They're Getting Antsy!

We're now coming to the middle of May and everyone is definitely getting antsy!  It's taking all my energy to keep being an enthusiastic cheerleader, but luckily I love what I teach and I love who I teach, so I'm sure we're going to make it to June 17th!

This past week in English 11 we accomplished quite a bit.  Instead of having them do a traditional read of Frankenstein, I had them split up chapters 11-16 by groups and act them out for each other.  We then took notes on the details on a large piece of paper broken into eight boxes.  They liked breaking things up, and many group had fantastic presentations!  They're so creative!  We're now finishing the book and I expect to be testing them by next week.  Our final unit will revolve around personal narratives, and I'm working on a fun project.  When I get it all figured out I'll tell everyone about it.  Our model text will be Night by Elie Wiesel, and is his personal narrative of surviving the Holocaust.  This is one of my favorite books of all time and most students really like this unit.

In English 9 we finished Flowers for Algernon.  They wrote their Type 3 Analytical Essays and turned them in, and then we watched the movie I Am Sam and found the connections to the themes in the book.  At this point we're getting to read The Odyssey (or portions of it, at least).  Because most have very little knowledge of the Greeks and their mythology, I'm having them explore the culture.  Instead of me lecturing to them, they're split into groups and are researching particular city states and myths.  I'm hoping to have them present these by the end of next week.

The following pictures show how flexible my 9th graders are.  A.P. testing is going on in the library, so since we couldn't go to the computers, the computers came to us.  Finding enough electrical outlets is a challenge, but they're making it work:

2nd Hour Students

6th Hour Students

6th Hour Students

The energy level difference between 2nd Hour and 6th Hour is amazing, and I think these pictures reflect that.  When taking pictures 2nd Hour, they're so focused that they ask questions and listen to answers without looking up and noticing what I'm doing a whole lot.  In 6th Hour, they quite often mug for the camera.

I hope everyone has a great week and gets a chance to get out an enjoy this beautiful May weather in Michigan!  Ciao!

They're Getting Antsy! by Laura Stubbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License