Syllabus: Week 4, January 26
STEP ONE: CHOOSING YOUR BOOK, STARTING THE GOOGLE SHEET should be completed. At this point, the expectation is that you are reading your book, daily. That’s important to do—a little bit each day. Make that reading a habit, and you will be done with the book before you can say, “American transcendentalism.” This Friday we will be in the Library building word and phrase lists that are topically connected to your book. As with other aspects of junior theme, we will share these lists publicly. I will talk more, in the Library on Friday, about why research is best conducted in public, with others doing like-minded research. It’s enough here to say that research should be public, transparent, and shared. PARENTS: you can view your scholar’s book selection and an overview of their reading log by clicking here. You can view their initial word/phrase research terms by clicking here.
TUESDAY
20 minutes of independent reading.
Returning to the wilderness packet, and specifically looking at two paintings:
First, looking at “American Progress”
Second, examining the cover to Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.
After examining these art works, we will start a documentary on how nature is portrayed in American painting.
HW: Spend at least 1/2 hour, PER DAY, reading your junior theme book. That will be you nightly homework between now and January 30.
WEDNESDAY
Finishing the documentary on nature portrayed within American paintings.
HW: Continue reading your junior theme book until it is done.
FRIDAY
We are meeting in the Library with Mr. Garneau who will help us build a database of research words, terms, and phrases, as you look for articles about a) your author, b) your book, c) more about your book’s topic, and d) literary examples that are connected to your book by subject, theme, or possibly even your writer.
We will practice writing claim paragraphs for three literary works from our wilderness packet. The first is a selection from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad hiding from the police in a cave. The second are the lyrics to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” The third includes the first two chapters of Jack London’s novel White Fang.
Tom Joad on the importance of companionship when in “the wilderness.”
The backstory to the song, “This Land Is Your Land” at the Kennedy Center.
The audio for the first chapter of London’s White Fang. Two men struggle to cross a frozen wasteland to deliver the corpse of a formerly wealthy gentleman. One of their six sled dogs goes missing in the night.
In chapter two, “The She-Wolf,” the circle of wolves—and the daring wolf who sneaks into their pack—draws closer.
HW: Continue reading your junior theme book until it is done.
