ENG II/Unit 1
Ashley Lamb-Sinclair
August 19, 2015
• WELCOME! I am so glad you’re here!
• WARM UP: Reflect on the summer literacy
assignment—what did you enjoy about it? What
did you dislike? How might your definition of
literacy change after completing it? Explain.
• Share/discuss
• Icebreaker—share your favorite summer learning
experience
• Teacher/student introductions
• Group murder mystery assignment with video
• Quick reflection
• Remind students of summer reading assignment
and due date
My Background
• 4th year teaching at North
• 10 years teaching experience
• BA in English from the University of
Kentucky
• Spent junior year studying at California State
• M.Ed. in Secondary English Education from
the University of Kentucky
What I do other than this…
Murder
Mystery
• Task: Mr. Kelley was murdered. You must find the
murderer, the weapon, the time of the murder, the place
of the murder, and the motive.
• Use the clues within your group to solve the crime.
• When you believe you have the solution, and all group
members unanimously agree, you may present your
solution to me. If you have some of the correct
solutions, but are missing others, I will tell you that, but I
won’t tell you what is correct or incorrect.
• Two members of the group should use their phones to
record the group’s process, but those two members are
still required to participate fully in the process.
• Good luck!
August 20, 2015
• Warm up: What was difficult about yesterday’s
assignment? What was enjoyable about it? If
you were to do it again today, what would you
do to improve the experience? Explain.
• Share/discuss
• Group video viewing with graphic organizer
• Reflection and discussion
• Compass activity and reflection
Compass
Each group will respond to the following questions:
1. Why do you feel this sign represents you? Share some
examples.
2. How do you tend to react under pressure?
3. What kind of feedback have you received from others
about yourself?
4. How does this tendency work for or against you when
working with others in organizations or the community?
5. What do you think the implications are for you and your
leadership practice?
6. What light bulbs go on for you about your experience?
7. Is this helpful in trying to deal with others who are
different from yourself?
August 21, 2015
• Warm up: Jellybean test—You will choose a jellybean
from the bag. DO NOT eat it until I give permission!
While eating it, write a response expressing how you are
similar or different from the flavor you selected.
• Share/discuss
• Color personality test and origami
• Share with partners and complete Venn diagrams for
comparing and contrasting your personalities
• Syllabus homework assignment and discuss—Be sure to
sign up for Remind 101
• Summer reading assignment details
Origami
• Now that you know what color represents you, choose a
piece of paper in that color.
• We will view a video that will instruct us on folding the
paper into another form. Follow the instructions closely.
• Once you’ve created your origami design, number the
outside, then write adjectives on the first flap of it that
you believe represent you (and the color personality
profile, if you choose).
• Inside the design, briefly describe experiences you’ve
had that illustrate how that adjective represents you.
• When everyone has finished, we will sort ourselves
according to color, and then share our adjectives and
experiences with our peers.
August 24, 2015
• Warm up: Finish your origami assignment—3-5
minutes max
• Partner origami share
• Syllabus review and norm tree
• Share/discuss
• Song 1 lyric analysis and discussion
• Song 2 independent practice
• Compare/contrast exercise
August 25, 2015
• Warm up: Rolling Stone interviews while
taking notes
• Share/discuss
• Guided line analysis—read paragraph
• Mini-presentations of song comparison
assignment from yesterday
• Introduce Favorite Song Project
• Begin planning sheet for project
Partner Music
Interviews
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Before selecting a song for your project, interview a neighbor about his or her
musical interests and taste to help each other brainstorm. Use the following
questions as a guide, but feel free to ask follow-up questions. Take notes so that you
can trade recordings and help each other think through your project planning.
What do you listen to when you’re alone in your room or car? Why? What
feeling does this music provide you in this moment?
What do you listen to when you’re with your family? Why? What feeling does
this music provide you in this moment?
What do you listen to when you’re with various friends? Why? What feeling does
this music provide you in this moment?
What songs are really nostalgic for you and why? What are the images that come
to mind when you hear them?
What songs make you feel worked up, excited, ready for anything? Why? What
are the images that come to mind when you hear them?
What songs make you mellow and why? What images come to mind when you
hear them?
If there were a playlist to your life, what songs would be on it and why?
What about individual playlists like a summer playlist, a school day playlist, a best
day ever playlist? Provide explanations for each song you list.
Liner Notes
In "Dear Mama", Tupac Shakur employs slang, metaphor, and imagery in order
to illustrate how impoverished minorities have to find unique ways to overcome
their struggles.
Shakur incorporates slang in the song, “Dear Mama”, depicting the
tumultuous relationship between mothers and their teenaged children. In the
line, “me and my mama had beef” the term beef implies an ongoing conflict as
opposed to an isolated incident, therefore evoking the image of a mother
enduring continuous pain and hardship at the hands of her son. Utilizing such
a colloquial term speaks to Shakur’s intended audience—people with similar
struggles who speak with similar slang. Shakur intends to conjure an
emotional reaction from his audience through the description of the suffering
he caused his own mother. Shakur creates a similar effect when he writes, “put
a whoopin’ to my backside.” He includes the word, whoopin’ rather than
spanking or whipping because his intended audience would also use a similar
term, and the use of another would not elicit the same image in his listener’s
mind—an image of a mother provoked enough to act violently toward her child.
Shakur goes on to express regret for his actions, rather than blame his mother,
illustrating how positive growth can arise from struggle. Furthermore,
dropping the letter g forces the audience to hear and read the lyric as the
speaker would have said it during the time of the event, thereby recreating the
scene for the listener and allowing a more visceral connection between writer
and audience, clearly conveying an image of the strain in a parent-child
relationship. Shakur depicts the difficulty of mother/son relationships through
the effective use of slang.
Favorite Song
Project!
• You will select a song and analyze its theme, using
evidence from the lyrics to support your ideas.
• You will create a visual (album cover) that
illustrates this theme.
• You will write liner notes (analysis paragraph) on
the back of the album cover that analyze the theme
and evidence from the song.
• You will compare and contrast your song with that
of a partner, and present both songs together to the
class.
Album Covers
August 26, 2015
• Warm up: Take out your planning sheet from
yesterday and get a white piece of paper. Begin
sketching a rough draft of your album cover after
working through the theme analysis yesterday.
• Share with a neighbor and provide feedback
• Line analysis as a class
• Individual line analysis and write drafts of liner
notes
• Share with a neighbor and provide feedback
• Begin compare/contrast exercise
August 27, 2015
• Warm up: Get with your partner and share what
you have completed toward your project—either
the album cover or your “liner notes” paragraph.
Provide feedback for one another.
• Discuss
• Individual work time toward either your album
cover or your paragraph
• Share with a neighbor and provide feedback
• Complete compare/contrast exercise and plan
quick presentation to discuss themes and songs
with the class
• Presentations begin Monday!