Monday, September 12, 2011
Literature Circles
Today we started discussing Dyson--Part 1: Childhood Chains. Many students had not completed the reading. Many students do not have their books. If you are behind, we will not wait for you.
Only one students who needed a peer review brought his SPHE essay in. Many students were still doing the essay. We have started the next section, Sentence Punctuation. We will talk about it briefly tomorrow.
If anyone has questions, my office hour is open for this. We cannot go over all the exercises in class. I will review the chapter tomorrow and again Wednesday. These are the times to make sure the exercises are done so you can ask questions if you don't understand.
Homework is to keep reading Dyson. Prepare for the Literature Discussion tomorrow. Communication is an art. Hosting or facilitating a discussion is an art. It is not easy, but the worksheet I gave students gives one areas to focus on when one doesn't know how to start. Stay on task.
Tomorrow the cyber-assignment will be to reflect on the discussion process: what you learned and how you plan to improve before the next discussion. I'd also like students to share any personal insight that developed as a direct response to this conversation or dialectic process.
Some students are still unclear re: a reading log.
Include: 1. A brief summary of the key ideas of the text. Include page numbers next to each entry. 2. Vocabulary or words one had to look up. 3. Questions 4. Background Research 5. Words or phrases one expecially loves (page numbers) 6. Key arguments raised and evidence used to support the argument 7. Does Dyson prove his thesis for the chapter or for the section? Be specific as to how. 8. Character profile. What important characters does Dyson raise in each section. Give a brief profile of that person.
One can have a separate page for this and add to it as Tupac unfolds. What other key characters are there? Afeni is another.
Only one students who needed a peer review brought his SPHE essay in. Many students were still doing the essay. We have started the next section, Sentence Punctuation. We will talk about it briefly tomorrow.
If anyone has questions, my office hour is open for this. We cannot go over all the exercises in class. I will review the chapter tomorrow and again Wednesday. These are the times to make sure the exercises are done so you can ask questions if you don't understand.
Homework is to keep reading Dyson. Prepare for the Literature Discussion tomorrow. Communication is an art. Hosting or facilitating a discussion is an art. It is not easy, but the worksheet I gave students gives one areas to focus on when one doesn't know how to start. Stay on task.
Tomorrow the cyber-assignment will be to reflect on the discussion process: what you learned and how you plan to improve before the next discussion. I'd also like students to share any personal insight that developed as a direct response to this conversation or dialectic process.
Some students are still unclear re: a reading log.
Include: 1. A brief summary of the key ideas of the text. Include page numbers next to each entry. 2. Vocabulary or words one had to look up. 3. Questions 4. Background Research 5. Words or phrases one expecially loves (page numbers) 6. Key arguments raised and evidence used to support the argument 7. Does Dyson prove his thesis for the chapter or for the section? Be specific as to how. 8. Character profile. What important characters does Dyson raise in each section. Give a brief profile of that person.
One can have a separate page for this and add to it as Tupac unfolds. What other key characters are there? Afeni is another.
