Video to Annotate: Impact of Current Education System

Sir Ken Robinson does a brilliant job of questioning the education system and how it works.

This directly relates to the discussion of the Urbanization of America and the conflict with the school structure.

Analyzing this video will allow us to question some of the challenges present in Urban America. You will walk away going, "Oh yeah! That makes total sense"

This activity is to be done in partners. You, together, will analyze the video and come to the conversation ready to discuss. Decide who will take notes and who will do most the speaking OF the notes you took together. I don't like giving a general number, but there should be at least 10 places you pause the video to give in depth commentary.

Click Here to go to Video

Annotating Text: Key Skill of the Close Read

Hello All- (VIDEO LINKS in this blog post)

This look familiar? READ BELOW IT (But use these as samples, like what we did in class)

Close Reading/Annotating text....WHAT IS IT?
**A good reader is one who can think while reading. Annotating is simply sharing those thoughts while reading. 
                        There is a purpose for this!
**When we think while reading, we begin to become a part of the story: we engage in the plot, think about what and why of the characters actions and how those impact the story.

**As commentators (who comment on literature) we are deepening our own thinking and even HOW TO THINK for yourself and have your own opinion.

                         Who doesn't want to share an opinion?

**WE BECOME SMARTER when we engage with what we read. It is also A LOT MORE interesting.

SO....(This was a pretty new and foreign concept for many)

Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Collaborative Google Doc discussion.

Go to this google doc and follow the instructions

Click Here to go to link

Resources for Urban Literature Project

Where and How Urban Lit began:
Click Here

This one is awesome!
Street Lit Author and Inner-City Teen

This website gives some more book titles and blurbs about each book. You can see some similarities between the books, which will help you see common elements in Urban Literature
Click Here for website

This article is intended for people going to school to be a librarian and introduces Urban Lit as a genre
Street Fight: Welcome to the World of Urban Lit

This link has a slideshow that explains things very easily in the sub genre of Urban Lit. Check this one out for sure.
Click Here

This is thorough, but isn't necessarily geared to youth, rather the genre in general.
Click Here to Explore

Exploring Urban Literature FINAL PROJECT

This project is DUE Friday, November 9th. You may need to work on it outside of school. I repeat, you may need to work on this outside of school. This PROJECT will address standards (located at the end)

Story Elements Terms to Know- Assessment Wed 11/7

These are the terms that will help guide the seminar! You will be assessed on the information in the paper packet you received.

"Forged by Fire" by Sharon Draper

Class Responses Below: