Chronological Order Project

After our first nine-week's test, it became clear that one of the concepts my sophomores were struggling with was chronological order. I came up with this simple project to reinforce that concept, as well as review the students for a quiz at the end of the week.

We had read Acts I and II in Taming of the Shrew the past week or two. I typed specific events from the play (one or two sentences for each event).

The events were completely mixed into random order on a sheet of paper.

I paired the students with partners to help the project go a little faster and gave each group on page of events (there were eighteen events totally).

The students were given instructions to find the page number for each event, cut the events out, and glue them in chronological order on a sheet of butcher paper provided to them.

There was an extra credit opportunity if students wanted to draw a picture depicting one of the events I had given them.

I also made a model for students to look at for clarity:

In retrospect, I should have pre-taught a quick lesson on chronological order. I realized about ten minutes into the project that most of the students did not realize that if they found the page number for the event, it would correspond to the chronological order of all the events. I did decide to not tell them this since it was the main point of the activity. When the projects were turned in, I asked the students to brainstorm the most efficient way they could have completed this assignment. Students did eventually realize their mistake, and they were very upset with themselves. However, they did very well on the concept of chronological order after this project.

Class News Letters

How can you make sure students are understanding what they read in a way other than quizzing them (either on paper or verbally?) This is an age-old question for teachers, and for a good reason. Students can't be led to higher order thinking if they don't have the basic comprehension down.

Reading "Taming of the Shrew" was really difficult for my students at first. They had previously only read one other play by Shakespeare ("Romeo and Juliet"), and most of the students listened to a recording of it.

I wanted my students to take parts and actually read the story a loud for many reasons, but a lot of students complained that they were having difficulty with the basic plot line.

I decided to incorporate a few different objectives for this review project to try and make it a little more excited by having each section of my sophomores create a weekly newsletter update about the play. My plan did not work perfectly, and in fact it ended up taking so much time we only did it twice. I will discuss what we did, what went wrong, and what went right.

What we did:

I created a quick Power Point with four of five basic outlines for newsletters and showed the kids each one. I allowed each class to vote on the layout they wanted.

I allowed each class to choose a name for their newsletter. 6th period chose "#ChargerNation" and 7th period chose "The Earlobe Crusaders." All I have to say is: ten points for creativity.

I asked each class what sections they wanted their newsletter to include. I threw out there the sections I thought would work the best (since they covered the major plot developments). I think we had two writing sections (general update and relationship update), and one section for a student drawing depicting a scene from what we read.

Originally, I set a schedule and assigned three students from each class to cover one of the sections Monday-Friday, ever week, until we finished the book. My plan was to have these students use this project as their Bell Work, and present their newsletter to the rest of the class so anyone who was having trouble with comprehension would have som reinforcement and not spend days lost in the story. The rest of the kids who were not working on the newsletter that day would work on the normal Bell Work.

What was good about this:

It was a bit of a break from all the serious stuff.

Students felt like they had ownership over their own classe's project.

It was a good review for the students who had to write or draw a picture.

What was bad about the way we did it:

I did not pre-teach the way I wanted the writing. I wasn't expecting the students to really write in a journalistic style, since that wasn't my main goal (although if that is one of your class objective this would be a great project). I told students I wanted a 5-6 sentence summary of what we had read that week. This would have been a great tool for assessing writing weaknesses and strengths, but I had to chose not to address that because of a very tight schedule.

It ended up taking so much time that we only did it once a week, and only for the first two weeks of the unit. I don't think I structured the activity well enough that students could come in and get it completed for their Bell Work. If I had to do this over again, I would maybe have students do an update for each act, and have each student do his own update individually on a piece of paper. That way they wouldn't be relying on anyone else to get his work done. I try really hard to have collaborative work in the classroom, but for my students this was not a good collaborative exercise.

Here is a picture of the four newsletter updates my classes did:

 I think the foundation of this exercise is great, but each teacher definitely needs to carefully consider the needs of her own classroom.

Character Chart Wall

Somtime, it can be difficult for students to keep straight all the characters' names in a story or play that they are reading as a class. This can be particularly challenging when many of the characters' names sound similar, or when they are names that originated in a foreign language.

This past semester I read Taming of the Shrew with my sophomore students. I printed out a character chart for them at the beginning of the unit, but I quickly realized it was extremely unlikely they would pull it out every day for reference.

My solution to the problem was having the kids create a life-size character chart. I assigned each student from both sophomore classes a part that they had to write on a sheet of paper. They were encouraged to make it "pretty" and write big so the chart could be seen from all over the classroom.

This was a great activity for bellwork, since it didn't require me to explain anything and the kids got to use their more creative side that they rarely get to use anymore.

This is how ours turned out:

I had to fill in a few of the spots where students were absent, in addition to all the black arrows. It was a little work on my end, but it was a great visual that the students referenced on an almost daily basis while we were reading.

Much Ado About Nothing Rap

Shakespeare can be hard to read; we all know that. But what if you could watch a short video that summarizes one of his plays into a rap that's easy to listen to and easy to understand? Well, now you can! Flocabulary has several great videos; my favorite is the Much Ado About Nothing Rap. Enjoy!

Shakespeare

Source

Source

Punctuation Matters

Source

Source

Figures of Speech

Source 

Website Evaluations

Website Evaluations- Fall 2012

1.    Name of Web Site: Flocabulary

2.    Web Site Address: http://flocabulary.com/subjects/

3.    Copyright date and/or last update: Copyight ©2012 Flocabulary

4.    Author/organization credentials: aside from numerous endorsements from over 15,000 schools nationwide, Flocabulary boasts the following: “ ABC News reports that Flocabulary helped to raise average SAT scores at one Virginia high school by nearly 60 points.” In addition, “Dr. Roger Farr, former president of the International Reading Association, conducts an independent study to test the efficacy of The Word Up Project and finds that the program significantly increases vocabulary proficiency among students of diverse backgrounds and that students using the program had higher scores on state reading tests than their academic peers.”

5.    Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is incredible easy to navigate. From the homepage, users log into an account or access a limited number of free songs and videos. These free songs and videos match up very closely to what users who have an account can access, so I see no glaring differences between access privileges. From the homepage users can also clearly see commonly-used links, which are divided simply into categories. Under “The Basics” heading, Flocabulary provides numerous links that almost anyone using the website would probably be interested in, including the background of the company, biographies of many of the people for work for the company, and basically explanations for the idea behind their work. There are also many links to such information as their research and how they know their content effectively teaches students, information teachers would want to know like how they can use the material in their classrooms, and links to the six content areas Flocabulary provides material for.

               Once a user logs into an account, he can also access the six different content areas and see what material is provided. Under each main content area, including Vocabulary, Reading and English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, there are subcategories that are commonly used in the classroom. For example, users could choose a subcategory of “Earth Science,” “Life Science,” or “Physics and Chemistry” under the Science category.

               The design of this website is simple, logical, and fun to look at. There definitely seems to be more content available for the English/Language Arts content areas as opposed to the math and science areas, but that makes sense because the company was originally started specifically for vocabulary development.

 6.    Your response and recommendation for use: I would use the website for anything I could find a use for. The videos, especially ones for English, would be fantastic for an anticipatory set to get students interested in a unit (or even just a daily lesson). I think most of the videos would also be a great “treat” for students to use for review at the end of a lesson to reiterate what they’ve learned in class. The videos and songs use extremely kid-friendly language and make the lessons more relatable to their everyday lives.

1. Name of Web Site: No Fear Shakespeare

2.    Web Site Address: nfs.sparknotes.com

3.    Copyright date and/or last update: ©2012 SparkNotes LLC

4.    Author/organization credentials: This organization’s credentials are not listed anywhere on the website (or at least that is easily recognizable, but they do mention who the authors of their works are: “The writers of SparkNotes are top students or recent graduates who specialize in the subjects they cover. SparkNotes writers approach literature with a passion and an enthusiasm that inspires students and has won over parents and teachers worldwide.”

5.    Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is more cluttered than the first one I talked about, probably because there are paid sponsors to be on this website that frequently has teenage traffic. From the main No Fear Shakespeare page, users can scroll down and see an easy to read list of plays that have been translated into modern day English.

         Under each of the nineteen play’s main page the user can see a very clear table of contents, on which he can jump to any of the scenes in the play. After selecting a certain scene, the user will see a side-by-side comparison of the original text verses the modern day translation of the text. The modern day translation also includes stage directions, a narrator’s voice, and short notes that can help the user cue into small things that make the play more understandable.

         Though the text is translated into modern day English, some of the words and syntax are still a little difficult to understand because a certain amount of the original Shakespeare must be preserved in order for the full affect of the play to come through to the reader. Even with this flaw, the language is still much more student friendly.

 6.    Your response and recommendation for use: The use of this website can be controversial because students could easily try to get out of reading assignments by reading the “Spark Notes version” summary of a play or any other piece of literate that is covered on their website. However, I argue that this website is more of a tool than a hindrance to a student’s education because students can self-check their understanding of often difficult-to-understand works.
     I have and will continue to use No Fear Shakespeare to help my own understanding of Shakespeare’s plays, as well as recommend the website to my students to help supplement their understanding. Students have been told all their lives that Shakespeare is hard to understand, but when students see the side-by-side text repeatedly, they begin to understand the work as it stands alone. I would recommend this website to anyone who is teaching or reading a Shakespearean play.

1.    Name of Web Site: The Purdue Online Writing Lab

2.    Web Site Address: owl.english.purdue.edu

3.    Copyright date and/or last update: Copyright © 1995-2011 by The Writing Lab, The OWL at Purdue, the English Department, and Purdue University; Last Edited: 2012-05-09 07:17:57

4.    Author/organization credentials: This website was created by the English Department and the OWL at Purdue University, using the official MLA and APA guidelines to create examples for students and teachers to reference.

5.    Web site design and ease of navigation: The homepage of this website could potentially be difficult to navigate to a first-time user. There are many links on each side of the page for the general public and the links on the middle of the page are for Purdue students.  I have only used this website for help with formatting, so I will be focusing on the MLA Formatting and Style Guide page.

   Once the user accesses the specific page for MLA formatting, he will see a main page with some general information regarding MLA format and a column on the left side with links to all things related to MLA. The links provided are extensive and really cover just about anything a user could have questions about. However, because of the complex nature of MLA, sometimes it might take a while to dig through the different topics to find what he is looking for. I think the main cause for this is that most people are not incredibly familiar with the ins and outs of the MLA format, which means they don’t know under what category their question would be classified.

   This is not a website a student who has never been taught anything about MLA could come to for a super-quick answer about formatting the night before his paper was due. This website requires some digging, even for those of us who are fairly familiar to the format. That being said, this website offers a TON of information that is easier to understand and probably quicker to locate than trying to look up a question in the MLA Handbook. The website provides a student-friendly explanation for each point with a simple example. Sometimes, though, users will have to do some inferring about the exact format they should use because it does not give an actual example, only a explanation.
6.    Your response and recommendation for use: I would use this website to make sure any of my work was cited correctly to avoid any plagiarism issues. In addition, I would use this as a supplement to teaching my students about MLA format, which they would hopefully use throughout the entire year, but at the very lease during their research paper towards the end of the year. I would not give students this website until I had already introduced them to the concepts in MLA formatting, because I think there would be way too much confusion. However, once students had worked with the MLA Handbook and maybe a few other resources, this is a fantastic website to have them use at home while they are working on their writing. This will prevent students from having to carry a MLA Handbook home, and students will have excuse for not understanding what they were supposed to do.

1.    Name of Web Site: Teacher Tube

2.    Web Site Address: teachertube.com

3.    Copyright date and/or last update: There were no copyright dates for this specific organization listed. However, this website is based on the same idea as You Tube, which means that each individual who uploads content to the website has a personal copyright to his own work. On the FAQ page, the organization encourages users to work on copyright infringement issues between themselves.

4.    Author/organization credentials: From what I understand, the sponsoring organization does not provide any of the content on the site aside from the host website and navigation resources. Therefore, users should use caution and discretion when choosing materials. The content of the website is not fact-checked or approved by anyone before it is made available to the general public. The sponsoring organization encourages members to leave constructive feedback for other users, so I would hope that glaring mistakes would be caught by peers and the original owner would fix those mistakes.

5.    Web site design and ease of navigation: I think this website would be fairly simple and easy to navigate for the average teacher. It’s layout is very similar to You Tube, an extremely popular website for the general public, so I think navigation would come intuitively for most. Users can immediately see that there are a few different forms of content provided, including photos, documents, videos, and audio files. There is also a search function that could help a user quickly type in keywords to find material that matches his intended purpose, although he would probably find more material if he broadened his search by using the provided search criteria.

   This criteria should allow the user to select specific subjects (such as English) to search by. If a user chooses a very broad subject such as “Reading,” over 200 pages will load full of content. This is great, because it means there are a lot of resources, but it is also very bad because the material does not seem to be extremely organized past this. Basically, a user could potentially need to search through over 200 pages of content to find what he needs, which is completely unrealistic for any teacher.

   A user can organize the search results in several different ways, including showing only content that was added within a certain time frame. This would be very helpful if a user really wanted to stick to newer concepts or ideas.

   Another flaw with this website is that content-uploaders name their own files. So while most people do names their files something relevant and intuitive, it is possible that the name of a file does not exactly match the content.

6.    Your response and recommendation for use: This would be a good first place for me to check at the beginning of a lesson or unit to see if anything stands out that I could incorporate into my own lessons. However, this is not a website I would give to my kids (there also seems to be quite a bit of professional development-related content, which kids don’t need to see), because I think the sheer amount of content they would need to wade through is too much. I would not spend more than thirty minutes on this website trying to find information, because you could potential spend hours looking for something that was never there in the first place.

1.    Name of Web Site: Lit2Go

2.    Web Site Address: http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/

3.    Copyright date and/or last update: Copyright © 2006—2012 by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida.

4.    Author/organization credentials: There are no creditials specifically listed on this website, but it is clear this site is hosted and sponsored by The University of South Florida. As with any website that provides materials to the general public, I think it is the user’s responsibility to check the accuracy of the recordings to the version he/she is reading. In the context of the classroom, it is up to the teacher to decide if the inflection used matches what he/she ultimately wants to teach the students.

5.    Web site design and ease of navigation: The homepage of this website provides a short explanation of what the website provides with links to different ways a user can browse the website. User can browse by author, books, genres, collections, or readability (or type in keywords to a search box.) I think these different ways to browse are a great idea, since some people will know a specific title or author they want, while others will simply want to browse the whole collection.

   After selecting a specific way to browse, the website will pull up a small thumbnail drawing of each author with his/her name and a very short biography. Users can then click on each author and a different page will pull up with a longer biography and a list of the works that there is a recording for on this website.

   I was a little surprised at the works there was or was not a recording for. For example, I would expect that under Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice would be listed because it was her biggest work, or under F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby would be listed. However, neither were listed, as were not some other major works by other authors that I have noticed. This is not a deal-breaker, because there are so many pieces provided, but I would say this website went for quantity of authors and works and not so much quality (quality being using less authors but focusing on getting recordings for the major works).

   The website provides MP3 files of the recordings of these works, which should make the files easy for teachers to download and use in the classroom.

 6.    Your response and recommendation for use: I am extremely excited to find this website because it offers me a chance to give students a variety in their lessons. For example, if we were working on a poetry unit and students were assigned a poem for homework, it would be extremely beneficial for them to use a link from this website to listen to the poem being read instead of them trying to understand it by reading it, since poetry is written to be heard, not read. This would also really help the auditory learners.

   In addition, listening to the recording would be a nice alternative to making students read out loud (or even silently) every day in class. While there is incredible value in students participating in the reading, sometimes giving them a break to solely focus on listening and comprehending can be very beneficial as well.

   Finally, I like this website for a selfish reason. As someone who must read the materials ahead of time in order to fully prepare, it would be nice to have another alternative to sitting down and reading it myself. I could listen to the recording while doing house work, exercising, or even while driving. At the end of the day, this will help me be a better teacher because I can get more done in the same amount of time because I can multitask. 

Reading Response Log

The books I have chosen to highlight are all novels that a variety of high school students would enjoy. I have seen in my student teaching that students are almost exclusively reading only the required text for their English classes instead of for personal enjoyment and required reading for class. Because reading is so important to the development of vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing development for all students, especially English Language Learners, I thought it would be good to highlight novels that can appeal to students of all genders, races, socio-economic status, and backgrounds.

These novels all include main characters that are young people around the same age as high school students, but these characters come from all different backgrounds and must travel through different kinds of challenges. All high school students must face challenges at different points, and unfortunately they can often feel very secluded from their peers and alone in their struggles. Seeing characters in books overcome obstacles that could be similar to or even different from their own struggles remind them that they are not alone in life.

In addition, students who read novels with characters who face similar struggles to their own personal ones can find an enjoyment in reading that was not present before. Often times, because students are required to only do the assigned reading for English class (which can often be seen as boring or unrelatable,) they have a bad connotation with reading. This is extremely unfortunate because of all the benefits reading can provide to a student.

I believe the novels I have chosen to review are ones that can open a new world to students. The stories and characters are relatable, and students can finally feel a connection to what they are reading. Most of the novels deal with sensitive issues at some point, which is sometimes shied away from with high school students because of so much controversy. However, I know the importance of addresses those issues head-on with students because they are topics the students are having to deal with in their every-day lives. Students need an example, and books provide the perfect opportunity to help them think the critical thoughts that are essential to developing an individual’s beliefs.

1.     Title: The Outsiders

2.     Author: S.E. Hinton

3.     Illustrator: N/A

4.     Publisher: Viking Press

5.     Copyright: 1967

6.     ISBN#: 978-0670062515

7.     Genre: Fiction

8.     Library Location: Clear Springs High School

9.     Summary:

A young boy in Oklahoma, Ponyboy,  is growing up with his two older brothers as part of a gang of “greasers,” who are known for being lower-class and mischievous. Their parents have died and left them alone, so the older two brothers are working to support the family while Ponyboy attends school. Unlike his brothers, Ponyboy likes school and excels in his English class, particularly in writing. In addition, he participates on the school track team. His dedication to these things set him apart from the other members of the greasers.

One night when Ponyboy leaves the theater a few members of the opposing gang, the “Socs,” jump him. Fortunately his older two brothers come to his rescue, but the incident leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The next night Ponyboy goes to the drive-in with a few of the other members of the greasers, where they meet Cherry and Marcia, girls who are considered part of the Socs gang. After a little while of conversation, Ponyboy realizes Cherry is not like the other Socs he has met before, as she seems to not be superficial and she actually cares about other people.

That evening, Ponyboy comes home late and his older yells at him for being out past curfew. Ponyboys leaves the house in a rage, claiming that his brother can’t understand him. Pony meets up with another young member of the greasers, Johnny, and they go to the park to blow off some steam. There, they run into the boyfriends of Cherry and Marcia, who are drunk and claim Pony was trying to steal their girlfriends.

In a rush of action, Pony is almost killed by a Soc, who is killed by Pony’s friend in an effort to save Pony. In a panic, the boys run to another greaser who helps them hide in an abandoned church. Eventually Johnny is killed in a fire and Pony returns to his brothers, who have decided they need to work out their differences as a family so everyone can succeed.

10.  Personal Comments:

I think this book could be extremely relevant to high schoolers in many situations. There are many students who don’t have a parent at home to take care of them, and almost any child can associate himself with some kind of dysfunctional family. This story addresses many issues that I know my students are facing, and it doesn’t wrap a gold halo around the situation to try and make it any better. This is a realistic look at what is life is for many young families who do not have the guidance from a parent at home.

11.  Suggested Use in Classroom:

I would suggest the book be taught by breaking students into groups of four and allowing them work in a self-paced way that keeps everyone comfortable. Because this book deals with some issues that could be sensitive to some students (such as a lack of parental support), students need to feel safe and comfortable with the other students they read the book with. Essentially, I would format the reading similar to literary circle. Students should have assigned readings that are to be completed at home and in the classroom; readings will be done independently and with partners or a group. The literary circles would usually discuss the book together, but the class would come together frequently to share ideas. This book would provide a great opportunity to show the importance of school and how school can provide an outlet for all kinds of hardships a student is experiencing.

1.     Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns

2.     Author: Khaled Hosseini

3.     Illustrator: N/A

4.     Publisher: Riverhead Books

5.     Copyright: 2007

6.     ISBN#: 978-1-59448-385-1

7.     Genre: Multi-cultural Fiction

8.     Library Location: Clear Springs High School

9.     Summary

Mariam, an illegitimate daughter of Jalil, lives with her mother in a very poor house in the country while her father lives in the town with his three wives and nine other children. On her 15^th birthday when Jalil does not show up to take her to the movies as promised, Mariam walks to town and goes to his house. Jalil refuses to acknowledge her, and desperate to a part of his life, Mariam sleeps on the porch that night. The next day she finally returns home in defeat, only to discover that her mother has hanged herself out of fear that Mariam has left her for good. With not mother to care for her, Jalil is forced to take Mariam into his home, but he quickly arranges a marriage for her with Rasheed, who is thirty years older than Mariam. After they are married, Mariam becomes pregnant seven times but is never able to carry a baby full-term. Because she cannot perform the ultimate wifely duty, Rasheed eventually becomes abusive to her.

In the second part of the book, a girl named Laila is introduced. Through horrible circumstances, she comes to live with Rasheed and Mariam while she is already pregnant with another man’s child. Rasheed immediately takes a liking to her and takes her as a second wife, but when her daughter is born he becomes suspicious of her faithfulness and begins to abuse her as well. Eventually Laila and Mariam become close friends and confidants, and they try to escape from Rasheed together with the baby. They are caught and returned to Rasheed, who almost kills them several times out of anger. One day he is on the verge of killing Laila and Mariam intervenes by hitting Rasheed on the back of the head with a shovel, killing him. She takes the blame for his murder while allowing for Laila and her two children to escape Afghanistan.

10.  Personal Comments

This is a very powerful and moving story of unspeakable cruelty and stead-fast friendship. Most students who were born and raised in the United States will have a hard time comprehending some of the situations and consequences of behavior, while other students might have a hard time admitting they come from a family who has a similar belief system. This book is for more mature readers, as it deals with topics of rape and suicide, but it is a worthwhile read for students who are willing to discuss and research further into the themes and topics that are presented in the book.

This book should be taught carefully, as it would be easy for a class to begin stereotyping the Muslim religion and/or the general population of Afghanistan. Students should be carefully guided in their thoughts and taught that they must view all literature from a tolerate stand point. Students should be allowed to do research on the Muslim religion and the different populations from the Middle East to gain a more rounded picture of what people from that area actually believe.

11.  Suggested Use in the Classroom

This book would be great to use for a gender study or as a new perspective on different cultures.  Students should keep a reading journal where they can log their feelings and thoughts as they read a difficult story. Class discussion and research should take place on a daily basis. After reading this story, students should continue to read different literature dealing with gender studies or other multi-cultural literature, as they will have a ready mind to accept new views.

1.     Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

2.     Author: Harper Lee

3.     Illustrator: N/A

4.     Publisher: J.B.Lippincott & Co.

5.     Copyright: 1960

6.     ISBN#: 978-0446310789

7.     Genre: Fiction

8.     Library Location: Clear Springs High School

9.     Summary:

Scout lives with her brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus in Alabama during the Great Depression. Atticus is an attorney and they family is highly respected by everyone in the small town. One summer Scout and Jem make friends with a new boy in town. Together they have many adventures, and the following summer when their friend comes back the three of them decide to act out the story of a famed neighbor who supposedly never leaves his house. While performing this story unexplained things happen and the children decide the neighbor really is a nice guy after all.

Meanwhile, Atticus accepts a case to defend a black man who has been accused of raping a white woman. Because the town is extremely racist, they begin causing quite a bit of trouble for Atticus and his family for defending the black man, even though the white woman is known for lying. Eventually the black man is convicted of the crime despite Atticus clearly presenting all the evidence needed for an acquittal. Unfortunately the man is shot and killed in an escape attempt from jail.  The father of the accusing girl is angered by Atticus calling his daughter a lyer and accosts Scout and Jem one night while they are walking home. The old neighbor saves the two children from the drunken father, who is killed by “tripping and falling over his own knife,” or so the sheriff says in an effort to save the neighbor from being charged with a crime.

Because of his kind and brave actions, Scout finally realizes that the old neighbor is not only a human being, but a good one at that. Through his actions Scout gains restored faith in human kindness and vows to be sympathetic and understanding to everyone she comes into contact with.

10.  Personal Comments:

This book is great for students of both genders and of varying maturity. As years pass, many students become less aware of the way social and racial issues and prejudices presented themselves is history in the United States. This book takes a look at these issues that have really become a timeless debate. Students will realize they can connect with characters from the 1920s in a way they never thought possible, as people from that time period were “old fashioned.” In addition, if students know anyone from this time period it is most likely their grandparents, who may or may not have been raised with certain beliefs about people of different social classes or race. This novel is a great way to introduce another view on how people thought in the past decades.

11.  Suggested Classroom Use:

The best way to incorporate this book and help relate it to their daily lives would be to teach it using themes. Students of any age should have already been taught the concept of themes and should be able to identify certain themes throughout the novel. Students should be encouraged to work in groups as well as individually to develop ideas about what themes are being presented, how they are presented, and what Harper Lee wants us to take away from that. Students should be led to make many connections with their daily lives. In addition, students should be led to understand the timeless quality that many social issues retain. One idea for a final project would be to have students create a fake grass-roots movement to address one of the themes in the novel. Students would present their movement to the rest of the class so everyone could see what is important to the other students, different spins on solutions to social issues, and how they might be able to connect to their peers on a deeper level.

1. Title: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2. Author: Mark Twain

3. Illustrator: N/A

4. Publisher: Chatto & Windus

5. Copyright: 1885

6. ISBN#: 978-0486403496

7. Genre: Fiction

8. Library Location: Clear Springs High School

9. Summary:

Huck Finn, a young boy growing up in Missouri during the 1830s, is living with an old and fussy lady, who thinks it is a Christian duty to bring him up “right.” Huck is friends with Tom, who is notorious for seeking “adventure.” Huck believes everything Tom says, thinking Tom is educated because he can read books (or so Tom says.)

Eventually Huck runs away from his small town to escape his drunken father, who has come back to claim guardianship to Huck because he found a small fortune. While on his way to escape, Huck comes across an escaped slave, Jim. Huck teams up with Jim at first in order to help himself get away, but he feels bad about helping a slave escape from his rightful owner.

The novel follows Huck and Jim on their adventures to freedom, providing the reader with many comic stories. However, if the novel is examined on a deeper level, the entire novel can be read as a critique on society of time, pointing out many flaws with American and European ideology. This book is a new American classic, something every reader should be exposed to.

10. Personal Comments:

This book is written about a boy about the same age as high school students, so even though some of his thoughts and stories could seem a little juvenile to some, most students will find enjoyment in reliving the adventures of their youth. For less mature readers, this novel is easy to read for surface value, which still provides insight into certain themes dealing with race and social class. If guided to a deeper level, students will see the bigger critique Twain gives society in general. Twain’s points are valid still today, and can connect to students in a way they probably never thought “classical” literature could.

11. Classroom Use:

This book requires a certain level of trust between the teacher and the students and the students among themselves. Touchy topics, mainly regarding race and social class, are discussed throughout the entire book. Words that we would consider inappropriate or even extremely offensive are used in the book, and students should be comfortable using and discussing those terms in context of the book  in order to fully understand Twain’s points.

Students should be led through a deeper reading of the book than just simply racial issues, though. Twain comments on the perception society in general has of those who are deemed educated, and students should explore what they believe an “education” is. For different students this will mean different things, but all views points are worth discussing.

In addition to these topics, students should be made aware that this book has been banned from different school in different periods of time. A lesson or two should be conducted on the significance of this specific book being banned, as well as what book banning means for students in general. This could easily lead into a discussion on Freedom of Speech and Ideas, a topic all students will have something to say about.

1.     Title: Life of Pi

2.     Author: Yann Martel

3.     Illustrator: N/A

4.     Publisher: Mariner Books

5.     Copyright: 2001

6.     ISBN#: 978-0156027328

7.     Genre: Fiction/ Fantasy

8.     Library Location: Clear Springs High School

9.     Summary:

Pi, a sixteen-year-old boy who lives in India with his parents, who run a zoo, sets out for Canada in a ship filled with zoo animals. This boy has lived an enchanted life in the zoo and freely incorporates elements of Hindu, Christianity, and Islam into his life. While on the passage to Canada the ship sinks, leaving Pi alone on a raft boat with a hyena, an orangutan, and injured zebra, and an extremely large Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The majority of the book tells Pi’s story of how he and Richard Parker managed to survive on the life raft for almost a year. His stories are rich and vivid, and the reader may not realize until the very end of the book that these stories are all a hallucination. In the last twenty or so pages the reader discovers that the “animals” on the life raft were really people, leaving the reader to think about the true nature of human kind.

10.  Personal Comments:

This story does not immediately come to mind when I think about stories students can relate to.  The main reason for this is because ninety percent of the book can be pure fun for the reader; a rich boy is learning to survive on a life raft with several wild animals. The stories are vivid and easy to get lost in, and the improbability rarely crosses the reader’s mind. However, Martel hits us with multiple deep and thought-provoking themes in the last few chapters of the book, leaving little time for the reader to completely digest all that he has read. Martel clearly wants us to think about many different things, and he wants us to have to retrace our steps and delve deeper into the book in order to do so.

11.  Suggested Classroom Use:

All students deserve to read something “fun” and that makes them either remember or think for the first time that reading can be fun. Reading has become a chore that is required of students in class, but with this book it is possible to show kids a magical world waiting to be opened by them. Though this book has plenty of fun, it is also a book with themes for more mature students who can and are willing to go back and take a second look at what they have read.

This book should be read with a caution of making sure there is plenty of time available for class discussion, mainly toward the end of the novel. This would make a great end-of-year “treat” for upper-level classes to take on to keep them interested until the very end of school. Students should explore and research the country of India, as well as the religions of Hindu, Christianity, and Islam. The students should be able to pick out elements of these religions with the story and explain how they add to the overall understanding of the novel. The country of India should be researched and students should be able to discern what about Pi’s stories is significant when viewed from the Indian perspective.

In addition, students should explore the major subjects presented in the Life of Pi. The three major subjects presented are: man’s relationship to animals, man’s relationship to God, and faith. Students should have a final paper (creative story that explains their ideas through their own story or an academic essay) to finish the experience.