The BIG Ideas:
In
a learning environment, students should express themselves and ask
questions without fear. To have our ideas valued and respected,
we need to value, respect, and consider others' ideas as well. To
enhance our understanding, we may need to reconsider our ideas and try
to "see" things from others' perspectives. Humans create meaning,
and it comes from at least three sources: the
reader, the context, and the author (the text); meaning does not exist
solely within the confines of the text itself.
ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS: How
and why must we show both self-respect and
respect for others to create a positive learning environment? How and why do we become, as Langston Hughes
implies, “a part of” each other by sharing our writing and
our ideas during our
class time? Do we become “a part
of” and
learn from each other whether we want to or not? How? Why? Why is it
both a student’s
right and responsibility to interpret “texts” in their
uniquely individual way
while providing evidence and reasoning (support) for their
interpretation? What in life, both inside
and outside the
classroom, is open to interpretation? Where does meaning come from?
ENGLISH 10H LOG - 1st Quarter
1 - 08/25 (A) & 08/26 (B) - Writing Prompt 1 - Personal Expectations, QW1: Why
take notes? Discussion: Note-taking procedures and rationale,
common goals. READING: "Theme for English B." Identify unfamiliar
vocabulary and important lines.QW2: Why choose those?
Explanation of rationale and discussion. Analysis: separating basic
information from the author's thoughts and feelings. Explanation and
modeling of homework assignment with weak
and strong models.
Homework: (1) Using "Theme for English B"
as a model, "Go home and write a page tonight..." BIOPAGE: compose one
page (handwritten and legible) about yourself that may include some
biographical information, but more importantly, expresses some of your
thoughts and feelings. Do not provide an exhaustive list of your
family members, favorite movies, or hobbies. Do not focus on trying to
rhyme. Your objective is to provide me and your classmates with a
starting point from which we can get to know you and each other. For
Mr. Nagro's examples click here.
2
- 08/27 (A) & 08/30 (B) - Writing Prompt 2 - The Class as Text, discussion
and notes.
READING: Quick assessment of reading fluency
and
comprehension. QW: The value of repetition - What
changes, or what is different, when you watch a film more than once?
Connect repetition to rereading and even meeting people. Portfolio,
disclosure, website, and Honors Reading List instructions.
Homework:
(1) Organize a
portfolio
(binder) for Honors English.
(2)
Read the
Disclosure Document, fill out the form, sign it
and return the signed form to class.
(3) Visit this website, read
the English 10H
Honors Reading Assignment, peruse the
list,
and choose a book for 1st quarter.
3 - 08/31
(A) & 09/01 (B) - Writing Prompt #3 - Interpretation of visual
texts,
discussion and notes on variable yet valid interpretations,
perspective, and the
sources of meaning.
Literary
concept -
Death of the Author.
QW:
Object lesson in
context - use
the word "play" in a sentence.
Homework:
(1) See the note "
DON'T PROCRASTINATE!"
to the left. Read for at least 20 minutes daily.
(2)
Note important, touching, or profound
quotations in your HRL selection as you go; you can use these for
writing about later.
4
- 09/02 (A) & 09/03 (B) - Portfolio
check-up #1. QW1: How can I do better taking notes, on my
writing prompts, with organization, and avoiding procrastination?
Repetition: reread Hughes. QW: Composing
questions (purposes); question types: factual, interpretive, and
evaluative.
Analyzing the text
for factual biographical information (CD) and
thoughts and
feelings (CM). BioPage
excerpts - choose one or two and write a response. Share responses
with
class.
Homework:
(1) See the
note "
DON'T
PROCRASTINATE!"
to the left. Read for at least 20 minutes daily.
(2) Compose interpretive questions
as you read your HRL choice.
(3)
Note important, touching, or profound
quotations in your HRL selection as you go; you can use these for
writing about later. By the time you return from the long weekend, you
should have read your HRL selection for well over an hour.
(4) Type up to turn in five of your
selected quotations that you found particularly meaningful, profound,
or otherwise significant. Cite them by author and page (author page).
5 - 09/07 (A) &
09/08 (B) - The Big Ideas (Enduring Understandings) and
Essential Questions of Unit 1 (copy into notes). Review: death of the
author and context. New
process:
Critical Reading. In
small groups, read
"
Did I
Miss Anything?" aloud. Have one person read "nothing" and
another read "everything." Individually, quick-write
(1-2 minutes) initial impressions. Then, read it aloud
again. This time, individually write three interpretive questions
about
the text and discuss plausible responses.
Then, listen to it read aloud a third time. Did
you miss
anything? What do you "see" the second or third time that you did
not the first? Class discussion of questions and third reading.
Literary term:
binary opposition. Identify
"binary
oppositions" at work in the text and the world around us
.
Homework:
(1)
See the note "
DON'T PROCRASTINATE!"
to the left. Read for at least 20 minutes daily.
(2) Compose interpretive
questions
as you read your HRL choice.
(3)
Note important, touching, or profound
quotations in your HRL selection as you go; you can use these for
writing about later.
(3) About your HRL selection, type up to turn
in five important factual questions and five insightful interpretive
questions about the text. Beneath each question, provide a short answer
of one to three sentences and also explain, in one to three sentences,
why it's an important question about your selected text.
