Monthly Archives: February 2009

Antigone, the Giver, and Charlie

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First period continued with The Giver. We looked at all the ways the community tries to eliminate pain from the community. In the end, we determined that all the major differences between our society and theirs has to do with the elimination of pain.

Second period looked at the differences between modern drama and Greek drama. We went over the basic background knowledge necessary for an understanding of Antigone and cast the few characters.

Fourth and sixth periods went over the work from yesterday, then completed the “frequently confused words” in conjunction with Flowers for Algernon.

Homework
  • First period: read chapters 16-18.
  • Second, fourth, and sixth periods: none.

The Trial and Words Often Confused

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We had more ITBS testing today, which means we didn’t have first period.

Second period held the trials for Ralph and Jack. Ralph’s Dream Team came through for him, convincing the jury to return a “not guilty” verdict. When we meet again on Thursday, we’ll be starting Antigone, the classic (literally) Greek play by Sophocles.

Fourth and sixth periods worked on a quick review of words often confused:

  • Accept/except
  • Advice/advise
  • Affect/effect
  • Break/brake
  • Choose/chose
  • Hear/here
  • Its/it’s
  • Loose/lose
  • Passed/past
  • Peace/piece
  • Principal/principle
  • Quiet/quite
  • Than/then
  • There/their/they’re
  • Threw/through
  • To/too/two
  • Weak/week
  • Who’s/whose
  • Your/you’re

For the most part, students are doing this individual and in pairs. It should be a review, but a few of them keep popping up in student writing.

Giver Review, ITBS, Apostrophes

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First period had an unplanned Giver review discussion. I hadn’t realized that there were some fundamental issues about the book that some weren’t comprehending, and the questions at the beginning of class illustrated that we needed to process as a group a bit.

Second period didn’t have class today due to the ITBS testing.

Fourth and sixth periods worked on a quick (theoretically quick, anyway) review of apostrophe use. It was intended to take less than a whole period; it will end up taking about 1.25 periods.

Homework
  • First period: read through chapter 13 of The Giver by Thursday (the next time we’ll have class).
  • Second: complete court case (will present/try the case tomorrow).
  • Fourth and sixth periods: none (possible quiz tomorrow).

Rites of Passage and the End of Innocence

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First period looked at the various rites of passage in The Giver and worked together to come up with an answer to the day’s essential question, “What is a rite of passage.”

Second period finished up Lord of the Flies. We began working on two trials that will be held Monday the next time we’ll have class together.

Jack's Defense

Jack's Defense

In separate trials, we’ll be trying Ralph and Jack for the death of Simon. Those who chose to work on Jack’s case will receive a bit of extra credit, as they had no materials to begin with.

Ralph's Defense Dream Team

Ralph's Defense Dream Team

Prosecution At Work

Prosecution At Work

Initially, I only planned on the trial for Ralph, but we talked as a class and decided to do two trials, with the understanding that those working Jack’s trial — especially the defense — would have a much harder assignment.

Dream Team II

Dream Team II

Prosecution Team for Ralph

Prosecution Team for Ralph

“Defending Jack is a little like defending Osama bin Laden,” said one of Jack’s attorneys to me. Of course, the truly difficult defendant from Lord of the Flies would be Roger.

Prosecution and Defense for Jack

Prosecution and Defense for Jack

Fourth and sixth periods returned to Flowers for Algernon. We took a break from reading to watch a bit of the film version, Charlie.

We’ll be having ITBS testing next week, so theoretically we won’t have class for first and second periods until next Thursday. I’m hoping we can, as a team, make some adjustments so that we’ll have class with first and second periods at some point during that three-day testing block.

Homework
  • First period: read chapters 9-11 of The Giver.
  • Second period:
    • finish up preparation for trial;
    • answer essay question on the forum.
  • Fourth and sixth periods:
    • re-read Charlie’s first diary entry;
    • correct the spelling and punctuation mistakes..

PASS Overview

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Mrs.Weaver-James, an instructional coach at Hughes, was a guest teacher in all classes today, giving students some important information about the upcoming PASS test.

Tomorrow, we’ll be going to the book fair, with Mrs. Weaver-James taking the few minutes of class time beforehand to finish up what we started.

Homework

None.

Scheduling

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We took a break from the regular schedule today to do some scheduling for next year. It was difficult for the students who hadn’t gone to their high school’s curriculum night to make decisions about courses, but overall, it went well.