Speak Essay/Stories; Proverb Story Drafts Due!; Holiday Activities

Lab (period 3):

Speak stories (Journal): Pick one or more of the following topics and write the story in your journal.

• Recall your first day at SOTA (or your elementary or middle school)
• Write about a time you felt like an outcast
• Write about a teacher you had that you didn't like or get along with
• Write about the first time you had to use a school locker
• Write about a childhood friend you used to have, but have grown apart from
• What is your "sanctuary"--your safe place when life gets complicated? Write about it.
• Write about trying to learn another language
• Write about why you don't like to do homework
• Write about a principal you have or had
• Write about the importance or lack of importance of a certain class in school
• Write about your most embarrassing gym story
• Write about your experience joining a club or sport
• Write about why cheerleaders are or are not important
• Write about your parents or a member of your family
• Write about a math problem
• Write about the different kinds of peers in school
• Write about Halloween
• Write about being bullied
• Write about your worst grade you ever got
• Write about your favorite or least favorite art

or

Revise and/or complete your proverb essay stories. Turn in your "final" first draft by the end of class. Remember to check and correct your grammar!

Make sure you have shared your master files for your poetry groups. Make sure you allow EDITS in Google--I will not be able to make your book if you don't give me editing privileges. This mainly applies to the GREEN group.


Period 4:

Let's have a little holiday cheer. Feel free to access any of these sites. Board/card games will be available next door.

Hanukkah online games

Christmas online games

Kwanzaa online games

Beyonce: Silent Night

Mariah Carey: All I Want for Christmas

Kanye: Christmas in Harlem

The Beatles Christmas Album

Christmas Songs...ad nauseum 

SNL Best Holiday Sketches

Frosty the Snowman (animated, 1969)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (animated, 1964)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town (animated, 1970)

The PJ's Christmas Episode: How the Super Stole X-mas (animated)
The Boondocks - A Huey Freeman X-mas (animated, part 1)
The Boondocks - A Huey Freeman X-mas (animated, part 2)

HOMEWORK: Please read Speak by Laurie Halsey-Anderson. Complete any of the bulleted prompts in your journal inspired by the book over winter break. There will be a test on the novel when you return from break. Take notes on the main character, style, and plot of the book in your journal to remind yourself (the test may likely be open journal style). Bring your books back with you to class after break.

Have a nice and relaxing holiday!

Proverb Story Draft; Gift of the Magi; Speak: Day 1

Lab: (period 1)

Need a theme for a story? Authors often use proverbs as a basis for their themes.

A proverb is a short, common saying or phrase. It particularly gives advice or shares a universal human truth. 

Choose one of the following proverbs or famous sayings:

• Love is the greatest gift of all.
• Money can’t buy you love.
• A gift must come from the heart.
• Beauty comes from within.
• Two wrongs don't make a right.
• When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
• Fortune favors the bold.
• People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
• Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Write a short personal essay* in which you examine your chosen proverb and explain how you personally connect with the saying. Tell that story. 

Start your essay with the line: "They say that...[insert chosen proverb]" then either agree or disagree with the statement and explain in story form your reason for agreeing or disagreeing. 

"They say birds of a feather flock together, but this is not my case. I grew up an only child in a small town along the Mississippi river. I had no friends, little family, and no sense of belonging. That is, until I met Barnaby. The story how we met is a funny one. Let me explain..."

*Your story can be fictional (completely made up), semi-fictional (based on true events), or completely true (nonfiction). You choose what's best for your story. Print out your draft at the end of period 1 (even if you are not done with it...see homework below).

Please honor your writing time. Instead of complaining that the draft is due at the end of the period, please focus on writing. There should be minimal or no chatting with your neighbor regarding your story at this moment. Instead, focus on your work. Your neighbor will focus on his/her work. Use the time in the lab to write. 

When you complete your work, please proofread and check your grammar!

Period 2: Reading & Discussion; Please get Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson from the library. Return to the classroom (238) to read: 

• The short, short story: "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.
• Use textual evidence to answer the following question: Which of the sayings best describes the main theme of The Gift of the Magi?  Why?  
• The opening chapter(s) of Speak.

HOMEWORK: Read the rest of the marking period (mp 1) (pp. 3-46). Look for examples of the "coming of age" novel tropes. Jot down these observations with page #'s in your journal. 

If you did not complete your draft of your personal essay (proverb story draft) in the lab, then complete it for homework. Turn in the finished draft Friday if you turned in an incomplete draft today.

Group Slam Poem Performance; Chapbook Project Due

Today we will be moving downstairs to the Ensemble theater to perform our group slam poems. You will be graded following the rubric and will also have an opportunity to grade each other's performances (and the rehearsal process).

After our performances, please return to the lab to complete your master copies of your poems.

• Each group must make sure all members of their group are represented in the master file. Points (from the group's grade) will be deducted if anyone's work is missing. Help your peers!
• Elect someone (or two people) from your group to be your final editor. 
• All group members should have 5-10 REVISED poem drafts in the master file.
• As a group, decide on a name for your poetry chapbook. Name your master file the name of your chapbook. Our default name (if this is not done) will be Poetry. If you want a better name, please make sure you title your master file.
• Share with me your master file from Google docs (please share with: bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org) Make sure I get the revised and updated copy!
• Your group will receive a group grade for this assignment based on:
• Strength and creativity of the poetry (did you include imagery?)
• Grammar (please use proper grammar in your poetry!)
• # of poems (every writer should have 5-10 poem drafts!)
• Pictures/graphics
• Inclusion of all members

Your master file is due today at the end of class. Please attend to that.

HOMEWORK: None.

Rehearsal & Rewriting (last day)

Due to absences and weather, I'm extending your slam performance until Monday, Dec. 18. Today will be the last day for your groups to rehearse. Group slam poem performances will be held in the Ensemble Theater Monday 3rd period. Make plans to adjust your work due to absences. You will be graded following the rubric and will also have an opportunity to grade each other's performances (and the rehearsal process).

Rehearsal & Rewriting Workshops

Today, please complete both of the following tasks:

#1. Please get together with your performance slam group and rehearse your slam poem. We will perform these poems FROM MEMORY next class

• each member of your group MUST speak/participate for full credit on this assignment

• poems should have gestures/physical movements (blocking) that enhance the poem

• poems must be memorized

See the rubric for more details about how you will be graded on this performance next class.  

#2.
1. Check your portfolio and google drive for comments by me. Each of you should have a shared folder with copies of each others work in your google drive. The shared file is color coded by your assigned group. 

Group A (RED): Makenna, Emma, Zachariah, Keniah, Seyena 

Group B (ORANGE): Valerie, Melinda, Liz, Lesana, Farhan 

Group C (GREEN): Madison, Michelle, Degraj, Aalaysia, Tia  

Group D (BLUE): Tali, Jonaya, A'layze, Wesley, Bisharo, Amir 

2. Revise your poem drafts.
3. Read and follow this general advice about poetry:

• The best poems are life-affirming. While it's sad you are suffering, poetry is about human life, nature, love, and, yes, at times death--but that's not so depressing. Everything will die. It's what life is all about. Cheer up a little. A poem does not have to be something that happened to you. You do not need to be the subject of your poem. You can make characters and situations up and write about subject matter that readers can relate to.

• Abstraction does not make sense. Poetry is very visual. It relies on the poet being able to clearing describe a single moment or common relatable scene in a unique way (usually through comparison--simile, metaphor, symbol,--or imagery). If you can't see, hear, taste, touch, smell or interact with it, it's probably abstract. Love, life, death, and nature are abstract ideas. An awkward first kiss, holding a newborn baby in your arms for the first time, remembering the time your grandfather took you for ice cream and how you dropped it in the sand, the first time you touched the muzzle of a horse or the first time you went sledding are specific human events that are relatable.

• Ask yourself: is my scene or topic relatable to others (not just me)? Am I too abstract or vague? If so, I'll need to fix my poem.

• Ask yourself: Can I be more specific with my word choice? 

• Ask yourself: Have I already made my point? [there is no word limit for a poem, but it shouldn't be longer than it needs to be...everyone gets credit whether you write a short poem or a long one.] If so, cut.

• Ask yourself: Is my poem focused, or do I not really know what I'm writing about? If your poem is "all over the place" you need to focus on one scene or moment. Again, you don't get points for being long and wordy.

• Make sure you proofread and punctuate your poems correctly. 

• Each poem should have a title. If you don't have a title, use the first line of your poem as the title, or write: "Untitled" (and now it's titled!)

• Read the poems from your peers. Add comments to their drafts. You will get points for each poem you spend commenting and giving feedback on for your peer group.

• Identify lines you like in your peers' poem drafts. Comment about what you like about them.

• Try to suggest (kindly) ways to improve the poem. Remember: poems should follow the advice from above (and from what we've been discussing in class!), but art is, well, art.

• Try to help the poet correct grammar errors, misspellings, sentence fragments, punctuation, etc.

• Poets realize that you don't have to take everyone's advice. As the artist, you decide what is best for your poem. However, try to be open-minded about change or improving your work.

HOMEWORK: Memorize your slam poem. Performances will definitely be Monday, Dec. 16--be ready! No excuses.

Poetry Slam Rehearsal; Poetry Chapbook Project Workshop & Revision

Rehearsal & Rewriting Workshops

Today, please complete both of the following tasks:

#1. Please get together with your performance slam group and rehearse your slam poem. We will perform these poems FROM MEMORY next class

• each member of your group MUST speak/participate for full credit on this assignment

• poems should have gestures/physical movements (blocking) that enhance the poem

• poems must be memorized

See the rubric for more details about how you will be graded on this performance next week.  Please use period 4 to prepare and rehearse your original group slam poem. See previous posts for details. If you stop rehearsing, please work on the task #2.

#2. 
1. Check your portfolio and google drive for comments by me. Each of you should have a shared folder with copies of each others work in your google drive. The shared file is color coded by your assigned group. 

Group A (RED): Makenna, Emma, Zachariah, Keniah, Seyena 

Group B (ORANGE): Valerie, Melinda, Liz, Lesana, Farhan 

Group C (GREEN): Madison, Michelle, Degraj, Aalaysia, Tia  

Group D (BLUE): Tali, Jonaya, A'layze, Wesley, Bisharo, Amir 

2. Revise your poem drafts (again).
3. Read and follow this general advice about poetry:

• The best poems are life-affirming. While it's sad you are suffering, poetry is about human life, nature, love, and, yes, at times death--but that's not so depressing. Everything will die. It's what life is all about. Cheer up a little. A poem does not have to be something that happened to you. You do not need to be the subject of your poem. You can make characters and situations up and write about subject matter that readers can relate to.

• Abstraction does not make sense. Poetry is very visual. It relies on the poet being able to clearing describe a single moment or common relatable scene in a unique way (usually through comparison--simile, metaphor, symbol,--or imagery). If you can't see, hear, taste, touch, smell or interact with it, it's probably abstract. Love, life, death, and nature are abstract ideas. An awkward first kiss, holding a newborn baby in your arms for the first time, remembering the time your grandfather took you for ice cream and how you dropped it in the sand, the first time you touched the muzzle of a horse or the first time you went sledding are specific human events that are relatable.

• Ask yourself: is my scene or topic relatable to others (not just me)? Am I too abstract or vague? If so, I'll need to fix my poem.

• Ask yourself: Can I be more specific with my word choice? 

• Ask yourself: Have I already made my point? [there is no word limit for a poem, but it shouldn't be longer than it needs to be...everyone gets credit whether you write a short poem or a long one.] If so, cut.

• Ask yourself: Is my poem focused, or do I not really know what I'm writing about? If your poem is "all over the place" you need to focus on one scene or moment. Again, you don't get points for being long and wordy.

• Make sure you proofread and punctuate your poems correctly. 

• Each poem should have a title. If you don't have a title, use the first line of your poem as the title, or write: "Untitled" (and now it's titled!)

• Read the poems from your peers. Add comments to their drafts. You will get points for each poem you spend commenting and giving feedback on for your peer group.

• Identify lines you like in your peers' poem drafts. Comment about what you like about them.

• Try to suggest (kindly) ways to improve the poem. Remember: poems should follow the advice from above (and from what we've been discussing in class!), but art is, well, art.

• Try to help the poet correct grammar errors, misspellings, sentence fragments, punctuation, etc.

• Poets realize that you don't have to take everyone's advice. As the artist, you decide what is best for your poem. However, try to be open-minded about change or improving your work.

HOMEWORK: Complete your revisions and give feedback to your peers in your assigned peer group for this project. Memorize your slam poem. Performances are likely to start Thursday--be ready!

Poetry Chapbook Project (Revision/Drafting); Sharing Google Files; Slam Performance Poem Rehearsal

Period 3:

Thank you to the 7 students who sent me your 5 or more poems. Today, during period 3 please do the following:

1. Check your portfolio and google drive for comments by me.
2. Revise your poem drafts (again).
3. Read and follow this general advice about poetry:

• The best poems are life-affirming. While it's sad you are suffering, poetry is about human life, nature, love, and, yes, at times death--but that's not so depressing. Everything will die. It's what life is all about. Cheer up a little. A poem does not have to be something that happened to you. You do not need to be the subject of your poem. You can make characters and situations up and write about subject matter that readers can relate to.
• Abstraction does not make sense. Poetry is very visual. It relies on the poet being able to clearing describe a single moment or common relatable scene in a unique way (usually through comparison--simile, metaphor, symbol,--or imagery). If you can't see, hear, taste, touch, smell or interact with it, it's probably abstract. Love, life, death, and nature are abstract ideas. An awkward first kiss, holding a newborn baby in your arms for the first time, remembering the time your grandfather took you for ice cream and how you dropped it in the sand, the first time you touched the muzzle of a horse or the first time you went sledding are specific human events that are relatable.
• Ask yourself: is my scene or topic relatable to others (not just me)? Am I too abstract or vague? If so, I'll need to fix my poem.
• Ask yourself: Can I be more specific with my word choice? 
• Ask yourself: Have I already made my point? [there is no word limit for a poem, but it shouldn't be longer than it needs to be...everyone gets credit whether you write a short poem or a long one.] If so, cut.
• Ask yourself: Is my poem focused, or do I not really know what I'm writing about? If your poem is "all over the place" you need to focus on one scene or moment. Again, you don't get points for being long and wordy.

Share your google file with the following members of your assigned group (and me):

Group A (RED): Makenna, Emma, Zachariah, Keniah, Seyena

Group B (ORANGE): Valerie, Melinda, Liz, Lesana, Farhan

Group C (GREEN): Madison, Michelle, Degraj, Aalaysia, Tia 

Group D (BLUE): Tali, Jonaya, A'layze, Wesley, Bisharo, Amir

Choose an option:

A. For those of you who have completed your poem drafts (you should revise your poems!):

• Read the poems from your peers. Add comments to their drafts. You will get points for each poem you spend commenting and giving feedback on for your peer group.
• Identify lines you like in your peers' poem drafts. Comment about what you like about them.
• Try to suggest (kindly) ways to improve the poem. Remember: poems should follow the advice from above (and from what we've been discussing in class!), but art is, well, art.
• Try to help the poet correct grammar errors, misspellings, sentence fragments, punctuation, etc.
• Poets realize that you don't have to take everyone's advice. As the artist, you decide what is best for your poem. However, try to be open-minded about change or improving your work.

B. If you haven't yet gathered your poem drafts, please do so late:

• Find 5-10 of your original poems that you have written in the past many weeks (From Oct. 30 until now...) See our blog posts for the last five weeks for details. 
• Type the best drafts of your poems up and gather them together in one SINGLE google file. One poem per page is fine. Use the INSERT PAGE BREAK tool to align your work correctly. Or copy your poems into a word doc and copy/paste your words into a google file.
• Use the internet to find 1-3 pictures/photos/illustrations/graphics, etc. from the internet and include these drawings/art pieces in your google file.
• Revise your poems to include imagery! Avoid telling--instead: show the story through the senses! [specific nouns and active verbs, metaphors, similes, personification, allusion, symbol, figurative language helps create visual imagery!]
• Make sure you proofread and punctuate your poems correctly. 
• Each poem should have a title. If you don't have a title, use the first line of your poem as the title, or write: "Untitled" (and now it's titled!)
• When you have completed this, please share your google file with me: bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org & your assigned group members.

Period 4:

Wherever you are in the process, stop at the second bell. Please get together with your performance slam group and rehearse your slam poem. We will perform these poems FROM MEMORY next week.

Each slam poem should:

• each member of your group MUST speak/participate for full credit on this assignment
• poems should have gestures/physical movements (blocking) that enhance the poem
• poems must be memorized

See the rubric for more details about how you will be graded on this performance next week.  Please use period 4 to prepare and rehearse your original group slam poem. See previous posts for details. If you stop rehearsing, please work on the task from period 3 (or your homework! See below...)

HOMEWORK: Complete your revisions and give feedback to your peers in your assigned peer group for this project. Memorize your slam poem.

Performance Slam Poem (Group); Gathering 5-10 poem drafts (lab)

Period 3:

Please get together with your performance slam group and rehearse your slam poem. We will perform these poems FROM MEMORY next week.

Each slam poem should:

• each member of your group MUST speak/participate for full credit on this assignment
• poems should have gestures/physical movements (blocking) that enhance the poem
• poems must be memorized

See the rubric for more details about how you will be graded on this performance next week.  Please use period 3 to prepare and rehearse your original group slam poem. See previous posts for details. 

Period 4:

Return to the lab to complete the following task:

• Find 5-10 of your original poems that you have written in the past many weeks (From Oct. 30 until now...) See our blog posts for the last five weeks for details. 
• Type the best drafts of your poems up and gather them together in one SINGLE google file. One poem per page is fine. Use the INSERT PAGE BREAK tool to align your work correctly.
• Starting next class, you will be sharing your poem drafts with 4-5 other students in the class.
• Use the internet to find 1-3 pictures/photos/illustrations/graphics, etc. from the internet and include these drawings/art pieces in your google file.
• Revise your poems to include imagery! Avoid telling--instead: show the story through the senses! [specific nouns and active verbs, metaphors, similes, personification, allusion, symbol, figurative language helps create visual imagery!]
• Make sure you proofread and punctuate your poems correctly. 
• Each poem should have a title. If you don't have a title, use the first line of your poem as the title, or write: "Untitled" (and now it's titled!)
• When you have completed this, please share your google file with me: bradley.craddock@rcsdk12.org

NOTE: You will be assigned to specific groups to gather your work in a literary magazine project next class. 

HOMEWORK: None. You may continue writing in your journal or writing poem drafts. 

Collaborative Slam Poetry Drafts; Poetry Collection Original Drafts; Other Poetry Drafts

Please turn in your field trip permission forms! This is the last day to do so. Students who do not have clearance or permission to attend the field trip tomorrow will not be joining us. The rest of us, please bring your journals and a writing utensil to the writing workshop at MCC.

During period 3 & 4:

Please listen and be attentive to the last 4 performers of the poetry collection readings. Follow instructions by the substitute today.

When you have listened attentively to the performances, please complete the following tasks in the lab:

• Complete a draft of your performance collaborative slam poem (with your peers) and turn in your draft by the end of class today.
• Complete your draft inspired by the style of one of the poems in your collection (or the style of poem in your collection). See assignment instructions in the posts below for details. Complete your own original poem draft and turn in by the end of class.
• Type up any poem drafts in your journal or from the exercises we have completed during the poetry unit. There have been more than five different poem assignments. Check the last few weeks of our blog for details. Type up these drafts and turn them in to the in-box for credit.

HOMEWORK: None.

Poetry & Performance

Please turn in your field trip permission forms! These are due by tomorrow!

Period 3: Rehearse and prepare your chosen poem for your performance of it next period. Read and refer to rubrics and advice about your poetry performance.

To help you prepare, consider who is speaking in the poem (the poem's speaker).

• Who is this person most likely to be? 
• What might they be like? 
• What is the tone of their voice? 
• How might they talk, move, hold their head?
• To whom might they be speaking (and why)?

When you have a clear idea, examine the poem and practice fluency (be familiar with strange words or how a line goes). Look up vocabulary you don't know and practice, practice, practice reading your poem out loud. Use strategies you learned from the Coffeehouse rehearsal/performance to help you.

If you are done rehearsing and feel confident that you will do a great job, model your own original poem on the style or perhaps the poem you like from the collection. Choose a similar theme, style, form, tone, or topic/subject matter. Try to mimic the poet's voice in your original poem. Write the draft of that poem. In the title's subtitle, explain what poem inspired you and by whom (for example):

• The Poem That Inspires Me: Inspired by "Song" by John Donne

This poem draft will be due Monday, Dec. 4 at the end of the period along with your performance poem draft.

Period 4:

Performance Rubric

HOMEWORK: Complete your chosen poetry collection and return your book to the library when you have completed the assignments that are required of it (see previous posts for details and the tasks above). Your performance poem DRAFT and your poetry collection original DRAFT are due Monday at the end of class. Absent students who did not perform today will have to perform Monday for the class.

Poetry Collection Exercise; Collaborative Poetry Performance Project

Period 3:

PART 1: With your collection of poetry you chose from the library, find your favorite poem and practice it. You will be reading this poem to us as practice reading in front of the class next time we meet (Thursday). You will be graded on your knowledge and performance of your chosen poem.

To help you prepare, consider who is speaking in the poem (the poem's speaker).

• Who is this person most likely to be? 
• What might they be like? 
• What is the tone of their voice? 
• How might they talk, move, hold their head?
• To whom might they be speaking (and why)?

When you have a clear idea, examine the poem and practice fluency (be familiar with strange words or how a line goes). Look up vocabulary you don't know and practice, practice, practice reading your poem out loud. Again, you will be graded on your fluency when performing Thursday.

PART 2: Then: model your own original poem on the style or perhaps the poem you like from the collection. Choose a similar theme, style, form, tone, or topic/subject matter. Try to mimic the poet's voice in your original poem. Write the draft of that poem. In the title's subtitle, explain what poem inspired you and by whom (for example):

• The Poem That Inspires Me: Inspired by "Song" by John Donne

Speaking of performing...

PART 3: Watch these video performances:

• Black and White.
• Spit.
• How to Impeach the Worst President
• Hold My Tongue

Post a comment in the COMMENT section of this blog post. Write about what made (or didn't make) one of these performances effective. What did you notice the performers doing that worked (or didn't work) for you as an audience member/viewer?

If you finish before 4th period, please continue to type up and submit your poem drafts.

Period 4:

The Collaborative Poem

1. Get into groups of 2, 3, or 4. No one should work alone for this project. If you are alone you will fail this project (no exceptions!) Please let me know if you cannot find a partnership.

2. After you have chosen your groups, gather together and decide on a topic or theme for your poem. As most collaborative slam poetry, it might be easiest to agree on a political or social problem that you are all concerned with. To gather ideas, each person in the group should suggest a topic, write down the topic, then go around the circle adding other options. After you have gone around a few times (and everyone has at least contributed two ideas) look at the list and agree on a topic.

Go no further than this step. Your group should FIRST agree upon the topic. When you have decided, please let me know what your group has decided is their topic/subject (sign the sign up sheet with your group members' names and topic), then go on to step #3.

3. The rules:

A. All group members must speak.
B. All group members must contribute to the poem in some significant way.
C. Help each other.
D. Include gestures and "blocking" for your performance.

You may find it helpful to first come up with a response line or choral line: a repeated line that all group members recite together or at different times to cue your group members as to where you are in the poem. Write the draft of the poem together first. 

Once you have a draft, print out enough copies for each of your members, then gather to practice and block the performance.

This project is not yet due. You should pick your groups, decide on a topic, and begin your writing of the first draft by the end of class. I suggest using Google docs so that all members can contribute while sitting at their computer stations. To do this, SHARE your document with your members. Give members editing privileges.

HOMEWORK: Complete your poetry collections. Bring them back with you to next class. Prepare your reading of your chosen poem from the collection. See above for details. 

Poetry: Again

Poetry exercises:

• Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou (write a poem for 2 minutes about something phenomenal, or write an ode praising women (or yourself)
• What a Teacher Makes by Taylor Mali; write a poem about What a ______ makes (choose an occupation that doesn't get the credit or attention it should, or write about a favorite teacher you once had)
• Phrase spill
• Gather ye rosebuds...er...words
• A Letter to My Unborn Daughter by Javon Johnson (write a poem addressing an unborn child, perhaps your unborn child, or perhaps your future spouse, or future dog or cat or pet horse)
• Deer Hit by Jon Loomis. Note the use of stanzas in this poem. Why is the poem structured in couplet stanzas? The clues are subtly suggested in the story and conflict of the poem. Write a poem about two things in couplets.
• Explaining my Depression to My Mother by Sabrina Benaim. Explain a mental state in which you sometimes find yourself to a loved one. Explain my ________ to my __________.
• Mother Doesn't Want a Dog by Judith Viorst. Poetry doesn't have to use fancy and difficult words. It's not supposed to be obscure. It's about human life. It can be simple and straightforward, but it should surprise us by the end. It should say things we've all seen but in a way that we never thought of saying before. Rhyme is completely unnecessary but sounds nice. Write a poem about what other things Mother doesn't want (and why), or Father, or brother/sister, aunt/uncle, neighbor, teacher, pastor, politician, etc.
• Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market by Pablo Neruda. Of course, poetry can also use metaphor and symbolism to talk about what we love, what we lose, what dies, what lives. Subject matter for most poems is taken directly from everyday and ordinary life. It doesn't have to be about grand or cosmic things. It is grand and cosmic because it sees the ordinary in a new and extraordinary way. Write an ode to an odd object that doesn't usually get credit for being useful or beautiful.
• A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me by Derrick Brown. Write about what is holy to you, or write about what will happen to you when you die. What would you want to happen? What should your loved ones remember? What advice can you give them?
• Poem model #2
• Write poetry in the lab. Construct and draft and print out poems. Keep doing this.

HOMEWORK: Complete your reading of your chosen poetry book. Bring your books back with you next class (next Tuesday, Nov. 28). 

Coffeehouse Reflection; Poetry Again

Congratulations, Freshmen!

You have successfully completed a public performance. I hope you enjoyed the coffee house and will participate in future ones.

Part of our goal this year is for you to get to know your strengths and weaknesses by completing a myriad of assignments, projects, and performances. Self-reflection is an important component of learning.

• How did you feel you did Wednesday night as a personal performance? Why? 
• If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently? 
• What did you learn about public speaking by performing your writing last night? 
• What surprised you about the performance? 
• Who's performance did you particularly enjoy? 
• Did you notice anything different between the Freshman performances and the other Creative Writing performances? 
• What did your parents or friends say or think about the performance? 
• What would you do differently the next time you perform a speech or public reading? 
• What advice would you give other performers?
• Other issues you wish to discuss...

This morning, please take the first period (3rd period) to respond and comment about your coffeehouse performance. Write up your response and turn it in.

4th period:

Let's retire to room 238 for a moment. We'll examine a few poems then write a bit.

Poems

If you think of poems as very short stories that usually focus on one or two strong images, you might come closer to understanding their power to evoke feelings. Other times, poems play with words. Like this one: 

It's all so complicated anyway... 

The problem with young poets 

is that you are too attached 

to your pain to see anything 

but the pain, as if you are 

wearing sunglasses inside

in a dark room filled with self

inflicted dark, dark thoughts. Sad. 

Sad.

Sad.

Growing up 

can suck. Yes. Or no.

Like a bent straw

that doesn't draw air. You are 

depressed. Empty like 

a glass jar. You are 

sad or mad or disappointed in 

people who, so far, let you 

down or leave you behind. You 

blame Your mother. Your father. 

Your friends. Your teachers.

God. Society. Your life. In which 

you have just been introduced, like

the new kid at school who 

wants to fit in, but doesn't

know which clique to trust. Or

If there's any reason to click on

or click off, to be or not to exist.

But you know it's only you. 

It's always been only you.

Which is why the words 

don't come when you call, 

like a cat that you want to pet

but can't. He won't come. 

Nothing comes when 

called. No muse. No use. 

Of course,

you feel dumb. Numb. It's 

safer to feel nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing. 

You feel

unsure and unsafe and unloved 

in your own awkward skin, partly 

because you cannot love yourself.

Like a snake who hates shedding

her skin, only to find more 

of the same skin underneath that

skin and 

nothing 

changes fast enough, but all is 

changing fast enough. The same old 

same old

nothing.

• Deer Hit by Jon Loomis. Note the use of stanzas in this poem. Why is the poem structured in couplet stanzas? The clues are subtly suggested in the story and conflict of the poem.
• Mother Doesn't Want a Dog by Judith Viorst. Poetry doesn't have to use fancy and difficult words. It's not supposed to be obscure. It's about human life. It can be simple and straightforward, but it should surprise us by the end. It should say things we've all seen but in a way that we never thought of saying before. Rhyme is completely unnecessary but sounds nice.
• Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market by Pablo Neruda. Of course, poetry can also use metaphor and symbolism to talk about what we love, what we lose, what dies, what lives. Subject matter for most poems is taken directly from everyday and ordinary life. It doesn't have to be about grand or cosmic things. It is grand and cosmic because it sees the ordinary in a new and extraordinary way.

Now it's your turn to try.

When asked, please go to the LIBRARY. Complete this activity with the time remaining in class:

A. Choose a book of poetry from the selections to read and study. Sign out the book and indicate on the list what book you chose (and the author).
B. Find a seat or corner in the library. Read your poetry collection selection. As you read, list themes, settings, ideas, etc. and capture cool or effective lines in your journal. If you like a line, write it down in your journal for later. Then keep reading.

HOMEWORK: Please complete the poetry collection you chose by the time we return from Thanksgiving break. Complete activity B (list themes, settings, ideas, etc. and capture cool or effective lines in your journal) as you read. We'll use this stuff next class. Bring your books back with you.

Coffeehouse Rehearsal

We will rehearse for our coffeehouse. Please join us downstairs in the Ensemble theater to practice and prepare.

HOMEWORK: See you at the coffehouse performance tonight!

Coffeehouse Rehearsal; MP 2

Welcome to the first day of Marking period 2.

This morning, during the first 15 minutes of period 3, please select up to two of your best pieces of writing so far this year (from September until now) that you would want to share with the world.

Details about the event:

1. You may read up to 2 poems or 1 short story (no longer than 3 minutes, please)
2. You must introduce yourself and let your audience know what you are planning on reading.
Example: "Hello, I am Mr. Craddock and I will be reading 2 poems tonight entitled: Poem #1 and Untitled Poem #347."
3. Always breathe and take a slight pause between transitions (that includes your greeting and the reading or performance of your selection(s))
4. Perform your poems or stories with energy, volume, and effective speech techniques. You should be using the techniques and skills we have been discussing in class to communicate your idea (your poem/story) to your audience.

REMEMBER: Effective performance is based on a few things:

• 1. Preparation (rehearsal) -- knowing what you are saying and why.
• 2. Voice (how you sound: volume, pacing, pitch, tone, elocution, and appropriateness of voice)
• 3. Character (how you portray a character both vocally and physically)
• 4. Energy
• 5. Making choices. A good performer makes deliberate choices about voice, character, energy, tone, and rehearses these choices to deliver a solid performance.

After you select your pieces, please do the following to prepare your work for a public reading:

• Highlight the best lines in your work. I should see a yellow glow over some of your best lines when you are rehearsing. (Be selective: not everything you wrote is your best line...)
• Bold important or key lines or words in your draft that you might want to stress.
• Italicize changes in tone in your story, or changes in setting--(that includes location, time, and weather or season), or changes in point of view (POV).
• Underline dialogue. (Not the tags--just the dialogue lines...!)

Use your time in the lab to complete this step of the rehearsal process. I will be collecting your "scripts" for Ms. Gamzon. She will be rehearsing with you on Friday. You will receive credit for completing the bulleted activity above.

FAQ's about the COFFEEHOUSE:

Q: What should I pick?
A: The performance is to show you off to the public. We like to celebrate the fact that you created something out of nothing, wrote down your ideas, and are furthering your education. As such, please pick a piece of work that you are PROUD of. Look over your work that you have done from September until now and pick a piece that you feel best represents you and your talent.

Q: Do I have to perform a poem?
A: No. Listening to 16 students perform the same type of poem is maddening. You can choose: Your interview story, your prologue story, your House on Mango Street vignettes, your 500 word short story, your slam poem, your found poem, a piece from your Glass Menagerie project, or any poem assignment, or any other fiction or script assignment we asked you to write. You can even perform a piece of writing we did NOT ask you to write, provided that you are proud of it and want to perform it.

A helpful hint: please select only one piece to perform as a requirement. This should be your top choice. Then select 1 other piece that you MIGHT want to perform. You will have about 3-5 minutes to deliver your reading performance. If might select 1 vignette or short story, 1-3 poems, and/or a combination.

Q: So, I just go and read, is that it?
A: No. All performances need rehearsing. To help you prepare for the event, we will spend Monday (and possibly Tuesday) rehearsing for next Tuesday night (Nov. 8). To help prepare, make some decisions about your piece. What moods happen in the story, what rate of speaking is most appropriate, which words will you stress, where will you pause, when can you make direct eye-contact, etc.? Decide and then rehearse.

Q: What time do I have to be there?
A: 6:45. It is sometimes helpful to get to a performance a few minutes before you have to perform so that you can get yourself ready. The Ensemble Theatre will be open at 6:30 for you to prepare.

Q: How long is the performance? Can I leave after I read?
A: The performance lasts about an hour and a half usually (depending on how many readers read--you will be joined by other creative writing majors in other grades--but you are the header. This coffeehouse is meant to introduce our Freshman class to the school/community/world). Please plan on staying for the entire performance. It is rude to leave after you've read. Tell your parents this is a requirement. Refreshments are served after the performance. Please join us for those.

After time is called, please gather your performance script(s), your belongings, and head down to the Ensemble Theater to rehearse.

HOMEWORK: None. Prepare for your coffeehouse performance. 

Slam Poetry & Selecting Your Coffeehouse Piece(s); Journal Due

Period 3:

Please turn in your 3 (or more) poem drafts. You may need copies of these poems for yourself later (see period 4 instructions).

Your journal is due today. Please make sure your name is on your journal and turn in as instructed.

Slam Poetry Draft (See the post below for a history of Slam Poetry & notes about Imagery)

Please view these examples of slam poems being performed (notice how the poets perform these poems...you will be performing too next week!) Take note of effective performance techniques--think about how volume, eye-contact, sincerity, tone, physical gestures and movement help to aid the effectiveness of the performance:
Poem #1
Poem #2
Poem #3
Poem #4
Poem #5

Slam Poetry often uses topics or themes that are politically or emotionally charged. Slam poets often write with a social comment to make or share with an audience.

How can you be a poet for social change?

Brainstorming: Start with your journal (at least when you get them back). Make a list of things you believe, things that make you mad, or things that you feel go unnoticed by others, things that are important to you. Write for 5 minutes. Try to fill a page or two.

Now, look at your list and choose the topic that you feel may be the most interesting to an audience. Write a poem based on this chosen idea. This will be a first draft.

Think you're finished? Go back to your poem draft and add imagery (metaphor, personification, simile, symbol, figurative language, allusion, alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, meter, etc.)

Period 4:

This morning, during period 4, please select up to two of your best pieces of writing so far this year (from September until now) that you would want to share with the world.

Details about the event:

1. You may read up to 2 poems or 1 short story (no longer than 3 minutes, please)
2. You must introduce yourself and let your audience know what you are planning on reading.
Example: "Hello, I am Mr. Craddock and I will be reading 2 poems tonight entitled: Poem #1 and Untitled Poem #347."
3. Always breathe and take a slight pause between transitions (that includes your greeting and the reading or performance of your selection(s))
4. Perform your poems or stories with energy, volume, and effective speech techniques. You should be using the techniques and skills we have been discussing in class to communicate your idea (your poem/story) to your audience.

REMEMBER: Effective performance is based on a few things:

• 1. Preparation (rehearsal) -- knowing what you are saying and why.
• 2. Voice (how you sound: volume, pacing, pitch, tone, elocution, and appropriateness of voice)
• 3. Character (how you portray a character both vocally and physically)
• 4. Energy
• 5. Making choices. A good performer makes deliberate choices about voice, character, energy, tone, and rehearses these choices to deliver a solid performance.

After you select your pieces, please do the following to prepare your work for a public reading:

• Highlight the best lines in your work. I should see a yellow glow over some of your best lines when you are rehearsing. (Be selective: not everything you wrote is your best line...)
• Bold important or key lines or words in your draft that you might want to stress.
• Italicize changes in tone in your story, or changes in setting--(that includes location, time, and weather or season), or changes in point of view (POV).
• Underline dialogue. (Not the tags--just the dialogue lines...!)

Use your time in the lab to complete this step of the rehearsal process. I will be collecting your "scripts" for Ms. Gamzon. She will be rehearsing with you as well. You will receive credit for completing the bulleted activity above.

FAQ's about the COFFEEHOUSE:

Q: What should I pick?
A: The performance is to show you off to the public. We like to celebrate the fact that you created something out of nothing, wrote down your ideas, and are furthering your education. As such, please pick a piece of work that you are PROUD of. Look over your work that you have done from September until now and pick a piece that you feel best represents you and your talent.

Q: Do I have to perform a poem?
A: No. Listening to 16 students perform the same type of poem is maddening. You can choose: Your human interest story, your prologue story, your House on Mango Street vignettes, your 500 word short story, your slam poem, your poetry walk poem, or any poem assignment we've done, or any other fiction or script assignment we asked you to write. You can even perform a piece of writing we did NOT ask you to write, provided that you are proud of it and want to perform it.

A helpful hint: please select only one piece to perform as a requirement. This should be your top choice. Then select 1 other piece that you MIGHT want to perform. You will have about 3 minutes to deliver your reading performance. If might select 1 vignette or short story, or 1-2 poems, and/or a combination, provided you spend no more than 3 minutes for your performance.

Q: So, I just go and read, is that it?
A: No. All performances need rehearsing. To help you prepare for the event, we will spend Monday (and possibly Tuesday) rehearsing for next Wednesday night (Nov. 15). To help prepare, make some decisions about your piece. What moods happen in the story, what rate of speaking is most appropriate, which words will you stress, where will you pause, when can you make direct eye-contact, etc.? Decide and then rehearse.

Q: What time do I have to be there?
A: 6:45. It is sometimes helpful to get to a performance a few minutes before you have to perform so that you can get yourself ready. The Ensemble Theatre will be open at 6:30 for you to prepare.

Q: How long is the performance? Can I leave after I read?
A: The performance lasts about an hour and a half usually (depending on how many readers read--you will be joined by other creative writing majors in other grades--but you are the header. This coffeehouse is meant to introduce our Freshman class to the school/community/world). Please plan on staying for the entire performance. It is rude to leave after you've read. Tell your parents this is a requirement. You ARE graded for this performance! Refreshments are served after the performance. Please join us for those.

Next class, we will be rehearsing in the Ensemble Theater. Make sure your final choices are prepared by Monday. You will turn in a copy of your prepared script Monday. See above!

HOMEWORK: None. The end of the marking period is tomorrow, Nov. 9. Any work missing will become a permanent score of zero for this marking period's grade. Turn in any missing work!

Fences Quiz; Poetry Drafts; Slam Poem Draft

During period 3, please complete the Fences Quiz.

When you finish, please type up any poem drafts you wrote from last class or from homework. Turn these drafts in by Wednesday. Make sure your name is on the draft!

During period 4, let's discuss imagery again and slam poetry.

To IMPROVE your poetry, you all need to use IMAGERY. Imagery is the backbone of contemporary poetry. Without it, a poem often fails.

But what is it?

IMAGERY: Is the careful use of vivid or figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, allusion, etc.) to represent objects, actions, or ideas that are otherwise abstract (love, death, sorrow, freedom, etc.) This representation is often VISUAL, for it helps create a picture in a listener or reader's mind. The only way to create a visual picture is to be specific with your noun usage.

Imagery can also be auditory (sound) with the use of alliteration, assonance, consonance, and other techniques like rhyme and rhythm.

Please examine this example of imagery:

On a starry winter night in Portugal, where the ocean kissed the southern shore...

Descriptive words: starry, winter, southern
Specific NOUNS: night, Portugal, ocean, shore
Personification: ocean kissed the southern shore... 

More examples (similes):

• He fumed and charged like an angry bull.
• He fell like an old tree crippled in a storm.

And another example (metaphor):

• Her blue eyes were the sky in summer.

Examples of figurative language and allusion.

NOTE: YOU MUST USE IMAGERY IN YOUR POETRY! Otherwise, it may be terrible as an Egyptian plague. Imagery is a tool. Use it!

A Brief Guide to Slam Poetry

Taken from Poets.org.

"One of the most vital and energetic movements in poetry during the 1990s, slam has revitalized interest in poetry performance. Poetry began as part of an oral tradition, and movements like the Beats and the poets of Negritude were devoted to the spoken and performed aspects of their poems. This interest was reborn through the rise of poetry slams across America; while many poets in academia found fault with the movement, slam was well received among young poets and poets of diverse backgrounds as a democratizing force. This generation of spoken word poetry is often highly politicized, drawing upon racial, economic, and gender injustices as well as current events for subject manner.

A slam itself is simply a poetry competition in which poets perform original work alone or in teams before an audience, which serves as judge. The work is judged as much on the manner and enthusiasm of its performance as its content or style, and many slam poems are not intended to be read silently from the page. The structure of the traditional slam was started by construction worker and poet Marc Smith in 1986 at a reading series in a Chicago jazz club. The competition quickly spread across the country, finding a notable home in New York City at the Nuyorican Poets Café."

Please view these examples of slam poems being performed (notice how the poets perform these poems...you will be performing too next week!):
Poem #1
Poem #2
Poem #3
Poem #4
Poem #5

Slam Poetry often uses topics or themes that are politically or emotionally charged. Slam poets often write with a social comment to make or share with an audience.

How can you be a poet for social change?

Brainstorming: Start with your journal. Make a list of things you believe, things that make you mad, or things that you feel go unnoticed by others, things that are important to you. Write for 5 minutes. Try to fill a page or two.

Now, look over your list and choose the topic that you feel may be the most interesting to an audience. Write a poem based on this chosen idea. This will be a first draft.

Think you're finished? Go back to your poem draft and add imagery (metaphor, personification, simile, symbol, figurative language, allusion, alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, meter, etc.)

HOMEWORK: Write poems (see previous homework and topic handouts). Type up at least 3 of these drafts from your work in the lab and from the homework activities to turn in on Wednesday. We will be selecting material for the coffeehouse reading next class. 

Also,  your journals are due next class. Please prepare them.

Poetry Drafting: A Day of Inspiration

We are going to write many drafts of poems in our journal today. Let's start with an exercise:

A poem is...

In your journal write what a poem is in a poetic way. Use specific nouns and active verbs to get at the "feeling" or "meaning" or "sense of" poetry and what it means to YOU. Take 3 minutes and write your draft in your journal.

For example: "Poetry is..." by Emilio Villa

Literally, or denotatively, a poem is a piece of writing, often having figurative language and lines, that suggest rhythm and image. We use figurative language when our writing goes beyond the "actual meanings of words (denotation) so that the reader gains new insights into the objects or subjects" in our draft.

Poems should utilize imagery (an appeal to the senses by using metaphor, simile, assonance/consonance, alliteration, symbol, personification, onomatopoeia, specific nouns/active verbs, figurative language); they do not need to rhyme. They should create a specific picture or image in the mind of the reader or listener. 

All poem drafts should have a meaning, a theme. There are 4 themes found in poems (sometimes more than one of these 4 themes is found in a single poem!)

Poems are always about:

• Human life
• Death
• Nature
• Love

Make a list of subject matter that you might write a poem about in your journal...Take 3 minutes.

Now let's take a look at Shmoop's explanation of what a poem is all about.

Get it? Questions? 

Poems should have a structure. They look different sitting on a page. They are not written like prose is written. They are special. However, they should be written using punctuation. Paragraphs in poems are called stanzas. When we change topic or scene, we can start a new stanza. 

Poems are written using line breaks. Line breaks are important--because they mean something in a poem. A long line slows the pace of your poem. A short line speeds up the pace of your poem.

Structure: Dice poem exercise... Get ready to write. Follow these rules:

• Select a subject from your journal list.
• Select 2 dice from the pile.
• Roll both dice to determine the # of lines for your poem.
• As you write each line, roll both dice to determine the number of words in each line of the poem.
• Write that poem in your journal. 

Take 10 minutes to do this.

Return to the lab. Use the "poem starter" lists to write as many drafts of poems as you can for the rest of class. When you finish one prompt, try a new subject or topic and write another draft. You can write in your journal, or type up your work. Either works.

Options from last class:

•  #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem from that character's perspective. 
• Try a poem starter: "When I..." followed by what that character did and how that affected his/her family. "When I married you, Troy, I swore I'd be true..." or "When I played ball with those white boys, I aimed every ounce of my being toward the fence..." or "When I built that fence..." or "When I blow my horn God will open the clouds of heaven above..." etc.
• Option #2: Fences keep things safe from the outside world or protect a family, but also trap a person from obtaining or getting what they want. Pick an inanimate object like a fence or wall or barrier of some sort that represents a human shortcoming or human flaw or restriction or boundary keeping the speaker from what he/she wishes to get or achieve. A problem with grades or money, for example, can be a barrier. It might also be a broken window or a stalled car or some other object. Use the object to explain how the speaker of the poem interprets their situation--what's keeping them back? Write about this conflict. See the following poems as examples:
• Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Fences by Pat Mora
• Border by Gillian Clarke
• The Boundary by Bei Dao
• Other fence poems

HOMEWORK: Complete Fences and review the plot, story, characters, symbols, themes, etc. There will be a quiz on this play next class. Keep writing your poem drafts. The more you write, the more you'll practice writing something truly unique and creative.

To that end, please read the handout and complete exercises in your journal (or type them up for your portfolio...) Pg. 8, 20, 22, & 30 have exercises you should complete in your journal.

Journals are due Wednesday, next week.

Collaborative Play Project Draft Due; Poem Options; Conclusion of Fences

Lab: (until 10:00)

Collaborative Play Project Script draft due. Your play scripts are due by 10:00.  Please make sure you proofread and check your grammar--put periods/end punctuation on the ends of sentences, capitalize proper nouns and the beginnings of words in sentences, spellcheck, etc. Help each other do this.

Remember, as well, that each of your characters (protagonist and antagonist) should have a monologue to help provide characterization.

If you finish early, try the following poetry exercise (our next unit is poetry...)

• Option #1: Choose a character from Fences (Rose, Troy, Gabe, Lyons, Cory, Bono, Raynelle, etc.); write a poem from that character's perspective. 
• Try a poem starter: "When I..." followed by what that character did and how that affected his/her family. "When I married you, Troy, I swore I'd be true..." or "When I played ball with those white boys, I aimed every ounce of my being toward the fence..." or "When I built that fence..." or "When I blow my horn God will open the clouds of heaven above..." etc.
• Option #2: Fences keep things safe from the outside world or protect a family, but also trap a person from obtaining or getting what they want. Pick an inanimate object like a fence or wall or barrier of some sort that represents a human shortcoming or human flaw or restriction or boundary keeping the speaker from what he/she wishes to get or achieve. A problem with grades or money, for example, can be a barrier. It might also be a broken window or a stalled car or some other object. Use the object to explain how the speaker of the poem interprets their situation--what's keeping them back? Write about this conflict. See the following poems as examples:
• Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Fences by Pat Mora
• Border by Gillian Clarke
• The Boundary by Bei Dao
• Other fence poems

At 10:00, we will go next door to complete Fences. Sign up for a role to read, please.

HOMEWORK: If we do not finish the play in class, please read the end of the play as homework. Otherwise, none.

FYI: Your journal will be due next week!

Fences: Day 3; Collaborative Play Project (adding characterization)

Period 3: Fences

Act Two, Scene One from the film version; Act Two, Scene One (from the Broadway production)--this is drama...view and evaluate the performance. What does film do for a story that plays don't or vice versa? What's special about a theatrical performance?

READING: Get into groups of 2-3 (choose your partners that you are writing your play scenes with. If you are writing alone, join another student who is also writing alone to form a group of 2-3).

Read out loud: Act 2: Scenes 1-3 (pg. 67-79)--start on page 67 with Gabe's exit.

When you complete your reading out loud, please return to the lab to work on your play projects (and/or homework). 

Lab:

Continue your collaborative play drafts. These drafts will be due Tuesday, Oct. 31.

• Make sure you add characterization in your play drafts to develop your character! (see the previous post for details...)
• Your protagonist should have at least 1 monologue!
• Your antagonist should have at least 1 monologue!

HOMEWORK: Please take notes in your journal and research to find information about:

In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about it here.

• The Negro League
• Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige

The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help you:

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

Bring your Fences scripts back with you to next class so we can finish reading the play together. 

Fences: Act 2

Fences:

When an author develops a character, he/she relies on characterization. Characterization is based on four distinct things:

• What a character says or thinks about him/herself
• What another character says or thinks about the character
• What the character does (the actions the character does and the choices he/she makes)
• The details or physical description the author or narrator gives us. In this case, what is revealed in the STAGE DIRECTIONS of the play script. 

Let's take the first 10-15 minutes of today's class please take a look at these scenes from Fences. In the first clip, we'll see two different versions played first by James Earl Jones and then by Denzel Washington. Compare/contrast the two versions. Note the reaction by the audience as well as the performance.

• Act One, Scene Three (different performances...)
• Fighting Death (Act One)
• Act Two, Scene One from the film version; Act Two, Scene One

Act 2: Scenes 1-3 (pg. 59-79)

Lab:

Please take notes in your journal and research to find information about:

In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about it here.

• The Negro League
• Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige

The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help you:

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

Continue your collaborative play drafts. These will be due Friday, Oct. 27.

HOMEWORK: None.

Fences; Collaborative Play Project (con't)

Period 3:

After our quiz on the first two scenes in August Wilson's play Fences, please continue to work on the collaborative coming-of-age play script project. See previous post for more details.

While you are waiting for your partner to finish the test, please take notes in your journal and research to find information about:

In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about it here.

• The Negro League
• Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige

The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help you:

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

At 10:00 we will stop writing and move next door to continue reading Scene 3 of Fences together. Sign up for a part to read during class as bonus participation credit.

• Act One, Scene Three

HOMEWORK: If we do not complete it in class, please finish Act 1 of the play Fences.

Film Evaluations; Collaborative Play Project; Fences: Scene 1

Period 3:

View and evaluate 3 of the following student human interest videos.

Use the handout rubric for presentations to write a short review of 3 of your peers. Write your review with language in the rubric and give some praise and criticism to your 3 peers. Do these separately. 1 review for 1 peer three times. Each review should be about 1 paragraph in length.

Hand your critique in with your name and the name of the person you are reviewing when you have completed your viewing:

• Alayza
• Madison
• Tali
• Wesley
• Degraj
• Valerie
• Michelle
• Tia

Collaborative play project:

• Work alone or with a partner for this assignment. If you need a partner, let me know and I'll help you find one. I'd prefer that you work together with a partner, but some of you are not ready to be friendly or work collaboratively. You can choose what's best for you.
• Using the four stages of the coming of age story and the 9 characteristics of a coming of age story (see above), write a short play in which a young protagonist comes into conflict with a parent or authority figure. The young protagonist should learn a valuable lesson or "mature" by the end of the play/scene. 
• Remember that plays are all about conflict. Your play scene should consist of 2 characters: a young protagonist and an authority figure or parent. Each character should in some way conflict with one another. 
• Keep your play in one setting or scene.
• One partner should play and write the dialogue for one character (for example, the young protagonist). 
• The other partner should play and write the dialogue for the other character in the scene. 
• Write your draft in your google drive so you can share the file (without having to be right next to your partner). Share email addresses so you both can work on the file at the same time.
• Write your play in what you know or remember as play format. For advanced students, you can find proper play format at this link.
• This project is not due yet.

4 stages of the coming of age story:

• REALIZATION -- changing, emotional and mental preparation, growing, physical changes
• REMOVAL -- change of status quo or familiar environment; separation from support units (family, friends, social institutions), experimentation with "forbidden" issues/activities--testing the limits of support units/social institutions, breaking rules/laws or beliefs, etc.
• CHALLENGE --- proving oneself; overcome a major problem or resolve a major conflict (killing the boss monster, growing mature, taking on responsibility, etc.)
• REINTEGRATION - protagonist comes back into society; character undergoes a rebirth, new status, or new understanding or epiphany of his/her situation.

Nine Characteristics of a Coming of Age experience or story

1. Usually the protagonist is between the ages of 12-18, but can be younger
2. Adults are either "bad guys" or not important--they represent society or laws or rules--the natural order of things; in some stories a parent is missing, absent, or dead. Authority figures are often antagonists to the protagonist. (see below)
3. Usually involves a journey of some sort (this can by a physical, mental, or spiritual journey)
4. Protagonist must confront his/her fears or weaknesses
5. Conflicts with a parent /guardian/authority figure
6. Protagonist learns something important (usually about him/herself)
7. There are usually a series of tests or challenges that the protagonist must face and overcome
8. The ending may be bittersweet--there is often a loss of innocence as a protagonist matures
9. Scarification (there are often scars left--physical or/and emotional), but these "wounds" mark the protagonist as a hero--he/she has come through the "storm" and is "wiser" for the experience. 

Around 10:00, please bring yourself to a stopping point. We will be getting our next play: Fences by August Wilson from the library. When you return from the library, please get into smaller groups of 4-5 and read Act 1, Scene 1 out loud. Use the lab or the classroom for your groups. (2 groups per room, please).

HOMEWORK: Please read the rest of scene 1 if you did not finish it during class, and read scene 2 on your own. Expect a short quiz on scenes 1 & 2 for Monday's class.

Human Interest Video Project Due!; Collaborative Coming of Age Play Draft

Complete your Human Interest Video Projects today in the lab. This is the last day we are working on this project together.

Please send me your video URL link in the COMMENT section of this post. 

If you finish with your film project before the end of class, move on to our next required project: Collaborative Coming of Age Play Script. See below for details.

4 stages of the coming of age story:

• REALIZATION -- changing, emotional and mental preparation, growing, physical changes
• REMOVAL -- change of status quo or familiar environment; separation from support units (family, friends, social institutions), experimentation with "forbidden" issues/activities--testing the limits of support units/social institutions, breaking rules/laws or beliefs, etc.
• CHALLENGE --- proving oneself; overcome a major problem or resolve a major conflict (killing the boss monster, growing mature, taking on responsibility, etc.)
• REINTEGRATION - protagonist comes back into society; character undergoes a rebirth, new status, or new understanding or epiphany of his/her situation.

Nine Characteristics of a Coming of Age experience or story

1. Usually the protagonist is between the ages of 12-18, but can be younger
2. Adults are either "bad guys" or not important--they represent society or laws or rules--the natural order of things; in some stories a parent is missing, absent, or dead. Authority figures are often antagonists to the protagonist. (see below)
3. Usually involves a journey of some sort (this can by a physical, mental, or spiritual journey)
4. Protagonist must confront his/her fears or weaknesses
5. Conflicts with a parent /guardian/authority figure
6. Protagonist learns something important (usually about him/herself)
7. There are usually a series of tests or challenges that the protagonist must face and overcome
8. The ending may be bittersweet--there is often a loss of innocence as a protagonist matures
9. Scarification (there are often scars left--physical or/and emotional), but these "wounds" mark the protagonist as a hero--he/she has come through the "storm" and is "wiser" for the experience. 

Collaborative play project:

• Work with a partner for this assignment. If you don't have a partner please let me know and I'll help you find one. 
• Using the four stages of the coming of age story and the 9 characteristics of a coming of age story (see above), write a short play in which a young protagonist comes into conflict with a parent or authority figure. The young protagonist should learn a valuable lesson or "mature" by the end of the play/scene. 
• Remember that plays are all about conflict. Your play should consist of 2 characters: a young protagonist and an authority figure or parent. Each character should in some way conflict with one another. 
• Keep your play in one setting.
• One partner should play and write the dialogue for one character (for example, the young protagonist). 
• The other partner should play and write the dialogue for the other character in the scene. 
• Write your draft in your google drive so you can share the file (without having to be right next to your partner). Share email addresses so you both can work on the file at the same time.
• Write your play in what you know or remember as play format. For advanced students, you can find proper play format at this link.
• This project is not due yet.

HOMEWORK: None.