Week 23

On Monday, we read a section of Fahrenheit 451 and students were asked to highlight and/or annotate (or take notes if they do not have a book); I provided suggestions for their note-taking, and we discussed the section thoroughly as we went. I also assigned students a homework task, which is almost exactly the same task as they were given last week: Read one of the short stories from A Pleasure to Burn (a different story from the one they read the first week, naturally) and complete a Literary Terms Template (the same exact document they completed last week). See my Fahrenheit 451 page for details.

On Tuesday I was absent, and students were given a list of Poetry Terms to define.

On Wednesday, which was a half-day, we read a poem called “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and discussed it thoroughly. (As a reminder, the first reading of a poem should just be to get a feel for it and to hear what it sounds like. The second reading is when a person really starts to think about what the poem is trying to say. Third and later readings are when analysis would start to take place.) Students were given citation models to transcribe and complete along with a brief paragraph to write using those citation models. <<We also talked about the unfairness of students turning their homework assignment in late and expecting to get credit. I addressed the issue in class just as I did on my webpage, You Can Read It Here. I advised students that next week’s homework (due February 10) would be worth twice as many points as the first week’s.>>

On Thursday, we read one of the most important sections of Fahrenheit 451, annotating and taking notes as appropriate, discussing it thoroughly.

On Friday, I provided every student a handout of the section we covered on Thursday (see, I told you it was important) and students were given time to reread that passage and annotate it as thoroughly as possible. At the end of class, small groups of students worked interactively to create a five question multiple-choice test for that brief passage. (Aside from proving that they had read and understood the passage, they also had to demonstrate their “test smarts” by providing appropriate distractors for each of the multiple-choice questions.)

Just like last week, I reminded students of the homework that is due February 10 every day, I sent out Remind messages, I stayed after school so students who need extra help could get it, and I helped everyone who messaged me via Remind and email as much as I could. Students are well aware of my policy regarding late homework, and it is my sincere hope that no one forces me to give them anything less than 50 out of 50 points tomorrow.