An interesting challenge...

It has been a somewhat rough week because Susan is on medical leave. The week ending 12/3, I had the 9th graders read "The Gift of the Magi." This short Christmas story proved to be very favorable with the 9th graders. Most of them did very well on the test I gave them on 12/7. I also worked with them on modifiers, single words and phrases. I used the names of students in the class as examples on the board. What I like about doing this is that when I begin to write each new sentence, the room is incredibly silent because they want to see whose name I am going to use. The sentences are funny, which I think makes the lesson more appealing. On Friday, 12/3, I seperated the class into two groups: Pepsi drinkers and Coca Cola drinkers. We were going to have a debate today, 12/10, but they were working on their next big writing assignment.

Instead of the traditional persuasive essay, I've assigned them a project to create an ad campaign for candy. They are working in groups of five as an advertising agency. I've given them a list of titles and duties, so each student will be responsible for certain aspects of the campaign. This project follows the same kind of principles as the t.v. show, The Apprentice. As a group, they must do the following:
Create a name for the team
Create a logo
Write a mission statement
Create a jingle
Design a print ad
Write, direct, and produce a commercial
Marketing

Each student will have to write a three paragraph sales pitch after completion of the project. Their goal is to persuade me to hire and use their campaign. The one group I feared was going to have problems has come up with a unique name and have already created a clever jingle for their product, Skittles. Since the group comprises of Hispanic students, they are also writing a Spanish version of everything they do. I was very impressed at their attempt to target two different audiences.

I was also impressed with their last writing assignment, comparing different news media. Most of the students had interesting perspectives on how the news media manipulates the viewers/readers. I think they did well on this assignment because we did it together in the classroom and I was able to answer any questions they might have.

With the 8th graders, I assigned the Ray Bradbury science fiction story, "There Will Come Soft Rains." It was an interesting story, but the students were not as thrilled with it. I also used a few days to get all the students caught up on missed work due to absences and suspensions. I'm taking them deeper into the analysis of stories. We read the Grimms Brothers' "Little Brier-Rose" today, which is a short story with a happy ending. There is not much conflict which moves the plot, but overall, it has all the basic elements. I then showed them the first part of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. I had them compare and contrast the two stories. The high-light was when two of the three new students joined in on the discussion. One very politely raised his hand each time he wanted to say something.

I wrote my first referral this week. A student who had ditched PE was assigned detention on Tuesday, 12/7. She told the office that she couldn't do it because of a dental appointment, so we moved it to Wednesday. On that day, her mother appeared with her PE clothes but waited for her after she was done with her regular class. Apparently, she left campus with her mom, and didn't show up for detention. I spoke to one of the VPs and he said she didn't show up for PE either. He told me to write up the referral and send her to the office. I think the girl thought we wouldn't figure out what she did because Susan wasn't here to oversee everything like she normally does. I also had two students suspended for having marijuana in their possesion. The school did a drug sweep with the police and canine.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks, and I have one more to go before the Christmas break, which I am looking forward to very much.