Things Fall Apart - Day 8

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 parts 1 & 2 of the book - here are a few to get us started:

•  Customs, Traditions, and Rituals
• Following them
• Questioning them
• Power
• Physical strength
• Gender issues
• Titles - achievements
• Religion - spirituality
• Elders
• Respect for
• Questioning of
• Family
• Parent / child
• Siblings
• Proverbs - sayings
• People / groups from the outside presenting a challenge to established order

Then, you'll have the next 20 minutes to create as many different uses of social media as you like, and can leave the classroom if you'd like. Wander around the school - look for examples of these in our world - take pictures and videos. You'll send those back to me, I'll compile them, and tomorrow we will see what we've created!

• Send your photos / videos to me: nrigler@dist113.org
• Tag me in Twitter: MrRiglerEnglish

Things Fall Apart - Day 7

Here is the message I shared with you at the start of our time in the library today:

Greetings! Happy Tuesday! Ok, today is a big push through part 2 of Things Fall Apart, and a lot start to happen. Specifically, these chapters mark the arrival of the missionaries. Keep a close eye on who they are, what they hope to do, and how they do it. Up to this point we’ve discussed customs, traditions, and rituals, as well as different reason behind Okonkwo’s thoughts and actions. How do those factors appear in these pages? I recommend keeping track of your thoughts about these questions, and whatever else comes to mind, as annotations, notebooks entries, or whatever else you prefer. This will be especially helpful since we won’t fully talk or write about the book until after break. Do your best to stay focused today as you read through this section - I know this is a busy week and your mind is a million places between hearing from colleges and winter vacation. Mine is too! Spend an hour letting your mind travel…

Things Fall Apart - Day 6

Happy Monday! It's our last Monday of school for quite a while!

We'll start with a short in-class writing today. After that you can use the rest of the period to read. Tomorrow we will be back in the library for a reading day.

Remember - the goal is to get through the book during class time - and to have no homework over winter break!

Things Fall Apart - Day 5

Today we read the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, often referred to as "The Binding of Isaac." We first explored "gaps" in the story - moments where there seems to be something important going on but is not explicitly named in the text. One example is to think about what the conversation between Abraham and Isaac might have been on the way back down the mountain, or what happens to Abraham overnight between when he speaks with God and sets out on his journey.

• Here is a link to the story

We next made a list of "unheard voices" in the story - characters, animals, physical items, concepts, feelings - anything appearing in the story that somehow played a role. The list included characters present but not named (Sarah, Ishmael), emotions (fear, anger), locations (Mt. Moriah), and inanimate objects (fire, knife). Each of you selected one of these and wrote from its perspective (e.g. "I am the knife, and I feel..."). We shared these to add to our understanding of the story - and they were great!

Then we turned our attention back to the novel, to the scene of the killing of Ikemefuna starting on page 56. I read it aloud and invited you to consider ways in which this story is similar to / different from the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. Our discussion included how the book gave voice to Ikemefuna, which helped us to sympathize with him. We also talked about Okonkwo, and how his actions were self-focused and disrespectful of higher authority.

Over the weekend, please be sure to read through chapter 13, which will finish part 1 of the novel.

Things Fall Apart - Day 4

Watercolor painting day! Today you created an image based on a moment from one of the first 8 chapters of Things Fall Apart. Here are the paintings from 1st period (I'll post 2nd period after they dry!). By class tomorrow you should have read through chapter 10 - hopefully between in-class time and the library reading day you are caught up!

Things Fall Apart - Day 3

Library reading day!

I hope today gave you a chance to read and get into a good chunk of the novel. I know there are many parts of it that might not be clear, as you are learning about a culture and set of traditions quite different from what many of you know. If you have questions along the way, either about the traditions / rituals or the characters themselves, keep track of them in annotations or a journal entry. I am not formally assigning either of those, but I expect you will find some way of keeping track of your ideas along the way.

Art time tomorrow!

Things Fall Apart - Day 2

Happy Monday!

We started the day with a discussion of these terms:

• Custom
• Tradition
• Ritual

For our purposes, a custom is an individual action you repeat, such as doing the same set of actions each time you play a sport or go on stage (my example was touching the outside of an airplane before I board and when I exit). A tradition is an action repeated over time, passed down from one generation to the next, like something your family does each year, or something a team or club does at the end of each season (an example is a special bonfire on the last night of the summer at a camp, along with certain songs / actions). A ritual is also a repeated action but one associated with a religion or ethnic group, such as a family lighting Channukah candles or going to church on Easter. You wrote about your own customs, traditions, and rituals, and we did a whip-around to share them.

Then we took time to read chapters 5 & 6, focusing on the Feast of the New Yam and the wrestling matches. I asked you to think about he customs, traditions, and rituals in the book, and what they are telling us about the Ibo. In what ways are their rituals similar to ones you know?

Tomorrow we will be meeting and reading in the library - see you there! (Oh, and I will be collecting your phones to help you concentrate on the book).