If you led a class discussion... (See honors contract for details.)
Name the topic of your discussion and the date you led it. Also describe your process of preparing and how you feel the discussion went (minimum 250 words). Skip a line between paragraphs.
I prepared a class discussion for Wednesday, February 27. I created 2 different activities for pages 58-83 in the book, The House on Mango Street. Before creating my plan, I read through the vignettes ahead of time and asked for ideas from Ms. Silver. While I was reading, I found that there were lots of different characters the came in and out of the stories that Esperanza writes about. I thought that it would be interesting to have an activity that thinks about the different characters and their own lives as well as how they affect the life of Esperanza. This was my inspiration for the first activity.
My plan was that the whole class would choose two people to write about. I think that this one was my favorite activity out of the two. I think that the discussion was interest because all the groups interpreted the activity in their own way. Each group had a unique look at the characters and all the writing they did was really observative and thoughtful. I originally had a plan of how much time I would give the class for each activity. This did not go quite as I planned and each exercise took longer than I expected. I wanted to give each group enough to finish, but I also didn’t want to take too much time. I think that listening to all the short biographies and backstories were really informative, and showed that all the characters can be brought to life just like the main character. I think that the discussion was good and people seemed to listen to what everyone else was saying.
For the second activity I made each group pick quotes from the book and create a speak chorus using the sentences. Some people used four sentences, and some used more. I think that speak chorus can help emphasis parts and gives a different perspective to the writing. I think that all the groups did a really good job and all the members were involved. I also think that people liked listening to the different ways that people can manipulate sentences. Overall the discussion all went smoothly and were very thoughtful and I think that the class enjoyed them!
As a student of yours on that day, I appreciated how the activities you came up with were active instead of listening to you present information to the class. While reading this book, I focused mostly on Esperanza’s backstory and tried to figure that out. The story is written so that we are not told everything on a silver platter but rather given hints to lead the reader to assumptions, never being fully sure of what really happened.
However, you made me think beyond Esperanza. You helped me shape the lives of others which led me to better understand Esperanza’s life because I knew more about the people who shaped her.
On Monday, May 13, I played the role of Ms. Van Meter. I lead a discussion, through art, about themes in “The Catcher in the Rye.” We discussed the themes as a class, and then I had the students make art projects depicting a few of those themes. Preparing for this activity, I knew I wanted to incorporate artwork somehow. I began this process by jotting down big questions the book left me thinking about. I then saw a pattern of themes that came up in the questions I was asking myself. I decided I wanted to incorporate some of my questions in the activity.
Leading class after having finished the book posed some challenges but also had its advantages. It made for a broader subject, making it challenging to choose a direction to take, but it gave me creative freedom, which I then presented the class with.
“Catcher” deals with a lot of serious issues such as depression, parental neglect, sexual consent, and trauma, but it does so in a casual tone. I thought it was necessary to talk about those themes in a straightforward manner. I also recognized that some kids in the class felt it was easy to understand and relate to Holden because of Salinger’s conversational writing style. With that point of view, I felt like art was a good way to make it so kids could showcase their perspective through that of Holden’s. Creating art is the perfect way to do that: you are capable of telling your own story through what is visible and maybe pleasing to the eye.
I prepared a class discussion for Wednesday, February 27. I created 2 different activities for pages 58-83 in the book, The House on Mango Street. Before creating my plan, I read through the vignettes ahead of time and asked for ideas from Ms. Silver. While I was reading, I found that there were lots of different characters the came in and out of the stories that Esperanza writes about. I thought that it would be interesting to have an activity that thinks about the different characters and their own lives as well as how they affect the life of Esperanza. This was my inspiration for the first activity.
ReplyDeleteMy plan was that the whole class would choose two people to write about. I think that this one was my favorite activity out of the two. I think that the discussion was interest because all the groups interpreted the activity in their own way. Each group had a unique look at the characters and all the writing they did was really observative and thoughtful. I originally had a plan of how much time I would give the class for each activity. This did not go quite as I planned and each exercise took longer than I expected. I wanted to give each group enough to finish, but I also didn’t want to take too much time. I think that listening to all the short biographies and backstories were really informative, and showed that all the characters can be brought to life just like the main character. I think that the discussion was good and people seemed to listen to what everyone else was saying.
For the second activity I made each group pick quotes from the book and create a speak chorus using the sentences. Some people used four sentences, and some used more. I think that speak chorus can help emphasis parts and gives a different perspective to the writing. I think that all the groups did a really good job and all the members were involved. I also think that people liked listening to the different ways that people can manipulate sentences. Overall the discussion all went smoothly and were very thoughtful and I think that the class enjoyed them!
As a student of yours on that day, I appreciated how the activities you came up with were active instead of listening to you present information to the class. While reading this book, I focused mostly on Esperanza’s backstory and tried to figure that out. The story is written so that we are not told everything on a silver platter but rather given hints to lead the reader to assumptions, never being fully sure of what really happened.
DeleteHowever, you made me think beyond Esperanza. You helped me shape the lives of others which led me to better understand Esperanza’s life because I knew more about the people who shaped her.
I certainly enjoyed your activities. Thank you!
On Monday, May 13, I played the role of Ms. Van Meter. I lead a discussion, through art, about themes in “The Catcher in the Rye.” We discussed the themes as a class, and then I had the students make art projects depicting a few of those themes. Preparing for this activity, I knew I wanted to incorporate artwork somehow. I began this process by jotting down big questions the book left me thinking about. I then saw a pattern of themes that came up in the questions I was asking myself. I decided I wanted to incorporate some of my questions in the activity.
ReplyDeleteLeading class after having finished the book posed some challenges but also had its advantages. It made for a broader subject, making it challenging to choose a direction to take, but it gave me creative freedom, which I then presented the class with.
“Catcher” deals with a lot of serious issues such as depression, parental neglect, sexual consent, and trauma, but it does so in a casual tone. I thought it was necessary to talk about those themes in a straightforward manner. I also recognized that some kids in the class felt it was easy to understand and relate to Holden because of Salinger’s conversational writing style. With that point of view, I felt like art was a good way to make it so kids could showcase their perspective through that of Holden’s. Creating art is the perfect way to do that: you are capable of telling your own story through what is visible and maybe pleasing to the eye.