Ms. Q: Daily Outline & Partial Answer

First--daily outline. Mine is very similar to yours, however, I have not done a good job of using time wisely. I start with bellwork, like your warm up it is related to what was already covered or an introduction question for a new unit. After bellwork I would begin the day's lesson, which may have been reading or working on a project. I rarely gave notes. I usually made the students take the notes in outline form, so I provided the outline or had them use the SQR3 method for taking notes. Mondays and Tuesdays were more of my guided practice/modeling days and the rest of the week was working on using what we learned Monday and Tuesday. At the end of the period we would debrief and answer any lingering questions and then I would give the homework.

since the AP classes tend to usurp a lot of the WWI lit, I'm looking for ways to bridge the students from Transcendentalism to The Great Gatsby

This is a beginning answer, which I plan to expand on, but here is what I have considered so far. I use Huck Finn between the two you mention above, but it doesn't really adress this part of your question:


help me show students the progression and economical circumstances that led to the "New wealth" vs. "Old wealth" of "Gatsby"

From a histrorical perspective, the progression is seen when you look at the rural versus urban growth of the country during this time period. After the Civil War, there is an exodus from the farms to the cities that was unprecedented. As cities grew, so too did the employment and investment opportunities. We look at immigration effects on cities. We look at the rise of political machines. We look at politics and the reform movements of the era as well. From a literary standpoint here is what I have so far found (I will be adding as I get more materials from my classroom):

Poetry of Carl Sandburg, especially those about city life
Richard Cory

For nonfiction, I use the supplemental materials from my US textbook. I have a set: The American Spirit, which is a two volume set. The link is to the second volume. While pricey ($45-$65 each) I find them invaluable resources. It covers EVERYTHING you could possibly want a nonfiction source for. I would check with your history teachers, they may already have them OR they may have something similar, as they are pretty standard fare for AP US textbooks.
These volumes have excerpts from primary source material outlined in chronological order. For this unit I would use pieces from the chapter on city life and the ag revolution to depict the difference in the two. I would use a piece or two from the reform chapter and one or two on the political issues, especially regarding the economics of the period.

The New vs. Old in the GG have more to do with the end of WWI and the horrific atrocities many soldiers witnessed, coming home to the same artistocratic and old fashioned values and just not being satisfied with this. What made the New wealth appear--stock market becoming available to the common man, inventions creating more job opportunities (and leadership opps), and the materialistic culture of the times. I have a few sources on these factors, but they are locked at school. I will try to get them early next week and post. I use parts of All Quiet on the Western Front and some poetry from WWI to give the students an idea of what was witnessed during the war.