Holocaust Unit

Have you ever read  a book or seen a movie in which the main character was transported back in time?  In our first novel,  Devil's Arithmetic, Hannah steps back to the year 1942 and experiences first hand the atrocities of Hitler's Europe.  It is hard to imagine that anyone, especially children, could bear such suffering, and it is truly a celebration of the human spirit and survival.

  Our Holocaust unit, which will be cross-curricular, will help us all understand how important it is to keep recalling the past ... so no one ever forgets.

 We have so many exciting activities planned, including a trip sponsored by Talent Search to the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis where we will speak with an actual survivor.

In English, our Twilight Zone Project begins today.  Get ready to step into a new dimension, one  "not only of sight and sound, but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination---Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

Our inspiration for our writing assignments will be episodes from this series as well as topics from our novel Devil's Arithmetic. Both deal with time travel, intriguing settings, mood, and imagination.

Our next essay:  What would your "Willoughby" be? Willoughby is an imaginary place, a "perfect" world to which we will be introduced. The five senses will be used to describe the sights and sounds found here.

Reading and English News

First Essay

How fortunate we are to be able to read and write!  That was the conclusion that most of the students reached in our first narrative essay.  I was pretty pleased with the effort of everyone.  This was the first time since I've been teaching that every single student completed the assignment on time!  I think that typing the essay in computer class really helped.

Mood and You

In both Reading and English we are discussing "mood"  and how the author creates it through descriptive woods, phrases, and situations.  Our reading selections are the very moody "The Tell-tale Heart" and "The Hitchhiker," both excellent examples of mood and foreshadowing.

In English, we will have several writing assignments appealing to the 5 senses and using descriptive imagery. Creation of mood and foreshadowing will be stressed. 

What would your perfect world be like? This will be one of the topics explored.

Reading and English Class News

We've already taken our first reading test, and I was blown away!   The grades ranged from

69-100 with scores predominantly in the 90's.  Good job!

We are currently reading "Stop the Sun" about the problems a Vietnam veteran is having

with flashbacks and post-traumatic stress.  Use the history channel link to learn more about this period in our country's history.  The test will be Friday.

What would your life be like if you were unable to read and write?  This is the question we are exploring in English class with our "Nightjohn" unit.  Our first essay will be due next week--a narrative dealing with this topic.