Day 3 R&J

Do Now: Share your research with your group. Why did you look into this particular topic?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to apply reading strategies for sonnets to improve my understanding of Shakespeare's writing.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can list the criteria for a Shakespearean sonnet and explain how at least one of them can help a reader better understand the sonnet.
-I can discuss which strategies for reading the sonnet might also prove helpful when reading Romeo and Juliet.

Agenda:

1. Research
2. The Prologue
3. Literature and Big Ideas
4. Pre-reading

HW: Compose a sonnet (14 lines; abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme; topic of your choice; ten syllables/line is OPTIONAL)

Day 2 R&J

Do Now: Having hand-copied two of Shakespeare's sonnets and learned a little about the form, what questions or observations do you have?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to apply reading strategies for sonnets to improve my understanding of Shakespeare's writing.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can list the criteria for a Shakespearean sonnet and explain how at least one of them can help a reader better understand the sonnet.
-I can discuss which strategies for reading the sonnet might also prove helpful when reading Romeo and Juliet.

Agenda:

1. From Dickens to Shakespeare
2. The Elizabethan Age
3. Station to Station activity
4. Exit Ticket: What do you hope to get out of reading Shakespeare?

HW: Choose one of the five stations that most interested you and research something that we did not cover or that you want to know more about. Bring in your new or nuanced idea to next class.

Please turn in your copy of Great Expectations some time this week.

Day 1 ROMEO AND JULIET (R&J)

Do Now: Please look over the lines on the board. Do you recognize them? What do they say to you?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to apply reading strategies for sonnets to improve my understanding of Shakespeare's writing.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can list the criteria for a Shakespearean sonnet and explain how at least one of them can help a reader better understand the sonnet.
-I can discuss which strategies for reading the sonnet might also prove helpful when reading Romeo and Juliet.

Agenda:

1. So long, Dickens...hello, Shakespeare (revisiting the classics)
2. Shakespeare and sonnets
3. Some reading strategies
4. Writing your own sonnet
5. Exit Ticket: What is one thing you hope to learn from our Romeo and Juliet unit?

HW: Hand copy another sonnet by Shakespeare and annotate it.

For Friday: Draft a sonnet of your own! You needn't follow all of the rules, but do attempt a poem with fourteen lines that follows the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Day Twenty-six GE

Do Now: Share a question/concern you have about the upcoming Great Expectations test with a neighbor. If possible, offer a response to this question/concern.

Today's Learning Target:
I will be able to recall the major events, characters, places, etc. from stages two and three of Great Expectations.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can diagram events from stages two according to a plot diagram with rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.
-I can list characters and places from the novel and explain how they are interconnected. 

Agenda:

1. Proofreading and reflecting
2. Questions/Concerns
3. Reviewing Stages II and III
4. Exit Ticket: I still have questions about...

HW: Study for the test on Stages II and III of the novel (28 January). Look over the blog posts, class notes, and chapter summaries on Discovering Dickens. Also, complete the self-evaluation of your daily blog posts on Great Expectations. 

Strong Thesis Statement from the test...

Although some characters appear perfect and well-off, in reality they are unhappy and not the best of people; Dickens suggests that those who value friendship and loyalty over appearances are actually happier and better off than those who do not.

Day Twenty-five GE

Do Now: Social class is an issue that Pip must come to grips with over the course of Great Expectations. It was - and still is - an issue that led not only to stereotyping and prejudging, but also limiting and disadvantaging large groups of people while privileging and unfairly advantaging other groups. 

What is a current issue, like social class, that unjustly targets some people (e.g., grades, AP/CP/H, prospective colleges, social media, etc.)? How do we deal with these issues?

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to compare the two endings of the novel and make a claim about which one better fits with Pip's journey.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can compare and contrast the two endings.
-I can make a claim about which of the two endings better fits Pip's journey and support my claim with evidence from earlier in the novel.

Agenda:

1. Reviewing 57-59
2. The two endings of Great Expectations 
3. Theme and Motif
4. Exit ticket: the best ending is...

HW: Read and annotate the John Irving article about the two endings of Great Expectations. Post a question or comment here: http://greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com/

Coming up...
-blog self-evaluation 
-essay due Thursday

Day Twenty-four GE

Do Now: Consider Great Expectations as a hero's quest. Our hero stumbled with many of his early tests and trials, but in the closing chapters, Pip begins to pass tests. How is he now able to succeed where he once failed? 

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to compare two works by the same author and gain an understanding of common themes and character types.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can make connections between similar characters from the two texts.
-I can make a claim about big ideas explored in both texts and distinguish how each work deals with the big idea in a unique way.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 53-56
2. Character foils: Orlick and Trabb's boy
3. Essay Revisions
4. Preparing for the two endings of Great Expectations

HW: Read and annotate chapters 57-59 and post a comment or question. (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). A printed final draft of the essay is due Thursday.

On the horizon...
We will have a test on Stages 2 and 3 of Great Expectations. I'll gather survey data from you for the least disruptive time to hold the test.

Day Twenty-three GE

Do Now: What mysteries in the novel remain unsolved? (If you've read ahead, then please don't spoil any of the mysteries.)

Who's Pip's benefactor?

Why is Miss Havisham still wearing that old wedding dress?

What are the convicts' names?

Who are Estella's birth parents?

Today's Learning Target: 
I will be able to describe how a motif changes over the course of the novel and consider how this change relates to characterization and/or theme.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can work with my group to brainstorm how the hands, ghosts, and chains motifs evolve or change over the course of the novel.
-I can make a claim about how the hands, ghosts, or chains motif relates to character development or theme.

Agenda:

1. Chapters 51-52 
2. Revising
3. Nicholas Nickleby
4. Comparing novels

HW: Read and annotate chapter 53-56 and post a comment or question (greatexpectations9h.blogspot.com). Make at least one revision to your draft. Be prepared to show me what you revised and explain why.