1B
1. Freewrite.
2. Sentence Corrections. Students corrected run-on sentences in their writer’s notebooks to practice correct mechanics and grammar.
3. Tell the Truth. Students picked cards with the names of characters on them. After picking cards, students received this graphic organizer: Tell the truth. In small groups, students gathered to fill out the organizer, searching for quotes connected to character motivation and desires. Then, students returned to their desks to write in complete sentences, answering the questions in the boxes. Finally, students came up to the front of the class “in character.” As their character, they had to answer questions posed to them by a character judge. As a class, we voted on the most accurate version of each character.
HW: Read Chapter 5 AND Chapter 6, taking notes on your Outsiders Reading Guide and finding five quotes per chapter that relate to your motif as you go.
2AB
1. Freewrite.
2. Idea web on what’s important to you in life. Students came up with a bubble map and then three statements that represented what they believed most in life. Here’s one of mine: A good friendship is one that involves both deep, philosophical discussions and stupid jokes. Students were told we would return to this later.
3. Oral Quiz on Chapter 5. This oral quiz was preceded by lots of great questions from students. Thank you! We had an awesome conversation about how Gollem refers to himself as “my precious” until the moment he realizes the ring is lost, at which point he shifts to using “my precious” for the ring as well, suggesting how intimately linked the ring is to his very identity. Cool.
4. Riddles and Humanity. Students learned briefly about the Riddle of the Sphinx and we discussed how riddles reveal much about the nature of man and the teller, since the answer to the sphinx’s riddle is “man, himself.” As a class we examined the first riddle closely, annotating it on the board and discussing.
5. Next, students chose their own riddle to analyze and annotate: Riddles. We had about five minutes in class to do this.
HW: Finish Riddles sheet. Read Ch. 6 by Wednesday, but you don’t need to start it tonight necessarily, since we will be reading some of it in class tomorrow.
Absentees: Download the Riddles document and annotate one of the riddles on your own at home.
4B
1. Freewrite.
2. Idea web on what’s important to you in life. Students came up with a bubble map and then three statements that represented what they believed most in life. Here’s one of mine: A good friendship is one that involves both deep, philosophical discussions and stupid jokes. Students were told we would return to this later.
3. Oral Quiz on Chapter 5. This oral quiz was preceded by lots of great questions from students. Thank you! We had an awesome conversation about how Gollem refers to himself as “my precious” until the moment he realizes the ring is lost, at which point he shifts to using “my precious” for the ring as well, suggesting how intimately linked the ring is to his very identity. Cool.
4. Riddles and Humanity. Students learned briefly about the Riddle of the Sphinx and we discussed how riddles reveal much about the nature of man and the teller, since the answer to the sphinx’s riddle is “man, himself.” As a class we examined the first riddle closely, annotating it on the board and discussing.
5. Next, students chose their own riddle to analyze and annotate: Riddles. This took about 15 minutes.
6. Finally, students wrote their own riddles based on the statements they came up with at the beginning of class. At the end of class, they turned in the Riddles sheet and their own riddle.
HW: Read Chapter 6 of The Hobbit and continue taking your motif notes. The goblins will return!
Absentees: Download the Riddles sheet and annotate one riddle of your choice. Answer the questions on the second page. Then, write your own riddle about something important to you in life.
ALEXA GARVOILLE 