Catching up

Last Friday, I went over the proof reading exercise from the previous day with the 9th graders because many of them didn't know how to put the single quotations within double quotations. I then divided the class into two groups: alcohol and rabies. Each side had to prove their reason for Poe's death. The alcohol side was disorganized and it showed in their presentation. The rabies side pulled enough information and evidence from their readings and clearly won the debate.

The 8th graders had a spelling test on Friday and we discussed characters and characterization. We are starting a new story, "Mrs. Flowers" by Maya Angelou. It is based on a true part of Angelou life. As a small girl she was violently assaulted. We discussed what the textbook meant and predicted that she may have been sexually molested. I find, at times, the students become more interested in the stories if I create some atmosphere of mystery surrounding the stories. And I usually related the topic to some current event in the news, which generates more interest.

I began working with the 9th graders on tenses this week. I noticed that some of them shift their tenses when they write. We also started a new story this week, "The Sniper." The story involves a sniper in Dublin around a civil war in the 1920s. The conflict is that another sniper is shooting at him. This idea of two different shooters relates to some of these students because some are, unfortunately, involved in gangs. Even the quiet ones came out of their shells to comment on the story. They have a rough draft due on Wednesday, so I'll be reading papers on the long weekend. It's worth 40% of their grade, so I hope that everyone will turn one in.

The 8th graders began to read "Mrs. Flowers," and I had them fill out a characterization handout as we read. The story is very colorful with imagery. They are all familiar with Angelou, which is great! I gave them another spelling list. The week is short because we have Thursday and Friday off. I'm trying to make it easy for them, as well as myself.