Seminar prep for the 21st and 22nd

Prompt:

Is the Narrative a declaration of freedom, as Wendell Phillips claims in his letter?

• Go back and RE-READ the letter from Phillips.  Then, consider the validity of that claim in terms of Douglass' text.  Use the ideas in Phillips' letter as a lens through which to analyze Douglass
• For EACH chapter in Douglass, discuss the idea that that section is a declaration of freedom.  Is the claim valid?  Why or why not?  Use evidence from both texts to support your ideas.
• Include page numbers for all evidence.

I will collect your seminar prep.

Sample Toulmin Argument essay (first published on November 12th)

http://www.excelsior.edu/media/oels/owl/ToulminArgument.pdf

The importance of ANNOTATION

The reader is able to ask questions, argue, mark important points, write down definitions, and identify passages requiring more study. Annotation makes the reader an active participant in the flow of the text.

Several factors stand out as the critical pieces for getting students to properly understand and implement annotation as a consistent tool in their reading.

When starting annotations with students, here is what every teacher should make sure their students understand:

1. Annotations are a record of your thinking. If you’re thinking, make a record of it by writing down what scuttled through your brain.
2. Annotations make remembering your thoughts much easier. In fact, you don’t even have to remember what you thought -- the paper will remember for you!
3. The act of annotating is a physical interaction with the text. Because you’re interacting with the text with both your hands and your eyes, the multisensory experience makes a much stronger imprint on your mind.
4. Annotation is appropriate for ANY subject. It’s not just an English class skill, it’s a reading skill – and reading happens in every course.

Also, “annotations” means much more than merely highlighting.  It is a dynamic way of interacting with the text. In general, annotation refers to two related things:

1. Symbols = These are the physical interactions on the text itself. These might include highlighting, boxing and circling words/phrases, underlining, stars, arrows, question marks, numbers and bullets.
2. Marginalia = These are the words a reader writes next to the text in the margins that record thoughts.

The trick to good annotation is that both symbols and marginalia should be used in conjunction with one another. As students highlight or underline a phrase, for example, they should also write a note in the margin that records why that phrase stood out to them. Similarly, if they have a thought they write in the margin, they should physically mark the specific words and phrases that inspired that thought.

As students are required to fill their readings with their thoughts, they realize that they have a lot going on in their mind while they read. Students who don’t annotate will, at best, remember only one or two of the thoughts that occurred to them while reading.

Students who do annotate will find that nearly ALL of their thoughts get recorded and, even better, that the very act of writing and thinking leads them to have even more interesting ideas about their text.

In general, here are the main types of notes students should record in any passage for any subject:

Questions 
Our minds constantly ask questions about things we don’t understand, things we are predicting, things we are trying to make sense out of. Recording these questions while reading will help students’ minds automatically search for answers.

Connections
The more students can connect the information they read to what they already know about themselves, their world, or other readings, the more the passages in front of them will make sense.

Interpretations
The meaning or depth of a passage may not be stated at the surface level of the text, but after thinking and inference, it is important that students identify the puzzle pieces and start putting them together.

Summaries
 Even just putting something into their own words helps to clarify and solidify its meaning in a student’s mind. Writing paraphrases of information in the margins and at the end of sections/chapters helps enormously to enhance understanding.

Patterns
As lists, series, sequences, chronologies, or motifs are identified within a text, it’s important for students to use numbers, bullets, or their own method of annotation to organize the passage.

Words 
Individual words often hold a great deal of meaning, so making vocabulary words, course-specific terms, and unique diction choices stand out with annotation is essential.

It’s also just as important to tell students what kind of annotations to avoid:

• Notes without thoughts:  It’s easy to write an inane comment but not have an actual thought attached to it. Simply identifying a “simile” serves little purpose; instead, students should record a thought about why that simile is there.
• Personal reactions:  If a student is shocked or confused, writing “Wow!” or “Boring!” doesn’t warrant taking up space. Annotations are for thoughts worth remembering.
• One-word comments:  Like notes without thoughts, usually a one-word margin note just doesn’t depict enough thinking to justify the space it takes up.
• Notes without symbols or symbols without notes:  It’s important to use marginalia and symbols in conjunction with one another. They tag team to bring the passage to life.
• Too much of anything :  Too much chocolate makes you sick. The same is true with annotations: Although they are an extremely good tool, when a student highlights an entire page or paraphrases every sentence, the exercise becomes self-defeating.

Giving students the right understanding of annotation goes a long way towards helping them use it properly. Often, what students once reviled as a time-consuming task turns into an essential component of their reading that they both rely on and enjoy.

Annotation example

Annotation example: POETRY

REVISED December planner

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
4 Terms test Annotate Practice Short term homework:  annotated poem is due Wednesday	5 Competition Collect annotated poems Course descriptions for Senior year	6 Competition Collect annotated poems Course descriptions for Senior year	7 Poetry testing:   Regents Reading Comprehension / MC questions AND poetry annotation Read Douglass	8 Poetry testing:   Regents Reading Comprehension / MC questions AND poetry annotation Read Douglass
11 Form groups for Glossary assignment Discuss the readings to date with group—examine the binaries and discuss the implications and conclusions	12 Form groups for Glossary assignment Discuss the readings to date with group—examine the binaries and discuss the implications and conclusions	13 Continue with course descriptions Review and deconstruct The Crucible paper	14 Continue with course descriptions Review and deconstruct The Crucible paper	15 INDIVIDUAL Course Selection meetings Work on deconstruction of The Crucible paper OR Read and annotate Douglass in class
18 INDIVIDUAL Course Selection meetings Work on deconstruction of The Crucible paper Read and annotate Douglass in class	19 COLLECT FOLDERS WITH ANNOTATED PAPERS DOUGLASS  DUE NEXT CLASS Read or prep for seminar HOMEWORK: Seminar prep  Is the Narrative a declaration of freedom, as Wendell Phillips claims in his letter?	20 COLLECT FOLDERS WITH ANNOTATED PAPERS DOUGLASS  DUE NEXT CLASS Read or prep for seminar HOMEWORK: Seminar prep Is the Narrative a declaration of freedom, as Wendell Phillips claims in his letter?	21 Seminar discussion on Douglass:   Is the Narrative a declaration of freedom, as Wendell Phillips claims in his letter?	22 Seminar discussion on Douglass:   Is the Narrative a declaration of freedom, as Wendell Phillips claims in his letter?

Terms to consider when creating your Douglass chart(s)

Power:  The capacity either to effect changes or to prevent them from occurring

How is power used?
3 ways:  Economically, Politically, and Culturally

Economic use of power:  Who receives important resources and how those resources will be used
ex. Family; parents in power, control budget, what gets bought

Political use of power:  Who sets the conditions under which people are expected to live
ex. Family; curfews, limits who you can see and when you can go out

Cultural use of power:  Defining reality

ex. Media and schools shape our world views

Inequality:  Unequal distribution of values resources.  Societies formalize and institutionalize inequality

Intersectionality:  A type of analysis/framework used to examine social patterns and society and the social world (Have social hierarchies)

ex. White women on bottom of gender hierarchy but on top of the racial hierarchy

Perspective:  Interlocking system of inequality

Disciplinary domain of power:  Expressed through organizational protocol that hides the effects of racism and sexism under the canopy of efficiency, rationality and equal treatment

For your POL annotations:

There are two main forms of poetry: open and closed.

Closed form poetry, also known as fixed form, consists of poems that follow patterns of lines, meter, rhymes, and stanzas, whereas open form poetry does not. 

When writing a closed form poem, the poet follows specific rules to fit a model, such as a haiku, sonnet or villanelle ("Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night").

Allusion in Chapter VII of Douglass

This is a link to The Columbian Orator

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Columbian Orator, a collection of political essays, poems, and dialogues first published in 1797, was widely used in American schoolrooms in the first quarter of the 19th century to teach reading and speaking. Typical of many readers of that period, the anthology included many speeches celebrating "republican virtues" and promoting patriotism. The Columbian Orator is an example of progymnasmata, containing examples for students to copy and imitate. In his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, former slave and abolitionist writer Douglass describes how he "got hold" of a copy of the Columbian Orator at the age of twelve, with far-reaching consequences for his life.

The Columbian Orator became symbolic not only of human rights but also of the power of eloquence and articulation.

Poetry terms for test

Directions:  Look up the following terms—as they relate to poetry.  You will use these terms in our conversations and testing.

Speaker Subject Comparison Analogy Attitude

Allusions Sound Rhythm Stanza Form Analysis

Genre Mood Abstract / concrete language Diction:  connotation and denotation Figurative language

Binaries / Coding for the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

What do you see?	Now many times?	Positive	Negative

DUE AFTER BREAK

If you are able to complete the Great Thanksgiving Listen over Thanksgiving break, please submit the following when you return:

• The write up on my interview
• The title, summary, and keywords for YOUR interview
• The link to your interview 

If you are not able to complete your interview, please submit the write up on my interview; the remainder of the materials is due when you come back for December break.

Tentative NOVEMBER planner

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
6 Seminar discussion on "Young Goodman Brown" and The Crucible:  What are good and evil? Review the paper topic for The Crucible HOMEWORK:  the seminar de-briefing worksheet (located here, on the blog)	7 Seminar discussion on "Young Goodman Brown" and The Crucible:  What are good and evil? Review the paper topic for The Crucible HOMEWORK:  the seminar de-briefing worksheet (located here, on the blog)	8 Collect the seminar sheets Discuss the Toulmin method of argumentation Writing workshop:  pre-writing prompts Homework:  FULL draft of paper due next class	9 Collect the seminar sheets Discuss the Toulmin method of argumentation Writing workshop: pre-writing prompts Homework:  FULL draft or paper due next class	10 NO SCHOOL
13 Peer review	14 Peer review	15 Paper due Introduce the Great Thanksgiving Listen	16 Paper due Introduce the Great Thanksgiving Listen	17 Shortened block MEDIA CENTER Explore the GTL site Craft interview questions/prompts for interviewee Craft interview questions for me
20 MEDIA CENTER Explore the GTL site Craft interview questions/prompts for interviewee Craft interview questions for me	21 Interview me Review Keyboarding  101 Introduce the Narrative Homework:  Begin reading and coding selected excerpts	22 Interview me Review Keyboarding 101 Introduce the Narrative Homework: Begin reading and coding selected excerpts
27 Share out The Great Thanksgiving Listen experiences Introduce Poetry Out Loud Visit Poetry Out  Loud site Watch a video Listen to poetry Rules and eligibility Distribute vocabulary sheet Short term homework: test on terms and poetry anotation on MONDAY	28 Share out The Great Thanksgiving Listen experiences Introduce Poetry Out Loud Rules and eligibility Visit Poetry Out Loud site Watch a video Listen to poetry Distribute vocabulary sheet Short term homework: test on terms and poetry anotation on MONDAY	29 MEDIA CENTER Select poem Begin to annotate using "Annotating process for POL poem" sheet Practice reciting poem	30 MEDIA CENTER Select poem Begin to annotate using "Annotating process for POL poem" sheet Practice reciting poem	1 Terms test Annotate and practice poem