Today, we returned to the computer lab so students could finish up the three assigned Springboard assessments and use class time to write their cultural identity essays--draft due to Turnitin by midnight on Friday.
On Monday, I returned graded work. Students should check Skyward for updated grades. Next, I introduced the first major writing assignment of the semester--Cultural Identity Essay. This essay is worth up to 30 "essay" points. Here are the due dates: Prewriting is due on Wed., 9/30. There are questions on page 45 to help guide prewriting.
Students used the rest of the class period to get started on their prewriting.
On Tuesday, students completed an online assessement and had the opportunity to begin drafting their essays. Following an exciting game to review this unit's academic vocabulary and literary terms, we returned to yesterday's reading selection--"By Any Other Name" by Santha Rama Rau. We discussed the cultural elements as well as student annotations.
We had just enough time to read the interview/essay "Multiculturalism Explained in One Word: HAPA (41-42). Students were assigned to complete the SOAPStone chart on page 43 for homework. Goal: Analyze cultural elements in a memoir.
To start off class, students shared their poems and pictures. Then, following a quick background lecture on Gandhi and India under British rule, students read "By Any Other Name." We read and discussed the first page together. Students finished the reading independently. Due Monday--Read and annotate "Multiculturalism...: and complete the SOAPStone Chart on page 43. Following a quick review of Kahlo and the painting we studied yesterday, we read a poem--"Legal Alien" by Pat Mora. Following a discussion of the poem, students had about 25 minutes to choose one of the prompts on p. 33 to complete a poetic or artistic rendition of their cultural identity. Most students chose to continue to work on this assignment for homework, and I'm looking forward to the results!
Goal: Compare/contrast the representation of a subject in different media.
Following a quick reading quiz on the Frida Kahlo biography assigned for homework, students completed the OPTIC graphic organizer to interpret and understand Kaho's "Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States." I was so impressed by the level of understanding the students revealed during our class discussion. No homework! Learning Goal: Introduce the idea of art as a representation of culture.
Students turned in their conflict/theme essays before we launched into a very easy quiz on verbal phrases. We went over the quiz, and students had the opportunity to earn extra points for participating in the review. Then, we watched a short film clip of the piano recital scene based on "Two Kinds," an excerpt from the novel The Joy Luck Club. Next, we watched part of PBS documentary about Frida Kahlo which served as an introduction to the biography in the textbook (pages 27-28). There will be a quiz on this reading at the start of tomorrow's class. Goal: Analyze how conflict in a short story is used to develop theme.
Following a discussion of "Two Kinds," students completed a graphic organizer which generated examples to use on the literary analysis essay (3-paragraph response). The writing prompt is on page 26. Following a quick review of parts of speech and academic vocabulary, we finished reading the excerpt from The Joy Luck Club. For homework, students need to finish their annotations to prepare for tomorrow's in-class writing assignment.
Today, students worked on an exciting worksheet to practice and check for understanding on the three types of phrases they were introduced to yesterday. Then, we returned to "Two Kinds," an excerpt from the novel Joy Luck Club. Now, everyone should have read and annotated the first two "chunks."
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