The Final Chapters: February 28, 2017

Focus: What does McBride want us to understand better or differently?

1. Warming up with input on your Harlem Renaissance Little Project rubrics (please be sure to turn these back in today so that I can give you a grade in IC)

2. Your final day of reading and blogging (Chapters 24, 25, and the Epilogue)

3. Preparing in groups for tomorrow's big fishbowl discussion: Click HERE and make sure you're signed in with your LPS account. Don't make a copy, though; we're going to create this document together.

HW:
1. The rough draft of your memoir is due this Friday, March 3. It should be 2-3 pages at that point and will receive and attempt and completion grade + feedback.

2. If you fell behind on your Color of Water journals, or you need to make up a blog from a missed discussion, please take care of that this week (before we start Gatsby).

3. The final draft of your memoir and our coffeehouse reading will take place Thursday, March 9.

Finding the Narrative Arc: February 27, 2017

Focus: How do we create a narrative arc in our tribute memoirs?

"You write for yourself, and you write for strangers." -- Gertrude Stein

1. Warming up with three good things

2. Enjoying Grammar You Must Know, Lesson #8: Redundancy

3.  Recapping the narrative arc and reading your exposition like a stranger (click HERE for the slides)

4. Writing/developing scenes where there are holes in your narrative arc

HW:
1. By Tuesday: Finish the book (Chapters 24, 25, and the Epilogue). Finish your blogs. Catch up if you missed a Socratic (loud or silent).

2. Complete rough draft of your memoir due this Friday, March 3, before class. Stop by for a conference! A five-minute conference works better than twenty e-mails.

3. Final draft of your memoir due in www.turnitin.com on Thursday, March 9. We will have a coffeehouse reading this day.

Sensory Writing: February 24, 2017

Focus: How do we use our five senses to create rich worlds in our tribute memoirs?

1. Warming up with Grammar You Must Know #7 Quiz: Sentence Fragments

2. Tuning into your senses with a scene exercise (click HERE for the slides and scroll to Slide 30)

3. Continuing to draft with a focus on using your five senses with two goals:

• to enrich/create the world in which your memoir is taking place. 
• to help the reader figure out how to feel and what to think about your character.

HW:
1. By Tuesday: Finish the book (Chapters 24, 25, and the Epilogue). Finish your blogs. Catch up if you missed a Socratic (loud or silent).

2. If you have fewer than two pages of rough draft at this point, work on your tribute memoir over the weekend. We're going to work on structure on Monday, but it's hard to do this if you don't have any scenes written.

Movement and Meaning: February 23, 2017

Focus: What movements and meanings are emerging near the end of The Color of Water?

1 Warming up by introducing yourself to twelve new tone words: List 3

• 4th hour: If you haven't yet joined our Quizlet class, click HERE.

• 6th hour: If you haven't yet joined our Quizlet class, click HERE.

2. Reading The Color of Water and blogging to prepare for today's silent Socratic

• A Ms. Leclaire tip: Focus on Movement and Multiple Meanings. 

• In other words, as you near the end of the book, starting piecing together the patterns and what larger purpose they serve.

3. Delving into Chapters 21, 22, and 23 in a silent Socratic discussion

HW:
1. By Tuesday: Finish the book. Finish your blogs. The end.

2. If you were absent on Wednesday or had trouble finding your writing groove, make sure you walk in tomorrow with some memoir draft. 

3. Open-note, open-neighbor "quiz" tomorrow on Grammar You Must Know #7: Sentence Fragments.

You're Being Drafted: February 22, 2017

Focus: How do we zoom in on our characters to start producing a rough draft?

1. Warming up with some concrete thinking about some non-concrete skills

2. Offering you a tribute piece I recently wrote for my dad--look for artifacts!

• What does each artifact reveal about the narrator, the dad, and/or the relationship between the narrator and her dad?

2. Pounding out a draft of your tribute memoir

• Click HERE for the writing exercises; we will focus on the artifact slides today (slides 24-29), but feel free to click around to whichever slides you need.

• Your goal: TWO PAGES of new draft before the end of class.

3. Celebrating and sharing: Read one sentence you wrote today or share one breakthrough.

HW:

1. Read Chapters 21, 22, and 23 and complete your blog entry for tomorrow.

2. IF NEEDED (up to you), bring back your character's artifacts tomorrow for another big writing day on Friday.

3. STOP IN FOR A CONFERENCE! Sorry--the caps make it seem like I'm yelling at you. I'd love it if you stopped by for a conference. I'm off 5th each day, and I'm typically off during the second half of 3rd and after school.

3. "Quiz" on Grammar Lesson #7 this Friday.

Socratic Seminar: February 21, 2017

Focus: What does a college-level book discussion look like?

1. Warming up with three good things (or maybe four since you had a long weekend)

2. Enjoying Grammar You Must Know #7: Sentence Fragments

3. Reading first, blogging second: Preparing for today's Socratic seminar on Chapters 18, 19, and 20

4. Offering you a quick overview of Socratic and trying out our first one

• You may only participate in today's Socratic if you have completed the reading through Chapter 20. 

• If you haven't finished the reading, you need to sit outside of the circle. You may either use this time to read, and then write a reflection on today's blog, OR...

• You may use this time to take notes on the discussion, and then read later.

HW:

1. Read Chapters 21, 22, and 23 and complete your blog entry for Thursday.

2. Bring back your character's artifacts tomorrow for a big writing day.

3. "Quiz" on Grammar Lesson #7 this Friday.

Creating a World: February 17, 2017

Focus: How do we create worlds for our characters?

1. Warming up with a "quiz" on Grammar You Must Know, Lesson #6: Verb Tenses

2. Zooming out: Researching and reflecting on your character's worlds (click HERE for Tribute Memoir: Writing Exercises)

3. Zooming in: Unearthing and reflecting on your character's artifacts

HW:
1. Read Chapters 18, 19, and 20 in The Color of Water and complete your blog entries by Tuesday; check out my feedback on your previous ones and take on the challenge!

NOTE: If you are behind in the reading, you need to use the long weekend to catch up. For the final three discussions, you will only be able to participate if you are caught up in the reading. Otherwise, you will sit out to read and compose a written reflection to replace discussion.

2. All make-up work (grammar quizzes, reading blogs, etc.) due today by 3:00 pm, which is the end of six weeks. After that, the grades from the first six weeks stay as they are.