learning logs in the ib english classroom · 2020-04-13 · althea besa, uwcsea. earcos etc...

LEARNING LOGS IN THE IB ENGLISH CLASSROOM

Althea Besa

United World College of South East Asia

EARCOS ETC MARCH 2010

AltheaBesa,UWCSEA.EARCOSETCPresentationMarch2010. 1

SOMESTANDARDAPPLICATIONSOFTHELEARNINGLOG

ReaderresponsePrompts

o Idonotunderstando Inoticedthato Ipredicto Inowunderstando Thisstory/character/eventmakesmefeelorthinkofo Thischaracterremindsmeof…becauseo IfIwere_____Iwould…o Ithinkthesettingisimportantbecauseo Ithink____isasymbolbecauseo Inowrealizethato Whydoeso AphraseIreallylike(orhate)is_____becauseo Whatmakesthisnovel/poeminteresting(orcompellingorfrightening,etc)iso Commentorreflectaftereverychapter/page/lineo Compareacharacter’svalueswithmyownvalues

PreandPostLearningEntries

◊ Focuswriteonaquoteorquestion(seemysampleforTragedy),tryingtoexplainwhatitmeans.Afterreadingthetext,applythequotetothecharacterandevents.Affirmormodifyyouroriginaltheory.

◊ VariationsofKWL(WhatIknow,Wanttoknow,Learned)◊ ThingsIknow,ThingsIthinkIknow,thingsIwanttolearn◊ Classlog(summaryofkeypoints)instraightorcreativefashion.Copyforallclassmembers.

(seesample)◊ Respondtoquestionssetbyteacher

Closure/Debriefing.

o Answerattheendofclassorforhomework.WhatwasoneimportantthingIlearnedtoday?WhatdidIenjoy,accomplish,dislikeinclasstoday?HowdidIlearnfromthediscussionorlesson?WasIahelpfulmemberoftheclasstoday?Etc.

o Returntoanearlierpredictionmadeandreflectonitssignificanceortruth.

Logdialogues

• Pair‐share• Makingtherounds(collaborativewriting)• 2‐sidedwriting• Writetoteacheraboutdifficulties,accomplishments,favoritecharacters,etc.


Examples of Log Entries for Literature

For Personal Connections to the Literature (Reader Response)

• Is Pride good or bad? (Macbeth) • Compare your personal hero to __________. • Which haiku do you like best? Why? (Japanese poetry) • Do you agree with Existentialism as a world view? (Camus) • Are you a realist or an idealist? Explain. (Julius Caesar) • Is Creon similar in any way to your parents? How? (Antigone) • How could you apply this analect to your life? (Confucian philosophy) • Do you think Taoism would work in our society? (Chinese philosophy/lit) • What does this quote mean to you? • Is Freedom worth dying for? (Nineteen Eighty-Four) • Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing

for freedom, for dignity, for love--that is to say, can we forget we are human? • How important is family to you? (The God of Small Things, One Hundred Years) • Who are the sympathetic characters in the novel, and why? • Do you feel Blanche deserved what happened to her towards the end of “A

Streetcar Named Desire”? • Is it possible for someone to be innately evil, or is his behavior only a product of

his upbringing and of society?

For Evidence of Learning/Analysis/Evaluation • How does the main character exemplify traits of Existentialism? (Camus) • Explain how Othello fits Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. • Trace and analyze Hamlet’s state of mind through the five acts. • Compare Eastern and Western poetic styles using the poems we have studied. • Explain how D.H. Lawrence reveals the theme of the Dark Self in the story. • What makes Bazarov in Fathers and Sons a nihilist? Why did Turgenev have to

“kill him off” at the end of the novel? • Does Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart support or weaken the case of Nurture as

more influential than Nature? • Does the narrative “voice” change throughout the novel? Explain. • How is nature imagery used by Marquez to emphasize one of his themes? • How does setting parallel the character of Winston in Nineteen Eighty-Four? • What kinds of solitude occur in the novel (for example, solitude of pride, grief,

power, love, or death), and with whom are they associated? What circumstances produce them? What similarities and differences are there among the various kinds of solitude? (One Hundred Years of Solitude)

• Comment on how Miss Julie and Jean are Naturalistic characters. (Miss Julie) • Compare two characters in the text. Compare characters between texts. • Compare Mori’s depiction of love/longing in The Wild Geese with that of a

character from another text (i.e. Jay Gatsby) • Which poet do you feel is more successful at using nature imagery to full

effect? (Neruda, Frost) • Which of the Poe stories we have studied best demonstrates Gothic elements?

Explain with detailed evidence.


READERRESPONSE:PREREADINGANDDURINGREADING

1. Answerlead‐inquestionsbeforereadingofatext.(I.e.BeforereadingHamlet,ask“Isavengingalovedone’sdeathjustifiable?”orbeforereadingAntigone,ask“Whenisiteverjustifiabletobreakthelaw?”Laterre‐applythesequestionstowhatthecharactersactuallydid.

2. Writepersonalreactionstothereading,impressionsofthecharacters,predictionsofwhatmayhappen,questionsaboutthetext.Reasonsshouldalwaysbegiven.Encourageuseoftextualcitation.Encouragetheconnectiontoownlifeandexperiences.

3. Providefocusorguidequestionstoaccompanyreadingofatext.Thiscanalsoincludeadvanceorganizers,diagrams,etc.

CREATIVE(+ANALYTICAL)RESPONSES

1. Writeascenefromthepointofviewofacharacter(orobject!)insametext,inasecondtext.2. Changeaparagraphintoapoem,apoemintoprose,paragraphintodramascript,etc.3. Writeafoundpoemfromanextractofastoryornovel.Specifyfocusofthepoem—thematic,character‐

based,moodsetting,specificwordpatterns,etc.4. Imitatethewriter’sstyle.Includeananalysisofthisimitation.5. Constructoriginalgraphicorganizersthatcaptureimportantideasortechniques.6. Writeasapsychoanalystreportingonacharacter’smentalstateandbehavior.7. Conversewithacharacteraboutsomethingveryimportanttohim/her.8. Writeoutanargumentbetween2literaryfeatures(i.e.alliterationvs.punctuation),eachclaimingitismore

importantthantheother.Oraskaliteraryfeaturetoexplainitsimportance.9. Writeaboutaliteraryfeatureinatext,changingthetargetaudiencetoafifthgrader.10. Dopalmreadingsorfortunetellingspreadsofcharacters.(Pre‐teachingorresearchneeded).

ANALYTICAL/EVALUATIVERESPONSES

1. Selectonelineorparagraphfromthetextandexplainitssignificance.Thiscanbedoneasanexerciseintheanalysisofdictionandliterarytechnique.

2. Explaintheeffectofchangingthedecisionsoractionsofacharacter—onothercharactersandonthereader’simpressions.CanbedoneasaRoadMapactivity.

3. Applyinformationfoundinbackgroundresearchofawriter,timeperiod,style,etctoasectionoftext.Appropriatefortextsthatrelyheavilyonhistorical/stylisticelementssuchasNaturalism(inStrindberg’sMissJulieandZola’sThereseRaquin).HelpspreparefortheWorldLitpapers.

4. Writeasacriticorreviewer.Shouldthistextbetakenoffthecurriculum?Shoulditberequiredreading?Emphasisisonthereasonedargumenttobeprovided.

5. Compare/contrastaliterarytechniqueacrosstextsviadiagramsorpictures.Applieswelltoliteraryfeatureslikenarrativestructure.

6. Offeropposinginterpretationsofapoemorstory.Tryusingthesametextualevidencetosupportdifferentinterpretations.CanbeusedforstudyofLiteraryCriticismaswellasanevaluativeactivitywhenpinpointingthestrongestargument.

7. Writeabeforeandafterexplanationofwhatapoemmeans(i.e.beforecarefulanalysis)andcomparethe2setsofideas.Whatchangedyourinitialimpression/reading/interpretation?

8. Applytheorieslearnedfromotherdisciplines(i.e.Psychology,Philosophy,Sciences)tocharactersandeventsinthetexts.UsefulforWLPapersandIOPplanning.


BUILDINGWRITINGSKILLSFORTHECOMMENTARYAND/ORESSAY

1. WriteacharacteranalysisstartingfromtheClustertotheConceptMaptotheParagraphs.Compare/contrastcharactersand/orscenes(bothwithinandbetweentexts)

2. Writeinformalcommentariesthatfocusononeliteraryaspect,i.e.structureofapoem,useofpunctuationinaparagraph,etc.CanbedoneasanOutliningactivityforeitherawrittenororalcommentary.

3. Writecollaborativecommentariesfollowedbyananalysisandevaluationbythefirststudentwriter.Emphasisisonthereflectionafterwards.

4. Markupashortpassageandpartnerwritesthecommentaryalongside.Emphasisisonthereflectionafterwards.

5. Annotate2extractsside‐by‐sidefrom2differentsourcesortexts.(i.e.theopeningsectionsofthetexts,poemandproseextract,etc)

6. Highlightandchangewordchoiceorphrasinginapartner’swriting.Focuscanbeplacedononlyverbs.Ausefulexerciseinprecisionandconcisenessoflanguage.

7. Collectquotesthatuseaparticularmotif(i.e.thesupernaturalinMacbeth)thenusethesequotesinashortessaycommentingonthefunctionofthismotif.CanbedoneasaQuoteBlendingactivity.

8. Reflectonthestrengthsandweaknessesofaparagraphwrittencollaboratively(i.e.theintroductionofacommentary,aparagraphaboutnatureimagery,etc)

9. ReflectonthedifferencesbetweenanEssayIntroductionandaCommentaryIntroduction.10. WriteandreflectonthetriangularintroductionoftheEssay(i.e.generaltospecific).11. Reflectonthestrengthsandweaknessesofyouressay/commentarythathasbeen

returned/critiqued/markedbytheteacher.Thisreflectionshouldbewrittenoutinfullsentences.


© Jim Burke 2000. For more information on this and other such Tools for Thought visit www.englishcompanion.com

Name

Subject

Date

Period

Says/ D oes

M ea ns/Imp lies

Directions : Find six quotes or examples that reveal important or different aspects of your subject. Then in the outer strand,explain what they mean. Be sure, when possible, to include page citations for your quotes.

Making Inferences: Using the notes from your target, draw some conclusions about your subject. If you are writing abouta fictional character, for example, explain what kind of person they are. Be sure to use direct quotations and citationinformation (e.g., I, ii, 35-40) when supporting your analysis.

Inference Notes

Su bject


Literary Characters’ Values Profile

Rank the values in order from most important to the character to least important to the character. If the character’s values change, then rank the values both before and after the change. Rank only the top 5-10 values. Provide textual citation for the top 5 (include page no. from the text).

Literary Character(s): ____________________________________________

1. Recognition, Acceptance, Approval from others

2. Achievement

3. Aesthetics

4. Altruism

5. Autonomy

6. Companionship, Friendship

7. Health

8. Honesty

9. Justice

10. Love

11. Loyalty

12. Morality

13. Physical Appearance

14. Pleasure

15. Power

16. Religious Faith

17. Self-respect

18. Wealth


EXAMINING DICTION (WORD CHOICE) An aged man is but a paltry thing A tattered coat upon a stick...

--W.B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”

1. What picture is created by the use of the word “tattered”? 2. By understanding the connotations of the word “tattered,” what do we understand about the persona’s attitude toward an aged man? 3. List 3 adjectives that can be used to describe a pair of shoes. Each adjective should connote a different feeling about the shoes. Discuss.

* * * * *

Wind rocks the car. We sit parked by the river, silence between our teeth. Birds scatter across islands of broken ice... --Adrienne Rich, “Like This Together, for A.H.C.”

1. What are the feelings produced by the word “rocks”? Are the feelings gentle, violent, or both? 2. How would the meaning change if we changed the first line to Wind shakes the car?

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF DETAIL

An old man, Don Tomasito, the baker, played the tuba. When he blew into the huge mouthpiece, his face would turn purple and his thousand wrinkles would disappear as his skin filled out. --Alberto Alvaro Rios, “The Iguana Killer”

1. The first sentence is a general statement. How does the second sentence enrich and intensify the first? 2. Contrast the second sentence with the following: When he blew the tuba, his face turned purple and his cheeks puffed out.

Which sentence more effectively expresses an attitude toward Tomasito? What is that attitude and how is it communicated? * * * * *


He went on till he came to the first milestone, which stood in the bank, half-way up a steep hill. He rested his basket on the top of the stone, placed his elbows on it, and gave way to a convulsive twitch, which was worse than sob, because it was so hard and so dry.

--Thomas Hardy. The Mayor of Casterbridge

1. How do the details in this passage prepare you for the convulsive twitch at the end of the passage? 2. This passage does not describe the character’s face at all. What effect does this lack of detail have on the reader?

EXAMINING IMAGERY

All the hedges are singing with yellow birds! A boy runs by with lemons in his hands. --Rita Dove, “ Notes from a Tunisian Journal”

1. How does the image of the boy in line 2 intensify your understanding of the hedges in line 1? 2. How would the effect be different if the second line read , “A boy runs by with apples in his hands”

* * * * *

Part of a moon was falling down the west, Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills. Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw it And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand Among the harp-like morning-glory strings, Taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves, As if she played unheard some tenderness. That wrought on him beside her in the night. “Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die: You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time.” --Robert Frost, “The Death of the Hired Man”

1. Identify the visual, auditory, and tactile images in the lines above. 2. How does the poet use imagery to prepare the reader for the announcement in the last 2 lines?

Source: Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone, by Nancy Dean (April 2000).

learning logs in the ib english classroom · 2020-04-13 · althea besa, uwcsea. earcos etc...

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