Plans for May 31 to June 3

Tuesday or Wednesday (A/B)

• View: Quack! 4.2 Vocabulary, second time viewing
• Quick Write: Act 1 Scene 2, A Raisin in the Sun

o   In Act 1 Scene 2, Asagai calls Beneatha “Alaiyo,” and explains that the word means “One for Whom Bread – Food – Is Not Enough” in Yoruba.  Why does Asagai call her this?  What does he mean when he assigns her this nickname?  Conversely, what does Asagai mean to Bennie?  What does he symbolize?

• Perform: We will begin performing Act 2 Scene 1 as a class, pausing for discussion of key passages and plot developments.

o   Parts for Act 2 Scene 1: Ruth, Bennie, Walter, George, Mama, Travis

• Homework: If necessary, students will finish Act 2 Scene 1 of A Raisin in the Sun for homework. 

Thursday or Friday (A/B)

• Quack Quiz: Volume 4, Part 2
• With Partners: Students will pair up to complete a chart, mapping the progress of each character’s dreams and aspirations.  They will also discuss with their partners a few important objects/events in the play (“Eat your eggs,” “Bennie’s hair,” “Mama’s houseplant,” etc.) and their potential meaning/significance. 
• Discuss: A Raisin in the Sun Guides
• Perform: We will begin performing Act 2 Scene 2 as a class, pausing for discussion of key passages and plot developments.

o   Parts for Act 2 Scene 2: Bennie, George, Mama, Ruth, Johnson, Walter, Travis

• Closing Activity: Quack! 5.1 Vocabulary, first time viewing
• Homework: If necessary, students will finish Act 2 Scene 2 of A Raisin in the Sun for homework. 

Plans for May 23 to May 27

Monday (B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapters 8 and 9 of The Great Gatsby
• Type I Quick Write: What did you think of the novel?  What did you like?  What didn’t you like?  Why?  Select at least one quote to reflect on. 
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapters 8 and 9 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 
• Gatsby Jeopardy!: Students will participate in a review game to prepare for next class’s summative assessment for the novel.  Students must take notes during the review game. 
• Closing Activity: Quack! Volume 4, Part 1 (second viewing)
• Homework: Study for The Great Gatsby final test and your Quack 4.1 quiz!

Tuesday or Wednesday (A/B)

• Quiz: Quack! Volume 4.1
• Unit Test: The Great Gatsby
• Watch: “The Harlem Renaissance,” a segment from New York Up-Close: Immigration and the Industrial Revolution

o   http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=C88D94D5-5B3C-4B0F-88AF-FC18E094BA09

• Full-Class: Students will read and analyze Langston Hughes’s “A Dream Deferred.” 
• With a partner: Students will read “Lorraine Hansberry” by Peter Altman (p. 13-16, Kansas City Repertory Theatre).  They will be responsible for highlighting or underlining important passages and must be prepared to discuss with the class.

o   http://www.kcrep.org/box_office/documents/PlayGuide.pdf

• Discuss: “Lorraine Hansberry”
• Perform: We will begin performing Act 1 Scene 1 as a class.

o   Parts for Act 1 Scene 1: Ruth, Walter, Travis, Beneatha, Mama

• Homework: Finish Act 1 Scene 1 for homework.  Be prepared for a reading check quiz next class!

Thursday or Friday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Act 1 Scene 1, A Raisin in the Sun.
• Perform: We will begin performing Act 1 Scene 2 as a class, pausing for discussion of key passages and plot developments.

o   Parts for Act 1 Scene 2: Travis, Mama, Beneatha, Walter, Ruth, Asagai

• Closing Activity: Quack! 4.2 Vocabulary, first time viewing
• Homework: If necessary, students will finish Act 1 Scene 2 of A Raisin in the Sun for homework. 

Plans for May 16 to May 20

Monday or Tuesday (A/B)

• Quack! Quiz: Volume 3, Part 2
• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 6 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 
• Passage Focus: “The Platonic form” and the American Dream
• Real-Life Connections: “The High Cost of Poverty: Why the Poor Pay More” by DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702053.html
• Type II Quick Write
• Discuss: Quick Write responses

• If time permits: We will begin reading chapter 7 as a class.
• Homework: Read chapter 7 for next class.  Be prepared for a reading check quiz and don’t forget to highlight/annotate 5 key passages!

Wednesday or Thursday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 7 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 

• Close Reading: 131-133
• Passage Focus: “You loved me too?” (p. 132)

• Type I Quick Write
• Read: We will begin reading chapter 8 as a class, pausing for discussion of key themes and plot developments.
• Closing Activity: Quack! Volume 4, Part 1 (first viewing)
• Homework: Read chapters 8 and 9 for next class.  Be prepared for a reading check quiz and don’t forget to highlight/annotate 5 key passages in each chapter!

Friday or Monday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapters 8 and 9 of The Great Gatsby
• Type I Quick Write
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapters 8 and 9 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 
• Gatsby Jeopardy!: Students will participate in a review game to prepare for next class’s summative assessment for the novel.  Students must take notes during the review game. 
• Closing Activity: Quack! Volume 4, Part 1 (second viewing)
• Homework: Study for The Great Gatsby final test and your Quack 4.1 quiz!  Be sure to bring your textbooks for next class!

Plans for May 9 to May 13

Monday (B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 3 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 

• Type I Quick Write: Describe the scene. (Image of beach in Mexico projected on the screen, tropical music playing in background).  Students will have five minutes to write.
• Share and analyze differences in responses
• PowerPoint: Presentation on Sensory Details with guided questions
• Pause for questions and examples from the class
• Group Challenge: Students will get into groups of no more than four to complete a writing exercise using sensory details. (approx. 20 min.)
• Discuss: “Group Challenge” paragraphs with the class
• Type II Quick Write: “Individual Challenge” assignment – Students will have 10 minutes to write their own “scenes” using only the five senses to describe the activity or scenario.
• Discuss: Students will have the opportunity to share their “Individual Challenge” paragraphs, and the class will attempt to name the activity or scenario being described.

• If time permits: We will begin reading chapter 4 as a class.
• Homework: Read chapter 4 for next class.  Be prepared for a reading check quiz and don’t forget to highlight/annotate 5 key passages!  Also, you MUST have an electronic copy of your article saved to your H Drive or emailed to yourself.  You will need this next class to work with your group!  You must email your articles to me if you are going to be absent!

Tuesday and Wednesday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby
• Small Groups: Key passages from Chapter 4 – Who is the real Jay Gatsby?  Students will break into groups and analyze Gatsby’s account of his past, Wolfsheim’s account of Gatsby’s past, Jordan’s retelling of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, and Jordan’s retelling of Gatsby’s request.
• For the remainder of the block: Students will work on the laptops with their partners to put together their newspapers in one document, using either MS Word, MS Publisher, or the “Printing Press” tool from ReadWriteThink.org.  They will also be responsible for creating their political cartoons and crossword puzzles for their newspapers. 
• Homework: Read chapter 5 and be prepared for a reading check quiz.  Highlight 5 significant quotes from the novel.  Final newspaper projects due next class!  If you are going to be absent, be sure to email me your newspaper and political cartoon/crossword puzzle so that it is not late!

Thursday and Friday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby
• Close Reading Exercise: With a partner, students will be assigned one of three sections from chapter 5 (p. 81-85 – before Daisy’s visit, p. 86-90 – Daisy visits Nick’s house, p. 91-96 – Daisy visits Gatsby’s house). They will analyze the significance of what is said in the conversations between Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick, and also (more importantly) what is not said.  They will be responsible for answering the following question: what does this reveal about each character’s personality and values?
• Discuss: Close reading exercise responses
• Type II Quick Write: Analyzing the significance of “Ain’t We Got Fun”

o   Peggy Lee sings “Ain’t We Got Fun”

o   http://youtu.be/A7wKHIYysjY

• Circle Up: We will begin reading chapter 6 as a class, pausing for discussion of key passages and plot developments. 
• Closing Activity: Quack 4.1 first viewing
• Homework: Read chapter 6 and be prepared for a reading check quiz.  Highlight and annotate 5 significant quotes from the novel.

Plans for May 2 to May 6

Monday or Tuesday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby
• View: Students will watch a quick recap of chapter 1 on the Rocketbooks Review before circling up for some close reading. 
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 1 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 
• Recap: What is literary modernism?  Where did we find modernism in chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby? 
• PowerPoint: I will present a brief PowerPoint presentation for the class on F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda’s chaotic life together.  We will discuss the parallels between the real-life story and the one that Fitzgerald creates in the text.
• Type 1 Quick Write
• Read: We will then begin reading chapter two together as a class (the description of the valley of ashes until “Hello Wilson, old man”) (p. 27 to half of 29).
• Closing Activity: Select one passage from chapter two thus far that you found significant.  Share your thoughts with the person sitting next to you and be prepared to share with the class. 
• Homework: Finish reading chapter two for next class.  You will have a reading check quiz and I will be checking your 5 highlights/notes for the chapter.  Your individual articles (and accompanying notes) are also due next class!  Be sure to have an electronic copy of your article saved in your email, on your H drive, or on a flash drive!

Wednesday or Thursday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 2 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 
• Visualize and Draw: Students will continue our discussion of chapter two by sketching the valley of ashes as it is described in the beginning of chapter two.
• Discuss: Students will share their visual interpretations of the Valley of Ashes with the class, using textual evidence for support. 

·         Close Reading: We will then begin reading the first two and a half pages of chapter three.  As we begin reading, we will pause after each paragraph.  The organization of this passage is conveniently organized so that each paragraph corresponds with a different sensory detail.  (Fitzgerald first describes the sights, then the smells, then the tastes, and finally the sounds)  I will ask the students what senses they think Fitzgerald is using in each passage.  I will also tell them that this is a writing technique that we will discuss further next class. 

·         Watch and Compare: Students will each receive a copy of the handout: “Sensory Details in the Film Version of Chapter Three.”  As they watch, I will ask them to write down a list of the images that appear in the movie along with the corresponding senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).  We will then compare the sensory details in the novel to the depiction in the movie as we watch.  (DVD CH3 27:50 – 39:14)

·         Homework: Finish reading chapter three (from “Gatsby’s butler …” on 55 to end of chapter).  Be prepared for a reading check quiz and don’t forget to highlight 5 important passages!

Friday or Monday (A/B)

• Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby
• Circle up and Discuss: Key passages from Chapter 3 – What did you pick to highlight and why? 

• Type I Quick Write: Describe the scene. (Image of beach in Mexico projected on the screen, tropical music playing in background).  Students will have five minutes to write.
• Share and analyze differences in responses
• PowerPoint: Presentation on Sensory Details with guided questions
• Pause for questions and examples from the class
• Group Challenge: Students will get into groups of no more than four to complete a writing exercise using sensory details. (approx. 20 min.)
• Discuss: “Group Challenge” paragraphs with the class
• Type II Quick Write: “Individual Challenge” assignment – Students will have 10 minutes to write their own “scenes” using only the five senses to describe the activity or scenario.
• Discuss: Students will have the opportunity to share their “Individual Challenge” paragraphs, and the class will attempt to name the activity or scenario being described.

• If time permits: We will begin reading chapter 4 as a class.
• Homework: Read chapter 4 for next class.  Be prepared for a reading check quiz and don’t forget to highlight/annotate 5 key passages!  Also, you MUST have an electronic copy of your article saved to your H Drive or emailed to yourself.  You will need this next class to work with your group!  You must email your articles to me if you are going to be absent!