Things Fall Apart - Themes / Topics and Social Media

Things Fall Apart - Day 4

Today our focus will be on exploring the themes in the book up to this point by using social media. OK, so it will kind of be like using social media as we will be making our own versions of Tweets, Instagram posts, Snapchat stories, and Vines.  We'll first name some of the themes we've seen in the first six chapters. Then, you'll have the next 20 minutes to create as many different uses of social media as you can, and can leave the classroom if you'd like. You'll send those back to me, I'll compile them, and tomorrow we will see what we've created!

• send your posts / tweets / vines / photos to me: nrigler@dist113.org

Things Fall Apart - Day 3 - Rituals and Traditions

We started today by discussing and defining "rituals." We named them as a set pattern of actions or thoughts, that might include specific objects. Examples include things like lighting candles and saying prayers as part of a religious ceremony, or even shooting foul shots in basketball the exact same way each time.

We looked at the Kola nut ceremony on pages 5-7 in detail, naming the different actions and discussing their potential significance.

Then, individually, you completed this piece for writing for the next 25-30 minutes:

• Things Fall Apart - writing for chapters 1-4

Things Fall Apart - Day 2

Today we started class by looking at a list of proverbs. What it a proverb? It's a short saying, some people call it a "quote," that speaks of something as a truth. It often feels like a piece of advice. So, for example, one might say "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" or "Two wrongs don't make a right."  Check out the list of proverbs on the handout and see how many you know - there is a missing word from each one - ask me for the answers (or just Google it!)

• List of proverbs

Also on the handout are pairs of opposing proverbs - how can two statements both suggest a truth and be opposites of each other? For example, how can it be true that "Clothes make the man" but we should also remind ourselves "Don't judge a book by its cover"?

We had a conversation about the list of proverbs - since they are American proverbs, what do they tell us about being an American?

We used a similar question as we turned our attention to the novel - what do the proverbs in the opening chapter tell us about the Ibo? We are told they use proverbs in their daily language quite a bit, and that "proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten" (7).

Lastly small groups explored these issues to determine what they mean for the Ibo, and then shared their findings:

• Strength and achievement
• Religion and spirituality
• Justice
• Social rank
• Father / son relationships
• family
• Rituals and traiditons

Things Fall Apart - Day 1

Today I showed the opening 20 minutes of The Gods Must Be Crazy as an introduction to our new book, Things Fall Apart.

I gave out paper copies of the calendar and also posted them on the blog, under the new Things Fall Apart tab.

The God of Small Things - Final days and computer lab time

For our final discussions of the novel I gave you a list of potential questions and themes to explore. Here is a link to it:

• The God of Small Things - questions and themes

We will have time in the G104 computer lab for the rest of the week to complete your essay / project. They are due to turnitin.com by 11:59 p.m. Monday night.

Please don't forget to buy a copy of our next book, Things Fall Apart. The bookstore has copies, and so does Half Price Books!

The God of Small Things - Day 12

Greetings! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving break!

Today we'll begin our look at the end of the novel and the book as a whole.

In addition to receiving the two formative pieces of writing, you'll spend time today exploring some of these potential themes:

• Family
• Society and Class
• Versions of Reality
• Memory and the Past
• Guilt and Blame
• Traditions
• Power
• Innocence
• Love 
• Fear
• Identity
• Death and Mortality
• Silence
• Big things / Small things

Special Grandparents Day activity - poetry!

On the day before Thanksgiving, and even for the grandparents who joined us 6th period, you wrote a poem. I gave you a list of prompts to help you generate a list of words you use to identify yourself, including your ethnicity, nationality, religion, talents, passions, interests, names, nicknames, and favorite foods. From that you chose one and then wrote a poem with the title "What It's Like To Be A ______ For Those Who Aren't." The results were excellent - I hope to post a few of them here!

The God of Small Things - Day 11

On the Monday before Thanksgiving break I asked you to gather your thoughts about the section of the book you just read. You completed this set of questions in class and we shared some initial observations. We will use this as a guide when we return from Thanksgiving.

• The God of Small Things - questions for chapters 15-18

Also, I announced revisions to the calendar, including an additional weekend to complete your essay / project for this novel. Check the calendar for your class period for details.

The God of Small Things - Day 10

Today, we had time for in-class reading, and Mr. Rigler or Mrs. Phillips checked in your journals.

Also, Mrs. Phillips’s classes filled out a reflection survey, providing feedback on both the Hamlet unit, and her practices as a teacher.

You can find a link to the survey here: Hamlet / Mrs. Phillips Reflection Survey

The God of Small Things - Day 9

Today, we talked about the #hashtags you came up with in your groups to link characters’ concerns to major themes.

Also, we completed an in-class writing assignment about the character Velutha. You can find a link to the Velutha writing assignment here: Velutha Ch. 8 Writing Assignment

After completing the writing assignment, we discussed how other characters view Velutha, and his role in the novel overall.

The God of Small Things - Day 8

Today you'll share the drawings you created with your group. We'll first look at the ones from chapter 6, and then the ones from chapter 8. You'll use this sheet (or your notebook) to keep track of details from other groups.

• Chart for chapters 6 & 8 illustrations

Then we will turn our attention to this list of themes. With your group you will explore the ways in which two different characters potentially connect with them.

• The grotesque (fantastically ugly or absurd; unnatural; bizarre)
• Loss of innocence
• Silence / making noise
• Big issues lurking below the surface
• Subconscious connections between characters
• The Love Laws
• Big Things and Small Things
• How information we’ve learned previously about a character reappears and helps shape our understanding of that character

The God of Small Things - Day 7

Happy Monday!

Today you worked with your group to use the Rules of Notice to create illustration of two characters in two different scenes. Here is a link to today's handout.

• Rules of Notice - Illustration activity

The God of Small Things - Day 6

We started today with some writing about childhood friends - people we knew back when we were 3-6 years old. This can include neighbors, people you knew from different programs, cousins you saw only at special events, or just about anyone of a similar age as you at the time.  After that you wrote about a specific story / experience you shared. Then I asked you to identify particular lessons / thoughts you take away from those early experiences.

For the weekend of reading, I recommend you look back at pages 70-75 for background information about Velutha.

The God of Small Things - Day 5

Close look at opening moments of chapter 4

• Rahel, Ammu, and Baby Kochamma in HERS
• Estha in HIS

We used this handout in our look at the "Rules of Notice" - things readers do and skills to continue to improve upon to become a stronger reader

• "Rules of Notice" - The God of Small Things

You worked in small groups to examine the challenging scenes in chapter 4 - Estha's encounter with the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, and the scene in the lobby afterwards when Ammu yells at Rahel

The God of Small Things - Day 4

On Monday (1st and 6th period) or Tuesday (8th period) you worked in your groups to explore an assigned character and theme from chapters 1-4. This sheet contained guiding questions for you, and included the study guide questions from the reading day at the end of last week.

• The God of Small Things - group work for chapters 1-4

Then we worked to create a basic timeline of events, as we have them so far:

<------- (1969) ------------------------------------------- (1992) --------->

1969

• Family drives to Cochin airport
• The Sound of Music and events at Abhilash Talkies theater
• Sophie Mol's death
• Estha "Returned"

1992

• Estha "re-Returned" back to Ayemenem
• Rahel returns to Ayemenem
• Baby Kochamma and Kochu Maria live at the family home
• Check lives in Canada
• Ammu is dead

The God of Small Things - Day 3

For the first 40 minutes of class today you read silently.

Then you got into your new groups for the last 15 minutes to work through the questions on this handout:

• TGST Chapters 1 & 2 study questions

Over the weekend please be sure to keep up with the reading - check the calendars posted under the "TGST" tab.

The God of Small Things - Day 2

I started class today by reading the poem "The Writer" by Richard Wilbur

• "The Writer"

Then  you each wrote a poem about yourself as a writer, trying to use figurative language like Wilbur does in his poem. I gave you a list of nouns and asked you to use 1 or more of them in each line of a 6-8 line poem.

• Nouns for metaphors / similes

Next I gave you this handout as a way of looking at Roy's use of figurative language in the opening pages of the novel. One side of the handout is a matching game, the other side are the answers.

• Matching game

Lastly we looked at the opening pages of the novel together to explore the ways in which Roy incorporates figurative language into her descriptions of the setting and introductions of the characters.

The God of Small Things - Day 1

After you shared your creative projects for Hamlet we will turn our attention to our next book, The God of Small Things.

You'll have a new small group to work with, and for today you will complete this background research project.

• The God of Small Things - background research project
• Research - 1st period
• Research - 6th period
• Research - 8th period

Hamlet - Day 20 - Reflective essay and work day

Please start today by writing a short reflective essay and answering a questionnaire about your work habits in Senior English as first quarter draws to a close.

• First quarter reflective work

Before you continue with your work on your Hamlet assignment, please note you will need to own a copy of The God of Small Things for class on Tuesday.

Hamlet - Day 19

Today was our final discussion of Hamlet. I gave you a list of potential discussion questions for us to use for our conversation.

• Discussion questions for Hamlet

Also, Mrs. Phillips created a presentation with tips to consider as you write your Hamlet essays.

• Tips for Hamlet Essays

Tomorrow we will meet in the G104 computer lab for an end-of-quarter reflection activity and work time.

Hamlet - Day 18 - Radio Broadcast

Today in class we listened to an episode from a radio show, This American Life. It focused on a performance of Hamlet in a maximum security prison.

• Here is a link to the NPR show
• Here is a link to the handout I distributed at the start of class

Hamlet - Day 17 - Paper / Project Proposals

In class on Monday you completed a proposal for your project / paper. You will receive these back before our final discussion of Hamlet (Wednesday for 1st period; Thursday for 6th and 8th period).

Here is a link to the proposal form in case you still need to complete it. Note that the document contains forms for all four types of essay / project (2 pages each) followed by a page of instructions.

• Hamlet paper / project proposal form

Hamlet - Day 16

To wrap up our week, we watched Act V of Hamlet. If you missed class, or want to watch it again, you can find links to the movie under the Hamlet tab above.

Hamlet - Day 15 - Act V, Scene 1

To kick off our study of Act V, Scene 1, we read the dialogue between Hamlet and the Gravedigger (lines 120-167). In these lines, we found out some important information, including Hamlet’s age, a key event that occurred on Hamlet’s birthday, and what the people of Denmark believe to be the reason for Hamlet’s trip to England.

Second, we examined Hamlet’s thinking in Act V, Scene 1, lines 67-224. You worked with your groups to select key lines, and describe the meaning of the lines/ the assertion Hamlet makes. Then, you made connections to what we have heard from Hamlet in earlier Acts.

Last, we worked together to create a Grande Tableaux of the funeral in Act V, Scene 1. Each group was assigned a character, and you worked with your group to select a line, develop a pose, and determine the characters inner thoughts. In hearing from each group, we examined the relationships between characters, as well as how the characters and their relationships have evolved. 

(Photo coming soon)

Hamlet - Day 14

On Tuesday, October 20 (or Wednesday, October 21 for 8th period), we watched Act IV of Hamlet. 

If you missed class, or want to watch it again, you can find links to the movie under the Hamlet tab above.

Hamlet - Day 13 - Ophelia

On Monday, October 19, we took a closer look at Ophelia. 

We read two interpretations of her character, and your group was assigned one interpretation to prove with evidence from the text. Then, you worked independently to make an assertion about the interpretation.

You can find a link to the activity here: Ophelia Activity

Hamlet - Day 12 - Act IV Soliloquy

Today we explored the soliloquy Hamlet gives in Act IV, Scene 4 after he is sent to England (to be killed!) and sees the armies of Fortinbras along the way.

Hamlet - Day 11 - Themes

At the start of class today you made a list on the board of the things you ate or drank before coming to class. Then I asked you to think about the different ways to group them. Here are some of the answer you had:

• Liquids and Solids
• Things made at home / things made at a restaurant
• Hot and cold items
• Things with more / less carbohydrates
• Things with one word / multiple words

Once you named these topics, I asked you to think about them as themes - once we identify a theme, and we use that to look back at the examples, what conclusions can we make?

We further illustrated this with a look back at Antigone. We noted how in that play there were three characters who committed suicide. But once we've identified that topic, how does it turn into a theme? What is the play saying about suicide?  Here are some of your answers:

• The suicides of Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice were punishments for Creon's power-hungry actions and attitude
• Those who do not follow / listen to the gods will be punished
• Some characters do not know how to deal with challenges and see suicide as a way out

We finished the class with this in-class writing: Hamlet Act III writing

Hamlet - Day 10

To wrap up our week, we watched Act III of Hamlet.  If you missed class, or want to watch it again, you can find links to the movie under the Hamlet tab above.

Also, Mr. Rigler and Mrs. Phillips have made several updates to the Hamlet calendars. You can access the calendars here, or under the Hamlet tab above.


Calendars:

• 1st period Hamlet calendar
• 6th period Hamlet calendar
• 8th period Hamlet calendar

Hamlet - Day 9

During the first part of class today you worked with your group to create a visual portrayal of a topic from Act II. These included:

• Deception
• Trust / Distrust
• Doubt / Confidence
• Madness
• Baiting others / Fishing for information
• Privacy

For the second part we examined four relationships and how they change (or don't) over the course of the first three acts of the play:

• Hamlet and Gertrude - 1.2 / 3.4
• Hamlet and Claudius - 1.2 / 3.2 & 3.3
• Hamlet and Horatio - 1.2 / 3.2
• Hamlet and Ophelia - 1.3 / 2.1 / 2.2 / 3.1

Instead of discussing them or writing about them, you created a series of tableaux - silent freeze-frames to convey the feelings, attitudes, and motivations of the characters in these scenes. While two of you created these poses, another person in your group read the line(s).

Here's a link to a slideshow with photos of some of our tableaux: Hamlet Relationship Tableaux

Hopefully you took good notes during class - your work with both the themes and the relationships was insightful - keep track of these details!

Hamlet - Day 8

Today we watched Act II of Hamlet.  If you missed class, or want to watch it again, you can find links to the movie under the Hamlet tab above.

Hamlet Day 7 - "To be or not to be..."

Happy Monday!

After a brief recap of Act II, we turned our attention to Hamlet's famous soliloquy in Act III, Scene 1. Even though these are some of the most famous lines ever written, our job is not to just pay respect to them but rather to explore them in terms of the ideas Hamlet raises, how he speaks of them, and how they potentially connect to some of our own concerns.  The writing activity we did with them is called an "exploded imagery" - each of you selected a line or phrase and used it as a first line of a new piece of writing. We shared all of these out loud, inserting them into a read-through of the speech. Sound complicated? Cool? It sounded fantastic in class!

Hamlet - Day Six

On day six, we worked with our groups to make sense of Act Two. We took a closer look at the key events, and examined the issues/concerns elicited by these focal points of the play.

We used a graphic organizer to record our ideas about Act Two, and on Monday, we will examine how these events overlap/ intersect/ parallel each other.

Also, Mrs. Phillips’s classes learned about interpretive questions, and began practicing writing their own questions. You can access the Interpretive Questions presentation here: Interpretive Questions.

Hamlet - Day Five

On day five, we watched Act 1 of Hamlet. In class, we will be watching the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet (1996).

If you are absent on a day in which we are watching the film, you can check to see if the Kenneth Branagh version is available at the Deerfield Public Library, or you watch it here:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Hamlet - Day Four

On day four, we took a closer look at Hamlet’s first soliloquy, examining how the figurative language reveals his feelings about death, God and religion, his father, his mother, and King Claudius.

Then, we took a look at advice that characters gave to each other during Act 1, Scene 3, and discussed what the interactions reveal about each character. With your groups, you examined one of the following interactions:

• Laertes gives advice to Ophelia
• Polonius gives advice to Laertes
• Polonius gives advice to Ophelia

Last, we picked out the most important lines from Act 1, Scene 5, when the ghost speaks to Hamlet and charges him to revenge his murder, most foul and unnatural.

Hamlet - Day 3 #Hashtags

We started today with a short quiz - a check for your level of understanding at this early stage in our reading.

Then, with your groups, you explored an assigned section of Act 1, scene 2:

• lines 1-40
• lines 41-66
• lines 67-89
• lines 90-121
• lines 165-196
• lines 197- end of scene

After a short discussion of what happens in those lines you created three Hashtags to represent it.

What are hashtags? They are short bits of language used to do several different things:

• a word or phrase used to identify a key idea
• a word or phrase used to comment or show a perspective / opinion
• a word or phrase used to link that idea to similar ones appearing elsewhere on social media
• a word or phrase used to allow others to search for and find it

For your three hashtags, you created two of them with people in your group, and one of them used language from your assigned section of the text.

#FewWordsBigIdeas

#Methinks

#TooMuchInTheSun


6th period

8th period

Hamlet - Day Two - Ghosts

Today we spent some time writing and thinking about ghosts:

• What do they usually do?
• When do they appear?
• What might they mean / represent?

We shared answers to those questions, and then some ghost stories, as a way of talking about the ghost that appears in Act I, scene 1.

You also met with your small group for the first time in a new room configuration - you will stay with these groups throughout our study of the play.

With those groups you read Act 1, scene 1 and discussed these questions:

• What does the ghost look like?
• What do the characters want to know from it?
• What is the back history we learn in this scene?

Don't forget to check the calendar for your homework - you are reading Act 1, scene 2 this weekend.

Hamlet – Day One

Today, we started off by talking about memorable lines from movies. We heard everyone’s favorite lines, and wrote a bit about what makes these quotes so memorable.

Then, we worked with some of the most famous lines from Hamlet, pairing up to create two-line performances.

I handed out the calendar for Hamlet, and discussed expectations for journals and discussions throughout the unit (see bottom of the calendar). Be sure to reference the calendar for assigned readings. Readings are due on the day that they are listed.