Starter (on paper):  
What is going well for you as we embark on this project?
How will you make your project intertextual?
What confusion do you have about the expectations for this project?



Digging in to the rubric...

Our Goal: Internalize the features of the rubric in order to generate the dopest project possible

Really dig in to the nitty-gritty of the rubric language.  Think about the qualities of projects that would exemplify these standards.  For each of the 5 questions, your group should write answers on one of the mini-whiteboards on the table.  This can be done through bulleted lists and/or hashtags.  
1. What does thoughtful mean in the context of our project?
2. What does authentic mean in the context of this project?
3. What does it mean for a piece of writing and a creative visual to "work together cohesively"?
4. What does it mean when a project is "refined to exhibition standards"
5. What does it mean to "exemplify beautiful work"?

6. What are some ways that you be creatively intertextual in this project?

For further depth of understanding of using intertextuality as a literary device, click here.

Announcements

• Turn in Into the Wild 
• Honors: Check out A Tale for the Time Being and turn in Cat's Cradle if you are done with it
• If you were gone Friday, please turn your H&M Creative Visual Project Proposal by the end of the day today
• Cat's Cradle Post-write due!

PROJECT WORK TIME:

• Conferences with Jessica
• Please create an environment where your peers can work without distraction.  Headphones are awesome!

Friday 2.26

Turn in Into the Wild!

Project Work Time
Project Proposal due at the end of the hour!
See yesterday's post for linked resources.
Work on your project!  Written AND Visual!


Honors:  Cat's Cradle Seminar 
1. Seminar Reflection and Synthesis due Monday

2. Procure a copy of A Tale for the Time Being.

3. Choice Project due next Friday (see this doc)

• Remember:  One of your Choice Projects should be a literary analysis essay!  

Thursday 2.25

PROJECT WORK TIME!!!

Turn in Into the Wild!

Resources to help you...
1. Brainstorming/Guiding Questions and Student Personal Philosophy Examples from Ashley's former students
2. Project Proposal Guidelines (due tomorrow, Friday 2/26!)
3. Project Guidelines and Rubric
4. Project Overview (for your review)


HONORS: Cat's Cradle seminar tomorrow!  Prepare your seminar prep!  See Book Club Master Doc for prep guidelines.

Tuesday-Wednesday

Film Screening:  Into the Wild

Assignment/Skills Objective:
Make an intertextual claim about the film and/or the soundtrack and support it with TEA.  An intertextual claim connects 2 or more works that you are analyzing.  You will write 1-3 robust (8-10 sentence) paragraphs illuminating your claim with evidence from the film and the other text you are comparing or connecting.

If you wish, your claim can connect the soundtrack as well...
Lyrics from the soundtrack
See Genius as well:
Society
Guaranteed



Intertextual Claim (about literature/film)
1.  Connects multiple texts
Film
Soundtrack
Book
Thoreau
Nick Jans "Going Alone" (or his email, technically)
Texts quoted in book
Chris' graffiti or journal writing
Other?

2. Subjects of claim
The work itself....
Film
Book
BOTH TEXTS
....or some element(s) of it....
ie. cinematography, editing, soundtrack, artistic liberties, performance, etc...
...or a person involved in the creation of the texts....
Sean Penn
Jon Krakauer
Emile Hirsch
Eddie Vedder
Chris himself

3.  Verb (colorful and active!)
( "TO BE" can be used but consider others...)
show
demonstrate
express
illuminate
reveal
render
illustrate
brings to life
etc...


ALL WRITTEN RESPONSES TO OUR INTO THE WILD STUDY (Lit circle post-write and film response) DUE WEDNESDAY AT MIDNIGHT!!!

SLC GUIDELINES for WEDNESDAY night

Happiness and Meaning Project Proposal due Friday!

Starter: Read Keiran's email exchange


Lit Circle Meeting #4.  Make a copy of these questions and scribe the basic points of your conversation.  Share doc with me!

1. Do you agree with Keiran or with Nick Jans?  Was Chris McCandless less competent than a boy scout?  Or was he on a transcendental path that is worthy of our study?
2. What can we learn from this story about the human quest for happiness and meaning?
3. What does it mean to live deliberately?  What does it mean to be self-reliant? Does Chris achieve his goals of self-reliance and deliberate living despite his death?
4. How can the path toward meaning be shaped by BOTH the natural world AND by our civilization? How was Chris' path shaped by both? What life lessons do you imagined he had learned from his experience about happiness and meaning?

After break.....

Keely and Summer's Survey

Lit Circle Post-write (Do this in class!)

Self Reflection

1. How well did you participate in the literature circle experience?  Were you prepared each time?  Did you participate fruitfully?  How did the analytical process go for your group?

               

2)  What did you get out of this experience?  Discuss the importance of the discussion groups in helping to form your interpretations of this novel.  Be specific.

Synthesis Paragraphs

Make an interpretive claim about Into the Wild.  Think about how your reading of the novel answers 1 or more of the essential questions.  You could also answer a different question or make your own claim based on what has come up for you during the reading.  Write 2-3 robust TEA paragraphs, supporting your claim with evidence from the text.  Connect your evidence explicitly to the claims you are making (#analysis).

OPTIONAL HOMEWORK: Optional Reading from Nick Jans: "Going Alone"

Honors:  lunch check-in on Cat's Cradle 

1. 5 minutes of silent contemplation....

2. Lit Circle Meeting #3

3.  WORK TIME:  

• Finish Into the Wild!
• Brainstorm project ideas!

Welcome, Arnold Clifford!

Take it in, kids!


HOMEWORK:  Journal 2.18
Reflect on what you learned today from our guest speaker.  How does the philosophy of hózhó resonate with you personally?  Do you see any similarities between Navajo philosophy and other philosophies, religions, or belief systems you have studied?  What wisdom are you taking away from it?

Announcements

• Sorry about the typo!  Lit circle meeting tomorrow (2/18) and Monday (final meeting: 2/22)
• Honors: check in about Cat's Cradle during lunch tomorrow
• Today is SLC deadline!  If you have to do SLC's, here are the guidelines
• New idea for starting class....what do you think?  Should we start today?

TED Talk: "What Makes a Good Life: Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness"

• During the talk, write down key ideas/phrases/words/concepts/questions 

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

• What was the thesis of this talk?  Does it surprise you?  What, ultimately did the research reveal about what makes a good life?  Do you think the conclusions of this research apply to everyone?
• Do you think the results would be different if women were included in the study from the start?  Do you think both genders have the same trends in happiness?
• What are the cultural implications of this study?  Do you think our culture sets us up for happy and healthy lives?  How might the prevalence of social media impact these findings?
• Share your takeaways and relate this Chris McCandless' story.  Do we need other people to be happy or can we find happiness in our solitude?  Do you think Chris would agree with or reject the findings of this researcher?  

JOURNAL 2.17:  REFLECTION ON YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AS THEY CORRELATE TO YOUR HAPPINESS AND MEANING

• Reflect on the role that your relationships with other people play in defining your happiness and meaning.  What are the most important relationship in your life and in what ways do these relationship influence you and your well-being?  Your happiness and meaning?  How do these relationships define who you are and your life's purpose?

WORK TIME

Prepare for tomorrow's lit circle:  Get through at least Chapter 15 (p.156)!  Prepare Pre-write

READ Into the Wild and/or Cat's Cradle

Begin brainstorming/drafting project

SIT WITH YOUR GROUPS!
Lit Circle Meeting #2:  Copy protocol with new Jessica prompts


Do you want to shuffle groups?  TAKE SURVEY!
AM CLASS
PM CLASS


FINAL PROJECT GUIDELINES AND RUBRIC
Dig in to some of the rubric language.  With the people at your table, answer the following ON PAPER:
1.  What does thoughtful mean in the context of our project?
2.  What does authentic mean in the context of this project?
3.  What does it mean for a piece of writing and a creative visual to "work together cohesively"?
4.  What does it mean when a project is "refined to exhibition standards"
5.  What does it mean to "exemplify beautiful work"?

JOURNAL 2.11:  PROJECT BRAINSTORM FREEWRITE
What ideas do you have for the project?  What personal philosophy might you express?  What writing genre might you use?  What artistic form might you express yourself in?

WEEKEND HOMEWORK:  Study up on Navajo culture, history, and Hózhó (the beauty way).  Come next Wednesday with at least 5 facts and 1 question.  Guest speaker next week!

GET READY FOR NEXT WEEK's Lit Circle Meeting

WORK TIME
READ!  Lit Circle #3 on Wednesday! (Do we want to shuffle?)
Catch up any missing comp book entries!
Think about and/or start your H&M project?

Sherry Turkle's TED Talk:  Connected But Alone 
During talk, write down ideas/phrases/words/concepts that stands out to you.  Write down at least one question you would like to ask this researcher, or that this talk sparked for you.

PAIR SHARE an idea/phrase/word/concept that stood out to you
Discuss: What was the thesis of this talk?  What, ultimately, is she trying to say about our use of technology?



A different perspective: "Technology Made Us Humans":
1. Do you agree with the narrator in the Shots of Awe video we watched today that, "Technology is the real skin of our species?" Why or why not?
2. Are there fundamental differences between technological tools like an ax to chop wood and technological devices like smartphones? If so what are those differences especially in terms of the ways the two types of tools shape/help/impact us?



FOUR CORNERS

• Sherry Turkle is right.  Our devices and "connected" habits are robbing us of important pieces of our humanity and we need to intervene intentionally.
• Our social media-based digital lives are making us happier.

JOURNAL 2.10:  TECHNOLOGY AND HAPPINESS/MEANING
Optional:   The Innovation of Loneliness
What role does technology play in your own happiness and meaning?  What role does social media play in defining your life?    Is it an extension of your authentic self or is the opposite true?  How do you feel that our digital technology is impacting humans as a whole?




WORK TIME/HOMEWORK
READING TIME:  Into the Wild and/or Cat's Cradle
LIT CIRCLE TOMORROW:  Please come prepared with pre-write ready to cut and paste!
If you were absent yesterday, see me about making up lit circle meeting.
HONORS:  Check-in meeting next Thursday to clarify questions (Meanwhile, see me with questions!)  Cat's Cradle seminar will be Friday, February 26

SIT WITH YOUR GROUPS!!
Lit Circle Meeting Protocol
Lit Circle Groups



Synthesis Discussion:  Thoreau and Lit Circle Questions
Intertextuality:  What counts as a text?



JOURNAL 2.9:
Read this article from Outside Magazine
Optional:  Watch this video
 React to the content of the article and relate it to some of the themes we have been studying.
-OR-
Tell a story about an experience that you had in nature that had healing powers.


READING TIME:  Into the Wild or Cat's Cradle

Starter 2.8:  Belief Quiz  Did the quiz tell you what you already knew?  Did it surprise you at all?


Literature Circle Meeting #1
Lit Circle Groups
Lit Circle Guidelines
Lit Circle Meeting Protocol


Jessica Prompts for Meeting #1

1. Why do you think Chris (Alex) is yearning so strongly for this Alaskan adventure?
2. How is Into the Wild an “intertextual” work?  How does its intertextuality aid us in interpreting the meaning?

EXPLORE THE INTERTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS
Read:  Excerpts from Walden by Henry David Thoreau

JOURNAL 2.8:  Response to Walden
1.  Describe Thoreau's philosophical position on human beings and their relationship with nature/wildness.  How does he contrast it with man's "civilized" state?  Use quotes from reading to explain your answer.
2.  What connections do you see with Chris McCandless?  Identify at least one quote from Thoreau that you believe Chris would have embraced and explain your connection.
3.  What is your personal reaction? Do you agree with Thoreau that "the so-called comforts of life" are "positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind"?  Can we be our authentic selves while enjoying our detailed lives full of modern conveniences?  Or  must we connect to our own wildness and natural state?

Meditation Station: Welcome, Penny Stahl!!!


JOURNAL 2.5:  Reflect on meditiation experience today.  How did it go for you?  


Into the Wild Lit Circle Guidelines


TO DO LIST
1. Finish JOURNAL 2.4:  Thoughts on Trancendentalism
2. JOURNAL 2.5:  Reflect on your experience meditating
3. Reading Time, Into the Wild

Starter 2.4:  
a. What do you think of the idea of Transcendental Meditation?
b. What is Kurt Vonnegut's take on it?  Make an interpretive claim.

Meet Maharishi:)
Discuss claims and the evidence you see in the text to support them.


Lesson:  Transcendentalism
In partners, identify the philosophical tenets in these Transcendentalist thoughts



JOURNAL 2.4 Thoughts on Transcendentalism:  How does transcendentalism speak to you personally?  Which pieces resonate and which do you reject?  Why?



Into the Wild!
Sign out Into the Wild
Literature Circle guidelines:  1st meeting Monday
Start reading!


Honors:  Keep reading Cat's Cradle as well!  Meeting next Thursday to discuss themes and clarify plot.

Starter 2.3:  Synthesize the content of yesterday's film.  What did you find striking, interesting, disturbing, questionable?  What do you think about the bigger question the film is asking?


Announcements
Into the Wild for tomorrow!
Anyone want to publish rhetorical piece in the Quill?



TED TALK EXPLORATION:  Are You There God? Playlist
Explore 2-3 different talks (depending on length)
IN COMP BOOKS, for each talk: 

1.  Briefly summarize the main points of the talk.
2.  REACT What stood out to you about this talk?  Did you agree or disagree?  Why?
(A-ha; Say What?; I wonder...)

SHARE OUT:  Speed dating
If you watched the same talk, discuss how you felt about it.
If you watched different ones, summarize and share take-aways.



What is the difference between religion and spirituality?  
Come up with 1-2 phrases, words, sentences, quotes that you associate with each word:  RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY
Chalk talk.

Read Vonnegut, "Yes, We Have no Nirvanas" for tomorrow
(Homework if you don't finish in class)

Starter 2.2 Thoughts on Religion and Science  
Philosophize:   Are religion and science compatible?  Can they work together to illuminate meaning in our lives?  Or do they contradict each other?

In groups, make a T-chart.

Commonalities between Religion and Science

Areas where you see tension between them

SHARE OUT.

Stephen Jay Gould's "NOMA" Non-overlapping Magisteria
Read Gould's original article (linked) for more depth of information!

Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is the view advocated by Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion each represent different areas of inquiry, fact vs. values, so there is a difference between the "nets" ^[1] over which they have "a legitimate magisterium, or domain of teaching authority," and the two domains do not overlap.^[2] He suggests, with examples, that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that it is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria."^[1] Still, there continues to be disagreement over where the boundaries between the two magisteria should be.^[3]

Quote from Gould:  "Our failure to discern a universal good does not record any lack of insight or ingenuity, but merely demonstrates that nature contains no moral messages framed in human terms. Morality is a subject for philosophers, theologians, students of the humanities, indeed for all thinking people. The answers will not be read passively from nature; they do not, and cannot, arise from the data of science. The factual state of the world does not teach us how we, with our powers for good and evil, should alter or preserve it in the most ethical manner"


READ: The Meaning of Life in a Formula
ADD SOME THOUGHTS TO YOUR STARTER.  REFER TO SPECIFICS IN THE ARTICLE.  AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH AUTHOR?



Historical Context of the Religion/Science Struggle:  BBC Documentary:  The End of God?  A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion

• Take notes on the film.  Note major events in the historical ideological struggle between religion and science.  Jot down questions.  Think about where are now in this struggle as a species and where you are as an individual

Starter 2.1:  What are your initial thoughts on the first Question of the Week?



Questions for the Week

• How do religion and other forms of spirituality give meaning and purpose to human life?
• How does science?
• Are religion and science compatible or at odds?

"The Creation" by Eduardo Galeano
1. Illustrate the passage.
2. Make an interpretive claim about the passage
3.  Discuss:  What questions is Galeano answering?  How does this passage relate to the questions of the week?

Watch Rick Warren's TED Talk"A Life of Purpose"

• How does his faith give him purpose?
• Are his arguments convincing?
• Even if you are not religious, what can we learn from his example?

Synthesize "The Meaning of Life" reading.  If you have not read it yet, please do so and answer the following questions in your comp book.  If you have read it, just answer the questions.
1. What are the two points of view the author presents about how we can deal with the question of the meaning of life?  Which do you agree with more?
2. What criteria generally seem to lead to a happy life?
3.  How/Why does religion help people answer the questions of our existence?
4.  What new ideas does this reading give you about the meaning of life?

IN YOUR COMP BOOK:  Add more to your starter after the thinking you did today.  What role does religion play in human life?

OPTIONAL HOMEWORK

Read:  The Meaning of Life in a Formula

Honors Book Club:  Sign out Cat's Cradle!