Search results matching tags 'reading' and 'good mood'

Move From What to Why!

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:32:26 GMT

We and our students are immersed in media today. Look at the numbers:

Arguably the most frightening statistic is that 95% of the media is owned by five companies (Time Warner, VIACOM, Vivendi Universal, Walt Disney, and News Corp). So, how do we teach our students to wade through this morass of information, this new world of constant persuasion?

We teach them to be discerning, critical readers. We teach them to be rhetors.

However, an important shift must happen in our classrooms, especially for those of us teaching high school English students. Our students are pounded over the heads with setting, character, and theme from the time they enter elementary school and on into high school. They get the basics, but we sometimes drive the kids to look only for those ideas, ideas that can be found almost literally on the page.

We need to move from what and where to why.

What I mean by this is that we often ask students what the meaning of a literary term is (the what) and then to find examples in the text (the where), at times actually having the students touch the page for the location of the term’s employment. This is a basic skill, a rudimentary skill at the lower end of a taxonomic scale (usually Bloom’s or Marzano’s).

Let’s move kids beyond this and get to the why. Why did the author choose this setting? Why was alliteration used in that name? Why was this the best metaphor to use (or was it)? Why is the paragraph structured this way? Why is this sentence structured in such a way?

This leads the kids away from searching the text for answers and towards searching the text for meaning. This allows for nuance, not black and white assignments and activities. This moves the kids towards true analysis.

Ultimately, I want to see my students understanding the reasons authors make choices. Whether I use a novel, short story, editorial, advertisement, virtually any text, I want my students discussing the why when we analyze a text and this requires a close textual analysis. This means I have to move my students from defining and locating to analyzing.

It’s a daunting task at times but a necessary one if I want my students to become successful navigators and explorers in this Information Age. If I want my students to become citizens who contribute to our democracy, I need to help them critically read, question, and discover the nuances of argumentation and the means of persuasion.

Filed under: Good Mood, Lessons, Literature, Reading, Writing

Another Book Bites the Dust

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 03:49:58 GMT

I posted a brief about the books I’ve been reading recently and thought I’d update my list with a couple additions.

I finished Fragment by Warren Fahy and have to admit that the fast-paced action interrupted by some scientific theories captivated me, but then Fahy went where I feared the book might go. I enjoyed finishing the novel–and I don’t mind the ending preparing for a sequel–but an element was added (a creature I feared might appear) that disappointed me a bit. Still, I could give the book 2.5 or 3 stars out of 5.

This weekend I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and I really enjoyed it. It’s one of those books that kept me wanting to read the next page and then the next episode and then the next chapter. One of my students recommended I read the book and then my wife and a friend read the series, so I decided to try it out–well worth the time. I just started Catching Fire, the second book in the trilogy, and I’m hoping the second matches the intensity of the first.

Hope your reading is going well too!

[P.S. I have no idea why I keep using allusions in my post titles; I just seem to be in the mood for it.]

Filed under: Good Mood, Reading

Upcoming in January

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:18:38 GMT

I just finished planning for January, and I’m going to be teaching the following this month.

American Literature: First, we’ll review the Edgar Allan Poe writings (“The Raven” and “Masque of the Red Death” and “The Tell Tale Heart”) as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” I actually used an excerpt of Stephen King’s Danse Macabre, which is in our textbook, as an introduction to the Poe unit. King’s piece is great for explaining how people’s curiosity is virtually uncontrollable and how the unknown is the scariest of all scares. This was a fun unit, and the kids loved it. It was the most energetic and intrigued they had been all year.

In January we will be reading Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage and looking at Impressionism, Naturalism, and Realism. Then, we’ll follow that up with Nathaniel Hawnthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”

Mythology: We almost finished our examination of Greek mythology but need to finish The Fall of Troy and the tales of Odysseus. That should take us the first week of the month.

Then, we’re going to read Beowulf, compare and contrast Norse Creation with the Greek version and then read some Norse tales. This will finish the semester. We completed our major project this semester, so we have a fun finish to the class. I will probably show a couple films after school and look at how the myths are changed for films (maybe Troy, the early 80s Clash of the Titans, The Odyssey, or the new animated Beowulf). Sometimes I show the kids the documentary about the mythology of Star Wars if time permits. It’s one that the students like (especially when the film director Kevin Smith says “of course” Annakin is the perfect villain to ruin the universe since Annakin is “an emo kid”).

Sophomore Honors: We finished up Ender’s Game before the Winter Break, which the students really enjoyed. Most of the class went out and purchased or shared the sequel during the vacation time. I got a number of e-mails regarding the Ender and Bean books. It’s nice to see the kids inspired to read more.

This month we’re looking at classic fairy tales and then reading William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. We’ll compare and contrast the film with the novel, and we’ll look at how Goldman satirizes fairy tales and contemporary society. We may even compose an ABC story which I’ve blogged about in the past.

That’s all for now. TTFN!

Posted in American Lit., Good Mood, Honors, Lessons, Literature, Movies, Mythology, Pop Culture, Reading, Writing

Casual Reading

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:30:40 GMT

When students ask me what I do outside of school, I tell them that “I read Shakespeare and study the dictionary.” Of course, they believe me until I tell them I’m just kidding.

However, I do throw the books I read up on the book shelves in my classroom for them to read. I go through reading phases, but science fiction dominates my stacks. Ben Bova, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Peter F. Hamilton, and James F. David among others rest on the shelves waiting for a student to wake them up.

Recently, I’ve been drawn to mysteries and adventure stories. Here are a few of the writers I’ve sampled in the last few years:

Matthew Reilly (straight action adventure)
Raymond Khoury (mysteries delving into the mystical)
James Rollins (adventure with some fantastic elements)
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (mysteries with some mysticism and science fiction elements)
AJ Hartley (historical mysteries)
David Stone (harsh intelligence mysteries)

I wonder what my next series of authors will be.

Posted in Good Mood, Literature, Reading

Trying to Teach Tone or Mood or Irony?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:53:41 GMT

If you are trying to teach tone, irony, or mood, Grady Hendrix’s Slate.com article “Giant Squid” could be a fun one. Seeing if the kids can catch the fact that the writer is not serious and if the kids can catch the humor throughout the piece would be interesting; besides, it’s a great read, too.

Posted in Good Mood, Lessons, Reading

Going to be a Good Week

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:16:30 GMT

After such a long week this past week, I’m psyched for our four-day week ahead.

First, I get to start teaching my favorite Shakespearean play: The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. We have already learned some background information through a video and a history chapter (and I can say learned because all but one student really aced the background quiz), and we have had a Shakespearean insult contest–always a blast! Tomorrow we’re going over some vocabulary and then jumping into a conversation about theories on leadership before starting the play.

Plus, I get to start moving into The Great Gatsby this week. We’re creating bulletin boards detailing the 1920s and reading “Soldier’s Home” (Hemingway), “I’m a Fool” (Anderson), and “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (Fitzgerald). The kids love the last one, especially when Bernice pulls out her scissors. Read these stories. They’re great! (Here’s a link to last year’s boards.)

Penultimately, my new mythology class is starting to learn about Prometheus and how he became a symbol of righteous rebellion against unjust authority. Kids love rebels. This leads us into the Underworld, which is always a popular unit where we try to design what the Underworld should look like. Then, we create our own Underworlds with a theme (much like a Dante’s Inferno-type rendition with themes). It’s fun and the kids know the Underworld once we finish. One of my favorite designs (of how a group thought the Underworld should look) included the band Styx playing “Mr. Roboto” for eternity to tortured souls.

However, the best news is this: no administrative meetings. I had enough of those last week. Oh, and did I mention it’s only a four-day week? And we have a four-day weekend upcoming? Things are looking up.

Posted in American Lit., Good Mood, Honors, Lessons, Literature, Mythology, Reading, Writing

One Week Down

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:48:37 GMT

I had a great start to my week! I absolutely enjoy my classes, and my new collegaues seem to be adjusting and fitting in well. Here’s how my week went with some key lessons.

College in the H.S. (American Lit.)

I started the kids with a dozen literary terms. I created a chart with the following columns: literary term, definition, example in the literature, and author. This way the students must find examples throughout the semester of every literary term I give them. On Monday the kids will be quizzed on the spelling of each, being able to match each term to a definition, and matching each term to an example I provide.

Also, we are reading a collection of Native American myths and a few Colonial writings prior to starting Fools Crow by James Welch. This year I created a series of questions and practice quizzes covering the short pieces to help them get to know my style and what I expect. This should help a bit.

The kids are working in small groups and by themselves. I usually begin each class by asking for questions from the previous day’s work and end each period by asking for questions as well. I walk among the students and spot check them, so I can usually head off any difficulties.

Mythology

The first series of lessons I provide the mythology students (as I turn them into, as I tell them, “myth geeks”) is to help them memorize the basic thirteen gods and goddesses of the Olympian Household.

First, I went over the Greek and Roman names using a PowerPoint presentation with pictures included, and the students filled out the first two columns of a chart I made them (which has cells for the names, realms, and symbols). Then I have them make flash cards with the Greek name on one side and the Roman name on the other. I also require that they write the Greek name in green and the Roman name in red to help their memories (colors are an excellent means of helping memory if you haven’t tried it). Next, the students quiz one another using their cards, and then I shout out a Greek or Roman name and the students chant out the god’s other name.

Each consecutive day during the first week is the same except that we move from one column to the next (Wednesday the names, Thursday the realms, and Friday the symbols). I also have them choose one realm to remember and add it to the bottom left of the Roman side of their card and to remember one symbol and add it to the bottom left of the Greek side of their card. Now they have 13 flash cards which can be used to study three different items. Quiz on Tuesday.

During the second half of each class we read part of the Greek/Roman Creation story, and I teach them how to take good notes and create a family tree based on the Creation tale. This story in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology covers everything from Chaos at the very beginning of time to Zeus’ victories to become the supreme ruler.

This structure breaks each period into 3-4 activities and slowly builds the students’ background knowledge as we move towards the sequence of tales we read. Small successes now builds confidence and creates large victories later.

The reason the students need to memorize this information is that Edith Hamilton used stories translated from Latin and Greek and used those names accordingly and because sometimes the storytellers referred to the Olympians by their realm (i.e. “Earthshaker” for Poseidon because he’s the god of earthquakes) or by their symbol (i.e. “he who wields the trident” for Poseidon as well).

Sophomore Honors

This week for these kids was a bit light because we have two days set aside for a reading assessment, but we still made time for vocabulary and historical background for our first novel.

I gave the students a crossword puzzle with our first 14 vocabulary words. They solve the puzzle and transfer the words and definitions to a chart I provide. They then create a picture for each word (whatever helps them remember the word’s meaning), compose a sentence for each word, and try to list synonyms for each. They received this on Tuesday and completed the reading assessment Wednesday and Thursday.

On Friday I tossed markers out to students, and they put their words, pictures, and sentences on the white boards. We shared them, made corrections, and talked about how the words are normally used. It’s very collaborative and fun. On Monday we’ll take a quiz requiring spelling, matching to definitions, and filling in blanks in sentences.

The second half of the class we went over an outline on a PowerPoint providing context for Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. I knew it went well when the class was laughing and asking questions while we discussed famines, hunger, and oppression. I’m not sure how we hit it off so well, but we’re off to a great start!

We won our rivalry game to open the football season too, so all in all it’s been a terrific beginning to the year.

Curriculum Work

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:29:01 GMT

At last, I will be able to prepare for my classes today!

The last three weeks have been nothing but department and building issues; “putting out fires” is what I tell people I’ve been doing. We have one English position to fill, which will be filled with a substitute until the five day hiring window closes. I think all of the new teachers are feeling pretty good about the start of the year, and I’m feeling pretty good, too.

I’m going to set up my first two weeks for Survey of American Literature where we will begin Fools Crow by James Welch and read a number of Native American tales and start some colonial writings.

In Mythology I have my students begin by knowing the Olympian Household (the basic gods and goddesses on Mt. Olympus) including the Greek and Roman names, the realms, and the symbols. Then we start reading the creation story as a class since it’s about the most abstract part of the course.

In Sophomore Honors I’m starting with A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I go through a PowerPoint with kids detailing the social, political, and economic context of the novel before reading the first chapter together. Then the students can read independently at night, and we discuss most of the period the next day. I also throw in some quick quizzes to see who read and work on our weekly vocabulary words.

I’m very much looking forward to this school year. Once all of the politics and personal issues are left in the offices, I love getting to work with the kids. It’s going to be a good year!

The Matrix in Class

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:09:02 GMT

I purchased some movie units from Michael Vetrie, an alternative high school teacher in Sun Valley, CA, and I’m going to try one tomorrow. I will show The Matrix in half-hour segments, so the students can do the following: compose a double-entry journal, study the film using literary terms, analyze critical quotations in the novel plot how Neo follows [...]

Next Up

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:33:04 GMT

I am very excited to teach The Tragedy of Julius Caesar this week. I love this play! We finished up quite a bit of historical context last week and will begin Act I on Wednesday. The opening scene is so dense introducing some of the play’s major themes while injecting humor, word play, and emotion into [...]