Class Notes: Sept.24, 2009

B-block

AGENDA :
1. Discuss FQs (Focus Questions) for "Little Things Are Big."
2. Make connections between this piece and the Ligon etching.
3. Conclude discussion by clarifying that race can become a predetermined part of identity, a part that can be defined and represented by others in ways we can not control. For Colón, race became a mitigating factor in even the smallest decisions he made in life.
4. Pre-reading activity for To Kill a Mockingbird: Agree/disagree survey (We will revisit these statements and our reactions to them after we finish the book.)
5. Reading strategy #2: DR-TA with the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird (TKMB).
6. Grammar: There, they're, and their

HOMEWORK : 1. Finish worksheet on there, they're, and their. Make sure you understand the difference in usage for these three words. Hereafter, you will be responsible for the correct usage in any writing you hand in or do in class.
2. Read chapter 1 of TKMB and complete FQs.

C-block (Honors)

AGENDA :
1. Look at etching by artist Glenn Ligon. (Today, we looked at one etching in a series entitled Two White / Two Black. Click here for the rest of the series.)
2. Make connections between Ligon and Colón's essay "Little Things Are Big" in terms of what they are both saying about identity and race.
3. Read "We Wear the Mask" poem. Explain that we have now looked at this issue of how race relates to identity from three perspectives -- an essay, an artwork, and a poem.
4. Reading strategy #2: DR-TA (predictive reading) with the Prologue of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

HOMEWORK: 1. Finish reading Prologue of Invisible Man.
2. Read chapter 1 of Black Boy and answer FQs in your journal.