Thursday, March 31st - Period 1

Poetry: Day 16a

Do Now: How can a story teach a lesson?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we develop a theme or a message within our stories? Why do we tell stories?

Content: Student writing

Objective: We will understand how to develop an idea or message in our stories and develop a basic plot outline for what our stories will be about.

Class Activities: Brainstorming themes and messages, Making plot outline, Begin writing stories.

Homework: No Homework.

Wednesday, March 30th - Period 1

Poetry: Day 15

Do Now: What are famous catch-phrases from movies or cartoons?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we learn about characters from their dialogue?

Content: Student writing and selected stories.

Objective: We will be able to recognize dialogue and understand how dialogue affects character development.

Class Activities: Do now discussion, worksheet, character development, and dialogue.

Homework: Complete any missing poems.

Tuesday, March 29th - Friday, April 1st: Finding Forrester - Period 6

For the remainder of this week, we will be watching Finding Forrester. Complete the movie notes for each day and enjoy the movie!

How does this movie help us think about writing and expression in more complex and meaningful ways?

Tuesday, March 29th - Friday April 1st: Do the Right Thing - Periods 3, 5 & 7

For the remainder of the week, we are watching Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee.  Complete the movie notes for each day and enjoy the movie!

Hoe can this help us think about culture in more complex ways?

Monday, March 28th - Period 6

Poetry: Day 20 - Review

Do Now: What is the connection between poetry and critical thinking?

Critical Thinking Questions: How does poetry connect to critical thinking? Have you displayed critical thinking through your poetry? What have your learned through this unit?

Content: Unit review, Test, Reflections

Objective: We will be able to complete a test and reflect substantively on the work of the unit thus far.

Class Activities: Do-now, unit review, open-notebook test, reflections

Homework: Complete any missing portfolio assignments.

Monday, March 28th - Period 5

Linguistic Diversity

Do Now: Name 3 factors that affect linguistic diversity (the way we talk).

Critical Thinking Questions: How does our environment affect the way we talk? How are people judged in society based on the ways they talk? Why is linguistic diversity important for society?

Content: Who Said We All Have to Talk Alike, Pink Panther Video, Ebonics article

Objective: We will have an understanding of how linguistic diversity affects out lives and our society. Students will value home language and write about similarities between linguistic diversity in America and Egypt.

Class Activities: Do now discussion, Comparative discussion between Egypt and America, Writing

Homework: Unit essay due tomorrow!

Monday, March 28th - Periods 3 & 7

Culture: Day 16a

Do Now: What are major symbols of American culture?

Critical Thinking Questions: How does culture get expressed through art? How can we learn about culture by viewing the art of that culture?

Content: Art from around the world - Videos

Objective: We can make the theoretical connection between art and culture. We can write in substantive ways about the art of another culture.  

Class Activities: View videos: Florence, African Art, Turkish Islamic Art, Love Letter to West Philly, Philadelphia Murals

Homework: Unit essay due tomorrow!

Freeway

Friday, March 25th - Period 6

Poetry: Day 18

Do Now: How does poetry and creative writing help improve all your writing and communication skills?

Critical Thinking Questions: How does art and poetry improve and develop critical thinking?

Content: Chapter 3 from Pedagogy of the Oppressed,

Objective: We can have a deeper appreciation for saying true words in our world.  

Class Activities: Discussion of true words and remaking the world, Review of types of poetry, Reflection on poetry and critical thinking

Homework: Prepare for “Poetry Reflection Test.”

Friday, March 25th - Periods 3, 5 & 7

Culture: Day 15a - Conclusion

Do Now: What do you think you are supposed to write in the conclusion of an essay?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can you write a good conclusion?  

Content: Conclusion worksheet, Student writing

Objective: Students understand all parts of the essay and can piece it all together in a coherent piece of writing.  

Class Activities: Explanation of conclusion, Completing Draft of essay, Staple all pieces of the process together.  

Homework: Put together all of the pieces of your draft and write a final copy of your essay.  Hand in all of the drafting sheets!

Friday, March 25th - Period 1

Poetry: Day 14

Do Now: Who is your favorite Disney movie character? Why?

Critical Thinking Questions: What are the connections between poetry and story writing? How can we develop characters?

Content: Selection of fiction stories

Goal: We can recognize different forms of narration and character development. We can begin to develop our own characters in different narrative styles.

Class Activities: Note Taking, Analyzing selected texts for narrative style and characterization, Developing our own characters for our stories.

Homework: No Homework.

Thursday, March 24th - Periods 3, 5 & 7

Culture: Day 15a - Introductions + Quotes

Do Now: Why do we quote our stories and other sources in our essays?

Critical Thinking Questions: How do I write a high-quality introduction? How and why do I use quotes in my stories?

Content: Student essay examples

Objective: We will be able to write a good introduction and use quotes in our essays.

Class Activities: Reviewing essay examples, Reviewing use of quotes, Writing

Homework: Complete introduction paragraph.

Thursday, March 24th - Period 1

Poetry: Day 13

Do Now: Does the form of a poem or song affect its meaning?  For example, does a free verse poem automatically have a different meaning than a sonnet?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we re-think and value our conversations with our guardians and those who care about us? How is free-verse poetry different from poetry with a form?

Content: Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son”

Objective: To follow up on meter and to be able to evaluate whether a poem is free verse or has some form.  To write their own free verse poem relational poem.

Class Activities: Reading and evaluating “Mother to Son” as free verse or with form, Writing our own relational poems, Reviewing type of poetry: Cinquain, Sonnet, Personification, Free Verse, (Haiku)

Homework: Complete your Free-Verse Relationship Poems.

Wednesday, March 23rd - Period 6

Poetry: Day 16a

Do Now: How can a story teach a lesson?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we develop a theme or a message within our stories? Why do we tell stories?

Content: Student writing

Objective: We will understand how to develop an idea or message in our stories and develop a basic plot outline for what our stories will be about.

Class Activities: Brainstorming themes and messages, Making plot outline, Begin writing stories.

Homework: No Homework.

Wednesday, March 23rd - Periods 3, 5 & 7

Culture: Day 14a

Do Now: How does your audience for a piece of writing affect how your write it?

Critical Thinking Questions: Why is it important to write well?  How can we connect all of the elements of an essay into a coherent essay? How is your thesis affected by who your audience?

Content: Student topics and writing.

Objective: We will be able to write high quality thesis statements and introductions.

Class Activities: Essay conversation, Writing thesis statements and introductions.

Homework: No Homework.

Tuesday, March 22nd - Period 6

Poetry: Day 15

Do Now: What are famous catch-phrases from movies or cartoons?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we learn about characters from their dialogue?

Content: Student writing and selected stories.

Objective: We will be able to recognize dialogue and understand how dialogue affects character development.

Class Activities: Do now discussion, worksheet, character development, and dialogue.

Homework: Complete any missing poems.

Tuesday, March 22nd - Periods 3, 5 & 7

Culture: Day 13a - Finding a Topic

Do Now: What memorable things have you learned and thought about from this cultural identity unit so far? (Definition of culture, All American Slurp, Dilemma of the Decent Kid, Culture Poems, Multicultural Experiences, Music and Culture)

Critical Thinking Questions: How can I create my own topic for an essay? What have we learned from this unit?

Content: Notebooks, Portfolios, and stories read in class.

Objective: We will be able to develop our own topics that we are interested in writing about for our essays.

Class Activities: Reflection on unit for memorable learning moments, Brainstorming of possible topics, Gathering evidence for those topics and ideas of what to write about.

Monday, March 21st - Period 6

Poetry: Day 14

Do Now: Who is your favorite Disney movie character? Why?

Critical Thinking Questions: What are the connections between poetry and story writing? How can we develop characters?

Content: Selection of fiction stories

Goal: We can recognize different forms of narration and character development. We can begin to develop our own characters in different narrative styles.

Class Activities: Note Taking, Analyzing selected texts for narrative style and characterization, Developing our own characters for our stories.

Homework: No Homework.

Monday, March 21st - Periods 3, 5 & 7

Culture: Day 12a

Do Now: Which part of the writing process is most important? (Planning, Drafting, Sharing, Revising, or Proofreading.) Why?

Critical Thinking Questions: What is the writing process? How can the writing process help us to become better writers? How can we gather evidence from the story to develop a thesis?

Content: Revolt of the Evil Fairies

Objective: Students will gather evidence to help decide on a thesis statement for their paper on “The Revolt of the Evil Fairies.”

Class Activities: Reviewing the story, Finding Evidence, Overview of an essay

Homework: Write a thesis statement for your essay,

Tuesday, March 22nd- Period 1

Poetry: Day 12

Do Now: What does it mean for a hip-hop or rap artist to have flow?

Critical Thinking Questions: How do poets use meter in their writing to make it sound better?  What is a free verse poem? How is free verse different from a poem that has a form?

Content: “All Falls Down” by Kanye West, “Mother to Son” and “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes, and “Under the Greenwood Tree” by Shakespeare

Objective: Students will recognize the differences and similarities between free verse and formed poetry and will be able to recognize the rhyme scheme and meter of poems that they read and write. Students will also write their own “Mother to Son” poem.

Class Activities: Comparing Kanye’s meter to Shakespeare’s meter, Recognizing Free Verse Poetry, Writing Daughter/Son to Parent Poems in free verse.

Homework: Describe the writing style of your favorite music artist.  Does this artist use a rhyming pattern? Do they have flow?  Explain. (1 Paragraph)

Friday, March 18th - Period 6

Do Now: Name one new concept that you learned this week.  Name one activity or discussion you remember from this week.

Critical Thinking Questions: Why is it important to reflect?

Content: Reflections

Class Activities: Do now discussion, Reflection

Friday, March 18th - Period 5

Culture: Day 12ab

Do Now: Write one example of informal speech or slang that you use with friends but you would not use with adults. (No curse words.)

Critical Thinking Questions: What is a colloquialism?  How do colloquialisms affect all of our identities? Where do colloquialisms come from?

Content: Who Said We All Have to Talk Alike

Objective: We will have a clearer idea how language can affect identity and will write about opinions from the text.  We will also complete a worksheet about the text.

Class Activities: Do now discussion, Reading, Completing worksheet and discussion.

Friday, March 18th - Periods 3 & 7

Culture: Day 11a

Do Now: Have you ever been treated unfairly?  Describe a time when this happened.

Critical Thinking Questions: What is racism?  Does racism affect our society today?

Content: “The Revolt of the Evil Fairies”

Goal: We can analyze issues of race in our story.  

Class Activities: Class read of Evil Fairies, Quotes activity, Discussion of Authorial choice (Text Analyst)

Homework: Is the narrator justified in hitting Leonardius during the play?  Explain why or why not. (1 Paragraph)

Thursday, March 17th - Period 6

Poetry: Day 13

Do Now: Does the form of a poem or song affect its meaning?  For example, does a free verse poem automatically have a different meaning than a sonnet?

Critical Thinking Questions: How can we re-think and value our conversations with our guardians and those who care about us? How is free-verse poetry different from poetry with a form?

Content: Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son”

Objective: To follow up on meter and to be able to evaluate whether a poem is free verse or has some form.  To write their own free verse poem relational poem.

Class Activities: Reading and evaluating “Mother to Son” as free verse or with form, Writing our own relational poems, Reviewing type of poetry: Cinquain, Sonnet, Personification, Free Verse, (Haiku)

Homework: Complete your Free-Verse Relationship Poems.

Thursday, March 17th - Period 5

Culture: Day 11ab

Do Now: Is there one correct way to speak English?

Critical Thinking Questions: What is racism?  How does it impact our society today?

Content: Who Said We All Have to Talk Alike

Objective: We will have a clearer idea how language can affect identity and will write about opinions from the text. 

Class Activities: Do now discussion, Reading, Writing about racism in the story.

Homework: Where do we learn most of our language from? (1/2 page)

Thursday, March 17th - Periods 3 & 7

Culture: Day 11ab

Do Now: Is it possible for members of the same race to be racist towards each other?

Critical Thinking Questions: What is racism?  How does it impact our society today?

Content: The Revolt of the Evil Fairies

Objective: We will have a broader definition of racism and be able to write and discuss opinions about racism in the story.

Class Activities: Do now discussion, Reading, Writing about racism in the story.

Homework: At Overbrook and society in general, are there any perceived differences between light skin an dark skin blacks? (1/2 page)

Wednesday, March 16th - Period 6

Writing Workshop: Poetry

Do Now: Please collect your portfolio and make sure that you have all poetry assignments that we have begun: Cinquain, Personification, Collage, and Sonnet

Critical Thinking Questions: How does poetry allow me to think in different ways about the world?

Content: Student writing

Objective: We will be clear on our poems and how we can connect them to the class theme.

Class Activities: Writing workshop, collaborating with teacher and students.

Homework: Finish any poems that you have not completed