A Year in Marginalia: Sam Anderson By Sam Anderson posted at 11:00 am on December 16, 2010 34 The writing I enjoy doing most, every year, is marginalia: spontaneous bursts of pure, private response to whatever book happens to be in front of me. It’s the most intimate, complete, and honest form of criticism possible — not the big wide-angle aerial shot you get from an official review essay, but a moment-by-moment record of what a book actually feels like to the actively reading brain. Here are some snapshots, month by month, of my marginalia from 2010. (Click each image for a larger view) JanuaryPoint Omega by Don Delillo FebruaryReality Hunger by David Shields Bleak House by Charles Dickens MarchThe Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver AprilAutobiography of Red by Anne Carson MayThe Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis JuneWittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson JulyFreedom by Jonathan Franzen AugustMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, translated by Lydia Davis SeptemberThe Anthologist by Nicholson Baker Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
‘What I Really Want Is Someone Rolling Around in the Text’ This hit home for me — it spoke to the little scribal monk who lives deep in the scriptorium of my soul — and I quickly adopted the habit of marginalia: underlining memorable lines, writing keywords in blank spaces, jotting important page numbers inside of back covers. It was addictive, and useful; I liked being able to glance back through, say, “Great Expectations,” and discovering all of its great sentences already cued up for me. (Chapter 4, underlined: “I remember Mr. Soon my little habit progressed into a full-on dependency. All of which means I’ve been feeling antsy over the last five years, as I’ve watched the inexorable rise of e-readers. According to the marginalia scholar H. It’s probably natural, here in the 21st century, to fret over the future of literature — to worry that, in an era in which everyone wants everything to be social and interactive, serious reading will be impossible.
Lesson 6: A Lesson on Nature Note Taking Teach your students the art of recording observations in the field. Download Lesson 6 (68KB) A scientist's journal goes by many aliases -- nature journal, field notebook, or science notebook. No matter what you call it, people use the field journal for the purpose of recording qualitative, quantitative, and sensory data in the field. Throughout the curriculum, students have practiced using their field journals. Lesson Objectives and Materials Objectives Students will Learn how to take good field notes Use the senses for making observations Practice identifying species in the field Materials NM data-collection formField guides or animal fact sheets Field journals (bound scientific notebooks) Leaves, seashells, flowers, or other objects for demonstration Honey, perfume, burnt grease, rose, cinnamon, and other items to smell Small containers or jars Pens and pencils Field Journal Basics Teach students the importance of using a field journal correctly, and work on student's note-taking abilities.
Making Sure They Are Learning Sarah Kaufmann: I think of authentic assessment as my ability to teach each student where they actually are. I'm Sarah Kaufmann. I teach sixth grade humanities at School of the Future. In order to know where they actually are, I have to be able to assess them really specifically and in a variety of ways that are appropriate for that student, so that what I'm doing is every day giving that child an environment where they're challenged, where they feel good about what they're learning and they feel like they're learning. Stacy Goldstein: What's been amazing to watch in Sarah's class as a sixth grade teacher is also, she just is extremely rigorous in what she demands from the kids. And so her class really has high standards. Sarah Kaufmann: A lot of that work started with myself when I would think about reading and I would do Post-Its while I read to figure out what I was actually asking the students to do. My name's Eamon McCormick. Student 1: I just borrow Owen's description--
What is Argument Mapping? Argument Mapping is the expression of an argument is in a structured visual form. Arguments have been expressed in prose since the time of Socrates. Modern information technology has made little impact on the expression and understanding of arguments. Argument mapping allows you to move from prose to a visual structure expressing premises, reasons, objections, assumptions and general commentary. Look at the Wikipediaentry for more detailed definition. Some good examplefiles can be found on the Philosophy Programme - University of Natal, Durban site. A tutorial series in PDF may be found at Jamel Ostwald's site on his Classespage. Other Argument Mapping software packages exist with Rationalebeing the best, in my opinion. There is an Argument Map group on Yahoo Groups here .
The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning (9781579220549): James E. Zull Diaries and Journals - Women's Studies Resources in the Special Collections Research Center - Research Guides at College of William & Mary Lydia Hart Diary, 1823-1831--diary recording the activities and thoughts of a Walden, New York minister's wife Jane Gay Robertson Diary, 1825-1849, Mss 65 R54, Box 6--diary sporadically kept by a Caroline County plantation mistress Lydia Wasson Diary, 1826-1853 (Mss Acc 2010.099)--memoir written in 1826 followed by diary entries for the remainder of this Indiana Quaker woman's life, with some entries dictated to her daughter Charlotte Wasson Cox, who made some diary entries of her own after her mother's 1853 death. She reflects a great deal on religion. Ann Lettice Murdoch Diary, 1845-1864 (Mss Acc 2009.468)--diary of a Frederick County, Maryland, woman whose husband Richard Potts was a bank president. Diaries, Lakeville, New York, 1846-1861 (Mss Acc 2009.546)--diary of an anonymous woman recording chores, family activities, taking care of the sick, and other activities. Helen Struan Bernard Diary, 1848-1862, Mss 65 R54, Box 6--diary of a wealthy woman from Caroline County Nanny C. Eva L.
Teaching Student Annotation: Constructing Meaning Through Connections Lesson Plan Instructional Plan Students will: examine and analyze text closely, critically, and carefully.make personal, meaningful connections with text.clearly communicate their ideas about a piece of text through writing, revision, and publication. back to top Session One Begin the session by asking students if they are familar with the word annotation. Session Two Pass out "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros or any other text appropriate for your students and this activity. Session Three Return annotations from the previous session and address any questions or concerns.Explain that, working in pairs, the students will examine each other's annotations and look for ideas that have the potential for further development and revision. Session Four
Marginalia by Billy Collins from The Best Cigarette Album