20/21 March 2017

Today students engaged in peer editing and received the checklist for the final thesis folder, which is due on 23/24 March. On that day, Ms. Margolis will pass out folders, and students will turn in the complete thesis folder.

17/20 March 2017

Today students worked with a body of poems that explore parent-child relationships. In small groups, they used the AP TPS-FASST protocol to analyze a poem they were assigned to work with, then made connections between the poem and Fences. Students shared their group's findings with the class.

14/15 March 2017

Today is the last in-class workday for the senior thesis. Students checked out laptops, registered for the PCC Dual Credit portion of this class (CRN 25924), reviewed presentation guidelines for the senior thesis, then used the thesis scoring guide and checklist, along with feedback, to begin revision.

A printed copy of the thesis is due on 20/21 March for peer editing.

13/22 March 2017

Today we began class by listing times when we have established different kinds of limits for ourselves, from the smallest of transitions (giving up a hobby or habit) to the most explosive decisions (I'm so done! It's over!). We shared stories, then students began drafting narratives that explore this theme.

We discussed how similar moments occur for some of the characters in Fences as we finish our reading of the play. We worked specifically with Act II, scenes 4 and 5, reflecting on the ways music heals the family as they reckon with Troy's complicated legacy.

9/16 March 2017

Today students made lists of disappointments they have experienced in their lives, from haircuts that went badly to relationships that were doomed. We told stories, then students began drafting narratives about one of the disappointments they have experienced.

We discussed disappointments characters in Fences have encountered so far, and we began to work with Act II, scenes 1, 2, and 3, where some major disappointments emerge.

6/7 March 2017

Today students engaged in peer review, using a set of guidelines tied to the assignment. Anyone who misses this peer review session will need to make it up during one of our flex periods this week.

This is our only workday for the senior thesis this week.

3/8 and 10 March 2017

Today we began class with a narrative prompt focusing on one of the key themes in Fences: father/son relationships. We considered our relationships with different authority figures in our lives--parents, guardians, mentors, community elders--and developed some of the complexities that characterize those relationships. Students wrote narratives describing one of those relationships to set the stage for our examination of Act I, scenes 3 and 4. We read and discussed Act I, scene 3 in class.

The first draft of the senior thesis is due on 6/7 March for peer review and revision.

1/2 March 2017

Today's class began with some consideration of the concept of home. Students made lists of places that they considered "home," then built out details that describe one of those places. They then began writing a personal narrative built around one of those places, or a story tied to one of those place. We used that building of perspective to work our way into August Wilson's Fences, the introduction to which begins with a detailed description of the Maxson home. We made connections between the description of their house and the background building we did with "The Case for Reparations" and "The House We Live In." We then began reading Act I, scene 1. For next class, students should complete the reading of Act I, scenes 1 and 2.

A reading calendar for this unit can be found here.

The first draft of the senior thesis is due on 6/7 March.