Tuesday, September 23 - Friday, September 26
Welcome! The jury is still out on whether I will blog daily or weekly. Last week was a bit crazy for me adjusting to a new school in a big hurry. So thank you. It was a very positive start and you have made me feel most welcome. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester.
On Tuesday, we began talking in groups about the concept of "traditions". Eventually, each group created a statement about what they observed about tradition.
Wednesday, we read The Lottery. During reading, I asked you to note things such as repetition, focus and ruptures. Following the reading of the story, we did a timed write about what you felt Jackson was stating about tradition.
On Thursday, I asked you to return to your groups briefly to come up with a statement about tradition based on Jackson's story. We compared notes on what you had identified as far as repetition, focus and ruptures. Then it was time to prepare your ammunition for ... (cue the Star Wars theme music...) STORY WARS! It was hilarious for me to see that all the girls were on one side of the room and all the boys on the other. As a result, we established two large teams and the preparation for story and gender wars was on. I was very impressed by the level of thought and commitment to the task.
Friday, after a brief period of preparation, the Story Wars began. Again, I was impressed with the depth of thought and perception you expressed. Remember when you make a point about something in an essay to do what you did in Story Wars: state what you think; provide and example from the text to support what you think; offer a "So What?" a statement, perhaps, about life outside of the story (our world) and what the author is saying about life, society or human behaviour. Judging may have been a bit dodgy, but the Gentlemen won Story wars by a narrow margin. Congratulations to all. Awards on Monday!
On Tuesday, we began talking in groups about the concept of "traditions". Eventually, each group created a statement about what they observed about tradition.
Wednesday, we read The Lottery. During reading, I asked you to note things such as repetition, focus and ruptures. Following the reading of the story, we did a timed write about what you felt Jackson was stating about tradition.
On Thursday, I asked you to return to your groups briefly to come up with a statement about tradition based on Jackson's story. We compared notes on what you had identified as far as repetition, focus and ruptures. Then it was time to prepare your ammunition for ... (cue the Star Wars theme music...) STORY WARS! It was hilarious for me to see that all the girls were on one side of the room and all the boys on the other. As a result, we established two large teams and the preparation for story and gender wars was on. I was very impressed by the level of thought and commitment to the task.
Friday, after a brief period of preparation, the Story Wars began. Again, I was impressed with the depth of thought and perception you expressed. Remember when you make a point about something in an essay to do what you did in Story Wars: state what you think; provide and example from the text to support what you think; offer a "So What?" a statement, perhaps, about life outside of the story (our world) and what the author is saying about life, society or human behaviour. Judging may have been a bit dodgy, but the Gentlemen won Story wars by a narrow margin. Congratulations to all. Awards on Monday!
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