On Tuesday, our Harry Potter book club met. We tried to talk about just book #2 but we ended up all over the place. It has been a ton of fun to discuss these books with students who enjoy them as much as I do. So many theories and so many connections!
With yearbook deadline fast approaching, journalism students have invited parents in for help on their student’s personalized pages. We’re available next Monday as well if you want the students to check over your work or answer a quick quesiton.
Here’s sixth grade acting out The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. We’ve been learning the background information and trying to understand the characters’ motives!
The high school students broke themselves into teams, and they are working to create Breakout Edu challenges based on the novels the middle school students are reading. There were many great and creative ideas being mulled over as the high school students worked to provide a challenging literary experience.
Though I forgot to snap a picture, the seventh grade students finalized and gave their presentations on information related to their book, Golden Boy: the Tanzanian economy, the genetics of albinism, the stigma and culture of albinism in Tanzania, and the Tanzanian culture.
In 8th grade, we had our first discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird. The events of Scout’s first year of school made for a fun conversation and we immediately began comparing and contrasting the Ewell family with the Cunninghams. The students did a quick vocabulary gather where they pulled vocabulary from the text, considered it within its context, and then found the definition for the form used in the provided sentence. We will study and practice this list over the next week.
Just so you know what’s on the horizon for middle school English classes:
After Julius Caesar, 6th grade will participate in book circles. I will provide a list of four options and then allow students to state their preferences. I will then build the groups and let students know which of the books they will be reading.
After we wrap up Golden Boy, the 7th grade students will begin Romeo and Juliet! Romance, sword fighting, missed messages, and intrigue: it should be exciting. I have plans for the students to act as well as try their hand at writing their own spoof scenes.
The 8th grade students will tackle Julius Caesar as I am wanting to move this text to the middle school list and will not be teaching it in the high school curriculum. Our students are well read and able to tackle this text.
