up on page 61, chapter 101, minute 33:15 on track-2 of the audio.

• HW: Finish the study guide questions, due Tuesday.

Week 3 Syllabus: September 3

WE’RE COVERING THE BASICS OF ENGLISH. So far, we have reviewed the course expectations, read poetry aloud, annotated poetry, discussed and took notes using the Great Books method, written a paragraph, read-and-voted-upon the best three paragraphs, discussed how to improve our writing, and submitted a revision. This week, we will discuss independent reading, study a film as a text, and have individual conferences with Mr. E and Ms. C during class (to set writing goals for Q1). We will also begin re-reading the first 75 pages of Curious Incident.

WEDNESDAY: September 4

• Lecture: Using New Trier Library’s catalog to find an independent reading book.

  • catalog searches

  • shelf-reading by theme

  • using other library search features

  • novelist plus

• Starting a film, Life, Animated, a Disney documentary about a young man with autism. We will use this film to complete a “close-reading” study guide, thinking about film as text.

• During the film, Mr. Easton and Ms. Craig will begin meeting with students to review your paragraphs, providing revision notes to help you improve them.

• 2nd half of class, in LIBRARY getting your hands on an independent reading text. The rules:

  • It must be a printed book;

  • You many not have read it before;

  • It should contain one, consistent story/topic (in other words, long-ish, NOT episdoic)

• HW: Begin re-reading the first 75 pages of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and working on the handouts.

FRIDAY, September 6

• Starting with silent, sustained reading of independent books.

• Watching the film, Life, Animated.

• HW: Read the next 15 pages (15-30) of the summer reading, and completing the corresponding study guide questions. Also, if you haven’t finished reading “Voices in Autism,” handout, do so. While reading, you should annotate by: a) circling vocabulary questions, b) writing out questions that you have (as a reader), and c) keeping notes on what you learn about autism.