Friday, February 1st: Gatsby groups will be meeting. Students need to have finished reading chapter 1 and have the assigned task completed.
Monday, February 4th: Students need to be ready for a quiz on chapter 1. Gatsby groups will be meeting. Students need to have work for chapter 2 finished for their groups.
Tuesday, February 5th: Students should have their third draft of the persuasive paper. It should be revised for what we have done in class. Students should be ready to complete the embedded citation of their credible source material!
Wednesday, February 6th: Last class day for writing workshop! Students who have a "clean, revised draft" of their papers will be able to have a rubric assessment completed. This will be the last day to have work signed off during class--after Wednesday, all sign offs will happen outside of class time. Forsberg will answer questions that remain about the paper. If time, we will be talking about Gatsby and searching for answers together.
Friday, February 8th: Quiz on Gatsby? Perhaps. Gatsby groups will be meeting. Students need to have work for chapter 3 completed for their groups. LAST DAY FOR PROCESS SIGN OFF: BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL ONLY!
Monday, February 11th: DEADLINE FOR PERSUASIVE PAPER. Gatsby groups will be meeting. Gatsby groups will be meeting. Students need to have work for chapter 4 finished for their groups.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Persuasive Paper Reminders
Hey Folks:
When looking at your paper, ask yourself these questions:
1. Have I used information from at least two credible sources?
2. Have I developed each of the rhetorical methods--pathos, ethos, logos?
3. Have I clearly used warrants to connect the evidence to the claims?
4. Have I made a concession? Is the concession I list the "best" argument against my proposal? Have I refuted this concession?
Do these things, and you will have a stronger paper!
When looking at your paper, ask yourself these questions:
1. Have I used information from at least two credible sources?
2. Have I developed each of the rhetorical methods--pathos, ethos, logos?
3. Have I clearly used warrants to connect the evidence to the claims?
4. Have I made a concession? Is the concession I list the "best" argument against my proposal? Have I refuted this concession?
Do these things, and you will have a stronger paper!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Bonus opportunity for Bennett and Forsberg's students
Get a picture of yourself standing in front of these landmarks in St. Paul (Don't ask Forsberg or Bennett for the addresses - the research is part of the assignment).
- The Fitzgerald Theatre
- The statue of Fitzgerald in Rice Park
- The Fitzgerald House (the residence he lived in while writing This Side of Paradise).
Bring these in by the end of the trimester for 5 bonus formative points.
Literature Circles - description of tasks and assessment
English 11 Forsberg/Bennett
The Great Gatsby Literature Circles
Facilitators/Plot Summarizers
1. Plot points clearly identified in the chapter.
2. Log keeper for the group—after the group works on the chapter this person will submit what was accomplished, by whom, concerns in the group, questions that the members have.
3. This person will also be in charge of facilitating the group meeting for the chapter. Be sure everyone has a chance to share with the group.
Mind Mappers
1. This person will create a visual/symbolic representation that takes the viewer through the chapter. Drawings, illustrations, and colors are expected and encouraged. Words should be kept to a minimum.
2. Mind maps must be accompanied by a brief (1/2 page) interpretation of their illustration. Please note that this should be on a separate piece of paper from the mind map, and
Character Trackers
1. This person is to have a list of all characters in the chapter to give to the group.
2. Characters are to be listed as “major,” “minor,” or “part of the background.” (Major and minor characters have names.)
3. Each character that has a major impact/role within the chapter should be tracked. What do the characters do? What changes do the characters undergo? What archetypal character masks do the major characters wear? What new information do we gain about each of the characters in the chapter?
Text Connectors
1. This person is to identify the power in the chapter. The monitor will be looking for examples of each of the five types of power as outlined by French and Raven.
2. In addition, this person will be expected to use specific examples from the text for the type of power. This person will also be expected to clearly explain how the cited example illustrates the power type.
3. Vocabulary Master for the group—this person is expected to have any words that are unknown written down and defined for the chapter. Copies are to be made for the group members.
Assessments
At the end of the unit, all groups will submit their final products, which will be the collective work of all members. The product will be a nine chapter “book” that will act as the basis for students’ summative assessment. There will be a total of nine components that each student will make for this product. Two of the nine components will be assessed for an individual grade (60 summative points) at the end of the unit.
· Students will choose one component that they feel is the example of their best work. This component will be assessed on a 30 point scale.
· An additional 30 points of the individual grade will be from a component that the instructor chooses. To be eligible for this second part of the assessment, all nine of the components must be fully completed.
For the final group assessment, members of the group will collectively submit what is decided to be the best plot summary, mind map, character tracking, and text connection. Ideally, each group member’s work will be represented for this final assessment, and the final work will illustrate work that spans the length of the novel (40 summative points).
The Great Gatsby Literature Circles
Facilitators/Plot Summarizers
1. Plot points clearly identified in the chapter.
2. Log keeper for the group—after the group works on the chapter this person will submit what was accomplished, by whom, concerns in the group, questions that the members have.
3. This person will also be in charge of facilitating the group meeting for the chapter. Be sure everyone has a chance to share with the group.
Mind Mappers
1. This person will create a visual/symbolic representation that takes the viewer through the chapter. Drawings, illustrations, and colors are expected and encouraged. Words should be kept to a minimum.
2. Mind maps must be accompanied by a brief (1/2 page) interpretation of their illustration. Please note that this should be on a separate piece of paper from the mind map, and
Character Trackers
1. This person is to have a list of all characters in the chapter to give to the group.
2. Characters are to be listed as “major,” “minor,” or “part of the background.” (Major and minor characters have names.)
3. Each character that has a major impact/role within the chapter should be tracked. What do the characters do? What changes do the characters undergo? What archetypal character masks do the major characters wear? What new information do we gain about each of the characters in the chapter?
Text Connectors
1. This person is to identify the power in the chapter. The monitor will be looking for examples of each of the five types of power as outlined by French and Raven.
2. In addition, this person will be expected to use specific examples from the text for the type of power. This person will also be expected to clearly explain how the cited example illustrates the power type.
3. Vocabulary Master for the group—this person is expected to have any words that are unknown written down and defined for the chapter. Copies are to be made for the group members.
Assessments
At the end of the unit, all groups will submit their final products, which will be the collective work of all members. The product will be a nine chapter “book” that will act as the basis for students’ summative assessment. There will be a total of nine components that each student will make for this product. Two of the nine components will be assessed for an individual grade (60 summative points) at the end of the unit.
· Students will choose one component that they feel is the example of their best work. This component will be assessed on a 30 point scale.
· An additional 30 points of the individual grade will be from a component that the instructor chooses. To be eligible for this second part of the assessment, all nine of the components must be fully completed.
For the final group assessment, members of the group will collectively submit what is decided to be the best plot summary, mind map, character tracking, and text connection. Ideally, each group member’s work will be represented for this final assessment, and the final work will illustrate work that spans the length of the novel (40 summative points).
Friday, January 25, 2008
Forsberg's Literature Circle
If you want to work with a particular partner in for the literature circle, each person must email me the request separately by Sunday, January 27th by noon CST. If I don't receive that request, I assume you will have no concerns working with whichever group you are assigned.
forsbergm@district279.org
forsbergm@district279.org
Forsberg's First Revision Prompts
Persuasive Letter Draft One Review
Opening Paragraph:
1. What is the hook to bring the reader into the paper?
2. Which rhetorical device do you use? (PEL?)—where?
3. Underline your thesis statement.
Body Paragraph One-100:
1. What is the topic sentence? Show the connection between the topic sentence and the thesis.
2. Which rhetorical device do you use? (PEL?)—where?
3. How does the evidence you offer support your claim? Show the warrant.
4. What is the last main idea you want to leave the reader with in this paragraph?
AN EASY TRICK TO CONNECT BODY PARAGRAPHS (THIS SHOULD BE IN YOU NOTEBOOK!):
Take the main idea from the preceding paragraph and incorporate it into the topic sentence of the paragraph that follows it.
Opening Paragraph:
1. What is the hook to bring the reader into the paper?
2. Which rhetorical device do you use? (PEL?)—where?
3. Underline your thesis statement.
Body Paragraph One-100:
1. What is the topic sentence? Show the connection between the topic sentence and the thesis.
2. Which rhetorical device do you use? (PEL?)—where?
3. How does the evidence you offer support your claim? Show the warrant.
4. What is the last main idea you want to leave the reader with in this paragraph?
AN EASY TRICK TO CONNECT BODY PARAGRAPHS (THIS SHOULD BE IN YOU NOTEBOOK!):
Take the main idea from the preceding paragraph and incorporate it into the topic sentence of the paragraph that follows it.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Mr. Bennett's English Class...
The upcoming deadlines for the paper that you all need to know (that we discussed in class) are as follows:
Proposal - 1/17
First Draft - 1/29
In-class workshop - 1/30; 1/31
Please note that the last time you will be able to see me to get your proposal checked off for full credit is Friday, January 25th (if you have not done so already). As always with late work, you must count on seeing me before or after school to do this - not during regular class time.
Next week we will be starting The Great Gatsby. Like in Forsberg's class, we will be working in small groups to annotate and explore this text. Please start thinking of a classmate that you would like to work with for a long duration of time (nearly four weeks). All students will be able to choose one partner to work with; afterward, I will group pairs of students together to form groups of four (one of your partners will be chosen, two will be assigned).
Proposal - 1/17
First Draft - 1/29
In-class workshop - 1/30; 1/31
Please note that the last time you will be able to see me to get your proposal checked off for full credit is Friday, January 25th (if you have not done so already). As always with late work, you must count on seeing me before or after school to do this - not during regular class time.
Next week we will be starting The Great Gatsby. Like in Forsberg's class, we will be working in small groups to annotate and explore this text. Please start thinking of a classmate that you would like to work with for a long duration of time (nearly four weeks). All students will be able to choose one partner to work with; afterward, I will group pairs of students together to form groups of four (one of your partners will be chosen, two will be assigned).
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