Secondary ELA Curriculum

Opening activity (Session Packet)In your journal,

respond to the quote below and relate it

to the editorial cartoon.

“For the love of money is the root of all evil….”

Objective

Using a variety of resources and strategies, the participants will learn how to incorporate dialectical journals into their classroom.

What is a dialectical journal?Dialectical : art or practice of arriving at the

truth through logical argumentsJournal : personal record of events,

experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis

a dialogue or conversation between ideas in a text (words read) and the ideas of the reader (thoughts, questions, insights, and ideas)

an intellectual response that is anchored to a personal observation, concern, or experience

Why use Dialectical Journals?Actively engages students in reading

Increases critical reading skills

Increases critical thinking skills

Provides a place for students to model style of professional authors while developing their own style

Provides focus for class discussions

Original Dialectical JournalQuotes from Text Response

oPowerfuloThought – provokingoInsightfuloWritten in quotation marksoIncludes page number of paragraph number

oConnections: Text to self, text, or worldo Literary Element oSyntaxoDictionoCharacterizationoPrediction (with textual support)oSymbolsoMotifsoPlot shifts

Dialectical JournalSource Material Page Respond, Analyze, and

Evaluate

• Identify the literary element you are analyzing.

•Provide the direct quotation or ellipsis and a parenthetical citation.

What makes the passage so important?

Revised DJ TemplateQuotes from Text Analysis

oPowerfuloThought – provokingoInsightfuloWritten in quotation marksoIncludes page number or paragraph number

Why did the author use.... (purpose or effect)

oLiterary Elements oSyntaxoDictionoCharacterizationoPrediction (with textual support)oSymbolsoMotifsoPlot shifts

Connections

-Text to Self-Text to Text-Text to World

Symbolic Dialectical JournalSymbolism – Literal Symbolism –

AbstractEffect, Purpose, or

Insight

What is the literal meaning of the “symbol” in the context of the

work?

What does the “symbol” represent in the larger context of

life?

What insight can be made about the effect

or purpose of the symbol?

3 Question DJ TemplateWhat does it say? What does it matter?

Significant quote Your analysis of the quote as it relates to the “big picture”.

What does it mean?

Your interpretation of the quote

Dialectical Journal: PlanningChoose a text

Choose focus for journal

Choose template(s) for journal

Provide explicit instructions on journal assignment

Provide model passage and analysis (how)

Choosing Passages from the Text:Look for QUOTES that seem significant, powerful, thought

provoking or puzzling. For example, you might record:

Effective &/or creative use of stylistic or literary devices

Passages that remind you of your own life or something you’ve seen before

Structural shifts or turns in the plotA passage that makes you realize something you hadn’t

seen beforeExamples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors,

symbols or motifs.Passages with confusing language or unfamiliar

vocabularyEvents you find surprising or confusingPassages that illustrate a particular character or setting

Responding to Text: SimpleFor the RESPONSE column, you have several ways

to respond to a text:

Raise questions about the beliefs and values implied in the text

Give your personal reactions to the passageTell how it reminds you of your own experiencesWrite about what it makes you think or feel Argue with or speak to the characters or

author

Responding to Text: ComplexAnalyze the text for use of literary devices

(page Make connections between different

characters or events within the textMake connections to a different text (or film,

song, etc…)Discuss the words, ideas, or actions of the

author or character(s)Consider an event or description from the

perspective of a different characterAnalyze a passage and its relationship to the

story as a wholeRefer to pages 5 - 17

Application Journal

Session Packet

Literary Analysis Terms (8)

Character Traits (37)

Tone and Attitude (31)

TextsI Timothy 6:10Enron Editorial Cartoon“For the Love of

Money”The Pearl“Killed by Greed and

Oppression”Steinbeck: Nobel Prize

Acceptance Speech

Primary Source and Visual

“For the

love of money is the root of all evil

….” I Timothy

6:10

Song Lyrics

“For the Love of Money” - OJays

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nujQHu_j3Sw

Activity

3 Questions (Deeper Reading)

What does it say?

What does it mean?

What does it matter?

Choose a minimum of three lines from the song lyrics and write a paragraph response that incorporates the three questions.

Literature – Literature – The PearlThe PearlRead passage Consider the following:

Coyotito, the baby of Kino, a poor Mexican fisherman, and Juana, his mate, is bitten by a scorpion. Juana sucks the scorpion poison from Coyotito’s wound. When the baby falls ill, the grief-stricken parents take him to the only doctor in the neighboring town.

Character motivation Methods of Characterization Imagery Symbols Motifs Plot Setting Conflict Theme Allusion Conflict Syntax Diction

Literature # 2 – The PearlRead the passage Consider the following:

After being rejected by the doctor, Kino and Juana go to the beach where they take their boat out into the sea. He sees an enormous oyster lying alone under a stone, and through its open lips, he glimpses a phantom brightness. Without hurry, he gets the oyster and holds it against his chest. He violently kicks the immersion stone and goes back to the surface. Kino looks at the big oyster and he hesitates to open it, but Juana, her hand over Coyotito's head, encourages him. He forces the lips open with his knife and there it is, a pearl "perfect as the moon", big as a gull's egg. The news that Kino found the "Pearl of the World" spreads over the brush houses even before he gets home, and then goes on to the stone and plaster village.

Character motivation Methods of

Characterization Imagery Symbols Motifs Conflict Theme Allusion Conflict Syntax Diction

Expository – “Killed by Greed and Oppression”Read passage Consider the following:

In India the ancient custom of the bridal dowry has become a vicious and increasingly murderous way for a husband's family to acquire material goods

ThesisClaims or assertionsAuthor’s purposeAudienceAuthor’s biasToneConnotationText structureSyntax

Discussion and Reflection

How will you apply these strategies to achieve the

best grade your classroom?

ResourcesNTC’s Literary Terms (on order)What’s the Big Idea? – Jim Burke (on order)Deeper Reading by Kelly GallagherTools for Thought by Jim Burkehttp://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/I

ndex.htm

Thank YouQuestions

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