English 9A

1. English 9A

2. Entry task • NO READER NEEDED! • Score item one (in seat and working silently on entry task at bell) In the MONDAY weekly warm – up: Take a few minutes and list 10 events that you remember from your childhood: • “I remember . . .” Picking the heads off all of our tulips to “surprise” my parents . . .my mom in the hospital . . . Trying to trick the babysitter . . . Going fishing with my dad . . .

3. Pick a memory • Choose ONE memory. Describe your memory to your partner. Use the five senses. Explain what you saw, describe what you heard, how things felt, smelled, tasted . . . • Talk about the memory for as long as you can. Be detailed. After a few minutes, I will switch you to the other partner.

4. Respond: From Childhood Images • Take out a fresh piece of paper. • 12 minute silent write. Tell thestory: “One day, back in Lincoln, Nebraska . . .” • Don’t edit too much • Do get down as much detail as you remember • Don’t try for perfect or polished • Do think about diction, imagery, and syntax

5. Reflect and respond • In teams, read out loud one at a time. • Listener must explain the following: • Were you moved by a particular scene? What do you mean by ‘moved’? Why is being moved important? • Did you ‘see’ the place? What details helped you to ‘see’? • How did the details chosen (or the subject matter, or the language, or the sentence length, or the organization) influence your response? • Switch partners

6. Let’s Write • Think back to your “I remember” list. • Use this last memory OR choose another memory/image and jot down 5 things that you didn’t realize you loved until your returned to this memory—five things that come directly from this memory. • In other words, finish the sentence, “I never knew I loved ________.” (I never knew I loved awful floral cloth napkins my grandmother saved for special occasions…) • What you list need not be concrete; while you might choose “loved” items/nouns as artichoke hearts, oak trees, or ninjas, you might also choose abstractions such as being alone or getting attention.

7. Write • Once you’ve made your list, choose one item from this list and take a moment and write a few paragraphs using “I never knew I loved ______” as your first sentence. • You should end your paragraph with “I never knew I loved _______. ” and you should use the phrase “I never knew…” three times.

8. (Excerpts from . . . )Things I Didn't Know I Lovedby Nazim Hikmet I never knew I loved night descending like a tired bird on a smoky wet plain I didn't know I loved the sky cloudy or clear . . . I never knew I loved roads even the asphalt kind Vera's behind the wheel we're driving from Moscow to the Crimea the two of us inside a closed box the world flows past on both sides distant and mute I was never so close to anyone in my life I just remembered the stars I love them too whether I'm floored watching them from below or whether I'm flying at their side . . . I have some questions for the cosmonauts were the stars much bigger did they look like huge jewels on black velvet or apricots on orange did you feel proud to get closer to the stars . . . they are our endless desire to grasp things seeing them I could even think of death and not feel at all sad I never knew I loved the cosmos . . . or how much I didn't know I loved clouds whether I'm under or up above them whether they look like giants or shaggy white beasts . . .the train plunges on through the pitch-black night I never knew I liked the night pitch-black sparks fly from the engine I didn't know I loved sparks I didn't know I loved so many things and I had to wait until sixty to find it out sitting by the window on the Prague-Berlin train watching the world disappear as if on a journey of no return

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