1. October 19, 2015 Entry Task  Grab your SprinBoard book.  Take out your English Notebooks and be prepared to write down vocabulary. Infinitive Phrase Assessment Tomorrow.

2. Changing Gears A Bit: SAT Vocabulary  Aberration: Noun – a deviation from the right path. In my book, not having seen Star Wars is an aberration.  Belittle: Verb – to make something seem less important. I will do my best not to belittle those who have not seen Star Wars, but I can’t make any promises.  Cache: Noun – a hiding place; something hidden in a hiding place. The cache of Batman memorabilia at my house is intended to scare off bad guys.  Dearth: Noun – A shortage. Darth Vader had no dearth of evil tricks meant to scare off his enemies.  Ebb: Verb – To decline. Despite the recent ebb in popularity of X-Men, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the 90s cartoon.

3. Changing Gears A Bit: SAT Vocabulary  Facilitate: Verb – to make easy or to bring about. Once, to facilitate lively debate in my class, I asked students to choose between saving their brother or the cure for cancer.  Galvanize: Verb – to arouse suddenly or to startle. The nasty teenagers popped out of the bushes, and galvanized the children in fear against this nasty tactic.  Hackneyed: Adjective– used too often; commonplace. You will never convince me that my hackneyed references to geek culture are inappropriate.  Iconoclast: Noun – a person who attacks cherished beliefs or established institutions. To speak out against Star Trek is to become an iconoclast, in my book.  Jargon: Noun– the specialized vocabulary of members of a group. I have trouble keeping up with the jargon of teenagers.

4. Changing Gears A Bit: SAT Vocabulary  Kindle: Verb – to ignite; to arouse or inspire. By the end of the year, I hope to kindle a love of your nerdy side in some of you.  Labyrinth: Noun – a maze. I used to be afraid of the labyrinth of stacked items in the darkness of my parents’ basement … OK, sometimes it still freaks me out.  Malicious: Adjective– spiteful; intentionally mischievous or harmful. The Shredder’s malicious attacks on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can sometimes be a bit overdone.  Nomenclature: Noun – a systematic naming in art or science. It’s difficult for me to remember biology’s complicated nomenclature.  Obliterate: Verb – to blot out leaving no traces; to destroy. Look out, The Death Star is coming to obliterate your home planet.

5. Open SpringBoard to P. 32. Where do we see examples of juxtaposition in Pat Mora’s poem “Legal Alien”.

6. Today’s GoalsToday’s Goals You will be able to: understand culture on a more complex level. You will show this by: analyzing ideas of an individual’s culture through an understanding of their art.

7. Final DiscussionsFinal Discussions DiscussersAudience Members Take notes on what is said Write down ideas for how discussion applies to you Listen respectfully Do not talk – if you have comments, save them for the end One person speaks at a time. Acknowledge other peoples’ views every time you speak. Invite others into the discussion. Everyone references & builds from the text. Modify your understanding and work toward common understanding. Agree upon a main message for the poem “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora. Also discuss how the poet uses examples of juxtaposition to help readers identify the poem’s main message? When juxtaposing the two pieces of art, what similarities and differences between Frida Kahlo’s “Borderline” painting and Pat Mora’s “Legal Alien” poem appear? How do these similarities and differences help us understand the experience of belonging or not belonging to a certain culture?

8. Cultural Essay Tie-InCultural Essay Tie-In  Choose either “Artistic Prompt” or “Creative Writing Prompt” from page 33. Complete your chosen prompt in a way that adds meaning to the main idea of your cultural essay. Cultural Artwork ExemplaryProficientEmergingIncomplete Artwork: *Adds complexity to the paper’s main idea. *Is thoughtfully and meaningfully assembled. Artwork: *Clarifies paper’s main idea. *Is complete and neat. Artwork: *Has an idea that relates to paper. *Is partially complete and/or rushed. Artwork: *Has only vague connection to paper’s main idea. *Is incomplete or rushed in a way that seems less than thoughtful.