Continuing with Howard Zinn in the second trimester

Personal shout out to Grace in Second Period who was able to construct what the Dolphins' locker room might have looked like to someone who was on the inside, but pushed towards its margins.

Halfway through the Zinn article and we find student annotating the dense terrain, making connections, finding answers through tough questions.  They are engaging in close reading of a text as they cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.  The Zinn reading is helping students move forward in their study of history as they Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.  From a historical point of view, students are interacting with the text so that they can Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.  From a literary point of view, students are gaining an understanding in Describing how a text presents information.  Through their understanding of Zinn's perspectives and belief systems, students are engaging in a process of identifying aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose.  

Anytime you can hit up over half a dozen Common Core standards in one activity, that cannot be all that bad.

Students are fighting through the article.  By Monday, they should have more than half of it read and annotated.  As we move towards the brutally tough Close Reading Assessment on Howard Zinn, we work through the article, one sample of the rigorous reading that is offered in our study of American History.  Our work for this week is as follows:
Monday: 

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Find your 15 minutes.  Annotations on XIV and XVII should be done by Wednesday.  If you are confused….

1)  Are you coming up during lunch or in the mornings for individual help?

2)  Are you speaking with Mr. Kannan during individual break outs? 

3)  Are you communicating with Mr. Kannan via email or asking him to look over your annotations?

4)  Are you advocating for yourself, making your areas of ambiguity more clear?

If you are confused, the more of these steps that are followed, the better.  At some point, all worthwhile must start somewhere. Maybe you can start one with your Social Studies teacher to remove your doubt and lack of clarity.

Welcome to Second Trimester with extra credit.  This is due Friday.  Click here to read an article on Winnie The Pooh.  It is evident that the Chinese government believes that the “bear with very little brain” has political overtones.  In this vein, go ahead and describe three characters from Winnie the Pooh and clearly explain what theme they represent.  Your themes can be from Industrialization or Progressivism.  I will be very impressed if you could link Christopher Robin to Industrialization…

If you are not familiar with the characters who live in “the 100 Acre Wood,” please click here for reference.
*  Brief point:  I think that it speaks volume about content comprehension if students can connect domains that are previously thought unconnected.  Pooh Bear and Zinn would qualify.

Tuesday:
--> Find your 15 minutes.  Annotate for Five Main Ideas, Three GHTs,  Five Vocabulary words that are new and complex, Three important people, and the required questions found on page 110.  Some have been permitted to annotate for simply the questions.

Wednesday:  Read and Annotate XVIII to XX
--> Find your 15 minutes.  Annotate for Five Main Ideas, Three GHTs,  Five Vocabulary words that are new and complex, Three important people, and the required questions found on page 110.  Some have been permitted to annotate for simply the questions.

Thursday:
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Find your 15 minutes.  Annotate for Five Main Ideas, Three GHTs,  Five Vocabulary words that are new and complex, Three important people, and the required questions found on page 110.  Some have been permitted to annotate for simply the questions.

Here is an extra credit assignment that is due on Tuesday of next week.
Welcome to the 100 Acre Wood in the midst of Haymarket Square...

Friday:  Finish the article.
--> Find your 15 minutes.  Annotate for Five Main Ideas, Three GHTs,  Five Vocabulary words that are new and complex, Three important people.  No required questions on this one.  Some have been exempted from annotating.

We progress onwards.  Through rigor and challenge, we foray into a realm where the scholarly pursuit of "the good, the true, and beautiful" (along with Tigger and Piglet) await our arrival.
I encourage stakeholders to sit down with our students and help facilitate some reflection about points of strength and projection of future success as the first trimester has ended with the second trimester commencing.

All best.
Mr. Kannan