HERE is a copy of a cleaned-up transcript of the chat. 

If you weren't unable to make it HERE IS A LINK to a Today's Meet room that will be open until tomorrow evening so you can still share your ideas about the poem. 

​Here are the questions from the chat: 

Q1: How might you describe the first two stanzas of the poem? What does it set us up to think and feel? What language is important?
 
Q2: The next few stanzas follow suit until the major shift occurs in lines 20-21. How does the poet create the shift? Take us from one feeling to another?
 
Q3: How does this poem characterize the expectations and emotions of its speaker, an “expecting” father and a mother-to-be?
 
Q4: If you were tasked with renaming the poem, what would you title it?

Additionally, ALL HOMEWORK including your Poetry Response Journal 1 is still due. I will accept your PRJ through email or the day we return. 

Otherwise, enjoy your SNOW DAY tomorrow!! 

​Hey Snow-People! I hope you're making all the snow-cream and snuggling like champs. HERE are the results of your book rankings from Thursday. 

If you weren't in class to read the blurbs, check out THIS slideshow. Or here it is below: 

Please keep in mind this list is TENTATIVE. I'm open to a few people switching and changing on a case-by-case basis. That said, everyone got their first, second, or third choice novel. 

Also, I want to mention a change to the assignment requirements. It must've been long-weekend hysteria when I typed up the task sheet, but it says four outside of class meetings are required but what I meant was TWO. ​You will meet (IRL or on the Internet) twice during your independent book study. You'll end up meeting around four times in class. Perhaps that explains the slip. 

So, stay warm, and READ, READ, READ. Make sure to review your somewhat lengthy weekend homework and MEET ME on Today's Meet Sunday at 7:00 PM to discuss poetry. 

OK, guys...

First off: DON'T FORGET TICKET MONEY FOR OTHELLO!!!!!!!!!!! :)

As explained in class (in a hurried yet hopefully non-Charlie Brown teacher voice), this week's readings are a bit different. Essentially you're doubled up. For the here and now and the rest of this week, read the Words and Music selections. 

This weekend, you'll need to do the following: 

1. Complete Poetry Response Journal number 1. 
2. Participate in a Today's Meet discussion. (*details below)
3. Read the selections for Speaker & Situation as outlined on your reading guide. 

​For the Today's Meet discussion, we will be discussing a few of the poems from the Ars Poetica and Words and Music sections in your anthology. You have two options. 

Option 1 (preferred): 
Log on to Today's Meet at 7:00 PM Sunday evening. Chat with the whoever shows up to the party until approx 7:30. Think of this as a private Twitter chat sans hashtag. 

Option 2: 
Go to Today's Meet and offer up your 2 cents on one of the poems or ideas you encountered in your reading. You must comment, question, and respond to a classmate. So this option might require you to check in more than once. 

FYI: I will assess this homework (read: make sure you've participated) through the transcript generated by Today's Meet. 

Lovely students. We are very gradually moving along with poetry. There have been delays, meetings, interrupted schedules, and a looming forecast. But! Let's look on the bright side. Your poetry presentations are almost wrapped, and as mentioned before (here and in class), your analyses were thorough and for some of you, inspired (here's looking at you, MC). 

Here's the pertinent information: 

CLICK HERE for your poetry reading guide

CLICK HERE for the Semester 2 Ind. Reading task 

Tomorrow in class, we'll get square on who wants to read what. Until then...get some rest, find your Zen, and read some poetry. :)

An ultra quick update: 

Music. Poetry. Interpretation. Analysis. Collaboration. Articulation. 

It was a good week. And as we spent time presenting our songs** and analysis to the class, I do want to say, there was a level of depth in your work that I'm not sure I've seen yet this year. 

HERE is the task sheet. 
HERE is the graphic organizer. 
HERE is the presentation evaluation. 

**6th period -- there are many presentations left to give, and many snowflakes forecasted to fall. Please consider presenting to 1st period AP Lit; a 10th grade class; a second lunch small group; an after-school small group. 

Well. We made it. 

We hit the ground running this week with your semester exam timed writings. We re-read, reviewed, annotated, analyzed, interpreted, and re-envisioned the AP timed writing as a road map. Oh, and we put the cherry on top with a Red Rover Rap Battle Literary Analysis game (thanks, J. Salf!). 

All in all, it was a productive week. 

Here are some things we took a look at: 

• The Cherry Bomb prompt
• The pick-a-passage-and-the-prompt-is-chopped-off The Other Paris; The Mulvaneys; The Pupil; McTeague 
• ​The Jane Austen prompt 

A few reminders: 

Novel Notes & Timed Writing Revisions due Monday
POETRY BEGINS NEXT WEEK, WHOOP! (Who's excited?! Get excited.)
$25 due for field trip by 1.22
Copy of Othello by 2.1

​Cheers!
​

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's officially 2016. You know what that means...(cue Pomp and Circumstance). 

Let's save the sentiment for class, yes?

I'm here to remind you about your first semester independent read! Although there's been no snowflakes or sleigh riding, I hope you've carved out some time for your classic. 
​
HERE is the task sheet. 

And below are a few more models from the wicked awesome The Millions. (Check out third video for sure...they discuss classics from their high school experience.) 

So far, I've heard from Miss Summer S. and her report on Kate Chopin's The Awakening is lovely and insightful! Remember that you can submit your book report to me through email, share with me on Google Drive, upload to OneDrive, share on​​ Twitter, or even text me (check Engrade for details). We're getting extreme here. :)