This week in 6th grade, the students began laying the groundwork for their first novel of the year, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. This classic and award winning work of literature will no doubt fuel great discussions in class. They started by exploring ideas of utopia. They had great discussions about what a “perfect” society would look like and how we might get there. They began a pre-reading project where they had to design a pamphlet advertising their version of a utopia. They had to create a title, description, mission statement, and much more! They will share the finished products in class Monday.
Speaking of presentations, 7th and 8th grade continued their exploration of Greek Mythology by creating a slideshow presentation about an Olympian god or goddess that they can present to the class. They are including all kinds of things like what their powers were, what symbolized them to the ancient world, what myths they feature in prominently, and more. They will present these slideshows on Monday and educate their classmates so that, when all is said and done, all the students will be familiar with all the Olympians.
High School continued to read Dracula. So far, the book has fueled a lot of great discussions and insight. Students have made great connections to other texts and are recognizing the tropes of Gothic Literature that we discussed prior to reading. I’m very excited to see them connect to all kinds of things as we read further.
All in all, it was a busy and productive 4 day week in Language Arts. Literature is a great way to cope in life and it’s clear that these kids are really diving into it this year.
