Peer Review Writing Workshops

This lesson takes students through the writing workshop process in preparation for revision. This lesson requires students to prepare constructive feedback for three authors in their class and reflect on their own work

A Search for Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

Students will work in small groups to trace the context and implications for assigned symbols or colors in The Great Gatsby. This activity is best done after the class has completed a reading of the book. This activity allows the students to look more closely at Fitzgerald’s language and make connections across the use of symbols/ colors in the text. This lesson can be a nice lead up to a final paper or assessment. Teachers can facilitate this lesson as a part of a blended classroom, or completely in class. Either way, students will have a catalog of the context and implications for specific symbols throughout the book

Imitism: Learning Imagism through Imitation

Students will learn the components of Imagism through works of William Carlos Williams and D.H. Lawrence. As authors, students will demonstrate their understanding of this poetic movement through an imitation of either Williams’ poem “This is just to Say” or Lawrence’s poem “Green”

From Present to Past: Contextualizing the Sonnet

Students will learn the components of a Shakespearean sonnet by looking at the intentions and figurative language of modern music and tracing it back to Spenser’s blazon “Sonnet XV” and Shakespeare’s response in “Sonnet 130”. This lesson allows multiple entry points into the language, content and form of Shakespeare’s sonnets. This lesson can be used at the beginning of a unit on Shakespeare, Renaissance poetry, or sonnets

Dear Zelda

This talk-show activity is best done after students have read through chapter seven in The Great Gatsby. Students will be asked to write a “Dear Zelda” letter- seeking advice for a problem that has come to light in their (the character’s) life. Perhaps Tom would like some marital advice, Wilson may need to learn about the grieving process, Myrtle may ask how she could have communicated with Wilson more productively – and thus avoided her untimely death. It is up to the students to decide what their character needs help with. Students will take the stage and talk out their problems with their host Zelda. Through active engagement and participation, the class will process the characters and conflicts in the book and make predictions about the ending

Uncovering Fallacies in Documentary Film

This is an introductory activity that will familiarize students with eight essential fallacies. Students will be given a specific fallacy and its definition along with examples. Student will search for their fallacy in a twenty minute screening of a documentary film. Through small group and whole class discussion, students will leave class with an expert understanding of their own fallacy as well as a solid foundation of understanding for the other seven fallacies presented

Composing the Working Thesis

This lesson will review the proper format of effective thesis statements. Students will review sample thesis statements, reflect on their own work and revise

A Poet’s Cento: Reflecting on the Written Word through Writing

Students will create their own cento using lines from poetry discussed in class during a poetry unit. In a short analysis, students reflect on the lines of poetry that they chose to include as well as their process as a poet. This lesson allows the students to become even more familiar with their previously studied work while working through the writing process as an author. The short reflective analysis prompts students to be metacognative about their process and product. This lesson is best used at the end of a poetry unit

Intracellular retention of mutant lysyl oxidase leads to aortic dilation in response to increased hemodynamic stress

Heterozygous missense mutations in lysyl oxidase (LOX) are associated with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. To assess how LOX mutations modify protein function and lead to aortic disease, we studied the factors that influence the onset and progression of vascular aneurysms in mice bearing a Lox mutation (p.M292R) linked to aortic dilation in humans. We show that mice heterozygous for the M292R mutation did not develop aneurysmal disease unless challenged with increased hemodynamic stress. Vessel dilation was confined to the ascending aorta although both the ascending and descending aortae showed changes in vessel wall structure, smooth muscle cell number and inflammatory cell recruitment that differed between wild-type and mutant animals. Studies with isolated cells found that M292R-mutant Lox is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and ultimately cleared through an autophagy/proteasome pathway. Because the mutant protein does not transit to the Golgi where copper incorporation occurs, the protein is never catalytically active. These studies show that the M292R mutation results in LOX loss-of-function due to a secretion defect that predisposes the ascending aorta in mice (and by extension humans with similar mutations) to arterial dilation when exposed to risk factors that impart stress to the arterial wall