English Amped
Today’s Agenda
Friday, Aug 7, 2015
“11. Food-Hunger.
Love-Hunger.
Faith-Hunger.
Soul-Hunger.
12. Who among us
has not been
hungry?”
From “Sonnet With
Pride”
By Sherman
Alexie
2nd Hour
✧ Columbus: Hero or Villain?
✧ Introduction to Critical Reading
✧ Dominant Narratives vs.
✧ Counter-narratives, and
✧ Making Interpretations
3rd Hour
 Intro to Open Reading and Writing
Studio (ORWS)
 20 min. Collaboration
 20 min, Silent
Homework:
 “What Is Your Code” Assignment Due
Friday
Take 2 minutes to discuss with a
partner:
What do you know about Christopher
Columbus? Who taught you these
things? Where did you learn these
things?
2 MINUTES
Take 2 minutes to discuss with a
partner:
What do you know about Christopher
Columbus? Who taught you these
things? Where did you learn these
things?
1 MINUTE
Take 2 minutes to discuss with a
partner:
What do you know about Christopher
Columbus? Who taught you these
things? Where did you learn these
things?
SHARE WITH CLASS: 3 MINUTES
Take 2 minutes to discuss with a
partner:
What do you know about Christopher
Columbus? Who taught you these
things? Where did you learn these
things?
1 MINUTE LEFT TO SHARE
Take
1 MINUTE
to read over the
“English Amped
Critical Reading Toolkit.”
What is a writer’s “position?”
What does it mean to be a reader
“from a resistant position?”
What is our reading context right now?
•In a morning class in a school in SBR
•Teens and an adult who have been
taught that Columbus is a hero
•Individualized contexts
Let’s practice how to
•Critically read and
•Critically respond
to texts by viewing the short video,
“Christopher Columbus,”
produced by Mel-O-Toons in 1960
Choose to
•Walk around the room and record
your responses on the chart paper.
•Stay alone at your desk and record
your responses on paper.
•Stand with one partner at a table to
record your responses on paper.
TAKE 5 MINUTES TO RESPOND
Choose to
•Walk around the room and record
your responses on the chart paper.
•Stay alone at your desk and record
your responses on paper.
•Stand with one partner at a table to
record your responses on paper.
3 MINUTES LEFT TO RESPOND
Choose to
•Walk around the room and record
your responses on the chart paper.
•Stay alone at your desk and record
your responses on paper.
•Stand with one partner at a table to
record your responses on paper.
1 MINUTE LEFT TO RESPOND
TIME TO SHARE WITH THE CLASS
•What positions is the writer
constructing?
•What does she or he want us to
think?
•Who is the ideal reader? What is the
ideal reading position?
TIME TO SHARE WITH THE CLASS
•Whose interests are being served?
Who benefits? Who does not?
•What insights does someone reading
from a resistant position bring to the
text?
Mel-O-Toons’ representation of
Columbus is an example of the
“dominant narrative,” or the story that
holds power and is generally accepted
in a particular culture.
Now let’s critically read an example of
a “counter-narrative,” or a story that
resists the dominant narrative, through
PANI’s YouTube video, “Christopher
Columbus: What Really Happened.”
Raise your hand to contribute:
•What positions is the writer
constructing?
•What does she or he want us to
think?
•Who is the ideal reader? What is the
ideal reading position?
Raise your hand to contribute:
•Whose interests are being served?
Who benefits? Who does not?
•What insights does someone reading
from a resistant position bring to the
text?
GET READY TO WRITE SILENTLY
WRITE SILENTLY: 3 MINUTES
Is Columbus a hero, a villain, or
something else? Why do you
believe this?
You cannot be wrong, so JUST
WRITE! Don’t stop for the entire 3
minutes.
WRITE SILENTLY: 2 MINUTES
Is Columbus a hero, a villain, or
something else? Why do you
believe this?
You cannot be wrong, so JUST
WRITE! Don’t stop for the entire 3
minutes.
WRITE SILENTLY: 1 MINUTE
Is Columbus a hero, a villain, or
something else? Why do you
believe this?
You cannot be wrong, so JUST
WRITE! Don’t stop for the entire 3
minutes.
Pens Down.
You’ll get to share your interpretations of
Columbus soon. Right now, let’s examine
Howard Zinn’s uses of
•A counter-narrative about Columbus, the
book History of the Indies written by
Columbus’ contemporary, Las Casas, and
•A dominant narrative about Columbus, the
1954 book Christopher Columbus, Mariner
by Same Eliot Morrison
What position does Zinn take?
We need readers for “Telling Columbus’s
Story,” an excerpt from Chapter 1,
“Columbus and the Indians,” from Zinn’s
book A Young People’s History of the
United States (adapted by Rebecca Stefoff)
•Narrator #1
•Las Casas (short)
•Narrator #2
•Narrator #3
•Narrator #4
Discussion Questions
Practice Step Up, Step Back
•What positions is Zinn constructing?
•What does Zinn want us to think?
•Who is the ideal reader? What is the
ideal reading position?
•Whose interests are being served?
Who benefits? Who does not?
•How does Zinn construct a resistant
position in this text?
Closure for Columbus Today
What is coming up for you?
Do you want to share your
interpretations of Columbus?
Do you want to share thoughts about
your experience today?
Open Reading and Writing Studio
•Introduction, purpose, and procedures
•20 minutes Collaboration Time
•20 minutes Silent Time
Open Reading and Writing Studio
•Introduction, purpose, and procedures
•20 minutes Collaboration Time
•20 minutes Silent Time
Open Reading and Writing Studio
•Introduction, purpose, and procedures
•20 minutes Collaboration Time
•20 minutes Silent Time
Open Reading and Writing Studio
You have 1 minute
to choose your collaboration group
or to choose to work alone.
Go to the place you will collaborate or
work individually now.
Ask permission for phones if necessary
Open Reading and Writing Studio
20 minutes Collaboration Time
•Talk about ideas for writing
•Write together
•Read together
•Search for prompts together
•Work on Codes Homework (Cooper)
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
15 minutes Collaboration Time
•Talk about ideas for writing, CODES
•Write together
•Read together
•Search for prompts together
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
10 minutes Collaboration Time
•Talk about ideas for writing, CODES
•Write together
•Read together
•Search for prompts together
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
5 minutes Collaboration Time
•Talk about ideas for writing, CODES
•Write together
•Read together
•Search for prompts together
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
1 minute Collaboration Time
Get ready to transition to silent
writing or reading time.
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
20 minutes Silent Time
•Write about the ideas you generated
•Write individually, Codes HW
•Read
•Search for prompts on your own
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
15 minutes Silent Time
•Write about the ideas you generated
•Write individually, Codes HW
•Read
•Search for prompts on your own
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
10 minutes Silent Time
•Write about the ideas you generated
•Write individually, Codes HW
•Read
•Search for prompts on your own
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
5 minutes Silent Time
•Write about the ideas you generated
•Write individually, Codes HW
•Read
•Search for prompts on your own
Record what you do by date in a
notebook or electronic file.
Open Reading and Writing Studio
1 minute Silent Time
Homework Reminder: Codes due
Friday
Tutoring: Let me know now if you
plan to stay after school tomorrow.
Have a wonderful rest of your day!