"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves..."

What a sad and bittersweet week this has been. We lost our 'Guybrarian," the "Abbassinator," Mr. Abbasse.   We also kicked off the Reader's Workshop portion of our Teaching the Canon unit, which I so expected Mr. Abbasse to be part of.  Just last week he stopped in my class as we were reading Othello, and he later shared with me his thoughts on teaching Shakespeare. I will always appreciate his dedication, insight, and sharing of a love of literature, and we will miss him dearly.

My saving grace has been this Reader's Workshop unit, where students are reading their book of choice and meet with me individually to discuss their readings.  Some of my students are reading John Green novels, and many don't realize that the title of his book, The Fault in our Stars, is an allusion to a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.   Students have learned to recognize this literary device and to search for deeper meaning in their books. Watching these students as they develop their love of reading has been a gift for me these past few days.

Salaam

Some Vocabulary Practice

Othello Act II Words


Tier 2 Words (great words to know for the EOGs)

Fishbowl Seminar: Shakespeare--To Teach or Not To Teach?

Fungi kids did an awesome job today discussing the pros and cons of teaching the canon in response to the article "High School Teacher says Shakespeare not to be in her Classroom."

Some notable comments: Mary M.R. said, "It's not really about what she thinks--it's more about student learning."

Ben A. said, "Shakespeare may be great, but our generation may produce a writer that is better than Shakespeare."

Student observers  "mapped" the conversation by drawing a circle with the names of the participants in the "fishbowl" and then drew lines between each successive speaker. This encouraged all students to be part of the conversation.

We missed the Band students, but we hope they're having a great time.

On Monday, we will start the Reader's Workshop part of this unit.  Students will choose their books based on possible themes in which they are interested, using the Analyzing Universal Themes Graphic Organizer.  As students are reading, they will be annotating on sticky notes, using this guideline: Annotation Anchor Chart.

Teaching the Canon - Part 2

Today we move into the next part of our unit, which is understanding what the literary canon is and the pros and cons of why we should teach it.

Students will be introduced to both sides of the debate and will read and annotate an article about the topic.  They will then engage in a seminar to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of teaching the canon and what books they would recommend if they were designing a reading list.

What is the Canon?
What Books Should be Required Reading?
Revisiting the Canon Wars
High School Teacher says Shakespeare is Not To Be in her Classroom

Quiz Today - Friday April 15

Othello/Literary Device Quiz 

Please make sure you are doing your own work.  Your ACES should use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Good luck!

When you are finished with the quiz, continue reading Othello silently from where we left off in class. Use the links below. You can read the original text or the modern version, but make sure you take notes on Shakespeare's descriptions (direct and indirect) of any new and existing characters.

Othello

Othello Act 1, Scene 1

Othello Video Overview - Act I

Othello Act 1, Scene 2 - Globe Theater Presentation

Earth Day Haiku Contest

Requirements:

1. Poems should be about nature
2. Poems should follow 5-7-5 as closely as possible - one syllable either way does not break the poem. 
3. First two lines should be a complete thought. 
4. Third line should surprise or delight. 

5. Haikus should be sent to Ms. Collins  (mcollins@chccs.k12.nc.us) and include the statement I acknowledge that this is my own work,  as well as the student's name and homeroom. They should include the subject line Haiku. They must be sent by Friday, April 15th, at 3:10. 

Teaching the Canon

I am excited about this new unit that we are starting this week.  Using a Reader's Workshop format, students will be exploring the pro's and cons of teaching the "canon," or those texts that are considered the standard for literature.  This week we are introducing the essential questions and key vocabulary and concepts that will be discussed throughout the unit.

We started with a pre-test on basic figurative language that students should know. Students, if you have not taken this pre-test, please make sure you take it as soon as possible.

Figurative Language Pre-Test

Essential question #1: 

What cultural or intellectual value is there in comparing two pieces of literature?

We learned the meaning of the literary device allusion, and had some good discussions about the allusions in Shrek 2.

Allusion:  An allusion is a figure of speech whereby the author refers to a subject matter such as a place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference. It is up to the reader to make a connection to the subject being mentioned.

Some resources that support this activity:

SHREK

I Have a Dream

HW: Do a Frayer Model for allusion

Frayer model template 

Essential Question #2

How do literary techniques help to shape both characters and themes?

RL.8.4

Archetypes Visual

Longer list of archetypes
Archetypes Powerpoint

Students identify characters that meet these types in popular literature.

Students share examples of the different archetypes from their own reading

Ex: Hero - Katniss, Sage- Dumbledore
Mining for Big Ideas - TedEd video which encourages students to "dive deeper" when analyzing literature.

Figurative Language Resources
Read these two resources and complete the simile/metaphor exercises:

Similes and Metaphors in Pop Culture - video
Poetry Terms and Formats - Google slides

"Ode" Analysis Resources
NY Times Poetry Pairings

--Where did the name of the band mentioned in the article come from?
-- What is the meaning of the word "polemical" as used in paragraph 5? Explain.

--Why do you think this poem was paired with this photo and article from The Times? What do the three have in common?

— Which do you like best: the poem, the image or the article? Why?

— What does this pairing say about life today? Do you think someone looking at it 25 years from now would “get” the same meaning? What about 100 years from now?

— What other Times photos or articles could also have been paired with this poem? Why?

— What other works of literature, film, or fine art can you think of that also echo, expand or even challenge the words and ideas of this poem?