Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we finished Of Mice and Men, and students did a final bit of writing in their DJs (below) which they handed in at the end of the period. Over vacation, students should be working with their Poetry Out Loud poems, finishing up the analysis and working on memorizing them.

Reading G and some POL

Today we reviewed the importance of the dream of the little ranch to four of the men (see below). we also read most of Reading G (chapter 5) in class and spent the last few minutes watching this short video with some tips for memorizing poems. Students should finish chapter 5 and do a DJ response for HW.

Reading F

We began with a bit of analytical writing (below) and read almost all of Reading F (chapter 4) in class. Students should read the last few pages on their own and finish their DJ response for this reading: Crooks, two vocab words, and two SMMs.

More Poetry Time

After a quick quiz on last night's reading, we reviewed how to do a SOAPSTone and students had time to continue their work. By now, students should have:

• Chosen, signed up for and printed two poems;
• Annotated those poems, looking up new words, allusions, etc.
• Done SOAPSTone analyses of their poems.

SOAPSTones are due Thursday.

Readings D and E

We began with the briefest of reading quizzes, shared some SMMs and vocab and then read a big chunk of Reading E. Students should finish reading E and add two SMMs and two vocab words to their DJs by tomorrow.

Readings C & D

After a quick quiz on yesterday's reading, we went over the homework and talked about the chapter. We finished the day by starting Reading D. Students should finish the reading (through p. 51) and do a DJ response for homework.

Reading C (through p. 37)

Today we reviewed Reading B, adding to the character and vocab lists, and students had 30 minutes to start on their homework (Reading C with a complete DJ response). While they were reading, I consulted with individual students on the POL poems.

Catching Up

Today was a bit of a catch up day. Students had a chance to wrap up the assignments from last week's two days in the lab, and we continued with Reading B.
By now, students should have:

• Completed the Personal Narrative Review Assignment at Google Classroom; and
• Chosen and printed their two poems for the Poetry Out Loud Project (at Classroom.

For homework, students should finish Reading B (through page 26) and complete their second DJ response (add new characters, two vocab words and two S/M/Ms).

Homework Review and Chapter 2

Today we discussed chapter 1 and reviewed the homework. After that, we started chapter 2 aloud.

DJ Response #1

We began the day by focusing on two more of Steinbeck's big thematic questions. After sharing their thoughts on these, students had the rest of the period to focus on a chosen theme, and start their homework: the dialectical journal response for reading A (chapter 1). This should include two characters (George and Lennie) added to the character list; two vocabulary words, defined and cited, added to the vocab list; and two quotations with Says/Means/Matters, about their chosen theme and cited.

Personal Narratives & Poetry

After another sentence-combining warm-up focusing on comma splices, students worked on a Personal Narrative Review assignment (at Google Classroom), and continued finding their poems for Poetry Out Loud.

Themes & Chapter 1

We started by writing and talking a bit about the big questions (below) and then we finished reading A (chapter 1) in Of Mice and Men.

And Q2 Begins

We began the day looking at the objective for our new unit on Of Mice and Men, talked a bit about Q1 and late work, and started the book, reading the first two pages and doing a DJ entry.

Unit Objective: Students will understand the universal nature of theme in literature, identifying theme and making connections with their own lives and the world around them, by reading Of Mice and Men and keeping a dialectical journal focusing on a self-selected theme, and demonstrating their understanding of theme and its universal significance through a formal, multi-draft literary analysis essay.